SSScout

Scoutmaster stuff.... Filson... Made in the USA...http://www.filson.com/mens/the-cruiser-shop/-1015/ I still have a vest made out of my dad's cruiser coat, Scoutson wears it now, 70 plus years old...

Eclipse, Buster Brown Shoes, Campmor is still cataloging.....American Chair Co. made my pack frame....

I have seen whole steer roasts, but THIS is the most extravagant thing I have EVER seen....

Stosh: The "jet stove" was one of those propane stand alone burners. My Leader always called it a "jet" stove because of the noise it made. And, yes, it was a big FOOOSH, but the dinners didn't take on any kero taste/smell, it had burned down considerable before the aluminums were put on the coals. I like your last comment about "I can do that".

Here's what I once saw at a IOLS camp cooking demo: On the camp driveway, two feet wide heavy duty aluminum foil, doubled, laid out 25 feet long, held down with some rocks along the edge. Foot wide charcoal piled along the center of the foil. Looooong squirt of kerosene into Charcoal. Light it off. FOOOOSH! Meanwhile, Scouters (25 or so) make aluminum dinners, chopped steak, fish, various veggies, double wrapped and seamsealed. Coffee pots filled with cocoa, coffee, hot cider, When charcoal (maybe three 40 pound bags) is hot, dinners were laid on, pots pushed in. Someone even attempted a chocolate brownie thing in foil, It was like a chewy cookie when done. It burned for an hour, plus. True, they didn't COOK by Patrols, but they did PREPARE the meals by Patrols. Clean up was rolling up the foil. Clean up water was done over a big jet gas stove. You folks have any other interesting demos, examples, ideas?

It is recognized the "Join Scouting Night " in September is a Cub thing. At recent BSRT this was passed out and discussed: Stuff To Do To Spread The Scout Gospel, And Invite Boys (and parents!) To Your Troop It’s not JUST for September! If Scouting is such a good thing, why are you keeping it a secret? And don’t do it (recruit!) just once a year! Boys can join any time! Get your Committee to work! They can’t (and won’t) join if they don’t know you’re there. Suggestions we have collected: 1. Article in local community newspaper. Did you go to Philmont? The Summit? AT hike? Call the Gazette or the Sentinel! Don’t forget the photo and contact number! 2. Let Church members know about the Troop. Church Bulletin? YOUR House of Worship, not only the CO! 3. Flyer/ table at local middle school's Back to School Night. (Coordinate with Cub Scouts!) Check for Public School Disclaimer paragraph! 4. Letter sent to all graduating 5th graders inviting them to join Boy Scouts (check with the Principal, see above) 5. Boy-to-boy recruiting - most successful method for us. Create a card to pass out to friends. 6. Web site that people can find by Googling ( Is your www.BeAScout.org account accurate? If not, inquiries go to the Council office.) 7. Pass out cards @ sporting events, parades. 8. Flag ceremony for PTA. Presentation to PTA. 9. Sign outside your CO: “Home of Troop , Crew, Ship XYZ†10. Make contact with the Middle School Counseling Office. 11. Demonstration/exhibit at Library. Check with Head Librarian/ Media Specialist. 12 Sponsor /Donate a Boys’ Life subscription to the Library. 13. Speak to Scouts about their “angst†at wearing uniform “in publicâ€Â. 14. Make sure everybody has “Class B “ T-shirts or sweaters. They can be worn anytime, not just to Scout events. 15. Listen to Scoutcast podcast. See Brians Blog: http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/201...rs/#more-28161 16. Make sure you have a “Boy Led “ Troop, and a quality, high energy program. The successful, large Troops are active, going places and doing stuff every month. If a boy joins your Troop, why should he stay? Your Patrols should be encouraged to do stuff AS A PATROL, don’t wait for the Troop to go out. 17. The Adults can wear their Scout belt, cap, jacket outside of “campâ€Â. Conversation starter. 18. Den Chiefs. Appoint to local Pack. Make that connection. Cubs watching and looking up to “big brother†Scouts in their Cub Dens. 19. Offer to do a “Whittlin’ Chit†class for the Pack’s Webelos and Bears.

Howcum I see nothing in this proposed "Rule" about the Scout Law? Everything is covered in that. >>Taking good care of the equipment? Trustworthy, Loyal , Thrifty, Helpful.... >>Replacing stuff I helped break? Trustworthy, Thrifty, Helpful, Loyal.... >>Camping/Tenting with a fellow Scout? Friendly, Trustworthy, Loyal..... >>Not tenting with dad anymore? Brave, Friendly, Courteous, Kind..... >>Being there when needed? Trustworthy, Helpful , Kind, Obedient ,.... >>Looking after my "buddy's" welfare? (he'd do the same for me): Helpful, Trustworthy, Kind, Friendly.... * see also your faith's version of the "Golden Rule".* Sooner or later (hope it's sooner) every boy says "no thanks , mom, I'll fold my own underwear". Some need a push, some need an example of the other boys and adults. >> If you can't trust your SM to do right by the boys, then all else is moot. Policies are firstly to assure a uniform, expected response to a given situation and secondly, for folks who might not have the experience or other good judgement in a given situation. Hence, the G2SS, and SMST, and IOLS. Policies can be GENERAL or REALLY SPECIFIC. And what happens when the Policy doesn't include THIS situation? That's when policy writers go crazy.... I see this as a really good SMMinute possibility....

All good ideas previous. My Troop sold trees in days of yore, and I have seen other Troops sell. My thoughts: * Location, location, location. High traffic, high sales. etc. Parking for cars, pull over space. * Security: You will read about folks stealing not one or two trees off unattended lots, but DOZENS . Keep the big supply off lot, but ready to bring in. See below about recruiting...... * Publicity: Signage, newspaper article, even TV time can and should be pursued. Lights at night. Music in the back ground. (?where's the electricity coming from?) Burn (as permitted) old scraps and trimmings. Pine smell can bring folks in. Don't forget the local BSA newsletter/email flash. Church newsletters, etc. Poster in the library. * Scheduling the help. Insist on Scouts AND parents presence. Talk it up at every meeting. email, phone trees. * Recruiting: Put that axe yard up front, where folks can see, where boys can see. Set up a tent, keep Scouts there in a camp, if possible! Cook some meals there! Dutch oven brownies! Peach cobbler (even if only canned peaches)! Sausage and eggs! Camp biscuits and honey! Sell food or give away tastes! * Make the friends of your local police and fire dept. (volunteer?). They can and will be willing to help, keep an eye on things, etc. This is a real opportunity , if pursued effectively. Have fun and Good Luck!

Here's that discussion again. Does a Scout GET Eagle? Or does he EARN Eagle? I can GET a Maserati, with enough money. I can EARN (or GET?) the money , many ways, some more better than others. Some ways are judged by society as more appropriate than others. Convincing people to buy my pencils rather than someone else's. Curing cancer. Loaning money for sub-prime mortgages. Raising dairy cattle and making milk and cheese. Importing opium to Detroit. Building railroads and bicycles. Choices, choices. If the goal is the Eagle badge, sure, worksheets, wall charts to mark off progress, all good ideas. I agree with TwoCubDad, we already have the book. But my question is, HOW DO YOU GET THE KID TO READ THE BOOK? .Seems most boys nowadays WAIT for someone to TELL them what to do, how and when and where to do it. And because often they are told and given and so they never read the book. Where my BSHB was fairly shopworn when I "aged out" (never heard that term until I was an adult). The BSHB that our boys bring to their BoR is often uncracked, clean. Kept in a plastic bag by mom, so the BoR can sign it, neat. To treat the Eagle rank as a "goal" as a "reward" is only natural. One has to want it. But why want it?

My experience with the home Troop and others is this: If the adult was a Scout (BSA, GSUSA), they will usually stand up and ask, "what can I do? What needs to be done?" and we find something for them to do.... If the adult was never a Scout (or had a bad experience in Scouting), they are noticeable because they stand on the side and watch. These folks need to be approached, welcomed and ASKED to help in some small (or large!) way. Both of these folks, it must be remembered, are there in the meeting room either because they want their boy to be a Scout or the boy REALLY wants to be a Scout and has dragged his folks there! Either way, the Troop looses if the new parent is not soon involved in the culture of the Scout. Then, too, there is the third type, who drops the boy off at the door and disappears for two hours , only to show up later to pick the boy up . These you really need to approach and make to feel welcome.

Any training worth it's clipboard is an exchange, a two way learning experience. Yes, the instructors should know the subject and be able to impart it. But the GOOD instructors allow, nay, encourage the participants to share their thoughts and skills and subject knowledge. THAT is "value added", THAT is how you acknowledge and retain the Scouter, by letting them know that they are more than a mere "trained" person, that they could be the NEXT instructor. You make that connection between Fred and Eugene and Mary and Claude. Maybe if Eugene has a problem, he will remember that Fred and Claude had experience in that and may call them for help. Scouting should never be just a top down organization. It should never be just the "instructor" and the lowly "student". Not "need" IOLS? I would have a quizzical look at a fellow that did not want to go camping and meet folks with a common desire to "do Scouting". No one is ever "fully" trained. I can always learn a new technique, a new way to light a fire, a new way to make a tent peg, a different way to look at the forest. Do I teach my way of doing something? Of course, but then I will tell my student to at least try it "my way" , because I know it will work, and do it "his" way later, and I will listen and learn "his" way. Maybe it is better, I will consider it. I do not need an excuse to go camp. I may need my wife's permission, but never an excuse.

Camp Heritage : Arrive and check in Sunday, 12noon to 1pm. (no lunch) Swim checks that afternoon. Closing Campfire, awards, etc. Friday night. Campsite inspection and Check out Saturday before 11am (bag breakfast). Sounds reasonable to me, campstaff deserve a sleep in day.

Schedule the weekend, , pay the fee, camp, drink coffee, fry bacon, tie knots, walk thru the woods, ID trees, laugh around the campfire, put the Patch on the sleeve, keep your registration with the home Troop current, come back when you can, give the Scouts the same example and guidance you had. That's what I'd do.

http://www.wordcentral.com/byod/byod_browse.php?term=Sm&type=alpha "smackerdoodle: verb. to confuse or bewilder." (seems to be from "down south"... Also a yummy cookie recipe, and a more pornographic action...... google is your friend.

There you go. The syllabus can be good, but it ultimately depends on the instructor: his/her experience and knowledge and ability to transfer that to the newbies. Our summer camp had an IOLS week long course, in sections, folks could take any and all . I did not take it, but the reports were good. I helped out at the "Trail to First Class " classes. (they lost about a third of their Scout staff thru illness, it seems).

Tweets and instant messaging are not really good grammatical/spelling/punctuation training.

A boy joins Scouts for one of three main reasons: His parents insist on it, he wants to (because of the Scouting or Troop or Pack reputation) or because his buddy invites him. He stays in Scouting because of one (or more) of the same three reasons: his parents insist on it (and will reward him: driver license, new car(!), Wii box, vacation trip, I've heard a lot of things) or because it is fun and he "gets something out of it" or because he is in with his buds. His time in Scouts can be a chore, or a pleasure . The Patrol Method can be a lesson, an "aha!" moment, if it is guided by the adults as such. One of the means to that end can be the way Scouts learn and earn. I taught my Scoutson his axe and knife, both thru example and lesson. He, in turn, taught the boys in his Troop as an Instructor (shoulder patch!) for Totin Chip. Those boys, in turn, taught other boys. The same way is appropriate for any rank requirement. Fire safety and building? Knife and axe? Camp hygiene? Cooking? If the older Scouts won't teach and test the younger boys (with adult overview) , then what other encouragement is there for the younger ones to stay and pass on the traditions (make their own!) of the Troop? How do we show them we TRUST them to make decisions and LEAD (and follow?) if they are not allowed to pass on what they have (alledgedly ?) learned themselves? And what greater encouragement for the older Scout than to have a "little brother" look up to him for instruction and advice? It can be a self fulfilling , self perpetuating system, if allowed and encouraged. I seem to remember something like that in my callow youth, but then, I am an old and forgetful fellow. Maybe that was a myth, or a legend I am imbuing with undeserved reality.

Now that you mention it... The US of A has had four capitals: Philadelphia PA, New York NY , Washington DC., and Brookeville MD..... http://uscapitalforaday.org/ Y'all come down and visit.... Historic Trails are where you find 'em and where folks have noted their significance. BSA does not have a lock on any trail's notoriety. You can even create your own patch to commemorate a trails hike. I know of an Eagle project that did just that.

Just got back from Scout Camp. When the SPL had "tried everything" to get slow pokes out of the tent for flag, I started singing "Lovely Rite Meter Maid". Got 'em up.

48 star flag. pre WW1? The boys are sitting on newspaper. Cold stone steps? And yeah, how can the second row stand up? I think the second row is kneeling on a wide step and the third row is standing behind them. Look at the knees of the boy infront of the US flag, on the newspaper.

Smitti: Try hard to allow (that is the word) the SM to resign on his own accord. The CO does not want to have to fire him, OR wait for a "review" period. Folks with alky problems do one of four things: 1) Refuse to admit there is a problem (drinking in summer camp, much less during, is a problem) , 2) say there is a problem and "I' can deal with it" (rarely do they "deal with it"), 3) ignore friend and family warnings and pleadings to "get help", thus allowing others to "deal with it" (which can include getting fired, divorce, accidents and injuries, uncontrolled debt , estrangement from family and friends), 4) Admitting to themselves and their loved ones that there IS a problem, and getting professional and/or AA counseling. The fourth choice is, of course , the best. It will take some careful, caring conversation. Point out the obvious and the events that happened. Do not white wash anything. Do not excuse anything. In my pre-retirement job, our bus drivers were told up front, and often: If they have an addiction problem, they can come forward and we will work with them in good faith to help them save their life, their family and their job. If the addiction problem was "found out" rather than "volunteered", that was the end of the job. They were on their own. Here, your SM has been "found out". Alcohol is a drug, and this is an addiction. He is not in control, the alcohol is. I would have to say, we will help you anyway we can, but, sorry, it will NOT be with you as a Scout Leader, at least until you have "dried out" for a good period. Is there any Scoutson involved?

Most Northern Tier routes cross and recross the US-Canadian border, yes?

So the 2013 Jamboree is history. The equipment was for sale, "with reconditioning". Anyone within the sound of my computer buy one of the Scout Jamboree tents? How was it?

"Like I said..." """Yes tigers can earn sports and academic belt loops (at least next year)."" =Sydney Porter= This has been true since Tigers were invented, however , SHOULD they earn them? I served as Archery RO for many CSDCs, and the last time, I was informed by the DCD that since the curriculum included all the Archery Pin requirements, the Tigers had participated, ergo, they earned the pin. When I pointed out that the curriculum was presented to me and I had not drawn it up, and that I did not ordinarily think that Tigers were mature enough to handle the equipment and the range as I would like a Pin holder to , I was told that was not germane, that if I followed the curriculum provided, every Cub would have earned the BL and the Pin. I told her that I thought the Pin should require more than merely participating and listening to my Scout assistants safety and history classes, that I would ordinarily ask Cubs desirous of the Pin to come to camp one day an hour early to help set up and stay an hour later to help take down, thereby fulfilling the requirement (which is "optional" it turns out) , I was told again that that was an "optional" requirement, and not necessary. Any Cub can (and will) earn the BL AND Pin. So here is Cub Scouts, can't fail. In my previous camps, my DCD and I both agreed that the Pins required an extra effort on the Cub's part, that the BL might be "automatic", but not the Pins. Sic Gloria Mundi. If your Cub (or their Den Walkers) bring back a list of "rank requirements and BLs earned", the responsible Cub Leader will review with the Cub what he actually remembers doing. The list may be overly optimistic. The curriculum may not have been followed. The Station Scouter may not have had time to do what he wanted to do. Reward the Cub with what he earned, help him to earn the rest. The badge/rank will mean more to him, and he will learn to expect actually working for something he desires.

What Twocub said. The CSDC should provide a list of awards and rank requirements (knots, flag ceremony, nature , etc. ) that the Cub may have learned/participated in/fulfilled. They should encourage the Pack/Den leadership to review with the Cub(s) what exactly was accomplished , and congratulate them accordingly. The Pac k makes the awards, not the CSDC. The Tiger can "earn" the belt loop (if that is the CSDC result), but IMHO, he should not be awarded the BL until the first Pack Meeting. There, the CM should make a show of the Cubs that earned stuff over the summer, thus encouraging others to do so next summer AND thruout the coming year. Line all the Tigers up, first award them their Bobcats, and go on to all the other neat bling.... Lead the Pack in a "rocket cheer" and have fun! KiSMiF!