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OneHour

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About OneHour

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    Texas

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  1. We empathize with y'all. We went through Ike. What was terrible wasn't the storm itself. Even though it was harrowing listening as the storm howled for 8 hours straight, but the after math ... the long lines at everywhere you turn, the power outage for one week and for some more than one, and most of all the rudeness that came out of people were the worst part of the storm! We didn't have the looting as Katrina, but there the rudeness and unscoutlike conducts came out of the woodwork! Our electricity didn't come back on for 6 days! Camping stoves and propane came in handy! The first coup
  2. Our sincere and heart-felt sympathy from Sam Houston Area Council. May the Great Scoutmaster of all scoutmasters in heaven receives Christopher home. 1Hour
  3. ... last night, at the Court of Honor, a packed gym, the parents and the boys gave me a standing ovation that lasted about 5 minutes after the CC called me up for my retirement recognition from scoutmastership. It brought me to tears when they played the slideshow tribute for me. Afterward the boys and parents lined up to hug me and shake my hands. Nothing more special than a 12 years old saying, "Thanks, Mr. [OneHour], for everything!" Now, I can head off to the scoutmaster pasture and graze peacefully.
  4. ... on the night after our second den meeting for my oldest son about 10 years ago when he was a Tiger, as we were driving home, my son blurted out, "Dad, that was fun. I want to be a den leader just like you when I grow up!" Tears came to my eyes. He is an Eagle scout and a 3rd year at University of Houston. ... on the night that I stepped down as a cubmaster, I stopped and asked one of my cubs why he is crying. He wouldn't tell me, but kept on crying. His mother told me later that night that he didn't want for me to go away and he was afraid that he won't see me again. I cried. H
  5. Camp Strake ... ah, brings back good memories when I was a Tenderfoot, circa 1977. Grand Lake was great! I can still remember the "orange" water that came out of those pipe! Talking about iron-fortified water. It was pitch black back then, when several young Tenderfoot (yours truly included) stood there in the middle of nowhere holding the bag while the older scouts chase "snipes" into them! aka ... the infamous "snipe hunt" that are now hazing! This is the same place where I attended my first Jamboree where my tentmate and I won second place in the "Cooking flapjack and whistle Dixie while
  6. OGE, how could I have forgotten OGE! My apologies OldGreatEagle! In our area, sports, band, and other extra curricular activities rule (over) scouting. 13-14 size seems to be the good size for our patrols. On the campout, it normalizes to 8-9 boys due to compete events. Before, when we held it to 6-7 scouts patrol, we ended up combining patrol to make one complete patrol. The patrols tend to lose their identity. Nowaday, our 9 patrols (7 permanent, 2 new scout patrols) stay intact during campouts. Btw, the scouts in the new scout patrol choose one of the 7 permanent patrols to go
  7. Second Class, 20 ASMs... that's a recipe for adult-lead troop. I have 10 ASMs, 9 mentoring the 9 patrols, with 1 for HA. Been at this for the last 13 years and been on this board for 9 years, as with some of the other old timers here, Packpaddle, Barry, Seattle, Beavah, and others, I have read and contributed my fair share of what a good/bad troop should be. Having said that, I am still learning. I have been on the small end to the big end to the mega end. There is no end. I continue to practice the BSA ideals; however, sometimes as others will tell you that ideals are just that. As a
  8. Sentinel, We did split 10 years ago. We and our twin both grew! They are at 60 boys and we are at 132. We tried, but no one seems to be able to figure out how to divide the troop (again). It is tough already to have very little adult involvement on the Committee side to help with the logistics of the troop. It is even tougher to find two sets of adults. We found as the last time ... who gets to go where is not easy to decide. District and Council are quick to say ... split. It is truly easier said than done. Bottom line is that unless a scoutmaster has dealt with a troop t
  9. Eagle732, please allow me a chance to defend the "big troop." I can only speak for our troop. "What I hear is not so much bragging about how many Eagles a troop has but how BIG the troop is. Those troops with 80 to 150 boys love to brag about how big they are." - We don't brag about how big we are (132 boys). We moan and groan about the size of our troop to the District, to Council, to whoever can help us in solving our woes. We reminisce of the time when we were 37 strong. If that is bragging, then yeah, we ask for help. We had to "cap" our troop. " I wonder how many Scoutm
  10. Develop a relationship with the Pack(s) will take efforts and times ... as others have suggested ... Den Chiefs are the first steps. As momo pointed out, lend them a helping hand at Pinewood Derby, Blue & Gold, Bike Rally, etc. Offer to take them on at Webelos Woods. In our troop, we did all those and then we invite the Webelos 1 & 2 to our "Scout Skills Day" where we host the webelos and teach them a few skills that the boys will learn in scouting (knot typing, fishing, setting up tents, cooking) etc. It's a 4 hours on a Saturday. If you don't talk to them until cross-over time,
  11. Beav, LoL! We are experiencing our first days of winter! High in the 60's, low's in the low 50's. Phewww, just got the chill, thinking about it! LoL! Yeah, but y'all got the beautiful year round temperature, woods and mountains! We got the heat, flat lands, and mosquitoes! Trade ya. Momo ... my youngest one was the same way, he kept coming to our troop meetings in Oct, Nov, Dec, and Jan two years ago when he was a Webelos 2. He loves our den meetings, but his eyes were transfixed on the troop and what his Eagle brothers were doing! He was lucky. He didn't have to convince the sc
  12. Our local Packs cross over in February. The boys usually report to the troops 1st weekend in March. This is best timing. This will give the new scouts at least 2-4 full campouts before summer camp! This will help with the homesickness at summer camp. It will give the new scout a little time to work on getting at least Tenderfoot before school is out. With summer camp and fall, they should be able to get to 2nd Class and then 1st class by next summer camp. Trail to First Class for us takes 1.5 to 2 years to finish, not the recommended 1st Class by 1st year. We still retain 95% of the bo
  13. In Houston ... our spring started this past October! It went from 100 degree for 7 months to 80 degrees for 5 months! Got a feeling that our Summer will start up soon! Talking about groundhog year!
  14. btw ... are we doing PM the correct way? ... probably not, but we (the boys and the adults) are sure having loads of fun! Frustrations, you bet cha! Confusions, plenty! Chaos? All the times! Are they learning leadership? Hope so ... kicking, screaming, pulling, coaching, mentoring, etc ... We will continue to do as we have been doing until someone at the District or Council comes and tells us that we are not doing it correctly! So far, no one has! As a matter of fact, we scored 2100 in our Journey to Excellence survey. I guess that it is a decent score for the troop our size.
  15. We have 113 scouts. Where we live,sports and academics are kings and scouting is secondary. So this is how our troop is run: 6 permanent patrols (max 15 membership) with 2 NSP's. 1 SPL 1 ASPL - over 3 permanent patrols + 1 NSP 1 ASPL - over 3 permanent patrols + 1 NSP 1 ASPL - over Troop Guides and Instructors (we call him Trails to First Class Boss) 1 ASPL - over 2 QMs, Chaplain Aide, Historian, Librarian, and Scribe 8 Patrol Leaders 8 Patrol QMs reporting to Troop QMs 6 permanent patrols are mixed ages 2 NSPs are most Webelos and some new older scouts who just joined.
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