andrews

I wanted to mention: I have already started one troop, so I know many of the pitfalls to avoid, and some really good mistakes to make! I am currently an ASM there. I have also been through Scoutmaster Fundamentals and I will probably take Woodbadge in the Spring. (I started it last fall, but work interrupted right after the orientation meeting.) Hopefully I can do things better this time. Brad

Rooster7, What special things does my pastor need to know? I will probably find the full literature when the time gets closer, but other than providing space (which we now have since we just bought our own building) and letting us meet there, he doesn't have to do a whole lot. Still, it is nice to have him in full support. I will see it as an outreach of the church, though not as integrated as the other ministries, and I certainly won't consider myself as a church leader. The church is Potters Wheel Ministries in east Dallas, on Shiloh Road. We just bought the building, so I don't have the address memorized yet. Eisley, You are right, I am not going to do anything until I move. I just like to think ahead. I do plan on trying to camp once a month, or at least close to that. (It gets VERY hot in Texas in the summer.) Brad

I am planning on starting a new, inner-city troop once I can move from where we live to closer to our church. The pastor is all in favor of it, which helps a lot. I plan on listing my house in Jan-Feb and hopefully it will sell sometime after that. I am not sure if I am going to have personal time to get away for a week of summer camp next summer, so I was leaning toward waiting until the fall to start things up. Assuming I can get moved my March-April timeframe, should I wait until the fall or just try to start things up as soon as I can? My two sons will be coming with me. By that time one should be almost 13 and Life while the other will be almost 12 and Star. I would only need 3 more boys to start, and we could start building a core, but the lack of summer camp would seem bad to me. I suppose I could do summer camp, but my wife (who will be the committee chair) and I are going to Philmont at the beginning of June for training and I only have 2 weeks of vacation a year. Maybe I am being a bit selfish, but I expect this to be a long term committment and I figure my vacation will be much more limited in the coming years. It is great to have a very supportive church behind us, with a great desire to reach out to the neighborhood. Scouts will be just one aspect of this. Thoughts? Brad

You can get your AoL and all the ranks in several months and have fun doing it. My youngest son did. Though I probably pushed a bit there. But he was VERY excited when he got all the pins! I had held him back a year as a Tiger because he was behind developmentally then. At the beginning of what became his Webelos year he met the school requirement, so I gave him the option of doing the full Webelos program or jumping into a 2nd year group and crossing over to Boy Scouts early. He choose the latter and has done well. I will watch not to push him now though, and he is enjoying most of the program. (Though he laments at boring meetings sometimes. Brad

I remember reading something that questioned the legality of such clipping services a while back. It was enough that I would be very cautious around the idea. From a quick scan on the internet, all I could find was references to money making schemes involving clipping coupons yourself, but it still would make me concerned. Brad

I would point out that requiring 3 long term camps and JLT would be adding to the requirements for Eagle. Since my oldest attended Winter Camp last year, and has gotten on for a Winter council JLT, he would actually hit that, but not intentionally. Brad

I am facing this very problem with my own 2 sons. The oldest is 12, and almost at Life. He is doing well though, and is taking on a lot of responsibility, so he should be reasonably mature by the time he hits Eagle, which might take a bit if he decides not to push it. My other son is 11 and is much less mature, and I almost want to slow him down a bit to give him time to mature. On the other hand, I don't want him to get discouraged at all and quit if he stays in a rank for too long. It is ultimately up to them of course, and that may end up working out the best in the end run. Brad

In defense of my friend, I think he was more surprised at the rewrite of the rules, which kept a hike our district does annually from meeting all the required hikes. They do a 10, 15, 20 and then 50 miler (split into 25 out Friday, 25 back Sunday). That used to meet all the requirements I believe, now it is short by a 10 mile hike. I also don't know if it meets the "plan the hike" requirements. It came up because I was discussing working with my own sons on the badge (I am a registered counselor for it.) He reminded me about what the district does. As a side note, my oldest is only Star and has enough elective merit badges for his first palm, so I don't mind working with him on another merit badge. They both are aiming at getting all of them, so we shall see. Brad

This question came up in a discussion about the revised requirements for the Hiking MB with the Scoutmaster of our troop. He argued that since it didn't explicitely say so, one of the 10 mile hikes could be part of the reequired 20 mile hike. I have the impression that this is not the case, that because they are itemized seperately, they must be different hikes. Does anyone have a good argument either way? Brad

Ironically, I was reviewing something from the district advancement chair and I realized I had signed up to be a hiking merit badge counseler back when I signed up for the other merit badges I counsel. So I can prety much do things "myself" as long as I stay true to what is written. Though I did think last night about trying to do some hikes at local state parks on Saturdays "opposite" the troops camping and see if I can get a few more of the boys in the troop interested. With at least one other adult we would be set. I live in north Fort Worth, though we hope to move to east Dallas sometime in the coming year. Brad

I mentally figured that out last night. It doesn't say "with full pack" so it can't require that. Part of the reason I ask is that I though of working with my two sons on this badge. Texas has a lot of nice hiking areas and it would be some good time together. Of course we would take "day packs" with the proper stuff, but avoiding a full pack would make things much easier. Brad

A follow-on question: Can all the hikes be done without packs? Someone mentioned logistics above, but I see no reason you couldn't do 20 miles "on your own." Brad

I think the medal is meant for "formal" occassions, while the patch is for "normal" class A wear. Brad

The Hiking merit badge requires six hikes. Do all these have to be done with a troop, or can they be done outside "official" Scout activities? Brad

What have you found to be the best source for Cook Kits and Chef Kits? The BSA ones seem a little expensive. The one in Campmor seems reasonable. Does anyone have experience with the super chuck box and the cook kit it includes, also from Campmor? Brad