Ohio_Scouter

Hi Lisa, Whose bright idea was it to foist the new group of scouts on you earlier rather than later in February? If it's a done deal, then you have a decision to make to accommodate the new scouts. I don't think it's fair to change any of the other scouts' plans for the February winter survival skills campout since it was well-planned out long ago. I agree with OGE. Let the new boys' parents decide whether their boys are prepared to spend the entire weekend with the older scouts, or perhaps just participate during the day on Saturday. Since the camp is local as you say, the new s

Our CO donates a couple of hundred dollars per year to the Troop. Other than that, we fund-raise for all our expenses.

gwd- As you can see, the boys are maturing, and we almost missed it !

OGE has it right IMHO. Any time I hear anybody say Scouts is "gay", I just whip out my Philmont, Seabase, Northern Tier, or Yellowstone/Grand Teton white-water rafting/backpacking photos and show them what we've done lately. I also tell them that most of the guys who walked on the moon were Scouts. It seems to shut them up quickly. BTW, just got a call from one of my Eagles who said he landed a Ranger job at Philmont this summer--not too "gay" there .

Bear12, Sounds like the best possible outcome. Once again, congratulations to you and your Eagle son. I know you are very proud of him. Now, I have to get crackin' on my boy's Eagle COH, too. My keynote speaker dropped out on me due to health reasons, so I have to find a backup quickly. Good luck!

OGO, Still trying not to judge the father yet, although it's becoming more and more difficult with each bit of new information you proffer...maybe he doesn't know how to camp, who knows? Anyway, does this scout have any other adults in his family (older brother, uncle, etc.) who could accompany him on a troop campout?

One of the nicest things anyone ever said to me came from the father of a Boy Scout who thanked me for volunteering so much of my time helping his son and his buddies in our scouting program. This guy was a tradesman who had 3 kids and worked several jobs to make ends meet. He often worked nights and weekends, so he wasn't able to spend much time hiking, camping, or backpacking with the Boy Scouts, but he clearly recognized the value and benefits to his son of the time spent by other scout fathers, and he wasn't ashamed to tell me so. I was happy to do it. My son was in scouting at the

Bear12, Congratulations to you and your Eagle son; you must be very proud of him.

Our favorite winter campout is more of a weekend lock-in at the Army National Guard armory in Angola, Indiana, not far from Fort Wayne. Each February, the Guard let's us use their facilities for the weekend including their indoor basketball court, showers, and full-service kitchen. For outside fun, on Saturday morning, we head over to Pokagon State Park where they have a dual-track, quarter mile toboggan run. Four scouts each get on two toboggans and race each other down the track. We take pictures of each team as they race down the hill. At the end of the run, the scouts pick up thei

Leprechaun, Here's one version of Thorns and Roses courtesy of the BSA Long Peaks Council: Thorns and Roses - an evaluation technique for bettering group relations. Introduction. While many Scout Troops/Venture Groups either attend National High Adventure Bases, or conduct their own long-term adventures (6 nights or more), and almost all scouts have a fantastic time on the trips, once in a while a dark cloud can occur to spoil the trip for one or more of the participants. The dark cloud is typically a personality problem or clash between two or more scouts and/or scout and lead

Welcome, deels! Thanks for sticking it out in scouting when others don't. You'll find a lot of help here on this forum. All you have to do is ask. Oftntimes, you don't even have to ask; many of us will give you our advice whether you want it or not .

Hi Mike, Welcome back to scouting. Many of us here get a lot of personal enjoyment and fulfillment out of scouting. Even after our sons make Eagle, age out, or otherwise leave scouting, many of us stay on to help out where we can--not to mention all the interesting individuals we meet through these discussions. Hope you have fun here!

Welcome, young Eagle1991. I'm an ASM from the Miami Valley Council in Dayton, Ohio. Lots of great scouters on this forum with a wealth of experience and no shortage of opinions, so stick around and meet them.

Happy New Year, gang! It snowed here again last night in southern Ohio, so I guess it's time to think seriously about some winter camping! I think we have a ski trip scheduled for January and a sled-building and racing competition slated for February in northeastern Indiana .

Thanks, Eamonn. Happy New Year, and hope yours is even better than 2007.

Hello, tree. Welcome to this forum. The only restriction I'm aware of is that a Scoutmaster or Assistant Scoutmaster should not conduct a scout's Board of Review. As you know, that is reserved mainly for troop committee members and sometimes others. I've not seen or heard of any restriction about an Assistant Scoutmaster conducting a Scoutmaster's Conference on behalf of the Scoutmaster. In fact, in this particular case, I believe the Eagle candidate is very wise to ask you this favor to avoid a perceived conflict of interest situation. Carry on, and best wishes to you, your troop,

sassafras, Sounds like your cubs had a wonderful time on the Dan Beard trail yesterday, and you couldn't have picked a more beautiful day for a hike! If they were experienced hikers, I would expect the scouts to finish the entire hike before awarding the patch, but, in my opinion, it sounds like everyone did their best, so these cubs and their leaders deserve the patch to commemorate their first "high adventure" activity. Very cool indeed .

Well, it looks like BW and GW have hit new lows!

Bonjour, Florian, and welcome! I will look into scoutwiki.org as soon as possible. I believe the majority of users on this site are American, but I know that there are several Scouters here from Australia, also. There is no need to excuse your English; your English is much better than my French .

Well, everybody has an opinion. WV, let us know what you decide.

My humble recommendation is to wait until your son is ready for a Philmont trek and go with him as an adult advisor. You won't regret it. Take your wife, too, if she's game and registered with your troop. You can always go to Philmont Training Center when you're too old or feeble to hike the backcountry--which may not be until you're past 70+ or 80+ years old .

I'm with you, Brent and Barry. My mom told me that if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. So I'll just say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

mmmmontano, Any other troops in your area that would be willing to register your son and help him complete a reasonable Eagle service project?

Fifty year rule, huh? I guess that makes me an historical artifact. Wonder if I'm also a protected site?

Our guys go a full 10 seconds. Somehow, they're convinced that germs can't move that fast.