Ohio_Scouter

oz, Our Boy Scout Troop meets weekly, every Monday (except Holidays) from 1930 - 2100 hours. We camp out once a month--rain or shine, snow or sleet, hell or high water. We also attend a 1-week summer camp with our younger Scouts and a 2-week high adventure trip for our Venture Patrol every year.

How right you are, Scott. You ought to read about all the support these Scouts are getting from their friends and neighbors--a sight to behold!

Well, it looks like robbing Boy Scouts selling Christmas Trees has become an epidemic. Our Scouts selling Christmas Trees in southern Ohio got ripped off last night, too. Unfortunately, this time the thieves were wielding weapons. Cincinnati-area Boy Scouts selling Christmas trees robbed at gunpoint Tuesday, December 4, 2007 9:45 AM NORTH COLLEGE HILL, Ohio (AP) Two Boy Scouts and their fathers selling Christmas trees were knocked to the ground by three men with sawed-off shotguns who took about $350, police in this Cincinnati suburb said. Both adults and one boy also were punched. At first I thought it was just a little joke, but then, when I saw the gun, I was terrified, said John Hancock Jr., 13, of Troop 393. And after I saw the gun this guy just punched me right here and it knocked me down, the boy said, pointing to his face. The men were last seen running down a nearby street after the robbery Monday night. They were gutsy enough to not have masks and stupid enough to hit a kid, said police Sgt. Robert Kidd. What kind of man hits a kid? A business owner has offered to replace the boys' money.

I contacted the Scoutmaster, Doug Doerr, on Wednesday, 28 November, as soon as I learned that some low-life ripped off 34 of his Scouts' Christmas Trees, indicating that our Troop wanted to know how we could help his guys. Doug sent me the following reply: Thank you for your offer, Sir. We appreciate your generous offer, but it isn't necessary. We have received much coverage in our area, based on the local television news and the local paper, the Potomac News. Someone posted the Potomac News article, along with the web movies on a bulletin board called Free Republic. I spent last evening until 0230 addressing questions from people on this website as to where they should send donations. Thus far, there were 44 "hits" and many offered donations--some as far away as Alaska. I received a phone call from a man in Western Maryland who wanted to buy "one of our stolen trees." I told him that we averaged the losses at $45 per tree. He said he was talking to all of his friends, recommending they "buy a tree." This evening, I was working the tree stand, and we received another $265 from people who just stopped by. Then, right before closing, my assistant scoutmaster brought me a "special delivery." It was a check for $1500 from a Public Affairs firm in Alexandria. We have truly been blessed, and as I told my scouts, "there are far more better people in the world than bad." Thank you again for your generous offer. Sincerely, Doug Doerr

We factor the transportation costs into the total price of the trip. For example, if we have 20 people attending the event, and we estimate that the total fuel will cost $100.00, we divide the total fuel cost by the number of attendees ($100 / 20 = $5.00) to compute a per person fuel cost and then add that to the other per person costs of the event, like food costs, camping fees, etc.

Thank you, InHonorOf. If you will be attending the tribute this week, please convey our heartfelt condolences, a Scout salute, and a job well done to Eagle Scout Simon Sharp's family and friends from BSA Troop 325 in Englewood, Ohio.

Ditto what Gunny says. Our Troop has about 35 scouts, so make sure you have an appropriately sized vehicle for hauling the trailer you acquire. We have a single axle, single locking rear door, 9'-10' long trailer that we haul with our 15-passenger Ford Econoline 350 Troop van. One of our ASMs built some removable shelves for various and sundry items. I also like resqman's idea of building a false floor to accommodate tent/canopy poles and tarps without having to unload the rest of the trailer. We decided to stick with a smaller sized trailer because we know that if we buy a larger one, we'll fill it with additional gear whether we need it or not. Not sure what the price was since the trailer was acquired before my son entered the Troop. We use the trailer to haul all our backpacks on hiking, backpacking, and high adventure trips for our older scouts which sometimes include travel to Yellowstone, Northern Tier, Seabase, and Philmont, among other places. For the younger scouts, we use it each year at summer camp to haul all of their camping gear and for normal monthly Troop campouts as well. It works out well for our needs.

Welcome back, MTAF! You know that you can quit, but you can never leave Scouting. Thanks for coming back.

I agree wholeheartedly, Eagledad, and all this leadership responsibility is why we are going to double our Scoutmaster's salary!!

Congratulations, JeffD. Sounds scrumptious! Pretty soon, you'll be a world-class outdoor chef.

Joni, Check out the Philmont Country Cookbook for some more ideas on backpacking meals: http://www.scoutingresources.org.uk/downloads/cook_philmont.pdf

Hi Jean, Welcome to Scouter.com. I'm not up on free websites, but I'm sure you'll be getting some responses soon from other Scouters who are. Just wait and see!

Try to get your Cubmaster and Den Leader to volunteer to head up the backpacking Merit Badge program for your Scout Troop culminating in a 50-100+ mile high adventure trek to Philmont Scout Ranch. That should take care of it. This worked for me. I smoked Pall Malls for about 40 years, which I'm sure contributed to my need for quadruple bypass surgery eight months prior to our Philmont trek last summer. Tell them: "if it doesn't kill them, it will make them stronger." Plus, overcoming the habit and finishing the Philmont trek will inspire the heck out of their Scouts and fellow Scouters .

Welcome, Alex. Congratulations on finishing your Eagle project. How close to your 18th birthday was it when you finished the project?

Hi moxieman, Our district in Southwest Ohio is about 230 square miles in size and includes about 70 units (packs, troops, and crews).

Fishsqueezer, The Scout mending kit has replacement uniform buttons, but you have to buy the entire mending kit for about $5.00. Check it out: http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/ItemDetail.aspx?ctlg=05NDC&ctgy=PRODUCTS&c2=CAMPING&c3=PERSONALCARE&c4=&lv=3&item=01006

Hello, young Lee, born in 1989. Welcome to the world of adults. I'm pretty proud of my Arrow of Light knot. For whatever reasons, it's the only knot I ever earned in Scouting, and I wear it proudly on my uniform. My opinion is that you should wear the knots you earned during your years in Scouting proudly, too. But beyond that, I'm mostly proud of my only son and his Arrow of Light and Eagle Scout knots (he was born in 1989, too). Why? Because, as Beavah says, I believe an adult should be helping the kids achieve, seeing them grow, building their program, and earning things for their uniform. That's why I stay in Scouting as an adult.

Welcome aboard, frank. How's things down South?

Thanks, eoleson. I stand corrected. Wright-Patt is only about 12 square miles in area. I'll double-check my sources on my original statement. Maybe it was largest in terms of personnel employed?

If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and see us at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, the Birthplace of Aviation and Wilbur and Orville Wright. It's the largest AFB in the country and home of the National Museum of the United States Air Force--plenty to do and see, but as others have said previously, security is paramount these days. If you have a contact on the inside, making arrangements is much easier. And, yes, dan, Master Seargent SIR is the correct term for your ASM. Thank you all for serving your country, ladies and gentlemen! We appreciate it, and we'll never forget it.

Hi mlg0171, I would recommend Chief Logan Scout Reservation or Camp Falling Rock. These summer camps are run by the Simon Kenton Council out of Columbus, OH. Our troop has attended both of these summer camps over the past few years, and the guys recommend them highly. Check out their web sites here under Summer Camps: http://www.skcbsa.org/

Hi Beav, Long ago, the Jesuits taught us this neat little secret trick revealed to them in a vision by Saint Ignatius Loyola himself: "It may not be fair, but when in doubt, read the instructions. You might learn something."

Watch it, OGE; I resemble that remark (Detroit Province). AMDG

Scouter&mom, If you're interested, send me a PM and I can forward a copy of the Backpacking merit badge pamphlet that has a lot of good information on hiking and backpacking clothing and other stuff, too. In the meantime, here's a link to the complete backpacking gear list from Philmont's web page for hikers. http://www.scouting.org/philmont/

You guys crack me up. Interesting how this question is devolving into a discourse on who's a coffee snob/Phillistine or who has the best/worst tasting coffee. I never expected the omnipresent Nigeria dude to surface here. But hey, this is great! Let's see where it goes. Just goes to show you that Scouters have an opinion about everything and are willing to tell you about it whether you ask or not. Really. Seriously. I'm not kidding.