GernBlansten

Perhaps not secrets, but mystery.

Oh, am I glad I don't do summer camp anymore.

I'm red cross lifeguard and water safety instructor certified. Of course that was 25 years ago, but we did rescues without flotation devices. Had to swim a victim via the cross chest carry for 400 yards. Survival swim for 2 hours (fully clothed). Do a mile swim. Just to get certified. Don't know the requirements for BSA lifeguard but can't believe they are as stringent. Or Red Cross eased the requirements.

No matter what, if the boy's peers do not feel he should be in OA, he should not be in OA. No appeal, no fairness, no membership. Sorry, but that's the rules.

Latest scoop! Right from the third person who heard it from someone who knows someone. Actually, I heard it directly from the district shooting sports chairman. Enyart owns the ranch just to the south of the range. His hobby is rebuilding airplanes and has a grass landing strip on his property. I've seen the landing strip myself. Well, Enyart has expanded his hobby into a commercial enterprise and the county has shut him down. He is mad and when the BSA camp started becoming a commercial enterprise with leasing the range out to gun nuts, he used it as leverage to change the county zoning. He wants the BSA to win and be able to sell shooting rights so he can re-build airplanes and run a small airport. Always an agenda eh?

I hate to say it, but if you are not elected by your peers, you are not notified of that. Only elected scouts get feedback by the callout. Those not elected receive nothing. As for his qualifications, they seem great, but if in the minds of his peers he doesn't rise to the ranks of OA, so be it.

The range has been located there for many years. The change is a new addition of a sporting clay range. The council also started to lease out the range to outsiders this year. I think this is where the rub is. Until this year, the only use of the range was scouts during summer camp and troops during the weekend off season months. By allowing outsiders in, the use of the range has drastically increased. We were also told that from now on, paying outsiders will get preference over our troops use of the range off season. Its my impression that the neighbors accepted the use by scouts, but lost their patience when BSA turned it into a commercial venture.

Interesting position Local1400. Seems like extortion to me. Give us money or we'll make life miserable for you!

I'm a person reflecting a half-glass-full mentality. I'm encouraged that the neo-conservative movement may be derailed for the next two generations.

LNT making scouting soft? Can't make the connection myself. I think LNT aligns perfectly with scouting, past and present. Poop tubes are necessary in certain situations. Narrow canyons where you can't dig a cat hole more than 200ft from water. Alpine areas where permafrost wouldn't allow decomposition. If you think that's extreme, how would you feel drinking from a stream where a troop just did a group poop 50 ft away? Really, I can't think of one thing LNT preaches that softens scouting.

I've shot at PV. The range is at the south/western most edge of the scout camp and near the highway. There are several ranch houses nearby, within ear shot of the range. I'm surprised it took this long to get a complaint. When we have our shooting camps, we shoot from 8 AM to dusk. 12 guage, black powder, hand guns and 22s. Very nice trap and skeet range and this year a new sporting clay range. Word around the campfire is the council will rent out the sporting clay range to paying outsider clubs and squeeze out the scouts from shooting there.

On weight too, I weighed myself back at base and found I gained 3 lbs! My travel pants needed a belt though. I may need to replace my backpack belt with a smaller one too! I guess I turned that last bit of belly fat into muscle mass. One of the rangers told me that the skinny guys gain weight and the fat guys loose it.

Yeah, Of course the 50lbs is an estimate. We weighed our packs before the left base and with 4 days of food and no water, mine came in at 52 lbs. Going over Phillips we had 3 days of food as we just reprovisioned the previous day at Apache Springs. We all watered up at Clear Creek before the climb as Phillips is a dry camp and next water was 10 miles down in Sawmill. Weighed the packs on return with zero food and zero water (dry march down the Tooth) and mine weighed 45 lbs but felt like 100.

Thanks for the thoughts folks. Yes, we made it! Walked over the Tooth back to camp yesterday. 76.2 miles according to the Great Plastic Sextant. Yeah, we definitely had the advantage on altitude. Got a little winded climbing Mt. Phillips but I blame it on the 7 liters of water I was carrying in addition to my 50lb pack, not the altitude. I did meet a very nice gentleman from Georgia on top who was returning after 50 years when he did it as a scout. As for the weight issue, when they did our medical re-check, they didn't even weigh me or any of our scouts or advisors. I guess they just looked at our chiseled, Marlboro Man physiques and determined we were ready. I should have asked the doctor if he would send me home if I was out of bounds, but he was surly and very busy. Reminded me of medical physical in the movie Pappion.

Perhaps the BSA could subsidize them by offering their camps for one week each season. Take the heat off.

My point is that BSA can and should hold whatever values the organization wants. But it should not exclude anyone (save for safety reasons). Keep the religious components in the oath, don't change a word. BSA won't be attractive to most atheists, but allowing them to join if they wish won't hurt the organization one bit and it will relieve the negative press. And who knows, maybe those little godless heathens who do join will see the light when exposed to the program and become theists.

"But I would ask you this, why would an atheist want to or even be willing to state they will strive to live by the tenants of the scout oath and law as they currently are written? " The same reason an obese scout or scouter can recite "To keep myself physically strong," and remain in the organization. Its a goal, not a membership criteria. Remember its, "On my honor, I will do my BEST"

Erickelly, If the scout oath is the reason we exclude athiests, should we also use the scout oath to exclude the obese? I don't see how dropping the exclusion would change the oath. Its an ideal the members of the organization strive to achieve, not a list of traits a scout must have to be a member.

18 hours before we leave for Philmont. Cleared the final stuff at work, put on the out of office memo, turned off the cell phone, made sure my backup knows how to reboot the servers. Got everything on the packing list. Did a shakedown with the crew this weekend. Crew looks strong, eager and ready. I'm 6'1" and now 185lbs. well within the scale. Lost 20lbs prepping. I'm 44 years old and because of the year long training for this trek, I'm in the best condition I've been in since I was 25 (and I was in darn good shape back then). Our last training hike was climbing Mt Massive Colorado, 14,421 ft, 4500ft gain, 14 miles RT in 9 hours. Felt great the whole way. Frankly, feeling a little cocky that Philmont will be a breeze. I'll report back after 12 days on the trail.

Calico: "In a sense, the Press is saying that the BSA is no longer part of the American equation, but is now a relic of a by-gone era." Well said. Sometimes one needs to evolve or become a fossil.

Every citizen determining the constitutionality of every ruling and following only the ones they agree with is....well....anarchy.

One hour, once a month, before the troop meeting. Very similar to Its Me's experience, IE 15 minutes to get them grouped/focused, no pencils or note pads, parents/scouts traversing meeting room. Lots of distractions. The PLC plans the following month's meetings and any upcoming campouts and can rarely get it done before the troop meeting. I talked to another SM last night at an OA ceremony and he said his troop replaced one meeting night per month with the PLC meeting. Said it increased participation in the PLC and gave him 90 minutes for planning with no distractions. I might just suggest that to our SM.

Let me get this straight. If the SCOTUS rules in definance of the POTUS, it is not only the POTUS's right, but obligation to violate/ignore the ruling? Hypothetical: 2009, the SCOTUS overturns Roe V Wade, President Hillary Clinton defies the ruling and issues an executive order to preserve the procedure. Question: Who should be impeached?

Fear is the path of the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.

I believe decapitation attacks were first effectively utilized during the Revolutionary war by the patriots. Really caught the Brits off guard and infuriated them because we didn't follow the "rules" of civilized warfare. Of course I base this opinion on the movie "The Patriot".