GernBlansten

Personal dishes...Scooby Do them. Eat everything you put in them, then clean the dish with your tongue. Put one drop of soap on it, wash and rinse with clean water. Dump water away from water sources. Crew dishes...Happy spoon em. Pass the pot and everybody takes a mouthful until its gone. If any left, scrap the remaining into your trash bag to pack out. Wash with minimum soap necessary.

I certainly hope that as TheScout ripens as an adult, he will see that the US Constitution was designed to protect the minority from the rule of the majority. This type of mentality comes from those who have never held, (or don't realize they hold) a minority position. Mob rule is not good.

I recently picked up a high end Mountain Hardware tent with the fused seams. It came with a tube of seam seal. All the seams are taped and sealed. Can't quite figure out what they want me to do with it. I guess it will sit on the self. I agree about trying to resurrect an old tent. Just ain't thrifty. Put it down with short quiet service. REI has their Half-Dome on sale for $109. Can't beat that price.

We've been trying to push our troop away from the car camping mentality since joining. Everything a scout needs for a week should be able to fit in a backpack. Even when we "car camp", our scouts still pack their backback as if they were hiking. Now we do have a small troop trailer that usually is filled with backpacks to make more room for scouts in the cars.

TheScout, remember, all religions are wrong. Except mine of course.

Ed: Does your view that minors don't have civil rights extend to the unborn?

We have elections bi-annually. The night of the election, the troop nominates candidates (must be at least First Class). Those candidates give a short speech on why they should be SPL. A vote is taken. Winner becomes SPL, the next two runners up become ASPLs. SM has the right to reject nominees but has never exercised it. After the general election, patrols break off and elect a PL and APL from within. The new PLC then assigns other PORs like QM, Scribe, etc.

From USNews http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070308/8prothero.htm With roughly 9 in 10 of its citizens claiming to believe in God or a Supreme Being, America is widely acknowledged to be the most religious of modern industrial nations. Yet when it comes to knowledge about religion, it ranks among the most ill-informed. While close to two thirds of all Americans regard the Bible as a source of answers to life's questions, only half can name even one of the New Testament Gospels. Similarly, in a land of growing religious diversity, only 10 percent of U.S. teenagers can name the world's five major religions. Stephen Prothero, the head of the department of religion at Boston University, calls this condition a "major civic problem." His new book, Religious Literacy, tells how we got hereand how we might do better.

OGE, One would expect that if the president was in a protracted unpopular war and had children of service age, it would help his image and cause if at least they would voluntarily serve those soldiers returning or at most actively serve in the forces. The Bush twins chose neither, electing to party it up. They are wasting an enormous opportunity to demonstrate their family commitment to the cause. There seems to be little personal sacrifice coming from those politicians who promote war.

How can a fat kid do his Duty to Self?

Every Memorial Day and Veterans Day, our council organizes all units to supply scouts to put flags on every headstone at Fort Logan National Cememtary. Pretty big endeavor. 73,000 grave sites. Not sure how long they have been doing it. My father and my wife's grandfather are buried at Ft. Logan. Maybe, just maybe, my son will be the one who puts the flag on their grave.

Ditto Ed. Lots of good info here. The virtual campfire allows us to share our goods sides and a little of our dark sides. I never take anything written here personally, but I might take it to heart. If you know what I mean?

I believe FOXNEWS also covered this story pretty well.

I've walked into a latrine and found a sole scout. I do a 180 and stand outside until the scout is gone. Won't risk it no matter how much my middle aged prostrate complains. I've woken from a nap in my camp chair and found myself alone with a single scout. I immediately get up, and walk away. I might remind the scout as I'm leaving that he needs a buddy, but I'm outta there. Nothing will ruin your life like an unsubstantiated claim by a irrational youth. I follow YPT because it protects me more than it does the youth.

Frankly, YPT is not about youth protection. Its adult protection. Any adult with malfeasance in his/her mind, will not follow YPT and will accomplish it despite our best intentions with YPT. Having another set of eyes and ears gives us plausible deniability. Without it, its our word against theirs. We will always lose.

This just scares the jeebers out of me. My heart goes out to those poor scout leaders who had to go through this. I look at our own camp outs and could easily envision one of our young scouts just walk away quietly. To tell you the truth, its made me second guess whether I want to go camping with other peoples children, especially young ones. What's so frustrating is that this child was only 1.5 miles from camp and didn't respond to rescuers calls. FOR THREE DAYS? I just don't understand that. What goes through these kids heads? Seems like he didn't want to get rescued. I've gotta go rethink if its worth all the risk.

GernBlansten - Actually, if it happened as it was described, it would be a YPT issue. One scout staying back with one adult while the rest of the troop hiked is a violation, unless than one adult was his parent. I agree there was a violation of YPT, but how could his missing be a YPT issue? He was there when the troop returned from the hike and had lunch. He went missing after the troop regrouped.

We started using Troopmaster last year. But we don't enter anything in it until the book is signed off. The book previals in any requirement dispute. After the scout passes his SM conference and BOR, he gives the book to the advancement coordinator for entry into TM. one benefit of having everything entered in TM is when a scout misplaces his book. We had a second year scout working on his 1st class. He attended our Klondoree and agreed to have the patrol use it on the sled as part of the required equipment list. At the end of the derby, it was gone. Probably left at a station or under 3 feet of snow. He was pretty distraught and didn't want to have to repeat Tenderfoot and 2nd class. After an appropriate amount of time to stew in his own juices, we told him to buy another book, and we could regenerate the tenderfoot and 2nd class signoffs from TM. Of course his 1st class stuff wasn't recorded and he needed to get them re-signed by the ASMs who did it.

The article states that indeed he stayed back with one leader as the troop hiked, but was accounted for when the troop returned and had lunch. He went missing after that. So the one adult violation of YPT doesn't look like it was a factor. This scenario just scares the heck out of me. Going camping with other people's children puts a great onus of responsibility on us, and some it we just can't control.

We don't allow pop-ups. All scouts and scouters should sleep in tents.

45 boys 4 ASM (SM trained) 1 SM (WB trained) 10 - 15 active committee members. 2 ASM work with NSPs. 1 ASM works Life to Eagle. 1 ASM fills in where needed. Committee members do all the other work like advancement, fundraising, outdoor program, high adventure, merit badges. We do have two mega troops in the district like previously described. I'm amazed the level of effort just to attend a camporee. Like a military movement sometimes.

Different strokes for different folks. Back in my youth, I wanted nothing but heading into the wild and scaling a mountain. Dad wanted nothing to do with it. Foolishness he called it. Didn't deter me. I climbed, camped, summited, froze, shivered, starved. Dad stayed at home, shaking his head every time I loaded up the VW bug, but smiled every time I returned. That was the 1980. It ain't generational. Its just different strokes for different folks.

If it makes you feel better, same issue in our PLC.

When I was a pup, on my 16th B-day, I was told I could buy the family beater for $300. It was a 1974 Chevy Vega and worth much more than $300, but it was an excuse for my dad to get mom an upgrade. I did however have to provide my own insurance and maintenance. This required I have a job. In two years, I will face the same thing with my son. My wife's 99 Audi w/110,000 miles might make a great first car for him. Of course, it will have 150,000 on it by that time and the $300 price might not be a bargain. He will have to get a job to pay for insurance and gas. Or walk.

Brent, My unit is sponsored by a Methodist Church. Only one of our families is a member of that church. On Scout Sunday, our troop cooks a pancake breakfast for the parishioners then attends their service. On camp outs that bleed into Sunday morning, our scouts hold a scout's own service. Oh, and we say the Philmont grace before every meal. My comment about misguided professionals does not pertain to the council/district level. They cannot make national policy. It is directed at the folks at National that do. IMHO, they chose poorly in making the DRP become the membership barrier. The litigation and public relations cost far outweighs any perceived benefit, which from the pro-DRP arguements presented in this thread are very weak.