baden

At our Troop campout in Jan. we had a good number of Scouts signed up, but the forecasr deteriorated quite a bit between our Troop meeting and the weekend. We had 5 Scouts show up. The weather wasn't as tough as forecast (it got to 0, but no wind). I printed the following in our Feb. Troop newsletter: We few, we frozen few, we band of brothers; For he to-day who freezes with me Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition; And Scouts at home now-a-bed Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any s

Our Troop has three old-timers on the charter that are dormant. I call them every year to see if they want to re-up. They always do. We always have a great conversation about the Good Old Days (I've learned to make the call when I have a lot of time). They always chat about how the Troop is doing. They always say they're going to get a little more active, but don't. They enjoy Scouting Magazine, our Council newsletter, and our Troop newsletter. One of them gives to our FOS campaign every year. Scouting means a lot to them and is a fond memory for them. I wouldn't dream of dumping them.

I must agree with scoutldr. It is not always possible to log in and when I do, the wait to move from page to page is excruciating. The longest wait is to get to the last 24 hrs. page. By the way, I'm also addicted to this site.

Whoo-hoo. Going to Philmont. That is a big deal. Congratulations. I did a Trek with my Troop in the '90s and still think it is the highlight of my Scouting career. Would love to do it again, but I'm getting a little old and am too short now. A great web-site is Selden Ball's site. The address is http://w4.ins.cornell.edu/~seb/philmont.html . This is a real treasure trove of Philmont info. I've only done one Trek, so I am far from an authority, but my favorite program was Fly-fishing at Fish Camp. We came in over the Tooth and loved it. My son has done both and says Baldy is tougher,

The man who preceded me as SM was single when he became the SM and had never been a Scout. He had just moved back to our community after serving a hitch as an Army officer. He was a last minute, desperate, invitee to provide leadership on a High Adventure trip after another adult had had to drop. he had a great time and stayed on as an ASM for a year and then became SM for 32 years. During this time, he married and had a son (Eagle Scout). Finally stepped down for health reasons. On the surface he would not have been a logical choice for the job, but you never know what you are getting wi

Our Troop attended Church together this morning to observe Scout Sunday. The Chuch we attended celebrated communion this morning. The minister stated it was an open communion and was available to all. Many of our boys went forward and many of their family members. We have boys in the Troop whose religion seems to discourage (forbid?) taking communion in another church. They did not go forward. I opted to stay in the pews with these boys so they would not be too self-concious about it. One of the parents that took communion asked me (nicely) if I shouldn't have gone forward to set the example.

I must be nuts. I like winter camping. I went on winter maneuvers in the Army and enjoyed it very much. Sleeping in snow caves, cross country skiing, I just loved it. Our Troop normally camps out every month. Tent camping. I don't believe we have ever cabin camped. We did cancel once. 15 below with howling winds and a ground blizzard. We may be nuts but we're not stupid. Two weeks ago we went to our district Winter Camporee. Got down to 0, but no wind. Very comfortable. As a Scoutmaster, I think it is my job to prepare the boys for the conditions. We stress layering of clothes, proper foo

A couple of weeks ago there was a thread on the forum about a perceived anti-Scouting slant in Backpacker magazine. I wandered past a newsstand yesterday and picked up a copy of the Feb. 2007 issue to give it a looksee. There is a very brief article (Letter to the editor, really) on page 13 written by a Scout Leader from Utah that is very positive. It is about taking some teenagers on a backpacking trip last summer. Read through the rest of the magazine and enjoyed a primer on family camping, an article listing the best day hikes in all 50 states, and some good info on winter camping. All

Welcome to the forum Brandon. It is great to have a Scout participate. On to your problem. You are correct in your assessment. Cub Scouts are the life blood of a Troop. You need to do all you can to get these young guys to transition to Boy Scouting. As to your frightening leaders, have you discussed this with your Scoutmaster? He must be aware of the situation. As far as blocking these adults, there is very little I can think of for the SPL to do that would be effective. The person that has the power to do something is the COR (chartered organization representative). They have the author

I like what John in K C said. When I was a Scout we went into nature to conquer it. We dug trenches around our tents, cut down trees to build towers, cut evergreen boughs for ground beds, dug trench latrines, etc. etc. To our way of thinking at the time we were to turn every campsite into a military style bivouac. BSA has come a long way in 40-45 yrs. The Outdoor code and LNT ethic are great, just not utilized by all. But we're better. Not good enough yet, but better.

I'm with local1400, I too got tired of the constant promos for new and improved gear. I subscribed for about 15 yrs. and got a lot of great info from it. As far as a bias against BSA I would say it is not any worse than what you run into in a lot of places. Over the years I have run into some "Officials" on public lands that clearly have an axe to grind with BSA. Sometimes I have felt it was political due to disagreement with BSA's stands on some issues but more often I have found it to be a reaction to the actions of some BSA members. That is one bad thing about going into the backcountr

I had the good fortune to attend a National Pilot Course for 21st Century Wood Badge at Philmont. We were at Zastrow Camp which hosted Wood Badge courses going back to 1949. The great thing about this course was the participants came from all over the U.S. from California to Connecticut. From Minnesota to Texas. Plus two International participants. I knew no one on the course when I got there and left with many life long Scout buddies

I attended our District Roundtable last night. I had a conversation with our Council's Director of Field Service there. He told me he had been talking to someone at Central Region yesterday and was told that membersip would show an increase for year end 2006. First gain in four years I believe. I know many are skeptical about any membersip numbers stated, but I view this as a positive.

The one thing I have had trouble with new parents is getting them to realize this isn't Cub Scouting. Their son will not advance at the same pace as the other boys in his Patrol. He will be faster or slower, but not the same. This is a change for parents of transitioning Cub Scouts, particularly former Den Leaders. They are used to doing advancement activies at Den meetings and everybody moving through the program together. Also a big item is preparing New Scouts and their Mothers for Summer Camp. I have a meeting with the parents of 1st year campers every year to address the problems tha

Sorry for incomplete information in previous post. I went to the REI web-site and they show 3 stores in the Atlanta area. Check out their web-site for locations and some product info. Sounds like a great opportunity for your daughter.

I can personally recommend Vasque Sundowners. Been a long time since I bought my pair so I don't know what they sell for today. Do you have an REI store in Atlanta? They have good staffers that can help you and probably have more experience than I.

Jamboree reunions are hard to pull off. I attended a Mic-O-Say gathering in 97 but was unable to get there in 01 and 05 due to work assignments at the Jambo. We tried for a mini-reunion of my Wood Badge patrol in 01. We are scattered all over the country and 4 of us were at the Jamboree in different areas. We didn't manage to get all 4 of us together at one time, but everybody eventually met up with each other. A reunion of forum members at the Jamboree in 2010 could be scheduled, but not everyone on the forum who is interested would be able to make it due to responsibilities and the phys

Other than my son, my favorite Scout that I have had in our Troop was Tim. He had a Scout shirt and wore it at flags at summer camp and at Troop COH's. I'm sure he had a neckerchief & slide, but they were never seen. In the years he was in the Troop from age 11 to 18, he rarely missed a Troop meeting. He helped with every fundraiser. He never, NEVER, missed a campout. He went on every High Adventure trip we did including BWCA twice and Philmont. He was a lot of fun to be with. Trouble was, he didn't care a fig about advancement, and neither did his Mom. He had to be persuaded to do the BOR

I have been annoyed over the years to have a Life or Eagle Scout be unable to tie a basic knot when the occasion arises. One thing that works against the boys is they no longer need to be able to tie a knot to pitch a tent and keep it up. Bungee cords and velcro have replaced knots in some apps. We have at times done the "Knot of the night" thing. Building something also is a great teaching tool. Our guys love to build catapults and signal towers. One thing we have had some success with is our Troop "Knot Head" award. I designed a temporary patch with a square knot superimposed over

COOKIES !!!! (full acknowledgement to my role model, Cookie Monster)

Brian- I guess if you want to get your beads in the mail it is up to you. Speaking as a former Troop Guide, I would have been disappointed if I hadn't been able to participate in the ceremony for a member of "my" patrol. We friendly Troop Guides do take an interest in the progress of the members of the Patrol we have served. If you feel your course Scoutmaster and Troop Guide have not served you well, carry on Sir.

Scouting is one place where no definitely means "I'll be back." About a year ago my D.E. called and wanted to set up a meeting with me. I asked what it was about. He said he would like to tell me when I got there. This not being my first rodeo and having seen the video " The Barbeque " I surmised it was a recruiting safari for some District position. As a courtesy I agreed to meet with him. When I got to the resteraunt our Council Commissioner was there. So, I knew they were prospecting for a Dist. Commissioner, a position I have served in in another District for almost 5 years. I cut to

Competing with sports can be frustrating. Coaches are quick to adopt a no miss policy for practice and games. I always tell the boys I am glad they are in sports and we will be here when the season is over. Having said that, I agree with SemperPeratus about setting a drop dead date. It is frustrating to have the PLC plan an outing and then have people dither about whether they are going. For this very reason we do our grocery shopping for campouts and outings on our way out of town. We budget the time to do it this way as when we've got them in the cars and moving, I am pretty sure they are go

Gonzo1 I hear what you're saying. But you don't have to perform according to DD22-5 (Army Field Manual-Conduct of Drill and Ceremony) to show respect for the flag. I don't view this as military training, rather it is educating the boys on one aspect of citizenship. We have a Troop in our District (and there is always at least one) that looks like a JROTC Unit when we get together at Camporees. Their SM and ASM are good guys but have no military background. They march to and from "Flags" in a fine manner and their campsite would make my old Drill Sergeant swell with pride. The main argumen

As a former member of the U.S. Army I must say that I am somewhat put off by leaders that attempt to militarize Scout units. Back at the dawn of time, when I was a Scout, our Scoutmaster was a WWII vet. He was a combat veteran and had no use for any attempt to instill military attitudes in our Troop. We had an ASM who was the father of one of the members of my Patrol that thought we should do what he called Scout Drill. Our SM said something like, "this is the Boy Scouts of America, not the Hitler Youth." End of Scout Drill.