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    • Scouting

      I'm just wondering how many of us here are or were involved with Scouting.

      It was a huge part of my life growing up. Eagle Scout, Vigil member of OA & Logde Chief. SPL for council wide leadership training. Several years as staff at summer camp. Scoutmaster of a troop at one point.

      Life & work has taken me away from active involvement but I still believe lessons learned in it made me a much better person overall. Camping & outdoors is just the platform used to teach leadership & self reliance. I was fortunate to grow up in a large troop with 60+ boys & it was boy run. Boy leaders would meet monthy & plan meeting & campouts in detail for the next month & long term for next several. Adults would help with resources. Although they advised, I was taught by those above & adults rarely had to step in. Not that we didn't use them. If they had certain skill we needed they would become an instructor.

      Lesson: Knowing & using your resources

      By the time I was 12 - 13 I was Senior Patrol Leader & in charge. I learned how to run meetings, delegate authority, & teach & share knowledge.

      Lesson: Tell me I forget, show me I can recall. Involve me I will remembe.

      It taugth me planning: The P's Propper Planning Prevents Poor Preformance. I believe to this day even when I say I don't really plan, in the back of my mind I do plan for every senario that runs through my subconcious. Just many miles & life events that it just seem natural & not like a first timer figuring out how much tolit paper to bring. I just grap some ( I always Have a stash of pre-rolled ready to go) & know about how much I need. I GUESSS THE BEST WAY TO DESCRIBE IT IS THE PLANNING IS/HAS BEEN DONE. by numerous previos experiences.

      I owe a deep debt to all that scouting & all the voulunteers in it that have made me the man I am now. My only regret is getting away from it for so long. The shop where I spend a lot of time at is about ten miles from their new jamboree/adventure base. The boss is a licensed retailer for them. He brought his grandson out to Sturgis for a bit with his mother & he heleped me unload the rig for a bit afterwards. Talking with him & his rank made me realize I miss it & I'm not giving back currently. I intend to change that. I have the knowledge & resouces/property to train Scouts. It's not the young ones, boys will be boys. It the Senior boys & adults I will try for & let them train the rest.

      So back to wher I started. Whom here was or is still involved?

    • As a youth, Scouting was not a priority due to lack of funds, living in a rural area, and holding part time jobs.

      Interestingly while living in Europe I became involved in Scouting mainly as an astronomy, first aide, and camping merit badge advisor. Even served as an assistant GS leader for a time due to a shortage of parents willing to take Scouts hiking and camping.

      Returning to the US brought further contact as many of the local Scout troops are Morman church sponsored resulting in leadership positions staffed by 'callings'. The result is oft times a Scoutmaster will have a cadre of inexperienced assistants requiring necessary training. However by the time these folks become fully qualified months later, another series of 'callings' occurs and the SM loses his staff.

      As a result, I am available to several troops to serve as an assistant, particularly when an insufficient number of parents are able to attend camp outs, hikes, or Scout camps. I also continue to serve as a merit badge counselor.

      Lest we forget.....


      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC

    • Life....Brotherhood....two years councilor, two years after the USMC, asst. SM...... but then I really got envolved in Youth Ice Hockey. You folks have seen my pics of my 4yr old on the trail with me. By the time he was Cub age he had already walked many miles on it and I had given him his own Totin' Chip.


      Yesterday even, I taught scout skills............my Kia parts person is a trans person. Nice hard working wannabe gear head. I've called him 'Pal' 'buddy'....it is really no biggy and he's a guy....kinda............anyway, I go to get a bumper yesterday and he hands me a big pocket knife to cut the package open. I step back a bit 'cause he is holding the thing all wrong. As I'm using it I smile....'What?".........Greg, I know you weren't in the Boy Scouts so I'm going to show you how to pass a knife. He laughed and said 'No boy scouts, no way girl scouts so my Mom put me in Karate!!!!!
      Cheesecake> Ramen :thumbsup:

      The post was edited 1 time, last by CoachLou ().

    • I wanted to join Scouting but my Mom said no. ?(

      Both my kids participated in Scouting. I was the camping coordinator for my daughter's Girl Scout troop - they couldn't do any overnight trips and none of the Moms were interested in attending the weekend training. Heck... they ended up staying in a large cabin at the Girl Scout camp. All I did was take care of the fire and pass on some outdoor survival tips during a walk around the property.

      For my son's Cub Scout den, I took them out on the AT in the Cumberland Valley and showed them the contents of my pack. They were amazed that you could hike, eat, sleep and get water with just what you could carry on your back. But they were really amazed when I pointed north & south and explained that the blazes went from Georgia to Maine.

      Partner & Pal weekends. Good times.
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard

    • Cub Scout. Wolf bear and lion. My mother became den leader for a while. Scout made Star with 5 merit badges. Brotherhood in OA. SPL. Later troop quartermaster. Camped from sea level to 3000 feet above. 110F. Down to 5F. The wind chill was -50F. In pine forests and cedar breaks. My dad was a Scout master for a while. Due to me forgetting to check with a particular office on base, we wound up as native village on a battle problem in the 1960s. We got two boxes of c-rations. Out of that. I got the tropical chocolate. Dad got the cigarettes. Later years I was assistant SM and assistant for Explorer post.

      Camped in California, Texas, Mississippi, and Maryland. Snow freezing rain heat and windy. And just nice days.

      Some food came out good some got burnt some was just right. Evenings around the camp fire. Friends I haven't seen or talked to for many years.

      I was ceremonial team adult leader for a few years. Tap outs at summer camp for OA. Still have some of my bead work from back then. Found my old packages of beads and other stuff. I think I gave away the feather items I made back then made of dyed turkey feathers and red cloth. My Ben Hunt book was used as a guide for headdresses and other gear.

      Lots of good times and some people I would have preferred had better integrity.

      I taught knives and axe safety for years and then got told it wasn't necessary and then accidents went up. I started to teach safety again.

      Overall I would say Scouting was good with some bad spots.
      --
      "What do you mean its sunrise already ?!", me.

    • When I was a Tenderfoot, I could not swim. My Dad, the ASM was taking the senior scouts on the 50 miler. I had more experience than most Tenderfeet backpacking, but they wouldn't let me go until I learned to swim. When I went off to the USMC, I had Swimming & Canoeing MB, Mile Swim and BSA Lifesaver..............I still don't like to get wet..................................unless I have snorkle gear on! :D
      Cheesecake> Ramen :thumbsup:

    • I was a Cub Scout and Boy Scout for many years. But I had no interest whatsoever in merit badges, rank, etc... I enjoyed camping, hiking, lashing logs together, capture the flag, etc... I once heard a great description of Scouting that said is is based on the premise that it is more fun to mess around in the woods than it is to mess around at home.

      After 5 years as a 2nd class scout, the adult leaders cornered me at a meeting one night and said I had to finish the requirements for 1st class. It seems they needed me to the the SPL (1st class rank required) because I knew a lot more about scouting than all the Eagle scouts in the troop who despite their chest full of badges couldn't find their way out of a tent. I had done more than enough to qualify for 1st class and it just took a half hour to fill out all paperwork. They then sent me on a week-long leadership training camp, which was awesome.

      In the middle of the week, they sent everyone out in small groups (of 4) for an overnight backpacking trip. Our group had a flawed map so we couldn't find our designated campsite (by a pump for a water supply). It was getting late and the weather look bad, so we picked a good spot to hunker down before the storms came. When the rains started we strung up a poncho between 4 trees to collect water for re hydrating our supper. We improvised a shelter for a cooking fire, and after supper, retreated to our tents. In the middle of the night we heard a noise and saw some lights outside the tent. It seems there were a bunch of search parties out in the torrential downpour looking for us because we never made it to our designated campsite (which turned out to be just a few hundred yards away). They were pleased (but surprised) to find that we were all warm and dry and well fed and earned a lot of bonus points for our resourcefulness (and yes, we did prove that the map they gave us was wrong).

    • CoachLou wrote:

      When I was a Tenderfoot, I could not swim. My Dad, the ASM was taking the senior scouts on the 50 miler. I had more experience than most Tenderfeet backpacking, but they wouldn't let me go until I learned to swim. When I went off to the USMC, I had Swimming & Canoeing MB, Mile Swim and BSA Lifesaver..............I still don't like to get wet..................................unless I have snorkle gear on! :D
      One year at summer camp they set up a two buoys in the lake. I you could swim around them you got the Mile Swim badge. There were a number of adults in row boats along the route to pick up those who couldn't make it. About half way through I was getting a bit tired so I stop to float for a bit and rest. As my feet dangled down I found there was a sand bar in the middle of the lake and I could stand up. I thought "that's cheating" so I kept moving. Later I saw a guy walking across the sand bar pretending to swim. I was too honest.

    • WanderingStovie wrote:

      WanderingStovie wrote:

      I remember pinewood derby, rain gutter regatta, and a 50 mile canoe trip on the Flambeau River.
      I shot a BB gun, went snipe hunting, and saw my first black bear. The leader tried to brainwash me into thinking I was a waterfowl.
      I sat in the woods for hours looking for Snipe. I'm still mad at my father, the adult leader who organized the snipe hunt. But payback is part of the game. As an older scout I would always send the tenderfoots (tenderfeet?) to the other troops to borrow the left handed smoke shifters and bacon stretchers. It seems they got sent to quite a few troops before finding out that everyone forgot to pack them.

    • Cub Scout myself. Then Cub Master and Scout Master for my 3 sons. Oldest two sons were life scouts just needing to do Eagle Projects when BSA headquarters decided promoting homosexuality was more important than the principles scouting was founded on, so we all left.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • i was in cub scouts, we did no camping or hiking or anything like that. luckily, i got all that from my dad.

      one of my sons chose to try cub scouts; it was really just to hang out with his school friends. we had an active troop with and went on day hikes and several car camping trips a year. no backpacking at that age. he enjoyed it but chose not to move on to boy scouts.

      as evidenced by the above, the a scout troop is no better than the adults who volunteer.
      2,000 miler

    • odd man out wrote:

      WanderingStovie wrote:

      I remember pinewood derby, rain gutter regatta, and a 50 mile canoe trip on the Flambeau River.
      I still have my Pinewood Derby trophy and winning car.
      so does my son (2nd place). that trophy is between 2 and 3 feet tall, lol.

      the next year i got a call from the dad of the son who won the derby. wanted to let me know he copied my design from the previous year.
      2,000 miler

    • max.patch wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      WanderingStovie wrote:

      I remember pinewood derby, rain gutter regatta, and a 50 mile canoe trip on the Flambeau River.
      I still have my Pinewood Derby trophy and winning car.
      so does my son (2nd place). that trophy is between 2 and 3 feet tall, lol.
      the next year i got a call from the dad of the son who won the derby. wanted to let me know he copied my design from the previous year.
      Sort of like youth sports, the biggest problem is the parents.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • Astro wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      WanderingStovie wrote:

      I remember pinewood derby, rain gutter regatta, and a 50 mile canoe trip on the Flambeau River.
      I still have my Pinewood Derby trophy and winning car.
      so does my son (2nd place). that trophy is between 2 and 3 feet tall, lol.the next year i got a call from the dad of the son who won the derby. wanted to let me know he copied my design from the previous year.
      Sort of like youth sports, the biggest problem is the parents.
      yep!!!
      2,000 miler

    • I sent an Eagle scout off for a bucket of safety paint, with the black and yellow stripes. He came back later and said all he could find was polka dotted paint. I asked him if he had ever heard of a polka dotted safety sign... No he hadn't.

      One of the other adults nearby asked him if he had every heard the song 'The itsy bitsy yellow polka dotted bikini' ? He hadn't, but I had.

      Our smoke shifters didn't have threads. Eesh.

      Had snipe hunts.
      --
      "What do you mean its sunrise already ?!", me.

    • when my brother and i were scouts, we got this new guy as one of our troop leaders (asst. scoutmaster or some other flunky job). so we went car-camping one weekend with this new flunky. first night out flunky wanted to take us on a snipe hunt (sheesh) and asked for a volunteer to stay behind and tend the fire. my brother said he'd do it. off we went into the night.

      well flunky gets a new idea, instead of a snipe hunt we'd go back and scare my brother, wouldn't that be a hoot. i was dead set against that idea and told him so (my brother is easily scared and i didn't want to see him embarrassed by an ass hat like flunky). anyway flunky was the adult right? so we snuck back to camp where my bro was happily tending the fire. flunky starts making these really lame wild cat noises. my brother yelled to us to stop trying to scare him, but flunky kept it up. guess my bro did finally get scared, he went over to where the cars were parked and got into funky's car. should have been the end of it right? nope, flunky continued. then my bro get out of the car holding flunky's shotgun (we knew was loaded). one click of the hammer was all it took for flunky to nearly crap his pants. he very quickly let my bro know it was him making the noises and please put down the gun.

      later flunky was chewing out my bro for grabbing the shotgun, irritated i said to him, "i told you not to scare my brother".

    • Started in Cub Scouts, went to Webelos, then onto Boy Scouts. Achieved Eagle Scout without a moment to spare and was in OA. Continued on as a Jr Asst Scoutmaster then Asst Scoutmaster. Worked several summers at Camp Heritage near Uniontown Pa. Taught several different merit badges, most of which were water related. Even had my picture in Boys Life magazine.
      RIAP

    • Cub Scout, Webelo, Boy Scout-Star, OA, Explorer
      Learned to target shoot .22's at camp, qualified as NRA Expert Marksman, learned bushcraft skills in OA I still use on trail, hiked and climbed all over the midwest and then numerous Jamborees. Philmore. Finally Explorer Scout with a SAR unit, qualified as Advanced Open Water Diver, Wreck Diver, Rescue Diver, Cave Diver and Underwater Photographer, qualified on high-angle rescue, EMT, FireFighter I and II, K-12 Operator, HurstTool Certified. Actually got 4 major call-outs, including the 1977 ice storm where the licensed kids in the post commandeered surplus 4wd Army ambulances and station wagons from the Red Cross and rescued a busload of kids on a Greyhound in the middle of freaking nowhere...the Governor gave us awards for that one...

    • ScareBear wrote:

      Cub Scout, Webelo, Boy Scout-Star, OA, Explorer
      Learned to target shoot .22's at camp, qualified as NRA Expert Marksman, learned bushcraft skills in OA I still use on trail, hiked and climbed all over the midwest and then numerous Jamborees. Philmore. Finally Explorer Scout with a SAR unit, qualified as Advanced Open Water Diver, Wreck Diver, Rescue Diver, Cave Diver and Underwater Photographer, qualified on high-angle rescue, EMT, FireFighter I and II, K-12 Operator, HurstTool Certified. Actually got 4 major call-outs, including the 1977 ice storm where the licensed kids in the post commandeered surplus 4wd Army ambulances and station wagons from the Red Cross and rescued a busload of kids on a Greyhound in the middle of freaking nowhere...the Governor gave us awards for that one...
      Wait - as I shoot clay pigions and targets at Horseshoe - I saw lots of safety training. Nothing suggested NRA - can you give us more detail... I am interested.
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:

    • CoachLou wrote:

      My father got us involved with the local gun club also. There were junior NRA club competitions, and at our summer camp, they had a rifle range for 22s.

      Ha! My troop went to Sequassen and Mattatuck. I could probably still walk around both camps by memory without getting lost. Good times.
      Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.

    • Yeah, our camp had a 50 yard .22 range with 8 lanes and a range house. You bought an ammo card and they would stamp a star on it for...3 bucks? For each box of lead 22LR(50ct) they would use a hole punch and knock off a point of the star(5 pointed star)...so 3 bucks for 5 boxes, which was a rip because it was 35 cents for 50 at the hardware store...but they did provide really nice Winchester 52's, so getting awards was just a matter of time and money!! I remember there was some additional NRA fee the Troop picked up...might be for the rangemaster...he wasn't a TL...

      I also remember that OA was the ONLY way to go at camp, because OA got to "wilderness" camp way away and out of sight from the cabin tents and cots, in teepees or pup tents without much supervision...

    • That size range sounds about right to me. No tower though. I think we paid about 25 cents for 5 rounds. That was per target. I tried to do good. But my eye glasses rarely kept up with such vision requirements. I could hit the paper ring target but getting in the inner rings was difficult for me. Navy boot camp I did manage to qualify with 3 clips using the M-1 Garand. Rifle.
      --
      "What do you mean its sunrise already ?!", me.

    • CoachLou wrote:

      CoachLou wrote:

      My father got us involved with the local gun club also. There were junior NRA club competitions, and at our summer camp, they had a rifle range for 22s.

      I don't think I was clear here......my dad got our troop involved in the local gun club..........a handful of us were on the Jr. team.
      Didn't the tv show Dallas have a J.R. shooting team? :whistling:
      Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.

    • My sister & I tortured our little brother by chanting at him:

      The Cub Scout follows Akila
      Akila follows the Cub Scout
      Akila and the Cub Scout walk hand in hand
      Neither one of them knows where they are going.

      I think he stuck in scouting through elementary school and maybe a year or two in junior high but I'm pretty sure he didn't continue with scouting when he went to high school.