moxieman

Two months to plan a camporee and you don't have a date or location set? It'll be difficult, but you could still pull it off. I've done it before on such short notice, but it's not easy. I've planned/participated on staff at more camporees than I'd like to count over the past 20 years in three different parts of the country (and New Brunswick, Canada). You need a minimum of six months, preferable 8 to 12 to plan a camporee, depending on how ambitious a theme you have and what the expectations are of those who would attend. With only two months to go, here are some quick suggest

Gold Winger wrote: However, Pioneering is about building things from nothing Wait, building things from nothing? Wouldn't that be the MacGyver MB?

SctDad, you and me both. I've never heard of such a thing at a scout camp. Then again, we're blessed up here in the Maine wilderness as our council rings are set in natural kettle-hole formations, so that as long as you speak-up, the 300 or so scouts/leaders will hear you. We do have lights for safety reasons, but rarely use'em. As for project ideas, some our lodge have done have been mentioned before, like rebuilding the council ring and seating. However, the lodge also rebuilt the waterfront at one of the camps in 1999. This was no small project. The camp sits on a steep bank

Ah, welcome. You had me perplexed by the subject line at first. I was wondering why a PBS series based out of Boston would be posting in the New to the Forum area.

I'm all for a "Home Ec/Shop" combo requirement. Back in my school system, EVERYONE had to take Home Ec/cooking/etiquette AND Shop BEFORE they could go onto high school. Personally, they were probably the two most useful classes I ever took. In Home Ec, we had a two part final. We put on a multi-course meal for the school faculty and then we went out at to a nice restaurant with all the friggin' plates/silverware. I honestly can't recall half of what it was all called, but I don't look half-the-fool that others do at fancy wedding receptions when I encounter that same almost intimidati

ManyHats, Is there a festival coordinator you have to go through to set-up your booth? You might want to consult with them to see if they know what the other food booths are offering and then make sure whatever you offer is different. Back when I was a scoutmaster (now district volunteer), our town had a huge Independence Day celebration (roughly 40,000 people would show-up in a town with a population of 8,000) down to the local park (an overnight layover point for Benedict Arnold on his failed attempt to capture Quebec City). The organizers were smart--no two booths could sell the

How often does he get paid? Back in my days on camp staff, we got paid twice--half way through the summer and at the end of summer. Send him some spending money for him to use at the trading post or when he gets to go to town.

I am not a big fan of them for the reasons others have stated except at summer camp where our camps still use the large 2 person wall tents. However, my younger bro (and current scoutmaster in our hometown) also participates with a local mountain man group. He wanted either a pyramid or diamond shelter for a long time, but not having much cash, he couldn't afford one. You should have seen the look on his face when I gave him a diamond shelter I made for Christmas a few years back having followed directions found out there somewhere on the net. Didn't come out as water tight as I had ho

If you trace the link, it was originally linked off of the website of Troop 19 of Nashua, NH: http://www.troop19.org/ You could find a contact link on that website and ask them if they still have the info.

"There was a show about a family trying to survive on a homestead, 1800's style. There was a British show about a family living as Eritish gentry in the early 1900s. What I found interesting was the amount of work that had to be done without technology." GW, you forgot "Colonial House" in which a bunch of people were plunked down on the DownEast Maine Coast and had to make like the pilgrams for a summer.

We hold our Cub and Boy Scout Roundtables on the same night and location in separate rooms. As we're a rural district, many of our leaders are volunteers in both the pack and troop (and sometimes the crew too) in their home town. Many have been in scouting for several years. So those leaders who find they have previously been through whatever the Cub RT Commissioner is presenting are always welcome into the Boy Scout session. Our Cub Training chair offered NLE and then Cub Leader Specific at our RT location this past fall and it was a big hit with the new leaders and got them into the

This was a terrible disaster and a moment of silence was held at the court of honor I attended this evening. However, it could have been a LOT worse. Imagine the headlines if this tornado had ripped through three or four hours later when most/all those scouts had been asleep in their tents. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims and their families.

You never know what you will get unless you ask. A little over a decade ago, my unit was sending a crew to Philmont, but didn't have any backpacking tents. So a couple of the scouts wrote a letter to Kelty Tents asking what kind of a discount they could get on their products. Kelty didn't send a response letter back. Instead, they shipped us enough backpacking tents (3 different designs) for the entire crew. The scouts sent a thank you letter in response. Maybe the right person opened/read that letter?

As to the original question in this thread: Our council's camp supplies the two-man canvas wall tents with two cots. These tents are pitched up on platforms. When I served as an ASM in my grad school days in Lubbock, TX, South Plains Council DID NOT supply tents for either of their summer camps. Most of the troops I met down that way owned a set of the canvas wall tents for their troop. Why? 'Cause the intense West Texas sun did a quick number on modern nylon tents. "Modern" tents were saved for high adventure trips-only. Now something else for you to ponder in this topic.

Well, he could be further north in my old temporary stomping grounds in South Plains Council.

Pine Tree Council (southwestern Maine) has held this event for about five years or so and it has been very successful/well received. We hold it in the early fall right after fall recruitment, which gives new Cubbies a taste of what is to come in scouting. I last helped out two years ago. We had picture perfect weather and had to make a second run to the warehouse-shoppers club for lunch materials as 300 preregistered youth became 700 actual youth plus their parents.

Personally, I'd push HA over Jambo. Why? 'Cause you can't go as your hometown unit to the BSA Jambo. You would have to go as part of your council's contingent and there's no guarantee that they'll keep your scouts together. They like to mix-up the Jambo units. With HA, your scouts, who will have been doing scouting together in your unit for a while before they get to HA, will remain together on an HA or split into group if your troop is really large, but you won't get mixed with scouts from other units like at Jambo. Of course, should you choose to attend a Jambo in another natio

scoutldr, there are already two varieties of knots available for prolific posters in your choice in White or Black

You will find it on page 18 of the SPring 2008 Eagleletter "Life MEmbers of the National Eagle Scout Association can set themselves apart from other Eagles with a special Eagle Scout square knot--this one with a silver border signifying their support of Eagle Scouts through NESA Life Membership. (Only one Eagle Scout Award square knot may be worn.)..." And it looks like others didn't see this topic, so they started a new topic on it. I look forward to replacing the Eagle Knots on my three uniforms.

I've never run one, only participated in one as a scout. At the time, our district got the local chapter of the American Red Cross involved. Victims had realistic looking wounds (some with gushing fake blood). At each station after our patrol did what we thought was necessary, we had a debrief by the Red Cross volunteers and then it was on to the next station.

In addition to what others have suggested, some of your major outdoor retailers (LL Bean, REI, etc.) offer repair services like this. We dropped off a four man timberline tent at Beans (it's only 40 miles from here) with a 6 inch gash in the fabric. They mended it for us and for a reasonable fee with shipping. We didn't have to go back to get it.

Welcome Rick, In my college days I served as an ASM with Troop 56 up in Plymouth, NH. Currently, I'm the Boy Scout Roundtable Commissioner in Kennebec Valley District, Pine Tree Council not too far east of you.

That's my punishment for supporting my scout shop 3 weeks ago. (chuckle) They go on sale afterwards. I'm glad they're altering them. I'm not happy with the pair I bought. They don't fit right. Oh, the waist is correct, but they don't fit right in other ways, just can't describe it well. AND I HATE THE SEWN IN WEB BELT! I'm going to dig out my seam ripper and unstitch that worthless thing and remove it.

I like Epalmer's idea. One of the extra things we've added to ours regardless of whether or not we can have a fire (and even in Maine we've had bans before) is a flute player hidden off in the woods playing a few notes as the clansman approach the circle and again as they leave.

Personally, I hate that there are 'devices'/pins one uses in order to distinguish what award one has earned with a knot that can be for more then one type of award (for example the Key Knot: Scoutmaster's Key, District Committee Key, Commissioner's Key, etc.) for some awards, but for other similar awards there are different knots (the various Cub Scout Leader awards). Why doesn't National do it all one way or the other (few knots and lots of devices or NO devices and lots of knots)?