red feather

John, started a PM to you but stopped it. If you wish to walk in my shoes for the last 4 years you are welcome to them. If the experience of the scout is enhanced by the abrogation of some of what a SM to ASMs that are willing for the betterment of the troop that I serve is a good thing. The troop has 5 patrols that are go getters and hard chargers. Moving the troop from adult led with decreasing involvement of youth and adult to one of increasing involvement by the scouts and corresponding adult involvement is a bad thing by asking a ASM to take on the responsibility of giving a scout the name of a counselor is a lessening or my 'routine jobs' then I will take it as being a bad thing. Allowing the scouts to learn how to be leaders and how to follow the leaders that they elect is a part of the job as a SM that I take very seriously. For good or bad. Trustworthy and personal responsility is bedrock in the troop that I serve. Little history, when I agreed to the SM there were 4-5 active adults (troop and committee) and 20 or so scouts used to having a lot done for them. We now have close to forty scouts, picked up 2 walk ins this week, and last meeting had 15 uniformed adults performing tasks that the troop needed done and 38 scouts planning upcoming activities. These included, advancement, recognition of activities, updates on fundraisers, notice of merit badge classes ( outside of troop meetings),upcoming high adventure trips, troop needs for updated equipement,etc, etc, and what needs to be done with needs of our CO and COR. Not to mention the planning at the patrol level of what needs to be done for the next overnight or two, depends on the patrol. It is up to them. There were 3 SM conferences done, 2 BOR, with dutch oven cook offs being judged. Typical TM. PLC had a Roses and Thorns afterward to try to improve what they do. And I say again what THEY do. If assigning a job to an ASM that is willing and eager to do it to allow the SM to do what is needful to the troop is a bad thing. Then so be it. I am working on training my replacement (another of my routine jobs), do not know who that will be but I have 6-7 possibilities. Literature be Da----. The scouts that are in my trust come first and their experience in scouting can last their entire lifes and I will make that the best experience that I can. yis Red Feather

In the troop that I serve as SM we grew at an alarming rate some years back and trying to keep up with all of the routine jobs was degrading what needed to be done. I asked one of our ASMs to take over the MB job. Her responsibilities were/are to make sure the scout had a MB book (or whre to get one if not in the library), help them find a counselor, know what their responibilites were in contacting and earning the badge and collect the blue cards, sign them (with my advance approval) and to insure our Advancement Chair logged them in. Please note that personal responsibitly and trustworthiness is a BIG thing in the troop. If a scout says he did something we believe him until proven wrong. Since this was put into place the number of MBs our scouts have earned has skyrocketed. Last COH we passed out over 200 badges (30 scouts registered), 70 percent were badges earned out of camp and colleges. Allows me to work with the scouts and allows them to get more out of the program. Works for us. yis

Sounds like a possible project. Ditto on the planning and execution of supervising the labor force. Might want to consider as part of the project the sending of Thank You letters to those who donated the material. Could be a good touch. yis

Welcome to the campfire and congratulations for the adventures you and your scouts are about to have. One thing that you might do is to find a troop in your area that you can 'brother' up with for assistance with gear and support. The troop that I serve has let our local scout office know that if there is a local troop in need that we can possibly be of assistance, to let us know and the troop would try to do the 'helpful' thing. As far as funding, our biggest fundraiser is selling hotdogs, hamburgers and HyVee coupon books over the Labor and Memorial day weekends at Lowes. Profit made is divided into each scouts troop account depending on the hours they worked. Covers a lot of their expenses. Good luck and happy scouting yis

They get the rank wrong but a good story anyway. http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2009/oct/15/eagle-scout-plans-memorial-us-service-members/ yis

Almost forgot. After camping in cold weather be sure to air out/dry your bag completely before storing it for the next campout. Moisture retained by your bag {despite your best efforts) will be trapped in the bag if you don't. Can lead to strange smells and reduction of the insulating properties of your bag. yis red feather

I agree with the no cotton!!! Dump it. The eating suggestions are excellent. Padding under the sleeping bag is also vital. I use a closed cell pad 5/8 inch on top of a thermal pad. This pad is made of material that is used to insulate heating/cooling ducts, it is a bubble wrap type of material that has been sealed in what looks like a silver mylar. Can be found in most hardware stores for about a buck a foot. Been using the same pad for 2 years and none of the bubbles have burst. When really cold I put the sleeping bag in a bivy sack (from Cabellas) seems to reduce the heat loss through the bag and adds very little weight. Keep an emergency bottle (clearly marked) in the tent to help prevent those late night excursions that really chill you down. Old gaterade bottles work well. Can be emptied the next day. Stocking cap and neck gaiter should take care of any heat loss from the head. The gaiter keeps the carotid arteries warmer. Keep your head out of the bag to prevent exhalation moisture from building up inside the bag. One nighters is not a real issue but multiple nights of collecting this moisture will really reduce the performance of the bag. Hope this helps yis red feather

The troop that I serve works hard to make sure that the Eagle candidates paperwork is correct before it goes to Council and they make sure that all paperwork is correct before it goes to National. If the scout passes all these paperwork tests and it comes back from National to hold the EBOR then the paperwork side is passed. Period. Only time that there was an issue was in my memory was one letter of recomendation that was 'off'. Contact of the writer cleared up the reason and the letter was rewritten. No issue afterall. No retesting of skills is done, instead the focus normally is on the candidates understanding of what being an Eagle Scout will mean to him in the future. Getting to the EBOR is the last step on the Trail to Eagle now if passing the EBOR the Trail of the Eagle begins. That is when the wakeup begins. The added responsibiliy of being an Eagle Scout throughout their life is to many a kind of a wakeup call and the meaning will start to sink in. The full value will not be 'real' for some time. That's life. An EBOR imho is like an interview for what position in the community that they are taking on. 14 through 15 they will not get it for some time. 16 through 18 minus, neat to see the light come on. If they have made the EBOR and do not say something really dumb then they have earned the rank. EBOR participants job is to drive the idea home. Some Eagles flap, some Eagles soar. They are all Eagles. just my opinion yis red feather

I love the look of a SPL when he asks a question of the SM (me) and I tell him that it is his and the PLCs decision to make. The troop that I serve really pushes personal responsibility and trustworthy. It is up to the scouts to advance in rank, earn merit badges and run the troop. The adult leaders will help provide the opportunities and fulfill duties that only adults can do, but it is up to the scouts to determine what needs to be done. This is not saying that we will not help guide them through the maze that has to be negotiated at times, but it is UP TO THEM. Actually some of the hardest hurdles are the parents. Instructing them and working to have them buy in to the possibility that their son may fail can be a real effort. But it is worth the effort seeing how these scouts grow into and learn that what they get out of scouting is up to them. Many meetings I come away feeling that many small muntions have gone off around me but when I see how the scouts have stepped up and taken responsibility to make something happen and their look of 'Wow, we did it!' is worth it. yis red feather

Thanks for the info, keep it coming. thanks again yis

We are looking for ideas for a Grand Canyon high adventure trek for 2010. Scouts involved will be 13 and older and through the 7th grade. Any ideas or suggestions will be forwarded to our high adventure planning group. Any questions will be responded to as quickly as possible. thanks in advance yis

Good for you. nah, you are not a softy, but you might be if you also buy at the lemonade or cookie stands at garage sales. yis red feather

Welcome to the campfire. I am curious as to why he agreed/wanted to be SM. I am also curious as to why he was asked to be SM. Hobsons choice? Does he have a plan for his tenure as SM? Also what is the troop culture/history? Scout led, adult led, mix, size, Committee involvement. curious yis red feather

A lot depends on the culture of the troop that you serve. In the one that I serve it is ongoing thing. Some scouts are on time some are not. Takes time and constant focus. Some flap some fly, up to those in charge to determine the wind. yis red feather

thanks for the post. What I am looking for are shell over mittens. Seems there are lots of patterns available but none commercially. Checked OR, REI, and several others. thanks again yis red feather

Looking for a source for affordable over mitts. These are mitten style gloves that are worn over gloves that provide warmth and weather repellant protection. Any help will be appreciated. thanks yis red feather

LOL!!!!!!! thanks I needed that yis red feather

Not sure if 'set expectations' is correct. The scouts started doing this about 9 months ago when the number of scouts needing PORs were more than PORs available. The troop that I serve has traditionally stayed away from some of the 'make do' types of PORs and when these earlier scouts came to me asking for a POR I sent them to the SPL for ideas. Then this just developed into what it is today. Maybe it will last maybe not, but it is what the scouts came up with to fulfill the need. Seems to be working. We do task each new Eagle with a task however. The latest one for expample is responsible for getting the information for and starting a religious award program for the scouts in the troop. His first taste of being on the Road of Eagle not just the Road to Eagle. We do have high expectations of each scout being personally responsible for their own advancement and of trustworthiness. They are reaching for the bar that has been set by the troop and I am just holding on and watching them go for it. yis red feather

Matt, most of the scout proposed PORs have been their ideas. They saw something that needed done and asked how it could be done. Normally this is brought up in PLC and the SPL takes the idea and brings it to my attention. If it merits a POR then the scout is asked to do a proposal writeup stating the need and what the goals of the POR will be. This writeup usually takes a couple of rewrites to get it up to speed. Once apprpoved the scout, SPL and SM sign it and the scout is then responsible for its duties. Sometimes the POR does not get renewed but usually it does. Hope this helps. yis red feather

What a wonderful problem to have. We have scouts performing what we call Scout Skills Coordinator(s). Their responsiblity is to have one meeting a month planned as a scout skills relay or game. Each meeting that they run is based on a single skill, could be knots, first aid or any of the skills any t-foot thru first class should know. The winning patrol earns a ribbon to put on their patrol flag. One of our scouts is writing up a proposal for a POR (scoutmaster approved) to be a POR Mentor. His job will be to work with the SPL to make sure each scout with a POR knows his job and performs it. A couple of our new Eagles are working with our adult Eagle Coordinators on service project writeups. Keeps them productive and makes the job of SM a bit more fun. All of these PORs were thought of and proposed (in writing to the SPL and SM) by the scout doing the job. yis red feather

No matter where the bar is raised to, they always seem to reach it. The trick is to keep the bar a little higher. Good job and congrats on the accomplishment. yis red feather

Been in your shoes. One of the things that I stress with the scouts of the troop that I serve is that a scout is trustworthy and that I will trust what they say without doubt up to the day that they lie and cannot be trusted. Lost trust is hard to recover. The scouts take this very seriously. I would ask the scout, that as a scout of the troop if he did in fact complete all the requirements for 2nd class and if he says yes, remind him of Trustworthy and if he still says yes, take his word as a scout and continue on with the advancement. If he says maybe not, I would congratulate him for his trustworthiness and get a Troop Guide to work with him and get 2nd class completed. Double win situation. Marvelous chance for a individual scoutmaster minute. Might be a moment he will learn a life lesson from. yis

I think I have the brother to your skillet. Never failed and oh so useful. (also use it to wake up the ones who sleep in) MSR aluminum pot and titanium fork and spoon. Knife is either pocket knife or (close our eyes National ) a sheath knife made by Mora. (multiple use) Guyot bowl and frisbee for when company is coming. Coffee cup is hobo in summer. Hobo handle and tin can. Winter is the double wall titanium with a foil cover. Eating out of the skillet is one of the things the scouts like to see and learn how to. Coffee is with the MSR pot and done 'cowboy' style. Cleaning the pots is what we call YumYum Juice. Sometimes the coffee tastes a little 'off'. yis red feather

Might want to check the Philmont site. They often have used equipment for sale that is in pretty good shape at decent prices. The troop that I serve bought 5 of the 12 by 12 patrol tarps and have been using them as patrol tarps for the last 4 years and they have worked out pretty well. We have similar room requirements but without the tables. yis red feather

We do the ADopt a Highway 4 times a year, providing service hours for the socuts and an opportunity to teach them that this is the sort of service that scouts just do. Just part of being a scout. yis