RememberSchiff

From https://www.shorpy.com/node/6133#comment-63780 Submitted by stanton_square on Fri, 05/15/2009 - 12:41pm. "Another accounting of our young amigos adventure comes to us from the student newspaper of the State Teachers College, La Crosse, Wisconsin." Warning: excessive adventure, YP and GTSS violations ahead - RS The Racquet, Dec 5, 1937: Vol 30, No. 8 Venezuela Scout-Head Writes Exciting Letter Several days ago I received an interesting letter from a young man I met at Washington, D. C., while attending the National Scout Jamboree. This man was Juan Carmona, a scout-master from Caracas, Venezuela, South America, who had hiked with a companion, Rafael Petit of Maracaibo, Venezuela, from Caracas through South America, Central America, Mexico and the Southern part of the United States to Washington. The trip took them two years; they covered over ten thousand miles and each wore out twelve pairs of hiking boots. Three started originally but one turned back. They went through jungle territory never before seen extensively by white man, some days they were able to make good progress; on others the dense jungle growth and swamp bogs limited them to three miles a day. Poisonous snakes and wild animals forced them to be constantly on guard. At night they had to sleep in trees to escape prowling animals. Once they were awakened by a scratching sound. As the scratching came closer they both aimed and fired their rifles in the direction of the sound. It was so dark that they were unable to distinguish a thing about them. At the sound of the shots the scratching ceased and something crashed to the ground beneath the tree. Unable to sleep further they waited for daylight, which revealed a large jaguar lying dead at the base of the tree. For three days the dead beast's mate stalked and followed them; one was required to keep guard against attack while the other cut and broke the trail. Finally the animal left and they were free to advance more rapidly. In the southern part of So. America they were taken captive by savages, the chief of which treated them royally but would not permit them to leave. Finally, he was persuaded to allow them to continue their journey. As they traveled through Central America they were made prisoners of revolutionists (it seems there is always a revolution down there). None of the soldiers could read their letters or credentials and they were kept in prison until the revolutionary general returned, read their identification papers and set them free. In Mexico they were robbed of their rifles and money by bandits but finally after many other interesting and exciting adventures, they crossed the U.S. border and reached Washington, D.C. They have many valuable stamps, seals, letters, pictures and papers from notables of the various places through which they passed. It took them two days to fly by plane back to Caracas. They crossed territory through which they had passed on their two-year journey. The letter I received was written in Spanish as Juan does not wish to attempt a letter in English even though he understands, and speaks it. Mr. Lairx helped me to translate the letter. At the present time Mr. Carmona is writing a book of the experiences and adventures of the trip he made with his companion Petit. Our friendship began at Washington and will be continued through our correspondence. I hope to visit Mr. Carmona some time, and he, in turn, has promised to visit me the next time he comes to the United States. Several scouts of the troop of which I am scoutmaster are establishing correspondence with boys of his troop.

Before back in day, some hiked. Below two Venezuelan Boy Scouts , Rafael Petit , left, and Juan Carmona, right, sit on the steps of the Capitol Build and examine their boots after hiking 25 miles a day for over two years to attend the Boy Scout Jamboree in Washington, D.C. They started from Caracas on January 11, 1935 and hiked through Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, then through the southern US all the way to Washington where they arrived June 16, 1937, after more than 10,000 miles. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016871844/

At the recent Jambo, this would have been an interesting discussion, the expense of uniforming. I wonder where the BSA ranks in uniform expenses among other scouting organizations with #1 being the most thrifty and #170* being least. * My understanding WOSM has 170 members.

I am reminded of this Girl Scout Gold project .. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2018/06/22/a-girl-scout-wrote-to-companies-with-a-heartfelt-request-as-a-result-they-cut-down-on-millions-of-plastic-straws/?noredirect=on

In a former, adult-run troop this was tried as there was an excess number 20+ ASM's which the SM felt needed assignment in his org chart, besides it would boost Advancement and Adult Association. That it did, but Patrol and Leadership method was further diminished as those ASM's were very hands-on, even to the point of cooking meals and attending PLC. Eventually, the SM realized the troop was reverting to a Cub Pack with adult-lead dens so he replaced the ASM's with Troop Guides. But the PLC , now with more scouts attending than adults, reasoned only the new scout patrol needed a Troop Guide. An exception was soon realized where patrol ASM's could be necessary - a special needs scout, but that depended on the needs of the scouts and the support training of his fellow scouts. Too many ASM's spoil the ... My $0.02,

Whoa..How did we get from "...how to be a great CM?" to "how to do FOS presentations effectively"?

for us gray-beards who remember 1969 and Woodstock, a light, fun read. When the Boy Scouts met the hippies at Woodstock https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-08-15/woodstock-anniversary-hendrix-baez

Speaking from recent experience, beware these caterpillars which have infested Maine and other parts this summer. Browntail caterpillar hairs are toxic with toxicity lasting 3 years. Hairs are easily airborne from shedding, raking, mowing and cause a poison ivy rash (only worse) and respiratory distress if breathed. Found in hardwoods - red oak (did a number on oaks here), apple, birch. A browntail moth caterpillar Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Note two dots on tail end. Hairs on adults are supposedly not toxic but may have residual caterpillar hairs when emerging from cocoon. I am considering putting out a light sheet to capture some of these moths to send to state labs. I haven't done that since back in day at scout camp, back then moths were safer, only bothering trees in their youth. https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/forest_health/invasive_threats/browntail_moth_faqs.htm https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Brown-tail_moth https://bugguide.net/node/view/36900

From a ASM: #1. Educate and manage the adults. Ground the helicopters. #2. A unit committee is thrifty. Please minimize program time lost to fundraisers. From a former CC (albeit Cubs) #3. Meet with SM and ASM's to get more advice. Review program calendar check for school, SAT, etc. conflicts. What is their activity and equipment wish list. Who will handle equipment, a ASM or a Committee member? Ditto with troop trailer (insurance, registration, maintenance)! Who will handle med forms - a ASM or committee member (while an ASM may seem more logical, a medical professional might be a committee member). #4. Before you accept, review the unit finances and leadership with CO. Know what CO expects from unit. Talk about how to make leadership changes, if the need arises. #5. Proactively and energetically recruit the adults you want for committee positions. #6. Any Committee member who says "Wouldn't it be nice..." see #2 My $0.02, hope it helps, best wishes

Not What, who. That would be us parents.

Apples and oranges. Anyone can advance in Scouting to the top award, not so in sports. There is nothing in Scouting that compares to that championship season after years of losing seasons, double practices, injuries, losing key players and coaches, bad calls,...Imagine if there was competition for Eagle slots at Council, say only 20 scouts "win" Eagle each year. I know I'm dreaming since patrol competition is all but gone. Instant gratification sometimes takes years. My $0.02,

As I understand, the 500 "Unbreakable" Czech scouts brought their podzada tents to Jambo, which appear half cabin, half tent.

@Cptsandt welcome to scouter.com

I dunno. How many linked opioid deaths do you need? Here's one allegedly traced back to said Eagle. Note he allegedly shipped 800,000 pills nationwide. https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900083757/aaron-shamo-accused-utah-pillmaker-fentanyl-death-trial.html https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900028644/utahs-overdose-deaths-fall-12-percent-despite-nationwide-surge.html Short answer to your two questions. 1. Start with those convicted of a felony. 2. Unless conviction is overturned, former Eagle remains just that. Another $0.02

@JulzIsCool99 welcome to scouter.com and hopefully soon to Scouting.

My concern is some people will say "An Eagle Scout did that < terrible thing>" or worse that the BSA cannot maintain its standards ( sorry for the awkward wording). IMO, we should be prepared with an official response akin to what @skeptic stated and that the former scout is no longer an Eagle. Another $0.02

IMHO, if a accusation can remove a scouter from the BSA , a felony conviction should rescind an Eagle award. A partial response to aberration. My $0.02,

The hits keep coming... Former Eagle Scout Aaron Shamo, 29, will stand trial beginning Monday on allegations that he and a small group of fellow millennials ran a multimillion-dollar empire from the basement of his suburban Salt Lake City home by trafficking hundreds of thousands of pills containing fentanyl, the potent synthetic opioid that has exacerbated the country's overdose epidemic in recent years. ... Shamo's family, though, said he's been singled out even as deeply involved friends are offered more lenient plea deals. His father, Mike Shamo, said his son was a chess whiz as a kid who experimented with marijuana in his teen years, but later earned his Eagle Scout badge crocheting blankets for a hospital. More details at source link: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/opioid-drug-bust-aaron-shamo-former-eagle-scout-accused-multimillion-drug-empire-salt-lake-city-utah/

@Owls_are_cool welcome to scouter.com

@Rches welcome to scouter.com

Update 8/8/2019: Members of the local Boy Scout community asked officials of the statewide organization a lot of questions about the pending sale of the Silver Trails Scout Reservation this week. .... Over and over, for more than two hours, scouts and their supporters said the community wasn’t properly informed on the process. Some didn’t agree with the council's assessment that Silver Trails wasn’t sustainable long term or with how scouting funds have been appropriated. ... Chuck Truza, of the MCC’s board of directors, said the MCC wanted to host town halls and round tables to properly explain the deal with Mid-Michigan, in an effort to be transparent. The gesture, he said, followed the years-long consolidation of Boy Scout organizations across the state and the closure of other camps. And in that time, he admitted, communication was a problem. More at source link including second buyer who appeared to conserve property but to no avail. https://www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/2019/08/08/local-boy-scout-community-silver-trails-sale-going-hurt-scouting/1952882001/

An update: Russell Ruth, 34, aka "Captain Rick" was convicted of possessing child pornography including prepubescent images, and sentenced to 80 months in federal prison. He was employed at the Babcock Hovey Scout Camp in Ovid which is operated by the Seneca Waterways Council in New York. His duties focused on teaching scouts fire building, knot tying and other outdoors skills. He was recognized in 2017 for 25 years of participation at the Scout camp. The sentencing is the result of investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly. Ruth had faced up to 10 years in prison. https://www.syracuse.com/news/2019/08/former-boy-scout-camp-employee-gets-5-years-in-prison-for-child-porn.html https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2019/08/07/russell-ruth-former-boy-scout-leader-sentenced-child-porn-possession/1948629001/ https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdny/pr/former-boy-scout-employee-going-federal-prison-possession-child-pornography

Not much, was that next to the cannabis* tent with CBD only? Give a mouse a cookie... My $0.02, Note the cannabis tent was sarcasm. RS

We still rake, stack wood, shovel but more and more our scouts are doing tech projects for the town and senior center. From Boy Scout Troop 213, Superior, Minnesota : Participants (senior citizens) are encouraged to bring their cell phone, tablet, computer or other device for one-on-one help with Janicki (Eagle candidate) and four of his fellow scouts. “I was also thinking of teaching them to use Google and YouTube,” he said. Van Sickle often fields questions from seniors about connecting to wireless internet, downloading voicemails and using email. “Some of just these basic, everyday tasks, but because everyone has a different phone … it can be challenging, so we want to make sure people aren’t left behind,” she said. As part of the project, Van Sickle suggested adding web cameras to the computer center to allow seniors to video chat with relatives. “They turn off their computers during the nighttime and these computers were scheduled to get updates during the nighttime,” Janicki said. “So they were years behind with their updates.” “I think it’s great,” center manager Jenny Van Sickle said. “Something we get all the time is robocalls, security calls. We have people here who have had close calls. This scamming is prevalent and it’s serious.” Janicki, a Superior High School sophomore, said protecting yourself from scams online is a skill that’s essential when using computers, especially public computers. It can include remembering to log out of email accounts, watching site names closely and not saving items to a computer's desktop. “There’s tons of ways scammers can get money out of you, but it’s actually really easy to combat that using some simple browsing tips,” the scout said. More of a very interesting story at source link. https://www.superiortelegram.com/business/technology/4054327-Eagle-Scouts-project-eyes-cybersecurity-for-seniors P.S. Nice, familiar-looking but less dusty HP workstation in link photo

@Jburts911 welcome to scouter.com