walk in the woods

Not all Yankee's are this stoopid, just the ones living in the cities . Merry Christmas JoeBob. That made my night!

yeah, I also add bonus point or a time bonus for uniforming, patrol flag, bonus if it's double sided, patrol yell that's for real, etc. Sometimes I give bonus points to a patrol just because they worked together well even if they didn't perform particularly well on the task. Sometimes I dock a super patrol because of their attitude. Yeah, it's considered fuzzy, can't be put into a spreadsheet and calculated with a stop watch. Don't really care. The techno mommies don't like me much.

I was thinking about this on my way to work today, only because I was driving in rain at about 35 degrees. The warning on the radio went something to the effect of "conditions this morning could result in roadway icing. Pay particular attention to bridges, ramps and overpasses as they are the first to freeze."

Gotta say I'm with BD on this one. When I winter camp I have a vapor layer in my tent, a couple of heavy blankets (one wool, one old mule blanket type), a reflective blanket and my bag. If it's really cold I'll throw an old down bag down before the reflective blanket.

To be honest, if I was king, I'd combine parts 4.b and 4.c into requirements 6 and 7, then I'd move requirement 6 into the Camping MB (with the caveat about not using the same meals as used for rank advancement) and requirement 7 would be duplicated in Backpacking and Hiking, with the same caveat. I mean, you have to eat when camping, backpacking and hiking right, so why not incorporate camp cooking into camping and trail cooking into the trail merit badges? I'd probably expand requirement 4 then in cooking to spend time talking about the differences of cooking in a gas stove top vs an electric stove top vs on a gas grill vs on a charcoal grill vs a smoker etc. Yeah, I know that turns Cooking MB into a life-skills kind of thing but I think that's ok.

That'll be "Happy Holidays Mr. Scrooge" there jblake.

Like many folks have noted my unit used cots at summer camp. I used a cot at SummitCorp in 2011 because I figured a good nights sleep was important when you were spending your days swinging a hoe or a mattock. I've used a cot at OA weekends for the same reason. Used one at Jambo (2013 and 1977). Almost never use one on a regular troop outing. Didn't use one in the Boundary Waters. Don't use one when we backpack. Never use one when winter camping outside; sometimes use one winter camping is cabins heated by wood-stoves or the like. I believe in using the right gear for the situation and the goal of the outing. Sometimes cots are the right gear, sometimes not. If a unit's program is being limited by the use of cots then that is a problem.

Don't let the negative vibe affect your opinion of the OA before you even get involved. This board is negative about everything. The OA, like everything in scouts, is exactly what you make of it. I can't speak for all Lodges but in mine our annual calendar looks something like this: Feb: Lodge Friendship Gathering and Pow Wow (open to members, non-members, and the community) Mar: Lodge Lock-in open to all Scouts and Webelos Apr: Section Conclave (gathering of lodges throughout the BSA section) for training and fellowship May: Call-Outs, Camporee Support in the Districts June: Spring Fellowship at Council Summer Camp. Ordeal candidates and members do projects to get camp ready for summer. Sept: Fall Fellowship at Council Cub Camp. Ordeal candidates and members do project to help winterize and/or build up the new Cub Camp Oct: Camporee support in the Districts. Participate in setup/tear down and sometimes host a scene at the Council Haunted Hike Nov: Provide labor/service for the Council Popcorn distribution Jan: Wrap up our year at the Winter Banquet. I'd like to see us doing more at the District level but you need something to work on. The OA also runs summer programs for older scouts. You can check out http://adventure.oa-bsa.org/ for more details, but the quick summary is volunteer to go work at one of the BSA high adventure bases for a week and get a week of high adventure. In 2011 the OA spent 4 weeks in WV building mountain bike trails in the New River Gorge National River (great experience, but my back still hurts). In 2014 there is a section in the upper mid-west planning a week long conservation project along a national scenic river in WI/MN. In 2008 I think it was the OA sponsored conservation projects across the country in 4 or 5 National Forests.

True and True qwazse. In my neck of the woods boys who are outdoor oriented come from families that are outdoor oriented. By the time they are 11 year old, have already been camping, canoeing, fishing, and hunting with dad. There are no restrictions on them driving their ATVs into deer camp or riding snow machines. They even carry sheath knives .

In our little community the boys we see involved in scouts are of the ilk to be involved in everything. Their everything might involve scouts, 4H, FFA, church, drama club, speech club, scholastic bowl, sometimes even sports . While that may be fine at the grade school level, what I'm seeing is parents start limiting their kid's social-circle/activities about the time of the transition into Jr. High. They can choose a primary social-circle/activity to be involved in and maybe a secondary circle, but that's it. It seems especially so if they have multiple kids choosing separate circles/activities. So, maybe numbers are down generally but I wonder if it's not a parents up against the high-speed limiter that's the driving factor. The challenge I see is that once the continuity of any of the social circles is broken, there's basically no going back. A kid that leaves scouting to pursue Jr. High sports doesn't come back when he realizes he's too short to play basketball or can't hit his weight for an average. Rather, he moves onto whatever is new and different. At one level it's been really good for our Crew because we're what's new and different for those 14 year olds. We've even had a few former cub scouts come back. However, it's been not so good for our Troop. As for the video games, my feeling is we never really get a shot at the hard core gamers because scouting just isn't on their radars. That's obviously not a blanket truth but even the gaming social circle has "travel teams" and conventions and camps and such if you get far enough into it.

Why get a HS diploma? When you look back at HS do you remember the quadratic formula or your prom? The paper you wrote for your junior English class or hanging with your friends? If you answered with the latter option to either of those questions does that mean your diploma isn't worthwhile? Same thing for your college degree. Do you remember the ins and outs of the logic class you took or tailgating at the homecoming game? Really, the Eagle bashing needs to stop.

This is exactly what we were told when we packed up as well. Pack it up, shove it in the pods and get out. All the soft stuff was going to a vendor for refurb, hard stuff was going to be cleaned and stowed.

Yeah, it's funny. I'm an Eagle Scout. I can't count the number of people who've told me over the years, "I could have been an Eagle but....insert lame excuse here." After high school I joined the Navy's Nuclear Power program, became a reactor operator, lo and behold, when people with any sort of clue about the program found out in conversation, I hear something to the effect of "I could have been a nuke but...insert lame excuse here." The key word and tricky phrase from the article is: "Carter said it's okay for some not to approve of what he's doing, just like it's ok for him to pursue a goal. "It doesn't bother me a bit. That just tells me they don't know me," Carter said." Basically he's telling all of us he doesn't give a rat's hind-quarters about our opinions. That's the kind of character and confidence I'd like to see more young men develop.

Love it or hate it, this is funny.....

Ask if the iOLS director will let them staff the course instead and still get credit. Maybe as Troop Guides if not instructors.

Down significantly because our top two sellers from years past weren't selling this year, but, in line with expectations. On the up side we had 100% participation. Table sales were brisk for the $10 items and $15 items. Anything $20 and above kept coming back to my garage.

All true. We never used the SPL position because it was an unnecessary administrative burden . If you end up with all scouts less than 13 (we started with all scouts less than or equal to 12) it's basically a NSP, you elect a patrol leader and everybody learns at the same time. We were probably more adult-led than we should have been at times, but, I know some larger troops that suffer the same problem. The default troop models didn't fit us very well so we made our own way. Totally high risk but totally worth it.

You are assuming he's not listening just because he's off to the side. It is a bad assumption. Many autistic kids are peripheral learners. If you ask them to attend to something directly they'll spend so much energy trying to attend they'll totally miss the content. Don't ask for eye contact, don't ask him to sit in a chair at a table, work with him in his space and time. Engage the parents. Depending on what "doing something he shouldn't" means, it might be appropriate to find some redirection. If the parents can't help with redirection it might be a bit of a road to figure out what keeps the lads attention. Autistic kids can be very rigid. There are right and wrong ways to do things and in between can be an impossible place to go. If the young man was taught to shake hands with the right hand it might be very difficult for him to unlearn that to relearn the left hand shake for scouts. And make no mistake, he will have to unlearn the behavior and re-establish that it's right hand everywhere except scouts. I'd also refrain from harsh black and white language like "wrong" and use a gentler (and frankly more accurate) term like "different" in its place. The yelling has nothing to do with you and everything to do with his condition and possibly a result of a sensory overload. Don't take it personally and don't assign bad behavior to something the young man probably can't control. Autistic scouts can be a challenge and more so if the parent's aren't engaged. That said, autistic scouts can be very rewarding. As for your other parents, tell them to take their competitive BS attitude somewhere else. Scouting is about young men challenging themselves, not competing against everybody else. That young autistic lad has challenges that their precious NT brats will never experience. Life isn't fair, ask the autistic kid.

Small unit scouting is the BEST! When your entire unit fits into two cars you can go ANYWHERE! It does have it's drawbacks, namely, filling adult leadership slots. It can be a challenge if you don't at least get a trickle of new youth blood annually as well. I wouldn't trade my small unit experiences for all the 100+ member battalion-sized troops in the world. So, I'll echo dedkad, if everybody is happy and safe, leave the bureaucrat's rulebook at home. Otherwise you will be down a unit because they don't need scouts to go camping.

From http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/FAQS/joining.aspx: [h=3]How old (or young) can a boy be to join Cub Scouting?[/h] Cub Scouting is for boys in the first through fifth grades, or 7 to 10 years of age. Boys who are older than 10, or who have completed the fifth grade, can no longer join Cub Scouting, but they may be eligible to join the Boy Scouting or Venturing program. OR is the key word and tricky phrase. Sign him up. From my perspective he's no different than a 7 year old homeschooled kid who doesn't have an official "grade."

Libby deserved to be punished for outing Plame, probably Chaney too. That's exactly the kind of outrage people should have over the IRS crap and Ms. Lerner as well.

So, has anybody else noticed a distinct lack of pub about the Leadership Center at the Summit being named in President Monson's name?

Post Office might be willing to do a tour or a local postal sorting center.

I enjoyed the mom song. I also smiled with the young man said something about leaders and to paraphrase he said, all evidence to the contrary we are listening. The follow on message about watching though was really on point.