ASM1

Be very carefull! I think you are looking at a take over attempt. It happened to us the same way but with the Masonic order instead of the SAL. ASM1

What does everyone think about an OA Chapter commiting to an Arrow of Light ceremony 6 months before Blue and Gold, working with the Cub Scout pack, and then informing that pack that they will not be able to participate just 12 hours before the Blue and Gold Banquet? Just wondering...

I read this thread last night, what a great thread with great memories. The best part of WB for me was EVERYTHING! The bad part for me was NOTHING! After reading every post here, I come to the conclusion that some people just were too serious about things. On our first weekend we were losing things also, but when we found out they were being taken, well, like Bugs Bunny said, "you realize this means war!" And we waged war on everyone! Our SPL screamed at one of our patrol for walking across Gilwell field. He said we had to sing or do sit ups. We did neither. That night our SPL's tent totem was missing. We hung it up on the flag pole. Our scoutmaster scolded us for taking the SPL's tent totem, so we took his and hid it in the showers. We started nothing with anyone, but before the second weekend was done, nobody messed with us. As far as the win all you can game? That was a hoot! We lost! Because we had no clue what was going on. The more the game went on, the more confused we were. And we loved it. We were laughing so hard that by the end of the game, we were not even playing anymore, just laughing at everyone else who was getting upset. The movie was October Sky, we seen it Saturday night. What a great movie. I remember we did not want to go to see it because we were exhausted. We just wanted to relax at camp. But it was manditory so we went. I am glad we did. Now we show it on campouts for our troop. The boys ask for it all the time. That was three years ago, and our patrol is as tight now as it was during WB. We stay in touch and are planning a reunion next Spring. My wife took WB the next year, and my oldest son took it last year. My youngest will be an adult leader in the Spring and he will take it in 2007. When they say WB is a Mountain Top Experience, they are not kidding. It was a life changing experience for me, my wife, and my oldest son, and I hope will be for my youngest son as well. Do what you can to get your leaders in this course. They will greatly thank you for it. ASM1 I used to be a Fox! I good ole Fox too yada yada yada...

Well, I guess it all goes to say, unless you were there your only an opinion which is worthless. We were there for 4 days. We arrived on Wednesday, and left on Sunday. We were not there for the electricution of the 4 leaders, (thank the Lord). But what we seen in those 4 days was a disgrace for BSA National! We camped at a site some 65 mile away with 24 other troops who came to see the National Jamboree, some as far away as New Mexico, and California. On Saturday night before we all left, we had a huge cracker barrel and the topic was, ("we will never come back".) Every single Scout Troop there was to be admired for their devotion to the program, they all were there in heart and soul. National BSA however, was there for one reason, and one reason only! PROFIT AT ANY COST! A half liter bottle of water, $3.00. No Exceptions! Unless of course the President is coming and 300 Scouts fall out due to heat exhaustion. Then they called in the press and backed the truck up to show they were throwing bottled water out to the Scouts. YEAH RIGHT! Our personal experiences were that we brought our Cub Scout Pack and Boy Scout Troop down to see the ULTIMATE Scouting experience! Our Cub Master brought his three children, one little girl a year and a half old, his son, 3 years old, and his Cub Scout, 8 years old. We all went to the Northeast Region area because that is where we are from and we had to take several busses to get there. A Red bus, a Yellow Bus and a Green bus. We arrived on Saturday at 8:20 AM. We checked in and stood in line for the first bus. The wait for the first bus was 2/12 hours. We finally arrived at our destination at 2:00 pm that afternoon after several hours of standing in line for busses. We could have walked the 8 miles around the perimmiter of Fort A.P. Hill to get there, but in that heat with infants, it was not an option. So, we arrive at our detination, Northeast Region at 2:00 pm. Keep in mind, you are not allowed to bring folding chairs in to Jamboree, and there is no place anywhere to sit down. Or bottled water. So, we stay at Northeast Region area for an hour and we all decide that's it, we are leaving. We stand in line for another 2 hours to catch the bus to get back to the parking lot to return to our camp, and guess what?!?! The bus driver will not allow a stroller on the bus! After 6 hours of busses and transfers to get where we are going and the infants just short of heat stroke, NOW the bus will not let us bring a stroller on the bus. WE HAVE TO WALK BACK! Well, on that walk back, the year and a half year old girl suffers heat stroke and the 3 year year old follows suit by passing out and pissing himself. We are in serious need of medical assistance at this point! The next bus that comes by, I stand in the middle of the road and try to flag him down, he did not even slow down and I had to jump to keep from being hit! At this point we all have had just about enough and we walked straight to the MP station and requested help. We got it immediately! The MP's packed us in an air conditioned Suburban, gave the children water and took us to the infirmary. When the children were stable, they drove us to our vehiches and helped us get through the traffic to the exit. That experience will never be forgotten by me, and more importantly, by our Scouts who were there to see it all. Our units will NEVER again go to another Jamboree! And you can take that to the bank. And before all you never been there's start bashing me for my opinion, just remember, I am a 37 year veteran of Scouting, a Commissioner, and a father of 2 Eagle Scouts. National BSA did not drop the ball, the never had the ball! ASM1

That's funny right there, I don't care who you are, that's funny! ASM1

Wow, I guess we never know how lucky we are until we really see what we have. Our council got a new SE 2 years ago. I was angry because I loved our old SE and thought "there goes the program". I could not have been more wrong. Everything I read here about what you don't have from council, we have. Our council is fabulous! Glossy flashy packages for new charter organizations? We have them. Support from council? We have it. Recruitment? We have that too. Our council is growing leaps and bounds and it is because of our new SE. Don't get me worng, we have problems, but they are shrinking. Our biggest problems are politics at the district level. The "good ole boys" that run our district have been holding units down that they do not agree with, they don't like someone so that unit is kept out of the loop so to speak. But our SE has seen this problem even before anyone told him about it. And guess what? It is going away. I guess we here are very lucky to have a council and SE that is extremely active in the program, even all the way down to an individual unit level. ASM1

Thanks again for the input. I will have our council review the app. But I think if there is no legal questions we will be alright. We are seeking national publicity and national council support. This is more or less going to be a wild west travel experience for our scouts and so far we know of 18 merit badges we can persue during this trip. We are also hoping to promote this is all the local news media in the areas we visit. It should be a big promotion for scouting in general. I hope we don't have anyone holding us up for a technicality. ASM1

Excellent! Thank you for the info! ASM1

OK, I promised I wouuld let the cat out of the bag once I had our arrangements made. Here it is. What you heard is correct, but I think it is 50 miles. Here is how you get around it. Less than 20 miles from AP Hill is Paramounts Kings Dominion Theme Park. Our Venture Crew has camped there for several years for a summer break. They are offering large fields for scout troop during Jamboree. How you get around the tour permit issue is "take your scout parents, all of them" It is now a large family campout. But you will need to make your reservations with the theme park as a scout unit to get their group discount. a day trip to Jamboree, and a day trip to the theme park. Reduced admission to the park also. Go to www.kingsdominion.com and get the number for the campgrounds for info. See you there. We qwill be there the July 29 through 31. ASM1

It being Sunday and the lack of anyone to call at Council for info. I have a question that maybe someone here can answer for me. Are there any currant restrictions on a cross country summer trip other than travel permits? We are thinking about a trip from the East Coast to the North West, than to South West, than back to the East Coast. We would like to make this trip in 2 weeks and hit some major points of interests. Are there any BSA restrictions, or legal issues that we need to check into before we make any further plans? Thanks, ASM1

Well, I missed it this year. But our Troop went to the encampment and our Pack went on the day trip. They are still talking about it. Wow! I'll be going next year with our Troop. From what I hear, it was Fabulous! ASM1

Well, I can honestly say I learned more about Venturing in this thread than I knew before, and I thought I knew alot. 2 years ago my son wanted to start a crew. My company chartered it and he rounded up his friends to get it going. Within 6 months they had 12 members, 6 girls, 6 boys. Three adult advisors, 2 females, 1 male. They totally organized their fund raising and chose a uniform. Balck on black SWAT BDU's with green barets. They bought all of their camping equipment and medical equipment. They went on 4 outings which included white water rafting and caving. I can't tell you how proud I was of them. When it was all said and done, the crew raised over $6,000 to pay for all of their needs. Then out of the blue like a shot in the dark! One of the parents of a crew member (untrained, and unregistered) decided she would better serve the crew if my company was removed from the picture. She convinced all of the members except my son to leave the crew and she chartered her own with our members. Our crew was dead. Her crew lasted 2 months. Now all these young people have scattered and my son decided to go back to boy scouts and earn his Eagle. So, I have a trailer full of equipment and no crew. My son wants to get it up and running again, but he wants to get Eagle first. But I wanted to say that I agree with almost everything mentioned in this thread. Thanks to all of you. There was no clear direction from our council or district for our failures. Or assistance from our unit commissioners. They just had no idea of what to do. ASM1

Please do not alert President Bush of this. His policy is to rid the US military of involvement with the Boy Scouts of America. ASM1

We invite other Packs to our Den meetings. Do not hesitate to invite everyone you can to explore Scouting. ASM1

And then you have our beloved President last night in his State of the Union Address speaking about how we need to form an organization to involve our inner city youth, young men in particular so they do not get involved in drugs, or crime. Did he once mention the Boy Scouts of America? No he did not. He is the honorary leader of the Boy Scouts of America and all he has accomplished for our organization is to try to rid US military bases of Boy Scout functions and meeting places. Trust me, I know. Our cub scout pack just had a huge influx of membership from a cub pack that was disolved from a military base. This president is non-concerned about our youth. Non-concerned about any portion of American life as we who live it day by day have to endure the unemployment and lack of healthcare. And, out of left field, when is the last time you saw the space shuttle fly? When Columbia blew up. Now ask yourself when do you ever expect to see it fly again? As long a Bush is president it will never fly, and more important, the Boy Scouts of America will never see its goals of impowering Americas youth to our great program. But we could rename our organization as the Oil Scouts of America and I bet we get a billion dollar grant to explore our geological environment. ASM1