qwazse

We have a Eureka Teragon 4 that child #1 got and is now the tent of choice for child #3. The only issue was the fly's plastic windows that ruptured in maniacal gale force last-gasp-of-winter winds after it's second outing. Needs regular reapplication of packing/duct tape. It's suitable as a 3 man (cubs), 2 man (scout before the voice drops an octave), or 1 man (i.e., me). I'm guessing it has another couple of dozen outings left in it. As BD implies, he'll be chucking the Walmart tent in the trash the minute he wakes up after (or during) the first storm or gnat swarm, so get him st

Nostalgia rises as I stare at an empty but probably quite useless plastic coffee container.

Sounds like you did a great job listening to your team. Now you need to think of your next moves in "a game with a purpose." Like any coach, you gotta suck in your breath and not let your displeasure overwhelm everything. Let your ASPL know that based on what you saw in the weekend he may one day make a good SPL. Tell him there is room for improvement, but the best way to figure that out how to improve is to hear from his team. In a PLC have the SPL go over things (the usual "what went well", "what didn't go so well","what we should do differently"). Don't let this ramble on o

Sorry if my choice of the word "cynicism" was equated with faithlessness. There was a time when that wouldn't be the case. BP - ... Dark Ages, countless numbers of wars, and enslavement of entire cultures by so called "good Christians" ... OE-AE - ... the people who claimed to be Christians and missed the mark ... don't align with what a 'Christian' should be Your summary judgments and condescension are duly noted. Scripture (and experience) tells me none are "good", not one. I'll work from that lens and avoid delusions that my walk is any better. My point is, that the one

Youngest son and I heard the story on the radio. What a riot.

NJ - It's probably a good idea to copy those E-mails to whoever you are training as your backup committee chair! Do you save your E-mails? You could put them all in a folder and say to some third party "here. please review for YP purposes", and you've fulfilled the policy. Have you made the boys any safer? Not a wit. Why? Your correspondence is largely administrative the person getting them would tune them out. And, if you were a predator, you'd send lots of inocuous E-mail's with cc's until you've picked out the boy who is willing to correspond on more than "strictly business".

I know it's small consolation, but there seems to be no amount of telling beforehand. Venturing daughter on her first hike decided to not put socks becuase 1) we were rushed and 2) we were only hiking a mile into camp. Next morning: lessons in mole skin application before 6 more miles on the trail. Silly me for thinking I didn't need to check footgear on 14 year olds. As far as aftercare at home: evening soaks in epsom salts. Keep clean and dry before bed time. In the morning put guaze over any blisters that haven't popped. I generally prefer powder for AF.

t366e, Thanks for throwing out the question, and it's too bad you did not hear from some other SPLs/JASMs. (They'll probably all write in after your weekend's over.) There is a very fine line between "scrutinizing" and "making feel like a failure". An event can not go as planned and still be a success. And leadership always occurs. Sometimes it's just not the leadership you expect. So stay positive, keep an eye out for those youth who are showing some leadership and be generous with the "attaboy"s.

my #1: Tent optional. Try ripping the cieling out of your hotel room on a starry night -- and that would only work if you were on the top floor.

That said, I think it is a very healthy excersize to have the scout collect reference letters.

acco4 had two questions the first one was rhetorical, but that never stopped us before ... How did JASM get into the discussion of Eagle Scout = SPL? Sorry for the tangent, but I was just saying that if our troop doesn't require rank for JASM, so we don't limit SPL to the lower ranks. ... should a Scout be able to become an Eagle without serving, or at least attempting, to hold the office of SPL? Yes. And we should expect more from a librarian Life scout than a first-class scout. That's the rules, I didn't write them. (Although, I would prefer that 1st class scout spend a stin

Z. I've heard of Falun Gong. More power to you. 1. I'll defer to other's about the religious award stuff. I know there's an alternative for faiths that don't have an awards program. I can't remember what it is. The bottom line is that you understand your faith at a level that would be expected of a thoughtful and caring adult adherant of your religion. 2. Whatever your religious leaders say is service to your faith would count. Bottom line: the time you spend should help foster the religous life of the folks around you. 3. Teaching definitely counts as leadership.

drmbear ... making a nice cup of coffee and something good to eat ... I'm with you on so many levels on that one! Besides, you'd be amazed at the crossovers who'll stop by and ask to help you roll grape-leaves, grind hummus, or chop parsley for tabbouleh salad. Or if cooking isn't your thing, just sit down with rope and spars and start making a camp gadget, or be in the axe yard knocking out tent pegs.

It makes tour plans a little easier to sign. Besides that, there are no benefits. It depends on the leadership style of the CC. He/she may be tempted to act as the SM. If the partner has enjoyed direct contact with boys before (e.g. Den Leader) he/she should consider being ASM. If she has a track record coordinating adult committees, then maybe CC will be a good fit. The advantage of the CC being from a different family is that you are forced to work at communication. There's no taking it for granted. This usually helps formally get the word out to the rest of the troop.

Quadruple ditto of what niel_b said. Most importantly, are the boys having fun? Do they feel welcome? Do the adult leaders feel like they are accomplishing things with the den? If there's no fun, if boys don't feel loved, if adults just see their kids "jumping through hoops", it's not a den. You can bring the adults together and say "we want our den back!"

BP, I have to take issue with your Being a Christian is NOT:'s 1) Being able to define the miracle of the Resurrection by the very limited understanding human knowledge can provide. Defined: A guy dies, violently and certainly. Then he's hiking with his homies, busting their crib, eating their fish, making campfires, and then hopping the clouds (without any COPE rigging). How much more sophistication do you need? 2) Defining your faith by what particular Denomination you are since all of them were created by humans and not God. Jesus showed us how to live our lives he did not

Finally pulled the 2007 G2SS. This is a new section. (And my wife wonders why I keep this "old stuff".) The old stuff is still there (items were simply renumbered). I'm wondering if the new section comes from Personal Safety Awareness for Venturing meeting guide. It wasn't referenced in the 2007 G2SS. I'm not inclined to chase this down to its source. Since I don't have to sort out where anyone's sleeping (or whatever) tonight, I'm going to see if I can start staring at my eyelids before midnight.

This happens at every level of scouting. Older youth have 10+ calendars and no skill or ability to synchronize them. Credit your SPL for giving the ASPL the heads up more than a day in advance and move on. How much leadership does one need to get a bunch of boys to show cross-overs some skills? I guess you're going to find out! It's a little easier with the crew, but I ask myself "If I don't do __, what's the worst that can happen?" If the answer is someone getting hurt, I intervene. If the answer is my youth look shoddy and disorganized or the youth wind up improvising a ga

So G2SS is referencing "National Venturing Committee" when it doesn't exist? That's rich. Anyway, the policy is no different than what we've been trained in VLST. I meant to compare with the wording in the old G2SS, but forgot to last night. FWIW - from my talks with camp rangers regarding venturers, the last place I need to worry about fornication is where they are *sleeping*. More coffee, please.

Even for those of us who are spitting distance from Summit, the calculus is a challenge. The last Jambo broke the bank for a couple of my boys who wanted to come sailing with our crew -- making it hard to fill our boats. Now my crew is invited to join the council contingent, but will we pass on a superactivity in 2012 so we can afford 2013? It's going to be a tough sell.

This depends on what your troop's vision is. If you believe candidates for Eagle are entitled to an opportunity to hold the "point position" in the troop, then you want to increase the odds of that happening by asking guys who earned their Eagle to sit out the elections. If you believe that Eagles should have opportunities to "man point" during their scouting career. Then you should invite them to throw their hat in the ring. If you believe that a position has more to do with what a boy can contribute, you'll minimize rank restrictions in making assignments. If you believe it has

pack - nice thoughts, but not necessarily Christian. As I mentioned in other threads, that "label" was applied by folks outside the faith for what at the time was considered a Jewish sect that had this obstinate persuasion that a certainly dead Christ came back to a certain vibrant physical life. Nothing metaphysical about it. If you believed in the resurrection of the body with Jesus as the first example (the down payment, if you will), someone was going to call you a Christian. If your belief involved some more nuanced abstraction, they'd call you something else. Not sure

POR (or lack thereof) may govern rank, but rank should not govern POR (or lack thereof). Likewise, we don't offer JASM to every 16+ y.o. Eagle. You have to be willing to stay part of the life of the troop. We may offer it to non-eagles.

Hey ALB, FWIW I'll be praying for you tonight. (Rumor has it that helps from time to time.) Not just because it's your kid or your pack. You said it was your church, so whatever decision they make will affect the ministry of your house of worship for years down the road. Pastor has to walk a fine line between helping people maintain their dignity and reading the writing on the wall.

I can believe that a guy would show up drunk with his kids. It happens. Definitely a have the DE step in on a organizational level and the pastor step in on a personal level. (Any pastor worth his salt has had to deal with drunks coming in the church door. Your house is an extention of the church.) And don't be surprised about folks willing to step in and help if their existing unit is sailing smoothly. Your willingness to be mentored and a desire to make something work provides an opportunity for a gifted leader to try something new.