SWScouter

At http://usscouts.org/usscouts/mb/mb061.html there is a footnote for requirements 5 & 6 of the hiking MB that states: The hikes in requirements 5 and 6 can be used in fulfilling Second Class (2a) and First Class (3) rank requirements, but only if Hiking merit badge requirements 1, 2, 3, and 4 have been completed to the satisfaction of your counselor. The hikes of requirements 5 and 6 cannot be used to fulfill requirements of other merit badges. So if that is correct, then no, the hike for the Backpacking MB cannot be used for the Hiking MB too. SWScouter

OGE: do you think the 8 methods of scouting are required or not? evmori: They are methods. I see nothing that states they are required. I think what OGE means here is that for the program to work as designed, it is required that all eight methods be employed by the troop. Personally, I don't consider this the same as say, requiring the uniform. Or, in other words, using the uniform method is not the same as requiring the uniform. SWScouter

My Webelos son likes this one: What did the angry mouse say? No more Mr. Mice guy.

Congratulations Aardvark! I'm still working my ticket if I can. Some of my troop 1 members are starting to finish theirs. A couple of my fellow Eagles will be beaded this May. Seeing you and other forum members getting their beads is inspiring to me. Again, congratulations, SWScouter

My home computers are running at 1280x1024, so does my laptop when connected to a monitor. Just the laptop by itself runs at 1024x768. I can't imagine working with less than that anymore.

I find this whole phenomenon of too many parents wanting to camp interesting. When I was a boy scout way back in the 70's this "problem" didn't exist, at least in my troop. I'm a Webelos den leader and I just signed up my den for a camporee. We'll be camping next to the troop chartered to our CO. I was there when they signed up: 24 people, 11 scouts. The SM laughed when he saw the numbers and said it was a young troop. Wow, more adults than scouts. That really surprised me. A question about the first come first serve approach to outings. Doesn't that pretty much blow the Patrol Method out of the water? I just don't see how FCFS and the Patrol method can mix. SWScouter

Then the required training (to wear the trained patch) is Fast Start training for a pack committee member, New Leader Essentials, Leader Specific training for a Pack committee member, and Youth Protection Training. SWScouter

Oh, if you do make it to Havasupai, try to avoid the summer. Spring break time is good. I wouldn't want to go after Memorial Day weekend and even then may be pretty darn hot. The heat is a major issue when hiking, especially if you're not used to it. Along with my backcountry permits for hiking the Grand Canyon, the Park Service also sends a video about being prepared for the rigours of hiking the canyon. Several people are rescued every year from heat and dehydration problems. The video basically says to be prepared or there's a good chance you may die. One more thing. It appears that Troop 166, featured in Scouting, didn't follow Safe Swim Defense. I'll just say it appears that way to me. If you go to Havasupai, you will want to be prepared to follow Safe Swim Defense while there. SWScouter

troop251scout, If you want to go to Havasupai, like the troop in Scouting did, then all the contact info you need is in the magazine. If you want to go in the National Park, then you need to apply for permits through the National Park Service. There's good info on how to do this at http://www.nps.gov/grca/pphtml/permits.html and there's a lot of great info at http://www.kaibab.org too. Like DugNevius said, group size is limited. If you plan to stay at the major backcountry campgrounds, e.g., Bright Angel CG or Indian Gardens CG, permits can be hard to get. Off the beaten path permits aren't too much trouble. You can't apply for a permit until four months before the month you plan to camp in. As far as getting your gear there, that same issue of Scouting magazine has some reasonable advice. I'm taking my 12 year old daughter down the canyon this coming Friday. We're really looking forward to it though she's getting tired of all the preparation we've been doing. I think we're ready though. We did a six mile hike this morning and she set a blistering pace the whole way, accellerating up the hills and just giving her old man a go of it. I'm pumped! SWScouter

Congratulations! You have reached another guide post on your scouting journey; one I am still pursuing. I too, used to be an eagle. SWScouter W4-10-04

briantshore, A few years ago I went through the same situation you're in now. I went through the ordeal with T'Kope Kwis Kwis lodge as a youth around 1974 or so though I never sealed my membership nor became a lodge/chapter officer. My son joined Cub Scouts and I became a den leader. At that time, I wanted to join OA once again. Your council service center probably has an OA dues form you can fill out and pay. That should be all that is needed. Your council's lodge may ask for some proof of membership, mine didn't. I did try to find out when I went through the ordeal by contacting the lodge I was originally a member of, T'kope Kwis Kwis, but they have no records that far back. Now I just say 1974 though I may be off a year or so. One thing, you can only be a member of the lodge for the council you are currently registered with. For example, I joined the OA in the T'Kope Kwis Kwis lodge of Chief Seattle council but am currently a member of Wipala Wiki lodge of Grand Canyon council. Lots of questions are answered at the OA website: http://www.oa-bsa.org/qanda/ Regards, SWScouter(This message has been edited by SWScouter)

It seems to me that a pair of fighting worms might resemble a square knot. :-)

Ha ha, how funny, I just finished a pack of thin mints. Knock, knock. who's there? Ya. Ya who. What a bunch of Yahoos. Oops, I suppose that wasn't very scout like of me...

When I glue tubular bicycle tires on, I have used a cement by 3M called Fast Tack Trim Adhesive. It's very sticky and gums all up. I spread the glue on the rim with a finger. It can be quite a sticky mess. Anarchist may know what I'm talking about. Anyway, to get the stuff off of my finger and whatever else it may have gotten on, I use Baby Oil. It works great. I've used baby oil to remove price stickers off of things I've bought too. It works every time. I imagine it will work for removing the Tiger Badge goo too. Good luck! SWScouter

Hi again, Just a quick update. Last Thursday was March roundtable. What a difference it made. Right when I walked in, I got ambushed and introduced to a couple of men who were about 99% sure they were going to be Webelos Den Leaders after their pack's May crossover. Then there were a couple other new leaders at the breakout too. We had a good group, and a good discussion. Everyone seemed enthusiastic and pleased with the breakout. I really hope things go the same next month. At the end of the breakout, I asked if they thought the session was helpful for them and was given what appeared to be very sincere yeses. I thanked them for coming and invited them back. Again, thanks for the suggestions, SWScouter.

I will add a BS hat Is that a Boy Scout hat?

I posted about this topic in a previous thread: http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=72429#id_72535 To recap, I had a boy in my den that is repeating third grade this year. The boy wanted to continue in Cub Scouts but the parents wanted him to associate with the boys in his current class and felt remaining in the same den would be tough on him. At the time, the boy did not want to repeat the Bear program. By November, the boy decided he wanted to get involved with Cub Scouts again and has joined the Bear den. He seems to be doing just fine now and I'm glad to see him at the Pack meetings and other activities. I guess jteamnmj, your not so worried about this now that you're sure your boy will be moving on to 2nd grade next year. The bottom line, is that whether a boy repeats a grade or not, whether the boy repeats a Cub Scout year or continues on is a decision to be made by the Boy and his family. SWScouter

PTs (Physical Training) 6:30 am-8:45 am 15 minutes of stretching warm up mile stair running indian sprints suicide sprints sit ups-pushups 45mins to hour game like Ultimate Frisbee I suggest first doing the warm up mile and then the stretching. It's much better to stretch once the muscles and tendons are warm and have lots of blood flowing through them. If you don't want to switch, then at least do 3-5 minutes of just jumping around and shaking arms and legs to loosen up before the stretching. Also, I don't think all the sprints will help that much. How important is it to be quick at Philmont? Work on core strength. Situps and push ups are fine, but do other exercises that help the core strength. That will be very benificial hiking, especially with full packs. I'm taking my 12 year old daughter down the Grand Canyon April 8-10. I'm trying to do at least a five mile hike every weekend from now til then. We may run some stairs this weekend instead; she's starting to complain about all the hiking. I'm mostly worried about being used to the time hiking. It'll be ~10 miles out and 4500' up the canyon, I figure that will be a good long days hike for her (me too). In light of that, I'd like a long hike, maybe 12 miles, with just day pack the week before and a short hike the next day with pack for about an hour, two max. I'd really love to do a Philmont trek someday. You should have a great trip! SWScouter

Last Friday evening, I was in front of the TV being a couch potatoe watching Joan of Arcadia, when lo and behold there were several cub scouts cleaning up a playground Joan was walking by. For those of you not familiar with the show, God takes the form of some person to speak with Joan. This time, God just happened to be a Bear Cub Scout. There was a Tiger and Wolf too. It was nice to see the Cub Scouts represented doing service. Arcadia sure has messy parks though, the trash was piled up so the Cubs could easily pick it up. Scout representation on TV and in the movies seems to be picking up. There was Cub Scouts on Christmas with the Kranks, though I didn't really think that was too flattering. There was also a soldier speaking to a Boy Scout troop in the Manchurian Candidate. Did anyone else notice the Scout wearing an Arrow of Light square knot. Oops. Adios, SWScouter

I find this interesting, especially considering that a lodge or chapter officer may be too "old" to hold a POR in a troop, falling in the age of scouting limbo, 18-20.

There's some good ideas here. Thanks for the suggestions and the support! SWScouter

Hi, This is a bit of a vent of frustration, so I apologize at the onset. I'm a member of my district's cub round table staff and run the Webelos leader breakout. At January's RT, the breakout had two scouters attend. I thought the session went fairly well especially considering that there was only three of us. Last night was February's RT. No Webelos leaders showed up for the breakout. I saw one scouter with an Asst. WL patch, he attended the Cubmaster breakout. For the December RT we didn't breakout and I was out of town for the Nov. RT. I actually prepared for breakouts for all the RTs and it's starting to get frustrating to spend the time getting ready and then the breakout either doesn't happen or there is such low attendance. Does anyone have some ideas on what I may do to help boost attendance? It seems there are two angles to work on. First to get more Webelos leaders to attend RT and secondly, to get them to continue to attend RT. Thanks, SWScouter

Ha Ha, I suppose I could have said two one week long courses. There is also two two weekend courses. How fun, a two week course, now that would be a hard sell to the wife; one week was hard enough! SWScouter

Grand Canyon Council (most of Arizona) is offering two week long wood badge courses this year. One in mid may and one at the start of August. Go to the council website http://www.grandcanyonbsa.org then on the left side click on training, then click on wood badge/registration form for the exact dates, and location. Hope this helps, SWScouter

Hey Eamonn, Was any of that music you deleted by Eamonn? That has to be the most cuss filled music I've ever heard.