SR540Beaver

My vehicle is my little dictatorship, no democracy allowed. The last thing a 48 year old guy driving 3 or 4 hyperactive kids 150 miles needs is to listen to their "music" the whole way. The Beav picks the country music on the radio and plays it at a normal volume. They are welcome to visit, play their Gameboys or listen to their iPods with their headphones. Believe it or not, I have actually had to ask them to turn down their iPods because they were turned up so loud that the headphones couldn't contain the sound. Note concerning Tull being confused with country. That is to be expected with some of the garbage that wannabe closet rockers pass of as country music these days. That isn't a slam on Tull, just today's "country" singers who don't know what a real country song is.

Lisa, The FUN part is the "value added" cherry on top. You recruit based on what the course will do for them and then throw in the "but wait, there is more" infomercial pitch. We throw in the FUN for free. No matter how great the material might be, if it involves sitting in a chair in a conference room for two weekends....who wants to go?

Dang it John, you stole my thunder!!! I'm currently recruiting for our fall Wood Badge course. Our fellow posters have described quite well what benefits someone will get from WB. We talk about all of that when we recruit, but we always emphasize that above all else, it is.........FUN!!! As one of my fellow staffers likes to tell people, it is the most fun you can legally have as an adult.

Ed, Actually, the BSA has tried to have it both ways. They, through lawyers in court cases have laid claim to being a religious organization in the past. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108666,00.html

WOW!!! Welcome to the forms capnwhizz! I for one would like to encourage you to participate in our little virtual campfire and continue to bring us a perspective that is missing here. Most of us here are folks at the unit level with a few former DE's. Your participation could sure shed some light on a host of questions we have from time to time about how the business and politics of a council function. Of course, with all of your scouting experience, we'd also welcome your input on all other topics.

http:listserv.tcu.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0201& L=scouts-l&T=0&P=5660 1. Who hires the Council Executive? Council Scout Executives ("Council Executives" in smaller ouncils; "Scout Executive" in larger Councils) are hired by direction of the Council's Executive Board, Council President and Council Commissioner. The Council Scout Executive is chosen from a set of candidates (normally no more than five) presented by the Region as "eligible to serve" in that role. The Council's search committee can select from that list, or find someone else out there who has tenure and is available or willing to relocate to that Council from outside the Region. By "informal personnel policies", an employee in that Council can NOT serve as Council Executive/Scout Executive on a permanent basis. For instance, a longtime Field Director, Program Director, or Associate Scout Executive cannot "bid on" or become the Council's Scout Executive on anything but a TEMPORARY basis. This is a stupid rule, but it's there because otherwise some career Scouters would NEVER leave their Council and would stay in the same place from the time of initial hire as a District or Associate District Executive through the time they become the "big cheese". They NEED to MOVE AROUND, agreed; but there are some EXCELLENT ACEs and Directors of Field Services whom would be GREAT Council Scout Executives IN THAT SAME COUNCIL -- they know the people, the employees, the camping facilities. They know more than the "new guy or gal coming in" in many cases. I hope the BSA "informally" drops that "policy." 2. Who blesses the Council Executive? As others have asked for clarification, I don't know exactly what you mean by "bless." It's a personnel decision made just like the head of a corporation selecting an Executive Vice President or a day-to-day center manager. As long as the Council's volunteer selection committee recommends and the full Council Executive Board says "that's our person!", that's all that matters. Naturally, the Region provides the listing of candidates, so if you're asking somehow "does the BSA endorse these people", then the answer is "I guess so, seeing how they provide the list through the Region." 3. Does the National Office have any input, vote or impact on the decision to hire or fire a Council Executive? Yes and No. Yes, the National Office, through the Regional Director and the Director of Membership (who doubles as the Director of Personnel) does exercise *some input* and impact upon the candidates selected for each vacancy. However, as I mentioned at the top, the Council search committee can ignore the Region's selections and find someone available in other Regions to work there. Each Region can also provide a listing of available candidates as well, if that's what the search committee wants. No, the National Office nor the Region has the ultimate duty of "firing" a Council Scout Executive. They CAN, as what happened in two local Councils, withdraw membership registration from a Council Scout Executive, thereby making him or her ineligible for further service (part of the deal is that the Scout Executive or Council Executive must be a "registered member of the Boy Scouts of America in good standing"; if they aren't they can't serve, can they??). So he becomes an administrator without a title and someone else has to be there to do the administrating, which is what Regions and Areas do in those cases.

scoutldr, It wasn't unexpected and we were prepared. They ran up the red flag most afternoons, shut down all activities and we sat in the shade and drank water. It only cost us $1900 for that adventure.

The Jambo infrastructure at AP Hill is great. The heat and humidity however is miserable with a capital M. I vote that we move it to a military base in Colorado. It is a nice central location and better climate. Of course, you can't tour DC.

It will never happen. Eventually, it might end up at the Supreme Court who will allow it to continue. Just my two cents.

LongHaul and jkhny, Here is the point of my praise for my council. You focus on the negative. Are the examples you site unfortunate? Yes, they are. Are they the norm? No, they are not. You've chosen to view it that way. If you drive down any street, you'll pass ten houses where life is rosy and one house where life is hell. Just because that one house is hell does not make the other ten hell. Does my council have issues? I'm sure they do. Are they bad? Evidently not. If you looked at my council's events page, in truth, many of the things you'll see there are at the district level. Things such as camporees, Webelos Woods, day camp, etc. The council does provide certain trainings such as NYLT, Wood Badge and an annual Pow Wow along with other courses. Each district provides training as well and is noted on the training page. The council offers opportunities for Philmont, Sea Base and Northern Tier. They run the scout shop. Now, what if my council really sucked? Our unit could still function. We do an annual high adventure trip of our own each year. This year is Northern Tier. Last year we had 13 boys from our troop go to Jamboree along with myself and our SM. Two years ago the troop did Philmont. We camp every month, rain or shine. We could order uniform parts thru the internet if needed. While it is nice having a thriving council that provides many services and opportunities, our unit could still thrive without many of those services and opportunities. Scouting ultimately happens at the unit level, regardless of what happens at district and council level. Just keep in mind that what you focus on is not the same thing that everyone else focuses on and your experience is not everyone else's experience. Focus on your unit and you will be much happier.

Note to self.........only come by Packsaddle's campsite for morning coffee....do not..DO NOT stop by at lights out.

mgkaiser, Sorry, we'd like to keep him for a while. I'll let you know if he ever becomes available. Allow me to indulge myself and post his latest column from the Council newsletter. It puts a perspective on why (at least some) SE's are concerned about membership. Thomas J. Dugger Rally Around the Flag As some of you have figured out by now, I am something of a history enthusiast. Or as my father used to call me a 'Shade Tree Historian.' Thats an old Southern expression that means on Sunday afternoons you, and like-hearted fellows, sat around under the shade of a tree and talked for hours about historical events that you had absolutely nothing to do with and could do absolutely nothing about, but thought it was important to go through the process. I have a particular interest in the 18th and midperiod 19th Century American History. I have spent untold hours looking at Military accouterment and impedimenta. Thats two Shade Tree Historian words meaning the stuff that soldiers used. Of particular interest to me has always been regimental flags and battle ribbons. The tradition of these items can be traced back much further back in history than the period which I am interested in, but they seemed to have reached their apex in the mid-period of the 19th Century. So important were regimental and national flags, that the leadership structure of the American Army changed somewhat and regiments began to use senior non-commissioned soldiers to carry these banners and started calling them Color Sergeants. The reason for this was that regiments often formed around their colors. Since the colors were so important to the cohesiveness of the unit, senior reliable soldiers were asked to fill this important function. Loss of the units regimental colors and their national flag could be absolutely devastating. In fact it was so devastating that it could completely demoralize a regiment and cause them to submit to surrender, or perhaps even disbandment, by being combined with another regiment. When one Army would surrender to another Army, disarmament was certainly important. But equally important was the striking of the regimental and national flags of the surrendering military units. Often weapons were destroyed but the flags were taken back to the camp of the victor as a symbol of having vanquished the other side. During the Civil War there was a popular song on the Union side called the "Battle Cry of Freedom." The chorus of the song went "Rally round the Flag boys, lets rally once again, shouting the battle cry of freedom." Needless to say the flags that belonged to a regiment were considered to be of the greatest importance. This was true not only in the American military but in military units around the world and it is a tradition that Baden Powell brought into Scouting when he founded the movement. We can still see this today in the way our Troop flags and Pack flags are adorned with ribbons that recount the accomplishments and achievements of those units. This long introduction leads me to the point that I wanted to share with you this month. Not so long ago one of our District Executives came into our building carrying something and he looked somewhat blue about it. When I saw what he had I went to visit with him about it. It was a Troop flag. This flag was literally laden with ribbons of many council activities and district events that had spanned what appeared to be about 20 years. I asked the District Executive, "Where did you get this?" He told me a story we should all hear. The story went like this. He had noticed a church in his district that did not have a Scouting program. He made an appointment to call on the pastor of that church to make a presentation about Scouting. When he arrived at the appointment he spoke to the pastor of the possibility of starting a Scout Troop. The pastor stopped him in mid sentence and said "Wait a minute. Let me get something for you, you may be able to use this." The pastor went to a storage closet and came back with the flag weve been speaking of. He said "We used to have a Scout Troop here and we just dont have it anymore. Im really not sure why, but anyway here, you might like to give it to someone who could really use it." Needless to say our District Executive was somewhat discouraged that his meeting had not gone so well; however, always believing that things happen for a purpose, I think this was a meeting that was meant to be. The District Executive is still working on this institution, but he did bring the flag back to the office. He let me borrow it for a while and as I looked at it I wondered about all the wonderful Scouting times that had happened around this flag. One ribbon no doubt had been for the Troop performing with a high level of competency at a Camporee. Another ribbon spoke to this unit having reached the Honor Unit Status. No doubt each ribbon on the flag had a story behind it. Yet all those stories related to how, over an extended period of time, the lives of the young men of that church had been shaped by the program we know and love as Scouting. How many times have the Scout oath and Scout law been recited around this flag? How many times had this flag accompanied our national flag in paying respect to our nation? How many times had this flag been dipped at a time of prayer in respect to 'Our Duty to God'? A more pertinent question is how many times had opportunities like this been missed since that flag went into the pastors closet? Last month our council kicked off a new membership growth initiative with a very special meeting called the Membership Summit. This meeting was conceived and chaired by our Council Vice President of Membership, Judge Stephen Friot. I appreciate Judge Friots approach to membership growth in our council because it is from the important perspective of a Scoutmaster - which he was for many years. Judge Friot, like many of us, believes that membership is the lifeblood of our organization and that it is the highest calling of the mission of the movement. Over 75 Last Frontier Council Scouters must agree with this because they attended the Membership Summit. These Scouters represented all but one district in our council and came from as far away as Altus in the Southwest, Guthrie in the North, Shawnee in the Southeast and Duncan in the South. At the Membership Summit I shared the story of the Troop flag with those present. I wish all of you could have heard the gasp in the room when I got to the part about the pastor going to the closet and coming back with the flag saying, "We used to have a Troop, now we dont. Perhaps you can give this to someone who really needs it." The gasp was audible. I went on to tell the group that over the last several years in the Boy Scouts we have heard a lot about so-called ghost units. I presented to those gathered, the far greater problem in the Boy Scouts of America, and that is the ghost of units. This flag - simply put - was the ghost of a unit. As we look at our initiative to bring better Scouting to more young people, we need to give full attention to the challenge of having Scouting in every community and to offer it in a quality fashion that insures that young people are exposed to the value transfer system of our movement that gives them values to last a lifetime. No group can better perform this responsibility than the 6000+ volunteers that we have in Last Frontier Council - in particular our District Membership Committees. As we look at the next step for our Membership Summit, in order to be truly effective the following things must happen: There must be Membership Summits in each of our districts that will carry the story of positive membership growth to every community across Last Frontier Council. Growth must come from five sources, (1) new units, (2) youth recruitment resulting in additional enrollments, (3) growth from program transition (Tiger to Cub Scout, Cub Scout to Webelos, Webelos to Scout) (4) growth from stopping dropped units from occurring (5) and finally growth from increasing tenure. In other words more youth re-registering at Charter renewal time. All of us bear a part of this responsibility. It is not simply a volunteer function or a professional function. It is not necessarily a district or council function; but it is most certainly the sign of a viable movement. So next time someone says to you it seems that all we care about is numbers, you might consider replying this way. "Yes, we are concerned about numbers because those numbers mean lives that are shaped and influenced by the Scouting movement." Thank you for assisting in bringing better Scouting to more young people. RALLY AROUND THE FLAG!

What good are those councils and professionals? Hmmmm, let me see. You are welcome to view my council's Events page at http://www.lastfrontiercouncil.org/program_information.htm. It lists tons of fun and educational things that are coordinated at the council level and available to all scouts. It of course is in addition to what happens at the district and unit levels. Then you can visit our Camps and Properties page at http://www.lastfrontiercouncil.org/camps.htm to learn about the council's six properties where day camps, summer camp and unit camping is provided year round. Don't forget to stop by our Training Opportunities page at http://www.lastfrontiercouncil.org/training-dates.htm to see all of the district and council training available. Listed there you will see our twice a year Wood Badge offerings where our "evil" and "wealthy" SE will come and do one of the presentations. You can drop by here http://www.lastfrontiercouncil.org/scout-executive-0406.htm to read his monthly column which usually has stories relating to his scouting days. I've seen him out and about at the annual Wood Badge Reunion, camporees and roundtables. Considering that his council is 11 districts in 24 counties that cover a little more than the SW corner of the state of Oklahoma, I really appreciate that he makes an effort to come see us "little people" when he could be home in his mansion or hob-nobbing with the fat cats. I guess my biggest gripe is that when I was an ASM for one of our council contingent troops for Jamboree last year, the council was pinching pennies and asked us to call or e-mail people who were late making payments instead of spending the postage to send them a reminder. I'm sure the SE was paying his country club fees with the funds!!!

Trev, I've checked out Spanish Peaks website in the past and it does look enticing. The summer camps I've attended all had dining halls and no patrol cooking. I have a question. From my experience at summer camp, the boys are kept busy enough that having to cook and clean three meals a day would seem to be time consuming and burdensome. What am I missing? Plus, they cook on the other 11 campouts during the year. While they do have to work at summer camp, it should be fun for them.

Chuck Conners....Branded? I seem to recall my great-great-grandfather mentioning something about that when he was explaining that TV's used to only have black and white screens and you had to turn a knob to change to one of three channels. Geez, you guys are OLD!!! Disclaimer: I remember watching the show as a wee lad. I was my dad's channel changer.

Pack, Headline criminals who were Eagle Scouts. Heck, I don't know....but I do know that a lot of politicians are former scouts and we know they are ALL crooks!!!

FScouter, That is just an assumption on my part. Like I said, I walked in on the tail end of the discussion. I have an e-mail to my buddy who is the Committee Chair to get the real skinny on what I missed. I am one of three ASM's for the new boy patrols. It was made very clear up front when the boys visited as prospects and after they joined that parents have the right and are welcome to come on campouts.....with the stipulation that they allow the patrol structure to function and to leave the boys alone. It was fun watching them this weekend walking half way to the patrol sites and spying, but staying away. Having 20 adults on a campout does put a strain on things though. Adults can and occasionally do bring their own tent. The troop does have some nice, tall, big tents for the adults to use. 99% of the time, the troop tents are used by adults. This was the first time that we didn't have enough to go around and people HAD to bring their own. We are almost at our limit for the boys, but still have one or two extras left. Since the adults function as a patrol, it was a little bit of a strain cooking for 23. Heck, we had enough for 3 patrols of adults, but didn't have 3 patrol boxes, stoves, lanterns, etc. From some looking around I did on the internet today, ault drivers are requirend to have insurance. The insurance provided by the BSA mainly covers scouts and registered adults in the event of an accident. Wanting regular campers and transporters to be registed isn't really unreasonable. With 20 more boys in the troop, we certainly will need more folks to do BOR's.

Eagle76, True enough. It has been about a year since I filled out a Tour Permit. I used to handle that for our old troop. All of the drivers and their info must be entered on the form if an adult is transporting boys other than their own. I'll have to dig out one of the forms and see what it says about insurance.

I love our troop. Having served in two other troops over a two year period before finally settling in this one, our troop is one of the best I've seen. We are truly boy led. We have a great program full of opportunities. We ran about 35 scouts per meeting until we crossed over 20 Webelos. Now we are bursting at the seams. We just returned from a climbing and rappelling campout this past weekend that had 46 scouts and 23 adults in attendance. Many of the adults were new boy parents checking us out for the first time. I believe that the number of adult campers will fall off some in the future. It is not unusual to have around 10 adults go on campouts. Heck, when you have to transport 40 boys and two trailers, you have to have a good number of adults. I walked in late to our troop committee meeting last night and got in on the tail end of a conversation about requiring adult registration for insurance purposes. I don't know if it was just a tactic to cut down on the number of adults or not. Our adults function as a model patrol with our own patrol box and gear and tents. That was obviuosly stretched considerably with 23 adults. The gist of what I think I heard was that we really needed these new parents to register if they were going to continue to go on campouts and provide transportation for BSA insurance purposes. That just didn't ring true with me. Parents should always be welcome on campouts and even expected to pitch in and help with transportation even if they don't stay and camp. I'm not aware of registration for insurance purposes being any kind of requirement I've ever heard of. Like I said, I walked in at the tail end and I did not discuss it with anyone afterward. Thoughts?

A number of the staff from my course were present at my beading, including the course director. However, it is often is the troop guide who actually presents the bead, woggle, necker and certificate while others do the speaking part. At least that has been my experience at the numerous beadings I've been to. Mine was quite elaborate with 7 of us being beaded from multiple courses. There were many WB staffers present and it was individual troop guides who presented while many other staffers split up the speaking portion. It was done at an adult training session campfire. We were beaded in fromt of the fire while the speakers were somewhere off in the dark. That being said, I've seen a beading at a roundtable where a single staff person did the speaking and presentation all by themself. It is your beading and you can have it where and when you want it. That does not mean that the person you want to do the beading has an obligation to drop everything to be there. They will most likely do their best, but there are no guarantees. I do know that the good folks who promote WB in our council LOVE to have beadings at roundtables and training courses as advertisement to other adults to take WB. But they also respect the fact that many scouters want to do them at B&G's and COH's.

Rooster, While you and I may have nothing to hide, that does not give the government the right to spy on us without our knowledge. The constitution says so. Part of the problem with the Patriot Act is that it is hard to know abuse is taking place because of the secret nature of the work. They could have a file three inches thick on you that they have accumulated. Just because you are not aware of it doesn't make it right. If I break into your garage every night and take your car for a joy ride, is no harm done as long as you are not aware of it? The problem is, we don't know who the government is spying on and how they use that information. They need probable cause and the way this administration is doing things, they don't care whether they have it or not. Obviously you are comfortable with that, but many of us are not willing to erode those liberties. As I said earlier, inches turn into miles. Amendment IV The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,174711,00.html Lawmakers Worry About Patriot Act 'Abuse' Sunday, November 06, 2005 WASHINGTON Lawmakers expressed concern Sunday that the FBI was aggressively pushing the powers of the anti-terrorist USA Patriot Act (search) to access private phone and financial records of ordinary people. "We should be looking at that very closely," said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "It appears to me that this is, if not abused, being close to abused." Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, agreed, saying the government's expanded power highlights the risks of balancing national security against individual rights. "It does point up how dangerous this can be," said Hagel, who appeared with Biden on ABC's "This Week." Under the Patriot Act, the FBI issues more than 30,000 national security letters allowing the investigations each year, a hundred-fold increase over historic norms, The Washington Post reported Sunday, quoting unnamed government sources. The security letters, which were first used in the 1970s, allow access to people's phone and e-mail records, as well as financial data and the Internet sites they surf. The 2001 Patriot Act removed the requirement that the records sought be those of someone under suspicion. As a result, FBI agents can review the digital records of a citizen as long as the bureau can certify that the person's records are "relevant" to a terrorist investigation. Calling the recent growth in the number of letters a "stunner," Biden said, "Thirty thousand seems like an awful, awful stretch to me." Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Sunday that he could not immediately confirm or dispute the 30,000 figure, but he said the power to use the security letters was justified. "The Department of Justice inspector general in August 2005 found no civil rights violations with respect to the Patriot Act," he said. Issued by the FBI (search) without review by a judge, the letters are used to obtain electronic records from "electronic communications service providers." Such providers include Internet service companies but also universities, public interest organizations and almost all libraries, because most provide access to the Internet. Last September in an ACLU lawsuit, a federal judge in New York struck down this provision as unconstitutional on grounds that it restrains free speech and bars or deters judicial challenges to government searches. That ruling has been suspended pending an appeal to the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In a hearing last week the court suggested it might require the government to permit libraries, major corporations and other groups to challenge FBI demands for records. The Patriot Act provision involving national security letters was enacted permanently in 2001, so it was not part of Congress' debate last summer over extending some Patriot Act provisions. As the Dec. 31 deadline has approached for Congress to renew provisions of the act, the House and Senate have voted to make noncompliance with a national security letter a criminal offense. Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the expanded use of security letters was a "clear concern" and that information gathered on citizens should be destroyed if it does not lead to a criminal charge. Coburn said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he "certainly will" take steps to ensure that the documents are destroyed immediately.

I posted this back when the server date and time was corrected and it ended up on page one instead of page three where it belonged in sequence, so I'll post it again. Rooster, I'm not quite sure how you can take the reasoned and legitimate concerns of conservative patriotic citizens and see them as rants and hysteria......but you are as entitled to your opinion as anyone else. I've detected your comments and responses to be directly in line with the talking points of pundits such as Rush, Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Tony Snow, Ann Coulter, etc. I suspect that you take most of your information from those kind of sources since you repeat their points almost verbatim. I know because I listen to them almost daily, but do so with a critical ear. Again, it is your right to develop your opinions from sources that support your views. That doesn't really do anything to support your claim of no proof in the pudding however. It just means you limit yourself to one brand of pudding. I suggest that you do a Google search on "patriot act abuse" to find that there are indeed proofs to that which you choose not to believe. Yes, you'll find stories from the ACLU, but you'll also find stories from sources such as Fox News.

The word hero, like the word terrorist are overused and have lost much of their meaning in today's world. As a conservative independent, it disturbs me greatly that just about any Democrat who has served in the military constantly has their service and actions questioned. Just because some people disagree with the assessment of someone like Murtha is no reason to call him a traitor. The man is a patriot and knows what he is talking about when it comes to the military.

dan, I lock my doors at night because of what ifs. I practice two deep leadership, youth protection and G2SS guidelines because of what ifs. My comapny has a disaster recovery plan because of what ifs. Heck, one of the news items on the interent today is Bush reaffirming his doctrine of premptive strikes.......because of what ifs. So yeah, my main worry with eroding civil liberties are because of what ifs. I've seen many what ifs happen in my life and it was too late to do anything about them after the fact. At that point "what ifs" turn into regrets when you ask "what if" I would have done something to prevent this from happening. Proactive is far better than reactive.

CubScoutJo, We made our move back in the fall of last year. Off of the top of my head, I can think of at least 6 troops within about 5 miles of our house. One or two are stinkers, the others have pretty good reputations. I was an ASM for Jamboree and thru that my son and I got to know our Jambo SM and about 12 boys from his troop. Within a month of returning from Jambo, we closed the troop we belonged to (a different story I won't go into here) and moved to his troop. It is approx. a 22 mile trip one way. Most of it is interstate highway getting accross town, so it takes about 25 minutes. Does making the trip get old? Sure, at times. There was one week recently where we went to the troop meeting on Monday. I went to the committee meeting on Tuesday. Wednesday night we had an orientation for Webelos crossing over and I am an ASM working with new scouts, so I needed to be there. We had just held elections and my son and I had to attend a troop JLT on Friday night. Saturday was a clean up day for the troop to go thru our equipment and meeting room and spruce things up. We started all over on Monday. So in 8 days, my son and I made six 44 mile round trips to do scout business. Obviously I burned thru a tank of gas pretty darn quick. Was/is it all worth it? You bet!!! We both love this boy led troop and the opportunities it provides. There are times I don't look forward to making the trip, but besides the benefits of being in a great troop, it does provide me a good amount of quality time talking to my son.