King Ding Dong

Ha. Good one.

Nobody likes camp food. If I get sent out of camp on an errand, yeah, I do it at lunch or dinner time and stop at McDonald's (which is ironic, but I digress). But I would never walk into camp with my own special food in front of everyone else who is suffering through it; it's rude. What I would suggest, since this all stems really from the food avoidance rather than any desire to leave expressly to get a drink, is that you talk to the boys and adults about maybe cooking your own suppers in your site, like summer camps used to do and the way they do at jamboree. You can all certainly cook better cheeseburgers, grilled chicken, etc than the crap they churn out from the D hall. Maybe sweeten the deal by offering to do the cooking yourself. But to me, it's the height of rudeness to bring your own meals to camp absent an allergy. Whatever. I'm not picky, the crap our food industry churns out is making me sick. I am forced to eat this way. I am not conditioned to eat this way, it is very hard to do so. Call it a fad if you will, but it is just eating REAL food. You also seen to ignore the fact that this is what the scouts and adults choose to do. They do not want to cook. If any of them would like to eat with me they are more than welcome and sure I will cook for them. This camp is known for very good food, at least in the eyes of kids. I will likely have many meals at the pavilion, but if it ends up being a processed food based meal, I just can't do it. Go ahead and spend your week crapping your brains out and bedridden from pain if you want. Would you tell a vegan to just suck it up ? That's rude.

The LDS has already come out in support of the proposal.

Maybe building a wall will arches and such to show the integrity of the whole structure when parts are removed. You have a tough assignment.

Nobody likes camp food. If I get sent out of camp on an errand, yeah, I do it at lunch or dinner time and stop at McDonald's (which is ironic, but I digress). But I would never walk into camp with my own special food in front of everyone else who is suffering through it; it's rude. What I would suggest, since this all stems really from the food avoidance rather than any desire to leave expressly to get a drink, is that you talk to the boys and adults about maybe cooking your own suppers in your site, like summer camps used to do and the way they do at jamboree. You can all certainly cook better cheeseburgers, grilled chicken, etc than the crap they churn out from the D hall. Maybe sweeten the deal by offering to do the cooking yourself. But to me, it's the height of rudeness to bring your own meals to camp absent an allergy. I do get your point, but I think you missed mine. I am not talking about bringing surf and turf. My wife is Celiac and over the past year I have developed digestive issues also. We have both switched over to the Paleo/Primal diet and when I stick to it I feel a LOT better. In a sense it is an allergy, but one we all suffer to one degree or another. The lectins in grains are poison to our body. It all boils down to if the cavemen ate it, all good. If it takes modern agricultural processes and processing to turn the food into something we can eat, it is not so good. The heavy carbs in our diet cause spikes in blood sugar and cause a whole host of problems. Cows don't eat grains and corn, they eat grass. The nutritional profile of our beef has changed drastically over the past 40-50 years. There are barely any omega 3s in industrial beef and chicken. Enough about that. Suffice it to say, I only eat meat (grass fed beef, free range or organic chicken, some pork, wild fish). and vegetables, greens, tree nuts, fruit, eggs, with limited amounts of dairy and of course limited distilled alcohol or wine, no beer. I can't eat grains, bread, corn, beans, peanuts (a legume, not a nut), soy, processed sugar. Not much left on the plate at a camp dining hall. Go look at ingredients of ice cream these days, they load it up with gluten. WTF? Why are they putting grains in ice cream ? GREED. You have to hunt for all natural ice cream these days. I would actually love the camp food, PB&J was my go to food for years. I would eat hot dogs and potato salad all day if I could. If I eat like that for more than a meal or two I will spend most of my time in the restroom and recovering on the couch. One thing to do at home, quite another in June in a camp latrine. One of the main reasons for going out of council was to attract the older scouts who are tired of spending so much time cooking a d cleaning and not working on MBs, I am told. It is not my place to ask them to change their entire plan for my dietary needs. Call that rude if you will. If I have to be rude to live, then so be it.

I agree with BD others. The bridge is special and the crossing over should be decoupled with AOL. Preferably at different times. My opinion is we should stick with immediate recognition and award AOL when the individual scout earns it and not wait until cross over night. I have not won that argument yet. Our Pack holds B&G latter than most, late march/early April on a Friday night. The Webelos leave immediately to go on their first campout as a Boy Scout with the Troop. I think that adds an extra special importance to the ceremony.

I guess they don't make them like they used to. I have two OT air mattresses that have done well, same box different design. OT Is a Walmart brand not a manufacturer, so quality can vary greatly depending on the forced child labor camp that manufactures it.

Who said "need" ? There is a big difference between a need and a want. I am not trying to insult you but that is covered in every level of education starting in kindergarten up through college. Did you miss where I have stated we are bordering on to much leadership in camp this year? We will have 19 scouts and some days six adults.

My first year as a Webelos leader we had den meetings right after school in the art room. No problems with attendance. The problems I had were inexperience in making it "not like school", climate keeping us indoors much of the time and they were generally very restless. The upside is it didn't interfere with sports, dinner, homework or bed times. It was great for working on the more hands on and outdoor activities, but a real pain for some of the more "book" learning badges like citizenship. As always the challenge is to have sufficient prep time to "make it fun"

Hey BD, that was me and it is titled Summer Camp Break. Now before you get your panties to wadded up I was posting a satirical poll. I frequently go longer than a week with no alcohol and do not "need" it, ever. I also pointed out in my troop's situation we are bordering on to much adult leadership at camp. Our troop elected the dining hall option and while that kind of food is ok for awhile, it will be a definite change as I try to limit my industrial processed food intake. Grains, beans, white potatoes, starches, industrialized meats, processed sugars, all the stuff our bodies are not designed to digest and are making us sick. I highly suspect grass feed beef or free range chicken with roasted asparagus is not on the menu. I will certainly pack some quality meat and vegetables to cook myself. Having a couple of cocktails in an air conditioned environment with a healthy meal certainly would be a nice "break". A side benefit would be to not have Dad there for a few hours. I never suggested I needed to go out and party and get blasted and come stumble back into my tent. Most stated that while it might be OK, it would not be the wisest action. I am cool with that. Why am I going at all? My son just crossed over and is a bit of a special needs case. While very intelligent, he is almost a full year younger than the others in the NSP, has ADHD, has emotional issues, did not have the best Webelos experience, is very weak, is not independent at all among other issues. ( He generally cannot even unscrew a water bottle). Working with the SM and committe we have a plan for me to gradually pull back, but at this time we decided it was not best to plunge him into a full week of independence with people he does not know well at all. We recently moved and only spent a few months with the Pack and due to bad weather only has one weekend campout under his belt.

Fail to plan, is a plan to fail. Better get moving. What is your ratio looking like ? At IOLS last week they tied a bunch of spars up horizontally on a pavilion for us to practice knots on. The instructors could move up and down the line. Although the side by side approach is best. Always ask your self this question. Is this method like camp or school ?

Isn't there an age restriction on those?

I have a new Bear and a 1st year Scout. I keep getting voted CM, but wife won't let me. Maybe if we get more parents to be active in the committee she might relent. Lol. Welcome and it is fun here. Just beware the navigation has some bugs. Use the filter and select discussions only to see multiple pages.

We could try switching from a necker to a silk ascot.

I think BD cited a great BSA doc that shows Tommy does not make it. "Spirit and ability to advance the activities of their units." They want an Eagle Mill troop, go find one.

But your troop does not own any tents. Your CO does. You are correct, if the failure is due to abuse it is not right to hold them to it. Leaky floor, maybe. We don't use cots. I checked out those Jambo tents. Interesting. Certainly should be good enough for fair weather. A few years ago we picked up a bunch of crappy Coleman 6 man tents that the State had bought in anticipation of Katrina refugees. $10 each. Never used. Poles start snapping after 5 or 6 uses. Very leaky also.

New wolf or wolf moving to Bear ? We just handed out the neckers and slides tonight. Bear is a great year, we hand them a license to carry a knife. Scary stuff. Just stay out of the issues and politics section. You get jaded there.

I think your council is the exception. I just got back from talking to scouter services and the only slack they will cut is we don't have to fill out all the references if we are already registered.

Good point. My main concern is dry tents. REI supposedly has a 100% lifetime guarantee. We have a couple of those that leak and plan to test out their stated policy. I also think our troop needs to make a distinction between a car camping tent and a backpacking tent. I have a 8 person Eureka for $200 that doesn't leak. But I take care of it.

I can't recall which ones but several of our founding fathers were UU or held similar beliefs.

Twocub, Seems like that would be a ding to scout spirit. This will be my first year at scout camp, how hard is it to pack up? I can't imagine it is all that different than a two day. Unless they make you haul all your gear 500 yards, I have heard of those boot camps. The camp we are going to this year has a camper release form. Unless that form is signed by a parent a parent or ambulance is the only way they get to leave. . I am not going to inform them of the ambulance option. They just get a bright idea.

Do you have a link for that ? I would be interested in looking that up. I am starting to understand you a little better. Your issue is not with tents per say, just $200 tents. I get it. They boys are a bit rough with them and they are not lasting. I think they have a time and place, but I would like to explore a better option for fair weather camping.

Tam, I agree. Just tying knots, for the sake of tying knots gets boring very quickly. It is much better to have a project to work on. Camp gadget requirement anyone ? Even simple pioneering projects can make great patrol building exercises and fun inter-patrol competition.

Another problem I see with the uniform is obesity. The bigger your gut the more uncomfortable the uniforms are and harder to keep tucked in. I count myself in this group as well, but I must lead by example.

Some boys just have a sensory issue with the shirts, including my own boys. The biggest complaint they have is wearing pins like service stars and summertime pack awards. So those are off except for pack meetings. I also find a t shirt underneath helps. I think the biggest reason we have this problem is the boys are just not used to wearing button down shirts or tucking shirts in for that matter. I can't say I blame them, they are just little boys. I love the comfort of the microfiber shirt and it does dry quickly, but the durability and stain resistance suffer greatly. I have a problem with piling on the inside and outside of the collar. I think one thing that gets overlooked in the issue is safety. The uniform and neckerchief provide an easy identification in herding the cats, especially in larger packs at activities. Ask Andy over at UsScouts.org has several examples of the benefits in wearing the uniform. From just getting a warning from traffic cops to an opportunity for his troop to receive free ropes course training after an instructor class because his troop was the only one identifiable as scouts at a camp and the class needed some practice subjects. Our troop policy is to always wear the uniform while traveling. They way I have heard the old timers talk about their uniforms they must have been made out of burlap.