Sometimes staying close to home is better.

[Eamonn]

A very good pal of mine is involved in the Powder Horn Course that Greater Pittsburgh Council is hosting.

Jerry, works at Laurel Caverns and his son is employed by the white water rafting company in the area.

He has been involved with the rappelling program at the action area at the Jamboree for a number of years.

I like to think that where I live is about the best area in the entire USA for Scouting activities. We are about 45 miles outside of the Burgh.

Maybe not the best area for sailing but we have our Three Rivers!!

I have not attended a Powder Horn Course and have not played any part in helping with one.

At the risk of sounding a little conceited I don't really see the need for me to attend. At the risk of offending some I tend to think of it as being a little like a BALOO Training for adults who are new to Venturing.

A couple of years back a group of adults from our Council went to Cleveland for the course. They had a great time and participated in a wide range of activities.

I know these guys well.

Sure they found out all about what Cleveland has to offer, but so far they have yet to ever return! They have never taken a group to any of the events or places they spent two weekends finding out about.

While of course we can't expect to have everything on our doorstep, I do think that Powder Horn is a course that should be taken close to home.

Eamonn

[eagle-pete]

I've seen a similar phenomenon occur in Wood Badge. Some travel for hundreds of miles to attend a course. Now there may be good reason for this. Maybe there are no courses being held close by. They may be going to a far away course because they happen to know the CD or a friend is taking that course and they want to go through the course together.

 

However, I have met some folks who came to a course from out of state just because they heard about the course. They didn't know anyone in that course. They may have heard that a particular council holds exceptional Wood Badge courses. But this is funny (strange) because those folks came from an area of Colorado which I have lived in and known the council they came from. I can tell you they put on very good courses in those councils. These folks would have saved a great deal of money staying home.

 

I can see the justification for traveling to Gilwell in England, or attending Philmont but if there is a quality course being held close to home, I don't see the point of traveling hundreds of miles to go to a course.

 

Eagle Pete

[baden]

I am one who traveled hundreds of miles to take Wood Badge. My reasons were, a. our Council does only weekend courses and a week long course was better for me, b. our Council does Wood Badge in the Fall and a summer course was better for me, and c. our Council does Wood Badge at our Council Camp and Wood Badge at Zastro Camp at Philmont was much more appealing to me. I attended a Pilot Course for 21st Century Wood Badge in 2000. I have since served on Staff in our local Council course and our course is not exactly what National settled on.

 

The real down side to attending a course so far from home is the lack of contact with my Patrol mates. We e-mailed each other for a couple of years but this has died. One of the members of our patrol was a National Jamboree Scoutmaster in 2001 and 2005. I was on Staff and spent some time with him at both Jamborees. I also ran into one of our guys at NOAC in Tenn. He has since left Scouting.

[Eamonn]

I wasn't really thinking about Wood Badge.

Our Council is in a Wood Badge cluster. There are six Councils in the cluster.

The idea was /is that by a different Council offering to host the course we would have more courses that would be filled.

I'm not all together sold on the idea, as it seems very few people are willing to travel and I know that the Councils that are hosting the next years course seem to talk their members into waiting till the course is on their doorstep.

We did have a Scouter who had served in our Council but now serves in Chicago travel to the course we hosted.

From a CD's stance selecting a staff from people you don't know is not the best idea in the world.

I had planned on attending Sea Badge this year. The NE-Region course is in Connecticut. I thought that was a long drive! So when I found a course in Cleveland, I thought I'd go there, but then they moved it to Michigan.

Hopefully if Her Who Must Be Obeyed is feeling better next year I'll go and who knows maybe I'll find a course closer to home. - But Hawaii sounds good.

Eamonn.

[eagle-pete]

Eamonn

 

I understand. I was just trying to draw a parallel to what you were describing with Powder Horn. It just seems funny that there are those who feel a need to travel long distances to find trainings when often they can be found close by. However, I see baden's dilemma and I can sympathize. It's difficult when there are fewer courses being held. I guess I am just spoiled - living in a council with 8 different Wood Badge courses scheduled for 2007. You can't swing a cat without hitting a Wood Badge course around here.

 

Eagle Pete

[CNYScouter]

I have to agree that taking something like PowderHorn may be better close by, if you can get it.

 

I just took WB in another council traveling about 70 miles.

They are in a cluster of 3 council that take turns holding WB.

 

For Powder Horn this cluster works with other clusters that take turns holding Power Horn.

This cluster just held Powder Horn so it will be 4 years before it will be held anywhere close by.

My council or any of the other council's close by do not hold Powder Horn so if I want to take it I will have to travel 100's of miles.

 

I would also like to take Sea Badge next year.

i am fully expecting to have to travel pretty far to take this no matter where it is being held.

 

 

 

 

[moxieman]

I've never heard of a Powder Horn course being offered up this way. Then again, I'm not active with Venturers. However, most of the councils in New England offer a University of Scouting program (usually on different weekends). Some of our leaders go as far south as Conneticut and some from down that way travel the 500 miles to attend our University.

 

Why should they do this when they have a course in their own council or close by? To get/share ideas with scouters from other councils/states.

 

I made the trip down to one in CT a few years back and took a Roundtable course. Some of the other roundtable commissioners were asking how for help on trying to get leaders to attend their roundtable when it was more then a 15 mile drive away. I started chuckling, which caused all eyes to stare at me. I explained that my district was larger area-wise then CT (and it is) and that we have leaders who drive two hours one way to attend roundtable, yet it's the close units I can't get to attend.

 

I wonder if any of them used this later as an example in response to folks in their own district complaining about the 'long' distance to their roundtable.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Close is better because it is easier to develop resources and manpower. Distances tends to make both more difficult to achieve.

The idea is to bring both home to the units/Scouts. fb

 

 

[SSScout]

"Distance makes the heart grow fonder and the gas tank get emptier"

 

+from the Tao of Scouting+