Scouter&mom

Yeah, that kind of thing made me seriously think about homeschool, but that cut out the two reasons my son attends school.... marching band and ROTC... thank goodness, my youngest only has until MAY..

You think this was bad. in 2002 a young man was EXPELLED from high school, because someone reported and adminstrators learned, he had a steak knife in the back of his truck in the high school parking lot. He never attempted to take it in school; he had carried it camping the weekend before and apparently didn't clean out his truck well. What made this really bad, was this young man was 18 yrs old, a senior and this happened in a rural county in South Georgia, three weeks before the young man was to graduate. He was not even able to graduate, because no school would allow him to transfer in and graduate, that close to the end of the year. He ended up having to take the GED and loose out on the state scholarship program for HS graduates with a 3.0 GPA. And that is the advantage of a school having a ZERO Tolerance policy. Yeah, and I am so glad, we only have a few more months before I don't have to deal with the school system anymore.

You think this was bad. in 2002 a young man was EXPELLED from high school, because someone reported and adminstrators learned, he had a steak knife in the back of his truck in the high school parking lot. He never attempted to take it in school; he had carried it camping the weekend before and apparently didn't clean out his truck well. What made this really bad, was this young man was 18 yrs old, a senior and this happened in a rural county in South Georgia, three weeks before the young man was to graduate. He was not even able to graduate, because no school would allow him to transfer in and graduate, that close to the end of the year. He ended up having to take the GED and loose out on the state scholarship program for HS graduates with a 3.0 GPA. And that is the advantage of a school having a ZERO Tolerance policy. Yeah, and I am so glad, we only have a few more months before I don't have to deal with the school system anymore.

I admit that like Skeptic, I need a cot (or air mattress) to sleep, because of what age and being an adventurous klutz has done to my joints.

I also can see times when having the camp site set up --- tent, chairs, and other basics -- would encourage me to camp more. There are several weekends coming up this fall, that my son and I would love to camp... but he has a football game to be at on Friday night and has to ride the bus to the game. One in particular is less than 30 miles from a great state park, that he has never visited. So I am trying to plan if I can get there and get camp set up, go the ballgame, pick him up afterward and off to the park. The thing that most concerns me is trying to set up a tent by myself... as I said, I am klutz.. and I don't know if I can get the poles and tent up without at least one other person.

For me it would be worth it for the weekend, to pay the extra and have it set up... and the best part would be I wouldn't have to break camp either.. no trying to wait on tent to dry .. or folding wet and then spreading it out in the garage when I get home.. sounds like a good plan to me. No I don't believe that having the tent set up takes away from the experience.. I know I can put up a tent... I have done it too many times.. why not enjoy the camping without the stress?

Be sure and ask your SM if your council provides any type of campership. Our council has funds set aside for Scouts who can't afford the full cost. I think it usually pays half the cost of camp, so the Scout, his troop and his parents only have to come up with the balance. The other thing that may be available are members of your troop CO or other individuals who will help with a Scouts needs. Please though be prepared to work to at least thank the individual who helped. My only concern is did your troop participate in council fundraisers and did you participate in troop fundraisers to help with the cost of camp. Our council campership application requires the SM signature stating that he knows the Scout has made the effort to help. Even the campership can be done very discreetly so only a few who have a "need to know" know that you received the financial aid.

Our local council camp is not doing COPE this year for purely monetary reasons. They chose not to spend the money for the required inspections (and any resultant repairs). COPE is not a big draw for our council camp. Making repairs required to open the pool and repairs to road washed out by spring flooding were both much more essential to camp. Whether it was just priority or true shortage of funds, I don't know. But I know without the pool open many troops wouldn't have come. And if the road had not been repaired, troops would not have been able to get into campsites. So no pool or no road, no camp. COPE doesn't get the emphasis here.

having very limited WW experience, and the knowledge that I don't know anything, I would love to see a BSA River guide or similar position come into existance. However, this position should be accessible to councils/units that plan to travel to another for WW. Our council really has very little WW.. some class II shoals and that is about it, we are generally home to slow flat moving water (except during flood times). There are several WW rivers within a couple hundred miles, that have lots of professional guides, but it would be nice to have a Scouter contact to help find the way through all the promises you find on-line from those guide companies.

As a trainer and training event chairman, I want to encourage you to go to the trainings with an open mind. Do not let your experience close your mind. If I had a dollar for each time I heard "I have been Scouting for xxx years, why do I need to go to training again?" I could go ahead and retire, and devote all my time to Scouting. Even if the class is one you have had before, you are likely to learn new things. At the very least, you will meet new people to network with.

Funny you mentioned seeing primarily old style pants and shorts on EBay. That's what I go there for. My son is wearing and wearing and wearing his switchbacks. Bought extras for summer camp staff this year, cause he didn't want to wear old style shorts (which he has a pile of from Jambo 05). But I have been hunting an extra pair or two of the old style for me. They fit my short feminine shape better than the switchbacks. The switchbacks are WAY too long in the stride, when I get a size to fit the rest of my shape.

So old style for me, switchbacks for my son. I think I may take his old style out of his closet and pass them on to someone else.

I forget you northern folks are just getting out of school and starting summer camp. Next week is the last week in our council, but even the councils around that have 6 weeks are through by mid-July.

We think we try to finish before the heat of July and August, but this year we sure got fooled. Today is the first in six that temp has been below 100. Sunday when kids were checking in, temp was 101 and heat index was 110. Medical staff was sure busy watching out for heat stress.

If you are not that great at sewing, I would recommend that you take the pants to a tailor and have them fix them. Many full service dry-cleaners have alteration/repair services. Zippers are difficult especially on something like a leg. If you are determined to do it, go to a fabric store... here we have a large chain JoAnns.. and get someone to help you find the right kind of sipper.. and the thread. They may can recommend someone who can do the repair for you too.

I would really recommend getting someone who knows what they are doing for this task. I am experienced, just don't do it often now, and I would pay someone to do it for me. Beyond my patience level. It's worth it to have it done right, and me not to have to fight it.

I have not used the training trax Neal mentioned, but I have used their Webelos trax and liked it enough, that when I resumed being WDL after a couple of years absence, the first thing I did was download the latest update. Now I am ready to get my boys going. If the training one is anything like the others, they are simple to use and simple to create reports when you need one.

Don't know how other states are, but here in GA we have the GA High School Graduation Tests, for most required classes in high school. Since the kids have to pass the test to graduate, too much of class time is spent teaching to the test. The number one goal on my son's world history syllabus was to pass the world history portion of the GHSGT. Not to learn anything.. The same with US history this year. And we wonder why young people don't know anything. They have to learn what they need to pass the test (and yes, that means we have special editions of textbooks to help) so we don't have time to actually discuss what is happening. But that also keeps us from offending anyone if we have a thought that is different from the rest of the group. Thankfully my son is also in JROTC, where he is allowed to learn a little more of the whys of history and allowed to think.

The local school district where mostof our cubs come from has a uniform policy, which includes navy pants. So we tell our boys where their blue school pants.. Parents are happy because they dont have to buy more.. and boys are used to those pants.. Every fall all the stores have sales on those pants, since so many elementary school kids have to have them. There are even companies that come in and do a big uniform sale at civic center late summer.

This gives the boys a chance to get involved and be sure they stay involved before parents spend money on Scout pants.

Yeah I did, and my son too. We both thought it was a good segment. The only thing, it added to my son's wish list. He wants the book... the Ashley's knot book that they mentioned.

One thing that some people doesn't realize is that the availability of resources is not any where near the same. Brent, you and I live in the same state.. from some of your posts I would think you are probably are pretty close to one of the REI stores.. For me, the closest is 4-5 hours driving time and that is the Atlanta NE store. Our town (the largest in the council) does not have any type of true outdoor store. There are a couple of hunting/fishing stores in each town or WalMart. We are even 100+ miles from a Camping World or Bass Pro.. I have been searching for an outdoor activities club to join or to at least beg help from and haven't been able to find one within 100 miles. This really hurts the Scouts, because even though I have canoed some and enjoy it, I don't feel competent enough to take a group out on one of the local creeks or rivers and I don't have a clue where to gain that competence.. things like knowing the correct way to respond to an alligator in the river.. or how to help keep a boy from panicking when he flipped a canoe. I will personally take a canoe and hit the creeks or rivers, but not being responsible for others. The troops around here don't tend to work together on things like this.. our council has a very small professional staff and most troops just do their own things.. and that other organization has the same struggles of having qualified adults, so they don't do much other than weekends at camp, and special events like bus to sectionals 8 hours away (we are at the far end of a very geographically spread out section).

kbandit offered a copy of a CD from University of Scouting. Is this something that most councils do? What does it include?

I have attended UoS in our council for a number of years and have even attended UoS in a larger council and have not gotten a UoS CD. Last year, I chaired UoS and a friend chaired Pow-Wow the week before. This year we will co-chair and combine the events. We had a good turnout for UoS last year, and hope to increase attendance even more this year. A CD with all sorts of info might be something we want to add as a bonus for early sign up, but I don't know what it should include.

what would you like to see on a CD for UoS? I hope to have both new and experienced scout leaders continue to attend.

Edited to correct spelling(This message has been edited by Scouter&mom)

A couple of years ago, I was in Harbour Frieght store.. browsing and killing time before meeting someone nearby.. and found 12" DO for approx $10 each. True they were no name and had to be seasoned, but it allowed me to one for each patrol that were all the same for a price that was in troop's budget. Oh yeah, I picked up one for me too, since my footed one had gone missing during a divorce. It only took a couple of evenings with the gas grill to get them all seasoned and ready to use. It does make it easier that all the patrols use the same size (12"). The boys can easily figure food amounts and cooking times even if they change patrols, or camp with a different patrol.

Daddy-O,

Like others, I would encourage you to allow your son to go to summer camp. It is a wonderful experience.. and if their new scout program is like most, he will be basically at the same advancement level as the others that just moved into Boy Scouts.

You mentioned his severe allergies, and I truly understand. I am basically allergic to the area I live in. I fight pollen in the spring, all the grasses like ragweed and golden rod in the fall and mold and mildew year round. Over the years, I have learned to deal with my allergies and your son will too. By the time I started college, I knew as much about my allergies as most general practioners did (and more than some.) If Scouting is what your son wants to do, he can and will learn to adapt his activities to accomodate Scouting and allergies.

Contact the camp director, to get in touch with the medical director at camp and have a talk with him. You will likely find someone who is concerned and doesn't want your child to become severely ill from camping either. I know our medical director at camp really truly cares about the boys and wants them to get all they can from camp and the program. If yours is anything like ours, you will find that the medical issue (at least for summer camp) is not insurmountable. And for what it is worth, that same medical director is the medical director for many of our council/district sponsored weekends at camp. Participating in those type events where you know your son has medical supervision should help your son have the camping experience that Scouting provides.

WOW.. Beautiful, wish I had been along on the trip.

Were these made in VA? I always forget how far behind plants blooming and leafing out are up there compared to S GA. The water irises were blooming here the end of March.

One question, what was the bush with the white blooms in the middle of the last picture? It almost looked like what I grew up calling Grancy Greybeard. I recognize the cypress and pines.

our CS pack does not do individual accounts and as a rule, neither does the BS troop sponsored by same CO. However, the troop does a BBQ in the spring as a fund-raiser specifically for summer camp. That money is allocated to the scouts for summer camp based on the tickets they sale. This year each scout gets $3 per ticket towards his summer camp fees. Webelos that are joining the troop (even if they didn't complete AoL and will not transfer until school is out) are encouraged to participate. Most of the Webelos in the troop either come from pack sponsored by same CO or one other pack. Those boys are told when they visit the troop the first time, that the troop does the BBQ and that they can participate.

The troop has not had money come from either pack with the boys as they joined the troop. We had several brothers transfer to new pack and troop in town and they went with no expectation of money going with them and there were no hard feelings.

I second ghermanno on Action Packer..

Locking handles helps lid stay put in wind or back of truck.. also helps keep critters out, especially if you put a clip or wire through the wholes in the handles..

I have two that I use regularly for family camping.. one for canned and boxed food and one for kitchen equipment, dishes etc.. equipment one stays packed.. One I have had over 15 years and it has stood up to many trips.. and several assaults by racoons..

Yeah, the Patriot Act makes bank accounts difficult for troops and packs.. we had to have letter from council that we were a valid troop and then a letter from CO that they sponsored us... they did let us use their EIN .. but it took three trips to the bank for the two of us that were to be on account to comply with the act and prove we weren't a terrorist organization.

How do you get the boys to eat these meals? I would love them, but our boys want spaghetti, foil dinners with hamburger patties, and even hamburger helper. They will eat salad or green beans, but just want venture out. So many of them won't eat anything different ever, even at home. Fish, sushi, roast cornish hens, are all things I can't imagine any of the boys in the troop (other than my son) ever eating. I guess I am lucky, because my son will eat anything and prefers real food to junky convenience food.

I would think the ball thing would work great! My daughter just made ice cream in a bag with some of her therapy kids as a special treat. She used 1/2 c chocolate milk, a little sugar (said she probably should have left it out) and 1/2 tsp vanilla for each serving. Sealed in quart freezer bag and then ice and salt in gallon ziplock. She said the only problem she had was that their hands were so cold. If a 3 and 5 year old can do it, then any of our scouts should be able to. I have also seen suggestions to do in coffee can. Small can/container inside coffee can, then play kick the can for 15-30 minutes.

actually in keeping stuff frozen, has anybody used the newer super 5 day coolers? I love mine. I kept ice at the beach in SC in July for three days with practically no melt down. The other coolers melted down by half within 24 hours.