Leaderboard

The other day I was in the grocery store doing my regular shopping. As I walked in I noticed another gentleman look my way. Not sure if he knew me or just saw me wearing hiking clothing. He asked if I was in Scouting and was shopping for a campout. I said, yes I am in Scouting but if the scouts were going camping THEY would be doing the shopping, I would just be the driver. He nodded and said, "good man". Anyway, thought I'd share the story here with you all.

https://www.aol.com/lifestyle/teen-helps-elderly-woman-cross-203010206.html Not sure why this seems to have gone viral. I could not help but think of the long running joke about the Scout helping old ladies across the street. But, my point is simply this is part and parcel an example of what our society seems to have lost, and the fact that Scouting has this as a brick in its foundation.

Yeah. With such a focus on advancement and eagle, our slogan has taken a back seat. Many years ago I used to do a SM minute relating the slogan and motto. I wish I could find it, but the gist was Our slogan and motto are not separate ideas but intimately intertwined. This is not by accident. Be Prepared is the more common phrase used to describe Scouts, and often it is in context of tools, knowledge and skills. Do a Good Turn Daily is how we are recognized as scouts through our deeds. I challenge us to think of how Be Prepared and Do a Good Turn Daily are not exclusive ideas, but are the flip sides of the same coin; the mindset of being prepared on one side and the action of doing a good turn on the other. Phrased in question form: Have you prepared to do a good turn today?

Yes, unless they completed the new S.A.F.E.guarding Youth training after its release in mid-May of 2025, in which case they will complete an approximately 20-minute refresher on their due date. I have stressed this many times to leadership in my district, as many did not realize that if they did the old course on let's say May 1, 2025, and got an email with a certificate set to expire on May 1, 2027, that as TRON stated that expiration date was changed to May 31, 2025. (This is what I experienced, as I redid YPT at the end of April last year and then did the new course as soon as it was released) As soon as I saw that the refresher was up and available I sat down and completed it. It is pretty well done and has a test at the end. As long as you pass the test (80% to pass) you are good for another year. If you do not pass the test, it will not allow you to rewatch the refresher, you must redo the entire 90-minute course.

Work at finding liaisons with other youth groups, including maybe church groups and such. Put together a cooperative or two with local outdoor and sporting stores that run programs for climbing and so on. If feasible, work with local professional groups to use the site for spot training opportunities. Make serious cooperative out reach to local colleges and schools to develop teaching sites at the camp. All things that could be workable, or so it seems to me. Setting rates would need to be fair, and not made to maximize any profit The main thing would be to simply keep trying new ideas and finding cooperative options Corporate weekends might be offered where they could use the sites for company gatherings. The goal woould be to make the property viable, but also to have the community see it as an option. Working with unions might be viable, both in the city and at camp facilities. Union does training at the camp and the camp gets things fixed professionally. Be creative, and if it does not pan out, try other things. Some camps may have the type of location to grow Christmas trees, so that becomes part of the prograam and support. If the camps have unique locations with interesing geograpy, or in our case a fscsimile fort, offer it for movie sets; maybe even incorporate it as part of the MB program to do that. Keep that "can't" at bay.

You are not a free unit you are totally owned by your CO.