matuawarrior

My condolences to the family, Scouts, and friends. Matua

I remember doing Semaphore as part of one of my badges but I'm not sure if its for Communication Skill Award or the Signalling MB. I know it was fun and it led me to pick communications as my field when I joined the military in the mid 80's. Technology may have outpaced the Semaphore and the Morse Code but what happens when Technology fails. Last Fall Camporee, We had Semaphore and Morse Code as part of the patrol competition. Of Course, units were given a 2 months heads up on what to expect. The young Scouts loved it. It was exciting to see Scouts spell out a message that only they and a select few Scouters could understand. It was alot of fun and I enjoyed seeing the Scouts succeed in something that is no longer required. Who knows it may make a come back. One never knows. Matua

Dcarleton, Welcome to the forum. Thanks for the info. I'll see if council can send us a copy this way. Matua

Congratulations ManyIrons. Matua

Still waiting on reply for my application's approval. Hope to see ya there. Matua

I believe it's a good idea. We've been doing it for quite awhile now. Our SPL and JASM's are encouraged to attend Unit Leaders Meetings, and Roundtables. It helps both sides understand each other better. We've opened the idea to our Venturing Crew as well a couple of years ago. It has worked well with no complaints. Our District started to encourage units to bring their SPL's and Venturing Officers for Roundtable. It is slowly filtering to the units and a couple of Youth Leaders did show up. The only draw back is as Eagledad stated. The Time and Structure is usually not geared to the youths but were working on that. Also, some Leaders are not very tactful when communicating with other leaders. Everyone is learning. Matua

Here's the website to Aloha Council: www.boyscoutshawaii.org There is a book called the "Hawaiiana" published and printed by Aloha Council. It has Hawaiian History and Culture, chants, games, cooking methods, etc. The book is sold at the Council Office. It's for Island Scouts working to earn the "Hawaiiana Medal". It may help in your quest. Matua

Thanks CubsRgr8. I'll have to get my DE to check if Council has the new info on this. Its a new Sports Award. Medal looks cool. Matua

Congratulations FloridaScout. Well done. Matua

I was updating our Advancement files on Troopmaster under Scout Management for the Venturers updating their information, when I ran into the Venturing Quest Award. I don't remember it being there before. It may have came down on the last patch from Troopmaster. We looked at the requirements. It looked interesting. Have any of the Venture Leaders or Venture members seen what this award looks like? It's not in my Venture Manual but then again my manual is old (1997 edition).

It takes to check every thread when I pop in and out every once in a while. We have 20 members this year. A quarter of the membership are girls and they hold all the key leadership positions. We have an age range 14-20 years. Average age is 17 years. There is currently 1 advisor and 4 associate advisors with help from many friends of the unit helping out when needed. We've been Chartered Since 1997 when we were first chartered as an Exploring Post. Our main interest is High Adventure with an Emphasis on Search and Rescue. That may change. We do the Annual Christmas Clean-up at a local park and several car washs. We usually invite potential members by Word of Mouth of have an Open House 2x a year. OThe Crew has 2 activities/month. Normally a Day event and a Campout. Our most successful events are when the crew went Sailing and snorkeling above Blue Hole here in Guam; Last weekend when we roasted a pig We currently have members who have earned 3 Bronzes, 2 Gold, and 2 Ranger Awards. Most of our members are not that interested in the Awards. Although, they are highly encouraged to work on them. We're kind of behind the curve on a Council or rather District Wide Youth Leadership Committee. We Plan to start this year. Most units are on their own and prefer it that way. Matua

Yes, It's really a pain in dealing with council. But I've worked hard in the last year to mend the rift. We have a District Scout Office here in Guam. It's sort of like an Outpost. We help service Pacific Basin Scouting which consists of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, Republic of Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia. BUT, Our District acts like a Council. We work with other Scouting Associations in S.Korea, Japan, and Taiwan in providing year round camping facilities, scout exchanges, and home stays. Next December 2004, I'm helping to coordinate a White Water Rafting expedition to the Philippines. Sorry TA, I didn't mean to hijack your thread. Now back to our regular scheduled program. Matua

Hello Captainron14, Guam is part of Aloha Council in Honolulu, Hawaii. I'm in the Chamorro District of the Council. Our Council has the Longest Day within national. Since the day starts with us and the Federated States of Micronesia and ends when the day ends in Hawaii. Our OA Lodge is "Na Makapuni O Lawelawe 567" it was a merger of three lodges in the 1970's. It means "Islands of Service" in Hawaiian. The chapter I'm a part of is the "Acho Chapter"(Rock in Chamorro). As for the Local HCS, most of youths have worked on the requirements. We plan to take concepts from both OA and MOS and bring it together and localize it to our needs here. But it's mainly for Venturers. Regarding the website, I've left that up to the members to decide. I'm pretty sure that they will have one since they just appointed a webmaster for the crew. Remind me to bring up updates on the HCS here. The plan is to do Unit Nominations this May 2004. Matua

Commandopro, It takes alot to admit when one is at fault. I give credit to you there. This is one Scouting Site that is unlike others on the web. Most posters have already posted what I would have said anyway. Like many posters, Dave not only has helped Scouters, Scouts, Venturers in the mainland but many others in the world. I pray that you'll be able to help us volunteers on the Forum when we need answers to some of our professional type questions. With that said, here's my personal welcome to the Scouter Forums. The Cyber Scout campfire. Pull up a log, grab some marshmellows, have some hot chocolate and lets talk Scouting. Dave, Everything okay? It's all cool, yeah. So lets do the Cyber High Five and somebody pass me the marshmellows. Matua

Welcome WAKWIB. Hello there TA, Welcome Back. We are in the process of establishing our own local Honor Camper Society. The Venturers in my crew have come up with different requirements for each Honor Level. We are still looking into MOS sites and have borrowed some of their positions and duties but will localize it here. Our Local OA chapter is defunct. Council will not send us any lodge patches until we are organized again. I don't blame them. Our membership is nonexsistant. Most of the OA members have moved on to other youth and sport programs due their disappointment with the OA program. Since the HCS will be suited for Venturers, The members voted to make it a co-ed program. It will be interesting to see how this new HCS for Guam will pan out. Much of it is learning about promoting the Chamorro Culture here and expands on High Adventure Camping and Activities within our Area. Matua

Good Job Eamonn. Your mentorship is paying off. Scouting is based on relationships. How well we relate to others builds the oreganization. As for the "MY" troop debate. I never understood why some leaders won't take ownership of the program. If we have to argue over semantics, I'd rather go camping with MY scouts and MY troop than to waste my time over some thing that will not help me help my scouts. There are bigger problems out there that need solutions than to bicker over who actually owns the troop or scouts or programs. Does it really matter? I may not actually own it BUT I am claiming ownership. The word "MY" may not have to imply ownership. It could also imply a "Belonging to" as in MY team of who I am a member of. In the last couple of months this Forum has gone off on a wierd tangent on small things that have no place in the Scouting Program. I am sorry Eamonn for venting. Have a Blessed New Year, Matua

We're planning on heading to the Philippines in December 2004 to the mountainous province of Kalinga to do a 50 miler of which 30 miles is White Water Rafting and 20 miles is Backpacking. Some of my Venturers want to expand on the trip. Matua

My impression from the site is that Fred Burham taught and mentored Lord Baden Powell on the Skills of scouting while in Africa. Nowhere does the site cite any credit to Burham for starting the Boy Scout Movement. This is my understanding of the History: Of course, BP took that knowledge and wrote books for British Soldiers to learn those same skills that he was taught. It wasn't until He got back to Great Britain after Mafeking that he discovered young boys reading the same Scout Manuals meant for soldiers. Later, BP took a diverse group of Boys to Brownsea Island. It was soon after the Scouting Movement was started. Now the way I see it. Fred Burham may have taught the skills that we may still use today in our programs for basic Scout skills but in no way did he actually start the Boy Scout Movement. I credit that to Lord Baden-Powell. Those of us on the forums no that BP never acknowledged that he was the Founder of the Scout Movement. He always said that he is one of many Uncles. Now I'll just have to look over all my archived materials to properly cite that passage, In due time. Matua

I had to do this at our Troop Office, but here's our numbers. How many boys registered? 15 How many boys active? 10 How many Patrols? 2 Does your troop go to summer camp in or out of Council? Yes, we camp in council. Does your troop go to Dist/Council Camporees? Yes Does your troop support FOS? We started last year after it was explained to us what actually FOS does. Does your troop sell Popcorn? If not, what are your fundraisers? No, We stopped this year due to our orders are not always correct from Council the last 6 years. We have an annual clean-up and a couple of car washes during the year. Does your troop use NSP, FCFY method? We use the FCFY method not NSP. Does your troop have a Venture Patrol? Yes, We call it our Leadership Corps. Does your troop have a feeder pack? Yes, from the same charter organization. How does your troop recruit non-Cub Scouts? Yes, twice a year during each semester. Has your troop seen your Unit Commissioner in the past 6 months? NO, We don't have one unless you count me as the RT commissioner. Is your Unit Commissioner helpful or a pain? If your counting me as the Commish, it'll be Both, it depends on what mood I'm in. Does your troop leaders attend Roundtable? Yes How many members are on your troop committee? 5 Is your troop boy led? Yes, when I get on their case about it.

Unfortunately for us here, we get the show a week late on cable TV. So it was tempting to see what others wrote in regards to Lill on the show but I tried hard not to open this thread until after the show "Aired" here on Sunday. Many of my Scouts and Venturers watched the show from the beginning because there was a Scoutmaster participating. I, myself caught a couple of shows, especially the last two. Like any show the producers and editing staff will only show what will Sell. So we watched what they wanted us to see. As per Lill and the Scout Uniform and Ideals, I'll have to say she should have decided wisely who she was going to be for the show. She chose to be a Scoutmaster and the producers and editors took advantage of that. At mid-stream, she changed tactics and played the game differently. She compromised her integrity. From the first season, Survivor was all about compromising your values to win the prize. With $1 million dollars at stake, Johnny Fairplay convinced us for a moment that his Grandmother was dead. If that doesn't tell you how far people will go to win then I don't know what will. The point is that when we choose to represent our Scouting Lifestyle in any Venture. People will hold us to that standard. They'll be harder on us when we make a mistake or at fault, than others who supposedly don't know any better. So the lesson was learned and we must pass this on to our scouts of what to and not to do. If Scouters want to participate in a Reality TV game, I would suggest the "Amazing Race" or "Extreme Challenge". At least on those games, it's all based on skill. Merry Christmas, Matua

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year to all on the Forum. Matua

Happy Birthday Dave!!! A day ahead and still late. Better late than never. Matua

Merry Christmas to everyone on the Scouter Forums, posters and lurkers alike. I pray that you all have a Blessed Christmas and a Very Blessed New Year. Let's remember that we have Jr. Leaders who post on theses forums as well. There maybe those who just lurk around just to gather information for their units. Our replies to one another sets up our example of how we treat others in public. Is what we do here a reflection of what we do at home or at our Troop meetings or campouts? Do we teach our Scouts to do the very same things that we post here? Although many of us have not yet met and in due to time we may, Our writings tell of our character, personality, way of life, and background. Let's start Christmas and the New Year with a new slate. Matua (This message has been edited by matuawarrior)

Thanks All of you who posted. This will help alot. I'll go with the consensus here and agree with a General Criteria. I'll bring this up on RT tonight and had over a copy the DE and Advancement Committee Chairman. I like the idea of the other awards mentioned. I'm sure to bring those up in the RT. Thanks, Matua

I, too, pondered the logic on parental signatures since 1997 when I started a Explorer Post before we transition into a Venturing Crew. It's true that it doesn't make any sense. The Two programs are different just as they are different from High School clubs. As a leader though, I wouldn't take a chance on leaving on a trip without a signed Parental Consent Form on a Venturer or Scout who is under 18-years old. AS for National's Proclamation, I don't know about that but it doesn't make sense to require Parental forms on Venturers who are 18-20 years old unless they are mentally incapacitated. Here's one for you all. We had here a situation here where a 20-year old Venturer "needed" to get a parental signature signed in a neighboring Crew. Would he have had to fax that form back to his parents on the U.S. mainland or Fedex it to them. Or should we let his 21-year old wife sign it. The Venturer is a member of the U.S. Airforce Security Forces. Common Sense Prevailed but we had a good laugh at Roundtable. Let's keep in mind that there are special circumstances that as leaders, we need to just shake our heads and waive certain requirements to keep the program flowing. I don't know the answer to NJ's question, but somewhere in the dark tunnels of National's underground hallways lies the answer of "Why?". Maybe it's to costly to change the applications, again. Matua