Buffalo Skipper

Sea Scouters,

I have discussed this (briefly) with my SE and the Regional Commodore. Both suggested (I do not want to put words in their mouths...) that this was an administrative issue with the national council and will not effect a change in council (or regional) operations. I know that is a brief statement, but it implies that at the regional, council, district or unit level, things should pretty much stay the same, at least for the time being.

I also attended the '81 Jamboree (first year at AP Hill). I have 3 patches, but only wear one on my "dress" uniform. I try to keep my "working uniforms" with few patches (prehaps a little more functional).

Yes, but the cat in which hat?

Actually, the Beatles connection is more real than that. Paul McCartney was a scout. Almost made it to Queen's Scout, I've heard.

Thank you all for your $.02 and other loose change. Larger donations may be sent directly to the troop.

This started because the PLC (and adults) dropped the ball on scheduling a Webelos campout. Our council has Cub Scout and Webelos camping opportunities every weekend from the last week of September to the first week of November. That is followed by the district (or this year, council) camporee. Our troop typically has a warm up hike in December and a longer one in January. This really fills our bucket for this time frame. Next year, I will see that we do not miss our early window of opportunity to reach out to the Webelos with a campout.

In the meantime, we are planning for this year. We have a small troop (15 active), so we are limited to what we will be able to deliver. We will be inviting both 4th grade and 5th grade Webelos. I do not want to push the "recruiting" aspect, as we would rather have more dens participate, regardless of their interst in joining our troop.

We will probably have some simple events. Our scouts like to do pioneering, so we will likely build a rope bridge as part of a simple obstacle course. We will also have a Scout Law relay, rope toss, tug-of-war, maze, and knot tying as well as other basic competitive events; and of course we will have spirit awards and the like. We are looking at lunch (hamburgers and hotdogs). During lunch we can pitch the troop. We have a good dining facility right by the field we will be using.

As the troop grows, we may expand this into something bigger, we will see. We do want to focus on Webelos skills, for several reasons. First, we will be inviting W1, who have just started to hone these skills. Webelos skills are (generically speaking) an introduction to Boy Scout skills, but most importantly they are age appropriate.

I will deliver this to the SPL and see how he wants to handle it. I am confident he will breathe good life into the event. In the meantime, feel free to throw any more ideas out there. I will be glad to pitch them.

And thanks for all the great suggestions! If we do not implement them all this year, we may well have the chance to use them next time around.

GaHillBilly,

I know you are out there. Does your troop go to any of the North Georgia Camps? I would like to hear the opinion of a "local," whether or not it is your council.

Our troop is considering hosting a Webelos Fun day, for say one morning of inter-pack den competition, followed by lunch.

Of course we are looking at using this as a recruiting tool, but I was looking for some feedback on you (as Webelos and/or Troop leaders) feel would be fun and attractive activities for Webelos dens to compete with. Also if you have some thoughts on how the troop can organize and implement this, it would be most welcome.

Ideas?

Brian,

Interestingly it is our District Training Chair who most often delivers NLE here also. He is a former Naval Flight officer and a PhD child psychologist. Great leader and a good friend. I cannot imagine him (or any other of our trainers) being unprepared for anything.

We had a position specific training here last month, in which our Webelos Leader Trainer no-showed (he was the former Training Chair, but it was all a miscommunication). We had double teamed most other courses, and one of the Cubmaster/committee trainers offered to step over and do Webelos Leader Training. He ran a great course, and now is always ready to serve as the backup. I read the training evaluations, and I do not think he ever told the participants that he was a last-minute backup, because the attendees though he did great and never mentioned it.

Brian,

Sounds like a truly sad experience. As you had already been through this training, I feel worse for the rest of those scouters who were there to learn something new. As a district trainer, I would be horified to hear of a training like this in our district (or council)!

As disasterous as the OLS was, my first concern would be New Leader Essentials. This is a video facilitated training. A monkey could addequately conduct this progam. And if a District Training Chair is admitedly inexperienced with the Boy Scout program, then how can she coordinate Boy Scout training?

I would certainly seek out the District Chair and discuss this. Proper and quality training is the cornerstone of our districts program. Without good training there cannot be good, safe program, which results in poor reputation, bad recruiting and struggling units.

Not to rope you into anything, but maybe you should consider making yourself available to coordinate the OLS training, and make a stand to recruit other good trainers and organize a good course. That doesn't change your (or the other participants') experience, but stepping in and raising the bar can do alot to prevent this from being the next classes exposure to this material. And though that is a standard answer, it does have some merit.

Our troop has in the past, held themed campouts including pioneering, cooking, wilderness survival, and others. These were used as opportunities for earning MBs, a policy to which I am opposed (or at least I am opposed to the manner in which the MB portion was implemented).

These monthly themes (as well as others which may apply here) appear in the Program Features I, II, and III. We are trying to organize the monthly theme (at meetings, and carrying this over to a campout) more here lately, implemented through the PLC. What we are starting to do differently is before we being a theme, we quietly and briefly remind scouts that our theme for whatever month is (as and example) pioneering. If you are interested in working on this MB, you will need to get a blue card and meet with a counselor before we begin.

For an example, look at the Pioneering MB.

#3-throw a rope. This is a skill all scouts should know. In fact it is taught and required for Bear, long before scouts.

#4-explain ropes. This should go hand in hand with any skill instruction about knot tying, maybe on the advanced level, but still this is something every scout should have a working knowledge of.

#7-build a scale model of a tower. Not something to be done at a meeting or campout.

#9-build trestle (alone). This should be done alone but may be taught and/or practiced at a meeting or at a campout, and shown to a MBC.

#10-pioneering project. This states to be done alone or with other scouts, and may be done at a campout.

First Class Requirement #7 involves lashing skills.

Some of these skills need to be taught to all scouts, and pioneering projects should practiced as a group (patrol competitions are great for this!). But anyone who wants to apply these skills to MB requirements needs to be prepared and have met in advance with a counselor to discuss the requirements. The same principles can be applied to other merit badges like cooking and wilderness survival. But each must be signed off with a counselor, not exclusively as part of a troop function.

You will note it says nothing about self-nomination for Scoutmaster.

In fact the words "nomination," "nominating" or "nomination"  appear no where in this document, for self or other. 

That is because there is no "election" of positions.  They are selected by a committee.  Identifying one's self to the COR or CC that you are interested is one way to make it known that you are willing to commit to being a troop leader.

Knots required and/or introduced in cub scouts include: Wolf: Square knot, Square Bow knot, Overhand knot and Overhand bend Bear: Sheet bend, Bowline Slip, knot Webelos: Clove hitch, Taut-Line hitch For the Cub level scouts' knot board, these would be most appropriate.

Boy Scout level knots include: Scout: Square knot Tenderfoot: Taut-line hitch,Two half hitches Second Class: none First Class: Bowline Clove hitch, Timber Hitch Pioneering Merit Badge: square knot, bowline, sheepshank, sheet bend, and roundturn with two half hitches.

Eagle92 and Lisabob,

We appreciate the sentiment for Pamlico, but it is a difference of 425 miles vs 803. We may try that in the future, but it does not fit this year's plan. I received a mailing several weeks ago for Pamlico, and I forwarded it to our Sea Scout Ships; I can remind the units of your program, maybe they can work it into a Superactivity (neither local ships have the resources yet to pull off a long cruise).

Local1400,

Camps Rainey Mountain and Woodruff are at 1600-2000' msl; Camps Sidney Dew and Buck Toms are lower at 800' msl. Daniel Boone is the highest at 2700', but DB is already booked full for the entire summer.

I have been communicating with Camp directors from Woodruff and Rainey Mountain; both seem very cooperative and appear to have great programs. I don't go to the owner of a car dealership to ask advice on which car to buy, I go to the owners, whether they like their cars or not. I was just hoping anyone from the forums may have had experience with any camps in this area.

When I first got back into Scouting, years ago, I was wearing my uniform out and on 3 occasions in 2 weeks, my wife and I were approached by young adults who thanked me for working with scouts. Each of these people (all college age men, if I recall correctly) had been involved in Scouts. None of them were Eagle scouts, but they all commented about how scouting had made a difference in their lives. My wife was quite moved by the encounters.

Our troop is looking for a summer camp in the Southern Appalachians for 2009. In recent years, we have attended Skymont and Camp Thunder. We are looking for someplace new.

Any information you can provide on Camp Buck Toms, Sidney Dew, Rainey Mountain, Woodruff or others is welcome. We like to get away from our local 90/90 days (90+ degrees with 90+% humidity), and the mountains in this area are in our 500 mile local tour permit range.

DonnaW,

Welcome to the forum! Yes, that experience you had may have been the troop which you were visiting. We have a council encampment coming up and we are expecting 100 troops to participate (estimated 250+ patrols competing). We have specific and detailed proceedures for Webelos visitors, during the day on Saturday. Still, it will be crowded and I am sure that bedlam will reign, right along with fun and excitement.

I don't always believe that camporees are the right venue for Webelos to get a taste of Boy Scouting (sometimes it is, other times not--it really depends on many variable factors). I recall that I said it elsewhere, and I know it is slightly off topic, but there have been questions raised about G2SS prohibiting Webelos from camping with troops at camporees. I think this is a good example of why not. If you already have a crowded camp with many troops, cramming in Webelos (with their parents) with the troops, it really creates an undesireable dynamic. (On the other hand, if you create a separate camping area for all Webelos Dens, away from the troops, that may be the way to make this work. Sorry, my ADOS is flaring up.)

Back on topic. Well run Camporees are a great place for Webelos to visit a troop. Likewise, a poorly organized or executed event can be a like a bowl of sour grapes. I hope you experience did not sour you to Boy Scouts and the troop.

CMPA, welcome to the Forums! There's always plenty good to ready here.

Cheffy,

I think what everyone is saying is that your son needs to find a solution which is practical for his Eagle project. Pursuing legal avenues is one option, but it that the most effective way of completing his project? My guess would be no, but I am not a lawyer.

I believe that the forum members are suggesting easier ways for you son to follow through and complete his project. Every battle is not worth fighting. Eagle projects are about problem solving, not litigation.

I have a similar situation regarding Sea Scout ships with which I am working. A quote from one yard on hauling the boat was given, but a month later a rediculously different price is on the table, with the boat sitting at the dock (wracking up a daily transient fee...). Is it worth it to fight for original quote or just find another yard to haul the boat. Probably the latter, since it is costing them every day the boat sits there.

I wish your son all the best and I hope he finds a solution which reflects favorably on his leadership and service.

I have heard that New Leader Essentials is now available online. My District Training Chair says it is good; I have not seen it.

I am working on a (cherry) shadow box for our scoutmaster who will be leaving soon. I am going to include some patches and momentos from his 6 year tenure as SM, including a list of all Eagles under his watch.

Can you offer any more on this training program? We have taught TDC in our District (while other districts try to conduct the old Train the Trainer). Seems like TDC was pretty short lived. Was it really that much of a failure? I taught the program the last two years and I felt it went over very well.

I know Camp La-No-Che by reputation only. One of the ASMs in our troop grew up there and speaks very highly of it. But I do not believe he has been there since the 1980s. I have had contact with the staff regarding some Winter activities, and the professionals have been most helpful. Sorry I cannot offer more.

The new edition (2006 or -7--I don't have it in front of me) has the TLT program aschapter 7. Earlier this year, I compared it to the TLT handbook. It is a WORD-FOR-WORD copy, and it even has the exact same charts. The pages do not match because of the font size and layout, but it is exactlythe same material.

We delivered this to our boys back in March, and it went very well. It was right after crossover and elections. All boys who had not been through training and/or were in a new position attended; so every troop member attended, even the new crossovers. The SM and I ran the SPL and ASPL through their sessions before the other boys arrived, and later,the SPL ran the PL section and the ASPL trained the Troop Guides. Our SM ran the new boys through a short program of the responsibilites of being a member of a patrol (their new position). Between the sessions, we had a session of leadership games followed by a patrol meeting where the "new" patrols made their flags. We also fit in a lunch.

It went over very well. The program material was a little light, but it was good. Here was our schedule:

8:00-8:30 SPL & ASPL training SM / CM

8:30-8:40 Gathering SPL

8:40-9:00 Communicating Well video SM

9:00-9:50 Module OneIntroduction to Troop Leadership (Know)

(15) 1. The Boy-Led Troop and Living by the Scout Law SM

(10) 2. Discussion of the Boy Led Troop SPL

(5) 3. Review of Troop Organizational Chart CM

(10) 4. Position Overview SM, SPL

(5) 5. National Honor Patrol Requirements SPL

9:50-10:15 Patrol Activity PLs

10:15-11:05 Module TwoHow to Do your Job (Be)

(15) 1. Scoutmasters Vision of Success SM, SPL

(20) 2. Teaching EDGE Discussion SM, ASM, or SPL

(10) 3. Troop Progress Discussion SPL

(10) 4. Assignment

11:05-11:30 Patrol Activity PLs with assistance from SPL, ASPL

11:30-12:00 Lunch

12:00-12:55 Module ThreeWhat is expected of Me? (Do)

(20) 1. Position Breakout sessions SPL, ASPL, SM/ASM

(10) 2. Servant LeadershipMotivating Scouts to Lead

(15) 3. Defining Success in your Position

(10) 4. Scoutmaster Conference

12:55-1:00 Closing SM, SPL

1:00-2:00 PLC Planning Conference SPL

(the numbers in parentheses roughly represent minutes for each topic. We kept each topic short enough to keep a 5th grader'sattention)

I really like cypress. It is strong, light-weight, rot resistant, takes a finish well (or weathers well without any) and is not bad for carving simple things like wood spirits and the like. I have one which has a slight crook, but I am carving it's replacement which is straight as an arrow. I really don't know why these are not utilized more for hiking sticks.

Our district took a real new approach to district camporees, which, though reasonably well attended, were slowing loosing participation. We created an SPL Roundtable, concurrent with out BS, CS and V RT groups. The SPL RT focus on leadership, troop issues and topics. At the second meeting (1 1/2 years ago) the SPLs started talking about the District Camporee, and how disappointed they were with the program. So they took ownership of the camporee, and it is now the SPLs which help organize and run the camporees. It has been a smashing success thus far.