erjavecj

NJCubScouter, Thank you very much for that bit of information and insight. I don't doubt that the release of the property you mentioned was met with unpleasant feelings by those "alumni" of the camp, previous staffers, attendees, and others in association with it. I also would like to thank you for pointing out what I made less than obvious, is the cause/effect of such actions. My intention was the selling of properties as a direct result of insufficient funding for a council, due to whatever financial circumstances, where there may only be one or two properties. The cause of such a financial condition would possibly then be an effect of the UW or other corporate sponsors discontinuing funds. However, a surplus of properties, which unquestionably is indeed a financial circumstance, is of course a legitimate reason for giving up a camp since a quality program can still be offered with no loss to scouts and scouters. I'm glad to hear that despite selling the camp, the land remained intact and available for camping and recreation use instead of developement. Locally, rapid developement seems to be the main future for any large amount of land given up. Thanks again. YIS, Jerry Erjavec

I haven't had a chance to look through all the ongoing topics, so my apologies if this is already in discussion somewhere. Anyways, I'm presently trying to prepare a speech for a class about the BSA and its current funding/financial situation, namely in support of the BSA needing funds. One thing I'm aware of is that (to the best of my knowledge) the United Way has dropped annual contributions, as well as many corporate contributers. I'm not sure if that is limited to my own council or is a national action. One other thing I know of is that many councils have had to sell camp properties, likely because of financial reasons. I know for sure that my council is undergoing a committee run properties assesment to determine future action, which may include the sale of some properties. Any help at all will be greatly appreciated, first for preparation of the speech and I would like to know what is going on nationally as well, perhaps some others out there are too. If anyone knows of camps that have already been sold, I would be interested in knowing that as well. If you are compelled to give information of that sort, could you provide a state and council name incase there are multiple postings of the same camp. Thank you

As it's now winter I trust/hope your son had a good camp staff experience. I thought I'd just relate some of my own experiences of camp staff. A little background information of my own: I've worked on camp staff for 5 consecutive summers, 4 on services staff and one in program, needless to say I've done more grunt work and physical labor than most, but I thoroughly enjoy it. My council's camps are in WI and I if I'm correct, very close to the camp that experienced that unfortunate tree accident. In program mine is like most other camps, except we have one unique part; my council was a merge of two previous councils and thus has two summer camps, both which are run by one staff. 2 weeks of Cub Scouts and 3 weeks of Boy scouts at the southern one, then over the course of one day we pack up and move 100 miles north to the other, setup, and open for another 3 weeks of Boy scouts there. This presents its own challenges but provides for a good time anyways. Most of the things mentioned so far are good and accurate. I know for a fact that soda and snacks are a hot commodity among staff, people in my cabin the last few years always kept a large supply of such goods. However much I enjoyed soda and junk food at night and rest periods, I learned through my own experience that water during the day is a surefire route, and that eating well at meals is key too. Sleep habits also came with experience. I recall my time as a CIT and first year staffer taught me that; being late to flags is not a good idea, Other Duties As Assigned can and will quickly become your worst enemy. That was pretty much a self taught lesson, though some people required follow-up courses throughout the summer. As per care packages, those were always welcome but usually went used pretty quick. Of course the food and snacks were welcome and enjoyed (when critters didn't get to them first), but money is very helpful if you want to teach your young staffer to manage money. Even with my experience I still found myself this last summer spending a great deal of my check to the displeasure of my parents. Letters are also a nice idea. I myself never got any, but on the whole, after my first year on staff I didn't miss home much, actually I found it was nice being away from home. Add to that the bond that forms over time, and scout camp is now my preferred "home" away from home. If camp was run year round, you could bet I would be there year round as well. I wonder if most people find this feeling. I suppose that's enough babble about my camping experience, as you may be able to tell I have come to love summer camp and it's extremely hard to imagine going to camp again not as a staff member, I think a saying among my group of staff goes "once a stapher always a stapher." That could not be more true. One other thing I would like to say is that besides learning new things, being a staff member provides other invaluable lessons that are not easily learned other ways. The most clear to me is that spending summers away from home with minimal contact with my parents prepared me well for going away to college. While it's still close enough to come home on the weekends, I found that I was used to being on my own and able to adjust to new living conditions rather well, and then able to go and make new friends sooner than if I had to cope with being away from home for the first time. I think my parents are also happy about that on the whole, although now I'm used to not seeing or talking to them so my mother gets annoyed that I don't call or email her more than once a month. Anyways, camp staff is probably one of the biggest parts of scouting that has positively impacted me and I wish all scouts could experience that at least once. Happy scouting and staffing, I think it's time to fill out my staff app. for this summer. YIS, Jerry Erjavec

I suspect this information is rather late in coming, but it's still before the Jamboree and I would think there would be another couple meetings before then. While he's not a member on here and you would have to contact him through email, I would refer you to my father who was the scoutmaster for my troop in going to the 2001 Nat'l Jamboree. I trust he could provide some good information even now that you've likely held several meetings. He could also, if you would like, give some other tips about the week there that would pertain to only the leadership as well as advice about other aspects of the week. I recall that the adults acquired a kiddy pool and set up an in-camp adult only water front, just an idea of some fun things you can do I thought to pass on. Anyways, my father's email address is gerjavec@mindspring.com. It could go unsaid but I'll say it anyways, should you decide to contact him it would probably be a good idea to inform him of how you got his email address and maybe even my association with this page which led you to that. Happy scouting, I hope your future meetings go well and later your week at the Jamboree is an excellent and enjoyable time. If you have any questions about being at the Jamboree I would be willing to help any I can. YIS, Jerry Erjavec

First of all, as you may notice, this is my first time posting, just joined within the last few days after coming across this place in the web while gathering information for a speech on scouting outside of the USA. In that regard, hello all. Moving, on, I've read all the replies and fully agree with all the advice given. I have some experience with JanSport by way of owning an external frame pack. Unfortunately I can't find the model name, probably because it came out sometime in 1997. I'll simply describe it as a basic external frame pack. Looking on the web it holds a similar style to the current "Scout" pack offered by JanSport, but of course in an adult size. My pack has taken me through Philmont twice and for its simple design and likely low cost, it has performed excellent. As Eagledad said, JanSport packs are quite adjustable and my pack is no exception. My first trek was in 1998 (14 yrs old), then again in 2002 (18 yrs old) and of course in those 4 years I had grown some, for which my pack adjusted well. I believe at the most I've loaded it with in the upwards of 65-70 lbs of gear (4 days of food at once will do that) and the pack managed that no problem. On other advice already offered, I would consider practice hikes a must. At least one is needed to work out the adjustments to a comfortable setup, such things as hip pad height, location of shoulder strap bar and the placement of the straps along that bar, sternum strap, and other things that contribute to the pain or pleasure of your pack while hiking. Some of this may only be applicable to my pack, my apologies for any superflous information in this regard. One point I would press is making sure you are fully comfortable with your hip strap and it is not damaged or worn before heading out. On my last trek, the same day we picked up 4 days worth of food we ran into problems with the hip strap on the backpack of our younger trekkers. The problem was it was too big for him and he could not tighten it enough for it to support weight without sliding down. We managed to deal with this by relieving him of some crew gear and jerry-rigging some tension into the hip strap, but it could have been prevented. I'm not sure if this supports everything or is more like hitting the nail more than need be, but I wanted to offer my perspective and maybe some advice will be gotten out of it as well. YIS, Jerry Erjavec