The Bloggers
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My 30th podacst is available for download. I had a real great time with this. I chatted with a fellow backpacker from the Denver area. His name is Jason Klass. We talked about Light weight backpacking. Jason has a fantastic blog called Gear Talk where he reviews gear and gives tips about light weight backpacking.
When I was a Scout singing was a big part of our meetings, camp outs, and of course camp fires. I have noticed lately that Scouts don't really like to sing that much. Why is that? What ever happened to singing?
It is that time of year again when we start thinking about paying our commitment to Scouting forward to the future. Friends of Scouting is the Council's annual fundraising campaign. I won't go into great details, but lets leave it here...
Winter time is no time to forget about leave no trace. In fact, winter time is a great time to teach and reinforce those Leave no Trace principles with your Scouts. Winter camping offers a pristine environment where every day there can be new trails, things tend to disappear in the snow, and camping takes…
Saturday was a terrific day of Scouting, let me recap it for you. The day started with Training. Our District holds "Super Saturday Training" about 3 or 4 times a year, depending on what the Council activities look like. Super Saturday training allows leaders to get their training done in one day (Expect Scoutmasters and…
Since I am a gear junky and live by the axiom that "If you take care of your gear, it will take care of you", I am always aware of where my gear is. Particularly when it comes to the Friday nights that we are departing on camp outs.
Sometimes you stumble on something that is worth sharing. Well in my never ending stumbling.. I found this gem and need to share it. ATTITUDE by: Charles Swindoll The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts." - Aristotle The Scout law tells us that a Scout is Brave. So what is Bravery and how are we as Scouts and Scouters Brave?
Got an email and a comment posted to the blog from a reader that has a great site on winter camping. Please check the site out at http://www.wintercampers.com/ . Some real good stuff there. Thanks Jim for the info about the site. Have a Great Scouting Day!
We are in the Cold Season and its time to dust off the snow shoes and pull out the poly pro underwear... get out there and go camping. There is nothing more exhilarating that challenging yourself in a harsh environment.
Nothing to profound just a simple request. We have had our first "Official" snow fall of the year, in fact as I sit and stare out of my window, the light dusting of Updates every 5 minutes...."THIS JUST IN... another snow flake has hit the ground"...
A week or so ago , I was asked to participate in a "Trivia Contest". This was a unique contest as it was to be part of a Scouting Podcast called The Leaders Campfire, hosted by Cubmaster Chris and his sidekick Scoutmaster Steve.
If you have followed the blog for any length of time, you know a couple "Non Scouting" things about me. First, I am a huge Football fan, and second, I can't stand the way professional athletes throw their status around and set terrible examples.
What medicine works fast, cures the blues, lowers blood pressure and much more? What medicine can be found anywhere, can be shared with friends- you actually want to it to be addicting- and it's totally free? Laughter! Share a joke with your friends.
For the Backpacking tip this week.. I want to share a recipe with you. Borrowed from http://blog.trailcooking.com/ , it is a great tasting, easy recipe that will warm you up while filling you up. Check out more recipes at this site.
Sitting here this morning watching the morning news, having a cup a coffee, and there was a report on Christmas giving. The point of the story was that the economy sucked. Well... if you have a pulse and believe absolutely everything you hear..sure it sucks...
Red Sky at Night.... I can't remember the little poem, and I am not sure how it applies to Scouters.. This picture was taken the other night, an incredible sun set here in the Northwest. This at the end of a Great Scouting Day!
I had a talk with a good friend of mine about a sermon he heard at his church on Sunday. The Pastor of his Church gave a talk about the "Golden Rule" and how it is supposed to guide our lives.
Another year is coming to a close . The final Court of Honor of the Year is in the books. The Scouts did as they always do, a great job. They worked hard and achieved their individual Goals. Tonight at the Court of Honor the boys showed a year in review video.
Today we did our part to help the community by participating in Scouting for Food. Yes, we collected food, then helped as other units dropped their collections off at our Church. 22 Scouts from our Troop helped carry, stage, weigh, and sort 8000 lbs of food.
When I was a Scout in Holland , BSA Troop 100, Brunssum, Transatlantic Council in the Charlemagne district, after our first camp out with the other Scouts from Germany, Holland, England, and Canada, our Scoutmaster would award us a little purple patch.
Staying with the theme of Winter Backpacking or Camping this week we are going to discuss the camp site. One of the biggest challenges in a cold weather environment is Wind. It is one thing, like rain or driving snow that you can not change.
“The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.”- Lord Robert S.S. Baden Powell of Gilwell, founder of Scouting. As you prepare for Christmas, give thanks for everything you have and the privileges you have just because of who you are.
I could not have said it better. This is Baxter Black, my kinda guy... Just a guy in love with America just like me. Enjoy! Learn more about Mr. Black at his website. www.baxterblack.com And for those of you that love the pork as much as I...
It is the morning after another great Thanksgiving. What made this Thanksgiving great for me this year was the simplicity. Now I don't want to start sounding like a old fuddy duddy... But, coupled with the fact the leading up to Thanksgiving I was on the "impact" subject and did a lot of soul searching…
I would like to wish all of my Friends in Scouting a very blessed Thanksgiving. As you have read my blog over the last year you know a bit about who I am and I have shared on many occassions just how thankful I am.
For those of you that follow my blog, I have created a blog for the members of the Thunderbird Area that have registered for the 2010 National Jamboree! It will be a conduit of information and news to keep up with National Jamboree events, time lines, and news.
Backpacking puts you out into the wilderness, away from the hustle and bustle of every day life.. away from cars and phones and immediate care. It is important that we enter the wilderness area with a solid foundation of camping skills.
Today we honor all of those that have served in the forces that protect our Country and preserve our way of life with Pride and Honor. Thank you for your commitment, selfless service, and dedication to keeping our Nation free. Happy Veterans Day! Have a Great Scouting Day!
In the Shakespeare play Twelfth Night Malvolio reads; "Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." Like I have said before, Leaders are not born they are made. Some men seem to be born to greatness however, whether that is due to family bonds…
Hope that everyone of you that are eligible to vote did so. Voting is not just a Right...it is a responsibility. Have a Great Scouting Day!
There are things in our lives that influence every decision we make. Whether that influence comes from within, as in those experiences we have from places we have been, things we have done, that which we have learned, or from outside sources like people we come in contact with, the weather, or conditions that we…
It's hard to believe sometimes how time flies... We had a Troop committee meeting today, and as I sat and listened to the committee conduct it's business, I realized that it is November. Now before you think I am a total dope...
I received an email the other day asking why I focus so much on leadership in our program. No to be fair, the emailer was not from my unit, just a faithful reader of the blog. The reader asked why I focus on leadership and am so adamant about the methods.
In interest of not rediscovering the wheel... I stumbled on this article by Mark Langston in Backpacker Magazine. Rather than paraphrase, I thought I would post it in its entirety. Enjoy. How to Choose a Campsite A NOLS veteran offers tips on balancing comfort, safety, and Leave No Trace principles.
First it was Facebook ... now it's Scouting Own Online Community . If you have not seen it yet.. it's worth a look see. What will you get out of it? Probably nothing unless of course you want to broaden you Scouting horizons, meet some great Scouting people and stay in touch with friends in the Scouting…
A Bag of Bags! Keeping your pack organized is important for many reasons. You need to know where your gear is. When the weather gets bad, you want to be able to get to clothing, shelter, and those items that will help you get through the conditions.
As we get ready for our winter camping we need to exercise the Scout motto.. Be prepared. Camping in the winter months presents different challenges and requires more skills. Winter camping requires a camper to pay closer attention to the details.
Courage, Competence, Candor, and Commitment are four leadership traits that are valuable in the leaders tool box for effective leadership. You can hear more about them on my latest show on the Scoutmaster Minute Podcast. Listen here. Thanks to those of you that have expressed concern.
“Show me a poorly uniformed troop and I'll show you a poorly uniformed leader.” - Sir Robert S.S. Baden Powell Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the methods of Scouting... and the Uniform of the Boy Scouts of (Insert Country here).
The weather is changing, getting colder and wetter as we approach winter. It is time again to look at the clothing that we wear on our outings, whether it is a backpacking trip or a close to home camp out, we need to be aware that what we have on is just as important, if…
By now those of you that follow Scouting on the Internet have read the story of one Coleman Carter. Coleman is an 18 year old Scout that has earned 121 merit badges. That is far and away more than the average of 30 that your typical Scout earns.
Last night my son and I settled in and watched a football game that I would probably not otherwise watch. But it was Tuesday and it was the only Football game on.. so being the football fans that we are, we watched the Temple Owls play the Ohio Bobcats in a pretty ugly game.
I must have been about 10 years old the time my Dad and I went camping alone for the first time. I don't remember much about the trip other than the fact that my Dad seemed to have everything down to science.
The tent is hung and the gear is stored. Another camp out in the books and sealed in the memories of our Scouts... and leaders. This weekend was our annual Webelos Woods Camp out. Every year we put together a nice event, when I say we, I mean the Troops of the District under the…
The National Outdoor leadership School is a premier organization that teaches leadership using the outdoors as a class room. It challenges the student to push themselves as they lead others. Critical thinking, skills, and team building are just a part of the course that drives the NOLS and its students to adventure, learning, and what…
After re reading my last post , in response to a Jambo Interview question, I thought it interesting that as an Adult leader in Scouting... We should know all that stuff and act like it too.. all the time. Not just when it comes to interviews..
I opened the door.. so here it is: JC, a reader of the Blog posted a comment it reads; " Any advise for those of us facing the Jambo interview process? " Well JC, yeah I have some advise... now take it as advise, I can only tell you from my experience.
I just returned from our Contingent "Get to know Ya!" Weekend. During the weekend, we learned which leaders would be going with which in the 14 Troops that will be attending from the Cascade Pacific Council. Since I have been selected to go as a Scoutmaster, I was extremely interested in who would be the…
Compliments of our friends at GORP , the GORP gear pro Keith Morton gives us a great tip how to keep your heavy stuff in the top section of your pack. Fight Gravity's Drag Pin a stuff bag inside the pack to stop dense items from gravitating downward.
