raisinemright

Between Scout camp and a Christian Camp in the Upper Peninsula, our four kids will be spending a total of 10 weeks away. Our oldest is on staff in the UP for 5 weeks so that skews the numbers. For the most part, we forget they exist because I know in every case they are being well taken care of. I did go to scout camp for four days and am a bus driver to the Bible camp. In both cases, my kids are treated just like the rest of them with no favoritism.

Our troop has a strict "no Electronics" policy. Course, the camp is so far in the boonies, i had to walk over a mile to get three bars on my phone. I stayed for four days and had one get get a small case of the homesicks. I gave absolutely no consideration to giving him a phone cause I knew he'd have far worse problems. A few minutes of talking to me and another dad during the walk to his MB class and the lad was in great spirits again. My 2C son got sick after I left and had to go to a clinic in town. When the leader called me, I asked him to put my son on the phone. I had a pa

So, Acco40, in your interpretation multiple weeks at summer camp if they are in their own tent that they pitched should be able to count? Personally I'd like to see it count as our summer camp (Lost Lake) has the boys sleep in tents that we have to supply and of course they pitch. I can undertand why they don't count it and family camping trips, although I'd like to. Our family camping is pretty rustic and is truly camping, but others take the rolling Holiday Inn approach. Oh well

The go-bag is a great idea. I was talking to one of our other ASM's last night about it and he suggested another addition. The scout health form. I suggested folding and sealing it in a food saver vacuum seal bag so it can't get damaged but is available if necessary, such as if the scout is off on his own or away from the file of health forms and gets injured. Also, I've seen foil packets of water rations at surplus stores. They have a multi year shelf life.

Of course our Tigers participate. One of my favorite scouting stories I tell is that of my son. He was a Tiger and our family was new to Scouts. He was also very shy and afraid to step out for anything. As we walked up to the store for our first show and sell, I was figuring that he would just hide under the table. Instead, a Webelo scout introduced himself, put his arm around my son and siad, "Let me show you how to sell popcorn." They went off and began to sell. Within ten minutes, my son was off on his own. A few minutes later, a big burly long haired leather clad Harley type dude w

I spent about 30 years as a chaperone for a Junior High municipal ski club. If a kid got caught with pot or alcohol, they were instantly a former member of the club and got the opportunity to call their parents and tell them why. Most of our trips were just night skiing locally, but we would also take an annual 7 day trip, usually to Canada. Over time, we developed a system of unannounced room searches and developed a portion of the permission slip that specifically noted our policy regarding drugs and alcohol. Both the student and the parent had to sign it. The parents also had to agree

Here's a pretty uplifting story. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0527eaglescouts0527.html A 13 year old scout just achieved Eagle and became the fourth generation in his family to earn that distinction. All are still alive.

I'm a bus driver for a Christian Camp in Michigan. We have two coaches and also use a traditional schoolbus. On the diesel coaches, anytime it goes in the shop, we're looking at a big bill. Our most recent bus was a retired Greyhound. We bought it for $20,000 and put about $25,000 into it before we ever took our first trip. School buses are far cheaper to operate and repair, but our round trip averages around 900 miles so we really need the coaches. If you do it, be sure that one of the key "owner's" of the bus is a mechanic and is willing to spend a great deal of extra time on t

This past weekend, I took Outdoor Leadership Training. On Saturday, someone yelled fire and 50 people who by their very nature run toward the fire...ran toward the fire. It was on very dry ground and was taking off quickly. I had walked near the fire area about ten minutes beforehand and there was no fire. (we think someone was sneaking a cigarette) I ran to our firepit and grabbed our fire bucket, others grabbed buckets, filled pots and grabbed shovels. Some were just stomping it out with their feet. Response was immediate and a potential catastrophe was averted Our intrepid group

Absolutely. I realized a couple years ago that being a scout leader does not mean that I am responsible to personally finance everyone's activities. One, I cannot afford it and two, it does nothing to teach responsibility to the boys. My den dues are $1.00 per meeting. I just use that as my slush fund when I need to get supplies. Right now, we probably have a whopping $25.00 in the jar. When I buy stuff, I round it up to the nearest dollar and remove the money from the jar. I don't keep any records of it cause it's only about $100 per year and no one has ever asked. If it see

Great big globs of greasy grimy gopher guts, mutilataed monkey meat, chopped up baby parakeet, french fried eyeballs sitting in a pool of blood, and I forgot my spoon...But I had a straw. That one gets me choked up every time. This link is full of gruesome, gross and goofy songs perfect for any Scouting campfire. http://www.angelfire.com/oh/claremansfield/gross.html

My two sons and I worked on that one as an individual award. The E-kit is still ready to use in the basement. I thought about doing it as a den but our local red cross is outrageously expensive to get training to teach basic aid training. Is there somewhere I could just get the book and teach myself the course? It doesn't look to be more than common sense. When my youngest son did the EP as a Wolf, we skipped McGruff but had him teach the den NRA's Eddie Eagle Gun Safe Program. What to do if you find a gun. "Stop, Don't Touch, Leave the Area, Tell an Adult." He did a good job

If the boys get sick of hunting snipe, try a new challenge. There is another tough flightless member of the aviary family that is a real challenge. The bill yard is a multicolored bird. The male of the species has a single stripe around the body. If you take the boys bill yard shooting they'll remember it for life. After that, go hunting for Nauga's. Nauga hides make great furniture and casual coats.

If the scout or his parents aren't going to go along with the program, who says he needs to advance. Maybe he's happy at 2nd class. The SM should have some say over whether or not a boy is eligible to run for PL. This scout ('s parents) is disqualified for PL by nature of his inability to camp. On the surface, it's a hard stand to take, in reality, it's very easy. We had a scout in our Pack who just moved on to a new troop. His mom would not allow him anywhere without her or his dad. His dad works some weird hours so he's not usually available. She does go often and has alrea

My company's mission statement is called the #### Spirit. The annual employee of the year award (of which I'm a recipient) is called the #### Spirit award. You might be able to call it the Troop ### Scouting Spirit Award. That way it allows you to have some flexibility toward the rules as there is no real definition of Scouting Spirit. Have some criteria written down in case anyone asks. It sounds like a great idea and a special way to honor this young lad. If you want to get a little whimsical, the "feet First" award as in he always jumps in feet first. Or the "Won't Say No

We're CVC in Ojibwa council. I've heard of the trail and checked it a little bit. We did Nordhouse Dunes near Ludington last September. There are several miles of marked trails but we started in Ludington State Park and just hiked the beach along Lake Michigan for about 8 miles and made camp. We hiked back the next day. It was pretty fun. The boys got to climb a lighthouse and check out the remnants of a old shipwreck. Just a few beams left over. I'm taking my 2C and my Bear, along with my brother, his dog, a friend and his two non Scout boys to Hoist Lakes Foot Travel Area nor

Cool, I made sure my sons got into Scouts just so I could go backpacking. My 2C scout is going after his BP merit badge. We've done two 15 milers so far, but one was only one night so it didn't count. Our troop has a few guys in what we call our backpacking crew who are all working on the badge. Last fall, we did a 15 miler at Holly Rec. area. The boys hiked 10 miles in the rain. When we got back to camp, they decided they wanted to go out again that day. We did three more miles so the next day, all we had to do was hike back to the car to get our 15 miles in. These guys had a bla

Sorry for the delay. Been out of town. My wife e-mailed me the following about the glaze. Folk Art brand Outdoor gloss sealer - at Joann's in with the paint and One Stroke painting supplies, it comes in small bottles (usually 2 oz) Paint on several coats of gloss, letting it dry in between. If the item is glass, after last coat of gloss is dry, put item in cold oven, turn to 350 degrees, set timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn off oven but don't open the door. Let the oven cool down before taking item out. We had the Bears do the first painting of the pieces. She

This year, we went to Walmart and got some cheap bowls. Printed out a Cub Scout logo and used some sort of craft glaze my wife has to affix the logo to the bottom of the bowl. She oven baked the glaze in to waterproof it. We put a thank you card and a packet of Cub Scout popcorn in it. Every leader, CM, ACM, CC, treasurer, and a couple others got one. Total cost was about $20.00. One year, we were real flush with cash so we got each leader and volunteer a Cub Scout logo insulated mug. I like to give something kind of useful and since my den was doing them, I got to choose.

We have everyone over to my house on one of two days a week before the race to weigh, adjust and quarantine the cars. That way, there are no problems or delays checking in cars the day of the race. Plus, this year, we had one car that was really cool, but the scouts dad didn't realize that the wheels had to maintain the width. So they were able to go home and redesign the car. He still won Best Design. Race day is way over the top with a bunch of small raffle prizes and we raffle off a couple larger items too, like a BB gun or pocketknife. We have a car with a wireless spycam so we'l

We're a new troop with 20 some boys. Not really struggling with adult led but I understand your challenges. Our struggle is how to implement the patrol method. We have one very strong patrol, one decent and two are very weak. Try to implement things into the meetings to empower the boys. Last week, we brought our seldom used dining canopy into the gym and dumped it on the floor. Then we popped some delicious Boy Scout popcorn and sat back to enjoy the show. Actually, after a couple of false starts, the troop worked together and got the canopy set up in about 45 minutes. We're bring

I forgot to add, this works very well with foodsaver vacuum bags too. I've made 'em at home, vacuum sealed the omelet and frozen it. Great for winter campouts and no chance of leaks.

How many scouts do you need on the treadmill to power the microwave?

Ziplock omelets are Standard Operating Procedure for some of our guys. They taste great, are easy to cook and zero cleanup. I tend to completely ignore the safety nazi's who are looking for danger in every box of anything we use. Check out this site. http://www.freezerbagcooking.com/ It's full of recipes that can be cooked in a Ziplock bag.

A little off topic, but we had a knock down drag out at our pack committee meeting last night. The CM and a DL (and dad) had a difference of opinion regarding crossover for his son. The argument got pretty heated and both had valid points. After a few minutes of venting, the CC simply said "OK, let's move on." Both arguers stopped and the issue was over. It was nice the way it worked out. I wish all differences could be so simple.