Year Long Scouting?

[Engineer61]

I just realized how happy I am that they our troop doesn't Scout in the summer.

 

I'd see my wife even less in summer with all the records keep she does.

 

No, 9 months is just fine with me.

[eagle90]

While we don't have regular troop meetings during the summer (We meet at a school), we certainly don't stopbeing active:

 

Canoe Campout on the Kankakee River

Summer Camp Shakedown Training Day

Summer Camp Orientation meeting for parents

Summer Camp

Minor League Baseball Game

Hi Adventure to Florida Sea Base

PLC Meetings

Committee Meetings

 

We still are busy in spite of not having regular troop meetings.

 

Dale

[CHLees3rd]

I've been away for awhile and am back now. Thanks for all your posts and thoughts. Eagle92, my apologies. I meant to send you a message when I first posted this question, but forgot to do so when I got too sleepy.

 

It's nice to see that many units do not stop Scouting when school ends. As Beavah wrote, the summer is a perfect time for Scouting because the Scouts do not have the distraction of school. Yesterday I went to the mall to buy a few things. I saw two groups of my Scouts there. I saw the first group of six middle school aged Scouts and said hi. When I asked what they were doing, they said that they were just hanging out. They were just walking around the mall. The second group was of four new high schoolers. They saw me first and said hi. We talked a bit. They asked me what I was doing and vice versa. One of them said they were bored and were trying to decide between going to the movies or hitting Dave and Busters, a restaurant/arcade establishment. I wished them well and we parted ways. While I was driving home, I realized that it was Tuesday which is the day the troop usually meets during the school year. It saddened me to think that ten of my Scouts, which is about a fifth of the troop, were bored and hanging out when they probably could have been at a Scout meeting getting ready for summer camp and possibly playing a game like dodge ball.

 

The Scouting for them this summer will be heading up to summer camp this Sunday. Once they return next Saturday, they will not do another Scouting thing as a unit until sometime in September. A few Scouts are going to the jamboree and a few others are going to Philmont. Those two groups will not be attending summer camp. There is a small group of Scouts not going anywhere with the troop this summer. Unlike the other Scouters in my troop, I see what my troop is doing and think it is a problem. Patrol unit cohesion and bonding is not really happening and I think taking the summer off just kills it. However, I am not going to fight this one now. For the last few years I have worked to get the troop more boy led with less active adult direction (i.e. adults running the show.) It has been coming around since I got the Scoutmaster to take and complete Wood Badge. I am now focusing on the Troop Committee. I am trying to get them trained and functioning as the committee should so that it can hit the ground running come September.

 

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

Yours in Scouting,

Chazz Lees

[SMT224]

We actually become more active in the summer. July is a week of summer camp, and our June & August camping trips expand beyond the week-end into 3-5 day trips. We depart on Friday morning (instead of the typical school-year Friday evening) and return home on Monday or Tuesday or even Wednesday (instead of Sunday).

 

And sure some Scouts are off on vacation and may miss a trip, but it's not that different from the school year when some will miss a camping trip due to a game or concert.

 

As far as weather goes, while we all like the "perfect" weather of late spring and early fall, the Scouts seem to revel in surviving the extremes. I think it's an excellent learning experience to directly experience and really understand the challenges of both camping at 15F with 7 inches of snow and 103F and 80% humidity. Death is just around the corner in either case, so you'd better be careful and prepared with both the right equipment and knowledge. They come back with great stories and are proud that they not only survived but thrived, and are ready to do it again.