moxieman

Back when I was active at the unit level rather than the district level, our troop made a trip over the border to New Brunswick, Canada almost every year to participate in an all night hike/competition event, known as Operation Poverty Peak (and then Operation Greer Creek after the location changed). As a youth, my unit went to Quebec City three times and an international camporee in Sherbrooke, QC. I also took a patrol of scouts from my unit to the 2001 Canadian National Jamboree, held on Prince Edward Island. My scouts all earned Weather Merit Badge as I was a counselor for that a

I can't help you directly as I don't have what you're looking for. However, a lot of OA Flap collectors may ask you for the "OA BLUEBOOK REFERENCE" for the flap you're looking for. You can find it at the online version of the Blue Book Guide: http://www.oaimages.com/ Just look-up your lodge and see if there is a scan of the flap you're looking for. Good luck!

rjscout, I currently serve as the Boy Scout Roundtable Commissioner in my district. It's been about 7 years since I've been actively involved at the unit level. As such, I've done very, very little outdoor cooking in that time period (and miss it). Usually at district events I'm invited as a guest of one unit or another and as such, eat whatever the scouts cook me. I know I've done some of these in the past, but can't recall which ones other than the cajun sausage and beans. I used pork cajun sausage instead of turkey sausage. It came out really good. Rule of thumb I've learned

Lots of great tips. Looking for more foil-packet ideas? Go to Reynold's Wrap website and search the recipes section: http://www.reynoldspkg.com/reynoldskitchens/en/recipes/recipe_search.asp (may have to copy/paste to get the link to work). Under Advance Search, choose "Packet Cooking". You might never go back to burgers/taters/carrots in foil.

I have to agree with the others, OGE, I'm not seeing what the problem is with a patrol called the "Bear Rasslars" (Wrestlers). In this district I've seen: Chubacabra--should we be offended that they call themselves after a fictional monster that sucks the organs out of its livestock victims? Black Eagle--should we be offended that it's got "black" (or any other color for that matter) in the name? PYROS--their flag has a burnt edge to it. Should we be offended due to the implied potential arson implications here? Roadkill--flag and homemade patch both have an area of fake fur/bloo

How many do I have? Less than most of those who have responded so far. 1 complete uniform, long sleeve with slacks with my current district position, silver loops, etc. on it. The slacks are showing their age. 1 complete uniform, short sleeve with "old-style" shorts with cargo pockets with my current district position, silver loops, etc. on it. 1 short sleeve uniform shirt that is my old shirt from when I was scoutmaster (8 years ago now), stripped of most of it's patches. That shirt dates back to when I was a scout. It still fits, but I don't need a second short sleeve unif

Guy wrote: "he doesn't have to worry about outsourcing" Shhhhhh...don't give your council ideas! Otherwise, you'll start dealing with a DE with a strong accent over the phone/internet-video protocol only. More seriously, folks in my area are "use to" being poor. Our economy tanked nearly two decades ago and never fully recovered after the previous "recession" in the early '90's. But it's starting to show more now. At this time for the last National Jamboree, we had filled three troops, requested, received and filled a forth troop. This time around, I've heard we've filled 1.5..

You know, we seem to have this topic come up almost once a year or so it seems to me. I just did a quick scan of topics for the past year and I guess I'm wrong, though there have been two on how to improve your relationship with your CO. Others have covered this pretty well, there is little for me to add. I have been in the position of a folding unit once. Adult leadership had dwindled to two college students, I being one of them. We approached our CO to explain the problem. CO decided to fold the unit rather than rebuild it because they didn't like the fact that the two remainin

Ours has just started distributing an announcement/survey for a council-wide jamboree in the fall of 2010, similar to the one they held in 2007 to mark the 100th of world scouting. The survey is to get an idea of what attendees would like to see at this weekend event.

John-in-KC: Tax deductions are for those who make enough money to make doing taxes with itemized deductions worth the effort. As I stated previously, the one time I went to PTC, it cost me one month's take-home pay. It'll be a while before I do so again. I barely make ends meet. Right now, I have an invitation to attend and present my patch collection at a University of Scouting in Southwestern CT. I haven't accepted yet, 'cause I'm still trying to determine how I'm going to come-up with the funds for fuel to drive down/back (6 hours each way). I have relatives I could ask to pu

You've seen my previous posts in this thread. I have received TWO invitations in the past two weeks. I'm guessing that our current DE forgot that I asked not to be invited and perhaps our former DE (now the council field director) may have also put in my name. What I stated previously hasn't changed. I do not intend to accept the invitation, partially 'cause I really can't afford to spend a month's pay to go out there and back, even though I've received completely open invitations this time around, which is a change in their format from just a couple years back. Of the courses I read

Actually, you're too late for Maine. Several stations have already made the switch and killed their analog broadcast including the local FOX affiliate and PBS.

ASM915 wrote: A 4 mile hike, or what ever the distance at Jambo is, doesn't sound like a HA activity to me, unless we're in the Sahara, Amazon or Antarctica. I lived for two summers in DC. I've also lived in West Texas for a while. Jambo can be like the Amazon. The first summer I was in DC, we had record 100 to 105 deg heat WITH 90 degree dew point. Can you say "WHERE ARE MY GILLS!?!" You've heard the term pea soup fog so thick you could cut it with a knife. Imagine normal air so thick/heavy you wish you had a knife to cut through it. No, SERIOUSLY. That was the extreme. The two

Would leaving the ground beef out be an acceptable way to make it vegitarian And in the process offend all the meat-eaters present. At work one of my duties is logistics for continuing education of state workers. On one evaluation from a training, a meat-eater took offense at the vegetarian-only lunch: Quote: "It is our evolutionary duty to consume the lower life forms of this planet. I take offense that I was not given the opportunity to do so at lunch." (seriously) If you have to do something like this due to a vegetarian present, there is a compromise that will keep most

I got lucky. We only got 1/4 inch of ice overnight here in Augusta, Maine. I can't say the same for folks on the Maine Coast, southern New Hampshire or central Massachusetts. States of Emergency have been declared in NH & MA. Among the three states, over 800,000 are without power and the footage I've seen on the net makes it similar to the '98 Ice Storm. Some of these people will be without power for a week. Keep your fellow scouters and scouts in the affected area in your prayers.

Not much worse than being snug as a bug and needing to go outside to pee at 2:30 am in 10 degree weather. That is where a "P" bottle comes in handy. Take a 48 once sports drink bottle with the 2 inch opening, rinse it out, remove the label and in black marker mark it "P" in large P's all over the bottle and cap. Keep it next to your bag. If you find you gotta go at 2:30am, you won't have to go outside. Uncap, do your business, recap tightly, snuggle back into bed.

As others have mentioned "Cotton is rotten". No, COTTON IS DEADLY! Not only does it wick up moisture, it loses any insulation properties it had once it's damp or wet. Wet wool will still keep you warm. Wet cotton will kill you on a winter trip. Here's a simply demonstration to provide to your scouts about the wonderful wicking properties of cotton. Take a strip of old blue jean roughly 1/2 inch wide by 4 to 6 inches in length. Have a second strip of wool the same dimensions. Pass them around to your scouts. Then, take a 1lb margarine tub/bowl. Place no more than an

My old troop, now my brother's troop, is in a small town. Most of the youth are also active in either a team sport or marching band. This leaves few scouts to march/walk as a troop. However, we've got a good rapport with the band teacher. Scouts who are band members are welcome to march in the band in scout uniform rather than band uniform. I remember one year where it was just one other leader and I carrying our troop/US flags for the troop. Parade watchers would call to us asking where our scouts were? We'd reply, keep your eyes on the JR/SR High Bands behind us!

1. Yes, and I'm in favor of being able to wear it, period, if you earned it. Why? Yes, those in the organization know what the red, white, & blue square knot stands for, but those outside of scouting do not. If I could wear my Eagle Badge (there's your answer to #2--1988) at all times, it would save a lot of "Oh, you're a scout leader...are you an Eagle Scout?" A lot of youth, especially new youth, and cubbies, don't know what the knots mean either. Seeing that their leaders who are Eagles wearing their Eagle Badges would help inspire those youth. Just my three cents (inflati

OneHour wrote: Hacked by Aggies ! ... go figure! There is a sign of technology in College Station after all! If Aggies were able to hack into this website, the security must be really low! I went to Texas Tech (pity me) for grad school and one of the jokes there was that you could legally park in a handicap parking space if you displayed your Texas A&M Undergrad diploma on your dashboard. Never got to test the theory as I went to Party...er Plymouth State for my undergrad degree.

Before you go about punishing a state for how they voted, maybe you need to take a closer look. For example, Maine is not Red, nor is it Blue. It's Purple. We may have voted for Obama, BUT: We are Bush Sr's summer home. Our two US Reps may be Democrat, but our two US Senators are Republican--one of whom faced reelection this year, Sue Collins (the other is Olympia Snowe). She won by a margin of more than 2 to 1 over her Democrat challenger, who had served the past 12 years as Maine's First District US Rep. So, you wish to punish us 'cause Obama won, yet we have have sent two

Greetings from a Da#n Yankee who spent 30 months in exhile in West Texas back in my grad school days at Texas Tech in Lubbock. I volunteered first with T409 and then T140 (sponsored by the Optimist Club back then) while there. So what part of West Texas do you call home?

A popular one at our scout camp that involves two staff members. Emcee is getting ready to call up the next group for their skit/song and these two staff members come running out, one chasing the other with a stick yelling how he's gonna kill the other staff member. Couple of close calls, maybe dodge around the emcee and then off into the dark. Two or three skits/songs later, same thing again, except the other way around (chaser is chasee) and carrying a larger stick. Again, two or three more skits/songs later, we're back to the original chaser/chasee. Chaser now has a VERY LA

We have offered a Scoutmaster/leader competition at several of our camporee events. We sometimes make sure it isn't scheduled at the same time as the youth events so the scouts can cheer on their leaders, but not always. That depends on the folks who plan that camporee and what the event is. As others have mentioned, we have done Caveman golf a few times in the past where the leaders must make their own clubs and golf balls using only natural materials and then see how they fair at the four hole "Slates" Golf Course, all in the rough and through the woods/puckerbrush. When we hold this

Starting around 1989 or so and right up to 1999 or so, Pine Tree Council had mandatory training in place. You had a year to get (what was then called) basic training completed. If not, you were not allowed to recharter with your unit. Yes, we lost some leaders, but we had a stronger program with adults who got/understood what scouting was about. Then our council leadership changed and mandatory training went away. Since then, we've had to deal with many Webelos III Scout Troops, "Good Ol' Boy Units" (No Female Leaders allowed), violations of the Guide to Safe Scouting and so on.