Tampa Turtle

BSA National needs to make an official announcement one way or another and fast. I am pissed. Either it is an incompetent roll out of a major change of policy with a bad date or a thoughtless and frustrating April Fools joke. I think this should cost someone's job. You know those of us actually out in the field with boys are really, really busy to have to waste time on this. My CC emailed all us Scouters on this; they are treating this as actionable intelligence. This is really, really stupid. If it turns out is this is just a April Fools Joke with a wink from the mighty Richard B then he knows where he can stuff the latest GSS. From now on I will just ignore everything he says and let our 10-1/2 year olds stand on a 8' ladder and juggle chain saws while balancing on a 4 wheeled wagons. I don't need 'Fake News' from BSA.

Just got it! Hmmmmm

Another reason I always keep the seat belt fastened.

But cannot easily blow up a plane. Mrs Turtle, years ago, worked on bomb detection software*...they were worried about laptop batteries almost 20 years ago. *Other than marrying me she is a very smart girl.

The biggest problem seems to be the inspirational story...I pushed for a John Wayne scout law speech ban after it was used 5 COH in a row. The Historian report was a bit of a snooze but the last guy added a few funny stories and that went over well. The more boys do the talking the better they did start to cheer and be silly and while it was inefficient it was good to seem them in good spirits.

We should all remember a Scout is Courteous, we should try to welcome all scouts not just tell them to stay away because they are different. I do not think the Canadian Girl Guides are being foolish; they may just not wish to go where they feel some of their members are not welcome. There are reports of TSA being overly zealous...why would a scout leader want to put up with that? If I was leading a BSA trip to Mexico I would worry we might get harassed at immigration if someone wanted to make a point. I think Cambridge Skip made a reasonable decision to fly through the US. World Jamboree 2019 is supposed to be hosted by Canada-USA-Mexico is it not? That should be interesting...Performers refused to play at Jamboree because of the BSA Gay policy...will there be consequences to the current situation?

I think it is good to hang on to logs of camping trips; we do and it is interesting to see the places the Troop went 10 or 15 years ahead of my time.

I am finding the low level of backpacking and non-car camping experience among the younger Dad's putting a considerable damper on the boy's planned adventures. Add a rising minority of younger guys who clearly are in a race to eagle with the minimum level of camping and it has been a struggle for the PLC's plans to get carried out when the required Adults's cut a trip short because they want to get home early or avoid a second night on the cott(!!!). It is a sad and sorry day when the crippled, limping Turtle who never camped a day before his kids did scouts (but was willing to learn) is the manly man. I find myself doing more tarp or cowboy camping just to set a good example. We still have a core of older adventuresome lads so there is still hope...

I like the boys program because I think a boys-only program is different then a boys-girl program and I like that difference. But I have been at co-ed outdoor activities and have camped with a couple Troops from other countries with boys and girls. The logistical issues were NOT that a big deal and seem like the 'icky girl' defense.

We found a big determent in our selection was the night of the week we meant. Once sports teams, church, and band practiced knocked out a lot of nights we were the only option. Bit of a blow to the ego, that.

The Timberines take plenty of abuse but a 4 man tent seems awfully heavy. Do they end up camping near the trailer and vehicles then? We used to have a 2 man limit on tents because 3 or more boys = chaos at night. Older boys could sleep by themselves.

All Troops have different cultures, you need to find the right fit (and that includes friends). The Troop my son chose was less persnickity about the uniform but was more ambitious (then) about outdoor adventure and boy led. They still look a little raggedy next to the neighboring Troop at Camporees but take a perverse pride in keeping the excess patch gee gaws off the uniforms.

I love the tradition of it but our Troop decided long ago to go necker-less because it was just cooler in the warm weather. If a Boy wants to wear one he can though; a few transfers felt pretty strongly about it.

Aggressively advertise and invite alumni; you will find folks with fond memories and new stories.

After the meeting I overheard a couple boys say they were opposed to at scouts though it was no big deal at school. Oddly enough these were the Gay scouts!

Lordy lordy all this period talk! Your giving me the vapors. Seems, in the rare case that would happen, to be another scouting opportunity for improvisation and what not. Good reason to have a necker on hand I suppose. I've had to deal with autistic kids, sociopathic boys, bedwetters, and a kid with a cancer port. I suppose I can deal, in the unlikely event, with this one. What I REALLY want to know does this mean I need to attend an additional training course and if so how much of time will it take.

I have heard it though we lean heavy on the boys at the ECOH to give back. I'd say maybe 1 in 4 hang around for a while.

When we had 6 month terms the SPL would get re-elected every great once in a while. Since we went to a 12 month term for SPL no one has wanted to do it a second time--just burnt out.

Needs to stand alone and have an achievable goal. This should all be settled before hand. We have had several projects helping a church that needs a lot of work and a neglected military graveyard. The church projects might be re-landscaping the west side of the property, painting the sanctuary, refinishing the floor. The Cemetery projects have been gradually resetting the tomb stones that have settled--it is a huge project to do just a dozen. As the stones weigh 300 pounds each and (sometimes) extend three feet into the ground it is an engineering challenge to just get them up and out of the ground without damaging the stones. After several of these projects (which met with some difficulty) one boy made several sets of special block and tackles and lifters for the cemetery for future use (this will go on for a while). He had to research hundred year old drawings of old manual equipment, design with lumber and hardware today, and build it. It looked like 14th century medieval tools. The boys that worked on it were fascinated and learned a lot about old school leverage, etc. It was a good project that will help future projects but stood on its own. I'd stay away from projects where Scout A prepares the wall, Scout B primes the wall, and Scout C paints the wall.

We do a Cooking Campout every year. Usually the rules change. We done surprise ingredients, various means of cooking, etc. Being a judge can be tough as we are in the field some of the boys hygiene practices are suspect. One year all 6 patrols made pancakes that had (at least) bacon and chocolate in them. As a judge I have had to eat a lot of under cooked rice and pasta. If a patrol has a 'foodie; in it then there can be some excellent results! One year there was an excellent garlic shrimp on a bed of angel hair pasta with a cheese platter. Mostly we get variations of dutch oven stews, jambalayas, and mac and cheese. The winning patrol for dessert this year were the first years and it was very simple: a thin slice of Gala apple topped with a portion of canned pineapple topped with a square of milk chocolate. Not cooked, just assembled. It was really good! I had a hard time convincing other adults to try it because it just seemed too easy. Another patrol tried it and it went into the regular rotation.

Our Scouts love the red berets, we use them for the color guard.

To get back to an earlier point, Tico Perez is entitled to express his opinion as a private citizen but I didn't not like him using his BSA association to do so. I expect if I was do to show up in my BSA uniform at a protest against Tillerson and the photo went viral I would be getting stated the Apolitical Policy. So I don't but I think Tico took advantage of his status...he knew there was not likely to be any consequences to him. Disappointed. But what do I know.

I have been to Cardiff and that is because even in the busiest plaza everyone is asleep.

Stumped me...I thought it might be a discontinued one but no. But I wish they'd bring Cement Work back!

I thought it was those killer lunar rocks. My Scouts played Apollo 18 on a trip and now I know why we never went back.