scottmphoto

The troop that I'm involved with is chartered to an LDS church. We encourage the boys to get a uniform, but it is not required. We generally go on one outing a month, usually a camping trip but sometimes just a day hike. We generally have the boys eat dinner before they arrive at the church on the day we head out, but that is the only cost to the boys. The church covers everything else. The LDS church adopted the Boy Scouts as part of their Young Men's Program just a few years after the BSA got started so they cover almost all the cost involved with very minimal cost passed on to the boys.

I teach some wilderness survival and would love to see the MB pamphlet revised. It leaves some things out that I think needs to be there. If you'd send a copy to scottmphoto@yahoo.com , I'll read through it and make my suggestions.

It's funny that you can get the Official Boy Scout dutch oven made by Lodge from the Scout catalog cheaper than you can get the same size without the Scout symbol from the Lodge website.

I'm usually up between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. I stoke up the fire and get my coffee started (I also enjoy the peace and quiet before everyone else gets up). Then, I usually make sure the SPL is up around 6:45. He usually gets up by himself then wakes the rest of the troop.

PACK15NISSAN, If you want to do Woodbadge and not miss church, check into an LDS-friendly Woodbadge course (no Sunday's). Most councils offer them now because the LDS usually can't do camping or even travel on the Sabbath. I'm a non-church member Scoutmaster for an LDS troop, I run into this subject every month during our monthly camping trip.

Our troop always does some version of flashlight wars or capture the flag after the campfire and evening meals.

Last summer at camp, we had the cell phone problem, but I was only a parent teaching a merit badge and not in the troop leadership at the time. The leadership made a BIG deal out of the Scouts not bringing any electronics but every adult there (except me, because I turned my phone off and locked it in the car for the week) virtually had a cell phone glued to their ear. I took a few of them aside at different times and made a few observations and commented about the example that the adults were setting for the Scouts. Needless to say, it didn't do much good. This summer, I am Scoutmaster and there will be a NO ELECTRONICS policy. I have started making it clear that they can all bring their phones but that they will remain locked in the vehicles. If I catch them with one, I will take it away for the remainder of camp. If there is an emergency, all the parents and spouses will have the camp's emergency land-line number. I love my cell phone, I don't have a land-line telephone at home... But I go to camp to GO TO CAMP. If I wanted all the stuff that I have at home...I would just stay home.

It's been many years since I have had the chance to attend Camp Orr. I was a second generation Camp Orr Scout as my dad was in one of the canoes that came down the river when they chose the site and he helped build the camp. I spent much time there going to camp, working on staff, troop and OA functions. It is (or at least was) one of the best camps that I've ever been to. Because of life (wife, kids, military...regular job) I got away from Scouts for a long while. I was looking forward to the time when my son was old enough to go. I've been a Scoutmaster since last July and had been pushing to get our troop to Camp Orr this summer but it seems that our CO made other plans (LDS troop going to a multi-stake LDS-only week at Camp DeSoto in El Dorado, Arkansas). Camp Orr offers more high adventure stuff now than it used to and it seems like a great program. Hopefully, next summer I'll get the chance to take our troop and my son on his first trip there. Oh well, at least there is the Ordeal Weekend in May. I love Camp Orr, but I am biased. The program would have to go pretty steeply downhill for it not to be a good program.

Until a year ago, I was a staff-photographer for my local daily newspaper. I currently own a small photography studio. I do weddings, portraits, seniors, pets...etc. I specialize in nature, wildlife and adventure photography. My dad owns a tree farm and I do a lot of work around there. I always have my camera with me and I get a few photos now and then of some of the local wildlife and some beautiful landscapes. I just love being outdoors.

Every once in a while, I enjoy a good, imported, hand-made cigar when I'm out in the woods. I always make it a point to "take my nightly walk" well AWAY from camp and any Scouts. I don't even think any of the boys know that I smoke because none of them have ever seen me do it.

I rarely carry matches anymore. I use flint and steel and have been doing so for years. For tinder, I make my own charcloth. If you're interested in this method, just Google it. There are several YouTube videos on it as well.

My mother-in-law has a 1-ton 15-passenger van. I use it sometimes to haul the boys on a trip. Most times, it is the only way that I can get the boys there as most of the parents won't (or can't) help. It'll carry 11 people plus a bunch of gear comfortably. I'm looking for a small trailer to pull behind so that I can carry more gear there and more boys inside.

So far, since I became Scoutmaster, the coldest that I've been able to get the boys out into is the mid-30's, but it doesn't really get that cold in Arkansas. Like was said earlier, it's too cold when the boys parents won't let them go and attendance starts falling, but then...my son and I just make it a father-son campout and we go anyway. As long as the boys and leaders are prepared for the cooler temps, then there really is no problem. I know that when I was in the army, I froze my rear-end off in 30-below temps in Germany...not to mention the wind chill. I wasn't comfortable and I had no choice in the matter...but I survived (and we didn't have tents. We were out in the open). It all depends on training, being prepared and taking into consideration the safety of all involved. I wouldn't take my troop out in anything in the lower 30's or colder, but that's because I know that we aren't prepared for it and I probably wouldn't have any boys interested in going anyway.

I agree that $190 is "cheap" for summer camp, but we have a lot of lower-income Scouts that can't afford it and we're not allowed to do fundraisers. I know that right now, I might not be able to afford the $75 cost for an adult leader to attend myself. A LONG TIME AGO, when I was a Scout (my first year at Camp Orr in Arkansas was 1982), it cost $60 per Scout. The only way that I could afford to go was that my grandmother paid for it and I worked it off doing jobs around her house. I understand that the cost of everything has gone up but some people just can't afford it. I LOVE going to our local camp. I say that I basically grew up there. Besides troop summer camp there, our troop camped there a lot in the off-season, our OA always held activities there, I was on staff there for several years...etc. My dad was in one of the canoes as they came down the Buffalo River and chose the spot for the camp. He helped build the rock dining hall and trading post in the early years of the camp. I have a lot of special memories about this camp. But... for the cost and the great program that we held last summer on our own... We'll probably end up doing our own camp again. It's the only way that some of our boys will be able to have any kind of summer camp experience. Everybody has to way the pro's and con's of a local camp versus their own camp. There's some good things and bad things as well about both and I wouldn't trade one for the other...either of them.

Because of rising costs at our local camp and lack of funds in our budget, we took our troop on our own "summer camp" last summer. We got to camp for free (well, almost, we had to collect some rocks to help the landowner build a wall). Our younger Scouts stayed in camp and worked o merit badges and our older Scouts went on a canoe trip and went on a guided cave trip. Everybody got together in the evening for the usual campfire stuff. The cost of our local camp was $175 last year, that would have been @ $3450.00 for the week, that's for 18 boys and 4 adults. Our camp cost @ $682 (including gas). That's @ $31.00 per person. Our troop is chartered to an LDS church (I'm a non-member SM) and the church pays all the expenses out of their budget that is set aside from the Young Men's program. We're not allowed to participate in any type of fundraisers and we have many lower-income families in the area that can't afford to pay even that much for camp. Our camp this year has already gone up to $190.00 for this coming summer. We're thinking about taking our younger Scouts to regular camp this summer with the older boys doing high adventure.