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Spiney Norman

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Everything posted by Spiney Norman

  1. I second that Amen. This should be required reading for all new scout parents. Wait, let me rephrase that as just all parents.
  2. Welcome to the forum. My troop is in DPV as well.
  3. Shortridge, you said: "In a quick search of the Illinois DNR's Web site, I found multiple state parks with tent camping areas, with no indication that there are curfews or lockdowns after certain hours. (Do a Google search for this string - site:dnr.state.il.us primitive - to find plenty.)" While this is true, most primitive areas within the state parks here in the Prarie State are behind the gates of the state park. They do impose a quiet time curfew as well. as for this: "If the patrol does its planning, reserves a campsite and checks in upon arrival - just like a troop w
  4. Anyone else going to this? http://www.glcj.org/ Our troop is signed up. It looks like great fun for the scouts. It could be a good venue for us midwestern scouters to connect. Just don't hold the fact that I'm a flatlander against me
  5. YOU BETCHA' In or out od district/council we always travel in class a's. I'm not quite sure of the reason for wearing them but the boys tend to behave better in uniform.
  6. I second Shortridge's suggestion. With patrol cooking comes a common patrol area, a division of labor towards a common goal, etc etc. We also have a ongoing patrol competition during summer camp based on the patrol's ability to operate as a unit. We score them on their cooking, sanitation and spirit. This year the daily winner received extra pudding at dinner, you would think it was made of gold, and the weekly winning patrol usually receives gift cards at the September family night.
  7. We allow our SPL to tent alone at summer camps and when there is capacity at weekend campouts. Just one of the perqs of the job. It is his choice if he wants to tent with another scout. We have not had any problems with this to my knowledge.
  8. Have a Great Time at camp! Our troop leaves for beautiful Camp Lefeber nestled in the Chequamegon Nicolet National Forest of northern Wisconsin tomorrow at o'dark-thirty. I'll get to see my camp staffer son as well. I almost didn't make it as I came down with strep throat earlier this week but am fine and fit now thanks to modern antibiotics. PS we also pass one or two 'indigenous' casinos on the way as well. Hmmmm.
  9. It sounds like the boy is in earnest. Why try and stop/slow him down. Yes it is important that he be an example to the younger scouts but just because he doesn't meet someone's , other than the BSA's, arbitrary standard does not mean he is not Eagle scout material. Help him all you can. Be sure to get with the council and get him an eagle mentor.
  10. "One of the medicals that was recently turned in for our upcoming summer camp describes a Scout with some significant medical issues and on more meds than I've ever seen anyone take." Is this the lads first time camping? If so, meds or not, I would not be taking him to Summer Camp. Was no one in the troop aware of his medical condition before now? I find that truly hard to believe. In my limited experience parents of scouts with medical issues seek out a responsible person in the troop to fill them in on little johnny's care and condition. Just my two cents.
  11. Welcome to the campfire. You're sure to find lots of sage advice here.
  12. I stand corrected. See, it just can't be soon enugh...
  13. Thanks for the heads up. Our troop has been going to this event for severeal years now. Always well planned and thought out. You folks do pull off an amazing feet of logistics transporting thousands of scouts and scouters to and from the stadium in Chambana. Alas, we have decided to attend another council camporee up beyond the cheddar curtain at the EAA mueseum that weekend. One of my favorite memories occurred just last year. As we watched troop after troop BUG out before the storms hit. What a show it was when those storms came through. The scouts that were on that trip still talk abo
  14. So over the weekend I dropped my son off at Camp Lefeber in northern Wisconsin for his summer job as a counselor. This is also where our troop has been attending summer camp for 10 plus years. Being up there makes me anxious for our troop's week at camp. Today, it is 25 days and counting.....
  15. CalicoPenn in respones to: "Did I read this correctly? This particular father drives scouts to the campouts then goes into town and stays at a motel instead of camping? Now he's concerned about severe weather?" Well , He did do this once. Since then he hasn't attended any overnighters. He does support us at daytime events though. After taking what I 've heard here and applied to the fast and furious e-mails flying amongst the adults in the troop I think we may have quelled this tempest. I think the worry warts of the troop were unaware that so many of the contact leaders had alread
  16. I am an ASM in Eagle90's troop and he isn't giving you all the whole story. If it were just the lightning detector we would probably do just what SR540 suggested and accept it and be done with the issue. This fellow thinks we need to go beyond the BSA required training for severe weather identification. He now has another helicopter Dad all in a tizzy. Now it is being suggested that we have disaster drills on every campout plus extra ones above and beyond the required drills that our summer camp holds. I'm all for keepin' the kids safe but there is a point when you have to realise everyt
  17. My advice would be to hire a lawyer. Yes , a lawyer. As a matter of fact get two. That is what our troop did. We found two dedicated adults who made it their only service to the troop for close to six months to spec out and fundraise for a trailer. These to gentlemen went above and beyond in contacting coporations, fraternal organizatons ( you wouldn't believe the kind of money Masons love to give to good causes) alumni and the like. At times they were maddening but in the end they raised more money than we needed and now the scouts have a darn nice trailer.
  18. How about campsite restoration. Some campsites are camped on pretty hard year after year with the flys and tents always being put in the same place. The ground can get pretty hard and the flora and fauna don't like it either. I know some camps close campsites at times but for the most part they still show signs of hard usage that a year off the rolls cannot always undue what man or scout has done. KEn
  19. Kudu When I read the worksheet in your link I thought, "Sheesh, this guy is just trying to add to the requirements. Can't a reasonable adult or scout tell if they or someone else has Scout Spirit. This is just as bad as an attendance requirement." Then I clicked on the link to the Introduction page and read that. I did a 180 turnaround. I'm a firm believer that self-discovery is the best educator and this exercise fits the bill. It just goes to show you... How you implement the wording of a requirement are just as important as the words.
  20. I'm guessin' this must be one of them thar' dinin' hall camps.
  21. I too misunderstood jblake's initial post. After rereading the post a couple of times I understand that both troop went to the same camp, one cooking using the patrol method at the campsite and the other partaking of the dining hall offerings. I can understand how the camp staff would use meal time for making announcements thinking they had everyone together. At the camp my troop attends, (completely patrol method cooking) there are two meetings every day. One in the morning for the adult leaders and one at 1PM for the SPL's. The SPL meeting is when the announcements for the evening progr
  22. Lisa I have been the ASM in our troop responsible for "EDGEing" our scouts throuh this requirement. We have always done it on a weekend campout and so far it has worked out great. State Park maps are usually easier to come by and I have used the "trial" edition of Topozone to print out quasi USGS maps to get everyone familiarized with them. These maps also show compass declination even though it is nonimal here in the midwest. So here is what I have done in the past. Keep in mind that this all takes place while on a campout. We have the older scouts teach the compass and map ski
  23. Our troop just finished this year's TLT course. Another ASM and I put the course together and run it for 8 weeks. We do use the TLT booklet, I hesitate to call it anything else. I certainly wouldn't call a scout equipped to be a PL it that was all we used. We also use the old BSA course from the early 90's, the one with the VHS tape, along with lotsa' stuff from Kudu's website (THANKS) and another Canadish Scout book our SM picked up ( the title escapes me and I try and update it later). Some of it is boring and some of it is fun, but I stress to the boys that this is only a beginning. If they
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