The Bloggers
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As we get into the colder weather of fall and then winter our packs will start to get a bit heavier. At least that is the norm. Winter gear is a little heavier and you tend to carry more. That is unless you have a rich uncle or top of the line winter gear or…
I suppose it is time to poke at the hive again. I reposted an article by Doug Metz the other day called Honoring the Scout Law . Now I did not write one word of the original post, but I thought it was well written and expresses the views of many Scouts and Scouters currently serving…
I attended Wood Badge in 2005. I was in my 2nd year as a Scoutmaster and the troop was growing. I had a real strong group of Scouting friends that all encouraged me to get to Wood Badge as soon as possible.
This weeks gear pick is one of my favorite pieces of gear. The MSR Whisperlite Universal. I bought my first Whisperlite, the Whisperlite International back in the mid '80′s. I drug it all over the place and got every penny out of that stove.
Last week I was surprised when I was given the patch for the messenger of peace initiative. This is a unit and individual recognition, and so when I got it while I was down at out council office, I was humbled.
Reblogged from A Scouter's Journey: BSA has been getting a lot of bad press lately. I'm not sure how much the general public pays attention to Scouts in the news but having a daily Google News alert on it I see quite a bit.
When I became a Platoon Sergeant in the Army I attended a leadership Development course called the Advanced Non Commissioned Officer Course (ANCOC). I learned a lot in my leadership development courses in the Army, but what it really came down to was doing the job, hands on training, and working with my Soldiers.
The other day I went to the high school to pick up my youngest son from Football practice. Practice was running late, so I hung out and watched as the players ran sprints and did up downs. Now, for those of you that have played a little football, you know that after 3 hours of…
This weeks gear pick is not really a piece of gear that floats around in my pack. This week I want to review the most essential part backpacking gear.. My boots. I had to get new boots before the Philmont trek and boots are one of those things that I get real picky on.
Under the Dining Fly It was our third night on the trail at Philmont. We had hiked into Harlan Camp from Dean Cow that afternoon. It was a monster hike taking us out of Dean canyon, under the highway, over the Cimarron river and then back up through Vaca Camp and then into Harlan.
Here is a great energy snack for your next trek. The Honey Organic Stinger Waffle . I had never had one of these tasty treats until they appeared in our food bags at… You guessed it.. Philmont! I immediately fell in love with these and would search every swap box for them.
Time to stir the pot again and call out those Scouters that choose to be Patrol leaders, Mommy/Daddy Coddlers, baby sitters, in short.. those that don't do it right. Yep.. I'm gonna piss some folks off with this one and to be honest.
Since I am a self-proclaimed gear junky I thought that I would start a new weekly post to the blog introducing some of my favorite gear and some of the cool gear that is out there. This is not an ad for the gear, simply gear that I use that I love, hate, or must…
As I have been digging into my copy of Aids to Scoutmastership the last couple days, I have become more and more a fan of both Scoutmastership and of Baden-Powell. There is a chapter in the book called "Scouting is Simple"… here it is: To an outsider Scouting must at first sight appear to be…
In the last post, we got a pretty good feel for the general attitude toward the "Merit Badge Mill" for a lack of a better term. It seems that there is not a lot of support for this style of merit badge earning.
I have always been a Scoutmaster that encourages advancement and using all of the methods of Scouting. I have always put a priority on the Scouts having fun, seeking new adventures and in the process, rank, merit badges, and other goodies will happen.
Philmont does something to people-it is not something that can be put into words easily. Something ''gets into your blood.'' A love for the land, the atmosphere, the people-all these work together in you to make Philmont an experience that you can never forget.
Once in a while you find a place on earth that becomes your very own. A place undefined. Waiting for you to bring your color, your self. A place untouched, unspoiled, undeveloped. Raw, honest, and haunting. No one, nothing is telling you how to feel or who to be.
I will go into greater detail on the trip to Philmont in a later post… But I wanted to get a note out to let everyone know that we are back from Philmont with a ton of great memories and a longing to return to Scouting's Paradise.
Last night at our Troop meeting I gave my annual Summer Camp talk with the Scouts. This is never a popular talk with the parents because I kind of go against the grain when it comes to conventional wisdom regarding "Camp".
The other night at our weekly Troop meeting we did something really out of the ordinary. The Scouts did their thing.. that was normal.. but we held a parent meeting and then Parent break outs for the Scouts going to Philmont, and the Scouts going to Summer Camp.
Timely. As some of you may know, but now you all will… My oldest son, John, the Eagle Scout made a huge decision recently to put college on hold and follow in his Dad's footsteps and join the Army. Not just join the Army, but do exactly what I did in the Army.
The BSA's response to the Oregon Supreme Courts recent decision on ineligible Volunteer files. There should never be a cover up, and we want those that are sick enough to engage in this activity to be punished severely. Further, we don't want them in our organization.
As everyone that reads this blog knows, the BSA's new(er) slogan is as the title reads… "Prepared. For Life". I have often stayed away from advertising gimmicks and jingles.. "An Army of One", and "Be all that you can Be" come to mind.
Scouting Magazine's blog, Bryan on Scouting recently posted an article discussing 25 ways Scouters can make the most of Summer Camp . I found it interesting some of the comments made, by and large, they were spot on. I thought this was one worth sharing.
**CAUTION- THIS MAY COME ACROSS AS A RANT.** The two subjects that cause the most argument and trouble historically are those of religion and politics. I try to steer clear of both. Not because I lack opinions in those matters, just that I believe at the end of the day, your opinion is yours and…
So this is the promotion video for next years Over the Edge Event!!! They used some footage from my camera as well as a few remarks from yours truly… Enjoy! Have a Great Scouting Day!
Ok, so before everyone gets completely tired of hearing about the Over the Edge fund Raiser.. let me do one or two more posts on it and then we will call it good. Yesterday I went over the edge for Scouting.
Our Scouts like to play card games. In their tents.. on picnic tables.. when ever we stop for an extended period of time, it seems that a deck of cards come out. Now, they are not gambling, no money exchanges hands, and for the most part they are simple games.
Well, I completed more training today. Yep… can never have enough training. But today I completed a Wilderness First Aid course. Two reasons for the training. First, it is a requirement for each crew on a Philmont trek to have at least one person in the crew certified in Wilderness First Aid.
Today I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, the Dennis Prager Show . I was listening to an older show in which he was talking about values, which, if you listen to his show for more than 10 minutes you will find that values is the main subject and the answer to most of…
Yesterday I blogged about the ‘reasons' that I have been away from the blog and podcast. Trending comments and emails would suggest that something is wrong over here in Jerryland.. and while life has its struggles in all of us.
June 11th…my twins graduated from High School… June 12th my oldest son enlisted in the United States Army… June 13th my daughter takes off on an adventure with girlfriends to LA for a week to celebrate their graduation… June 14th I secured my last $1500 to qualify to Go Over the Edge… June 15th the…
The rabbit comes out of the hole.. goes around the tree.. and back into the hole.. now pull… It's a bowline. Its that simple. That simple to teach, that simple to do. And it's a knot that every Scout must know.
Well? It appears that I am the one that loves to stir up the hornet's nest on occasion. This week I posted on a subject that has received mixed feelings. Most agree with what I said, some did not. I can live with that.
After our last backpack trip we sat with the Scouts and had a good session of Start, Stop, and Continue. I took the opportunity to do a little coaching on physical conditioning and that is where it got messy. During our discussion on what we needed to do to get better at backpacking, I made…
Back in the 90′s when I was a First Sergeant in the Army, I was asked to start writing some Non Commissioned Officer Development classes and leadership subjects. I wrote a few articles and even had one on leadership published in the NCO Journal the Army's Magazine for Non Commissioned Officer news, issues, and discussion.
Most, if not all of us have hero's, idols, or sports figures that we are fans of. Now, I am not one to oogle over celebrities or go out of my way to get an autograph. In fact I am quite the opposite and continuously preach that we need to be careful of who we…
Selfless Service has been a main stay of the Scouting movement. It is the desire to serve others. It is the motivation to "So unto others…" It is essentially the Scouting way. The value of Selfless service is important more than ever in our society.
On a rainy Thursday evening the Thunderbird District of the Cascade Pacific Council converged on Willamette National Cemetery. If they didn't come the 140,000 grave markers would go without a flag this Memorial Day. For 44 years the Thunderbird District has placed flags on the graves at Willamette.
Well, I thought I would let the dust settle a bit on the issue before I weighed in. And much to my surprise, there has not been a lot of buzz about the appointment of our 12th Chief Scout Executive.
NOS means "Not otherwise specified" in Military lingo. It essentially means that we can't find a category for it.. and so it is with this post. It has been a while since I posted last, so here is some catching up and thoughts.
Putting on the uniform does not make a fellow a Scout, but putting on the uniform is a sign to the world that one has taken the Scout obligation and folk expect Scout like acts from one wearing it" – Handbook for Boys 1927 And last… but certainly not least..
Besides backpacking and teaching skills for the outdoors, my favorite subject in Scouting is leadership. I know that leadership is but a small part of Scouting, but leadership when done correctly requires the leader to be of good character. Leadership asks of the Scout to develop good citizenship, and of course being a good leader…
Now don't let the word personal get you. Yes we want each and every Scout to grow, but we want them to find this growth within the context of Scouting's values (found in the Oath and Law). Personal growth is a tricky method in that it will sneak up on you as the Scout develops.
I received an email the other day asking some questions about the backpacking video that I recently put up on the blog. They are great questions and so I thought I'd share the email and answers here. Question: What sort of Food Bag do you use?
This method is somewhat confusing, especially at the troop level for parents coming from the Cub Scout program. I say this because it is different. I'll explain as we go. First and foremost, no matter what level of Scouting you participate in Adult Association starts with being a good example.
First of all, thank you all for the congratulations and nice comments about my oldest son earning his Eagle Award. On behalf of John and the rest of the family, we are thankful and appreciate the comments. It's been a helluva week around here and I have not made time to sit and write.
Tonight my son was presented his Eagle Scout Award. I can not express in words how very proud I am of him. Over the past 11 years him and I have been on a great adventure. At times the trail was rocky and hard to navigate.
As most of you know I am Troop Guide for Wood Badge Course W1-492-11. One of my Might Buffalo patrol members needed some help with his ticket. One of his items is to introduce his Troop to the many different ways of preparing meals while camping.
