resqman

The adults present 3 choices to the PLC along with some information. They are encouraged to seek additional information. We have only repeated camps once in the past 7 years. We have not been to the council camp in the past 7 years. Usually the troop pays the registration to all 3 camps around December to ensure a slot the designated week. Then when the PLC chooses, we cancel the loosing 2. We always go the same week because that is the only week that year round and traditional school is off for everyone. That eliminates one excuse not to go. This year no one paid the fees early. The first choice was not available the magic week. We are going to the council camp this summer because they had an opening the magic week. Council just spent millions updating the camp. New dining hall, new toilet/shower houses, new climbing/cope area, etc. The drawback is it is only 1.5 hour drive and parents might be tempted to drop by midweek. We strongly discourage parents from visiting because it usually means boys all of the sudden become home sick and end up going home with mommy and daddy. We pick camps within a 5-6 hour drive radius, preferrably near the mountains so it is a tad cooler. Typical temps in the summer are 95 with 95% humidity. Mountain camps generally have lower humidity and are 10 degrees cooler.

What is your intended purpose of the knot board? It is to be used as a teaching tool for the T-1st class knots? Then it would only have those knots. Maybe a knot board for reference when makeing pioneering projects so would have examples of the clove and timber hitch, along with the 5 lashings, and maybe examples of splices? Is it an example of many of the cool oramental knots to inspire scouts to take up knot tying? Then there are many knot books full of cool looking knots. Maybe a dedicated knot board for sailing and boating knots. A knot board with fishing knots? A knot board with the climbing/COPE knots? When I was on the rescue squad, we used completely different knots than typically taught in scouts. Much more oriented towards climbing. We had special purpose knots that were variations on common knots. The Split locking clove hitch is one that comes to mind. It is used to secure a rope to a T intersection so that half the knot is on one side of the leg and the other half of the knot is on the other side of the leg and the direction of load on the rope tends to tighten the knot versus pull it apart. It is used to secure the main haul line to victim rescue basket. We also practiced tieing knots while wearing gloves since we would be required to wear gloves during a real rescue operation. Leather gloves removes a lot of the touch sensation and makes tieing knots more challenging. Size of the board depends of whether it will be mounted on the scout hut wall or if it will be carried in the troop trailer and be pulled out during drop and flop campouts. The size of the board will help to define the size of the rope. Dowels can be cut and attached for various knots. If the board is to be used for testing, then maybe the knot names can be coverd by a flap or labeled on the back. Look in the electrical asile of the hardware store for staples. They are basically nails in the shape of staples that are driven with a hammer instead of a stapler. The stapeles can be used to secure the ropes/knots to the board. Saw a knot board last month mounted on the wall of a scout hut. It was almost the size of a full sheet of plywood. Knots were 6-10 inches across so could be easily seen from across the room. Rope ends are usually whipped and nailed or stapled to the board. White cotton and white braided rope looks bright and crisp set against a stained wood board. I saw a laid rope made of three colors that had been spliced. The different colors of each strand made an interesting effect when spliced back on itself. Some of the knot books use ropes of different color for knots that require two ends like square, sheet bend, etc. Easier to see how the ropes join. Figure out how you want to use the knot board and that will help to define how you will make it.

How can you expect the scouts to wear a full uniform if the leaders don't? Full an correct uniform is the only way. I got lots of pushback on the neckerchiefs from my son. He claimed they were too hot around his neck. I started carving neckerchiefs slides with the intent of chaning the question from "Do I have to wear a neckerchief?" to "Which slide should I wear this time?" It helped some but he still complains their are too hot.

If there is an activity that I consider not safe, I would pull the leadership aside and explain my concerns. I would strive to show them why this activity is unsafe given the existing conditions. If my sons are to participate, I would withdraw them from the activity. If my troop is participating in a large event, I would withdraw the troop from the event. The parents are trusting me to safeguard their children. Fortunately, the adult leadership of my troop is sensitive to safety. We very happy to plan and participate in events that push the limits of the scouts. We are not willing to push the limits of safety. I have some experience in safety matters. I have been a firefighter, EMT, and rescue responder. I hold a number of state and federal certifications in rescue. I look at the event from the standpoint, what would it take to perform a rescue if this event went wrong. Do we have the equipment, training, or access to trained rescuers if something were to go wrong. Can we adjust the program to still make it fun and exciting for the scouts but reduce the potential for rescue. Often slowing down and taking an extra look at the scene you can find ways to limit the risk to an acceptable level.

I agree that going to the source is the best place to get confirmation. Last time I looked at the course materials for CERT, it covered first aid, cribbing & shoring, basic extrication, use of fire extinisher, along with the beginings of a 72 hour kit. The training is only 40 hours. First Aid and E. Prep would be the only two. Maybe some of Fireman. Of course you would complete or renew your CPR certification. Certainly would be a great idea for a Venture Crew. The drawback for a troop may be the age requirement. The training would certainly be fun and would help the scouts see how their training could be applied in the real world. CERT teams can be called out 24x7. The team also needs to have some basic gear and a way to transport that gear to a scene. The cribbing is bulky and heavy so probably need a small trailer. First aid gear would not be too bad. A few stretchers or materials to make stretchers, couple of surplus wool blankets, tarps, a few tool box sized first aid kits, flashlights, spare batteries, some tools to cut cribbing. Some pry bars would be useful. Spray paint for marking searched areas. Stored water and food for 72 hours of deployment for team. Each member would need to have a daypack with basic supplies: first aid kit, flashlight, water, snacks, leather gloves, safety glasses, safety vest, hard hat, pen & paper. Mobile communications would make things easier in the field. I was a member of a rescue squad for a little over a decade. Specifically we trained in building collapase, trench, confined space, swiftwater, hazardous materials, SAR, and rope based rescue. As a volunteer we trained a minimum of one weekend a month. We had members who had been on the team for a year and still had lots to learn. We had to literally trust our lifes to the other fellas during rescues. We learned very quickly who was going to be fetching gear from the trucks and who we were going to allow to tie the knots on the rope we dangled from. I could never see a way to effectively use a CERT team. The training they recieve is minimal. There was no schedule for continuing education. Many of the skills are a use it or lose it. They do not have field communications. They were designed for places like California with cramped neighborhoods cut off from public safety due to earthquakes. The neighborhood CERT team helps to stablize victims and buildings until public safety can respond. They self deploy. For public safety to call a CERT team to respond seems like a stretch based on what I know about the way public safety tends to operate. Heck, fire departments are unwilling to call professional full time fire departments with adjoining borders because it would make them look incompentent. Calling out what would be considered untrained civilians to help would be unheard of. Va Beach has a FEMA USAR rescue team. One of only two allowed to respond outside of the US borders. If you can get them to provide any training, you will have truely gotten world class training. I would say run as quickly as possible to sign up for any training from the VA Beach FEMA USAR team. They truely have been there, done that, and got the T-shirt, the patch and the scars to prove it. Even if the Scouts take the CERT training and never deploy or form a recognized team, it would be very worthwhile training and team building.

Cell phones are an electronic leash. Parents feel they can somehow keep their kids under their thumb if there is a cell phone. Phooey. The boys do not need cell phones during a scout function. The point of scouting is to get the boys out of their comfort zone so they learn new skills. Being in constant touch with the family only breeds dependence. One of the major points of the outing is to develop independence. Part of the learning is by the parents who must learn to let their son grow up. Second the reality that service is often non-existent where we camp. It just becomes an expensive toy that gets lost or damaged. Thup, Thup, Thup. Sound of helicopter blades beating the air.

Just got back from a new class offered by my council: LAST Leader Advanced Skills Training. First time if has been offered. They plan on making it a regularly offered class that participants would take mulitple times. The concept was they were 3 topics taught during the day and one night time land nav session. This weekend they presented A)Splicing and Pioneering, B)Advanced Wood Tools, C)GPS. They alloted 90 minutes for each topic. As you might imagine, Splicing and Pioneering became a 90 minute splicing class. Ran out of time before any pioneering was even considered. Advanced wood tools was make a maul, and how to join two pieces of wood with a dovetail joint. GPS instructor was a surveyor by trade and had a fancy GPS. But he would not take out his topo map because it was raining and it would get wet (even though we were sitting around a table under a tarp). Eventually we walked around the open field and recorded a few waypoints. The participants were expierenced outdoors people. 3 of the 5 were Eagle scouts. 3 of the 5 were active military. 3 of the 5 participants would have been able to teach at least one of the sessions with no prior preparation if the supplies had been provided. The general response was each topic session should have been at least 3 hours. Possibly a full weekend on each topic. Instruction should quickly review the T21 requirements and should relate to as many of the requirements of the cooresponding merit badge as possible. The participants wanted a hands on, do the stuff type environment but also wanted the class designed to show adults methods to pass the information on to the scouts who would teach other scouts. For instance, Splicing and Pioneering. Time should be spent actually tying the eye, short, and end splice. Then at a minimum one small pioneering project should be assembled using at least three of the four lashings. Simple camp gadets like tables, stands, pack hangers, etc. that could be taught to the scouts to make campouts more enjoyable as well as pass the T21 requirement for camp gadget. If you can lash a free standing table, then you have the skills to lash a 20 ft lookout tower. Utensiless cooking was supposed to be offered but the instructor was unable to attend last moment. Student discussions lead to some solutions for other students. During evaluation time, the cooking topic was roughed out for the course evaluator. It involved menu selection, thrifty purchasing and storage, expanding cooking methods to include box oven, dutch ovens aren't just for cobblers, utensiless cooking (not just foil pouches) and more. What I learned was that there are expierenced outdoorsman in other troops. If the adult leadership in my troop is weak in a specific area, then there are adults in other troops I can call upon to teach the adults in my troop. Maybe have a Sat. afternoon gathering so Knowledgeable adult can transfer knowledge to weak skilled adults.

Check out these sites for ideas http://www.scoutguy.com/ http://www.paulssupplies.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=12&zenid=uq0sck5k4vpbso5bcosjrmnsb0 The scout store stocks about a dozen different blanks. I have carved about 15 of the 3 finger scout sign slide. Takes about 1.5 hours. Gave them away to all the rising Webelos in my den. Give them out to scouts who deserve a special award. I carved about three different dozen other slides. One that was really simple was a wooden ball I bought at the craft store. Drilled hole through the middle, painted the whole thing white. Then painted a blue circle with a black center. Then painted some radiating red lines. Giant bloodshot eyeball. Scouts often tell me Cool Slide. My response: I've got my eye on you!

"As far as wondering why the adults care more about earning Eagle than the scout does, the scouters are there to encourage the scout and to guide him along the trail to Eagle. If he doesn't give a rat's rip about scouting then why waist everyone's time including his own? No, we are not an Eagle mill as some have termed it but we also encourage the scouts "to do their best" and not settle for mediocrity nor laziness." Maybe the boys idea of scouting is not tied to rank advancement. Maybe it is more about hanging out with friends, learning new skills, going on high adventure trips and enjoying the out of doors. As a boy I was in scouting because it was fun. I got a chance to participate in activities that most other boys my age did not. I got to camp and hang out in nature. Rank was something that happened because I was active. Required Eagle merit badges were mostly school work and were a chore to be endured to appease the adults. Eagle was always something to do off in the future. I never had a burning passion to become the next Eagle. Most of my patrol earned their Eagle 3-4 years before me. The boys are not waisting [sic] everyones time. They are getting out of the program what they want, not the adults version of advancement equals success.

"How do you get the boys to eat these meals? I would love them, but our boys want spaghetti, foil dinners with hamburger patties, and even hamburger helper. They will eat salad or green beans, but just want venture out. So many of them won't eat anything different ever, even at home. Fish, sushi, roast cornish hens, are all things I can't imagine any of the boys in the troop (other than my son) ever eating. I guess I am lucky, because my son will eat anything and prefers real food to junky convenience food." We don't GET our boys to eat these meals. The PLC (boys) chooses the theme. The patrols do their own menu planning based on the theme. They buy the food, cook the food, and eat the food. No adult invovlement. Remember the theme is a guideline. Chicken & corn served in a coconut shell for C-food/Seafood theme. It could have been frozen chicken fingers heated by flopping around in a fry pan, canned corn served room temp, and served in a Cup. The natural competitveness of the boys will soon takeover. You are telling me the boys in your troop will not eat tacos, meatball subs, pizza, or chinese? Mexican is easy. What are tacos? Hamburger meat with a packet of seasoning browned in a fry pan. Store bought shredded cheese in a bag, dice a tomato, slice some lettuce. Spoon into a store bought taco shell. What boys don't like tacos? Asian? Boil some water and drop in rice. 20 minutes later spoon onto a plate. Cut chunks of chicken and brown in a splash of oil in a fry pan. Throw in a bag of frozen mixed veggies. Add store bought flavor packet. Serve over the rice. Italian: Heat a jar of spagetti sauce with a few store bought frozen meatballs in the pan. Slice hogie roll. Spoon sauce and meatballs into roll. Sprinkle grated mozerella cheese. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning. How about pizza? Make a box oven during patrol time. At campout spoon some jar pizza sauce onto tortilla. Sprinkle grated cheese on top. Add pepperoni, pre-cooked sausage, canned mushrooms, olives, or other fixings of their choice. Place in dutch oven or box oven for 5-10 minutes until heated through. Foil meal: Ham slice, sliced jam/sweet potato, pineapple junks, add a sprinkle of cinnamon & nutmeg. Wrap in foil and bake. How about bone in chicken breast, canned corn, few potato slices, pearl onions, salt & pepper, 2-3 spoons of condensed cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, or water. Sounds like you need to organize a cooking class some Saturday in the church parking lot. Bring out a few dutch ovens, box ovens, foil, etc. Maybe do a round robin training session. Sessions last 45 minutes and rotate to next station. I can see several classes including: -Basic dutch oven: charcoal chimneys, Matchlite vs. regular charcoal, distribution of briquetts, 90 degree rotation of oven & lid, cleaning & storing & care of ovens, etc. -Box oven: make a few box oven, bake something simple like store bought freezer cookies, Add water muffin mix, frigerator cinnamon rolls in pop open can, Jiffy brand corn bread, etc. Divide the patrol into groups. One group is making box oven. One group is mixing muffin mix and adding to pan. You already have coals going and prebuilt oven. Place muffins in premade oven and cook. 15 minutes later, they each try muffin. They have finished their box oven and they cook the cookies in their oven in 15 minutes. 45 minutes the boys have made an oven, used an oven, and baked two items which they eat as a snack. -Make boil in bag omelettes: Set up camp stove. Heat pot of water. Break 2 eggs into ziplock. Boys add pre-cooked sausage, bacon, cheese, tomatoes, green onion, diced ham, etc into bag. Boys mash the ziplock to scramble eggs. Burp air of of bags and zip closed. Write name on bag with marker and drop in water. 5-10 minutes later pull out with tongs and eat from ziplock with spoon. - Simple reciepe demo: Show how easy to make recipes listed above. The first several cook-offs were very simple fare. Rice was crunchy, things were burned, portions were off, etc. Immediately we saw improvements in their cooking. They learned things like there are more than two settings on the stove (off and high), start the longest item to cook first, add one portion for the pot, etc. Also the adult patrol modeled. We are held to the same budget, same themes, same tools in patrol box, same everything. They used to complain that we were eating steaks and they were eating sandwiches. We explain the whole budget thing. Oatmeal for breakfast leaves money for steak dinners. Buying at warehouse clubs and store brands is cheaper. Buying in bulk and using some for next campout saves money. Challenge them to choose their favorite meal from home or restaurant. Ask them to cook it on a campout. Suggest they ask Mom to show them how to cook items at home. Hold cooking sessions during patrol time. Some will really like to cook, some will cook so that the other boys don't burn/ruin their only food, and some will shy away. After several campouts, the overall attitude about cooking will change. If you will build it, they will come. Offer patrol or troop cooking class sessions. If you have to, disguise the class as meeting many/most/all of the requirements for cooking merit badge. If you teach the NSP patrol only, guess how bummed the rest of the troop will be when they see them eating great food. What if you only offer the class to the PLC? Let the idea trickle down to the troop. How about the adult patrol invites one patrol leader each campout to eat with the adults all weekend if they agree to shadow the adult cook?

For the last year, the PLC has choosen a theme for the Saturday evening meal. Mexican, Itailian, Asian, Seafood, etc. Each patrol chooses their menu based around the theme. Patrols have had teriyaki salmon cooked on plank, sauteed shrimp and fried rice, fajitias, etc. All prepared and cooked during the campout with no adult involvement. The first couple of months the menus were basic. Trinket awards were given to the best patrol at each campout as decided by the adults. Intially the adults wandered between the patrols and begged for a sample. As time progressed, patrols began making presentation plates. Patrols happily bring a plate to the adult area for presentation. Points are awarded for presentation, taste, proper cooking, etc. Crunchy rice, raw chicken, too much seasoning are noted. Well arranged and good representation of the food pryamid get noted. The scoring was orginally pretty easy. Usually one patrol was clearly the best. Competition has become stiff and the choosing a winner is often very difficult. During the Seafood theme, one patrol presened Chicken and Corn served in a Coconut shell. C-food. During one of the asian themes, the patrol made chop sticks from bamboo found at the camp site. Patrols have hand rolled sushi. Fresh herbs and spices are ground, chopped, diced, and included. Most of the common ethnic themes have been used. The adults are suggesting new topics like: entree must be cooked in dutch oven, at least one item cooked in box oven, all patrols must use same ingredients, all patrols are given a mystery ingredient to incorporate, utensiless cooking, foil packet cooking, etc. Troop policy is no ramin noodles unless as a side item. It cannot be the main or only item. No pop-tarts. The multi-pack of individual ceral boxes is an easy quick breakfast vs. poptarts. We introduced "Toad in the hole" at the YLT weekend. Next campout every patrol was cooking them. Butter bread. Cut out hole in bread with lid from Pam. Place buttered bread on griddle. Crack egg into hole in bread. When egg firms up, flip and cook opposing side. Bread becomes toast. Egg cooks as well as soaks into bread ala french toast. Can be eaten with hands. No clean up other than griddle and spatula.

Make the ice cream onsite. Much more fun. Like already mentioned, use couple ziplocks, rock salt, and ice cream ingrediants. Girls squeeze bags for 15 minutes and make ice cream. Or get a hand crank ice cream maker. Let the girls take turns turning the crank. Much more memorable than buying at the store.

There are times when adult leaders and youth styles do not mix. Commonly we treat it the same way we treat Parent leaders addressing their own sons. We go to the other adult leader and say, would you please work with my son/this scout. I am not able to deal with them.

I can only guess. Cub Scouts are run by Adults. Adults do all the planning, teaching, coaching, hand holding, everthing. The boys just attend and have fun. To walk in to a volunteer position and have to become a full fledged teacher of a wide range of topics over night as well as learn all about the scouting program as a whole, and herd cats is quite a lot to ask. Sure there are Leader specific training but that really is insufficent to a newbie. Den leaders are basically on their own for the den meetings and have no experienced help. The other units the lads do most of the work and the adults are just kinda looking over stuff. The adults are there basically to keep scouts from injury or dying. The experienced and newbie stand together to watch the event. There is less seperation of the adults from each other. Certainly all units should be encouraging all uniformed leaders to attend and complete all of their position specfic training as quickly as possible.

Drivers stand to side of parking lot and raise fingers representing the number of seats available in their vehicle. The scouts choose which vehicle they ride in. Usually it is loosely patrol based but commonly vehicles only hold 4 scouts so patrols get split and mixed. Odd man out rides in which ever vehicle has an empty seat. Each driver determines what music or entertainment is available. Many of the scouts bring ipods/mp3 players for the ride but must leave in the vehicle during the weekend. Typically the only parents still standing around waving to their kids are the new parents. Most park, empty scout and gear out of vehicle, hand meds to leader, and leave. A few stand around and gab. If parents have a concern about which adult(s) is/are driving, I would expect that to be addressed before the event with troop leadership. Most often all drivers are uniformed leaders. Occasionally we have a parent drive simply to provide enough seats. That most often occurs on patrol campout weekend when the 6 patrols head off to different directions and uniformed leadership is spread thin.

I guess I am not sure what District/Council does for my unit or boys other than attempt to keep records of training and advancement. They issue tour permits of which the unit does all the work, the district/council just stamps and files. High Adventure contingencies can be scheduled through district/council but our unit does it directly. Training is scheduled and performed by voluneers with costs being paid by participants. The scout store is a seperate entity and is self supporting. District/Council maintains several camps. This is the first year in 7 or 8 that our unit has used the council camp. We tend to try different camps at higher alltitudes (cooler in the summer) so the boys get a different experience each summer. If FOS does not go to camp maintenance and camps are not self supporting, than where does the money come from to pay for camps? I have not been given any reason to give to FOS other than to help pay saleries to exec's that spend all their time raising money to pay their own saleries. Seems kinda pointless to have execs. I haven't found any use for district or council. I might give money if someone could provide an explanation of how district/council did something for the unit or boys.

1976 I was paid $90 for 1 week setup, 6 weeks of camp and 1 week teardown. I think I got $10 more the next year. YMCA has a week long sleep away camp that runs about 8 weeks during the summer with dining hall, COPE course, archery, horseback riding (extra $75 elective) and variety of other MB type classes available. About $650-750 a week. No parents or SM's, so more staff involved. Local council camp is $220 a week. Council just spent several million in building new dining hall, new bath/shower facilities and general upgrading of camp. In no way can the $220 per camper cover the costs of MAINTAINING a camp. It does not even cover the cost for the week the camper is there. I think even if they raised the cost $100 per camper per week, it would still be a great value. I would not be thrilled that the cost went up but I would happily pay it because I think the return is there. Yeah, BSA camps should raise the cost of camp at least $25 a year every year just to keep up with inflation and move towards becoming self sufficent finacially. Scouts is not a free activity, it is a potentially lower cost activity that some other choices. $40 x 10 campouts = $400. $100 for a uniform every three years. Troop Dues $75. Summer camp $225-$250 a year. Pack, sleeping bag, mess kit, assorted camping gear, boots, etc about $100 a year. So about $850 a year. My son is on a travel sports team. $250 for uniforming every 3 years. $150-$250 a year for cleats. Coaches fees, travel costs, tournament fees, etc. run about $3500-4500 a year. By comparison, scouts is cheap.

Don't know how long ago you were a boy, but there have been a few changes over the years. - Complete all the training for your position. - If you don't wear the correct and complete uniform, neither will the boys. - When you feel the need to help the scouts, count to 10 before you jump in. Give the scouts a chance to identify the need and develop a solution. - Pass off as much as you can to the boys. Then pass off more. You will be suprised at how they rise to the challenge. - The only thing you have to know is "Ask your patrol leader" - Make sure the scouts know CPR well because the most likely vicitms are the adults.

"my main concern won't be for my kid, but what if he throws such a fit about being homesick, that he basically ruins it for everybody else. I know I am not the only parent that thinks this way." During a typical weekend campout, there is little time to be homesick. Between, food prep, eating, cleanup, tent pitching and taking down, campfire, and all the planned activities, there is very little time to spend worrying about what Mom & Dad are doing. After the campfire, they go to their tents and whisper silly jokes to each other and generally are too excited about everything to be homesick. Those that do get homesick tend to wander over to the adults a little weepy and sniffly. Usually some encouragement to hang in there thorough the night and we will be happy to take them home. Occasionally we give them a chemical light stick to place in their tent as a nightlight. Sometimes patrol mates spend some time with them keeping them entertained. At summer camp, it is usally not until Tuesday evening after dinner that most get homesick. The hustle and bustle of arriving, getting setup in the tent, find their way around camp, meeting all the new people, going to the various classes and activities finally settles down but Tuesday evening. That time after the evening meal but before lights out that they have a moment to begin to wonder what their family is doing seems to hit. Usually a weepy eye and a sniffle helps us to pick out those who need some attention. We had a new crossover explain to us during this past weekends campout that he is not convinced he wants to go to summer camp because he does not want to be away from his family for more than 3 days. Mom asked last week if there was still time to get him registered. Hopefully Mom will force the issue and send him to camp.

Spring of 1972 I went on my first campout with my new troop. We drove up into the mountains of North Ga. Along some gravel road, they stopped the cars and we all piled out. We loaded up our gear and carried it from the cars, down a small embankment, across a fallen tree over a creek, into a meadow. The Eagle scout troop guide showed us where to pitch our canvas pup tents. Later that evening we built a fire on which to cook our hamburgers. After dark we all gathered for the snipe hunt. We were given directions on how to attact the snipes and bags to gather them into. We dutifully went to the far side of the meadow, found the proper sapling to kneel beside, shake in the proper method, while calling the cry of the snipe. Periodically all around could be heard the yelps of boys catching their snipes and running back to camp. After a while, we newer scouts returned, initally dejected we had not been successful at our first hunt until we learned more about the illusive snipe. The next morning we started a new fire and cooked our bacon and eggs over an open fire. Most of us had never cooked anything at all. Cooking our own food over an open fire was quite the accomplishment. There were no patrol boxes or patrol gear, just eager boys fresh from Webelos, learning at the foot of an Eagle scout. Half of that patrol went on to earn the rank of Eagle.

If the boy truely has an Active bladder, than the physical form should note that. The scouts doctor can help troop leadership get a better understanding of the problem and treatement. If it is bedwetting, there are several medication routes that help keep scouts dry. We always packed a pull-up inside the sleeping bag at home with a plastic grocery sack. The scout changes into and out of the pull-up in the sleeping bag and puts the pull-up in the opaque grocery sack. Scout puts grocery sack in trash. Other scouts are not aware of the bed wetting problem. The nose spray meds worked at home but somehow got completely emptied on each campout. The pills meds work very well.

Our troop gives out "Prizes of Unspeakable Value" or POUVS for all kinds of events including mistakes. Typically they are trinkets from Sportsmansguide.com, Cheaperthandirt.com or the local Dollar store. We awarded WWII era drinking cups from Switzerland this past weekend to a patrol. We have awarded leather beltloops, LED zipper pulls, match holders, keyrings, compasses, lanyards, whistles, light sticks, etc. Sometimes a dozen of some useless item from the above websites really makes the day of a patrol of 11 yr olds. Summer camp winners included most bug bites, most sunburn, most injuries, etc. At campouts, they are awarded to patrols for best entry in the Sat evening patrol cookoff. Often things happen that warrant a POUV. Biggest fish caught, usually during a campout where fishing was not the scheduled event. Someone does something stupid or by accident or without thinking that becomes the joke of the event. They will recieve a POUV.

We have a campfire on Saturday nite unless prohibited by the campsite rules. This past weekend we had campfires both Friday and Saturday. We had scary story on Friday nite. Saturday nite was led off by riddles and jokes. We had one lad who didn't like scary stories so they delayed the scary story until near the end and he sat with a few ASMs off to the side. Skits are usually the same ones, Invisible bench, Scout store, etc. We probably need to suggest to the PLC to reseach new skits & songs to bring some new life to the campfires. We usually hold off the lighting of the campfire until the SPL has confirmed that the evening meal and campsite has been cleaned up. This provides a carrot to encourage all troop members to act together to get the campsite clean.

I completed all the requirements to earn the rank of Eagle and was awarded the badge. I attended college for four years but never earned my degree. As an adult, the only time people ever ask me what degree I hold is during job interivews. I run my own business now so it is much less of an issue. I periodically regret not having a degree. Not so much for the specific knowledge but rather the recognition that I followed through and completed a difficult task. Eagle is more than just a set of skills you earn. It is recognition that you completed a list of tasks that individually are not that difficult but taken as a whole represent the gumption to see it through. The world outside BSA does not know what the individual tasks are/were and don't really care. They recognize that an Eagle has the ability to make things happen, to follow through, to overcome obstacles not just once but over an extended period of time. I can always go back and finish my degree. You cannot go back and finish the Eagle rank. There is a time limit. Unfortunately 11-18 yr olds do not fully understand how the they decision make at that age can affect them later.

Well if I remember correctly the SM works for the CO. The CO has the ability to "hire & fire". So the answer is: you have to convince the CO that the current SM is not doing his job correctly or improperly enough for them to fire him. Of course most CO's don't really know what the SM job is so you have to explain to the CO what the job is and how the SM is not doing it right. Then you have to convince them that the SM is not repairable. Then you probably have to present a list of potential replacements. Then if the CO is unhappy, they can fire him but very unlikely unless there is a grevious gaff that is unacceptable And there is a willing canidate waiting in the wings to turn the show around.