King Ding Dong

Do bowling in January. Go outside.

We met last night and set up our program for the Summertime Pack Award. June: Fishing. Dept on Conservation will provide a guide to give instruction for an hour on the BL and Pin, bring bait and some poles and then fish for an hour. We may need to supplement with some cheap Spider-Man kid poles. July: A sub division near the school has a pool we can rent for 3 hours for $100 and cook some dogs and brats. August: Raingutter Regatta at the school playground. Lowes is pretty good about donating to Scouts, and the kits are only about $5 and nowhere near the work of a Derby Car. Just need two capped off gutters and sawhorses. A simple orienteering course at a local park. 1-2 mile park hike. Some traffic cones from the city in the church/school parking lot for a bike derby. As far as panning ahead, when you nail down your B&G date, using pack letterhead invite your congressman to give the boys a talk. They usually need several months notice, but they love doing that stuff. Might try for a Senator next year. The formal letter from your CC is key. Just throw some BSA clip art in a word document.

On one campout we had a leader (an Eagle) burn his hand on a Dutch oven, so at B&G we set him up the a lid lifter, lid holder and welding gloves, for about $35 I think on a more practical level. I have a knife I like. http://www.amazon.com/Camp-Chef-Professional-Lifter-9-Inch/dp/B003Z8WIHC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1368205320&sr=8-2&keywords=dutch+oven+lid+lifter http://www.amazon.com/US-Forge-400-Welding-Leather/dp/B000MRQAJG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368205367&sr=8-1&keywords=Welding+gloves http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-A53-Original-Finish-Dutch/dp/B0002LYZNK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1368205320&sr=8-4&keywords=dutch+oven+lid+lifter One of those trivets would be good also.

What really works for the Scout Law and Oath for me is to leave the DS at home when driving to the store and have my two boys compete in reciting them. My youngest a Wolf, just about has them down now. He is a smart bugger and is the only Wolf that doesn't struggle with the Promise and Law of the Pack. I can't give out prizes to the den because he would get them every time.

Opps, I meant to type, just make sure he UNDERSTANDS he will not be able to advance into a troop with his den. That sounded real bad. Sorry.

We can start with, if you are the butt of a Jeff Foxworthy routine....

That is because you are putting someone in the very uncomfortable position of rejecting your faith.

The viability of your solution depends greatly on the den size. If the dens are very small it might work, but twelve 4th and 5th graders in the same room working on different projects would be very chaotic. Webelos also involves a lot of field trips and outdoor activities so if one is working on athlete and the other group is working on citizenship it just won't work. The other problem is unless you utilize outside programs extensively such as bringing in the local science center to to work on engineering, completing the badges can be very time consuming. It took me 5 meetings to complete Scientist with a den of only 4. I know some leaders who just rush through it and skip certain requirements, but all you are doing then is training the boys for MB mills, not actual MB program as it should be implemented. We had two dens of Webelos II and only 2 got the super 20. It took careful record keeping and following the school curriculum closely to get it all done for those boys. We also did an overnight, up until 5AM lockin at an activity center that cranked out aquanaught, artist, engineer and sportsman plus 5 belt-loops. It was run very well and the no requirements were compromised. They also rotated the groups through well by dividing up the active vs inactive stations. Artist 1' then basketball, engineering 1, then badminton. Then artist II. I had one mom insist her son could not make it. He did as was well as all 150 boys there. It was tough on us parents with nothing to do but watch. The boys had a blast. Great experience for them.

I agree with BBF. Although I have not seen anything official on it I have read several times here that the 2nd year is now being called Arrow of Light Webelos. Webelos II was like class A and B. Depending on his age, just make sure he will not be able to advance into a troop with his den. If you see him once every two months, that is still positive.

No kidding, last time I was at church all the standing, kneeling, sitting, standing, rising, kneeling, now stand wore the hell out of me.

Ok, sorry dude you just jumped the shark. Church Van!!! We don't have no stinkin van. Talk about the have and have nots. All we have is a lousy trailer, no van, no pickup. We have to beg a parent to haul the trailer for us. You have acces to a church van and are complaining about trailers. That's something.

I don't see a troop trailer as some rich excess. It takes gear to go camping and if you don't have it in a trailer that means all the more vehicles it takes to transport stuff and gas. A properly stocked troop FA kit is big, so are Dutch ovens, patrol boxes, wash tubs, coolers etc. Firewood. Our local camp would be deforested very quickly if we were not required to bring our own firewood. At my old Council you were not allowed to bring in firewood, but was more rural. If you have a troop of 30 I don't see how you pull it off without a trailer unless you have a bunch of Suburbans hauling everything.

Because of you are not seen by others it doesn't count as much or didn't happen.

I am trying really hard to understand this. It just seems nuts to me. Ever taken your kid to a swimming pool locker room or gym ? I keep thinking of Leslie Nielsen in Airplane. "Ever seen a grown man naked ?"

George is dead also. Better change it.

A man walks into the lingerie department of Macy's in New York City. He tells the sales lady, 'I would like a Southern Baptist bra for mywife, size 34B.' With a quizzical look the sales lady asks, 'What kindof bra?' He repeats, 'A Southern Baptist bra. My wife said to tell you that she wanted a Southern Baptist bra, and that you would know what she wanted.' 'Oh, yes, now I understand,' says the sales lady. 'We don't get as many requests for them as we used to. Most of our customers lately want the Catholic bra, the Salvation Army bra, or the Presbyterian bra.' Confused, and a little flustered, the man asks, 'So, what are the differences?' The sales lady responds. 'It's really quite simple. The Catholic bra supports the masses, the Salvation Army bra lifts up the fallen, and the Presbyterian bra keeps them staunch and upright.' He muses on that information for a minute and says, 'Hmm. I know I'll regret asking, but what does the Southern Baptist bra do?' 'Ah,' she replied, 'the Southern Baptist bra makes mountains out of molehills.'

Brief tour of website seems like this is a very interesting group. Is there any evidence this group has the endorsement of the Southern Baptist Convention? They seem like oil and water.

I don't know his rank but that does not mean in the meantime you cannot work on some Scoutcraft skills with him so when he is reinstated he can fly through some of the requirements. If has first class you need to be careful with some of the merit badges, but he could certainly pick a few and get the book learning part done. Swimming, life saving, first aid, knots and lashings for pioneering can be practiced at home, practice some cooking skills, put a 30lb pack on him and go up and down some hills. With some MBs if you know the material once you meet a counselor they can be knocked out quickly. Don't let him just sit in limbo and loose interest.

You are not the only one.

You are so right, scout camp has been a total disaster for the past 100 years without cell phones. Thank God, we have them, now and the BSA finally reach its full potential. As little as 10 years ago my troop would routinely come back with 3 or 4 less scouts the we took. It was unfortunate, but the needs of the many... Those new sub-dermal GPS chips we install in all our scouts has been a real lifesaver for our Scoutmaster and a soothing salve for helicopter moms. Now all from their iPads moms leaders can see Billy swimming across the lake or Tom and Jerry hanging out in the woods rather that attending the Environmental Science workshop. They learn so much more responsibility this way. There is nothing a boy needs more than to be tracked every second of the day.

There is a BIG difference in a DSLR and a phone camera. There is a BIG difference in a decent quality $75 camera and a "free" cell phone with a minimum $50 a month contract. I see the earth shattering if a scout can't post his pictures instantly and has to wait until he gets home. The BSA Membership loss will be catastrophic. Do you seriously expect us to believe that is all you have seen scouts do with their phone on a camping trip? A scout is honest.

Had outdoor leader training this weekend. Was cold wet and miserable. Each patrol had to perform 2 songs and two skits. This one went over big and was selected to end the Council campfire. Song - Scout Wet-Spurs To the tune of “Oh Christmas Tree†Softly falls the rain today, as our campfire drowns away. Silently each scout should ask have I brought my SCUBA mask Did I tie my tent flaps down, learn to swim so I won't drown. Have I done and will I try, to grab my things as they float by. Harder falls the rain today As our campsite floats away Suddenly each scout should ask, did I bring a life raft, Have I tied my tent flaps down or did my backpack float to town Have I done, and did I try everything to keep me dry Finally stops the rain today and our campsite’s miles away. Searching like each good scout should to build a fire with dry wood. Can I dry my bed roll right? So I can dryly sleep tonight? Have I done and have I dared everything to be prepared.

eaglewolfdad you are right about GSLAC minimum age but there are some other important requirements To take the training, a scout must: • Be currently registered as a member of the Boy Scouts of America who has attended long-term Boy Scout camp for a minimum of two years. • Be First Class rank or higher. • Be at least 12 years old. • Be a member of a troop whose Scoutmaster has completed the adult Boy Scout Leader Basic Training Course. • Be a current or prospective youth leader recommended by his Scoutmaster. • Venturing participants must meet the above requirements other than attaining First Class Rank. From April 2013 On the Horizon newsletter. I do not disagree with the requirements but my oldest has a September birthday and is young so he will likely be Life before he can attend. Basement and anyone interested, just finished leader training today (if it ain't rainin, it ain't trainin) and I can't praise our district training staff enough. We had 8 adult patrols of 6-7 leaders and a training staff of at least 18 from our district alone. My patrol had 3 patrol guides. There was a smaller contingent from a few other districts. They also offer Woodbadge twice a year here. Ohio to St. Louis is not that big a trip. NYLT at S-F. June 9-15 June 16-22 July 7-13 July 14-20

Not sure what the BJCRL is, will look that up. I know who Land is, and he does not support religious liberty.

Same here. You just have to trust the parents to actually let the scout do it. Some get good at it. Our budget for a two night is 12.50. Last fall a new scout picked up some steaks on sale. That patrol ate better than the Old Goats. Sometimes we look at the menu and tell them it is not balanced and go back to the food pyramid, but it is their job to figure out what is wrong and fix it. I know some feel you should just let them buy pop tarts for the whole weekend and let them learn their lesson when they feel like crap by Sunday. That approach may be faster, just seems a little extreme to me and some kids (like mine) would not get sick and be just fine with it. Occasionally we will hold an Iron Chef Scout and the Patrols feed the Old Goats. Then we announce the winner Sunday morning. (No prizes, just bragging rights) Last time we did it the patrol that won did not have the best food but they made sure their guests ate first. A Scout is courteous.