SSScout

I will assume your pack frame has a 'Hip Belt'. Get that fitted to your boy first. It should sit on his hip bones, not around his stomach. NOTHING should be on the boys pants belt. Not cell phone or money pouch or knife loop. Find a place in a pack pocket for them. The frame belt should have nothing between it and the boy's hip and not be sinched so tight as to make it hard to breath, either. The hinges that attach the belt to the frame should ideally be at the boys side, adjacent to but not on the hip bones. The belt sits on the hip bones, not the frame. When everything is fitted right, most of the weight will be carried by this belt. Make sure the buckle is such that once things are adjusted right, it can be clipped on and off easily. Now look to the shoulder straps. Depending on the adjusting possibilities, they should rest on the boys shoulders, maybe coming from the top a little, but not up from the bottom. The neck should not be crowded. The straps should come from the frame to the shoulders as straight as possible. They may pull back a little, but as I say, the belt should carry well nigh all of the weight. That top bar you speak of, is it adjustable up and down, perhaps? I had an REI packframe with that feature. Try to arrange things so the head doesn't have to hit that bar unnecessarily. Very annoying. My son knew that when his head started hitting the top bar on his first pack, it was time for a bigger one. And yeah, it is for tying things to. The whole frame and pack is for tying things to. Get lots of 1/4 inch venition blind or sash cord . Just right for lashing to a pack frame. In general, heavy things toward the top and back of the pack, lighter things to the bottom. Except if the cook kit pokes you in the back, then you gotta move it. In the old days, (canvas and hemp and plywood)) the SOFT stuff went on the back (your back)of the pack, the HARD stuff in the pockets and outer parts. Heavy tent to the top of the pack, sleeping bag to the bottom. Things you might need on the trail in the outer pockets, stuff you need first at camp on the top. It boils down to personal preference and comfort, not convention or advice. Experiment. Load it up and walk around. Alot. Move things, tie 'em on differently. Look at the packs of more experienced campers. Anything look better? Try that. Don't be too proud to not change. The carrier should KNOW exactly where every item is in hi/her pack. Come night time, the flashlight/cookkit/extra dry socks are right THERE in their own baggy in that corner. I was always told that a back pack is a bag of bags. Oh, make plans for rain. A special cover for the pack? a rain coat or Poncho for the carrier and overall? Make the plans now. Play "what if" with your self and the other Scouts in your Troop/Pack. Such things are always personal preference. And say thanks to Mr. Kelly. Good camping to you .

The County Recreation Dept. uses both 'uniform' t-shirts AND neckerchiefs for their groups. If you sign up for one of their summer camp activities, for your fee you get a colorful T-shirt and a large bandana. The child is expected to wear both when the camp travels on it's field trips to the museums, etc. Makes the groups very distinctive. If I had it to do over again, I would declare my Cub Pack would only wear the yellow necker and ignore the rank appropriate ones. Save $$$. Wear the yellow one with your tshirt or sweater, be distinctive, be a Cub Scout on a trip.

The original post made me think of a few questions, which led to the following experiment: I froze a half dozen eggs over night. The next morning, naturally I couldn't fry or dip bread in them, but I tried boiling them. They were all cracked from the freezing, puffed out a bit. I put three in cold water and brought it to a boil. The cracked areas let out eggy stuff, so the water soon became cloudy. When the water finally boiled, I let it cook for ten minutes. Hard boiled eggs! I believe they even shelled easier than room temp eggs. I chopped them up in a bowl with shredded whole wheat toast, added some barbecue sauce, Umm-mm breakfast. The next morning, I took the next three eggs and put them in already boiling water. The cracks let eggy stuff out into the water, but not so much. Like egg drop soup, I guess. Ten minutes later, harb doiled eggs! Chopped 'em up, chopped celery, a little onion, mayo. Toast and sonofagun breakfast again. In my experience, about the only thing you can't salvage from being frozen on a camp trip is fresh fruit and tomatoes, and even they can be salvaged if you like popsicles. Need hot chocolate for compensation... Bon appetit and YiS

Whoa! Really nice. Now, see, that's the kind of PR you need. Betcha this was brought on by a local source, which is where all really good PR has to originate. GOI (Good Ole Irv) can't pay for this kinda exposure. Go and do ye likewise...

The NAME "soccer" is a adaptation of "association football" (English). The game itself developed from various Roman/Aztec/Mayan/Germania (depending where you start)armies kicking their enemies loose heads around... London Bridge... English Crack the Whip...German/Swiss Cat's Cradle... goes waaaay back Google 'em.

Chain of thought... Beaver...teeth...orthodotia...braces...hold pants up...pants too big...need trip to store... spend money... need money... get job...not enough...sue some poor Scouter, from, oh 40 years back...Irving settle out...dues go up... DEs pressured to do more FoS presentations...Blue and Gold dinners...Resentful parents... fewer Cubs...more recruitment...overworked/guilty feeling Commissioners...spouses not home... families split up... loss of family values bemoaned in press...Boy Scouting held up as example of traditional values... families flock to Scouting for a safe place to learn values... My head hurts.

The Scout knows... Ultimately, he is the one who must deal with the Mom With No Limits. If he has convinced her to let him go to NYLT, then facilitate that. Answer her questions directly and accurately. Do not make it personal. Do not rise to her bait, even if she doesn't know it's bait. Do not attempt to defend yourself from her attacks, it won't matter and she will not admit to the correctness of your comments, if any. Put on your relationship raincoat and let her rants roll off your back. You be there for the boy. Be the bigger person. Learn to say the following : "I'm sorry you feel that way". Use liberally, then bring the conversation immediately back to the topic. Do Not Respond In Kind. Done often enough, evenly enough, you MAY eventually, by your example, help the boy. He will declare his independance, as he can, and the MWNL will have to adapt. It's probably too late for the MWNL, but you never can tell. Good luck.

Try a little history... http://www.mountvernon.org/files/GW_and%20Religion.doc

Trev has the right idea... Question... listen and nod... follow the lead of the more experienced BoR members. We do ask to see the boy's Handbook and note all the signatures. "Hi, Tom. This is Mr. Smith and Ms Jones and Mr. Brooke and I'm Mr. Moore. How are you tonite?. Did it rain too much or too little on the Camporee last month?" "You go to Kendall Middle School, right? How is it? " Yeah, my son Jake had trouble with Mr. Gresky's math class too." Say, What was the hardest part of passing this rank? What did you learn new this time?..." Never correct the boy's opinion, correct items of fact if necessary, but let the boy tell you. Learn from him. You'll hear which boy needs encouragement, which will be a good SPL next year, which has 'relation' problems in his Patrol. Pass on your insight to the SM. Ask the boy to leave the room while you consider what you've heard. Talk alittle with your BoR collegues. Hopefully, you next ask the boy back in and "congratulations", shake his hand all around. Howzat? YiS

Note the times... FOUR seconds plus !!

*sigh*

Bruce...((LOL)) Asbury Park... 10th Avenue Freeze Out... "The screen door slams..." Yeah, there is a difference between Dupont and the Pine Barrens...

You want outdoor video games? Check out http://www.smokeybear.com/kids/games.asp Smoke Jumpers... Swim the raging river... Barbecue critters... Kinda simple, but your boys will think it's fun for a few minutes...

Whoa... Tripped over this in googling... http://www.in.gov/ism/PublicPrograms/SpecialEvents/pwderby.aspx Guinness time? Any bigger tracks??

Frozen eggs... Can't fry'em. Can you boil them after they are frozen? I think I might experiment with that... I know frozen apples can be boiled into apple sauce, but that is an affectation, I guess. Sounds like some real life experience learning. Plan ahead? What if? And how hungry must one be to ignore/work around the pickyness factor?

Went to a baseball game with a friend family. Their boy, "Danny" and my son (both about seven)were great friends back then. "Danny" loved bball. We knew of his allergy and sat way back and avoided the "getcher peanuts here" vendors. Wow! a foul came right to us! Hit the floor, rolled in some peanut shell debris, Danny ran and picked it up and almost immediately started wheezing. We were educated real quick. I had a good friend back in neanderthal Scout days. He had a milk allergy, it was not life threatening, but we drank alot of Tang on camp trips. Treat it seriously as per the previous posts. Educate the other boys AND the parents. And politely confront the idiot parents that insist that "oh, a little won't matter".

Alphonse and Gaston... "Hat Courtesy" is a small but interesting historical item. Way back when, in Britain at least, it was 'expected' that the male would doff/tip/take off his hat (and everyone wore a hat out of the house) to his 'social superior'. If one met the mayor of the town, or the Lord of the manor or a rich merchant or the priest, it was expected that the hat would come off as a sign of respect if not subservience. About 1650, the Quakers decided that if all were equal under God's eye, then hat tipping was contrary to God's will (equality of language: the use of 'thee, thou and you' is for another time). Many Friends were taken to court and thrown in jail for refusing to show "hat courtesy" to their "betters". Made no difference that there was no law requiring it, the magistrate would order them jailed none the less. The Quakers continued this into Meeting for Worship. Hats stayed on unless the Friend was moved of the Spirit to speak and then he would rise and take off his hat before speaking. Women were expected to be modestly covered with bonnet, the size of which would be determined by a committee of elders. If a woman was moved to speak, her bonnet stayed on. Modern Friends have mostly dropped the old traditions. You would be hard pressed to find any hats at all, on either gender, in a Friends Meeting or Church. So in some faiths the men go bare headed and the women are expected to be covered. In others, the men are hatted, the women shawled. Or not. Unless the altar table is being moved or the plaster is being repaired. Or we are having worship in the classroom because the santuary is unheated, and hats are okay to keep warm. Or we are in uniform doing a service. Or not. Or if prayers are being said. So we teach our Scouts respect and sensitivity to the folks we visit and ask forgiveness of our ignorance of the traditions of others. WB: Cover in back belt when undercover. Howcum alot of kids don't like hats A-tall?

Easy, impressive slide ideas: Build out of Legos: Walls can have things/small figures sitting on them. House w/ chimney & smoke. Find a rail road modeler. Ask about N gauge or Z gauge and see if any of their broken rolling stock might lend itself to a slide. Take an HO scale caboose and CAREFULLY drill/melt a proper size hole THRU it. Coin Collector? Get/find a small plastic snap fit box, hot glue to a PVC tube. Change your display in the box periodically. Found a set of miniature Slinkies at a Dollar store (ooo-ooo five and dime?) and boy did we have fun twisting them into slides. Find some old Scout(er)s and have them do a display of days gone by slides... for inspiration. Get the boys involved...

Is there a Campfire area? Do the users get to make S'mores?

Yada yada yada yada...

I fell into/ranacross/stumbled onto a Victory Dealer show at a local Holiday Inn a few months back. Had not heard of it before. Got me thinking again. But until I can convince MTSO, two wheeling will remain a back burner thing. But the Victory made me remember why I rode a Suzuki, I could pick it up if it fell over, unlike some of my Harley friends rides. *I remember the H-D dirt cycle a friend had ? 125CC? We called it a "Hardly Davidson".

Howbout organizing an outdoor activity yard sale for the Scout District/Council? Used tents, boots, stoves, ?old Uni's, all sorts of gear and stuff. Get the local outfitters stores to help with the PR, (!) donate stuff for auction, make it "an affair to remember".

Boy, I'm glad I have a daytime job so I don't get too involved in internet forums... Otherwise, I might end up like some of my electro-magnetic peers and end up bludgeoning a deceased equine. Thank you, Lisabob, for your more reasoned thoughts. It is always difficult to admit fault, whether it is our personal own or our organizations. Like Beavah noted, there are some among us that will stoop to padding the roles (what? judged by numbers?) and adding paper units and Cub Scouts that may or may not actually participate as Cub Scouts. If the parent signs a CS application, guess how that piece of paper is counted? "soccer participant"? I wouldn't expect so. Else, why not use a special registration "soccer camp" form? I fear that this case walks and quacks and swims like a duck. Non discriminatory is as nondiscriminatory does. PPC and LPC could have easily coached a soccer camp for any boy or girl, THEN talked about Scouting (B or G). The DoRP would never have been a problem until they went from nascent soccer striker to Bobcat nominee. I am reminded of the Salvation Army that will feed ANYONE (underline ANYONE), and then speak to them about Jesus. There is no sneakiness about it. You can even leave after the meal if you don't want to listen to it. (Personal experience). I believe the Law is "A Scout is Trustworthy" Not "A Scout should appear Trustworthy" Oh yeah, anyone heard from Chicago Area Council? They still in business?

Mit Rotkohl und Kartofelkuchen. Schmeckt das.

Any opinions on the new Victory?