Tampa Turtle

Sounds like an ambitious and organized lad. My only comment is how many early Eagles I see who drop out in under a year...partially this must be partially a focus on new "college resume enhancing" activities and also this focus as Eagle as the "ultimate" IMHO. I got dirty looks at a recent meeting when I said "I'll take a good Life Scout over a on-paper Eagle any day".

Please contact your Council office immediately and get the proper popcorn popping training (3PT); I think it is only a morning class and is good for 2 years, BSA is working on a internet based curriculum pending the next GSS.

Scouter is so much fun!

What I have learned from the forums is that there is usually at least two different approached to every problem on running a Troop or Patrol and often both of them work depending on the circumstances. It gives me a lot of "on the other hands" when helping my Scoutmaster and presents the illusion that have wisdom when I am just recycling other people's opinions. I have found it pretty useful.I also agree that the limitations of the internet means that things do not always come out right--it is easy to offend people.

I beg to differ with my esteemed colleague. The SPL and the PL's work it out, The SPL (and most of the older boys) usually coming around to wanting 'real food and lots of it' on a campout, Frequently the SPL will have a funny story about him and another boy and nothing but junk food on a long hike. And the SPL and older boys usually do a talk on meal planning, etc. The SM is really only there to back up the SPL if needed. Mostly at the "Ask your SPL". Seems to me pretty boy led. As for contraband "A Scout is Honest" and all that. Actually some of the parents are part of the problem--I cannot believe what they feed their kids. So if the kids are getting lots of junk at home they are gonna want it on the campout. In general the quality of the food the boys have planned and cooked are getting better--it is an issue some of the Patrols rally around. Working on the stay in budget part...

We have a soda ban because some of the younger boys will over indulge and it just causes trouble; like a kegger for 12 year olds. We have done watered down bug juice to encourage them to stay hydrated. For some kids it is the sugar and others the caffeine. We also avoid Gatorade. Yes we do have guidelines and the SPL reviews the lists. We ban a few things (soda and candy) with an occasional allowance (some candy on a hiking trip). We recommend limiting others-chips, etc. The smart boys figure out loopholes fast that you can make fattening hash browns instead of chips and pancakes with chocolate chips. We strongly discourage 'picky eaters' from bringing there own food--it always seems that they bring 3 bags of Doritos. Oh course food allergies and religious preferences are accommodated. While pop-tarts is an ever ending battle we tried to ban Ramen but some boys started researching 101 ways to make Ramen and have made some pretty tasty dishes. So they one upped those there which is right and proper. I have noticed some Patrols getting some bottled juices on the base camp trips--I guess they are getting their sweet spot that way, Funny thing is that if the boys are hungry and no snacks are available they will actually eat apples and oranges! Since I have joined OA I am very impressed on how my lodge provides tasty and affordable meals. It helps one guy is the cook at a public high school. Learning many tips.

(Heavy sigh) Nice to know people are still looking at Scouter I guess. BSA botched the whole Gay thing...I get hammered by both sides. I don't really care though what the current polls say.

I now see the conflict of the top-down SPL approach and the bottom up PL approach. We now have a weak SPL but have been working hard on the PL training and on the whole they are fine in spite of the weak Troop organizing. A few patrols have actually done a few patrol activities (parties, get togethers) and it is amazing what happens. The younger guys think the older guys are so cool to hang with them for a couple hours, etc. I hope to see more of this as so many of our boys go to different schools and activities they may not know each other outside of scouts. One Patrol did an old school paper and dice Dungeons and Dragons session. Not everybody dug it but it was nice they were sharing interests. I agree let the Patrols physically separate and give them Patrol based challenges. It is interesting to see how differently the patrols operate and how each has an ongoing culture. Both of my sons are Patrol Leaders right now and so I get to see some inner workings, etc. Both very different but each kinda works.

What a terrible story...poor lad. I can see that happening. I can only imagine the frustration of trying to get a signal as well for the adult, I do not know what you can do for a crush injury. 12 years old (sigh).

I think I have probably interacted with 200+ cubs and scouts by now and maybe only 1 or 2 I would really worry about a false accusation but some parents...are just crazy. And (as I recounted elsewhere) once when I was teaching I had a female student start making inappropriate advances so I know weirdness can happen. I work in government so doing things 'in the sunshine' is a good practice that comes naturally though it can be tricky when a scout wants to share a confidence with you. Don't want to broadcast everything (i.e. bedwetting, girl problems) in front of other boys.

Packie, sorry about that.

I never respond to a youth email without cc: a parent or the SM. I would not want to be (falsely) accused of inappropriate talk or comments.

The folks in our local ATF office used to say Tampa was a good career posting because of all the white hate groups around here, Depressing.

25 years ago I was a graduate student helping a business association in Tampa that was trying to redevelop an area. Across the street from our new HQ was a Nazi white supremacist "church" with many offensive billboards about jews, blacks, catholics, etc. When new business was called I mentioned "should we release a statement that we as an organization do not approve of his message, etc". I almost got fired because "they didn't like to take political positions" (and they had an elderly concentration camp survivor as a member of their board). I stood up and said "You know we fought and won a war because we don't like these things and while you are supposed to love your neighbor IMHO it is still OK to say you hate Nazi's." I still hate Nazi's.

We have done this and general cooking competitions. The Iron Chef they had to select from a variety of mystery ingredients. The last cooking campout each patrol had to plan 4 hot meals based on certain themes. I was impressed all 4 patrols managed to push out 4 hot meals each. All were edible even after some disasters--I will say MUCH bacon was consumed. Not recommended to be a judge the day before your lab draw! Oh my triglycerides!

The news says that one of the victims of the Kansas Jewish Community Center was Reat Griffin Underwood, 14 who was a Boy Scout. There is a picture of him with a Life Badge...just there for a tryout and gunned down by a Nazi lover. Makes me sad and angry. Hope they hang the shooter.

I actually packed 2 in my kit...some snickers but some boys dug it...

Sometimes the portions are an issue. We had a scout who was a little guy, liked fine food, and the resulting food was good but not enough calories after hiking, Eventually was solved by figuring a 'portion size' for each guy. The newbies were '1' and the 15 year olds were '1.5' or '2' people for planning purposes. OR they packed some extra food--PB&J for guys that wanted extra. The solution, as other stated, is to get involved in the grub planning OR just BEING the grub planner and cook--cooks always eat!

My boys practiced a few meals on our driveway on spare weekends. Though food always tastes better while camping, Ramen, Mash Potato type things are easy since you just add hot water and stir. You can also add other stuff to it, There are some excellent Ramen recipes online. You can work around the lack of refrigeration...we sometimes brown hamburger crumbles at home, freeze it, and stick it in some insulation and use it for Saturday lunch. Trick is to remember to get it out of the freezer at home before leaving Friday night!

Have fun. I enjoyed mine last month, my son was right before me.

We have had Survival campouts where we took apart a phone to use the wires, glass, and batteries for demonstration. And I was not above telling an SPL to look up the BSA Electronic Chip (or whatever) as an approach with the SM. There is an argument for them but my experience shows them to be more distracting/disruptive.

Oh forgot to mention that I always encourage the newbies Boy Scouts to scavenge from the Troop long term lost and found, Thrift Stores, and "Shop at Home". Save the money for the "Big 3" --a decent tent, sleeping bag, and backpack.

Glad to see a Jewish pack. I grew up in the token Goy house in a Jewish neighborhood in south florida. (Went to 6 Barmitzvahs in 1 year LOL) One of my favorite current scouts started out as a cub of mine and had his first ever campout with our Webelo den. I will always remember him emerging on Sunday morning and proclaiming "Dad was wrong-Jews CAN camp!". (I muttered something about Moses and the Gang camping for 40 years, etc) We have a few Jewish and Muslim scouts who get involved in the meal planning; sadly (from my point of view) maybe 20% of the Jewish Scouts I meet bother keeping Kosher. The observant ones make sure there is something they can eat and pack extra if they need. We once had a dual presentation on what Kosher/Halal means. Was pretty brave since a few boys are real bigoted SOB's. I think the Muslim scout has it worse than some of our gay ones. My family is going to Israel next year and I hope to hook up with some scouts there. Met some Finnish and Dutch Scouts on my UK trip--it was very cool to see how they approach camping (Finns=hard core).While we are sponsored by a Methodist church our Troop is pretty diverse belief wise. I advocate all the boys take their faith traditions seriously and 'work at it'. So many families now seem to have none. I work with the Agnostic/leaning Atheists to keep the door open to possibilities. Agree on keeping it easy for Cub families; we had to do special presentations on this is a tent, etc because so many young parents NEVER camped and were easily intimidated. Especially if they are single-parent mom households. Keep any lists simple.I think it is TERRIFIC if you are showing that you can be an observant jew and a scout. Good life lesson for adult life!

I personally use a homemade ultralight container made from an old lemonade container and scrap foam (saw it online somewhere), Several boys have copied me. I also have a 1973 GI issue one I use for more car camping/high eating trips. So yeah let them figure it out. Agree on the cubs--make it easy as possible on 'em. A few will probably use a mess kit anyway--as long as they are having fun. Some scouts will improvise from some heavy foil. I have, upon forgetting a coffee compatible cup, drank coffee from a frying pan.