The Bloggers
Original site: scouterjeff.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab) ↗
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Wow . I hadn't realized how long it has been since I posted anything new - almost a year, and much has happened in that year! As many can relate, real life got in the way a little. Just about two years ago, my company announced they were closing our site.
Scout 1 is trying to raise funds for his Eagle Scout project. Message me if you'd like to contribute - - - - - - - - - - - Hello, I am a Boy Scout from Troop 117 working on my Eagle Scout Project. I am making signs for a "Planet Walk" at the Cameron Park Rotary Community Observatory.
Beavers, beavers, nom, nom, nom" That is all... m ore to come soon
The 80's may not have taught me much about style (looks like that is a trucker cap, Dallas Cowboys jacket, camo pants, and Puma sneakers - yikes!), but it sure did teach me about service to others. Lending a helping hand, doing a good turn daily, being a not just a leader, but a leader who…
One badge to rule them all, one badge to find them, one badge to bring them all and in Scouting bind them" It took one badge to start them all. Like weird parody of the Lord of the Rings One Ring poem*, it took one badge to start them all, and bring them all together.
It is that time of year when Cub Scout Packs are having their Blue & Gold banquets, and the old, senior Webelos are bridging from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts to become the young new guys. Every year I think they keep looking younger and smaller (as my own boys I see everyday get older and…
There was once a young scout, who was new to the troop, and off on one of his first great adventures. He was in the Eagle patrol, and looked up to the older scouts in the patrol. They were all of on a hike one day during a campout, and someone had brought along a…
It's the big Game Day. No, not the Super Bowl, the scout troop's Game Day. A day full of board games, card games, dice games, any games (except video games). The idea was to have a fun winter day activity when getting scouts out on a campout near the holidays tends to be more a…
We're back! The holidays and several business trips impacted my desire to update the blog regularly over the last few months (OK, it was the video games...the holidays always bring new video games releases and purchases...), but it's a new year and new scouting adventures are beginning, so expect more to come.
A perennial part of scouting is recruiting, and 'tis the season. For Cub Packs, recruiting usually happens at the end of summer and the start of the school year, though savvy packs will want to recruit at the start of the summer as well (often encouraged by the district or council to get Day Camp/Summer…
Wow, this is my 300th post. Quite an achievement I guess, and let's hope for 300 more. I tried to think of something novel to write for this one, but I don't have anything burning to talk about. But I thought maybe I can tie it into the movie "300" and the principles of Sparta.
I remember the early days of the internet, before everyone and everything could be found there. Back in the days of dial-up modem and mobile phones the size (and weight) of a typical office stapler, webpages were much simpler and very static.
This picture of Scout 1 was taken almost 6 years ago at a pack meeting. We had intended to liven up the pack meetings with a slideshow to promote upcoming events, make announcements, and recognize the scouts receiving awards each month.
It's been quite here for a while, sorry about that. I've been a little less focused on scouting this summer (hopefully it doesn't impact my troop too much). While I come up with new content, have a look at this video blog the local district executive has started.
Back in 2010 our scout council did a March to the Capitol (convenient that the state capitol is in our council). The march was a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the BSA and scouting in America. It was a grand event drawing in nearly 4000 scouts and scouters (if I recall correctly).
Day 7 (Sunday July 17) We got up and had breakfast in the dining hall and then Steve and I went to pick up rental cars at Marathon airport. When we returned, we loaded up and said our farewell to the Florida Sea Base.
Day 6 (Saturday July 16) Our last day on the ship we had pancakes for breakfast, cooked up Logan (the only meal the scouts actually cooked). We then spent the morning sailing for a good hour or more, everyone got a chance at the helm.
Day 5 (Friday July 15) We had omelettes for breakfast at the dining hall before heading back out to sea. We sailed again briefly in the morning, but the weather was not in our favor and encountered rain which delayed our dives a bit.
Day 4 (Thursday July 14) This was our mid-week day, where we headed back to Sea Base to restock on ice or other provisions the ship needed and have to activities around the base. Breakfast was (????). We got into base at about 9:30, but had free time until about 10:50.
Day 3 (Wednesday July 13) Breakfast consisted of eggs and sausage. Our talented cook-captain prepared over-easy, sunny-side-up, and scrambled all in one pan. He even managed to get a serving of Eggs Bendict in the center (note: they all looked liked scrambled eggs to the rest of us).
Day 2 (Tuesday July 12) We left port early in the morning and had a cold cereal breakfast at sea. Maneuvering in and out of Sea Base requires navigating a small channel since the water is shallow in that area.
Day 1 (July 10-11) Day 1 started early the night before as we met at Sacramento airport for a short flight down to LAX and then the red-eye flight to Miami overnight. The lay-over in LAX was brief, and they boarded our flight early, so much so that everyone was on board before the Nystroms…
This page will be a summary collecting the entries documenting the various days we spent at the Florida Sea Base. The first installment will be coming tomorrow. (we've already taken the trip, I'm just catching up on documenting it). Day 1 - Sunday night / Monday Day 2 - Tuesday Day 3 - Wednesday Day 4 - Thursday Day 5…
It is well known that there is a long history and connection with the Boy Scouts and the US space program (details can be found in the pdf file here ). For instance 11 of the 12 US men who've walked on the moon had been scouts.
Cub Scout Day Camp 2010. Entertainment for the cubs during their lunch break was an adult leader jousting activity.
We made it! Time to clean up and go to the luau.
We went to Camp Hi-Sierra recently and they had a neat display of photos from their alumni association. The camp was established in 1949 and has a long history of tradition. In fact one of our troop's ASMs had been there as a scout in the 1970s and one of the commissioners this year had…
With summer camp season, I figure it is time for some of my favorite camps. They sang this one three times (every morning they served sausage with breakfast). I think I've probably heard it at every summer camp I've been too, even when I was a youth.
Headed to Florida Sea Base
The Adult Leader Skill of the Week at summer camp two weeks ago was "grow a beard." Put away those razors and let it grow. The Skill of the Week also counted toward the Sage award for adult leaders, along with other things like "Nap on Safely" training which I also made sure to take…
The super dirty kid in the middle is Scout 1 at his first day of Cub Day Camp between the Tiger and Wolf year. It was a great year, having completed his first year as a scout, and going off to camp by himself (sort of, we had adult leaders with them, but he was…
No, the title isn't about me and my aging body. Rather, these nice picnic tables. The pack built 4 of them back in 2013 as a donation to our District's Cub Scout Day Camp and the park hosts the camp each year.
I have a new respect for kitchen staff at big events (or really any cook staff). Normally when camping I just have to deal with cooking for myself or family or just a couple people when with the troop. A couple of times I've helped with bigger troop or pack campouts for maybe 50 people…
Maps have always fascinated me every since I was a kid and my parents had a subscription to National Geographic. I particularly like topographical maps. Google Maps and Google Earth are cool because you get great aerial views, but nothing really portrays height and steepness like a topo maps does.
Following the previous post , here are the sites we stayed at during our 1988 trek, starting at Ute Springs, and working our way up to climb Baldy Mountain, and then out through Ponil.
Up on the Philmont website, they have a cool plug-in of map data for all the trails and campsites at Philmont that can be used with Google Earth. I would imagine it is great for planning ahead for your next trip or reliving some of the details of trips past.
As Memorial Day comes to a close, I think upon my grandparents, veterans of WW II, and my father who served in the Army in the years after. And those friends and family to many to mention who have served as well.
Found some interesting statistics online about scouting and it influence on producing leaders. I can't vouch for the accuracy but most of them sounds about right to me.
Several years ago, I noticed our pack flag some having a hard time getting put away in the box that had been made for it and the American flag we use in Pack meetings and events. You see, it had twenty years worth of event ribbons on it!
My scouts asked my to give a class on the Scouting Heritage Merit Badge, which I'm a counselor for. It's a great one since it teaches about the founders of Scouting in America and how the program has changed over the years.
My wife when she was a Brownie.
We had our annual "Advancement Campout" recently and I saw (well heard) the scouts do something that really brought joy that the patrol method works. It was the first troop campout for most of the new scouts in the troop, and the whole group of new scouts made it.
In honor of my father-in-law who passed away last week, here's a picture of him and his brother when they were scouts. Note the merit badges on the sleeve on the first class uniform, and he one even has his pocketknife clipped to his belt. Fine looking chaps!
The BSA came out with a new Scout Handbook this year, which means changes to the requirements. The first set of changes revolves around the Scout badge. It was previously just a badge, and had a few simple joining requirements, but wasn't officially a rank.
I attended the District Awards Night for my district, and it had a great "Scoutmaster Minute" closing by the Council President. He spoke of who his father, and scoutmaster, told him there are 3 types of people. First are the ones who makes things happen.
Troop 117: Merit Badges Earned in 2015 : The troop earned 117 merit badges by my count in 2015. The breakdown is shown in the image above.
We spent Friday night on an overnight climbing event at a local climbing gym. They do a great program for scouts to earned the Rock Climbing merit badge, and the troop goes every year. It is actually one of our more popular events, I think they like the novelty of stay up all night (the…
The list of merit badges earned in 2015 is out. I updated my infographic on them. Mostly it is the same as last year, give or take 10% on any given badge. The top 13 are Eagle required, all being awarded over 47,000 times (which makes sense with over 50,000 Eagles being awarded each year).
Did you know there is more than just the Pinewood Derby for Cub Scouts? There is a triumvirate of races, collectively referred to as the Grand Prix. Pinewood Derby (car race) Raingutter Regatta (boat race) Space Derby (rocket race) And of course the BSA makes official kits for each.
The high school I went to (and my father before me for that matter) was torn down several years ago. They sometimes do that to old buildings approaching 90 years old, particularly if they can raise the money for a new modern building.
