Mike Long

In Our Troop a boy must attend at least 75% of our troop activities to be considered active, otherwise we will not sign off the requirement. I hate the fact that we had to put a number value on what is considered active but we had a series of kids that would show up every blue moon and then wanted to to advance to the higher ranks. So we ask them,"What have you done in the last six months?" If they can't answer a simple question like that then they obviously have not been active, and could not possibly have completed the the leadership position requirement. I then assign the inactive s

Don't you hate it when you are trying to get something clean in a primative campsite and you drop your soap in the dirt? What a mess! Well here's an old scout tip. Cut off one leg of a ladies stocking, put a small piece of bar soap in the foot and tie a knot in the other end (cut off the excess stocking.) The openings in the stocking allow wet soap to come through and keeps the worst of the grunge off your soap if you drop it. Please note, use only unscented soaps. Scented soaps attract unwelcome attention from animals and biting insects.

The best all around camping plate is the plastic container that Stouffer's Lasagne comes in. It works fantastic as a plate and is about 2 inches deep so it can double as a bowl. Its depth also means scouts are less likley to drop dinner all over the ground. The plate can handle the heat of an oven and is strong yet flexable and weighs next to nothing. The very best part is that it comes complete with food, and you were going to throw the plate away when you were done.

In our local council I have noticed that most troops do not do much if any backpacking. Backpacking MUST be a intregal part of every troops outdoor program. It has many virtues that I will expound upon here. 1. Backpacking teaches the differences between wants and needs. This helps to create a value system that the scouts can apply to every aspect of their life. Sure that camp chair is comfy, but do you really want to carry 5 extra pounds for ten miles? Perhaps you can find something else to use as a chair, maybe sitting on your sleeping pad isn't so bad. Your scouts will stop bring

Communication is a major issue in all organizations: Scouts, Business, Church, and Family. As others have said, it is truly a two way street/edged sword. If you are not informed of what is going on you need to contact the Committee Chair and Cub/Scoutmaster and let them know you are not satisified and EXACTLY why. DON'T JUST CALL TO COMPLAIN, PROPOSE SOME SOLUTIONS! Hey here's an idea, volunteer to be the information officer of your unit. Scout leaders have a lot to do to run an effective unit. We need help and lots of it. If you just find another unit without attempting to fix the proble

There are always going to be kids that think scouting isn't cool. Those same kids have no clue what healthy, active troops do. If they did, they would find Scouts to be very cool. I had some boys in my troop that had the same issues with Scout Spirit and peer pressure, these boys no longer have those problems. I asked the boys one simple question; "So, what do the people that give you a hard time do that is so cool?" They can't give me a good answer. So they start to think about it and I continue. "How many miles have they hiked? Have they ever climbed a mountain? How about