resqman

Are there any military bases enroute? They often allow scouts to sleep in barracks or gym's for about $1 per scout per night. Breakfast at the chow hall the next morning is always a big hit.

North Carolina has the opporutunity to purchase an Eagle Scout license plate. There is a form you fill out certifing that you are an Eagle or the parent of an Eagle scout. The fee is $10 above the normal cost of a plate if the state chooses the number letter combination and $40 above the normal cost of a plate if you choose the 4 letter/number combination. The money is put into the a fund managed by the state. According to their website, the money is spent on highway vistors centers, highway beautification, and handicap accessibility promotion. No money goes to the scouts. Consider it community service. Quote from the state website below: Distribution of funds in the Special Registration Plate Account (SRPA): Cost of the special plates including the administration of the special plate program; $525,000.00 annually for the operation of Visitor Centers in Camden, Brunswick, Macon, Watauga, Caswell, Carteret and Tyrrell counties. Remaining funds transferred quarterly as follows: 33% to Department of Commerce to aid in financing out-of-state advertising for the promotion of travel and industrial development; 50% to the Department of Transportation for beautification of highways; 17% to the Department of Health and Human Services to promote travel accessibility for disabled persons.

Yes, the existing troop equipment system is broken. Yes, I think the boys should be doing "IT". There is a work day tomorrow morning. I am not sure what kind of turnout to expect. I joined the troop less than 2 months ago. I paid my fee and joined as adult. My goal was to have direct contact with the boys in an outdoor environment. My strong suit is field craft. The troop has a need to get the equipment under control. Troop leadership felt the adult quartermaster advisor should be someone who goes on campouts. I talked with the ASM who has been given the task of being "The designated standin Scoutmaster" when the actual scoutmaster is not available. He felt the troop culture should change regarding equipment. He is willing to spend an extra hour or two at the end of each campout in the parking lot packing, repacking, organizing, and checking in gear in a ready to go state. This obviously means creating a base inventory, back filling missing equipment, creating check out forms, check in forms, holding boys accountable, etc. I support all those ideas. The troop is currently at the point where there is "some stuff in the scout closet and in the trailer." I pulled out a patrol box this afternoon. Apparently there were 6 cook kits at one time. The patrol box in question had pots, lids and fry pans from all six kits! I spent an hour and was able to sort out all the cook kits, touch up the painted numbers and make 4 mostly complete kits. Kits 1 and 6 are basically non-existent. I know a brand new kit was just bought for the NSP so that brings the total to 5 kits. I know we have at least 4 but maybe as many as 6 patrols. It looks like most of the kits are "Open Country" made by Metal Ware Corporation. I have checked their website and some spares are available. Their new kit price is $15 less than the scout store. Add shipping but subtract tax probably about the same price. The scout store no longer carries spares, already called and asked. Just wondering in any other troops were in a similar situation of having more missing than accounted for and wanted to sell off their spares? My secret plan is to number and color code all the equipment in a patrol box. It is difficult to put a number on the handle of a platic serving spoon but you can easily wrap the handle with colored tape. Gall's.com sells reflective tape in eight different colors. First number all the boxes and as much equipment as feasible. Then additionally color code all equipment with reflective tape to make it easier to find in the dark in the leaves. A 2" square of spray paint on the outside of a stove with a number painted in the center should make ownership easy. Same thing on the outside of the patrol boxes, lanterns, etc. I agree the patrol members should have to cover the cost of lost or damaged equipment. The problem is where to get the replacement parts without buying a complete set. Hoping someone had a lead on suppliers besides the scout store.

I have been given the opportunity to become the adult troop quartermaster. I did a quick check of the patrol boxes and found all boxes are missing lots of everything. I doubt we could put together two complete patrol cook kits from 6 patrol boxes. At $75 for a new kit, I was wondering if anyone had the same problem and was willing to sell off their used partial kits to my troop. I figure if I can buy a few partial kits at 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of a new kit, we could back fill the missing pieces. The seller would have some money to buy new kits for their troop. Everybody wins! I guess alternately we could try to sell off our partial kits to a troop and buy new ones for our boys. I checked Ebay and only found one kit. It was only missing 1 cup and was priced under $10. Even with shipping, less than $20. Probably will put a bid on it and try to win to use for spares. Any other ideas?

Class of '79 Currently ASM

Below is a link to a fella who hand carves slides. He has a variety of stock designs and is willing to make custom designs. He will carve a custom design, allow you to approve, and then makes a mold of the slide. He sells the mold so you can make duplicates from plaster of paris. http://www.scoutguy.com/handcarved.htm Michael's Craft supplies sell a mold kit. You simply mix the ingrediants, pour into a container, place the original in the mixture and allow to dry/cure. Remove the original and you have a mold you can use to make as many of something as you need. If you need to make lots of copies, make muliple molds and then you can cast many of the item at the same time. You could commission ScoutGuy to carve a new slide each year, or one for each rank to keep the interest level high. When my den were Wolfs, I bought the eight pack of leather blanks from the scout store along with some leather stamps. I bought the small number/letter set along with the rank logo stamp. As a craft project during a campout, each boy had an opportunity to stamp the leather, lace it up and make a custom slide. I one boy wear it to his AOL ceremony. The Pack could fund the cost of the leather stamp sets and each den buy their own leather blanks. That way each boy has ownership of thier slide, the Pack has a "standard" slide of leather, and you get a Den/Pack activity. I recommend it as a den activity vs. a Pack activity. It takes the boys a while to find the right letters and spell out stuff. With more than about 5 boys, you will have a lot of standing around and loss of interest. The format I suggested was to have Pack NNN across the top, the rank logo in the middle and DEN N across the bottom. Vertically along the lace holes I had them stamp their first name, last name first letter. Since two edges butt against each other to lace, the other edge had the YYYY year number. That way if they loose it, we know who to return it to. The date allows them to stuff it in their keepsake box and pull out to show to their kids. At Pinewood Derby time I went to the dollar store and bought an 8 pack of matchbox size cars for $1. I bought a 6 pack of super glue for $1. I had some scrap PVC pipe in the garage I cut into 1 inch lengths. For under $3 bucks, I was able to make a custom slide for every boy in the den. This could be a Pack meeting activity very easily for about $3 per den. When my scouts were Webelos, I bought embroidery Webelos logo magnets at the scout store. I pulled off the magnet backing and glued some PVC pipe to the back. Gave them to each boy as they bridged from Bear to Webelos. Neckerchief slides are cheap. They make great den meeting activities. Once my den started wearing custom slides, the other dens started to follow suit. One dad found a kit to make a car from pieces of wood. The kit car was about 8 inches long when finished. The dad bought balsa wood and down sized the kit so the finished car was about 3". He made a kit for all 16 Webelos. The boys glued the cars together and then painted as a den activity They proudly wore their custom slides. The woggles of tied rope are cheap and easy. They encourage the boys to learn about ropes and knots. You can use different colored rope and add beads to the two ends of the rope for flair. I understand your desire for the entire Pack to have a standard slide. Start with your den. The boys in the other dens will ask questions of your boys. They will ask their den leaders when they get their cool slides. Soon the other den leaders will be coming to you for ideas. The boys will drive the issue.

The troop I just joined has the Zulu patrol. The patch is a zebra skin shield with crossed spears. One of the troops we visited had the Old Goat patrol.

I have 3 knots. AOL, Eagle, and Webelos Den Leader. I wear the AOL and Eagle. I was just awarded the WDL and have not had a chance to sew it on yet.

Last year as a den meeting for my Webelos, I had them make a box oven. Half the guys made the box oven while the other half mixed some Just Add Milk muffins. I was heating some charcoal while all this was happening. Upon completion, I had the boys put the muffin mix in a pan, place in their newly made oven and wait 15 minutes. Then they opened a pouch of ready made cookies. Break apart and put on a cookie sheet. Pull muffins out of oven and pop in cookies. 12 minutes later hot cookies. One of the more successful den meetings. We planned a den campout a little later. They wanted Pizza. We brought along 6" tortillas, pizza sauce in a jar, grated cheese, pepperoni, canned mushrooms, canned olives, olive oil, and Italian seasoning. Had the boys sprinkle a little olive oil on the tortillas, 2 spoons of pizza sause, a sprinkle of seasoning, a handful of cheese and topping of thier choice. Place on foil lined cookie sheet and into box oven. A few minutes later, cheese is melted and ready to eat. We could only make 2 pizzas at once due to size of oven but they took turns and were very proud of their ability to cook real food. At the next menu planning session, I had asked for a cold lunch. In typical fashion of "go with what works", they choose pizza in a box oven. I again requested a cold lunch. They were determined to have box oven pizza. I made them understand that I was not helping in an way and it was their decision. One boy volunteered to make the oven and the grubmaster would purchase the necessary supplies. At the campout, the boy assigned oven duty had researched on the internet and had designed a different style oven. Instead of having a box on its side and opening flaps, he placed coals on the ground, used a few rocks to support a wire rack and then placed the box over top the entire setup. Pizzas were made and enjoyed by all.

Here are some links to some other lists. http://troop679.org/patrolbox.html http://www.troop42.com/patrolboxes.htm http://www.troop168.net/forms/HTML/GenPatrolBoxInventory.htm http://www.troop184.org.uk/patrol_box.htm (With Pics!) http://www.buckskin.org/Resources/Outdoor/patrol_gear.htm http://www.troop166.com/patrol_box_contents.htm http://www.troop38bsa.org/Forms/Patrol%20box%20Inventory.pdf Links to Plans for Building Boxes http://www.netwoods.com/document2/patrol%20bx.htm http://www.troop168.net/forms/patrolboxa.htm http://www.jamboleader.org/documents/patrolBox1.pdf http://remarque.org/~rob/t21/ http://www.troop787.com/default.asp?ID=42

I was a deathbed Eagle. As a scout I never really cared about the rank. I was extremely active in the troop and later in the Explorer Post. All the guys who joined with me as a Webelos became Eagle scouts years before I did. The troop even formed a Leadership Corps with the requirement you had to be an Eagle. While I felt a left out, it did not entice me enough to follow through on Eagle stuff. Joined the Explorer Post. 22 scouts, 20 were Eagle. Eventually I earned the last remaining required merit badges and completed my project 6 months before my 18th birthday. I earned a silver palm. Had it not been for my parents prodding, I would have been a Lifer for Life. At the time, I felt it would have been nice to be an Eagle but I was in the program for the fun of outdoor adventure and hanging out with my buddies. Rank was nice but held no real draw or appeal for me. Today as a leader, I attend training and earn my knots not because I want it but because I want the recognition and implied respect that comes with the badges.

"Not to offend you, but I do believe you were being a little over ambitious to expect your son to walk in on the first night and lead the other new scouts in choosing a patrol name." No offense taken. I agree that I should not expect my son to be elected Patrol Leader and run the show the first night. What I though might happen is the adult advisor would plant the seed of choosing a patrol name. The boys may have a brain storming session and throw out really outrageous names. In doing some research it looks like custom patrol badges cost about $10 per boy while standard cost about $2 per boy. IF there was discussion about patrol names, then I was hoping to steer them into choosing a standard BSA badge or from a list of "standard" custom badges to keep costs down and availability up. Kind of a Be Prepared type activity on my part. Secondly of the 8 boys joining that night, 6 were from my Pack and had earned their AOL. In reveiwing the Scout rank requirements, earning their Scout rank the first night might have been doable with the exception of the YP requirement. It was not uncommon for new Cubs to earn their Bobcat the first meeting and I view the Scout rank as a similar introductory rank. As an adult, I understand the first meeting or even first several meetings are probably going to be more administrative and getting to know each other type activities. As a Parent, I want to be prepared to make my boy prepared to stop being a Webelo and become a Boy Scout as easily as possible. As has been discussed elsewhere, it is often hard for Adult Cub leaders to step back and allow Boy led Boys Scouts run its course. Not sure where to draw the fuzzy line of the adult providing the boy with lots of preparation outside the troop to allow the boy to enter into the new troop culture. The troop has a program where the adults must attend a 4 part parent orientation the first 4 nights the new boy joins the troop. The parents sit in on a troop committee meeting, get a 3 ring binder of information regarding the troop, fill out applications, pay fees, view presentations by the various committee chairpersons, etc. all in a plot to get the adults active in the troop (and keep them out of the boys way long enough for the boys to transition). I understand the need to bring everyone up to a common level of knowledge. I have been a good boy and sat quietly through the parent orientation. Oh, I did ask if the troop pays for Woodbage when they were mentioning the troop pays for adult training. Otherwise I have only nodded appreciatively during the other presentations.

We typically have 6-8 events. Fishing tournament at county park/lake. IMAX movie Putt-Putt Golf Trip to Zoo Clean up trail (Pack adopted greenway, required 4x a year) Baseball game with campout in field that nite

* Philmon Bull, Sea Base Conch or Shark, or Northern Tier Loon above the left pocket near the shoulder seam. I am familar with the Philmont Bull. I believe the tail goes over the shoulder seam if you climbed the Tooth of Time or Baldy? I attended Seas Base in the late 70's and did not know they had a Conch or Shark emblem. Do they have any specifc meaning like Conch is for land based camp and Shark for windjammer cruises? Is there a similar patch placement rule like the Philmont bull tail shoulder seam for the Conch/Shark? Same questions for the Northern Tier Loon.

I am worried about this issue with my boy. I was his Den Leader the last 4 years. I often would try out various activities and skills to make sure I was prepared and had an idea how long it would take for planning reasons. He frequently had the opportunity to see it and or do it before the actual den/pack event. Last week was "fill out the app and write the check" meeting for his new troop. I had printed out the the patrol badges from the web to help the boys choose a patrol name that already had a patch. All my Webelos earned their AOL so should be able to complete the Scout requirements the first night. He took his new Boy Scout handbook and sample patrol badges to the meeting prepared to earn his new rank and choose a patrol name. He was ready to lead the patrol. The Adult guide spent the meeting introducing them to Boy Scouts and the troop ways. My son was disappointed that the Adults led the meeting when he was prepared to have the boys run the show. I know this is a boy lead troop because we visited a normal troop meeting and have talked with the leadership. The troop had an introductory meeting and I expect the next several meetings may be more adult lead than boy lead. My boy is ready but the troop is not.

If you have 1st year Webelos, they will all need Outdoorsman Activity pin. If the boys go on a campout, cook their own food, set up their own tent, hike 3 miles, etc. they have completed the pin. That sounds like a typical boy scout campout to me. Food. Everyone loves food. Have the boys make a box oven and bake some cookies. You can use the frozen cookies. 15 minutes to build an oven. 15 minutes to cook, 2 minutes to eat. You can add time to this project by making the dough from scratch or box mix. OR divide the boys into dough makers and box makers. My Webelos 1 den did this as a den meeting one evening. The following campout they took it one step further and made pizzas for lunch. Small torilla with 2 spoons of pizza sause, sprinkle of oregano, few slices of pepperoni, and a handful of cheese. Place pizza on a cookie sprayed with Pam, and bake in box oven for 5-10 minutes until cheese melts and sause warms. We opened a can of olives and mushrooms and let the boys make their own. How about dutch oven cooking. You can bake frozen biscuits in 15 minutes. Use the lid of a dutch oven upside down as a griddle and fry some sausage patties. You just made sausage bisquits.

Cub Scouts is NOT Boys Scouts. The maturity level of the boys is different as well as the activities allowed/expected. We visited two troops this fall. One planned a Webelos introduction meeting. They showed dutch oven cooking as a presentation. Some cobbler was cooking while the Boy Scouts demonstrated how to assemble a cobbler. It was put to cook while the other cobbler was served. The other troop just my boy and I visited on a regular meeting night. Meeting opened with a flag ceremony and repeating of the oath, pledge, and law. The older boys taught an astronomy class with overheads, handouts and break out sessions. After that, the boys going on the snow skiing trip that weekend had a break out session to confirm details while the remainder of the troop played a game outdoors. All returned for flag retirement and scoutmaster minute. We also attended two different campouts with two different troops. One was the annual "New Scout Campout" or "First Class First Year Requirements" campout where the older boys ran multiple classroom stations. Knots & Ropes, Knife, Axe & Saw, First Aid, Fire Starting, Map & Compass, 5 mile hike with nature identification, dutch oven & hobo meal cooking, etc. My Webelo 1 was ready to sign up right then. Second troop it was their Webelos Invitational/Thanksgiving campout. It was held at the scout camp. Saturdays activities including half day access to the climbing wall with instruction, half day access to the COPE course, tour of the camp for the Webelos including mess hall, waterfront, shooting range, etc. Sat nite the adults prepared 3 smoked turkeys, two dutch oven turkeys, mashed potatoes, sweet potates, cranberries, dutch oven breads/rolls, green veggies, and dutch oven desserts. Both campouts had campfires with skits. Meals were prepared by patrols. Webelos and Scouts set up troop tents. It was all the things boys want from Boy Scouts. No boring adults yammering on endlessly. I explained to my boys before hand that a Troop meeting is half den meeting and half Pack meeting. Starts out like a Pack meeting with everyone in one room for flag and opening ceremony. It will have a Pack style program or activity with everyone. Then it breaks up into den/patrol meetings. Everyone comes back together for a Pack style closing with CubMaster/ScoutMaster minute, flag retirement and release. My Webelos were getting bored of Cub Scouts. We have an active Pack and I lead an active den. We camped as a Den and I had them participate in partially running their den meetings the last year of Webelos. They were looking for something different from Cub Scouts. Webelos 1s may not be ready for a troop meeting.

The scout store sells the item below. http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/ItemDetail.aspx?ctlg=05NDC&ctgy=PRODUCTS&c2=BOOKS_LIT&c3=SUPPLIES&c4=&lv=3&item=33702A HOME >> LITERATURE >> SUPPLIES Cub Scout Derby/Regatta Pocket Certificate Certificate used to signify participation in Pinewood Derby, Space Derby or Raingutter Regatta. Measures 3 3/4" x 2 1/2". Price: $0.10 Availability: Normally ships within 3 business days

One website that has stood the test of time, has excellent information presented in a clear and concise manner, field tested procedures and products as well as is active in undertaking real world testing of new survival related products is "Equipped to Survive". http://www.equipped.com/ There are many pages designed especially for under kids and scouts. Doug Ritter has been very responsive to any suggestions and email I have sent. I higly recommend this site for anyone who has any interest in survival.

Why does everyone always say that scouting is expensive? Do the uniforms cost a lot? They are less than my sons sports team uniforms and are worn more often and for longer periods of time. Does it cost a lot to join? In most instances less than $50 a year. Most recreational level sports teams are more than $50 per season which usually only lasts a few months. Most scout groups have fund raisers where the boys can raise some or all of the money relieveing the burden from the family. Please stop spreading the falacy that scouting is expensive. Teach, explain, and preach the truth that scouting costs less than any other activity and help change the world. How about the activities? Most venues give discounts to groups and/or the Boy Scouts so it is less than if the boy and family did the activity on their own. How about the transportation costs? Typically the costs are shared amongst all the participants, covered by the driver, or paid from troop funds. All of which are less than if paid directly by a boy or his family. How about the lodging costs? While personal gear can run in the hundreds or thousands, many troops have loaner gear for first timers and if you amortize the cost of the camping gear off the time it is used, still cheaper than hotels. How about the time spent involved in scouting activities? One night a week and one weekend a month. Recreational sport teams practice minimum one night a week and an hour or so game on the weekend. Higher level teams practice 3-4 nights a week and a game every weekend. My son is involved in a travel sports team. The team plays two seasons outdoors, fall and spring. They then play a short season indoors between the fall and spring. Each season has roughly 10-12 games. All games are within a 3 hour driving radius. So that means that as many as 8 out of the 12 games we drive 3 hours one way for a 75 minute game and drive 3 hours back. If the game is an early morning game then we have to drive the night before and get a hotel room. Be sure to add in food costs on such trips. Oh and not lets forget the fees to the coach and the club of $150 a month. And then there are the 6 or 8 weekends of tournaments. Where the entire family travels as far as 7 hour drive, gets a hotel room for the two nights, food for everyone for a weekend, fuel and car expenses, T-shirts at the event, etc. The actual fee to participate in the tournament usually runs about $50 per boy but that is taken from the $150 a month dues. The player gets to participate in the activity while the rest of watch from the sidelines. The family is there but not activiely participating. We spend about $3500-$5000 a year on one son to play sports. Yes, it is on a nationaly ranked team. Yes he has gotten some benefit beside running up and down the field. Has he gotten life skills, developed higher morals, developed a sense of duty to the community from playing sports? No. Has he learned leadership and working with other skills. Yes, but to a much lesser degree than those involved in scouts. Can a youth play sports for much less money than we spend? Certainly! Scouting is only expensive when compared to sitting at home watching TV. Compared to any other regular activity that a boy or family chooss to participate in, it is the most cost effective program offering a wide divesity of activities, travel, exploration, and growth opportunities. I reject the notion that scouting is expensive. Scouting offers support to families on limited incomes. Do sports teams provide reduced cost admission, free or reduced cost uniforms, and other financial incentives to grow its membership?

A few links for ideas.... http://www.troop142bsa.org/sketchbook/Patrol%20Flag%20.pdf http://www.inquiry.net/images/flag01_bad.gif http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=103046

Eagle Scout '79 at age 17 1/2. Started as a Cub, Webelos, Boy Scouts, and Explorers. I was in scouting for the fun and adventure. The rank was not really important to me. My troop did form a patrol of only Eagle scouts. They were all the guys I had joined with as a rising Webelo. I could not be in the Patrol because I was not an Eagle yet. I felt left out but not enough to work on my Eagle requirements with any real conviction. My troop spun off an Explorer Post. Boys were encouraged to continue to work on their Eagle. 22 boys in the Post, 20 were Eagle when they joined. The Post did a lot of cool and fun things and rank was not a limiting factor. I plodded along and earned a few badges. The required badges of Citizenship in the Community/Nation/World, Communications, Environmental Science, and Finance were the ones I just could not work up any real interest. I finished with 30 merit badges of which 11 have a silver border. Eventually my parents cajoled me enough to get my project done and my paperwork in. I am glad that I can say I went the distance. Had I not made Eagle, I would have still gotten a lot out of the program. If I had not, then it would be liking going to college for 6 years and still not have a degree.

My son and I just came back from a Webelos overnighter with a troop. The troop invited Webelos from 3 different packs to attend their campout. In total there were 10 webelos and their parents. To no one's suprise, all the parents were den leaders. The campout was held at the council BSA camp. The planned event for the weekend was to take advantage of the newly constructed climbing tower and COPE Course. Friday nite, we met at the troop church, loaded cars and drove 1.5 hours to camp. We arrived and the boys had to set up their own troop supplied tents in the dark. Friday nite only 4 webelos attended so they all shared a single tent. Once tents were erected, the patrols cooked a meal. Following cleanup, most were tired and people went to bed. Sat morning people arose and the boys had a cold breakfast to allow them to finish on time to start the days activities. The Webelos were told to eat with the patrols. The visiting parents were fed by the troop adult leadership. The adults had coffee. Bisquits were baked in dutch ovens, canned ham was seared on a griddle on a stove, and gravy was poured over the combo for the adults. All headed to the climbing tower. The boys were split into two groups, half were allowed into the climbing tower while the other half climbed on the bouldering wall. After a while they switched places. All returned to the campsite for lunch. Boys had cold sandwiches, chips, and powdered drink. The adults had hot chicken wings, honey glazed chicken wings, chicken salad on pita bread, and celery sticks with dressing. After lunch, the older boys went to the COPE course while the scoutmaster took the remainder on a tour of the camp showing them the waterfront, rife range, etc. Another troop was using the shotgun range for merit badge work and the webelos were allowed to collect clay pigeons. Six more Webelos had arrived during the day and they were given direction on erecting their tents from the previous nights webelos. During the afternoon, the adults prepared a meal for the entire troop. 3 whole turkeys were smoked and a fourth was injected with marinade and cooked in a dutch oven. On the stoves mashed potatoes, stuffing, peas&carrots, canned corn, and gravey were cooked. When all returned, the adults served the boys first. Included was pumpkin bread, cranberries and canned cranberry jelly. For deseert two cobblers were prepared and one store bought apple pie. Brownies with cocanut, cherries, and chocolate chunks were reserved for the adults. Following the meal, the campfire had skits by the newly named webelos only patrol, The Twinkies, as well as the adult patrol, The Zulus, and the other patrols. A story was read by the scoutmaster, a scout's own service was held, and the troop presented new flashlights to each of the visiting webelos. A rose and thorn session was conducted, a reminder to put on dry clothes to combat the 34 degreee weather that evening, and then all headed off to bed. During the Rose and Thorn session, everyone liked the climbing and COPE, most people were unhappy with the cold. 55-60 during the day and 34 overnight. Sunday morning, breakfast was cooked by the patrols of mostly burnt and spilled eggs, lumpy oatmeal, and more powdered lemonade. The adults had coffee and dutch oven bisquits. Following the meal and cleanup, camp was struck and the trailer loaded. All were on the road by 10:30am. My boy enjoyed making new friends, the climbing tower, and camping. He learned a few lessons from the troop regarding planning. One patrol only had 2 attend. They had packed their patrol box in the troop trailer during the troop meeting earlier in the week but the grub master did attend the campout so they had no food!?! A different patrol also only had 2 attend and brought food but no patrol box!?! The two patrols were merged and shared resoures for the weekend. The troop used dutch ovens to cook many things over the weekend. They used disposable aluminum pans inside the dutch ovens to eliminate cleanup. This allowed them to use the same dutch oven immediately as soon as one item finished cooking, the liner pan was removed and another inserted to start cooking something else. Generated a lot of dirty disposable pans in the trash but allowed them to cook more food with fewer dutch ovens.

Den dues or Pack Dues? My DEN members pay $1 each den meeting to cover the costs of supplies for the den projects. Over the course of the year it comes out pretty close. I know some dens throw a party at the end with any left over den dues. PACK dues are paid annualy at recharter. Our Pack charges $38.50 without Boys Life and $45 with. The council gets $20 and the rest go to the general Pack Fund. Our pack spends on average $112 per boy per year. We asked every boy to sell $350 as a target goal for Popcorn this year to generate about $115 income. We worked very hard to have 100% participation in the fund raiser. This year we have 65 active boys on the roster. Sept 30 and Oct 9 we held Show & Sells at 5 different locations concurrently. In those two days the boys sold $11,500. Over the remainder of the month the Pack sold over $22,500 with $1500 in donations. So we averaged $345+ per boy in sales not including donations. The drawback is we operate on money raised last year. We only had 45 boys last year so we are making the budget scream with 20 more boys.

Saw reply recently regarding uniforming that hit home with me. Adult leader asked parent if thier boys play sports. Parent said that did. Leader asked if the boy what would happen if he did not wear his sport uniform pants to a scheduled game. Parent replies the coach would be furious and not allow the boy to play. Leader replied, why it is any different with the scout uniform? Neckerchiefs are a historic part of the uniform. There are a internationally recognized symbol of scouting. Many people don't like them for a variety of reasons. Orginally they were full squares and were folded into a triangle and then rolled. I remember working hard to get the two points to match up when folded. They were a working part of the uniform. There use was taught as part of the first aid requirements through all the ranks. They were also a number of other uses for signalling, etc. As already mentioned, if a troop decides to wear a neckerchief as part of the uniform, then all should wear it. If they don't wear it, they are out of uniform for that troop. Troops can decide to not have a neckerchief or wear a bolo. The boys decide as a troop.