RememberSchiff

Sig Sauer is donating 54 Mosquito pistols and 16 P250 pistols with BSA logo engraving, which Venturers and Boy Scouts who meet the Venturing age requirement (14–21 years old) will use in their shooting activities at National Jamboree. http://www.ammoland.com/2013/07/sig-sauer-donates-pistols-to-boy-scouts-of-america/#axzz2YTOfwxQ6 Locally, our scout camp is already out of 22 ammo.

Ah Kristian, you are an adult who expects to be treated like an adult (AMC does this), good luck with that in the BSA. I don't include include my SS#. Immunization is not what it should be. There should be an antibody verification test. I know some parents have suggested NOT to include insurance coverage so that the hospital will contact them if their child is treated. These parents are speaking from experience where the only notification they received was hours later via a cellphone call by their son! Oh, I whited-out all the non-English on my health forms which made it more readable. My $0.02

Congratulations to you both. It may seem contrary to logic, but I often receive more joy in my son's account of his adventures without me than having witnessed them myself. Parenting and scouting at work, I tell myself.

Why do are adults volunteering more often for OTHER service groups? It's EASIER. Over the years, I have been a volunteer for public and private schools, Little League, JOAD, 4-H, church, fire dept, Red Cross, local hospitals - all were a magnitude easier in training and PAPERWORK than BSA. My $0.02

My younger son's school suddenly dropped their carpentry program this spring. Distressed, I spoke with our principal Jack S. who said "That was 50's technology. We prepare our students for the 21st Century" i.e., service jobs and select professional jobs. Back in my day, even public junior and senior high schools had shop classes. Unlike vocational schools, the public school courses were survey courses. Over 3 years, I spent a semester or two in wood, metal (cold chisels!), graphic arts, engine, plumbing (threaded a lot of pipe), and electrical shops. The skills I learned and the projects I made lead to Woodworking (my shop teacher was my MBC - hand tools only, all corners had to be square!), Metalwork, Metallurgy, and Electricity merit badges. Those were some tough merit badges. Today, damn few of the public schools have trade shops, but they do having OUTING clubs and if a public school scout wants a short survey course to try a trade then maybe a merit badge is his only option. Rather ironic. My $0.02

We and our burros carried Baker tents on my Philmont trek back in old days. I had a ground cloth (shower curtain) for my sleeping bag.

"Firefighters from several area communities, representatives from four of the five participating hospitals, Lakes Region Mutual Aid dispatchers and a representative from the state participated yesterday in an assessment and review of the actions taken after the lightning strike Monday night that sent 23 Boy Scouts by ambulance to emergency rooms." http://www.laconiadailysun.com/index.php/newsx/local-news/69574-evalutation-of-lightening-strike-yesterday-at-belmont-fire-station A good, honest debrief therein as to how firefighters/EMTs/ER personnel can do better the next time. Camp Bell and Council needs to do the same. The above report needs to be attached to a public BSA incident report along with some more information 1. why scouts were under a tarp among tall trees on a hill and not evacuated down to lodge in the valley below as per camp extreme weather protocol. Who took charge at the scene (campsite) before firefighters/emts arrived? 2. were scout med forms given to triage/medical personnel 3. when did adult leaders notify parents 4. training resume of adult leaders, was that training effective Much to learn from this incident.

What about hosting a “Thank You Event?†Some of us might call it an Eagle Court of Honor. Fairly common to print a ECOH program listing waypoints on the Eagle trail, Eagle project description, thanking mentors, sponsors,etc along with photos. You get the idea.

Turns out this is National Lightning Safety Week June 23-29 http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/ When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors! Didn't know that "more than 80% of lightning fatalities are men who did not seek shelter from an approaching storm, but instead kept on fishing, boating, golfing, biking, or working outdoors." Short video http://www2.iii.org/video/beyond-thunder-dumb-when-lightning-strikes.html

Bell has its own main lodge, not as large as Hidden Valley. It appears at 1:20 into the above video. Top floor - camp director, nurses office, store, staff kitchette, gathering room/classroom (where we evacuate to for bad weather), old shower room. The latter two, I believe, were an addition to original small camp director building . There are now showers up the hill. Lodge basement is commissary (food storage, distribution) and storage. Bell's main lodge has existed in this configuration for at least 4-5 years. It gets pretty cramped during t-storms. My $0.02

Dispersed low away from tall trees might have been better, as in go to low area tents. But the day's forecast was known and Camp Bell does have a severe weather protocol to monitor weather, report warnings, and evacuate to the main lodge ahead of storms. ??? Puzzling.

Merlyn explained the background issues better than I could. Thanks. My argument is that we need public schools, etc to charter (sponsor) packs, troops, crews, so we can access those kids and families. I want to be able to setup after-school meetings (at school) for den meetings, patrols, and crews just like the Boys and Girls Club (the LARGEST youth organization has done) or the school outing clubs have done. I dearly want access to the school gyms just like I had as a scout. And yes, that means the BSA has more work ahead in opening membership. Our local school will allow any group to rent their meeting and assembly rooms, but that is not sponsorship. Another $0.01

Tarp set up among tall eastern white pines was the shelter with one of those trees struck. video shows tarp and lightning strike http://www.necn.com/06/25/13/NH-Boy-Scouts-back-at-camp-after-lightni/landing_weather.html?blockID=844849&feedID=11106 Prepared? They were very lucky. My $0.02

Interesting interview with Mike Rowe regarding education. http://www.insideedition.com/videos/1575-mike-rowe-encourages-students-to-learn-a-trade

This was NYLT at Bell. None of the injures were life-threatening; most were minor. Six of the 23 suffered "somewhat serious" burns, Fire Chief David Parenti said. Seven of the Scouts had very minor burns, he said. "All 23 of them had burns of some sort," Parenti said. "But even the six (burn victims), we worry about the chest, but they weren't burned too bad, really." http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130625/NEWS11/130629507 The Incident Reports from NYLT should have more details, hopefully with the Fire Chief's report.

Lightning strikes on NH Griswold Scout Reservation, Camp Bell. This is the NYLT week at Bell. Twenty-three Boy Scouts and three adults were transported to hospitals in Concord and Laconia...Everybody was conscious and stable. "According to fire officials, the scouts were taking shelter underneath a canopy. When the lightning hit, it somehow traveled along a piece of metal and hit the canopy." Six scouts have chest burns. https://www.wmur.com/article/23-boy-scouts-taken-to-hospital-after-lightning-strike-1/5182625 https://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/06/25/several-boy-scouts-recovering-after-lightning-strike-in-nh/ https://whdh.com/news/nh-boy-scouts-hospitalized-after-lightning-strike/ Next week, Camp Bell starts the regular summer program.

In 1972 total membership was 6,524,640 when the New Scouting Program, which took the Outing out of Scouting, was introduced, then 1974: 5,803,885 1975: 5,318,070 1976: 4,884,082 1977: 4,718,138 1978: 4,493,491 1979: 4,284,469, SOS sent to Green Bar Bill (William Hillcourt) who returned from retirement to write the 1979 edition of Scout Handbook. Membership decline stopped and reverses. 1980: 4,326,082 1981: 4,355,723 1982: 4,542,449 1983: 4,688,953 1986: 5,170,979 Youth Soccer's dynamic growth filled a void during this period. 2005: Government (public schools, bases) sponsorship ends due to our discrimination. Access to government facilities will also face challenges. I agree the "Pack program" is a burnout. GSS is overdone. Where did the adventure and "scout-run" go? Despite an increase in the US youth population, we never regained the membership numbers of the late 60's. I have said we need to get back in the public schools as that is where the kids are, but maybe we are too late. High schools in my area are successfully running their own outdoor clubs with far less hassle. It's funny, the better schools around here require school uniforms, have a student honor code, recognition, leadership training (FIRST,Hugh O'Brien, Lions/Kiwanas Club, State Youth,...), teachers/coaches/mentors, community service requirement for graduation, outdoor program. Are we being out-scouted? I also worry about the affordability and financial sustainability of our four high adventure centers, as well as settlements for abuse lawsuits. links: http://historyofscouting.com/history/history-1970.htm http://historyofscouting.com/history/history-1980.htm My $0.01 for rambling,

Going back a month to 60 days prior, there was an open house where some 1200 ticket holders toured the Summit. http://www.fayettetribune.com/local/...couts-new-home

On Thursday, Raleigh General Hospital ran a disaster drill with 12 "dummies" delivered by ambulance from Jambo. With 50,000 attendees + staff, the hospital is expecting 110 injuries per day. Story and video: http://www.wvnstv.com/story/22581843/raleigh-general-disaster-drill-in-preparation-for-bsjupdate From the video, none of the "dummies" appeared to have their mandatory 4+ pages,bilingual Health Medical form .

I use a ground cloth/pad. Two thoughts: 1. It is likely more tear resistant than a tent floor and if it does tear, cheaper to replace. 2. A dryer tent for packing. Without ground cloth, you might see tents turned on their sides in the morning to dry bottoms before packing. Of course if it rains... My $0.02,

Agreed, but don't forget the lawyers who see a new "list" to lock away. I only offered proof of the form's existence. I would not use it. In the previous forum, I listed the shortcomings of this form and mentioned other outdoor organizations such as NOLS and AMC who do a better job collecting relevant information and making this information publicly available for safer activity planning.

Incident Information Report http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/680-016_fillable.pdf

"...do I have to accept that even though I know it is not completed ?" Hell no. Do right by the scout, don't short change him. "Your duty is to be satisfied that each Scout who comes to you meets all the requirements for the merit badge you are coaching. http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/GuideforMeritBadgeCounselors/MBCounselorGuide.aspx My $0.02

While e-mail is easy and self-documenting, it can backfire and escalate the conflict. I think this should be handled in a courteous, personal, and friendly manner with a face-to-face, three-in-a-box - the SM, CC or veteran ASM, and the new ASM. Make it clear, he is not the SPL or ASPL or PL, he's an ASM. My $0.02,

I've been sweating bullets over my scouts rifle shooting at summer camp. Would there be enough ammo? The supply seems to be improving for some; we now seem okay. I came across this article about Camp Cornhusker (Nebraska). The call went out. 24,000 rounds of 22 caliber ammo were needed for their camp program and more than 65,000 rounds were donated! A scout thank-you to donors. Interesting article, though some of the comments are off-the-wall. http://journalstar.com/news/local/boy-scouts-get-their-bullets/article_bf20e769-1acd-5ff5-b0e8-8d883af9da5a.html