The Much Needed Shot.

[Eamonn]

About a month or so back I was singing the blues and not feeling up to par. Some wise posters said that I needed to get out and be around some of our youth members.

Since I posted that I was in need of a shot, there has been a Jamboree Troop meeting. It was the day of the first real snow and only about half the Scouts made it to the meeting. Still I am lucky in that yet again I have a real good group of Lads who even at their worst manage to make me smile.

The January District Meeting was hurt by the snow and the fact that more and more people are taking a winter break. Again only a little more than half the committee showed up. Thanks to me still taking some nasty pills we didn't even go for "Tea" after the meeting. That is where I do my best arm twisting.

Yesterday we were supposed to join the rest of the Council by participating in the Annual Mall Show. We used to have a Mall, one little strip Mall. It had a Montgomery Wards and an Ames store by they both went bankrupt and slowly but surely it died. So we don't have a Mall anymore. We held the District Pine-wood Derby and the Boy Scout First Aid Meet in a local elementary school and had the local cable company tape it. I haven't seen the tape yet.However maybe because it was being taped everyone was on their Sunday best behaviour. No complaining parents or fuss about the race. The Scouts seemed to really get into the First Aid meet.

OJ was busy with the Lodge, they were doing a training for the new officers of the Lodge. I no sooner got home when he phoned needing copies that the Web-Tech guy needed. So I rushed up to camp with them. Boy oh boy was I impressed these guys really had their act together. The training I witnessed was truly first class. They invited me to stay for dinner. I have never turned down a dance a drink or a free dinner in my life. I sat with a group of Lads that I didn't know very well, knowing how un-cool it would be to sit anywhere near my dearly beloved son. They had heard that I was going to be doing a presentation on the OA Scoutreach Mentoring program at the OA Banquet that is coming up at the end of the month and they were asking all sorts of very intelligent questions about the program.

By the end of the day I had seen our little guys and their parents have a good time race their cars. Spend some time with our Boy Scouts who were doing their best wrestling with humongous First Aid problems (I have never worked out why the problems have to be bigger than life? Why can't we just have a cut finger?). Seen the OA youth members pull off a Training as good as I could do, maybe better.

Yesterday, I didn't give a thought to FOS or goals. Yesterday was about kids.- It was great. Tomorrow (Monday)there is an Area Meeting, Councils merging, membership and finance. Still what went down on Saturday has recharged the old batteries and there is another Jamboree Troop meeting in two weeks. - Another chance to see real Scouting in action.

Eamonn.

[anarchist]

Eamonn,

 

Glad to hear you are shaking the 'blues'. Try to remember...the boys are why we do this and keep you 'calendar open to get a healthy 'dose' of kids, frequently.....

when you fly with the eagles it harder for the turkeys to get you down!

anarchist

[ozemu]

Thanks Eamonn,

 

just sitting here savouring your shot. Need a bit of that for myself.

 

I do not meet another committed Scouter more than once or twice a year. The weight of running the Troop without dedicated ASM's is sometimes a bit much

 

Ta

[Laurie]

Glad to hear that you had some good Scouting time! Hang in there during the meetings, and know that they do have a place in some way or another in the programs you got to enjoy