SSScout

I just read the fine print. this is billed as a mountain bike route. "Bike packing", not so much foot traffic.  

So this does NOT include the AT in it's route?

I know this ribbon is about rain gear, but hey....

Some years ago, I bought a pair of Bundeswehr  (german army) winter trousers from my "surplus " store.  Most practical clothing I have ever seen.  Still use them when the weather turns really cold and it is time to  shovel the cars out of the snow, etc.  100% wool, double layer,  front layered with a plastic sheet, reinforced knees,  big pockets  everywhere, ribbons in the side pockets to tie your compass,  etc. to so they can't be lost.  No zippers to be frozen, only buttons.  Suspender buttons.  Waist adjustment by elastic and buttons.  Boot tie downs and cuff extensions so as to wear OVER boots.  

Such tailoring would probably cost alot of $$ but they were worth the "mark down"  I paid.  

Not bad...   You can find "Young Eagles"  a 1934 movie serial (12 exciting chapters)  on DVD...

Teach them the bugle. 

Virtual coffee is rather tasteless.... Best to provide your own....

Bur seriously, welcome friend..  The virtual logs around our e-campfire are fairly comfortable....

What Eagledad said.   Perhaps it is only the COR who has the problem. Impossible to say from our perspective. Perhaps it is time for a switch to another Troop.  With the turmoil BSA is going thru right now, in every level and area,  your experience may not be an isolated one.

Try to allow folks to do the right thing. Smile and wave as you go by. 

See you on the trail. 

On 4/15/2021 at 4:29 PM, Jameson76 said:

There is a lot to cooking.  Just the discussions on jobs, meals, safety, etc can take a couple of hours.  The cooking and cleaning, getting feedback takes time.  It can be fun and not onerous, but it does take time.

 

Yes in deedy.  

For easy clean up, rub soap on the OUTSIDE of the pan...  ""I SAID THE OUTSIDE>>>>""

Check here: Boy Scout Recruiting in Public Schools: Scouting "Camp Fire" Presentation (inquiry.net)

 http://inquiry.net/adult/recruiting.htm

When my son Joseph was much younger (he earned his Eagle, and is now a strapping young man of 26),  I was helping him one night with his homework, he said to me, "dad, you had it easier than me in school."  I said, what do you mean? He replied, "you had alot less history to remember !" 

I had to agree with him. And so he became interested in the history I had lived thru, that I had actually seen. 

I have to plead guilty in not asking more questions of my parents and grandparents. The "elders"  I grew up with, who knew the world I inherited.

My grandparents lived thru the flu epidemic of 1918, read the newspapers about Charles Lindbergh flying  the Atlantic in 1927. My mom watched the dirigible Hindenburg fly over Boston on it's way to Lakehurst New Jersey in 1937. A distant cousin was Captain of the Hindenburg.  Years  later, she and dad watched (and with a young version of me laying on the floor) a fuzzy tv screen as Neil Armstrong stepped off a metal ladder onto the Moon.  That is a "life stretch", from biplanes and dirigibles to space travel.....  My dad had other "stretches" to share, to think about. 

History is made, remembered and forgotten by PEOPLE. Often the people we know. 

How about you?  Can you ask your folks, your "elders"  about their "Life Stretches"?   Are you "paying attention" to the history you have seen?  Lived thru? Inherited?   What can you tell  your children and grandchildren (we hope !) ?

As the philosopher reminds us....  "those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it".   Will you say YOU have learned anything from our history?

Good Scouting to you, safe journey home.....  

There is a profound difference in being able to view the ORIGINAL versus a book picture or even a projected image. 

Each brush stroke was dealt by a human hand. It was put there by the desire to capture ... what?  Something even a photograph can't capture.  

My dad attended an art school early on, thinking he might be a professional artist. Then the great depression interferred.  His friendship with the schools director Henry Hensche, continued and when I went off to summer camp , he and mom visited with Mr. Hensche,  I am the beneficiary of that visit,  years later, Hensche's portraits of my mom and dad, much younger, hang on my wall.  They are captured much better than any photo even of that time. 

Mr. Rockwell's work is much like that.  Wherever they hang, go and visit and view them. Soak up the "spirit" from which they sprang.  We can only hope, no matter their fiscal worth, that the new owner values their exhibition as much.

Let the PLC discuss what they might want to do, no limitations.  Total freedom of ideas.  

All the HAB and such are ultimately "canned" adventures.  Pick a trek.  Ask the outfitter.  

My family ultimately benefitted from my expertise , however limited it is,  in seeing possibilities.  When dear wife announced she had a job convention to go to in Reno, I took out the maps and Googled AMTRAK  time tables and presto, we had a family vacation out to the west coast, and drive back to Murlin. Two BIG weeks.  The kids went along, (they had to) but heck wife had three days in Reno, we had the Grand Canyon, and LOTS of other places.  Loose adventure.  

Europe?  Bike /history tour  thru Netherlands/Belgium. Hosteling in the Alps.  Hike the Camino in Spain.

US of A?  Great Allegheny Trail (200 miles of almost flat, down hill from Pittsburgh to Washington DC.  Campgrounds, history all along the way.

Anybody got some farm fields ? Plan your own summer camp, two weeks of "roughing it" can be had and the parents will enjoy being the Staff.  Play the What If game,  Think about what you need.... Others have done it. Yeah, some family vacation /work leave time has to be used.  So? 

Canoe trip?   Shennadoah,  Potomac,  James.... What you got out west? 

And think about it.... the Older Scouts can stretch their wings working things out with the Oldsters guidance. Isn't this what it's about? Or supposed to be about?  

On 4/15/2021 at 3:55 AM, PIETROP said:

Hello everyone, I'm a PL of a Scout Patrol in Northern Italy. We are currently working on our project ( I don't know if you do the same!) and we are looking for some foreign patrols to interact with... We can adjust what to do together depending on your preferences...Anyone would be interested?

( we are 6 boys, everyone decently speaks English) 

Hello again. My Troop wishes to know how the contact is to be made?   Email?  Whats App?  PM thru Scouter dot com?  

On 4/15/2021 at 3:55 AM, PIETROP said:

Hello everyone, I'm a PL of a Scout Patrol in Northern Italy. We are currently working on our project ( I don't know if you do the same!) and we are looking for some foreign patrols to interact with... We can adjust what to do together depending on your preferences...Anyone would be interested?

( we are 6 boys, everyone decently speaks English) 

I will mention this to Troop 759 in Ashton Maryland.   

Oh the vagaries of today's population.  I am a sometimes guide on a local historic trail concerning the Underground Railroad.  At one of my "stations" I ask where folks would like to "escape" to.  Almost everyone will answer "North".  Okay, on the count of three, point NORTH ! 1, 2, 3....  and look at the lack of consensus.....

No, one cannot navigate by democracy.

The desire to leave one's direction to the mini computer in one's pocket is astounding.   My collection of PAPER road maps, (Alexandria Drafting,  AAA, etc.)  continues to be very useful.   Yes, the sun comes up in the east and goes down to the horizon in the west. Where are those? 

Why was the fellow lost?   That concerns me.  I am very glad he was found safe and sound, but did anyone try to find out HOW he got lost?   Burned down direction signs? Is that it?

Sounds like a good SM Minute (or five) ...  Carry the "essentials".  Prepare for the weather. Tell someone where you are going.  Think about where you are going.  Go with a "buddy".  Every so often look BACKWARD along the way you came, you MAY want to backtrack.  

Charge up your schmartphone?   "Ahoy ahoy? No, you want TWO. This is ONE,  Yes, that's right, two.  Farewell." 

On 4/12/2021 at 12:32 PM, Eagledad said:

I thought the 4th law of motion was "a scout is always hungry". Hmm, I can't seem to google it..

Tsk, tsk,,,,    You are confusing the thirteenth Scout Law:  A Scout Is Hungry.   GreenBar Bill testified to this often, as did my Scoutson (he's 6'3"  tall now).

Nope.  Newton sent his four laws of motion to the printer, but the idiot spilled his coffee on the manuscript and so there are now only three "official"  Laws of Motion.

I do know  and thus teach at CSDC Scout Skills, that the fourth Law was, in fact,  "You cannot push a rope".   Buckminster Fuller knew this, and thus his Tensegrity structures became possible. 

Math and physics.   All other science is subservient. 

"Stay in our lanes".  

Hah !  What they mean is ...  if you are registered in ScoutBSA, your tickets must apply to ScoutBSA.  NOT Cub Scouts, NOT Venture, NOT any where else.  I had trouble with that because at the time, I was registered as a ASM, but had been very active with Cub Scout Day Camp (wife was the Director !)  and many of my ideas fell in that area initially.  There are ways to accommodate this requirement, but I agree with what has been previously mentioned.  It should NOT mean it has to apply to ONLY being a Committee Member/chair.... 

Possible ideas:  Recruitment. You're in Scouting because why?  Maybe not just because your child is? but because...  Use that to fuel your efforts.  Connection to Cub Packs (Den Chief ! District DCtraining available? Good Position of Responsibility for your Scouts!),  Diversity:  Promotion to other faiths than your own (this is good for your own soul, too. As a Scout Chaplain, I can testify to this). Just because you want your home Troop to grow doesn't preclude setting seed in other areas. 

Hoot Hoot.   See you on the trail.

My guidance as a MBC?   

**ALWAYS point to the  posted requirements and ask the Scout how they have fulfilled them?   

***The "Work book pages" are NOT passing the requirements.   Those are for the Scout's benefit in PASSING the requirements, but are NOT the passing.  Prerequisites are ALWAYS good.  The Scout should "Be Prepared"  when they come to you. 

**** Celebrate the accomplishment.  ALWAYS mention the good stuff, then encourage the way to make the not-so-good-stuff GOOD. 

*****Keep yourself available for consultation, but always keep your YP (really AP, yes?) in mind.  Do it in a multi Scout Class whenever possible,  Include dad, mom, another Scouter (or two) in all conferences,  emails and phone conversations.  ASK the Scout if dad/mom is listening. Speakerphone is good, use it.... Do not proceed if they aren't,  smile and wave as you go by. 

******* When mom/dad complain (whoever heard of such a thing) that Scouty needs this MB/ really does understand but has a problem x, y, z,/ needs more time/ doesn't have any more time/ etc. etc.  , ask them if THEY are earning the MB ?  Ask to speak to the Scout.  

******** Remember the Scout Law.... T< L<H<F<C<K<O<C<T<B<C<R.  Prayer never hurts, after all....

Have some fun while your at it...

See you on the trail.

18 hours ago, DuctTape said:

After explaining that I would be happy to do an "intro to camping mB" session but that camping mB for new scouts could not be done in that time frame. She then asked if another session in the afternoon would suffice for them to get the blue card signed off. Grrrr.

Yep. Point to the REQUIREMENTS.   

I can vouch for the same angst in Cub Scouts.  Cub Scout Day Camp:   "And of course the Cubs will  pass the 8 knots...."  Sorry, in one fifty minute session, they will LEARN about ropes, cords , the fourth law of motion (You can't push a rope), and MAYBE learn three knots and how to use them.  And maybe a few "magic knots"  (chain knot,  etc.  )  It ain't school , people,  KiS MiF.  AND the parent escorts (Den Walkers !)  learn them right along...

 Might be a lot of "Pre-Requisites"  to meet. 

well, you know why Bezos named his company "Amazon" , right?   Because he couldn't spell Reo Grandy or Missississippiii. 

21 hours ago, SCOUTER-Terry said:

Sorry about that folks... we had some gremlins running wild in the server... should be resolved, and I will try to monitor more closely!

You de man, er Scouter !

Where is this , please?

Ditto the above.  Slow to load,  ads do not release when "close" or "x" or "No Thanks"  clicked for 30 or more seconds.  

AND I have to wind the spring on the back of my laptop more often.....