BrentAllen

I really liked Tony Snow, and since we were on vacation the past couple of weeks, I didn't know he had passed away. A friend sent me Tony's testimony, which I found very moving. One line really jumped out at me: "There's nothing wilder than a life of humble virtue, - for it is through selflessness and service that God wrings from our bodies and spirits the most we ever could give, the most we ever could offer, and the most we ever could do." Unfortunately, some will never experience that in their lives. To me, that sentence really sums up servant leadership, and a lot about what we are trying to teach in Scouting. Here is the full testimony: 'Blessings arrive in unexpected packages, - in my case, cancer. Those of us with potentially fatal diseases - and there are millions in America today - find ourselves in the odd position of coping with our mortality while trying to fathom God's will. Although it would be the height of presumption to declare with confidence 'What It All Means,' Scripture provides powerful hints and consolations. The first is that we shouldn't spend too much time trying to answer the 'why' questions: Why me? Why must people suffer? Why can't someone else get sick? We can't answer such things, and the questions themselves often are designed more to express our anguish than to solicit an answer. I don't know why I have cancer, and I don't much care. It is what it is, a plain and indisputable fact. Yet even while staring into a mirror darkly, great and stunning truths begin to take shape. Our maladies define a central feature of our existence: We are fallen. We are imperfect. Our bodies give out. But despite this, - or because of it, - God offers the possibility of salvation and grace. We don't know how the narrative of our lives will end, but we get to choose how to use the interval between now and the moment we meet our Creator face-to-face. Second, we need to get past the anxiety. The mere thought of dying can send adrenaline flooding through your system. A dizzy, unfocused panic seizes you. Your heart thumps; your head swims. You think of nothingness and swoon. You fear partings; you worry about the impact on family and friends. You fidget and get nowhere. To regain footing, remember that we were born not into death, but into life,- and that the journey continues after we have finished our days on this earth. We accept this on faith, but that faith is nourished by a conviction that stirs even within many non-believing hearts... an intuition that the gift of life, once given, cannot be taken away. Those who have been stricken enjoy the special privilege of being able to fight with their might, main, and faith to live fully, richly, exuberantly - no matter how their days may be numbered. Third, we can open our eyes and hearts. God relishes surprise. We want lives of simple, predictable ease,- smooth, even trails as far as the eye can see.... but God likes to go off-road. He provokes us with twists and turns. He places us in predicaments that seem to defy our endurance; and comprehension - and yet don't. By His love and grace, we persevere. The challenges that make our hearts leap and stomachs churn invariably strengthen our faith and grant measures of wisdom and joy we would not experience otherwise. 'You Have Been Called'. Picture yourself in a hospital bed. The fog of anesthesia has begun to wear away. A doctor stands at your feet, a loved one holds your hand at the side. 'It's cancer,' the healer announces. The natural reaction is to turn to God and ask him to serve as a cosmic Santa. 'Dear God, make it all go away. Make everything simpler.' But another voice whispers: 'You have been called.' Your quandary has drawn you closer to God, closer to those you love, closer to the issues that matter... and has dragged into insignificance the banal concerns that occupy our 'normal time.' There's another kind of response, although usually short-lived an inexplicable shudder of excitement, as if a clarifying moment of calamity has swept away everything trivial and tiny, and placed before us the challenge of important questions. The moment you enter the Valley of the Shadow of Death, things change. You discover that Christianity is not something doughy, passive, pious, and soft. Faith may be the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. But it also draws you into a world shorn of fearful caution. The life of belief teems with thrills, boldness, danger, shocks, reversals, triumphs, and epiphanies. Think of Paul, traipsing through the known world and contemplating trips to what must have seemed the antipodes ( Spain ), shaking the dust from his sandals, worrying not about the morrow, but only about the moment. There's nothing wilder than a life of humble virtue, - for it is through selflessness and service that God wrings from our bodies and spirits the most we ever could give, the most we ever could offer, and the most we ever could do. Finally, we can let love change everything. When Jesus was faced with the prospect of crucifixion, he grieved not for himself, but for us. He cried for Jerusalem before entering the holy city. From the Cross, he took on the cumulative burden of human sin and weakness, and begged for forgiveness on our behalf. We get repeated chances to learn that life is not about us, that we acquire purpose and satisfaction by sharing in God's love for others. Sickness gets us part way there. It reminds us of our limitations and dependence. But it also gives us a chance to serve the healthy. A minister friend of mine observes that people suffering grave afflictions often acquire the faith of two people, while loved ones accept the burden of two peoples' worries and fears. 'Learning How to Live'. Most of us have watched friends as they drifted toward God's arms, not with resignation, but with peace and hope. In so doing, they have taught us not how to die, but how to live. They have emulated Christ by transmitting the power and authority of love. I sat by my best friend's bedside a few years ago as a wasting cancer took him away. He kept at his table a worn Bible and a 1928 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. A shattering grief disabled his family, many of his old friends, and at least one priest. Here was an humble and very good guy, someone who apologized when he winced with pain because he thought it made his guest uncomfortable. He retained his equanimity and good humor literally until his last conscious moment. 'I'm going to try to beat [this cancer],' he told me several months before he died 'But if I don't, I'll see you on the other side.' His gift was to remind everyone around him that even though God doesn't promise us tomorrow, he does promise us eternity, - filled with life and love we cannot comprehend, - and that one can in the throes of sickness point the rest of us toward timeless truths that will help us weather future storms. Through such trials, God bids us to choose: Do we believe, or do we not? Will we be bold enough to love, daring enough to serve, humble enough to submit, and strong enough to acknowledge our limitations? Can we surrender our concern in things that don't matter so that we might devote our remaining days to things that do? When our faith flags, he throws reminders in our way. Think of the prayer warriors in our midst. They change things, and those of us who have been on the receiving end of their petitions and intercessions know it. It is hard to describe, but there are times when suddenly the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and you feel a surge of the Spirit. Somehow you just know: Others have chosen, when talking to the Author of all creation, to lift us up, - to speak of us! This is love of a very special order. But so is the ability to sit back and appreciate the wonder of every created thing. The mere thought of death somehow makes every blessing vivid, every happiness more luminous and intense. We may not know how our contest with sickness will end, but we have felt the ineluctable touch of God. What is man that Thou art mindful of him? We don't know much, but we know this: No matter where we are, no matter what we do, no matter how bleak or frightening our prospects, each and every one of us who believe, each and every day, lies in the same safe and impregnable place, in the hollow of God's hand.' Tony Snow

pack, My wife broke her knee a few years back, and had two surgeries to try to fix it. She is limited in what she can do, but we did manage to get in a some nice hikes. Elevation change is her biggest problem, mainly going down hill, so we looked for hikes that were fairly flat. Wraith Falls isn't long, but we saw lots of wildlife. Marmots on the rocks, a big bull elk feeding out in the open, even saw a long-tailed weasel, which was pretty cool. I enjoyed the Yellowstone Picnic Area trail, but I think I was the only one. Ingrid thought it was dangerous (near the edges of the canyon) and the kids thought it was too hot (not enough shade). Only wildlife was two osprey flying around right above us. We walked down the edge of the river at Sheepeater Cliffs, and saw a couple of marmots out eating. Of course, we did the lower terrace at Mammoth, and the boardwalk at Old Faithful. We even made the top at Observation Point at Old Faithful, which showed Ingrid she could handle some elevation change, at least around 150'. Shoshone Lake/ DeLacy Creek was probably the longest we did, right at 6 miles (3 in, 3 out). Beautiful area, but no wildlife at all. The wind was up around 15 - 20 knots, so there were waves and whitecaps on the lake. Even so, it was a great day. We got in the water up to our knees, and it was cold! Our favorite was probably Storm Point. A big bull bison was out in the meadow at the start, and he crossed the trail right behind us. He headed down to a wallow next to Indian Pond, and gave us a nice photo shoot. There were several marmots out in the colony at the rocks near the point, and I took some pretty humorous pics. The scenery along that trail is some of the best in the park. Going back to Cascade Lake, we found the remains of an elk kill, right on the side of the trail. Just before we reached the lake, there was a skull, backbone and a few other bones from what appeared to be a bear. We saw one mule deer on the way in, and did find some bear scat on the trail on the way back, that wasn't there when we went in. The last hike we wanted to get in was part of the Hayden Valley trail, at least up to LeHardy Rapids. We parked at Fishing Bridge and got back to the last building behind the stores, and found a "Trail Closed" sign. Earlier in the week, the Mollie's Pack had taken down a bison in the valley, in full view of the road. As you can imagine, this drew a huge crowd (which didn't include us, unfortunately). The wolves fed until they couldn't eat anymore, and headed back about 500 yards, into the treeline. A grizzly picked up the scent and came down for a meal. The Mollie's defended the kill and I was told it was an exciting fight - the griz up on his back legs, growling and swatting at the wolves with his arms and claws. He retreated for a couple of hours, and when he returned, the wolves let him have the kill. Anyway, all that activity had closed the trail. I left the family there at the sign to watch a couple of nearby bison while I went to get the truck. As I pulled back on the service road, a ranger turned in right in front of me. She drove back to the trail, got out and removed the sign. She said they had just opened the trail, so we decided to give it a try. It was very quiet, and kind of spooky, knowing there hadn't been anyone on the trail for close to a week. Add in limited visibility and several bear scat droppings, and we were all a little jumpy. We got about 2 miles in and decided we had seen enough. We never saw anything, but I had the feeling we had some 4-legged company nearby. We left the park the next day, and headed into Cody to see the museums, which we weren't able to see when we were out in there in 2005. Then on to The Badlands for a couple of nights before making the long drive back. We had a very nice trip. Back to the grind, now.

This "City Scout" had his first up close bear encounter two weeks ago, in Yellowstone. I wanted to hike the Hellroaring Creek hike but only had a small window of time to do it, since we were moving from Mammoth down to Grant that morning. My wife and daughter couldn't hike it due to the difficulty, and my son didn't want to get up and go, so I went solo - which I never do. I hit the trailhead at 7:00 am, and saw several cars in the parking lot. I didn't know if there were any day hikers on the trail, or just overnighters down at the creek. Signs posted on the billboard stated two of the camp sites had been closed, due to bear trouble - a nice final piece of info before heading down the trail, solo. The trail starts off dropping down 600' in the first mile, to a cool suspension bridge over the Yellowstone River. The second mile goes through the "Enchanted Forest" and out into large meadows before reaching Hellroaring Creek, all basically level. 2/10's of a mile before reaching the bridge, a small sign points out the juncture with another trail, and the distance to the bridge. I was calculating time and distance as I passed the sign. I started up a small rise, and came face to face with a black bear, heading directly up the trail towards me. He couldn't have been more than 10 yards away. He kept coming, so I backed away slowly, yielding the trail to him. I backed around behind some rocks and took off the safety on the bear spray, and took the lense cap off my camera. When I saw he wasn't headed in my direction, I started snapping pictures. He just kept going up the trail, as if it were made for him - he could have cared less about me. After counting my lucky stars that it wasn't a female with cubs or a grizzly, I headed on down the trail to the bridge. I found tracks on both sides of the bridge, and realized if I had been there 10 minutes earlier, I might have gotten pictures of him on the bridge, which would have been very cool. After that, I would say "hey bear" somewhat loudly when passing through areas with limited visibility. I didn't feel stupid doing that after that encounter. I didn't see anyone else on the trail until I was just about back to the bridge on the return trip. It turned out to be a very nice hike, with a fun story to tell and a happy ending.

What... is your favourite colour? Blue. No, yel...

Don't forget about MOHAB - Montana High Adventure Base. The web site is http://www.hike4ever.com/mohab.html More information can be found at: http://www.boone-crockett.org/educationPrograms/education_mhasp.asp?area=educationPrograms&ID=6080AFEF&se=1&te=1 Anyone have first-hand experience? We just got back from a family vacation out to Yellowstone, Custer State Park and the Badlands. I'd like to introduce the idea of a back-country Yellowstone trip to the boys in a year or two. There are lots of options for trips, in all parts of the park. There are also plenty of sites to see, as a bonus.

Hmmmm. In my district, it is a group of district committee members who decides who gets the DAM, not the SE. In my council, it is the Troop Guides who decide when tickets have been completed, not the SE. A $10,000 - $50,000 check will allow a lot of boys to go to camp who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to go.

If you turn to page 12 of your Boy Scout Handbook, you will notice in upper case letters the name of the section covering pages 12 & 13 - "SCOUT UNIFORM." The last paragraph in the section titled "SCOUT UNIFORM" reads: "For outdoor activities, Scouts may wear troop or camp T-shirts with Scout pants or shorts, or other appropriate attire." A photo is included, showing a Scout dressed as described. The section titled "SCOUT UNIFORM" then ends.

We took our new troop to Camp Woodruff last week, and had a great time. There were 28 troops with around 800 Scouts in camp. Our troop of 11 boys was the only one that cooked in site (by patrol). We ended up in the site furthest from the parade ground, but we had it to ourselves, whereas a good number of the other troops had to share a site. The patrol leaders selected their own sites (each had 4 tents in a quad with dining fly and table) and left us adults the one closest to the pavillion. The camp couldn't offer us any refrigeration or freezer support, so we experimented with dry ice, and it worked very well. Each patrol had their own chuck box and coolers (our own equipment); the camp provided 3-burner propane cook stoves. The patrols did all their own cooking and invited adults to have dinner with them. Adults took care of their own breakfast and lunches. Our troop is made up entirely of first and second year Scouts, and they learned a lot about long-term camping and cooking. They kept their sites very clean, and got much more efficient with meal preparation and clean-up. I am a firm believer that patrol cooking is the best team building excercise a patrol can experience. The patrols rotated the duties of conducting flag ceremonies, cleaning the latrine and being in charge of the troop campfire. Friday afternoon I asked the PL's and APL's what they thought about cooking in site. Every one of them wanted to do it again next year. I also asked them about the site we had, which was over 1/2 mile from the parade ground - they liked it as well and would be happy with it again. We had a very busy week in camp. The first year boys participated in the T-FC program (Mountain Man) and earned 4 MBs each - Swimming, Art, Basketry, Finger Printing. Second year boys all took 4 MB classes, including Wilderness Survival, Archery, Indian Lore, Fishing, Camping, Fish & Wildlife Mgmt, Mammal Study, Pottery, Sculpture, Photography and Nature. In addition, we scheduled a troop mountain bike ride, canoe overnighter, rifle and archery shoots, and fielded a team in the Banana Relay. Of course, we all went whitewater rafting on the Nantahala. I'll recover in a few days... :-)

Gee, I've read through the Third Edition of the Handbook for Scoutmasters, the one Kudu considers to be the bible for real Scouting, and I can't find the first mention of patrols needing to camp at least 300' apart. In fact, it states in the section on Short-Term Camping, page 683 "As far as the Troop Leaders are concerned, they should camp with the Patrols, but should have their own tents. Likewise they will eat with the Patrols, rotating and sharing in the cost." How could the Scouts ever experience any leadership development through the Patrol Method with the adults so close by? The 300' rule is so important - the most important rule in Scouting, according to Kudu - how could they leave it out of the book? The leaders were instructed to camp right there with the boys! Hey Kudu, is this still considered the best version of the SM Handbook ever written?

The policy for our camps is to get to a hard canopy shelter, which means a pavilion in most sites. If you can get to one of the concrete block bath houses, that is the preferred option. Primary concerns are lightning and falling trees and branches. The safest place to be in a tornado is a basement or root cellar - not too many of those at Boy Scout reservations. My prayers go out to all those who have suffered and their families.

Beavah and pack, I wish I could agree with you, but the article won't allow me to. 9 cars drive by. A guy on a scooter circles the victim before driving off. Even if they didn't know First Aid, they could have at least stopped and warned any oncoming traffic. He was lucky he didn't get run over. Hopefully this was just a very isolated incident, and you guys are right.

jblake, your role model for servant leadership came a couple of thousand years after mine. Hopefully, I don't have to list His creds. Have I read anything on the subject? Yes, the Bible for starters. "The Servant Leader" by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges, for another. Matthew 20: 25-28 John 13: 14-15

So... the Patrol Method cannot work in a Troop setting? Interesting. I think someone should have told that to B-P and Green Bar Bill.

This article doesn't mention Scouting or the BSA. After reading it, I could only think "Thank God for the BSA." Hopefully we are making a difference. http://www.ajc.com/pets/content/news/stories/2008/06/05/hartford_hit_and_run.html As hit-and-run victim lies in street, bystanders gawk Chilling surveillance video sparks outrage, soul-searching in Hartford, Conn. By STEPHEN SINGER Associated Press Published on: 06/05/08 HARTFORD, Conn. A 78-year-old man is tossed like a rag doll by a hit-and-run driver and lies motionless on a busy city street as car after car goes by. Pedestrians look on, but appear to do nothing. One driver stops briefly but then pulls back into traffic. A man on a scooter slowly circles the victim before zipping away. The chilling scene captured on video by a streetlight surveillance camera has touched off a round of soul-searching in Hartford, with the capital city's biggest newspaper blaring "SO INHUMANE" on the front page and the police chief lamenting: "We no longer have a moral compass." "We have no regard for each other," said Chief Daryl Roberts, who on Wednesday released the video in hopes of making an arrest in the accident that left Angel Arce Torres in critical condition. However, Roberts and other city officials backtracked on Thursday. After initially saying he was unsure whether anyone called 911, he and other city officials appeared at a news conference in which they said that four people dialed 911 within a minute of the accident, and that Torres received medical attention shortly after that. "This moved too quickly," said Calixto Torres, City Council president. "People were putting information out too quickly." Roberts said his initial angry reaction was based on what he saw in the video. "The video was very graphic and sent a very bad message," the police chief said. The hit-and-run took place in daylight last Friday at about 5:45 p.m. in a working-class neighborhood close to downtown in this city of 125,000. In the video, Torres, a retired fork-lift operator, walks in the two-way street just blocks from the state Capitol after buying milk at a grocery. A tan Toyota and a dark Honda that is apparently chasing it veer across the center line, and Torres is struck by the Honda. Both cars then dart down a side street. Nine cars pass Torres as a few people stare from the sidewalk. Some approach Torres, but most stay put until a police cruiser responding to an unrelated call arrives on the scene after about a minute and a half. "Like a dog they left him there," said a disgusted Jose Cordero, 37, who was with friends Thursday not far from where Torres was struck. Robert Luna, who works at a store nearby, said: "Nobody did nothing." One witness, Bryant Hayre, told the Courant newspaper he didn't feel comfortable helping Torres, who he said was bleeding and conscious. The accident and bystanders' apparent callousness dominated morning radio talk shows. "It was one of the most despicable things I've seen by one human being to another," the Rev. Henry Brown, a community activist, said in an interview. "I don't understand the mind-set anymore. It's kind of mind-boggling. We're supposed to help each other. You see somebody fall, you want to offer a helping hand." The victim's son, Angel Arce, begged the public for help in finding the driver. "My father is fighting for his life," he said. The hit-and-run is the second violent crime to shock Hartford this week. On Monday, former Deputy Mayor Nicholas Carbone, 71, was beaten and robbed while walking to breakfast. He remains hospitalized and faces brain surgery. "There was a time they would have helped that man across the street. Now they mug and assault him," police chief said. "Anything goes."

"The concept of Explaining, Demonstrating Guiding and Enabling are all nebulous and almost incomprehensible in differences. Theses EDGE concepts are all participative." Let me guess - you haven't attended Wood Badge. Used correctly, these steps can be used to teach just about any skill. Used incorrectly, they can lead to a lot of frustation for the student, and the teacher/instructor.

I guess I have a different interpretation about being in Scouting, in general. Scouting is not just something you do one night a week. It is a lifestyle, a committment, and this doesn't just apply when you are in uniform or on a Scouting event. In this situation, I look at those boys as representing both our Troop and our CO, and this is not an acceptable way of acting. This is one time I would jump down some throats and mention the word "stupidity" more than just a few times. I would explain there was no way I was going to allow an article to end up in the paper saying "John Doe, member of Boy Scout Troop 494, was killed while hood surfing." The boys could start using their brains and acting accordingly, or they could find another Troop. We are only talking about saving some kids' lives here, so I wouldn't be too concerned with over-reacting.

Nah, Beavah, you are missing the whole point. Many boys develop great growth in character and service without ever stepping into a patrol. That can happen in or out of the patrol method. The Patrol method is all about developing teams and building leaders. Growth in character and service are by-products of a well-run Patrol Method. The way I see it, a Troop can have a framework around which they teach and develope leadership, or they can try to teach boys how to handle each individual scenario as it occurs. The former allows the boys to grow and develop while they are learning to form or be part of a high-performing team, and to be a leader. The latter forces them to learn a few "tricks" to handle specific situations. Take the "Joe keeps ditching clean-up duty" example. If the Troop is using a framework based on the Leadership Development Model and EDGE, the PL finds out if Joe doesn't understand his job or needs help with the skill (EDGE). If that isn't the problem, the PL recognizes his patrol is not at the norming or performing stage - they aren't all focused on the goal. The goal here is being able to prepare, cook and eat a meal and then clean up, within the scheduled time. The PL explains to Joe the need for him to be part of the team and to carry his weight. The patrol can't move on to the next activity until they reach this goal. Maybe the PL pulls the rest of the patrol together to apply a little peer pressure. The PL offers to help do what he can, without just doing the job. It doesn't hurt to have the other Patrols singing "Birds in the Wilderness" while waiting for this Patrol to complete their tasks. The PL makes a mental note to bring this up as a thorn during the thorns & roses session at the campfire that night. Storming is a very tough part of the process for PLs to get through. It is even harder if they don't have a basic understanding of why that is happening, and that they will eventually get to the next level, norming. This framework can be applied to any situation I can think of. It is pretty simple to teach to a PL. When a problem arises, does the Scout in question need help with the skill? If so, provide help using EDGE. If not, keep the patrol focused on the goal of the activity and work on team development. Get everyone involved, ask for their input, make them all feel part of the team, expect them to carry their weight, expect everyone to watch each other's back and lend a hand when needed. While all of this is going on, the individual members are growing in confidence and their skill levels and morale are increasing (what Beavah is looking for). When I first introduced this to the boys, I got some blank looks. We set up a movie night and watched Remember the Titans. I went over the steps (forming, storming, ...) and gave them some examples to look for. I asked them to find other examples as well. We had a great discussion afterwards, and they came up with examples I hadn't remembered! They understood the stages much better, and now we have fun discussing which stage they think their patrols are at. Things are not a bed of roses for us, but they aren't supposed to be. Being part of a Wood Badge staff is a great real life experience of going through these stages. Anyone can see them, as plain as day, if they know what they are looking for. Getting 11 and 12 year olds to understand and use the concept is much more challenging, but it can be done.

If you don't like having announcements as part of the COH, then have them right before or right after it. I've never read anything that says the entire meeting must be devoted to the COH. The MC could conclude the COH and then ask if there are any announcements to be made, or get them over with before the MC opens the COH. It is one of the few times you get most of the parents together in an organized setting. My ideal COH would be MC'd by a youth. It would start with the lights out, opening with an impressive candle ceremony. MB Counselors would be called up to present MBs, with some of the Scouts describing what they had to do to earn them, hopefully including either a funny story or memorable event that happened during the process. The MB Counselor heaps praise on them for working hard and describes some of the more difficult requirements. ASMs and the SM are called up to award rank advancements. Again, the Scouts talk about the skills they learned, and how and where they learned them. They talk about their favorite and funnest skills, and the hardest. The ASMs and SM heap praise on them for a job well done, and challenges them to earn the next rank, and to continue to be a strong part of their patrol and their troop. We finish with a slide show of each camping trip and outing since the last COH, with a different Scout providing some narration. Or, if they want to put the slides to music and just let them run, we do that. The parents get to see what we've been up to, and the boys get to do a little bragging. This part of the program is only limited by the Scouts' imaginations. A SM Minute will close the COH, with a cracker barrell afterwards.

Beavah, For the record, my computer shows the lined quoted was posted on Sunday, 6/1/2008: 3:32:51 PM by jblake. Can't say what is showing up on other people's monitors, but I thought it would be the same. Do I win the game? :-) Maybe it is just confusing since jblake says he is a Beaver?

So, we have another post from Kudu bashing Wood Badge... what's new? Yawn.....

Gern, It appears the new switchbacks are a different color - forest green instead of olive. At least that is what the description for item #6 says. Hence the 2 for 1 sale. If they come with unfinished hems, I don't see how they could have boot zippers on the legs, so the "old" switchbacks I just bought will most likely see a lot of use. So... will a new Insignia Guide be in the near future, with language about wearing the new shirt with the old switchbacks?? Hopefully this will be a smooth transition.

"This is very different from the current Cub Scout practice of Boy Scout summer camp as "a vacation from the Patrol Method"! Wouldn't you agree, Brent?" Yes, I would agree, which is why our Troop will be cooking by Patrols at Summer Camp, instead of eating in the Dining Hall. Imagine that - a Wood Badge staffer promoting Patrol cooking at Summer Camp! How can this be?? Shouldn't I be brainwashed into the Dining Hall Method? Maybe, just maybe, your criticisms of all WB staffers is off the mark. You only mentioned the games. What about the program planning? In the 3rd Edition, it was planned by the month of the year. In the current Troop Program Features (3 volumes) the program planning is organized by topic - 36 months of program plans vs. 12 months in the 3rd Edition. That's only 23 pages in the old book, but add up to about 400 in the 3 volumes.

You can have my share, Eamonn. I'd rather eat fried Spam! Southern breakfast: scrambled eggs fried country ham grits with red-eye gravy homemade biscuits Yum Yum!!

I pity the fool that tries to eat a grit! Hey Beavah, we even created cheese grits, for all those cheese-heads in Wisconsin! They are great with seafood for supper. Kudu, the games and program plans have just been moved from the SM HB to the Troop Program Features. Add those pages in and see where you are. Of course, we could still use the old SM HB just as it is, as you would probably suggest. I don't think any of the boys in our Troop would go for the breakfast listed on page 762: Prunes Hot Cereal Boiled Eggs Bread & Butter Cocoa That book doesn't even mention grits! What were they thinking??

Eamonn, I tried to PM you, but didn't get a response. iballen at mindspring.com Thanks.