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Cito

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Everything posted by Cito

  1. I grew up in West Texas and wore scout shorts year round. I don't think I owned a pair of scout pants. Now, in Colorado, I have switchbacks and the new canvas shorts. The shorts are better shorts than the switchbacks.
  2. We are lucky to have a couple very good DE's in our district. Glad to have them. Early on BD accused me of being part of national, I'm impressed that theory was right with Bobwhite.
  3. I've known quite a few boys who did exactly what Horizon said. Were active until high school, got distracted and wrapped up their requirements right before they hit 18. I don't see how it's any different than if he'd wrapped up at 15 and never came to another meeting or activity. Take the opportunity to ask him about the program and maybe you'll discover some ideas that will make it more attractive for the next boy to stay involved. Personally, I lost interest in my troop at 14-15 and had to find Exploring and chances to be involved with other scouting activities. You can't keep everyone
  4. Thanks infoscouter, and where are you located? I'm curious to understand how much of this is regional.
  5. Had lunch today with the district executive and the district chairman. It came out that the council's goal is to have 15% of kids who are eligible to be in traditional cub scouting. Right now the number is about 5.2% in our district, which has been improving every year. I think in the neighborhood that I'm in we have about 6.7% in our pack and I bet with the popularity of our join nights we'll push close to the 10%. So...I know not everyone is into numbers, but where are you and what sort of percentage does your area have?
  6. If I'm exercising in my basement I have to have the TV on, otherwise I'd last about five minutes. But when I go for a hike, I'd like nothing better than to have the sense to leave the electronics in the car. For a long trip I'd have to imagine that it would mirror qwazse's statement about the challenge being battery life. In any case, as long as it doesn't get in the way of the trip, everyone will have their own way of enjoying the hike.
  7. My father and I had this argument for many years. Through the early 90's I was always with a Jansport external frame pack. Did Philmont 4 times with that pack and I still have it. Then, when I could stretch to afford a Dana Design internal frame pack, I bought one and have not looked back. While it is warmer (my father's fault with internals) that's because its more integrated into my body and I think it carries the weight much better. I have 3 Dana packs, a 30 liter, 50 liter and 70 liter. Now of course they don't make them any more but there are similar packs out there. Whatever you bu
  8. We had a pack meeting last night and I let all 44 boys step up to the mic and tell the audience what their favorite activity was of their year of scouting. I'd say it was a tie between the pinewood derby and getting outside to go-see-it, hike, bike or play sports. Nobody said crafts. In any case, I think regardless of the age group one of the great things about scouting is an excuse to get out of the meeting room and disguise some exercise with fun activities. I cancelled the indoor session for tonight and we're going to take the den to explore a new trail. I lost the weight
  9. We have two dens with 12 and the others have 4-10 boys each. The trick is that the dens with 12 each both had great years and its unlikely that we'll lose scouts but rather bring in a lot more friends. In example, my son is a Tiger and we have 12 boys and 2 of us who really function as co-den leaders. He has already recruited a friend and has another who is likely in addition to 4 that we picked up on the last join night. So effectively we have 18 pre-fall recruiting. In truth we need to split it into 2-3 dens. I've been pushing the idea that we achieve success when we have multipl
  10. We live in a huge urban redevelopment project. Thanks to the attraction of new urbanism, our neighborhood is absolutely full of children. In the last eight years we've built three elementary schools along with charters. I did a count of the 1st grade classrooms in the neighborhood and I would estimate that in 1st grade we have approximately 400 kids, so 200 boys and the real bubble is actually the preschoolers. Of that 200, only 12 are tigers. In total there are probably over 1,000 boys eligible within the neighborhood and hundreds more in surrounding neighborhoods that don't have packs.
  11. Even if it turns out that you're better off finding an altogether new unit, you need to report it to the CO and the SE. When people are this out of line, they need to be taken out of scouting. Don't worry about the lack of cubmaster, any situation would be better than the current one.
  12. Generally I wear one set of clothes and pack the other. I'd bring a wool or fleece sweater and a rain jacket. I don't do long pants unless it will be frigid, just go to bed when it gets cold. I've done some AT in Georgia when we were there. For only 6 days check the weather forecast and you may be able to save some weight. I'll tell you that I like my higher-end gear for backpacks, sleeping bags and tents. But for clothes, I just grab whatever t-shirts, shorts, underwear and socks are clean. Don't care much about the technical side other than obvious stuff that would get in t
  13. Hi, I'd like to help but need more info. Is this a BSA council camp? Are you the sole camp or one of several? If you're a council camp, where are the troops from your council going instead and why are they going? If as you describe, you have a great facility and a great staff, I'm curious what is not so great? You said lack of QC. Besides the lack of high adventure, do you have some other competitor, lack of scouts, difficult to get to, bad reputation? Don't be afraid of giving too much information, saves guessing.
  14. I'm starting a couple of these for debate. These are the existing requirements for Tenderfoot, but what should they really be? Add, subtract or a total rewrite? Tenderfoot Rank Requirements: Present yourself to your leader, properly dressed, before going on an overnight camping trip. Show the camping gear you will use. Show the right way to pack and carry it. Spend at least one night on a patrol or troop campout. Sleep in a tent you have helped pitch. On the campout, assist in preparing and cooking one of your patrol's meals. Tell why it is important for each patrol m
  15. I have an idea for a series of fun debates. I'm going to post the requirements for an existing adult or boy award/rank/badge and then we can rewrite them based on our individual preferences. I'm about to be cubmaster, so I'm curious what people think makes a great cubmaster and thus a great knot. Award Requirements: Tenure: Serve as a registered assistant Cubmaster for one year and a registered Cubmaster for one year, or serve as a registered Cubmaster for two years. Training: Complete Cubmaster Fast Start training. Complete This Is Scouting and Cubmaster Specific T
  16. Great recruiting method Kudu. I'd agree. No need for two patrols or any troop leader jobs. With 10 kids, you'll have campouts with 6 kids, no need to over think.
  17. Somehow I ended up in the wrong thread, multiple windows open. Good luck with attendance.(This message has been edited by Cito)
  18. I'm in Denver. Hadn't heard about this but if I hear more through the grapevine, I'll share. Looks like the unit number is incorporating the council camp brands. Not my district so I haven't seen it before. There was a pack in the suburbs a few years ago that lost a bunch of money to a committee chair just outright stealing it. Makes me sick.
  19. When I was in high school, a few of us founded a high adventure explorer post. What has really evolved into the venturing program. We camped almost every month and had a good time. Three of us became Philmont staff and the other founder got a degree in outdoor education. Now, with that said, we were only moderately successful as a scout unit. It was truly youth led, heck it was youth founded, but that meant when when the founders went to college it collapsed. We likely had members who werent registered and never did anything for council or district type events. We just went camping and i
  20. Sure, the lack of real scouting background certainly makes it trickier. In the end, fill out the resume and list your assets. Like any job. I don't know the entire backstory, but the high adventure bases employ people without long scouting resumes. Some people come into scouting as adults and that's great. We need quality people at all ages and I'd agree with BD that you should improve your skills to be the best guide you can be. My wife, (girlfriend at the time) worked three summers at Philmont. When she came into it, her outdoor resume was largely the backpacking, camping, climbing and
  21. Getting that job is likely similar to getting a job at Philmont. If I can persuade you, apply for a Philmont ranger, backcountry or conservation job as well. Apply early and reach out in person to whoever is the professional in charge of hiring. A great scouting resume really helps. It's too late to start now, but list how you're familiar and associated with scouting. Get letters of recommendation from someone else who has worked there, your DE, some Scouters, etc. Stack the deck as much as you can.
  22. Engineer61, I'm sure the Cosby skit was in my subconscious. For the record, I haven't met anyone here to the best of my knowledge. But let me know if you're ever in Denver.
  23. I notice that there is a fair degree of familiarity on the forum. I'm sure a lot of it is through the forum, but I'm curious who of this group you've met in person?
  24. This thread is so old that EagleScout13 was named Webelos10 when it started.
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