NIscouter

I assist our advancement ASM in our troop. We have looked at many areas to assist the boys in advancing, but try not to make it the all consuming focus. We have talked about having BOR for boys that have not advanced in during a set period of time (1 year or so) to review thier experience with the troop. We also try, during each BOR for advancement,to ask the boy if they have put toether a plan for reaching the next level. We advise them to review all the activities in thier lives and try to set a reasonable goal for reaching the next level. We try to remember that it is the journey, not the destination, that is important.

Diversity - there is something redefined for me by WB. I found that diversity is defined not only in ethnic, economic, or racial terms, but also in terms of your existing "group" of leaders. My troop has a small group of adults as leaders, and I am hoping to expand this group by presenting a short review of the methods of scouting to the new parents next year with a pitch to join our committee. I feel this process will help new blood moving into the committee (increase our diversity) and help prevent a situation where the committee is made up of all parents of older scouts only. Also, I hope to get a few more allies in using all of the methods of scouting in our troop :>

You noted that you have just moved to a new troop. I wish you the best in this for your son and yourself. I reccommend you sit back and try to determine the group dynamics and like minded individuals, just as was discussed in the earlier thread on your last troop. Then I would wait until you go through Wood Badge and make the items you see that need to be improved as part of your ticket!!

I just finished my second week end of Wood Badge, C-11-05. The overall experience was great for me. Of course, the bug-a-boo of the Win All You Can game bit us too. Our patrol, the mighty Eagles, looked at it as a ethical and moral reflection of life from the start. We got in the middle of a number of misunderstandings with the patrols we were working between rounds. Before the last round, we were "up" big time, but we were accussed of going back on our word and "cheating". We told all in the last consultation we would take a dive the last round. We did and "lost" the game big time. We did this as we came to the realization that being considered trustworthy and good to your word was more important than winning any game, even if you had done no intentional wrong. This game to me is like life. Society keeps pushing you to "Win All You Can" in a material sense without considering your moral and ethical values. One thing that I thought would help would be a little more discussion of using the scout law as the frame of reference to interpret your "actions" in the "game". This was done by our staffers but did not seem to sink in to all. Maybe the long day took its' toll! For me, the importance of a strong patrol identity was a major message. Most moving moment for me was at the end of the course, after all the participants were dismissed from Gilwell Field and had started to the cars. The staff lined up to do the final flag lowering ceremony. Without prompting, all of the remaining Wood Badgers near Gilwell Field stopped and came to attention for the entire flag ceremony.(This message has been edited by NIscouter)

I just got back from my second week end of the "practical" training and noticed a copy of the sheet music for song with the words. You still looking SWScouter?(This message has been edited by NIscouter)

Packsaddle - I used a book in school called "Consider a Spherical Cow" by John Harte (an engineer). He must have heard the joke too! OK, another ENGINEER joke Three scientists, a physicist, a mathematician, and an engineer are asked to guess how many red rubber balls are in a jar. The pysysicit, after determining the mass of the ball and its' relationship to the jar in the time-space continium comes up with his (her) answer. The mataematician measures the diameter of the ball, the length, width and diameter of the jar, and calculates his (her) guess. The engineer pulls out his red rubber ball chart and reads off the answer.

1) A ham and cheese sandwich walks into the bar. It sits down and orders it's favorite beverage. The bartender says "We don't serve Food in here"! 2) What do you get when you pour hot water down a rabbit hole?? Hot,Cross Bunnies - very Cross Bunnies 3) What do you get when a 1000 rabbits standing shoulder to shoulder take one step backward? A Receding Hare Line I love a good yuk!

Meameng - I think the patrol can put positive peer pressure on it's members. I feel that putting the responsiblility of the actions of the each member of the patrol to the entire patrol (with some exceptions, of course) helps to influence the boys to funnel thier energy into positive actions that support the patrol, not tear it down. It also helps bring them together as a group.

Our troop is a bit behind on this right now, but I focus on the patrol as the basic scout unit, the frame of reference for all we do. The way I discuss the troop issues, our events, scout behavior situations, all are viewed through the lense of the patrol. It is amazing many problems can be traced back to the lack of strong patrol identities.(This message has been edited by NIscouter)

Welcome to the forums from a fellow Hoosier. Pull up a log, warm your hands by the fire,and join the conversations.

FScouter - I meant the SM is not interested in training. Our committee does support training by paying half of the Wood Badge costs for 2 adults per year. We are fortunate that it has been less than a year that this situation has been going on and a number of the scouters are not comfortable with the situation.

I have just reread the thread to fortify myself for what I face with my troop. Our old SM left a year ago and he had in place what I thought was a strong boy run troop. The new SM was a ASM and I felt that we were going to continue down the same path. Was I ever wrong! The new SM has not had one COH in over 9 months, is not interested in either boy or adult training, and runs the troop like it is a Pack. PLC meetings are run by the SM. The troop appears to be losing boys already. We had a discussion during a committee mtg a few months ago on the "importance" of the Patrol Method! We have asked the SM to implement some changes during our committee meetings, but nothing has happened. Our SM last week lectured the boys on "wanting to be at the Troop Meetings" and told them the ADULTS had worked hard to make these meetings happen, and if they didn't enjoy them it was better not to come back and waste the adults time. I, along with a few others, are understandably concerned. Now is the time for me to get ready for the struggle to return the troop back to the aims and methods of scouts. Not the way I thought my place/role in the troop was going to go.

Fred - I reconnect with scouting for "One Hour" every week :>>

OGE - Great question. I think the use of all the methods is important. I agree with CC that you may find that one or another method works the best today, BUT next week, month, or year, you may (or should I say will) find that the group dynamics have changed and the method that worked before isn't now and you need to utilize another method for achieving the aims of scouting. I guess that I see the methods like the parts of a foundation of a house. The different parts of the foundation are all important, and sometimes one part takes more of the load than the other. Aslo, some of the parts need the "support" of the others to function properly.

Camp Pioneer Trails in former Northern Indiana Council - sold/closed a few years after my summer experience in 1972. Fast forward to present at Camp Tamarack, LaSalle Council - Deja vu all over again! I walked into the dining hall and all those memories of summer camp at Pioneer Trails came back. I realized I must of lost my mind!! Found out much later the two camps had identical dining halls!!

From an e-mail I recieved recently - some pretty "punny" stuff 1. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The Stewardess looks at him and says, "I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger." 2. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says, "Dam"! 3. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too. 4. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says "I've lost my electron." The other says "Are you sure?" The first replies "Yes, I'm positive." 5. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication. 6. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why?" they asked, as they moved off. "Because", he said, "I can't stand chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer." 7. A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named "Ahmal." The other goes to a family in Spain; they name him "Juan." Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, "They're twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal." 8. These friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up a small florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him. So, the rival florist hired Hugh MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town to "persuade" them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that only Hugh can prevent florist friars. 9. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him (Oh, man, this is so bad, it's good)..... A super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis. 10. And finally, there was the person who sent ten different puns to his friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them smile. No pun in ten did????

Just one consideration I would put forth here. When you buy a decent pair of hiking boots, look at the number of years you expect to keep them. If you spend $100 for boots that last for 5 years, $20 a year for well made boots that fit well and protect your feet is a good investment. I would also look at the lightweight hiking boots that are not made out of leather. They wear well and are much easier on the legs!

NMScoutmom - I accidently hit the thumbs down on your post - Please don't think someone (OK, me) is judging your post as bad.

Be_Preparted - Thanks for the link. This makes it much easier to "sing" if you call the noise I make singing. Now to figure out how the tune and the words mesh...

I tried this in the Summer Camp forum and got only two responses, so my apologies for the almost duplicate post. I am looking for some campfire songs from the first decade or two of Scouts in the USA to be used in my Wood Badge campfire next month. I have found the words to the "Boy Scout Patrol Song", which is noted to have been the official song of the Boy Scouts during this time, but no music to help us sing the song. Any help in this forum? An outside question - is there a current official song of the Boy Scouts?

I have been tasked with finding some of the Campfire/Scout songs used by scouts at the beginning of the movement in the USA. I have googled for this topic but seem to find songs we use today - which may or may not be from the early years. Any help in this would be appreciated!

Prairie_Scouter - I would look at the potential zoning challange to the sale as an opportunity that buys more time to save this camp for future scouts. I would hope that one or more local scout council in Michigan and/or neighboring states might step up and save this camp.

I also run at the higher (1024 x 768) resolution. I alwyas have to reset my IE to "large" as it never remembers. Then I have to dset it to "smaller" to make sure it prints properly. It's alwyas something, isn't it :>

Lynda J - Religion is Mans' way of relating to God, not Gods' way of relating to Man. So more power to you and I hope God continues to touch your life.

As the boys get older, their schedules get more and more crowded. It is a challange to get the boys to one week of summer camp, with sports, summer vacations, potential high adventure, and other related events. Also, our local scout camp runs about 5 weeks for the Boy Scouts, two for Webelos, and one week for NYT or NJLT (I am confused) - it leaves little to no time for any other camps. Just my 2 cents