clc5105

A short story:

Well, this past weekend Gulf Ridge Council held their Council Camporee, 99 in '09, to kick off the upcoming 100th year of scouting. The crew was asked to be the medical Staff for the event, which was attended by approximately 1500 people.

After getting to the camp site Friday evening, and setting up in the rain, the crew stayed up talking into the evening. When I returned from the 10:30 pm Scoutmaster meeting they were all asleep. Then about 5:00 am the area experienced either a microburst or a small tornado, along with heavy rain. Rainflys were ripped of tents, shelters were twisted, mangled, and strewn about the area. Most of the crew's extra clothing, sleeping bags, and personal gear was soaked, along with every other troop that was there. Personally the only thing my wife and I suffered was a snapped pole on our tent. During the opening ceremony (still in the rain) it was announced that a trailer would be sent around to pick up debris.

After the opening ceremony the crew put on their fanny pack first aid kits, got their radios, and went off to the events. They did this with out any complaints. I know they were cold and wet, but they said that they were there for a reason and they were going to do their job. I was so proud of them.

Even though the rain stopped about noon it was still overcast and the forecast for that night was cloudy and temps. in the low 40's to high 30's. there was no way I was going to make them stay in those temps., with wet gear. So during the day I told them to take turns going back to camp and taking their tents down, load them in my truck, then come back to the medical tent for hot chocolate.

After all that there was still no complaints, and they still went back for the afternoon events. We left the campsite about 6:00 pm.

I know I've told the board before, but I am so pround of this crew.

Last night after a meeting I mentioned this thread to the Crew President(a female)and my daughter who is the V.P of Programs for the crew I'm the Advisor for.

I cautioned them that this was a rumor, and only a rumor, with no facts to back it up, and that it would probably never happen. However, after they heard the rumor about a female venturer possibly attaining the rank of Eagle Scout both said "That would be so cool. I wish it would happen. How cool would it be to be a girl Eagle Scout."

So what I'm trying to say is that if it ever did happen I do believe that there would be a surge of girls joining Venturing. The President of the crew and my daughter both quit GSUSA because they were no longer interested in the GSUSA program and Venturing was more appealing.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=392733971&albumId=1272474

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=392733971&albumId=1306659

Some pictures of the first aid training and the fall camporee. (Sorry about having to copy & paste)

(This message has been edited by clc5105)

The crew hasn't expressed to me that they would like to advance their training any further. The First Responder should have satisfied the Core and Elective requirements for the Ranger Award. I know they do enjoy being medical staff. I think most of the scouts like it becuase the crew is mostly made up of girls (6 girls and 4 guys). The crew also participated in the closing Campfire on Saturday night with skits and a song. As far as fun things go, we have a trip to St. Augustine planned for June and a trip to Alexander Springs in August, with what ever day trips they come with in between.

The crew that we started almost a year ago has made a name for itself in a small way. I work for a larger fire dept in my county so I was able to bring the crew to my station on some of my duty days and trained the members to the First Responder level in first aid. They also got a tour of the apparatus, the ambulance, and the medical helicopter at the airport 2 miles away.

After they were trained, the crew was asked to participate the the district fall camporee as medical staff for approximately 200-250 scouts. We got together several fannie packs and made first aid kits out of them, plus they made T-shirts to ID themselves. At the camporee we divided the crew into teams of two, and let them rove through the camporee checking on the events. My wife, who is medical assistant, and I stayed in a central location with a more comprehensive kit in case of something major. We kept in communication with FRS radios. To make a long story short the crew treated 8 scouts, sending one to the hospital for stitches.

They did such a good job they were asked again to be the medcal staff for the spring district camporee, which took place this past weekend. This time everything was minor and no trips to the hosital. At the SPL meeting Saturday night there was nothing but praise from the scoutmasters. The crew did themselves well.

We have also been asked if the crew would be interested in helping as medical staff for the council camporee in the fall, because of the reputation they have already attained. To say the least I am one proud advisor of my crew.(This message has been edited by clc5105)

That's one of those things that you can bring up and remind him of at his Eagle Court of Honor. That is, if you'r not too old to remember it.

When I opened a checking account for our crew I was advised by the bank to get a Tax ID number. The account was opened under my number with the understanding I would get an ID # and change it. In fact, about thirty minutes after I left the guy at the bank called me back and said that he had called a supervisor and was advised that the IRS can, and has, tied people's personal accounts with a troop/crew account, which created a mess. A day or so later I called the IRS and got the number. It took about two weeks for the IRS to get the letter to me confirming the number, which I had to take a copy of to the bank. Getting the number was easy, in fact the lady I spoke with at the IRS was interested in a Venture Crew as her son had just made Life Scout.

No, he is the real COR. However, I no sooner submitted the original post when he called and asked if we could talk. He came over and we had a cordial conversation about the crew and it's future. I don't know where the CC came up with the stuff about meetings and activity as the COR never brought it up. The COR's main concern was the training of the officers, making sure that the by-laws were to be followed as written and voted on, and making sure it was a youth run organization. Now I need to have a chat with my CC.(This message has been edited by clc5105)

I'm the Advisor of a new crew that just started in June. We have been on two activities and meet every third Thursday due to my schedule. Suddenly the Charter Org. Rep. has told the Comm. Chair that we are meeting too often and doing too many activities. He stated that a Venture crew is supposed to meet once a month and only do one activity per quarter, because that's he way a crew is supposed to be run. He has also stated that he is "going to straighten us out" about what we are doing. Here's the kicker.... he is the Scoutmaser of the troop we spun off from, and I'm the Committee Chair for. There are several members of the troop that are members of the crew. He has questioned why the boys seemed like they were all about doing fund raisers for the Crew and not enthused about doing fund raisers for the troop. He has also stated that when ever we do an activity there should be no mingling of male / female of the crew members. The females should have thier own camp site and the males in another. Seperating then in one camp site isn't good enough. He hasn't approached me about any of this at all.

Well, we had our first outing as a crew. We went to Alexander Springs in the Ocala National Forest, (http://www.tfn.net/Springs/Alexander.htm) and stayed at Camp Lanoche (http://www.camplanoche.com) which is about 15-20 minutes away. Everybody had a great time. All the new venturers got to know each other better and are forming friendships. That was proven last night at our meeting. The first few meetings they were spread out and not very talkative. Last night they were all sitting together and having a great time. So far we are off to a great start. We still have a few rough edges to smooth out but I think we're gonna make it.

Your last sentence was one of the most insightful things I've seen in a while. It will probably be the one piece of advice I use the most. Thanks.

Central Florida, about halfway between Tampa and Orlando.

We have decided to spin off a Venture Crew from our troop, of which I'm to be the advisor. I'll admit it's kinda for a selfish reason in my case. My son has made Eagle Scout and is now 18. I was planning on staying with the Troop as the Committee Chairman, however, my daughter's GSA troop folded and I think she got her feelings hurt as I was spending so much time helping my son with Eagle. So to spend more time with her we came to Venturing. So far we've had a couple of informal meetings so let others know what Venturing is about and to hand out applications. So far the reaction has been fabulous. I have 16 youths ( eight boys, and eight girls) and seven adults that have, or, are going to turn in applications. It appears that we are on our way to a good start. Does anybody have any advice they make think would be useful?

Lieutenant in Special Operations (HAZ-MAT & Technicial Rescue) for a fire dept. in Central Florida.

I just had this conversation with my son the other day. We were discussing his upcoming Eagle Project and I told him that just because he was going to make Eagle, I wasn''t leaving the troop. He replied " I wasn''t expecting you to. In fact I''m going to stay with the troop to help. So you''ll need to get me an adult application. " I can think of few times when I was more proud of him.

Another Southern one....fried alligator tail.

How about also asking your Congressman to have a flag flown over the Capitol building for each one in their honor and then present it to them.

Just registered and wanted to say Hi. My name is Chris and I am the Comittee Chairman for Troop 774 in Lakeland, Fl. (Gulf Ridge Council). I have already been looking through the forums and saying "Hey,that sounds like our troop" about diffrent topics. I have seen alot of good advice and hopefully will implement some in our troop. Thanks.