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mrkstvns

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Everything posted by mrkstvns

  1. Does anybody have an El Rancho Cima Death March patch they'd be willing to sell? I've got a scout in my unit who earned the patch by doing successive 5-mile, 10-mile, and 15-mile hikes, but unfortunately, he lost the patch. He's a good kid who was immensely proud of being able to accomplish it because he was only 11 when he went to El Rancho Cima. That patch meant a lot more to him than any merit badge or rank insignia he'd earned. I'd like to surprise him (and his parents) with a replacement. It's kind of hard to do that though now that the camp has closed and been sold off to a no
  2. Sure do wish I could delete a post....not just "Edit". Oh, well. I guess I'll just inflict mindless stupidity on y'all instead of my normal substance-ful posts.
  3. There's a couple other options that might also be good for a troop (or even a patrol) to do the night before or after summer camp. In addition to Balmorea, you could... Observe the stars: The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas. In West Texas, you only need to look up and be amazed at how full the night sky is when you have no nearby cities to cloud it with light pollution. Visit the nearby McDonald Observatory. They do Star Party nights Friday and Saturday...plus, you can use it to meet partial requirements for Astronomy merit badge and/or Nova awards...pe
  4. I don't understand that either. I know some scouters say they will only work with kids in their own unit, which might be the issue, but if it really is a case of a scouter discriminating against girls, it is most inappropriate.
  5. One kid told me that he liked BTSR, but his "thorn" was that there was always a long, uphill walk involved to get to any activity. I also heard they have an awesome climbing program with lots of "real rock" climbing and rapelling (vs. climbing towers at most camps). They also have an "advanced climbing" activity that goes above & beyond the basic merit badge skills. (I think it would be great if more camps did this....not just for climbing, but also for paddle sports, archery, riflery, etc.)
  6. I don't see why a troop should feel territorial about it....unless, perhaps, they're chartered by the same organization and share a unit number. Even still, any troop worth its salt will know that the most effective recruiting tool in the long term is a great program. The troop that gets the bridging webelos will be the troop that delivers on its promise of outdoor adventure while providing a fun environment where advancement is enabled and supported.
  7. Any thoughts on BSA summer camps in and around Texas? I put together a list of all the camps I can find in Texas that are: 1) still operating, and 2) have real week-long camps for Boy Scouts, errr, sorry, Scouts BSA (i.e., no cub day camps, weekend unit camps, etc.) FYI: The "biggies" here are Bear Creek, Buffalo Trail, and Sid Richardson (not in order of "bigness"). Comments about any of them? Know about a summer camp in Texas that I overlooked?? Bear Creek Scout Reservation Hunt, TX Alamo Area Council Rugged, hill country terrain. Leader Guide: http://www.
  8. Howdy, ma'am. I think there's a lot of us here who are volunteering because we have scouts in the program. Lord knows, I could probably find a more dangerous use for that "1 hour a week"...
  9. Very fitting that the logo looks like a big, round ball. That's exactly how you'll end up looking if you sustain your habit of eating foods with palm oil (which is over 50% saturated fat).
  10. If you've been to Northern Tier, or done a trip on your own through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Quetico Provincial Park, or Voyageurs National Park, you might have come across a very specialized kind of backpack called the "Duluth pack". Here's a few observations that might help explain how a Duluth pack is different from the typical REI backpack... Duluth packs are flatter, wider, and shorter than your typical backpack and they almost never have a frame. That's because they are specifically designed for long canoe trips. Their odd geometry is designed to fit snugly in the
  11. I think the Nova counselor is still supposed to be more of a cheerleader for math and science than any kind of expert or specialist. The position descriptions don't seem to have changed recently... https://www.scouting.org/stem-nova-awards/volunteer-support/ I'm not familiar with the stem coordinator position. Is that something that most units do?
  12. Interesting photos....I've always thought that Rifle and Shotgun were merit badges that really leant themselves to being taught entirely outdoors, but if you've got limited range time, then the classroom intro makes sense..
  13. Adult association is one of the 8 methods of scouting. Turns out there's a lot of support for that method, and an interesting tangent is how older, wiser adults can form associations with youth to share thoughts, ideas, and wisdom gleaned from a lifetime of experience. In our troop, many of the parents are fairly young (in their 30s), but we do have a couple of grandparents who are very involved in their grandchildrens' lives and who participate in troop activities. Perhaps that's something that should be encouraged even more... The New York Times ran an interesting story about this ki
  14. ...and I'm imagining a "kinder, gentler" U.S. Marine Corps drill sergeant, telling a motivational story to a barracks full of privates who may not see the wisdom of rolling out of their bunks at 5am to do a 5-mile jog in the rain with full backpacks.
  15. I still don't understand....is that a BSA thing? Some other country's scouting program, perhaps? I've never heard of such a badge for Cub Scouts or Boy Scouts here in the U.S.
  16. What the heck is an "international badge"? Never heard of it...
  17. ...at least until the flag ceremony concludes.
  18. Is that really true? Troops are bigger than packs?!?! Seems to me like there are more packs in my neck of the woods than there are troops, and some of the packs are mighty darn big... I'd be interested in seeing some stats on relative unit sizes. Any idea where those numbers might be??
  19. That is a very good question. This is also the reason I don't like hearing about Scoutmasters or MB counselors or camps or MBUs that have "age restrictions" on merit badges. The rule in scouting is that any scout is allowed to work on any merit badge at any time. Yes, there are badges that a young scout would be best off waiting a while to tackle, but that doesn't mean EVERY young scout should be blocked. A great example is Lifesaving: a scout who is 10 or 11 is unlikely to excel at Lifesaving, and a Scoutmaster is well within his area of responsibility to advise the scout to wait un
  20. As with any role a scouter may take, learn the ropes and "Do your best". Do take training on scouting.org pertinent to the Pack Committee. You've probably already done that though. You've probably already read the job description for Secretary (but I'll repeat it here to remind the other folks on this forum): Secretary The secretary ensures proper records are kept within the pack. Specifically, the secretary will: • Keep informed of all Cub Scouting literature, materials, records, and forms to help leaders function effectively. Help new den leaders access needed tools.
  21. I think most of us know there's a difference between storytelling and lying. If there weren't, the entire field of literature would be impoverished and every movie goer would leave the theatre vastly reassured that there is a man among us who will protect us from evil --- a man from the planet Krypton, with powers and abilities far beyond us mortal men. On the other hand, I appreciate the perspective of the NPR program: a good story can engage kids, help them feel, and let them carry a lesson forward that's memorable and relevant. Kind of like the way us church goers might have hea
  22. Great points, TMSM! I wonder how often, we see posts in forums like this that describe a Scoutmaster's "arbitrary rules" when, in fact, Mom or Dad simply doesn't understand that a Scoutmaster is exercising his duty to advise boys and to use discretion. I wonder how often, a Scoutmaster tells the boy that something is quite difficult or would benefit from pre-training, only to have that boy go tell his parents that "there's a rule..." I like your approach of talking to the scout and making sure they understand the reasons. Same is true for a scouter who doesn't sign off on a rank req
  23. I was listening to NPR last night, and they had an interesting conversation that I thought could be useful for dialing down the volume on confrontation, yet still getting across important points (particularly regarding safety). The program talked about how calm and controlled an Inuit discussion (or confrontation) would be. The Inuit are more stoic than we are. They don't yell. Instead, they prefer to get their point across using the power of story. I wonder how many times I might get mad at a boy and, instead of berating him for his carelessness, I might be able to sit down with hi
  24. Ahhh, the voice of humanism. Boys SHOULD look a "little bit scruffy and grungy", shouldn't they? I like that perspective!
  25. I'll bet $5 they're looking for a Scoutmaster...seems like they'd want a very special individual to handle that role.
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