scottteng

there are some field activities the course I attended was an all day Saturday affair at the BS camp with the Shooting sports director in charge of Cub Scout activities. If your council has an active shooting sports program there will be several Shooting sports directors as one is required on property to open the ranges a properly qualified range master may then run the range but the director must remain on property. That is why there will be more than one no one wants to give up every weekend. One will likely be assigned to the cub scout program he will oversee all day camps and family camps normally he will do the training and the adults will get a Cub Scout day camp shooting sports director card and the scouts will get a Junior range master card. Ideally you will have enough scouts to actually run the ranges and you will run around making sure everything goes smooth and scold the little tykes when they don't follow instructions. They must carry their arrows in a certain way etc. Remember cub scouts shooting sports includes wrist rockets as well.

pogey - money received from the state

porgy - a small bony family of fish prized by certain people for its flavor

Our scouts pick their menus which are reviewed for basic requirements two hot meals etc. We are going to let them bring their own grub for wilderness survival campout and have warned them they will be lugging it at least 5 miles. Should be interesting. Same ground rules two hot meals. Will probably have some that will be hungry we did tell them to make sure they had at least 1000 calories.

There already is a next step up it is called Shooting Sports Director and entitles one at a cub scout camp to run archery. b.b. gun and wrist rockets. A boy scout shooting sports director runs all the ranges at a boy scout camp mostly rifle, shotgun, black powder, archery and rendezvous sports. There are no badges or position patches for these positions, however the pay is outstanding. Just last summer at day camp I got a big hug from a mentally challenged young cub who just hit the bb target for the first time.

Medicine man would be ok but a chief outfit is probably better. Akela is the leader the cubs follow you can throw in some of the medicine man visionary things too.The chief costume should be rentable if need be. Think of it as medicine man is staff officer chief is line officer. The pack can award the boys whatever is in their budget to provide an arrow and certificate is nice some give a scout handbook or mess kit as well. Go to your committee and ask for a budget remember what is done for one should be done for all. Flaming arrow tape a light stick to an arrow.

I love my cast iron. Both my dutch ovens for camping and my cast iron fry pans for home. I always clean right away and then reheat and anoint with oil. I hate these nonstick things you can't scrub with a metal scrubber. I also subscribe to the iron in diet is a good thing and aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer's. So no foil linings for my pot. The only thing to use foil for is foil dinners.

http://www.poolesbarbq.com/

If you are going to Ellijay stop here. If you are near Atlanta go to Stone Mountain the laser show is a kidpleaser. Capital visiting is also a good thing for Cit in the Nation.

Here in Florida we love winter camping and tend to take a break from camping during the brutal July & August period. The temperature is still tolerable in June for summer camp even though they got evacuated to the mess hall for a tropical storm last year. The dangers of heat exhaustion are all too real for the kids doing outdoor activities. Constant reminders to drink some water and shade seeking are popular activities.

"Boy Scouting, one of the traditional membership divisions of the BSA, is available to boys who have earned the Arrow of Light Award and are at least 10 years old or have completed the fifth grade and are at least 10, or who are 11, but not yet 18 years old. The program achieves the BSA's objectives of developing character, citizenship, and personal fitness."

cut and paste from nationals web site.

http://www.scouting.org/nav/enter.jsp?s=by

communicate communicate communicate this must be a two way street email is the quickest and easiest try to get every email addy of every leader in every pack. Ask them what they are having trouble with then set an agenda to answer their questions. For example leaders of several packs ask about making an outstanding crossover ceremony for their web 2 boys. You get the master showman cubmaster in the district who's ceremonies are renown to come in and share for 15 min and take questions afterwards. Same idea for boring pack meetings. Remember KISMIF applies to adults too just adults don't want to do crafts they may appreciate info where to get interesting crafts i.e. the rockets one national chain makes available but the doing of said crafts is a definite nono. You cannot go wrong giving the audience what they want and need. Stomp on boring and teach everyone the announcements song so they can sing it to the district commisioners when they come to make announcements.

With us it is the other way around the girl scout wearing her uniform to a scout function scout Sunday several times. Our local scout camp has a reenactment weekend where any scout in uniform is admitted for free. now I would not have her wear uniform to a troop meeting or campout.

The other thing that is a good idea is to save a copy of the requirements you are working on as national seems to alter requirements quite regularly including renumbering. For example my son and several others in his troop are working on camping merit badge for over a year and the requirements that they are working are considerably different than the new ones. Having a copy of the requirements especially when going to a new mb counselor would be in everyones best interest. Not every mb counselor has been around forever and knows the changes made.

"While a First Class Scout, serve actively for 4 months in one or more of the following positions of responsibility (or carry out a Scoutmaster-assigned leadership project to help the troop):

Boy Scout troop: Patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, senior patrol leader, troop guide, Order of the Arrow troop representative, den chief, scribe, librarian, historian, quartermaster, bugler, junior assistant Scoutmaster, chaplain aide, instructor."

Why is responsibility being assumed to mean leadership is needed. It is for some positions patrol leader, ASPL, SPL,JASM, Troop guide. None of the others require to my mind very much leadership of Boy Scouts. Den chief is leading cub scouts. OA troop rep is a popularity thing. Scribe has to have legible handwriting. Librarian keeps track of merit badge books. Historian is a good one for the shy genius who watches all that goes on and takes pictures. Quartermaster keeps the gear straight. Bugler annoys the rest of the troop at sunrise and lights out. Chaplains aide is the father confessor. As for instructor remember the old saw them that can't do teach and those that can't teach teach others to teach. The alternate to a POR is a leadership project "or carry out a Scoutmaster-assigned leadership project to help the troop."

I don't see the POR as leadership only it is more about being responsible to the troop for making sure that particular part runs smoothly. This may help develop leadership skills in the boys but leadership is not a prerequisite or requirement of most of the POR's.

Example the Quartermaster of the troop gets tired of personally drying all the tents after every campout so he comes up with a plan which he takes to the PLC of every boy having a turn at the pleasure of drying tents. Thus developing some rudimentry leadership in the QM. He was still handling his responsibility by personally drying the tents. Learning to delegate is developing leadership.

Sponsered by Hezbollah

http://www.foxnews.com/#

Down the page in the only on Fox section is a brit Hume intro with an onsite report from Lebanon on the Hezbollah sponsered boy scout troop. Including some mock firearm practice.

http://n2zgu.50megs.com/LEB.htm

This is the main Lebanon scouting page apparently the boy scout groups are fractured along what appear to be religous lines.

For your comments.

Greetings from sw Florida I used to live in Perry Florida and was part of Suwannee River Area Council. Spent several cub family camps at Camp Walwood just east of your area.

When I was a Webelos den leader a couple of years ago there were several den members sporting earings one sporting three . His dad was the owner of a tattoo parlor and was decorated to the max. Not my thing but to each his own. We also have an adult in the disrict who wears his kilt with some regularity with class a shirt etc. the boys think it is a hoot. The earing haters need to get past it because the kids are getting them younger and younger the parents encourage them.

" Yah, yah, let's all jump all over da poor SM who clearly is an evil, wicked, awful human being because one boy's parent is upset."

Please note these are not my words. The scoutmaster is a sincere hardworking man who really tries hard but is too owerworked to obtain a lot of training and who has the added challenge of two sons in the troop who are as mouthy or more so than my son. The boys apparently enjoy pushing all the adults buttons to the breaking point. And I will own up to the fact that several times his sons have pushed my buttons to the yelling point. Admittadly if the approach you descibed had been used that the rank was to be withheld for a set time period I may well have gone along with nothing said. Again I was not presant due to having a class on scout night so I missed several meetings. It is quite possible that my son was taunting the other boys about how much more rank he had than they did he is prone to some bragging but if the other boys would get on the ball finish their partials and do some merit badges they would get their too. Also the troop is really too small to have specifically designated committee member only people who do board of reviews most of them are leaders in the associated cub pack and most of their committee members are the scout leaders. Son does not care he likes both troops had fun with the boys when he went to summer camp with them last year as the current troop did not attend summer camp.

My son has sort of accidently met all the requirements for star rank. He is currently a first class scout in a small troop composed mostly of home schooled kids. He currently has 13 merit badges six eagle required, and is working on three additional mb's with five new cards for winter camp starting December 26. A mb's but one have been earned at council camps ie summer camp winter camp. He is working on Camping, Family Life with his current troop and cycling with another troop in town. He lacks one activity for camping mb rappelling or canoe or cycling. He has already done one of the 15 mile cycling trips but not in conjunction with a campout. He was elected patrol leader May 2006 against my advice. I did not feel he was ready to be patrol leader but he tried, only to lose election to another boy in November. His volunteer hours were for summer reading at the library a total of 14 hours 4 of which he used for his reading mb and 6 of which were for star. He also volunteered some 40 hours to cub scout day camp which as they benefited scouting were not counted for anything but which I believe show scout spirit. Of the other boys in his troop none have any more than one or two merit badges due to parents not wanting to send boy's to camp where God forbid they might learn a dirty word. All requirements met he was scheduled for a BOR at which time he was told by BOR chair that he had passed and congrats on achieving the next step. I was unfortunately committed to a class on scout night when all of this was happening. Next thing I know his BOR was overturned by the scout master for his "bad" behavior during a scout meeting. This is a hyper kid who was supposed to be the elected patrol leader(the only patrol leader) at the time. I know what happened he got mouthy with the scout master after all after JLT at Univ of scouting a 12 year old knows it all.

I am at my wits end with this. I have complained to the new disrict commissioner. I have told the scoutmaster that in order to expect the boys to be trustworthy the adults in the troop must be trustworthy. I am ready to vote with my amd my sons feet, we have another troop where I am friends with the SM and he has several boys on the cusp of eagle that my son will receive much more effective mentoring at. The boys in his current troop seem real happy with being first class and goofing off, I kind of hoped that mine would catch the vision and shoot for eagle. I feel obligated to the troop we are with because they need two deep for a lot of outings where I am the second, but their program is so poor I have had to seek out other ways to proceed towards the goals I and my son have.

No blue cards then well ouch. How does the 18 year old eagle candidate verify that four troops ago and three states ago he really did complete the first aid merit badge at summer camp his first year in summer camp at 10.5 years old crossing over from a pack in yet another state? Hmmm those blue cards are for those boys protection. He gets to keep a copy. Or at the eagle board he is asked why here on our council ppw it says you completed Emerg. Prep at merit badge univ in october but by our records First aid was not earned until December when your former troop got around to sending your records. Any computer guy will tell you that GIGO is still a big problem. Paper is still paper and still trumps the computer. Sorry I am not a Luddite but real world says each boy must take ownership of his own records.

I have heard that one way of measuring the impact of someones life is the number of people that show up at their funeral. Overwhelming a funeral is highly unlikely. What is more likely is that by showing up you will make a statement to someones family that the service they gave and the commitment that they made were not in vain. Even though those same family members may have questioned or even ridiculed that person's comitmant. Go ahead overwhelm them if you can, there is a lesson to be learned. I speak from personal experience when my Grandfather passed a large contingent was there from the masonic temple which played a large part in his life but which none of the family had embraced. Remember you pick your friends but are stuck with your family.

Record two likes here my son actually asked if he could wear them home from the scout shop a first for anything with BSA on it. He has gone to several troop meetings and a fifteen mile bike ride with them on, the legs came off for the bike ride. I like the comfortable fit of not being squeezed into a overly tight pant. The leg thing does take a little getting used to but the kids are used to it the zipoff pants being very popular here in Florida. The pants have belt loops as well so you can wear any belt with them. The color match is also a little off as we had Christmas banquet/ COH last week and my sons merit badge sash looks kind of odd with the pants the colors just don't jive. How often do they put on sashes though so all around two plus votes

Cut and paste from mr Hitchners website

http://www.csc.calpoly.edu/~hitchner/

Robert A. Heinlein copyright date of 1973 should tell the tale

If you steal from more than one source it isn't plagerism it's research

2 Mottos:

* "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.

Specialization is for insects." -- Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

* "A human being should be able to heal a wound, plan an expedition, order from a French menu, climb a mountain face, enjoy a ballet, balance accounts, roll a kayak, embolden a friend, tell a joke, laugh at himself, cooperate, act alone, sing a children's song, solve equations, throw a dog a stick, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, love heartily, fight efficiently, die gallantly.

Specialization is for insects." -- Lewis E. Hitchner, Dartmouth College Alumni Magazine 1982, memoriam for Robert Frohboese, class of 1965

Show up at a scouting unit and make know your willingness to volunteer the proverbial one hour per week and see what happens they may not view you as a prime prospect not having the preferred boy child in your household but sooner or later someone will take you at face value and draft you into a position you will be comfortable with.

Our council rents "our" camp to the young marines for their summer encampment after boy scout summer camp is done. My only contact with the young marines is as a volunteer boy scout rifle rangemaster at their encampment. Young marines is coed and serves a wider age group than boy scouts to include most of our cub age. From 8 years old thru 18. These boys and girls are sharper than the boy scouts at certain things when a adult asks a rhetorical question the response is Sir Yes Sir. Boy scout response more likely to be yup rangemaster. The younger young marines shoot bb guns with gusto and with pride remember both boys and girls and are respectful and usually well trained in courtesy similar to military. It is a great program if you want "young marines". Boy scouts on the other hand is designed to be a broader program just for boys til venturing and a wide variety of merit badges to attempt to find at an early age where a boy's intrest and inclination lie. If you have a "young marine" seek them out and sign him up! If you have the average boy let him try and let him learn in a more user friendly environment.

Already bought and already using my son's and my new switchback pants. When my son asked dad can I wear these out at the scout shop I bought a pair for myself. that is high praise for scout uniform from a twelve year old. His were worn to a regular meeting and today on a fifteen mile bike ride he is working on cycling mb with another local troop. and mine have been worn to a scout meeting and to roundtable where coincidentally some one was making a presentation on uniforming. Gladly testified to the value of my new switchbacks scout pants.

If this is the case why does national make this available?

http://www.scouting.org/identity/contents/12.html

with this comment;

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