RememberSchiff

Andrew Wheeler, the new acting EPA Administrator, is an Eagle Scout and was a member of Boy Scout Troop 960 at Holy Cross in Fairfield, OH. He worked summers as the nature conservation director at the Woodland Trails Boy Scout camp in Camden, Ohio, between Dayton and Cincinnati. Three years ago, he hiked Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, but he has no aspirations to climb Mount Everest. “I’m a hiker, not a climber,” he said. https://www.journal-news.com/news/who-butler-county-andrew-wheeler-the-acting-epa-administrator/osWTVXgujSCV8dCqvLGX0H/ https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060092725

I find this so NOT funny. During business hours at the Baltimore Area Council, all hands were in a business meeting behind a closed door. NO one was minding the store. Outside doors were unlocked and anyone could walk in...and did ... and for an hour ransacked offices while the meeting continued and council staff was none the wiser... security cameras recorded the thief entering the front door and leaving with a cupcake. Manny Fonseca, Deputy Scout Executive/COO, explained that staff members were in a closed door meeting during the heist. He says offices were ransacked. The thief apparently also helped herself to some birthday cupcakes in the kitchen area. Fonseca said: “Having security measures we have in place, we thought we were prepared and the building secure, and we need to re-evaluate that”. https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/thief-with-a-sweet-tooth-woman-targets-boy-scouts-offices How about a high tech bell that rings when the front door is opened?

Ok then, nothing personal was intended just friendly advice from experienced, caring scouters. I cannot recall seeing kayaks back in the 60's and 70's though I am sure they must have existed. I cannot remember any plastic/composite boats back then either. Back in the 60's we had to wait an hour after eating before swimming. Back in the 60's we had two kinds of scouts at the waterfront - those who passed their swim test in good form and those who were being taught to swim in good form. Can't swim, no boat! Every scout a swimmer. I have heard that word "life preservers" is making a comeback as many think a PFD is a file to be downloaded. My $0.02 for rambling

@VolcanoDunker welcome to scouter.com

Refer them to the Guide to Safe Scouting. (pages 1-3) I. Youth Protection and Adult Leadership Scouting’s Barriers to Abuse The BSA has adopted the following policies for the safety and well-being of its members. These policies primarily protect youth members; however, they also serve to protect adult leaders. All parents and caregivers should understand that our leaders are to abide by these safeguards. Parents and youth are strongly encouraged to use these safeguards outside the Scouting program. Registered leaders must follow these guidelines with all Scouting youth outside of Scouting activities. ... Program Requirements ... Inappropriate public displays of affection are prohibited. Sexual activity is prohibited.

Good news. I hope the House approves and the President signs.

@Zebra132 welcome to scouter.com

I thought the same about the scout neckerchief - an international scout thing yet no longer required as part of the uniform here..

No kilt allowed, next the tartan necker?

Last month, propeller guards were installed on two motorboats at Camp Sequassen in New Hartford, by Fairfield’s BSA Troop 82 Scoutmaster Bryan LeClerc, Assistant Scoutmaster Richard Jacobs, and Camp Ranger Dave Boyajian. Fatal propeller injuries In NY and CT youth camps were brought to the attention of LeClerc and the Scout Committee by Jacobs, who sought to bring about proactive change. The initiative began at Camp Sequassen, where Fairfield’s Troop 82 Scouts attend summer camp, but both men seek to take it farther than the initial donation from the troop. Scout Salute to Troop 82 adult leaders for thinking safety! https://www.fairfield-sun.com/70742/boy-scout-troop-82-donates-propeller-guards-to-camp-sequassen-motorboats/ P.S. States and the USCG have held hearings about propeller safety and need for guard laws since the 1950's? The arguments against have prevailed - need, cost ($100-500) , power loss (speed)... limit to instructional, recreation boats? In 2016?, the USCG reported 171 propeller incidents with 175 injuries and 24 deaths. NY Suffolk County Ryan's Law https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2018/07/28/suffolk-county-ryans-law/ https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/08/28/push-for-enhanced-boat-propeller-safety-measures-in-wake-of-deadly-accident/

... At approximately 7:30 am this morning, the contract Sublette County Helicopter along with a TipTop search member deployed to the area where Garrett Hunter was found. Garrett was located last night just after 10 pm. Due to difficult mountainous terrain, it took time to find a suitable landing zone. Once the helicopter found a place to land, Garrett was extracted from the Junction Lake area along with the four volunteer search member’s that had stayed with him overnight. They were all flown to the Pinedale Ralph Wenz field airport were Garrett was reunited with his parents who were anxiously awaiting his safe return. Garrett was in good health and great spirit upon his arrival back to Pinedale. Garrett described his experience to search members and stuck to what he had been trained to do. It is at times like this when people band together with one goal in mind that incredible things can happen. Everyone involved set out to find Garrett safe and return him to family friends and loved ones. Sublette County Sheriff’s Office like to thank TipTop Search and Rescue, Teton County Search and Rescue, Fremont County Search and Rescue, Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, WYK9, Civil Air Patrol, Davis County Utah Search and Rescue, the State of Wyoming, and the State of Utah for their support and assistance in this search. Respectively the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office would also like to recognize the overwhelming support by the Hunter’s family, friends, and church members. In addition Sublette County Sheriff’s Office would like to acknowledge all the citizens that helped us reach this outcome. The Hunter Family wishes to extend their deepest heartfelt thanks to everyone involved and everyone who provided support as well. Source and photos: https://www.sweetwaternow.com/lost-boy-scout-reunited-with-family-in-successful-early-morning-rescue1/

PINEDALE, Wyoming — Garrett Hunter, 13, was located in “tough terrain” about 1 mile away from his original camp in a drainage area near Junction Lake southeast of Shoshone National Forest, according to Sublette County Sheriff’s Sgt. Travis Bingham. The teen had been hiking with members of a Boy Scout group in the Wind River area near Elkhart Park Saturday morning when he slipped away from the pack to use the bathroom. By the time he returned, the group was gone. “Of course, I panicked,” he said. “I had some weight on me, so I ditched my tent and some trash and went up the mountain.” Garrett was reported missing Saturday afternoon. As time went on, he said he began to wonder if he’d ever get out of the wilderness or if he’d ever see his family again. He kept his backpack and a sleeping bag, and also had some food and a water filter, which he used to drink stream water until he was located. He said he ate ants and bark for extra food until he was located. “It was my first time tasting bugs. They actually weren’t so bad,” he said. Garrett was rescued from the mountain area early Monday morning when it was light enough for the operation. Bingham said the terrain where Garrett was found was too difficult for a helicopter to land, which made the rescue take longer. More at Source + Photos of family reunion and rescuers https://www.ksl.com/article/46368624/draper-scout-rescued-from-wyoming-mountains-reunited-with-family

Yes to those and maybe also an old nose for news and a drive to improve Scouting. I am very glad that young Garrett was found safe and am interested to learn why he left his group. I had a young Asperger scout wander away one night. His buddy had taken his eyes off him for a minute and he was gone. I am sure many parents can relate. We found him about half a mile away happily stargazing in an open area. He did not respond to any of our calls.

FOUND! "Garrett has been found, he is in good health and will stay put with volunteer searchers until morning. More to follow," the Sublette County Sheriff's Office said. He was located around 10:15 p.m. Sunday night. https://abcnews.go.com/US/boy-scout-found-missing-days-hiking-trip/story?id=56906593 https://www.localnews8.com/news/wyoming/search-underway-for-missing-boy-scout-in-wyoming/774680759

July 29, SUBLETTE COUNTY, Wyoming (KIFI/KIDK) - A search and rescue mission is underway for a missing 13-year-old Utah boy. The Sublette County Sheriff's Office said Garrett Hunter, from Draper, Utah, was hiking with a group of about 20 boy scouts and their leaders when he got separated from the group. Hunter was last seen around 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning between the 1000 Island lakes area and Mary's Lake when the group left 1000 Island lakes to head back to the Elkhart Trail. The sheriff's office said Hunter is 5'9", 130 pounds and has light brown hair. He was last seen wearing a blue shirt, gray pants and a blue pack. The sheriff said Hunter does have Asperger's and so he may not approach anyone for help. Police got the call Saturday afternoon about a missing hiker in the Mary's Lake area and immediately, a team of six TipTop Search and Rescue crew members, along with a helicopter from Sublette County, searched the area until dusk but didn't find Hunter. Search efforts resumed Sunday morning with 20 TipTop Search and Rescue members, Teton County Search and Rescue, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and WYK9 out of Jackon Hole all helping. About 38 volunteers from Utah have also come to help search. Anyone who might have been in the area and may know something, call the Sublette County Sheriff's Office at 307-367-4378. https://www.localnews8.com/news/wyoming/search-underway-for-missing-boy-scout-in-wyoming/774680759 https://www.ksl.com/article/46368288/wyoming-officials-searching-for-utah-teen-who-went-missing-in-wind-river-range

https://www.sweetwaternow.com/sheriffs-office-marine-unit-performs-nighttime-rescue/ The scene on Flaming Gorge Wednesday night, lit only by a full moon. SWCSO Photo

I am trying to gather more info. Unsure why a rescue was needed as opposed to just camp in place and resume paddle to other group in morning? What was the emergency, a missed rendezvous? (Sweetwater County, Wyo. – July 27, 2018) Deputies of the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit rescued a party of Boy Scouts stranded on Flaming Gorge late Thursday night. Sweetwater County Sheriff Mike Lowell said the party of nine scouts and three adults from Saratoga Springs, Utah, were on a rafting trip that began Thursday morning when they put their rafts into the Green River in the Jamestown area. Their plan was to raft down the Green, onto Flaming Gorge, then south to Big Firehole, there to join other members of their party already camped there. By about 9:00 PM, the Scouts had traveled about 15 miles downriver from Jamestown, but by then were on Flaming Gorge and still nine miles – and in heavy darkness – from their objective at Big Firehole. Unable to paddle farther, they made it to the Gorge’s eastern shore and used hand radios to summon aid. The party camped at Big Firehole received the radio message, drove a distance east to a point where cell phone coverage was available and contacted the Combined Communications Center in Green River. Two Sheriff’s Office corporals, Steve Powell and Todd Poppie, responded to the call for help in the Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit patrol boat, berthed at Buckboard Marina, south of Firehole. Lowell said the deputies estimated the stranded party’s position and, using the boat’s sophisticated radar, sonar, and GPS systems in the near-total darkness navigated north and located the Scouts at about midnight near Slippery Jim Bottom. None in the party were any the worse for their experience and were transported to Big Firehole in the Marine Unit boat. Lowell credited the successful rescue to the skill and knowledge of Powell and Poppie. Powell, he said, has extensive law enforcement boat training and experience, and Poppie had a long naval career before taking up his current service in law enforcement. http://wyo4news.com/news/sheriffs-office-marine-unit-performs-nighttime-rescue/ https://www.sweetwaternow.com/sheriffs-office-marine-unit-performs-nighttime-rescue/

About 10 years ago, a local private freight/sight-seeing line passed a state park. We inquired if they could transport the troop and make a stop in the park. An idea became an adventure that we still talk about. A couple years later, the line went bankrupt. Later, the state came in with a Rails to Trails program.

The Southwest Chief runs daily between Chicago and Los Angeles and connects towns and cities in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Every summer, the Southwest Chief transports thousands of Boy Scouts from across the country to Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron, N.M., generating economic activity for businesses in these rural areas along the way. During a meeting in June between Amtrak’s CEO and a small congressional delegation that included Kansas’ two senators, it was revealed that the train operator is exploring ending passenger train service between Dodge City and Albuquerque, and implementing a bus connection on the route instead. The communities that would lose rail service if the bus service began at Dodge City would include Garden City; Lamar, La Junta and Trinidad, Colo.; Raton, Las Vegas and Lamy, N.M. The proposal did not go over well with any of the lawmakers at the meeting, who had called the meeting to ask Amtrak to stand behind agreements it had previously made to upgrade and maintain its route through the south-central U.S. http://themercury.com/amtrak-exploring-ending-southwest-chief-through-service/article_b38918f6-bbe3-5428-b3d7-257487adeec3.html http://www.krwg.org/post/heinrich-calls-amtrak-uphold-commitment-long-distance-rail-service-southwest-chief

CHESTERFIELD, Mass. More details of sale of Moses Reservation The 186-acre Chesterfield Scout Reservation (MA) was sold to Tolgy Wood , a group that runs live action Renaissance role playing. Selling price was $1 million. Tolgy Wood LLC then executed a 26-year lease agreement with Massachusetts Renaissance Faire LLC. The two companies have the same seven partners, but Tolgy Wood is the owning company and Massachusetts Renaissance Faire is the operating company of the site. Paul Dabkowski, one of the partners in Tolgy Wood and Massachusetts Renaissance Faire, said the plan is for the facility to host live action role-playing games, as well as other events such as weddings. The property includes an outdoor amphitheater, a large dining hall, eight cabins with electricity, adirondack shelters, and a large, modern kitchen, along with a pond and waterfall. The new name of the camp will be Tolgy Wood: Chesterfield Camp. Dabkowski said he and others involved in Tolgy Wood have been renting Chesterfield Scout Reservation since 2003 for the live action role-playing Magestry, which is held one weekend a month almost every month. Dabkowski said each Magestry draws 60 to 130 people. Live action role-playing games, LARPs for short, typically involve people dressing up as fictional characters and engaging in an immersive fantasy world they help to create. Many LARPS, including Magestry, have fantasy settings. The council made the decision to sell the property in 2014, following an 18-month property study that concluded that the council should focus its efforts on the 1,300-acre Horace A. Moses Scout Reservation instead. The council had owned both the Chesterfield Scout Reservation and the Moses Scout Reservation in Russell since the merger of two area councils in 2008. Kruse said that the vote to sell the property by the all-volunteer board of the council was unanimous ...the money would be used to invest in the Moses Scout Reservation, as well as deal with the council’s debt. The Moses Reservation has already seen some improvements such as added metal roofs and the replacements of window and rotting wood in some buildings. Other camper activity investments include an ATV riding program, a water trampoline installation, and a 68 foot climbing tower. Later this year a new bathroom and shower facility will be completed. Dabkowski said that the group has been trying to purchase the property for four years, in a process that included having a lease-to-own agreement with the Boy Scouts rejected and having another purchaser’s offer being taken over one of their offers before that rival offer fell through. “It’s been a roller coaster,” he said. Dabkowski said that the decision to purchase the camp was made because of the effort of breaking down and taking away all the different items associated with Magestry. “The game kept acquiring more and more stuff,” he said. He said the camp will now primarily cater to LARP groups, renting to not only Magestry but to other games as well. He noted that LARP groups have become major customers for summer camps of all kinds in New England. “They’ve become their biggest renter,” he said. Dabkowski and his wife, Angela, another partner in Tolgy Wood and Massachusetts Renaissance Faire, were married at the camp site, and he said that the site will be available for rental for weddings as well. He also said that it will continue to be available for rental by scouting groups. “The rates are going to go up,” he said, noting that the camp will now be paying property taxes and a mortgage. The Boy Scouts of America is a tax-exempt organization. Nevertheless, Dabkowski did express a desire to keep it affordable for scouting. Source and videos https://www.gazettenet.com/Boy-Scouts-sell-Chesterfield-Scout-Reservation-19031643 https://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/07/former_chesterfield_scout_camp.html https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/hampshire-county/boy-scouts-of-america-sell-chesterfield-scout-reservation/1322956231

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"When Charlie Fenske was growing up on the island of Martha’s Vineyard (MA) and taking a ferry to the mainland to school every day, he’d come home and begin building his own amateur rockets. What started as a simple interest in space and rockets as a young child turned into a passion that led Charlie to space camp, rocket launches, and, eventually, the winner’s stage at the Google Science Fair. The Falmouth Academy student and Eagle Scout won the Virgin Galactic Pioneer Award, the top engineering prize at the esteemed event in 2016 for his prototype of a faster and cheaper rocket. Charlie went on to earn the second place engineering prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair and top honors at the 2017 Massachusetts State Science and Engineering Fair. He spent last summer interning at the Kennedy Space Center. Charlie graduates from high school this year and will be attending MIT in the fall as a member of MIT’s class of 2022. He plans to major in aerospace engineering and obtain a Ph.D. Other future aspirations include launching his own commercial aerospace company." Source: The World's 50 Smartest Teens 2018 https://thebestschools.org/features/worlds-smartest-teens-2018/ and https://www.mvtimes.com/2018/07/24/charlie-fenske-skys-limit/ https://vineyardgazette.com/news/2016/10/03/charlie-fenske-wins-award-google https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2016/10/14/scout-wins-top-engineering-prize-at-google-science-fair-one-year-mentorship-with-virgin-galactic/

I wonder if the 17yr American, upon his return to our shores, will have a separate meeting with US Custom Officers etc, while his parents and SM wait their turn.

"One 16-year-old Scottish boy has been charged with supplying controlled drugs and a 17-year-old from the United States has been charged with possession of drugs, understood to be cannabis. Police were called to the event in the grounds of the picturesque Blair Castle at Blair Atholl, Perthshire, on Thursday. Last night a spokesman for Police Scotland said: 'After enquiries were conducted, a 17-year-old male was charged and given a Recorded Police Warning for possession of controlled drugs, and a 16-year-old male was charged and is to be reported for supplying controlled drugs.' The teenagers were sent home from the camp along with six other scouts. ... A spokesman for the organisation said: 'Scouts Scotland has a zero tolerance policy on narcotics use and this matter has been reported to Police Scotland.'" More details at sources http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5984559/Thats-scout-order-Boys-sent-home-jamboree-teenager-charged-supplying-cannabis.html http://www.eastlothiancourier.com/news/trendingacrossscotland/16373695.eight-scouts-sent-home-from-international-gathering-after-drugs-charge/ https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-44936866

Update July 24, 2018 The Western Massachusetts Council of the Boy Scouts of America has sold its 186-acre Chesterfield Scout Reservation. The council has owned the property for 10 years. The buyer intends to maintain the property and continue to offer outdoors programs. The funds from the sale will be put toward another council property, the 1,300-acre H.A. Moses Scout Reservation in Russell, to improve maintenance, update buildings, new camper activities and programs, and eliminate the council’s debt. https://www.bankerandtradesman.com/boy-scouts-america-sells-chesterfield-scout-reservation/