SR540Beaver

Our first staff meeting is two weeks away, so I don't know what critter I'll guide. One could only hope it is a superior critter such as the great and mighty beaver, but I'll suffer thru whatever I'm given.

I have one of the Coleman cat heaters and I've only used it a time or two. Eammon is right in that while they are flameless, they are a heat source and you could either melt a hole in a tent or start a fire. For me, they just don't put out a big enough zone of heat to make that much difference in a tent. I believe they now have one with a battery powered fan that would move the hot air. I'd never let a boy have it in a tent, so I try to do as I say and lead by example. The exception to that is (limited use) cell phones for adults and cots for bad backs. I have used both a hydration bladder and a nalgene. I've found that the nalgene is much easier to use and clean. One of my favorite items is my Petzl headlamp. There never seemed to be enough lanterns around and trying to hold a flashlight in one hand while setting up a tent was frustrating. The headlamp frees both of your hands and makes life soooo much better. Also, since it uses LED's, the battery life is long. We always carry walkie talkies in the vehicles while traveling. It allows the adults to stay in contact if needed. They have some that have a 12 mile range now. My experience is that the claim is somewhat of an exaggeration. But still, they are better than the old 1 or 5 mile models. A real plus is that the pair I bought have a weather radio mode which is handy in camp if you notice unexpected changes in the weather.

El Nino? Yeahhhh, that's the ticket. Back then, all of those rainy campouts were blamed on me in my troop. Why didn't I think of El Nino back then?

Darn! Lost another recruit! Enjoy!

It could eventually end up in the Supreme Court, but it will get overturned. That being said, after enduring the death march with 45,000 of my closest friends at the last Jambo, my vote goes for moving the event to a cooler climate such as Colorado.

Beavah, Are you da biggest fan of dat wascally wabbit Bugs Bunny or is dis just an assumption on my part? Just wonderin' if I's right or ain't.

Jefferson wasn't a running back? Next you're going to tell me we don't get french benefits. The obvious answer to who you don't let vote is.......anyone who doesn't think like me.

Obviously Eagle447 has a different experience than what I've seen. Around here, all of the MB Fairs I've seen are one day affairs. The MB's offered are either full day or half day classes. So, depending on what MB(s) a boy is working on, he can either do one MB or two at the most. Almost every MB I've seen offered had pre-reqs as not everything can be accomplished in the class. Another option is to do the requirements after the MB. My opinion is that MB fairs are here to stay whether people like them or not. When I was a kid, we had three TV channels and you had to actually change the channel on the TV be walking up to it and turning a knob. The world has changed. PC's, the internet, iPods, cell phones, competitive sports, etc. While we would all like to see our boys get a name and number from the SM and call an MBC to set up an appointment to do an MB indepth with a buddy, that has kind of gone the way of corded phones and knobs on TV's. MB fairs and summer camp are where 99% of boys work on their MB's now.

CA_Scouter: I would like to see specific examples of posters not following the program as I'd rather deal in realities rather than hypotheticals. Ok, I'll bite. However, this true example is not from the troop I serve. It is from another troop in town who was recruiting back when my son was a Webelos. The SM gave a little talk and explained what they did in their troop. He said what time and day they met and said we work on MB's and sometimes we'll go do something like laser tag. Honest to goodness, that was his recruitment hook. A big RED flag popped up immediately for me to steer my son away from this troop regardless of how fun laser tag sounded. It told me a number of things. The troop was adult led since all they did was work on MB's. It also told me that the adult leaders didn't have the first clue of the aims or methods of Scouting and had little to no training of how to run the program and train the boys to lead. I'm sure they have a blast when they play laser tag or go skating. They probably get pretty bored sitting thru the MB classes though. Oddly enough, the unit gets a a few new boys each year, but have never really grown much. Go figure!

Amen Trev! My guy always seems to get knocked out in the primary and all I'm left with to pick from is liver or gizzards when I really wanted the wing.

Well, I am concerned how other volunteers run their units because it is a reflection on the program as a whole in the public's eyes. When I registered as an adult and attended the training, it was with the idea that I liked the program, supported it and would deliver it as designed. A charter organization enters into an agreement with the BSA and is granted a license for one year to operate the BSA's program. They do not just get to use the name and do it however they feel like it. Otherwise, we'd have gays, atheists and girls in units that wear goth uniforms and hang out at the mall instead of going on campouts.

Staff week is too late if you have a stinker in the group. It would take a little advance planning, but here is the idea. Months before summer camp, boys are sending in their applications to work staff. You go thru your interviews and selection process. For those who will be teaching an MB, they have an additional step, they have to staff a council wide MB Fair. It can be done over two Saturdays. The first Saturday, they are paired with an experienced adult MBC and assist. The second weekend, they teach the MB with the adult assisting and evaluating. If it appears they know their stuff and can do a quality job, they are hired. That way, there should be few surprises when boys get to camp and find out they have a dud and wasted their money getting a bad experience. Another plus to this is the council can make $10 per scout for attending the MB Fair and apply the profits to supplement summer camp needs.

Heck, using pure common sense I could have told them the same thing for half the cost. The good news is, these folks all have bright and wealthy futures as 24 hour news channel or radio talk show pundits.

I'm so aware of my issue with remembering names that I always always wear my name badge on my uniform to make remembering my name easier for people. A few adults in my unit wear name tags, but not all. It would have made it easier for me to learn them rather than eavesdropping on conversations to catch their name. The boys of course don't wear tags. I just have to pick their names up as we go along. It only takes a few meetings or a campout or two.

I'm great with faces, but horrible at names until I've actually interacted with the person. An interaction for me does not include an introduction and a handshake. It means spending some time with the person. My opposite is our pastor. He is amazing. We probably have 1500 members in our church. His first week, he was taken around to all of the sunday school classes and individually introduced to everyone regardless of age. As we were leaving church his second week, he called my son (7 or 8 at the time) by name. He had met at least 1000 people a week ago and could recall a 7 year old boys name off the top of his head!!! Pretty impressive in my book.

I just came across our Eagle list. If I counted correctly, we had 140 boys earn their Eagle over the last 40 years.

CNY, Do the out of council WB course. One of my fellow WB patrol members was from out of council and he loved it. It gave him many resources from a larger council and gave us an additional resource as well. He nad I both started new troops around the same time and we were able to be sounding boards for one another. Funny, but I ran into him in Kansas a couple of weekends ago. Our troops attended the same out of state event. Scouting seems to be a small world. Now, if you truly want to do an out of council course, I have a registration form for the fall course I'm helping staff in the Last Frontier Council in Oklahoma. I'll be glad to mail you a form and take your deposit. Heck. I'll hand deliver it to the council office for you. Eammon, Hmmmmm. do I smell Bear bait in the Beaver trap? The other patrols were always jealous because the best patrol always got to eat first.

I found this thru google. Google is a wonderful thing. Hope it helps. Ordeal Bread Ingredients: 1 cake yeast 4 Cups of milk powder, divided 1 cup 7 grains cereal 2 teaspoons salt cup cooking oil cup + one teaspoon sugar 4 eggs, beaten 1 cup oat meal raisins, nuts, or bananas as desired 2 to 4 cups whole wheat flour water white flour for dusting working surfaces cooking oil for greasing pans, etc. Method: Dissolve 1 cake yeast in cup warm water plus one teaspoon of sugar in a large container. Itfoams when it gets going. Mix 2 cups of water with two cups of dry milk powder. Scald the mixture. (Scald means to heat carefullyuntil tiny bubbles start to form around the edges. Do not overheat or the milk will burn.) Add to the scalded milk: 1 cup 7 grains cereal 2 teaspoons salt cup cooking oil cup sugar Let this mixture cool and pour into a large pan. Stir in the yeast mixture. Then add: 4 eggs beaten 2 cups dry skim milk powder 1 cup oatmeal raisins, nuts, or bananas as desired 3 to 4 cups whole wheat flour Let this mixture sit for 10 minutes in a warm place. Dust a work surface with flour and oil your hands. Kneed the mixture for about 10 minutes. Preheat an oven to 375 for 10 minutes. Roll a portion of the dough into a one inch diameter cylinder working the dough as little as possible. Cut the roll into two inch long pieces. Place pieces on a greased cookie sheet about two inches apart. When the sheet is full, cover with a damp towel and allow the dough to rise for at least 15 minutes. Bake at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes. Check one by sticking with a tooth pick after ten minutes. When the tooth pick comes out clean, the bead is done. Cooking time depends on texture and is highlyvariable. Allow bread to cool. The result is a heave, substantial Ordeal Bread that may be frozen. Allow plenty of time for baking the bread. Three members need most of a day to prepare enough for a large Ordeal. The recipe may be multiplied, but try a single batch first.

Here is a novel idea for certifying the "youth" MB counselor/camp staff guys. As part of the job application process, they have to staff a council offered MB fair in the spring. The council can have adults who have taught the MB's sit in and critique the job the boy does. If he handles the boys and class material well, he gets the summer camp staff job. My son's first summer camp, he took Fly Fishing along with several boys in the troop. It was not until Wednesday afternoon that they informed us that the counselor played cards with the participants and would simply point at the fishing poles and tell them to help themselves if they wanted. Obviously we complained. Obviously there was not time to make up what they had missed. It was good money wasted. When we got the list of requirements completed, each boy only "lacked" one requirement to complete the badge. The SM told the boys that it was up to them if they wanted to "complete" the badge or consider what "trustworthy" meant to a scout. Not a single boy hesitated to get his card from the SM and tear it in half. Perhaps a job test MB fair would eleminate this kind of counselor being hired. Would it require some effort? Yes. Would it help to give a better program to the boys at camp? Yes. Isn't that what we are about?

FYI, the oil giants buy up the patents and new technologies that could replace petroleum so they can continue their monpoly. nothing is changing in the near future.

OGE, My brother has worked in the petroleum industry for 25 years or more. There is a real catch-22 here. New refineries are not being built for a variety of reasons. One is that the government regulations and standards are so tough it drives the price of building a new refinery thru the roof. Next is that no one wants it in their backyard. Third, after spending hundreds of millions of dollars to build a new refinery and increasing production and storage capacity, the price of gas would be driven down and the oil company's investment would end up cutting their profit. It just doesn't make good business sense for them to do it. Why sell gas for $1.50 when you can sell it for $2.50? Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending the oil companies......I'm just delivering the bad news. The truth is that refining and storage capacity are not under that much stress. It just makes a good story for pushing the price up and making higher profits. You are right, people should be outraged. The oil giants have our congressmen in their pockets and they won't do anything to put those expensive dinners, trips and gifts at risk.

Our troop has a custom necker. The boys are free to wear them at any time. The only time it is expected for them to wear them are for SM conferences, BOR and COH. We have some who wear them to meetings and campouts. As for me personally, I was never happier than when my company went casual and I got to take that @#^&!(%$@^ tie off!!! I feel the same way about neckers. They serve absolutely no practical purpose other than getting in the way or getting in your food. Like someone else who posted, I'm a big boy and unless it is a necker that is cut big, it just looks silly on me. Also, I'm hot natured. Wearing a t-shirt, my scout shirt and a necker on top of it in the 120 degree heat index during the Jambo death march just about did me in. My WB course was in the fall of the year, but i was fairly warm and I remember always feeling like my head would explode if I kept my necker on a minute longer than required. I like the traditional look of a necker, but I find them useless for anything other than "looks" during formal occasions.

Why? Because there might not be enough in the almost empty package to get the job done. It is just too much darned work to have to toss the empty and open the new when you can just open the new and get all you need. Geez guys, use your noodles.

True, they were just mocking a highly decorated Purple Heart veteran who chose to enlist rather avoid the draft like many of the leaders of their party. Pretty darn classy.

I believe the intent behind the song is to send a message that long winded announcements from well meaning adults are often not appreciated by boys. By making the song long, it is a reminder to keep the announcments short and sweet as boys are there to have fun. I recall a couple of years ago when my son was trying to recruit a buddy and brought him along to camporee. He had told him how much fun the camporee campfire program had been the year before. He really emphasized it. What happened? The OA called out about 75 people and then they did a few run ons in between all of the district adults getting up and making announcements for everything under the sun and thanking various people who had worked on the camporee. It was deathly boring. Perhaps if they had sang the song each time one of these windbags got up, they would have gotten the idea to cut it short and let the boys do a real campfire.