Scouter&mom

Great Job!! You and the boys should all be proud.

Ok guys, any other suggestions? No one from FL? I am less than 60 miles from the FL line.. He is not a big hiker... too much marching with band and ROTC.. but loves water sports.. Has done canoeing, swimming, BSA Scuba, etc.. even has been whitewater rafting on the Olympic section of the Ocoee River.. he is really interested in a camp that he won't feel too out of place.. our council generally has younger boys at camp.. and he will be on staff there through June.. here in the south, he's grown up waterskiing, snorkeling, and heading to the beach for boogie boarding..

My son who will be 17 next summer is considering attending as provisional a summer camp outside of our council. Our council only holds 2-3 weeks of summer camp, so even if he worked staff there he would be available almost any time in July. Suggestions for camps (especially with intense aquatic programs) that a 17 year old wouldn't feel out of place at would be great. Something in GA, N, Florida, Ala, S Tenn or South Carolina would be our preferred area. We are in SW corner of GA and would prefer no more than 5 hour drive, since he will be attending on his own.

Most meetings, traveling, etc, old style green pants and short sleeve shirt. Depending on temperature I may wear short sleeve tee shirt or either long sleeve turtle neck under it. I know, I know.. but being female, I had a hard time finding a shirt to fit and finally had one tailored, so I don't have huge wads of fabric around my waist to tuck in and being a single parent, I don't spend huge amounts on my clothes. Web belt, tennis shoes or leather boots depending on weather. First pair of socks I can find. Occassionally end up in my normal professional work clothes, when I don't have tim

We have recognized multiple ranks at the same Court of Honor. One of the things to ensure that the boys get to wear their "new rank' as soon as possible is an informal recognition and then a more formal one. We present the boys with their patch informally during the following meeting, and then present the rank card at the formal court of honor. It seems most of our boys get motivated to really push for advancement just before 'big' events. Gotta have the higher rank to go to district camporee or summer camp or whatever event outside of 'normal' troop activities. Even my son did this, h

At our CSDC, they seperate the boys into dens by age, regardless of the pack they are a member of. So all the bears are together, and do things appropriate for their age. Each den then has adult volunteers and one or more youth den chiefs. This has been one of my son's favorite jobs, being a "cat herder". He has even volunteered to ride the bus and help there too. Yes, I firmly believe getting CS age boys where they need to be at the right time is like herding cats... almost impossible.

Pink shoes may not mean anything... As I waited to pick my son up at the high school one day over the summer, I saw a young man with pink and white NIKEs on. He was a large masculine football player type, so I think it was "stylin" to match his pink shirt and not gender issues. My son also says that there is a group of boys at the middle school who wear girls pants/shirts and think it is cool. Or maybe the kid just liked the pink shoes. but I will say a girl doesn't belong in a CS uniform.. and not all brownie troops are lame. My daughter is assistant leader to her old troop and I kno

So aren't there laws in your state that restrict sale of knives? Here in GA, you have to be 16 to buy a knife... and some stores won't sell them to anyone under 18. I don't know how the trading post at our camp handles this, never have been in the shop. My son doesn't know either. Never tried to buy a knife at camp. Main thing sold at trading post is sodas and ice cream.

Lisa, I understand your frustration. But he will do those that he is interested in or sees the reason for, just in his own sweet time. I fight this challenge of not pushing with my son. He is 16 and a Life Scout.. only lacks a finishing up a couple of required badges and sitting down to start getting the approvals to start his Eagle project.. before he was Eagle. He joined the troop at 12, made First Class quickly and then was content to enjoy Scouting with no pressures until just before he was to go to Jamboree in 05 He suddenly decided he wanted to go as Star, so he gathered his pape

Gy, I am not a jarhead, but I work with them daily. Welcome. I know your leadership will be an asset. Just remember.. they are Boy Scouts not Marines. Let them lead. Let them plan. And as bad as we hate to, let them fail. It is amazing what you learn on a wet weekend, because you didn't get your tent up right. Have fun and again welcome.. Oh yeah, if you ever come to MCLB, look me up. We have lots of scouting opportunities here in SWGA.

There is a way to solve email problem.. We just undertook it recently with another group that was having some of the same problems.. very caustic acusatory emails that went to everyone that had any association with the group. Set up a moderated web group and email list. You can do this on Google.. each person is invited to join group and has to accept. all emails come from and go to group email.. there they are posted and forwarded to all with moderators approval.. takes a little more oversight, but will solve the flaming emails that are sent in the heat of "childish" anger that we pa

Lisabob, I would let the SM of my troop know and then go for it. I know there are times with our small troop we have had to cancel due to lack of adults. Just last week, I was sticken by a virus the day we were to leave and we had to cancel, because we didn't have enough adults to go. We work with another small troop from about 30 miles away on several campouts to ensure we provide the variety for older and younger boys with limited adults. We are also planning to share a campsite at summer camp for the same reason. Technically they are going as provisional, but not paying the extra cha

Lisabob, I would let the SM of my troop know and then go for it. I know there are times with our small troop we have had to cancel due to lack of adults. Just last week, I was sticken by a virus the day we were to leave and we had to cancel, because we didn't have enough adults to go. We work with another small troop from about 30 miles away on several campouts to ensure we provide the variety for older and younger boys with limited adults. We are also planning to share a campsite at summer camp for the same reason. Technically they are going as provisional, but not paying the extra cha

One thing I do is collect the tourism brochures (especially the glossy magazines) for state parks, and interesting places close by. The ones done by the regional tourism boards are great. I take these on campouts and to summer camp. When we are sitting around hunting shade, I will pull them out, start leafing through them and commenting on the cool things and places that are "only an hour from home" Helps them think of places and things that they may not have known existed. I make sure I bring them along with my atlas, when the PLC has their planning meeting(s).

He did it!! and did a good job. My scout I was asking about had his first board of review Monday night and did an extremely good job. He was able to answer questions that were asked even when they required an opinion. I feel like he actually did a better job than the other boy that also had a board for Tenderfoot that night. With a little leading on a couple of really tough questions, he did great. His answers were very thoughtful and not just off the top of his head. He did mention that he wasn't sure how high a priority scouting was in his life right now, since he is also involved in some o

I am so jealous....... I would have loved to see the rain and mud.. We are living in a dust bowl.. It has rained here twice in the last three months.. (we normally get 4-5+ inches a month). and one of those rains brought tornadoes. If we don't get some rain, the lake at camp will be dry.. it was way low last year, and we are now over 12 inches behind for the year. Look at it as an adventure.. Our boys still talk about the camps that the tents were floating. In fact last week, they were stressing being prepared for campout and bringing raingear although no rain was predicted. The

We have a young man in our Scout troop who has Asperger's syndrome. He has real difficulties with conceptual things. Concrete things are okay and physical things aren't an issue. I wish I had the singlemindedness and concentration that I see when he is involved with something he is interested in. Anyhow, in verifying that he has met the basic rank requirements, like the first aid questions that ask "tell how you treat.... an insect bite or sting" I have asked him the question, gotten a blank look, then asked "have you ever been stung by a bee or wasp? how did you treat it?" and gotten a v

John I think it is great you went with your daughter's troop. Keep going with them. Many years ago when my daughter was in juniors and I was the troop leader, we didn't get to do as much outdoor stuff as some of them wanted, because I didn't have adults that would help. With 12-18 girls with only 1 or 2 having any outdoor experience and our assistant leader was like the girl you mentioned about bugs, I wasn't brave enough to try to educate all of them at the same time. My daughter was lucky enough to have her previous leader take back over as she moved into Cadets and they got to do lots

Mr. DeWitt, My prayers are with you and your family as you struggle. Don't forget to count your blessings in that you are located near GREAT medical facilities. The research being done and the level of care in the area is the reason many people from far away travel there for medical care. Many people from my area travel the 4-6 hours to your area for medical care. I agree with the others that there are many things you can do, perhaps even while you are battling your illnesses. As an Assistant Scoutmaster for a small troop, I would love to have someone to take over any portion of th

Our OA Lodge has done call out on Wed night following Vespers. Families visiting for family night were invited to attend. We have members with flaming arrows arrive by canoe from across the lake as the beginnning of ceremony too. Lodge hosted Ice Cream social for those called out after ceremony. Big hit here in the hot steamy south. Ordeal is done on a weekend in late fall. (Mid Nov last year) That way football is almost over and it is cooling off enough that cheerful service may be done without the risk of heat stroke. This year they are going to have call out on Sunday night (first n

To further add to the confusion.. most US military branches don't salute indoors.. so when the colors are presented indoors and/or the Pledge is spoken, the right hand goes over the heart (no salute) and the color guard wears their cover (hat) even indoors when presenting/retiring the colors. We just discussed this last night on the way home from Jr ROTC Honors night.

My daughter did the overnight at the Lost Sea with her Cadet GS troop (a real adventurous group of girls) and they all loved it. She dug out her pictures of them all muddy to take with her to GS World Center in Switzerland next month. It was one of the highlights of her years in Scouting that she wants to share. At 21 she is still proud of that night.

Cost for our council was $1250. It included bus transportation to Atlanta, overnight Amtrack into DC, three days touring (including baseball game and $$ allowance for meals), Jambo itself and plane flight home. Our council was allotted for 2 troops, but only had enough for one. What hurt us was the dates more than the cost I think. Council had payment plan beginning 12+ months out. Local schools started early. Some before Jambo ended and almost all by the end of the week. It is hard to get home Wednesday night at nearly midnight and start school the next day. Oh yeah, those days are unexcused

Does your district sponsor a Webelo-ree? Ask the people who planned it what games went really well. The ones our guys liked and that we did at a big campout for all the Boy Scouts and cub scouts and families sponsored by our CO were active ones. We had a brief nature walk- scavenger hunt. 10-15 minute walk and each group lists as many signs of animals as they find.. everything from deer scat to hearing the woodpecker and the mosquitos. We had a bean bag type toss. We even had them do stretcher relay races. Wanna see excitement? Get four Web I's to carry a leader on a stretcher in a ra

WOW... I can't believe all the people ESPECIALLY the professionals that think they "own" the schools they recruit from. None of the schools (except one church school) sponsor troops. Almost all the troops and packs in this area are sponsored by churchs or civic organizations. At an elementary school night, you may have three or four packs represented. All the leaders seem to be willing to encourage the boys to sign up, that joining is more important than which pack they join. We try to get them in the pack that they will feel comfortable with and will be able to get to the meetings. I think