OneHour

Hmmm ... this sounds very familiar to me. One scout who joined our troop last year along with 23 other scouts. After 4 months, he quit our troop and join a small troop within our area. Of those orignal 24 scouts of a year ago, 18 are now either 1st class or close to become 1st class; however, this young man is a Star scout and almost Life. I found out from one of the parents who knows his family well that the reason why they left our troop is because his mother did not think that we advance the boys fast enough and this other troop does. From what I understand is that this troop camps in the backyard, counts family camping as part of activities, etc. The scoutmaster's older son got his eagle scout before his 14th birthday and his younger brother just got his eagle. By the way, the father is the SM/COR and the mother is the CC. My question is that how could the District Advancement Chair allows the advancement to be allowed. It's usually not the scout, but it's the adult(s)! I, on the other hand, look at it from the other side. When and if my sons (and the other scouts in our troop) get their eagle scout award, they would have known what it took and should be proud of this achievement. They would know that they did not take short cuts!

Welcome back STS-121! Congratulations on a successful mission and a safe return!

Not only was Donald a SM for a scout troop, he was also involved in Emonn's arena ... the Sea Scouting! http://www.blackwolf-images.com/images/dis/sea_scouts.jpg Here are more proofs that Donald and company were scouts. http://www.sossi.org/articles/ducktales.htm http://www.ultimatedisney.com/images/donald10.jpg http://www.ultimatedisney.com/images/a-c/ccf7a03.jpg ... and Daisy was a den duck(?) leading the three scouts on a hike: http://www.disneypix.com/Animal/Camp/2002a/CMM-0402-03.jpg yes ... I saw them as well when I got lost in a jungle outside of Orlando! There were a lot animals from the phylum Noisipidus Makerus in this jungle. These scouts got me back on the right track though.(This message has been edited by OneHour)

The new BSA ... Boy Scouts of Aflac ...

Buffalo Trail Scout Ranch sits in a canyon between two mountains. It is a cell phone blackhole. It was great!

The scout, as I was told, was sitting on the can. When my son came in and there was another scout in there, this scout stood up, pulled down his pant, and proceeded to show his derrie`re. I wouldn't make anything out of it. My son was very upset about it and about an hour later, the acting SPL told me about the the other scout's getting upset! When there are parties who are offended, then Houston, we have a problem! I agree. This is a troop issue. Nudity is natural. Nudity used to offend someone intentionally is not natural.

ahhhh ... isn't it refreshing when everyone has a sense of humor and having fun while we are at it ... just as the way that scouting ought to be? Remember, ducks of a feather, flock together or is it swim together or fly together or get shot together? Something like that! Mighty Ducks rule! Quack ... Quack ... Quack ... (and I don't even live in Anaheim!) ... yes, yes, yes don't call a fowl! Don't get those feathers ruffled. There are other good hockey teams too, I think? Speaking of duck, roast duck sounds great tonight. That it shall be!

Having been in China (namely Beijing) about six weeks ago and ate at a well known Peking Duck restaurant (excellent Peking Duck if I may add), my vote is yes! Ducks should be in Scouting! Eamonn, I'm good with having Tennessee's bbque pig in scouting, too! Not to mention Korean's bbque ribs and many other barnyard delicacies! After all, pop tarts, PB&J, and sloppy joes shouldn't be the only meals in scouting.

Eamonn, My son was one of the two scouts on the receiving end of the mooning and he was offended! He brought it to my attention and to another asm's attention. The other was a new scout. The acting SPL brought it to my attention. Apparently, it offended the young scout as well! My son, being sheltered from a lot of the ugliest that the world has to offer, did not appreciate the humor in it. 1Hour

I can see everyone's pov about it's not being YPT issue. We showed and talked about "A Time to Tell" before going to camp. We emphasized that we do not tolerate the behaviors. To me this is inappropriate behavior and it did offend the receiving parties. We have kids from different cultures. This is not acceptable in some of their cultures. Personally, I'm with Ed. A smack on the cheeks with the towel will leave a memorable whelp! Thanks, 1Hour (This message has been edited by OneHour)

Chain of command is there. Our SM couldn't attend so we have a designated lead scoutmaster and it was not he. He has always asserted his authorities even when our SM is there. Our SM is somewhat non-confrontational so he tends to overlook the issue. Believe it or not, he is an Eagle Scout! From my observations, he likes to think that he is a wilderness survival specialists or something close to it and he thinks that all boys should be the same. For example, at one of the campout, the adults were planning for the meals. I happen to like cooking so I suggested jambolaya. He laughed at me and said why do we have to go through the trouble ... quick hot dogs and trail mix will be sufficient. I corrected him and told him that I would agree on the simple meal if we were backpacking, but since this is a car campout, we can cook! By cooking, we can teach the boys that they too can have great meals and do not have to take short cuts to meals such as pop tarts, hot dogs, etc. On hiking, would you say that the slowest man dictates the pace? Not with this gentleman. We were on a hike and he was off far ahead by himself while the last man (me) was at least 100 yards or better behind. I had to pull up the rear since no one else seems to want to. Anyway, thanks for the rants! 1Hour

So spin off the thread and pose this question: would you consider an older scout mooning another scout (and a younger scout) in the bathroom/shower at summer camp a prank or a YPT issue that needs to be dealt with?

skivies or not ... there are brand new kids in our troop who are even afraid to take showers without their swim trunks! To me, revelie sounded, SPL called out, scoutmasters called out and if that still didn't wake them up, then open up the flaps! It has worked when I had the duties of waking everyone up! It didn't take much! One of the scoutmasters wanted to take the issue to our Scouting Exec. I asked him to give our SM, CC, and COR a chance to review and determine the course of action if there is any to take.(This message has been edited by OneHour)

Yes, Ed. We had 5 ASMs and the other three gentlemen will talk to our SM as well. The father of one of our scouts complained to me about how harshly this asm treated his son (10 1/2 year old scout). I redirected him to our SM since I did not witness the event between his son and this asm. This gentleman's idea of curing homesickness is to tell the scout tough it up and don't be a cry-baby. A year ago, he laughed at me at the amount of time that I sat and talk these boys through their tough time! He told me that I was babying them. I strongly objected to his demeaning ways. 1Hour

Need your opinion here. During this past summer camp (about 4 weeks ago), we had a lot of fun but we also had some issues with an asm. He was sometimes overzealous (speaking mildly). I would characterize him as a double-standard hypocrite. On one hand, he would tell the other scoutmasters in our troop to let the junior leaders lead the boys all the while he told them exactly what he wanted for them to do. He would yell at the scouts if they do something wrong and yet says nothing if his son gets into trouble. As for YPT problem (and I think that it is one and bordering privacy invasion, but I could be wrong), he would open tent-flaps up to wake the boys up in the morning. He yanked one scout's sleeping bag out and toss it in the corner of the tent. ... what if the boy sleeps with only his underwear or ...? My son made an off-the-cuff comment about his son (due to frustration). I called my son back and started to lecture him about his rude comment when this asm stepped in and yelled at my son in front of me and other adults. Am I being overly critical? or there is an issue with this asm? Also, the acting SPL and ASPL constantly complained about his yelling and demanding way. In a way, I was proud of these two boys because they were looking out for their scouts (a characteristic of a leader). I'm planning to take it up with our SM and our CC. 1Hour ps: there are more, but I rather not enumerate them.(This message has been edited by OneHour)

Let's see ... it's not true "netiquette." It's not true "etiquette." It's "forum etiquette" as the author titled it ... so ... it's "foretiquette" which is very close to "forget it" ... hence the reason why people continue to behave as such! QED

For the number of years that I have been on this forum, this request has been surfaced and resurfaced many times. There will be people who abide by the courtesy request and there will be people who simply ignore it. The answer is really simple. Everyone needs to practice what we all are preaching to the boys: The Scout Oath The Scout Law The Scout Motto The Scout Slogan ... and everything will be civilized. The problem is that everyone wears his/her emotion on the sleeves ... and mindless remarks spew out along with his/her passion! 1Hour

taamland, If someone they can improve Houston's hot, humid weather and its mosquitoes problems, then our Camp Strake is most ideal for our troop and many troops in Houston since we're only 20-40 minutes away! My experience with Camp Strake during my days as a Tenderfoot many moons ago left a bad taste in my mouth. Our boys are the ones who decide where they want to go. We have been to other in-council's sites as well ... such as El Rancho Cima. It, too, is great, but would you subject yourself to march a lengthy distance between mb's under the beaming 100 degree sun? I guess that our boys are looking for summer camp that is fun and yet tolerable to live under! I have begun to notice the strong correlation with miserable conditions and homesickness! Of all people, I'm all for in Council. It could be my imagination, but everywhere that we go, it seems that the out-of-council troops get the "choice" campsites ... almost to the point of being the left-overs. Oh well ... the price you pay to be a visitor. 1Hour

I have not been on Buffalo Trails Scout Ranch's (West Texas) Calvacade ... only its base camp; however, after talking to some of the participants this year, they love it! It's a week long horseback calvacade trip for high adventure folks! From our experience, West Texas' weather is unpredictable! The week before ours, the heat was on (102 to 103). Last week, it was wonderful (75-80). If you want great calvacade weather, the Rockies will probably have the best! 1Hour

At BTSR (Buffalo Trails Scout Ranch), it was fantastic! We were told that the highs of the previous week were in the 102-103's range. When we got there, the highs averaged in the mid 70's and the lows averaged in the low 60s. 5 out of the 6 days were cloudy with a few showers tossed in there to further cool us down! We were told that this was unusual! Nevertheless, great weather! It wasn't too warm for our swimmers, though. The pool is spring-fed. So the water temp is about 69-70 degrees. With the ambient temp around 70-72 degrees, we had a small number of hypothermia cases, mostly on scouts who do not have a lot of natural body insulation (ie. they are skinny). If only they had a heated pool ... but neah that's too close to a complaint! I'm retracting it! The Davis Mountains provided a fantastic backdrop to the camp and especially great for star gazing at night with their astronomy class (ok ... so we only had 2 clear nights)! The camp staff were great and friendly. The camp food was probably one of the better ones that I have tasted! The mb activities were close ... so walking was not an issue with our boys! Great horsemanship program, including a free ride program for the adults who have interests. MB classes are 1/2 and 1/2. Some are great and some are just there! Overall, now I understand why our scouts wanted to go back to BTSR this year! This is our troop's third time at BTSR in the 9 years of existence. 1Hour ps: There is probably a correlation between heat and homesickness. This year's summer camp only netted 2 homesickness cases out of 19 new scouts in our troop, comparing to 8 cases last year (where the heat is about 94 and the distances were longer between classes) and 7 cases the year before!(This message has been edited by OneHour)

My family and I saw the launch of STS-121 Discovery on NASA Johnson Space Center's IMAX screen yesterday afternoon, along with a couple hundred of folks. It was fantastic ... and it provided us with the ultimate "rockets' red glare" for the 4th as Commander Steve Lindsey elluded to prior to the launch. Godspeeds astronaut Mike Fossum and the entire crew of STS-121. Wish y'all a successful mission and a safe return.

Eamonn, First and foremost, try to lose or mask your British accent! It's a sure give away. As EagleinKY indicated, get in tune with the local dialect. It's "soda" or "sodie" and not "pop." It's "y'all" and not "you all." It's "gas station" and not "petro station." It's "Hey" and not "Hello." Here are some more Southern dialect: http://www.vaiden.net/convert.html . It was meant for Mississippi area, but close enough. By the way, the website is meant to be humorous and nothing else! Since you're from Penn and if I remember my times in Penn about 18 years ago, do not stop completely on the freeway on-ramp in Georgia as you do in Penn. You'll get run over quicker than you can say ouch. Good luck! 1Hour(This message has been edited by OneHour)

Once before about 18 mos. after 9/11, we had about 20+ flags to be retired, we took the largest one and saved it for the ceremonial cut. The rest of the flags were pre-cut into the respective stripes and blue fields. At the ceremony, we had each of the 13 boys held the stack of stripes and the SPL held the fields of blue. As each of the stripe of the representative flag is cut, it is handed to the scout with those same stripes. He then retires all of the stripes together with his piece of the ceremony. The fields of blue are retired together by the SPL. 1Hour

G2SS does not specifically rule out watergun; as a result, our Pack holds a "waterblast" every year on a weekend right after our first pack meeting in the fall. This where everyone brings his/her own watergun and goes at it! We would have the local firetruck there to teach everyone about fire safety with a parting shot from their main water gun. It was great, especially under the 95 degrees heat! All of the boys and their siblings love it! 1Hour

Does anyone have a silly rule on tree climbing? For some reasons, that has always been one of my pet peeves, but I have not enacted a silly rule for it! Every time that the boys climb the tree, the vision of one of them fall off the tree and hurt themselves badly scares the heck out of me! ... it's not the broken arm or leg ... it's the broken back or neck!