J-dawg168

eagle90, I currently am on the OA ceremonies team for my chapter "district". I have seen many types of ceremonies with different banquets and other occasions. Personally I am not a fan of the Scout Re dedication, mostly because its not a commonly used ceremony, and also that most teams won't know the lines. Another member of the team's older brother who used to be on the team, along with another person, wrote several ceremonies themselves. Some for occasions like this, others for Cub Scout events and Boy Scouting events. My suggestion would be, if you have one, call up your district OA advisor and ask them about having a team come out and do something. If that is not possible, then try to have a few older scouts try to write something up that will get peoples attention. Justin TG of T-168

Well first off, IT'S NOT SAFE to use your knife around a large crowd. Think about it. your knife slips as someone walks by you and then you cut then....... simple. Its just not safe. Thats almost like spraying bug spray into a lighter inside your tent.... its not safe.

Thanks for the site. I could only seem to find one camp review for Oklahoma though, which was Tom Hale. I will keep looking though

Sorry to here that Gonzo. Not everyone gets the right idea about scouting. Heck I'd rather dig a hole and squat over that then use some of the nasty camp toilets.

As immature as these guys were i doubt having the SPL step in would help at all. Might have helped though

This has been a problem for me, not having an overprotective mom, but having scouts and friends with them. I am i troop guide to it helps to know the parents of the scouts. Have the mom come to meetings so she can get to see how the boys act and the atmosphere of a troop. It sounds like the dad tries to be as involved as possible but just can't work his schedule around it. Have the mom maybe come to a planning meeting or something so she can put a word in on where she might feel more comfortable having her kid camping without her, may it be her backyard, then maybe have an overnight outside patrol meeting. She also needs to understand that scouts isn't a checklist. It's not like cubs where you set through a lesson and then it gets signed off because they listened. The boys must discuss or demonstrate what they learned most of the time. So if she wants her boy to progress through the ranks of scouting she is going to have to let him live a little. You may even have to sit down with her and a few other adult leaders and talk to her about it. --Yours in Scounting J-dawg

We are a MOSTLY boy led troop. Anyone with a leadership position, even if it is librarian, is encouraged to come to PLC. We hold PLC for 30 minutes before every troop meeting, and a long PLC the week after a campout(no regular scout meeting those weeks). We have a planning meeting coming up soon for next years campouts. As far as the summercamp for waterfront.... i have not heard of that, i will check into that.

Ahhh.... I Wasn't thinking about saying something on the whitewater trip. i thought you meant about the one that wanted to get smart. Gotcha

I am in Last Frontier Council. Our camp is Slippery Falls. Simpson has been brought up before at planning. I am not sure what council it is in but the place i went three years ago is call Camp Pioneer. It's right over the Oklahoma border in Arkansas. In the same area as Hale just across the border. My troop has two crews going to Philmont next year, and i am going, so there budget issue. I also want to go to 2010 Jambo. But by then i can have a job and help pay for it that way. --Yours in Scouting, J-dawg(This message has been edited by J-dawg168)

Wouldn't that be a little too much there John? Thanks for the welcome --Yours in Scouting J-dawg

This is just my second year with this troop, as i have been in two other troop. My first troop went to our councils summer camp, which, for lack of a better word, SUCKS. The staff was bad, the food was bad, the list goes on and on. My second year i was in a different troop that broke off from the first troop. We went to an out of council summer camp, and i really liked it. Then that troop disbanded and i was in my current troop. This was just my second year at Hale, where the rest for the guys my age have gone there for four years. I am used to moving around i guess you could say. I have started to persuade a lot of people about going to the one that i went to three years ago. Then one of the adults mentioned Colorado, an eight hour or more drive. All of the boys were excited and there went all my work down the drain. With rising gas prices, it wouldn't even be practical to spend over $300 on gas per car. --Yours in scouting J-dawg

I got back from summer camp today and am still amazed at how immature adult leaders can be. Wednesday at lunch, I was talking with one of my friends/fellow troop guides, when a scout in front of us from another troop walked out of line and started cutting on his stave with his knife. My friend kindly asked one of the adult leaders to tell the kid to put up his knife. Instead of telling him to put it up, he started getting smart and said "if you can show me where in the scouting regulations that it says you can't whittle on a stick in a crowd then I'll have him put it up." Our SPL overheard and walked up. My friend then said "I don't know where it says it, but it is common sense. I mean someone could just walk by and his knife could slip and but the person walking by." Knowing my friend was right, the scouter then said "well if i saw you as an authoritative figure, then i might tell him to put it up, but since your just a small little life scout, I don't see you as an authoritative figure. My friend was about one step away from hitting this guy in mouth, but kept his cool and just turned around. A staffer heard the argument, and walked over the the kid and told him to put it up. This made the scouter even more mad. During the meal, i kept watching the scouter and two other scouters from the corner of my eye. They kept pointing at "overweight" and nerdy looking people and laughing. When me and my friend were done eating, we passed their table on the way out. The scouters gave us a dirty look and we told them to grow up. The next day was a white water trip from the white water merit badge. The kid that was cutting on the stick and his dad went on the trip. Throughout the trip, the dad kept "accidentally" ramming and trying to flip my friend. Scouting should be a place where examples are set and values are learned, not a place to learn how to be a smartelic. (This message has been edited by J-dawg168)

My troop has gone to Hale Scout Reservation near Talahina, Oklahoma for the past four years. I think it is time to go somewhere different. Hale is a great camp, and offers many merit badges that you don't find many other places. The staff is very mature, and from what i hear, counselors must be studying the subject they teach, in college. Many other people in the Troop think we need to go somewhere else also. But it is mainly the boys decision on where we want to go. Any suggestions on how to get them to change? -- J-dawg

Hello All, I am a 14 year old Star scout, about to be Life. I come from a good sized troop (about 60 boys). I have been the National Jamboree in 2005, Northern Tier last summer, and am backpacking the Pecos Wilderness this summer. I currently am a troop guide from "new scouts" in my troop. I DO NOT BELIEVE IN 13 YEAR OLD EAGLE SCOUTS. I am NORMALLY well behaved. My dad is SR540 Beaver. -- J-Dawg