Buffalo Skipper

JMBadger, Welcome to the campfire! Scouting is like that. It can sneak up on you. Keep up the good work and remember to say "no" once and a while (it helps marriages), it is all for the boys, and of course, it is only an hour a week. ;>)

I thought it was ironic that at the premier (American) football event, the headliner is a British band, who (no pun intended) probably has as much interest in the game of (American) football as athe average American would in either Rugby or Cricket championships. I am a Who fan, but I agree, they were not at their best. I wasn't really impressed with any of the adds, but I did like the VW add with Stevie Wonder. Very funny.

Many of you have heard of our continuing troop saga; I hope I have not bored you with the boys success and my obstacles. I want to tell you of a great success one of our patrols had. The Mosquito patrol wanted to have a patrol hike. The PL is also the Den Chief of a Webelos den which is mostly crossing to our troop. One of the Webelos did not have the chance to participate in a "troop outdoor activity" and would only miss this for his Arrow of Light. The PL asked if inviting a Webelos den to a Patrol hike would fill this requirement. The WDL agreed it would suffice, so the patrol invited 2 Webelos dens to join them. They choose a nature trail at a local State Park. It was about 2.5 miles along the banks of a river through a very diverse forest area. When they got to the park, recent rains had forced the river about 15' above the normal level, completely submerging the road and the trail. After conferring with the drivers (one troop leader and both Webelos leaders), an alternate location was selected, about 15 miles north (45 miles by road, as it was submerged completely by the swollen river). Once the scouts got there, they walked a nature trail between 2 state forest recreation area lakes (each with small campgrounds). The hike, though delayed, went about 3.5 miles, and a great time was had by all. The patrol wants to go back to one of these areas to do a patrol campout, and these Webelos now want to join the Mosquito patrol. They even brought along a prespective scout who had dropped out of cubs a year ago; he is now chomping at the bit to join the troop. It is obvious to me that this activity has gone a long way to solidify this patrol, as a team. They did a bumper job of recruiting, and are well on their way to being a real top patrol in the troop. Now if we can only inspire the other two patrols to do the same thing....

I saw a photo of a young man who was participating in the 2008 Koch Cup (the international equivilent of the America's Cup--see www.seascoutcup.org/). He was wearing his whites and he had his Eagle Scout, Quartermaster, Venturing Silver, Ranger, and Raymond Finley Award (Community Service with US Power Squadrons) medals (the picture is old and has been removed from the website). He had them in two overlapping rows, the lower row of 3 and spaced inbetween and about a 1/2" higher the last two.

Derek Connell (the special needs scout mentioned in the above link) is a member Troop 409, which meets at our church, though we are not their charter partner. Derek is frequently seen at district events, as are many members of their troop. His commitment to scouting is absolute. This special needs troop is one of the greatest successes of scouting in our area. But there is more to it than that. What the story does not truly convey is the dedication of Richard and Claudia Coleman, the SM and ASM of the troop. Every scout in that troop has not only intellectual challenges, but also have severe physical handicaps as well. What these two scouters do for their scouts is nothing short of amazing! Twenty five years ago, Richard was asked to be SM for a year, until a permanent replacement could be found; he is still the SM to this day. He and Claudia are, in my eyes, the most heroic and dedicated scouters I ever hope to know. They are also avid boaters and assist me on the Council Sea Scout committee. Several years ago, while working on his boat, Richard cut his leg on a barnicle and picked up a nasty little marine bacteria, the kind which destroys limbs in a matter of days, and can take your life in a week. It was caught pretty quick and he was placed on the strongest antibiotics available, which saved his leg and his life. Unfortunately, the potency of the antibiotics essentially killed his kidneys, which completely failed a few years afterward. Claudia was determined to be a perfect match, and she donated her extra kidney. The surgery was 3 years ago and both have completely recovered. The whole process did little to slow them down in their scouting. Both downplay any awards or reognitions they recieve (and they are recognized often); for them, it is all for their boys, even if their youngest "boy" is in his late 20s. I heard the story on NPR last Friday morning as a segment of "Story Coprs," and since Story Corps is working locally this month, I assumed it was only local recognition recognition (though I was not convinced). It is wonderful to hear that this was a national broadcast.(This message has been edited by Buffalo Skipper)

Patience is certainly key. My church decided it was not convenient for them, so they "nixed" scout Sunday. We are negotiating a date for sometime in May, which is the next time they feel they will have the opportunity to recognize the scouts in any of our 6 weekly services.

I agree with nolesrule. The OA sash is apporpriate for OA events or where the scout's attendance is specifically as a representative/member of the OA. Scout Sunday would certainly be an event in which a MB sash would be an excellent choice. Oh, and Welcome to the virtual campfire! Good to have you with us.(This message has been edited by Buffalo Skipper)

Our course spent a reasonable amount of time on 360 Assessment. There was no requirement for any of us to make this a ticket item. Looking back, I was quietly encouraged to do one, and I did one, but I would not define it as a "self-" assessment, as I was evaluating a project in which I particpated, but was not involved in organizing or executing. I was not aware of any others in my course doing 360 assessments, self- or otherwise. Of course everyone had a diversity item. I finished mine almost 4 years ago, and it is still giving me headaches to this day.(This message has been edited by Buffalo Skipper)

NYLT staffer is entitled to wear Wood Badge beads. Obviously this is a restricted item. I would work through the NYLT scoutmaster who should have been throught the NCS SM course. He would have authority to order these.

Transportation liability (secondary after driver's is expended) is covered for leaders and non-leaders alike with the completion of a Tour Permit. Likewise, I believe that a parent (as a participatory parent) would likewise be covered on outings under the umbrella of Tour Permits. This is a clarification which your DE or SE will be better equipped to answer exactly.

I have heard talk of an old local Wood Badge course where each patrol was given a live chicken and told to prepare dinner. This was before my time, but I have heard old timers speak of it fondly. I would like to do the same for scouts in the troop, but I do not have the necessary skills to teach this to the scouts. Good luck! Sounds like a great experience for your patrols. If nothing else, let us know how it goes....

Thanks for the replies. Twocubdad, I do appreciate the fact that you have an "IT Manager." I handle HR and payroll DB programming for 8000 employees, as well as teacher certification and other related areas. Handling TM for a troop of 15 is less work than swatting a mosquito (wait--my son is the PL of the Mosquito patrol--maybe that was a bad example). So, what most of you are saying is that you do not keep a close, up-to-date record of a scouts advancement, as is in the scouts book. Correct? I was looking for a better way to keep up with that. Only one of you said that you were updating advancement directly with Scoutnet. Any reason the rest of you are not? Again, just curious. Let me digress on this, but add another question. Do you have your Scribe work closely with your treasurer? I recall when I was troop scribe (late 70s), that I actually collected dues from the members and turned it over to the Treasurer. Is that the way it is still done? We have an involved treasurer, so that would not be so far for us to reach, but we have not had a responsible enough scout to serve as treasurer until very recently, and I want to see that he is engaging in the proper activities.

I have a couple of questions about how different troops "manage" their advancement records and information, and how they report this to the council, and who in the troop (youth or adult) is responsible for this. First of all, we use Troopmaster. With a small troop, I, as the Scoutmaster have been able to keep Troopmaster records pretty much up to date on my own. I record Blue Cards as they are received, and keep things running smoothly. We consider the scout's official record to be his handbook, but we do like to keep TM up to date. For those who use TM, how do you move dates/signoffs from a scouts handbook to TM? And who does this in your troops? SM? ASM? Advancement coordinator? Scribe? PL? I like to look at "reports" to view progress by scouts, but if the scout has it signed off in his book but it is not yet in TM, it is sometimes hard for me to accurately judge how the scout may be progressing. I also want to know how you are reporting their advancement to the council. Do you submit a paper report? Do you email an advancement file? Do you record avancement directly through Scoutnet via MyScouting? Who does this, and how often do you really record this information? I have enjoyed keeping up with the scout's advancement, but I recognize that with our troop about to more than double in size (all young scouts) that I may need to pass this on to someone else. But I do like knowing that the records as truly as up-to-date as they can be. Thoughts?

I just found this positive story about a Hatian girl Scout helping with recoverey. Thought I might share it with the group. http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/01/haiti.girl.scout/index.html?hpt=C2

For the past month now, I have been wearing my shirt with the collar tucked in, at least with my Boy Scout uniform. Our troop is a neckerchief-troop, and sometimes the scouts can't agree if they want to wear the neckerchief over or under the collar. I have had good luck with uniforming by example, I want to see if the troop will wear it this way. My biggest concern about this method, it that without an undershirt, the opportunity for "ring around the whole collar" increases significantly when tucked in, especially with pre-teen and teenage boys. My only complaint about tucking in the collar is that I don't like the way the Wood Badge thong wears. I rarely wear my blue Cub Scout Leaders neckerchief, as it is so small that it only comes half way down my chest. Someone should really fix that.

I have very strong opinions on uniforms (I'll get to the BOR/Uniform in a minute). I wear my uniform (class a) on every appropriate occasion. Since I earned my troop neckerchief, I have never worn my troop uniform with an open without a neckerchief. On two occasions in the past 7 years (both as Cub Scout leader), I have worn non-BSA socks. I took steps to see that would never happen again. I set the example for my scouts (cubs and boy scouts), always. Before I stepped up as SM, I could expect at most 50% in a uniform shirt and I would have been surprised to have seen 2 scouts wearing scout pants; none would wear a neckerchief or socks. Over the next 6 months when I operated as the defacto SM before being "sworn in," I made it very clear to the scouts what my exact uniform expectations were. I did not have the scouts conduct uniform inspections; it would have been pointless. There was a core of older scouts who I knew would never buy into my uniforming expectations. One as a life scout was MC for an ECOH and showed up in old torn tan shorts and flipflops, and he was not particularly out of place in the troop. I knew that as long as these 5 or 6 scouts were active, the rest of the troop would not buy into 100% uniforming. After the last of these scouts finished his tenure as SPL (and a last hurrah! of a campout) the rest of this corps mostly dropped of the face of the earth, and the remaining scouts began wearing uniforms regularly. These days we usually get 90-100% of scouts in shirts and pants, and 75% in a neckerchief and socks. Now, we have uniform inspections once a month, with the goal of 75% of each patrol to be in a complete uniform. We have met it for the past 3 months. Scouts keep up with scouts on uniform, and they correct each other when they forget a neckerchief or belt. I rarely make a uniform comment anymore. Two years ago, BORs were occasionally postponed for scouts not showing up in a complete uniform; when they went off, a scout often had to borrow a uniform part from another scout beforehand. Now, no reminder is given and we have not had to "put off" any BOR, as it has not become an issue. Uniforming is a matter of pride. If a troop makes uniforming a priority, the scout will make it a priority, as we have demonstrated. Now if only we can make that much progress in the "Patrol Method" area over the next year, we will be very close to where I untimately want the troop to be....(This message has been edited by Buffalo Skipper)

OK, I got the message. Safety first. Not that that was ever in question in my mind. I kind of like Stosh's troop policy of "refreshing" this every year. Our troop policy (as long as even our adult scouters who were with the troop decades ago) has been that each scout earns the Totin' Chip (card) and that they must have it on them at all times when using a bladed tool (including a paring knife?), or in the case of the Fireman Chit, make a fire. Somehow, I feel this is perhaps a little extreme, but I am not one to break traditions so fondly held by the troop leadership. We have 2 scouts who are new to the troop, and have shown great responsibility and patience waiting for "permission" to carry a knife and start fires. I don't want to see them struggle waiting for this "privilage." Rather than do this with in a troop setting, I feel it may be more effective to being delivered by each patrol leader (and experienced patrol scouts) in a local setting, and not necessarily restrict this "training" to a campout environment, as is the current unwritten expectation. Thoughts?

I agree that some parents need to be "managed" more than others. As I was reading this thread, I had a thought (and yes, it hurt). How effective could a ScoutParent unit coordinator be in this instance? It was discussed two years ago when the position was announced, but this seems like a good time/place to locate someone and put this to good use. Here is the original thread: http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=203618

Yes, we have these at our shop. Admitedly, we have a national shop, which I hear gets all stock before any council-run store is shipped.

Yes, this is an interesting idea of having scouts who make Tenderfoot cross out of a NSP, into existing patrols. A couple of questions on this. How do you start the process? When the first scout makes Tenderfoot, does he choose where he wants to go? What if everyone goes to the same patrol? What do you do when you only have 2-3 new Scouts left? What about when there is only 1-2 left? This may do quite a lot to encourage scouts to crossover quick, but if the scout starts to run low on steam, he is stuck without a patrol to back him. I am not against this method, in fact, I really like the intial idea. I just can't envision how it would end well, for those who are slower to get started. Thoughts?

The best skit I have seen in recent years was actually a staff skit, but it could be pulled off elsewhere. It went like this: 2 Scouts, one a lifeguard (LG), and the other the waterfront director (WFD) LG (looking at watch, then shouting out acoss the lake): OK, 5 o'clock! All boats: it's time to come in! a few moments pass LG: Row boat #9, we're waiting on you! a few more moments pass, LG begins to really act impatient LG: Hey guyes, we want to go eat! Come on in! WFD walks up WFD: Hey Joe, what's the hold up? LG: It's row boat #9; they won't come in. WFD: Row boat #9? We only have 7 row boats. LG (first puzzled then frantic): We only have 7 row boats?....Row Boat #6!!! Do you require assistance?!?

Basementdweller, Under 8 pounds? Sounds like you are an ultralight fanatic. Just so you know there are deprogramming centers for those who have been so brainwashed ;>) I am a bit of a gearhead, and I really do like my titanium cookware and other lighweight gadgets. But I am an aging fart myself, and I really like my comforts. This last trip, I borrowed a (stainless steel) french press and used it for the first time. WOW! that was the best backpacking coffee I have ever had. Thankfully, Snow Peak makes one in titanium, so that has moved to the top of my "needs/wants" list. I like to keep my pack under 40 lbs with food and water; I went out at about 42 lbs this time around. I always want to carry 3 liters of water (2 in a blatter and one in a nalgene for cooking); we always have water filters, so I could easily skimp and just refill the nalgene when we get to camp. That would save me 2 pounds. Weight (or lack thereof) is always a compromise. For me, weight savings is a means to achieving my minimun comfort level. I did suffer this last time, so I may look at reconsidering a few things. We work hard to keep our scouts' packs at 25% of their body weight, but some wander closer to 30%, if they are really small. Most of our scouts are under 110 lbs, so that means we want packs under 30 lbs. For those who weight 80ish lbs (or less!), it is hard to keep 3 days of food plus tent and gear at 20 lbs.

I have a very different tent, but let me offer my take, based in part on my very wet experience this weekend. I have a Mountain Hardware Viperine 2. It is a 2-man LOL tent in the shape of a wedge. Weights just over 4.5 lbs, so it is good for me as a single person backpacking tent. The rain fly on this tent does not come all the way to the ground, staying up about 1.5"-2" except in the very back (bottom of the wedge); even the front entry vestibule stays off the ground. There is also 1"-1.5" between the rain fly and sidewalls/mesh; this allows for tremendous ventilation all around the tent. But since the back of the wedge comes down to the ground, point the end into the wind and it sheds it like it was nothing. I have tried, in the past, to stake down the fly close to the tent (on the side) but while backpacking with the troop this weekend, I set up the tent with the middle of the fly staked slightly out. Somehow I missed this in the past, but it made sense on Saturday afternoon when setting up the tent in a steady rain. We ended up with 12 hours of heavy, steady rain with 20+ kts of wind. I stayed 100% dry (the only one in the group to remain moisture free), but I even noticed that I had near zero condensation, which I have frequently observed in the past. I am convinced this was because I kept the sides staked away from the tent. Agreeing with what others have said here, I think that applying this principle of keeping the fly vented, up (off the ground) and away from the tent would do much to limit condensation. Again, more ventilation, means less retained heat. I have had this tent in temps below 15F, and would not plan on doing that again (way too much mesh and ventilation).

My older brother thru hiked the AT back in 1976. I was only 10 that summer, but I day-hiked several sections in Shanandoah. I have also hiked numerous sections in and below the Smokies, probably about 200 miles total. I have always wanted to do the trail, it just never seems like the right time to do it; my wife and I are contemplating 2017. I always wanted to go from Baxter State Park south; it's kind of like walking downhill most of the way. Interstingly, less than 10% of thru-hikers go south. Hiking is Europe is so different than experiences here. I did a few trails in Germany back in the mid 80s with Troop 58 out of Sembach AB. The HW sounds really interesting! Talk of your history. Can't wait to hear what others may offer.

Not to disagree with anyone else's opinions expressed here, but thus far, our interactions with park rangers has been positive. We have a designated state forest (organizationally separate from the State parks, just as it is on the national level) near here with several camps including youth specific campgrounds (not campsites). We like to use these facilities as well as State Parks, especially those with "separate" youth camp areas, for both the noise levels and a way of keeping the noise level away from the family/rv campers. When possible, we perform a service project, and often have our camp fees waived accordingly. Nice for the scouts to learn this. Likewise, it keeps us in good with the Rangers. We do not do a good enough job of promoting LNT camping in the troop(in my opinion), and I am working with the PLC to change that. Not that we tear up campsites, but more that some scouts act in a disrespectful manner; something they need to learn the consequences for. One step at a time; this one is next on the list. For the next month, until the Webelos join, we will replace the Scout Oath/Law opening with the Outdoor Code. Hopefully that will put the core scouts in the right frame of mind as they ready to teach the new scouts.