Ohio_Scouter

Troop11ASM, Welcome to the forum, and thank you for volunteering to be an adult leader for the boys in Northern CA. In my opinion, there is no finer organization for building character, leadership, and having maximum fun while doing it!

SA, I used both emails and letters for requesting my son's Eagle commendation letters. Some folks require letters only; others will accept emails. I believe the White House greetings office has a web page that you can access at www.whitehouse.gov\greeting. Also, try this website for other addresses: http://www.eaglescout.org/finale/coh/invite.html#Eagle%20Commendation%20Letters I think MacScouter also has a list for Eagle commendation letters. Good luck!

Boy, that Vicki sure has our number, huh gang ?

Yeah, pixiewife. We're all curious whether your guys kept warm enough, and whether they'll ever go on another winter camping trip again?

CalicoPenn, FYI...Regardless of what is posted on Philmont's website, here are the instructions that Philmont sends in the mail to crew advisors in their Council and Unit Planning Guides: FIRST AID AND CPR CERTIFICATION REQUIRED (Note NEW REQUIREMENT 2007) Philmont requires that at least one person, preferably two, (either an advisor or a youth participant) in each crew be currently certified in American Red Cross Wilderness First Aid or the equivalent* and CPR from the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, or the equivalent. The American Red Cross Wilderness First Aid is a sixteen hour course designed to help in situations when help is not readily available. Several hours may be required for Philmont staff to reach a remote backcountry location after a message is delivered to the nearest staffed camp. First aid and CPR training will insure proper and prompt attention is being given to injuries and/or illnesses. You must present current certification cards upon check in to verify this requirement. * Equivalent training can include instruction by ambulance or fire department personnel, community colleges or other organizations. You must have a letter indicating length of training, topics covered, and participant roster.

jhubb, In my opinion, you are reading the Guide to Safe Scouting correctly. That is, an adult leader (at least 21 years of age) must be in charge and accompany the group, and the driver must be currently licensed and at least 18 years of age.

jblake47 wrote: "I do believe that as of Pope John XXIII's tenure that Vatican II indicates that Catholics are encouraged to attend any and all ecumenical worship services to show solidarity in the Christian faith. If I remember back far enough that happened some time in the early to mid-1960's. With that being said with the Catholic Mass being celebrated every day some place or another, i.e. whereever there is a priest, one can fulfill their obligation any day of the week if it's really that important to them, which it should be. I do realize there are regional variances in the teachings of the church, but one must be sensitive to the needs of their unit members." ---------- It's true that Vatican II encouraged Catholics to attend any and all ecumenical worship services to show solidarity in the Christian faith. This, however, does not relieve us of our obligation to attend Mass each Sunday. Fortunately, there are enough Masses throughout the world conducted on Saturday evenings and Sundays that with a little planning and sacrifice, Catholic Scouts and Scouters can still attend Mass during or after Boy Scout camping activities have concluded. ---------- "Like the LDS churches maybe there should be "just-for-Catholics" units so they too can leave Saturday night and be able to catch Sunday services at home. Of course that means the boys will never be able to attend Philmont because all treks are over 7 days and unless one's unit leader is a priest, it isn't going to work out very well." ---------- Regarding attendance on high adventure trips, Philmont, for one, has tried very hard to accommodate the major religions at its high adventure facilities. Catholic Scouts and Scouters have also been granted a special dispensation from Sunday Mass from the Archbishop of Santa Fe. Here is how Philmont handles it. Philmont works with all religious faiths to make possible and encourage full compliance with the 12th point of the Scout Law: "A Scout is reverent. He is reverent toward God. He is faithful in his religious duties and respects the convictions of others in matters of custom and religion." Responsibility for fulfilling religious obligations rests with each expedition advisor for the crew and with each crew member for himself. Chaplains of Protestant, Catholic, Mormon, and Jewish faiths conduct services each day at 7 p.m. at Camping Headquarters. The Trading Post and Snack Bar are closed to avoid conflict with this Philmont religious hour. Expedition advisors receive a schedule of other worship services. Crews may also request a special worship service, which can be arranged if the location is accessible and the schedule permits a chaplain to be there. The chaplains have an excellent kit of material that will help scouts conduct a worship service when they are in the remote area of their Philmont itinerary. Catholic Catholic chaplains are provided by the National Catholic Committee on Scouting. They are available for religious services, Conferences, and confessions. Daily Masses are conducted at Camping Headquarters. Masses are conducted at outlying camps upon request. Scouts and Scouters of Catholic faith who cannot attend Sunday mass due to great distances between their camps and the place of Mass may fulfill their obligation (through a special privilege granted by the archbishop of Santa Fe) by attending a daily Mass at Camping Headquarters the evening before departing for the trail or the evening they return to headquarters from the trail. Jewish The National Jewish Committee on Scouting provides a Jewish chaplain who will conduct services and provide for scouts' religious needs. If scouts require kosher food, you should make arrangements to get the required food shipped to Philmont before your arrival (or bring it with you). Philmont will deliver it to the appropriate commissaries on your itinerary. Mormon A Mormon chaplain is furnished by the National Mormon Committee on Scouting for those of Mormon faith at Philmont. He may be contacted at Camping Headquarters to arrange for special services, counsel, or religious services trail kits. Protestant Protestant chaplains are assigned to Philmont by the National Protestant Committee on Scouting. They conduct Protestant services every evening at Camping Headquarters. Special backcountry services can be arranged. A Protestant chaplain provides leaders of each crew with a kit of suggestions for conducting Protestant devotions and worship on the trail. A devotional booklet and portions of the New and Old Testament are provided by the chaplains.

GW, Just which statues require you to pick these nits? Sorry, couldn't resist .

Hi Pixiewife, Welcome! Everything mentioned so far is great advice for cold-weather camping. I will second Bobwhite's advice regarding hats. More than half of your body heat escapes from your head, so I usually take a woolen ski mask to sleep in. It keeps me warm even on the coldest nights. I would also recommend getting a copy of the backpacking merit badge pamphlet from your local scout shop. It has a wealth of information on packing for cold weather treks. Hope your guys have a great time; we love winter camping!

I bought a pair of switchbacks for Philmont last summer when they first hit the Scout Shop, and they have held up quite well. I didn't care for the nylon belt, so I used the regular scout web belt which works better for me. I think it's too early for second-hand pairs of switchbacks to be available yet.

Trev, I'm not really sure about what ground truth is with smellables, but from personal experience I can tell you that no animal has a better sense of smell than a bear. On our troop's high adventure trip to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons in 2004, I decided to carry a cannister of bear spray with me in case of a bear encounter. One night we were sleeping in our tents at about 11,000 feet with the bear spray by my side, and I'm convinced that the scent of the cayenne pepper inside the never-before-used metal cannister actually attracted a black bear that was sniffing around my leg outside our tent that evening. Fortunately for me, the bear decided to wander off shortly after I quietly grabbed the cannister, removed the safety, and prepared to fire. Great story about a non-incident.

Lisa, Cut your troop's food budget. Our guys are allocated $7.00 per person, and we still have leftovers after each campout.

Hi Eamonn, Don't blame yourself or Scouting too much for the current situation. Because of your position, you're too close to the problem, and you see those young people whom, for whatever reason, we as Scout leaders were unable to help. On the other hand, just imagine how many young kids we have helped stay out of gangs or jail over the past 100 years because of Scouting. I've gotta believe it's more than quite a few!

OK, OGE. What's the plan? When will it be available at our local scout shop, and will forum contributors be receiving any royalty revenues ?

I think you should be able to incorporate Capture the Flag with night-vision goggles into the video. Shooting sports would also be good, such as rifle, shotgun, and archery segments. I would also brainstorm some high adventure base activities for ideas such as those available at Philmont (spar pole climbing, burro racing, find the lost Boy Scout, etc.), Seabase (navigating through Florida's tropical storms and coral reefs, deep sea fishing--including reeling in that big dolphin fish before the sharks get it, etc.), and Northern Tier (the fine arts of portaging, dodging mosquitos, black flies, black bears, etc.). None of these should require drive-by shootings, fast car chases, zombies, or other unscout-like activities.

I think that stevejb's Boy Scout videos that we watched on Youtube last week celebrating BSA's 98th anniversary had some great ideas, especially where those 2 Boy Scouts tried to help an old lady cross what we thought was going to be the street but really turned out to be a raging river that they all crossed on a zip line. When they finished crossing, the old lady told the scouts that she had forgotten her purse back at the beginning of the crossing. It was classic! Whoever thought up that commercial was truly inspired .

Welcome aboard SM in NJ. Great Scouting story . Thank you for volunteering your time and expertise for our kids. We really appreciate it, and we think it's well worth the trouble. In my opinion, this board consists of perhaps over a million years of scouting experience that you won't find anywhere else in the world. Thanks for joining us.

Hi MarkS, Yeah, we could be competitors, or perhaps we work for the same company, and I could be your supervisor. In our business, you never know who has recently been acquired.

Systems engineer with 34 years experience in Air Force systems and logistics. We build various types of computer systems and analytical solutions for Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Defense Logistics Agency, and others.

I'll vouch for Mischa Mokwa in Cumberaland Gap. We used is for our final Philmont training hike last year. It's a 21 mile "killer hike" for those not used to backpacking in the mountains.

Hi Knight, I think the simple solution is that each year every adult leader should volunteer to be an attending advisor or crew chief on their troop's annual high adventure hiking, backpacking, cycling, canoeing trip. This would help motivate folks to train year round for the event so that they wouldn't be pre-empted from attending and wouldn't lose their hefty deposit. If you don't already know, you'd be amazed how training for Philmont, for example, can get/keep you in great physical shape.

Yes, being an honorable man, I certainly respect bacteria, molds, and horseflies; and I promise to protect those that are too weak, fragile, or feeble to protect themselves.

In addition to all those great definitions already given, to me honor also means respecting and protecting all forms of life--especially those that are weak, fragile, or feeble and can't protect themselves.

Our troop has a yard sale every summer just before attending summer camp and departing for our high adventure trip. It sounds a lot like Trev's. We collect and store donations all throughout the year. The last 3 years, we made between $3,000 and $5,000 each year. It's our bread and butter fundraiser. If your Council won't approve it, find another way to make it happen. Scouts are resourceful .

Any candidate, such as yourself, who has satisfied all the requirements for the rank of Eagle Scout and is obviously so concerned about violating the first point of the Scout Law because of a possible mistake made, not by him, but by an Eagle Board of Reviewers, is to be commended most highly and is already an Eagle Scout in my book. Congratulations Eagle Scout Artigas! Let us know when the paperwork arrives from National.