moxieman

Voluntold--the act of others volunteering you for a job without your consent before hand. "Hey, Jerry! Too bad you missed the district meeting last night. You've been voluntold to head-up spring camporee."

AlabamaDan, the sky (and your unit's bank account) are the limit for summer trips. Some of the activities troops in our district in Central Maine have gone on have included: An extended weekend to the Eastern-most point in the USA (Lubec, Maine) with a trip over the border to Campobello Island to tour the Roosevelt cottage. Campobello Park (or whatever it's called) in the past has given deep discounts to camping scouting units who do a service project for the park (like clean-up litter). Weekend canoe trips on the Moose River bow trip in northwestern Maine (considered a good beginner/practice run for the next trip on the list--you start and end in the same place with a 1 mile portage to pull it off). Week-long to 10 day trip on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. Week-long hikes on the Maine portion of the Appalachian Trail. Same as above, but through the Presidential Range of New Hampshire. Boston (various tourist things, catch a Red Sox game, and the Freedom Trail). New York City Gettysburg/Hersey Park/Washington DC Quebec City Extended weekend/week-long trip to various locations in New Brunswick, Canada (King's Landing historical settlement, Fundy Bay National Park, etc.) C&O (?, can't recall the name) Canal bicycle trip in Maryland Ten day Alaska Fishing/Hiking excursion (major gung-ho troop who did a lot of fundraising, but pulled it off). Hiking in Yellowstone/Grand Tetons (same gung-ho troop as previous listed trip, different summer). Jamborees in other countries (several of our units will attend regional jamborees in Canada when they occur--up there your unit attends on it's own--you don't have to be a jumbled contingent from your council).

Well, I tried providing feedback at the website link provided in the first post in this topic. It's been deleted. (shrug) I guess they don't care about this obvious done deal. Feedback was basically a summary of what nearly everyone else here said in regards to yet another change to this form.

ScouterAdam wrote: Oh, and bring a lot of patches. But remind your scouts that in Canada, they call them crests. That way your scouts won't look so confused when the Canadians ask if you want to trade a brand-name toothpaste with them AND they don't look confused at your scouts when they ask the Canadians to trade material for patching their pants.

This just hit the online edition of Maine's second largest paper. Katahdin Area Council has fired one of their high adventure staff after he survives going over Allagash Falls (roughly a 40 foot drop) in far northern Maine. He was demonstrating the proper way to NOT go Rump-Bumping in a river. http://bangordailynews.com/2012/07/13/news/aroostook/scouting-staffer-safe-after-rump-bumping-over-allagash-falls-fired-for-safety-violation/ He's fortunate he was only injured and fired rather than wind-up in a coffin.(This message has been edited by moxieman)

Almost word-for-word what Eagle90 said. I've seen the splintering on several occasions in the past in my rural district. Usually one of the two splinter units withers and dies, but not always the group of parents who think they can do things better (and can't). These days, the district discourages this and our commissioner staff* have enough members to usually have someone ready to jump in and help try and settle the disagreements. *--We're lucky, our district was the first to reach (and probably only one right now) the 3-to-1 units to commissioner ratio in the council. One of the ast dist. commissioners specializes in "triage" with units in trouble. We have a DC who is a real people person who has been very good/successful at recruiting UCs.

EagleDad Wrote: What makes Tigers so difficult is they are toddlers, the rest of the pack is not. They can't read or write and they haven't had the discipline of a year of 1st grade to develop the patience of listening. Thus that age requires as many adults as all the other age groups added together. This is probably why in many other nations with scouting for that age group, they have them in their won separate unit. For example, in Canada, they're a Beaver Colony. Down Under they're Joeys. By the way, the Canadian Beavers are the oldest such group and most other programs for this age group are based on their program.

I'd take #9 one step further and allow coed scouting if that is the choice of the sponsoring organization. The USA is one of the few countries left without a coed scouting option at all levels of the program.

They now wear a yellow cord around their shoulder instead of a patch for that position: http://www.scoutstuff.org/denner.html Now, if you have a vintage Cub Uniform he fits in, then he could wear that patch.(This message has been edited by moxieman)

Most interesting from my days as a scout: We planned meatloaf in a dutch oven...but forgot the cover to the oven. No problem as scoutmaster had an old street sign in his car (procured in his college days). But a steel street sign apparently doesn't distribute heat as well as cast iron. We wound-up with Carbon Loaf. I don't know how we got chunks of it out of the oven, but after bending my scout-issued stainless steel fork trying to stab a chunk, I chose to pass on that dinner. One my brother likes to tell the scouts in the troop he's SM in is the time his patrol decided to try and make mac and cheese, but bought straight macaroni noodles and forgot to buy the cheese. But they had plenty of margarine. Do you know what happens when you over butter pasta and let it sit for a little bit? It becomes "Macaroni and Glue".

COOOOOOOBBBBBBBRRRRRRAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!! I was in scouting in the mid-80's. Our patrol HATED the G.I. Joe cartoon series/comic book series, so what better way to express our hatred, then to become the Cobra, Anti-G.I. Joe Patrol. So our call was just like that of the Cobra forces. Our flag was the Cobra flag....and I still have it.

One more update. My brother has been going through Ideal Embroidery in Florida for custom patrol patches for his troop. Sorry, I forgot to ask what he's paying, but from my understanding he's been getting a good deal. http://idealpatch.com/

Custom can get expensive, but if that's what the patrol wants and they're willing to cover the cost, then go for it. Scouting Magazine has contact info in the back section for several embroidery companies. However, the smaller the batch of patches you order, the more you will pay per patch. Most have a minimum of 12 or 24, but they are usually cost prohibitive if you order less than 100 or so patches at once. Previously mentioned is Patchtown, which has many specialty stock patrol patches already designed: http://www.patchtown.com/ Class B is just like Patchtown in that they have many specialty stock patrol patches already designed (Patchtown has more): http://www.classb.com/ Another source for specialty stock patrol patches is Boy Scout Store: http://www.boyscoutstore.com/

Pine Tree Council has four camp properties. All are used off-season to one extent or another. Cost varies depending on what part of the property you use. The current rates sheet is at: http://www.pinetreebsa.org/camping/shortterm/welcome.htm In addition to the above, Camp Hinds is home to the council's winter camping weekends, aka "Okpik" and also host a week long winter camp (like summer camp, but in the snow!) during February school break. Scouts stay in the training center (see the rate sheet above) most of the week, but work on winter badges. Weather permitting, they learn how to build snow shelters and camp in the snow. It's also not unusual for a district to put one of the camps to use for a district camporee. We're doing a joint one with our neighboring district at Camp Bomazeen this weekend.(This message has been edited by moxieman)

Well, after you've made-up the requirements, if your scouts complete'em, you can award them a fake MB. http://www.boyscoutstore.com/duck-tape-merit-badge.html Make sure you explain to'em that it doesn't count towards advancement. And as for the requirements, you need to include MacGyver in there somewhere.

AHGnBSAMom wrote: "I doubt most Boy Scout troops rock pink rain ponchos while camping, like my Tenderhearts, but appreciate your concern!!! :-)" (chuckle) You'd be very surprised by the Pink Flamingo Patrol that showed-up at our 2011 Klondike Derby (winter scouting event where scouts pull equipment from station to station on a homemade dog sled with the scouts acting as the musher and dogs). They had pink everything: pants, jackets, knit hats/mittens. Their flag was pink. Their SLED was pink. At lunch, they served their cooking judge on pink flamingo themed plates with pink plastic ware and pink hot cups. Suffice it they got the best patrol spirit award for the event. As to your original question: Yes, most patrols make-up their own or recruit help from a parent/mother. There are basic patrol flags that can be purchased from BSA national, but I've only seen a handful of those over the years and usually in a memorabilia display rather than in actual use. The patrol I was in (and founding member) as a scout, was handed down for a decade, before the troop adult leadership forced it to be retired. The last members of the patrol tracked me down and gave me the flag. Very touching as my mother made it for the patrol. I've still got it and bring it out now and then when people ask for an example of a "fancy" patrol flag.

Eagle92 wrote: Give you an idea on size. Up until a year or so ago, it was a 4 hour trip from the NW corner to the SE corner fo the council. With the internet spur, it is 3:15. Only 4 hours across your council? Try THREE HOURS across my district from one corner to the other. Of course, we're the 2nd largest district, area-wise in the northeast and cover half the territory of our council (which has 5 districts). There's a reason, I list my location as "Maine Wilderness" in my profile. That said, our district provides a lot of the things previously mentioned by other posters that we wouldn't entrust to the council based on past experience with council-sponsored events. And despite our size, we still see 50+ people at our monthly roundtable. Then again, people can't use distance as an excuse as one of the Roundtable commissioners travels down 2 hours from our district's northern-most town to run it. We're talking remote here. If you're in his town, you need a passport to buy a BigMac from the nearest McDonald's and you best be able to know a little French too to place your order for it in St. Georges, Quebec, Canada 35 miles north of his town.

My council doesn't do this...yet. But considering the success I keep hearing from our neighbors to the east, it might happen here in the future. Here's the link to the info on the program next door in Katahdin Area Council: http://katahdinareabsa.org/assets/Announcement_Email2.pdf I am on the "border" between the two councils. Maybe I need to hunt down a scout to my east and support him. My local IGA is one of the participating IGAs in the program. The three one-time snap offs in this case are: Dunkin Donuts: Free hashbrowns with combo purchase IGA: $5 off $50 purchase Old Town Canoe of Old Town, Maine: $10 off purchase of $50 or more. (This message has been edited by moxieman)

How could I forget this one. The annual West Point Invitational Camporee holds their 50th Anniversary Encampment this weekend, 4/27-29, at the West Point Military Academy in NY. Details: http://www.usma.edu/uscc/dca/clubs/scou/index.html Your unit must be invited to attend. You might want to save the above website if you think your unit might be interested in future ones. One of my district's units will be there this weekend--one of their Eagle Scouts is a cadet at the academy and is sponsoring their unit's attendance.

ZScout5: It all depends on the kind of camping your troop does. You don't want a huge 4 man A-frame backpacking, while at Camporees/weekend car camping, they would be just fine. As others have pointed out, the Eureka Timberline series is a good all around scout tent. My brother's troop has some Timberlines (well close relation also made by Eureka, the Vista) that have been in use since we were scouts 25 years ago. They're showing their age now and are finally being retired, but yes, they've been used/abused by scouts in the troop for 25 years. Another I've had good luck with is the Eureka Tetragon 7 square dome--very easy to pitch, two shock corded poles that the tent clips to. Split between two people (poles/fly to one and tent to the other), it works for backpacking, though a little heavier than purists would like. Again, it depends on what kind of camping you plan to do.

I live in Maine. I'm surprised trailers are cheap here. Cars are NOT. Excise tax is based on a percentage of the MSRP of your vehicle when it rolled off the assembly line, regardless of how long ago that was or which # owner you are of the vehicle. The percentage decreases for x number of years, but it is based on that MSRP that hardly anyone ever pays for a vehicle. That said, as much as I'd appreciate you giving our state a little extra money, it may not be setting a proper example to the scouts. Yes, this would be thrifty, but it could also be skirting around local laws. I don't know what they are in NY, but if you are a ME resident and register your vehicle in another state (like in NH where it's a lot cheaper) and are caught (like what happens in a lot of border towns between here and NH), the resulting fine is a lot higher than just registering it here in ME to begin with.

This September marks the 50th Annual Moosehorn International Camporee outside of Calais, Maine. Information is under the Activities drop-down menu on the Katahadin Area Council Website: http://katahdinareabsa.org/ More info will be posted there as the planning committee continues to work on it. Here's an article from Scouting Magazine 7 years back about the 42nd Camporee: http://www.scoutingmagazine.org/issues/0509/a-meet.html(This message has been edited by moxieman)

I see no one has made note of what else happens with rising fuel prices: Rising food prices. Food has to be transported to your local market and it takes fuel to do that. The increase in the cost of fuel is passed onto the consumer in the increased cost of food. One of our supermarket chains, Hannaford, is nicknamed "Can'tafford", and it's the least expensive the few chains up here in the Maine wilderness. I'm sure being the end of the (US) pipeline doesn't help much either. Personally, I'm not traveling for pleasure as much as I use to, nor am I volunteering at as many scouting events as I use to for while the cost of everything keeps going up and up, my pay check isn't and it isn't going as far as you use to bills/necessities-wise.

Lots of ideas have already been covered, several of which Madockawanda 271 currently does, including: Service hour--one day every week, there is a service hour followed by an ice cream social. Any OA member, even those not attending camp that particular week may attend. Brotherhood conversion--I'm not sure if it's every week or every other week, but this has been offered in the past at camp. This year, they're offering an OA Specialty week at camp. See page 3 of the Camp Hinds brochure for details: http://www.pinetreebsa.org/forms/boyscoutcamping/hinds/2012HindsProgramGuide.pdf I'm sure if you contact them, they can arrange for you to "talk" (email, FB, whatever) with those working on this program to give you ideas for yours.

According to Scoutstuff.org: Excludes: Uniforms, program insignia (ie patches/badges), literature, Pienwood Derby, advancement items and gift cards. So it's the usual non-sale sale of the stuff most aren't shopping for.