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Ok, for the past week or so I have had all the Scouting worries in the world, what with not seeing eye to eye with some people.

Last night was OJ's troop night. I'm not involved with the troop. At supper he said that they were having troop elections and he was going to run for SPL. His mother said that she would drive him to the meeting. As they were going out the door he said that they had to pick up a Lad named Kevin. Kevin is a Lad who is 17 and just moved into the area and wanted to rejoin a troop in order to complete his Eagle Scout rank. Of course I wasn't at the meeting, but I picked both of them up. Kevin was full of it telling me how great it was to be back in Scouting. I don't know if he will ever complete his Eagle. But I know that that little drive with a kid who was happy to be back in Scouting did wonders for me.

Hey Barry - Your right I do love this stuff.

Eamonn

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That's great, Eamonn! I must admit, I'm slightly disappointed that I was born a girl and not a boy... I think I would have had a lot more fun being a boy scout than I had when I was a girl scout. Maybe it was poor choosing of troops, but we never went camping or anything like that(not to knock girl scouting-- if you have a daughter, I encourage her to try it out for herself!! :)), and all the Boy Scouts I've talked to only have great things to tell about their early (and recent, of course!) Boy Scout experiences. *sigh*

 

But, luckily, I joined up with Ventures and have had a blast.

 

The important thing in times of frustration is to remember all the good the Boy Scouts has done for thousands-- millions-- of people nation/worldwide in the past, and all the good it'll continue to do in the future. And from the impression I get of you, you're a pretty top-notch Scouter in my book, and a good portion of that good I mentioned is thanks to you :)

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This is a hard week related to Cubs, but Barry, you made me laugh. Yep, the adults do have a way of making things far tougher than they need to be...sigh... Eamonn, I'm so glad for the lift you were given by this young Scout :)

 

Campfire Fairy, when I was a Girl Scout, it was as much fun as my boys are having today. I absolutely loved the camping opportunities. Things seemed to have changed, so I'm glad you have found your place in Venturers :)

 

By the way, I have decided that "real Scouting" never ever involves a committee meeting--eek! Unless we get the boys to lead the committee meetings? Hmmmmm...

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Congrats to OJ!

 

I know how important those "recharges" of getting back in touch with the program and the youth we serve.

 

Having no children of my own, when I have a bad day or week as a professional, all I need to do is touch my old merit badge sash or look at my dingy, yellow, old, Cub Scout neckerchief -- hanging in my basement and realize that some district executive who busted his hump every day for the Boy Scouts of America and of whom I was not aware and would not have really cared had I been aware -- had little Dave Steele as one of his "numbers."

 

I love this Scouting stuff, too.

 

Oh, to be an SPL again . . .

 

DS

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I stand corrected. My comment may have sounded like a put-down; for that I am sorry. I was thinking of the unit and admit to often not thinking of meetings outside it. I too am very thankful that people I have never met and may never meet are working hard to see to it that Scouting takes place for my boys. Thanks for the reminder in that, Dave.

 

By the way, my DE wouldn't know my kids if he tripped over them--he sees so many. They, however, know him and think "he's really cool when it comes to camping stuff" :) I think I need to write him a nice Christmas card, letting him know that what he does is having a positive impact on my boys.

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Congrats to the new SPL.

 

I think, in retrospect, that SPL is the best position to have in Scouting, if you do it right.

 

Though, I'm not sure I appreciated that fact at the time, nor do some of the boys I see doing it today seem to fully understand it. But the one who was elected by my son's troop about a month ago at least seems to have the capacity to get it before his term is up.

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Real Scouting?

 

First of all, congrats to OJ,

 

Then awhile back there was a question about what constututed success in scouting, well, here is an example.

 

The High School my son attends has a breakfast for "Outstanding Students" once a semester, (twice a year) to be an outstandng student, the student must be nominated by a teacher as a good role model, a decent kid. Grades dont matter, atheletic skills dont matter, just being "A good person" however the teacher sees it.

 

The Senior Class had 12 outstanding students, 7 girls and 5 boys. Of the 5 boys one was my son, and another is from the same troop as my son and also an Eagle. Thats success...

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While I was of course very proud of OJ,Kevin made my day. As I say he is 17. Maybe I don't have as much faith in the program as I ought to have. But to have a Lad of 17 wanting to rejoin a troop is really a credit to the troop that he was in. OJ had asked him to join the crew, but he wasn't sure about that. All the way on the drive home he went on about how much fun camping is and he kept asking questions about the program.

While this may sound a little dumb what really got me was that I had done nothing to make this happen. I tend to like to be right in there doing something and making things happen. This had nothing to do with me.

Eamonn

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Campfire Fairy,

 

From what you have written, I am sure that quite a few young men are very pleased that you were born a girl :)

 

My wife is certainly the camper in our family. Last summer, we did the Grand Canyon rim to river and back 3 months after her surgery to repair a fractured collarbone which didn't heal.

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