Mush

The timing of this thread is eerily perfect as I'm heading out with our Webelos I den for a campout this weekend. It's going to be cooler (lows in the low- to mid-30s at night), so we'll definitely have the campfire roaring both evenings. As I read the comments from this thread and another thread that Beavah started this week, I started looking around and found some good stuff...I might give Purple Gorilla a try this weekend. I also got the Ray Harriot book, "Stories for Around the Campfire" a year or so ago from my wife...just now opened it up (let the flames commence for me waiting that long). I might also try the "Ghost of Jim Brannigan" story to contrast it with the humor of Purple Gorilla (just read 'Gorilla' tonight for the very first time and busted up laughing at the end).

Hopefully I'll have time to read through them both a few more times so I can attempt to do it without being tied to the book/sheet.

>>How, and why, did you play volleyball in a tent?

Well, we're back, and I'm happy to report that we had 7 boys out there, and 7 came back (not sure if it's the same 7 or not...).

It went well - I was dreading the worst, but it went over better than expected. We got out there and started getting everything set up. Some of the parents who had everything set up first helped set up the volleyball tent and got some of the boys out there practicing.

After all the tents/equipment were set up, we did a short flag ceremony, and I then introduced the Scout sign/oath/law to them. We had a couple of volunteers (and parents) help out with some food prep (we had most of it done before we headed out, but we did have them cut up some potatoes for the foil dinners). We swapped the boys out every few minutes with others who were out doing volleyball. The foil dinners went over EXTREMELY well...many of the parents commented that their sons ate those better than they had expected (and they ate all the veggies i.e. onions, potatoes, carrots too). The Assistant DL brought a digital thermometer to poke in as they got close to being finished. As they ate the dinners, we got the Dutch ovens on/under the coals for cobbler. While they were cleaning up from dinner (and were introduced to the 3-tub hot/hot/cold washing system), I threw out some kindling for them to practice making teepees to start a fire. I have to admit that they made some really good ones! When the Dutch oven cobblers were finished, another parent stopped by from home with ice cream (nice surprise for everyone as it was still in the mid-80s).

Our town's troop was in the camp site next to us, and they invited us to their campfire. Our initial plan was to have the boy who made the "best" teepee create/start our campfire. We chose to go with the boy scouts and forego our first den campfire until our next campout (already in the planning stages for September at a different State Park). I made a mortal mistake - the peach cobbler was gone, but there was still some of the cherry cobbler. To finish cleaning up, we threw the rest of the cobbler away and got water in the oven to start boiling. 5 minutes later, the SM/ASMs from the troop camp (who caught wind that we had extra dessert) came over to help take care of the extra...only to find out that we threw it away. I never knew of the unwritten law of never, ever, nevernevereverever, NEVER throwing away any food.

Yeah, I was the butt of some of the jokes at the troop campfire (the boys in the Webelos den got a charge out of it).

After the campfire (yep, though it wasn't an official campfire program, our boys got to see the Boy Scouts do some skits, games, songs, etc. After the campfire, we corralled the boys and got them in the tents to sleep. Another group camp was a bit loud until around midnight (about an hour after we turned in). They quieted down, and the quiet was welcome...just in time for the local barred owl to fire off about ten minutes of calling out. I fully expected to see all the Webelos running from their tents into their parents' cars. Surprisingly, none of them heard it.

All were up and moving before the time I had expected. We got them fed and had breakfast cleaned up (eventually). Most wanted to break camp around then, which was fine...we pushed back fishing a bit and chose a place that was different from where the pack usually throws lines out - the only problem was that the lake was turning over, and the wind shifted so the breeze was in our faces. Nobody caught anything after 20-30 minutes, and they were getting restless (we'll try again in September when it's cooler and the fish might be more active). The trail was nearby, so we did the 1.5 mile hike - showed them how to identify poison ivy and other plants/trees, etc. They were starting to wear down about this time,so we nixed most of the map/campus/rope stuff, with the exception of a planned meetup with the Boy Scouts, who taught our boys (via E.D.G.E.) how to tie a square knot.

Quick lunch, finish packing, and Leave No Trace walkaround...end of campout.

Thanks for the advice/suggestions, everyone!

Thanks for all the replies and advice, everyone!

I decided to drop the Readyman/First Aid stuff in lieu of a 1.5 mile hike (Tall Timber trail...sounds like a couple of you know of the park). I'm planning on the next campout to be a 2 nighter in Weldon Springs, then Comlara, Wildlife Prairie Park, etc...don't know if we'll get back to Moraine View, so it makes sense to get that hike in there now.

When I created the schedule, I was trying to shuffle in the "fun" activities with the "learning" activities so it wouldn't seem like they were in school - doing the hike instead of the first aid stuff definitely helps with that. As for free time, I tried to pad the times a little so that A) it accounted for snafus where things take longer than expected; and B) it gives them a little time to themselves in between events if things go according to plan. I'm fully expecting things to be off-schedule as soon as we meet up in town before heading out to the park. Just by chance, our town's Boy Scout troop (the younger ones...I'm guessing mostly Tenderfoots and Secondclass) will also be out there in the next group camp, and I've been talking with the ASM who will be out there with them. They might come over and help out a bit (thinking Tenderfoot 4C and EDGE for the knots or just a good game of tag or capture the flag).

We did foil dinners at OWL training (yep, I took that course just over a month ago), with "eeehhh" success. Tried them again with the family in a backyard campout, and they came out perfect. I understand the potential issues completely (at OWL, mine came off the fire almost mooing still). The boys will basically assemble the stuff, and we'll get the packets sealed up. The Assistant DL or I will man the fire to hopefully get them done perfectly. If it ends up not going well, we can use Saturday's lunch stuff for Friday's supper and improvise lunch on Saturday (yep, LeRoy is just a few miles away).

I'll let y'all know how it went...today's the day!

I think I've planned as much as I can for our Web 1 campout, but I still feel like I'm going to forget everything and have the Earth implode because of it. Any funny/horror stories from your first campout with scouts that you'd like to share? Any advice that you might be willing to impart?

Here's my itinerary (which I'm expecting to fall apart about 5 minutes after arriving):

FRIDAY, 15 JUNE

4:15 Meet at Elementary School Parking Lot for Inspection/Briefing

4:30 Depart for campground

4:45 Arrive at campground (group camp 2)

4:45-5:30 Set up camp/tents

5:30-7:00 Prepare and Eat Dinner

7:00-7:30 Meal Clean-up

7:30-8:15 Volleyball Belt Loop

8:15-9:00 How to Build a Campfire

9:00-10:00 Campfire Program

10:00--10:30 Turn in for the night

SATURDAY, 16 JUNE

7:00 Everyone (hopefully) up!

7:00-7:45 Breakfast

7:45-8:15 Meal Clean-up

8:15-9:30 Fishing

9:30-10:30 Knots, Ropes, Compass work

10:30-11:30 Readyman / First Aid work

11:30-12:15 Break Camp

12:15-12:45 Lunch

12:45-1:15 Leave No Trace

1:15 Depart Moraine View for home

Meal plans:

Dinner:

Foil Dinners in the fire (charcoal)

Hamburger, onions, carrots, potatoes, seasoning

Peach/cherry Cobbler in Dutch Ovens

Canned peaches or cherry pie filling, yellow/white cake mix, butter, cinnamon

Breakfast: (over cast iron skillet on stove)

Bacon

Pancakes

Fruit

Milk

Juice

Coffee, coffee, coffee, COFFEE!!!!

Lunch:

PBJ/ ham & cheese sandwiches, chips, fruit, cookies, drink

Welcom wrobbel! I'm in the same boat (new Webelos leader), so we won't be going through this alone LOL.

The Webelos Leader Guide is still being published and has been updated in the past 2-3 years. I also went to our district's scout store and picked up the BSA fieldbook and the Boy Scout Handbook so I can hopefully learn and then introduce the boys to the ways that they'll see/learn/teach when they cross over. Baloo's Bugle (located at http://usscouts.org/bbugle.asp) looks to have quite a bit of information in there, too. In our pack, I think the biggest problem with the Webelos level is that it was treated/run the same as the Wolf/Bear ranks (just den meetings, working on ranks, etc...no camping/denner/den emblem or name etc). Outdoor Webelos Leadership training might also be a good thing to attend, especially if you didn't go through the Webelos rank as a scout.

I've also learned a ton from this site in the 3-4 weeks I've been researching. Google searches always bring up the pertinent threads on here, and there's a lot of collective knowledge among these members.

Hi everyone!

The name's Mush, and my older son just finished his Bear year and is starting the Webelos experience. I also have a younger son beginning the Wolf year, so I'll likely be involved for quite a while!

I got involved more by accident than anything...along with another parent, I signed up as an assistant Tiger DL under a pretty experienced Leader. Because of a number of issues, the other parent and his son did not continue scouting past the first month. 3 months later, our DL took a new job in another state. Guess who that left as the new DL for a group of 8 first-graders...yep!

Our pack typically has the parent continue with his/her son through the ranks, so I went through the Wolf and Bear ranks as DL. My own scouting experience only had me going about half-way through the Bear rank before dropping out of scouting (I think our Den Mother's family moved away, and the den simply dissolved), so I'm in completely new territory with the Webelos/AOL rank.

To help out with the Committee, I decided to sign on as coordinator for recruiting new Tiger Cubs into the pack as it was an unfilled position. While it has been a learning experience, I think we've had decent success; this year, we had a total of 30 first-grade boys in our school district; 18 of them expressed interest in scouting, with 17 signing up and 16 earning the Tiger Cub badge. We're trying our first spring recruitment this week to try getting the boys who will be entering first grade next fall (fingers are crossed).

Last year's Webe IIs crossed over in February, and the Webe I den dissolved at the beginning of the school year last fall, leaving my Bear den of 8 (6 active) as the senior den in the pack. Since Webelos is completely unknown to me, I started prepping for the next 18-20 months a little early by getting a copy of the handbook, researching online (that's how I found this place!), etc. I have to admit that I'm a little excited about the next year or so. We already have a den overnighter planned mid-June, with at least one more campout in the planning stages for August/September. We'll be implementing the denner/assistant denner positions starting this week...I toyed around with it in the Bear rank, but there just didn't seem to be much for them to do. We're also finalizing plans for a den chief from our local troop. We're going with a Den emblem as well as a Den name/yell - I don't think this has been done with Webelos in the past in our pack, so again, it's uncharted territory for us. Our CM's sons are in the same dens as my sons, so we're getting a good working relationship together. The assistant CM is also an ASM in our local troop and likely the presumptive SM in-waiting. Throw in 2 Eagle scouts as den leaders (one of the Wolf dens and the Bear den), and I think the potential's there for a pack with a lot of potential.

The biggest issue for us is filling committee positions. We have an outgoing chair with no names for a replacement yet, a new incoming communications/web position, a new treasurer, and several other positions that are currently vacant. One of the DLs (an Eagle) and I are unofficially taking on the shared role of Pack Trainer, as we feel that this is one of the areas that really needs improvement. Our first goal is to ensure that the training is up-to-date for all of the leaders (not easy with problems getting adult applications processed through district/council/national channels - not sure where the problems are yet). Second, our plans are to publicize the training opportunities for leaders to allow them as many opportunities as possible (e.g. Powwows, Wood Badge, Roundtable, etc).

I'll probably be fairly quiet on the boards, being more of a lurker for a while as I absorb all the information (that, and I have about 60 other hours of things to do every week). This site has helped me out a ton already...I'm looking forward to learning more!