The Bloggers
The True North show, gear shows and 100 Days of Scouting entries.
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Wow…it's been well over a year since I last posted anything. A lot has happened since that last post. We've found a new home, and have settled into a new-ish life. We do things a bit differently now, not a lot of drastic changes on how we live our lives, but enough that we realized…
I have been pretty quiet on the social front, not a lot to say, but I have some things to talk about…Here is an excerpt that I posted on Google + a month ago. On October 9th, our family's lives changed forever.
This Scout has been in the troop for about a year and a half. Off the cuff, I may have posted about him, and all the troubles that we've had, which included getting suspended twice for his behaviors. The second suspension was to be his last…anymore issues and he was going to be asked to…
There is a post over on Facebook, I don't know who all is in that group, but in a nutshell (why a nutshell and not a teacup, or a bowl?), the post rabbit trailed a bit from "why did you join the troop that you did?"
I make my rounds on the social media sites, commenting on public forums, or managing some of my pages. I can honestly say, that every post I read, will illicit a response from me, whether good, bad or otherwise. I don't comment to be condescending or a know-it-all, moreover to give my thoughts, albeit outside…
I ended up going to Joey's pack meeting last week. We did the raingutter regatta, and other than a couple of parental hiccups, it went pretty good. I got to talk to some of the Webelos, also. With a series of unfortunate events, I haven't had a chance to talk with any of the Webelos.
As we enter into the cross over season, I got a very nice surprise. Just to set the table, my troop is going into it's fifth year. The first 2 years, we only recruited from one pack, our "brother" pack, the pack that is chartered with the same CO as us.
Along the lines of what I wrote about Cub Scouting, in all fairness, I really shouldn't have just attacked one aspect of Scouting. I should have jumped all over things and just said to do away with all Scouting. I mean, really, what does the BSA stand for?
I really didn't know what the uproar was until last night, when Darrin messaged me and said that his comment wasn't directed towards me. Well, that started a discussion, and I laughed about it. Then as I found out, there are some who felt the need to delete it, and then they promptly left the…
Yeah, pretty strong words. I have a bunch of reasons as to why the BSA should just fold up the Cub Scout program. There is no big payoff by having the Cub program. Boy Scout troops don't get any dividends for having Cub Scouts come to their troops.
I have been at this for 10 years now. Seen a lot of ups and downs. The downs mostly come from having to make difficult decisions when dealing with adults. Go figure. The Ups come from working with the Scouts.
In less than 24 hours, 2013 will be in my rearview mirror, and 2014 will be in the windshield. As with driving a car, it does no real good to look in the rearview, but maybe only as a reminder of what happened in the past, to look out for in the future.
We spend a quiet day at home on Christmas Day. It's kind of become the family tradition. I thought about it the other night, when I was informed by my wife that we were going to the in-laws on Christmas Day.
There is a discussion on Scout Nation, about a Cubmaster crossing over with his son and there not being a replacement…nobody is stepping up to assume the role. On the same note, the CC, an ACM and the treasurer are all crossing over at the same time.
I have been a Scout leader going on 10 years. I have experienced some super highs and super lows. Fortunately, when I have gotten super low, there has been someone that is even lower than me, and trying to help them get up, brings me up.
A Scout and Troop 1363 parted company a couple weeks ago. Why did the Scout leave? The reason that he left really isn't what I am writing about. I don't want to go into the issues that led to this Scout leaving.
I wanted to do a follow-up to a blog post that I wrote in January about our TLT. It's about time for another TLT session, because we hold them within a month after each troop election. It helps to refresh the Scouts who were on the last PLC, and obviously, help the new Scouts find…
Last night was our Pack's Blue and Gold. It's the culmination of a lot of hard work by a lot of people, not only for the event, but for the whole Scouting year. We all work our tails off to make the event a success, and I will say, other than a couple of awards…
Saturday was TLT…Troop Leadership Training for those that aren't into using a lot of acronyms. The event was well attended…actually, the entire PLC was there, and they were really excited. One of the first things that we did was the ball-toss game.
Always cross them. Always dot them…you know the drill. We have rules and regulations to follow, but sometimes, not everyone does. And that comes down to recharters. Today, I had to drop off applications for Scouts that crossed over. We wanted to get them transferred so that they begin to advance in rank.
Having one of those days? Can't get everything completed in the time frame that you have allotted for yourself? Well, fear not, fellow Scouters, I am in the same boat. As you may or may not know, I am a Scoutmaster for Troop 1363, but I am also the Committee Chair for Pack 4363.
Last night, I talked with one of my transfer scouts…his younger brother crossed last month, and he decided to join him in our troop. He came to the meeting wearing his old neckerchief and numbers. I jokingly made a comment to him, and he said "uh, yea, well, I don't know if I am staying…
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here's an excerpt: 600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 2,600 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt.
Continuing on my last post… So, his side deals have cost him a troop, and probably a pack. In the past 3 years, he has held up the re-chartering process, too, by not completing his YPT. We called him, emailed him, stopped in and did everything to get him to complete it.
I have posted over on G+ that our troop is moving charter orgs. Well, I figured that I would confirm that here, too. We started our troop in February of 2010. Our CO had a pack already, so we used that as a catalyst to start the troop.
I have been blessed it seems. I don't know how it happens, but I have been getting some really good scouts lately. A couple months ago, a new Scout, Weylin, came to the troop meeting on Thursday night, signed up and was at the campout the next night, ready for a great weekend.
I couldn't be more excited, going into this year's summer camp…. I may not have posted much lately, but I decided to put my fingers on the keyboard and some words on the screen. The hardest part about blogging is saying what you mean.
So, with my mind racing, I put some words together…words that I hoped wouldn't offend or get back to anyone and taken the wrong way. *Disclaimer* – In no way, shape or form or at any time, was my intention to steal any of these scouts.
As we finished talking, I think that the wheels really began to turn. I didn't know what Joe was thinking, but I am thinking it was along the lines of "this is my troop, and I have to make is succeed"… And then, as fast as that came into my head, that much faster, it…
OK, so I have my mental checklist gone through in my head, and I am trying to formulate something prophetic that I can tell the scouts to ensure them that they are getting the best that they can, and that their program isn't dying.
As I was saying, he doesn't know where to turn. I asked him, "You should know where to turn…you have a Scoutmaster, you are TLT trained…you are also on staff for NYLT, so that means that you have been through it already.
This past weekend, I attended my ordeal for membership into the Order of the Arrow (more to come on that later). Once the silence portion was completed, all of the new Ordeal members started yakking it up and chatting with anyone, as if they had just come out of a coma.
Last night, I needed/wanted to go to Roundtable. The only issue was that troop meeting nights are usually on Thursday nights, so I haven't been attending. But this time, I felt that I needed to go to RT so that I could stop into the OA meeting and find out about the upcoming Spring Conference…
When you feel that you have had enough of the day, or enough of the scouting program, do yourself a favor… Read some of the posts on G+ or any other forum, about how some other unit has it worse than your unit.
The other day, I posted a rant on my G+ account. It had to do with some of my frustrations, so I took to the other social media waves and vented. One thing that I found is that as much literature and training that we take, there is one thing that the BSA doesn't account…
If you listen to the show or read the blog, you will know that I am not a deep thinker, I am more of an observationist. I see what is going on around me, but never have a whole lot of prophetic things to say.
I am back… I hit "record" and finally got a show done…first time in a long time, and one of many more that I hope to get done in the upcoming weeks. Feedback is a gift, please send me gifts!
At last night's troop meeting, the scouts asked me about the itinerary for the Camporee that is coming up next week. I said "When are we leaving? I thought you said that we were going up on Saturday and only staying one night.
Tonight was a good night… 2 times per year, the troop gets "booted" from the lodge to allow the hunter's safety group to come in and teach their classes. We take the opportunity to go bowling. Now, we aren't like Bryan's troop where we would need a whole bowling alley, but we have pretty good…
#Handrite#...
Tonight, we held our OA elections…the first one for our troop. It's a huge step for us, but it seems that all steps for our troop are huge. We are building a legacy, one that I hope will be there for years down the road.
Our first campout of the new year…our focus for the month was the Winter Camping program and for the most part, we did pretty darn well with it. We met at the Lodge on Friday night and trekked to our site…no, not outside.
We talk about discipline in the sense that it's a bad thing, that it's a punishment. From Wikipedia In its original sense, discipline is referred to systematic instruction given to disciples to train them as students in a craft or trade, or to follow a particular code of conduct or "order".
I am tired all the time… I can't hardly tie my shoes anymore… I get winded going up steps, even more so carrying something… I tire of my clothes not fitting good… These were all the reasons that I started to get in shape earlier this year.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have a lot to be thankful for. My wife will tell you that I am not someone who she really wants to be around, as I have seemed to be grumpy over the course of the last month or two.
From my last post, I was pretty down…my son was originally sad about the decisions that his den mates made, I was upset because he was upset. But with most things in life, time heals all wounds, and I healed pretty quickly.
Some days, it's not easy to be a Scoutmaster…Today is one of those days. At last night's den meeting, the boys made their decisions…4 of 6 were going to another troop. One of them was no surprise. The boy lacks discipline into controlling his behavior and his parents let him do what he wants.
True North, Show 41 is out…only 59 more to 100! CLICK HERE
True North, Show 40 is out…only 60 more to 100! CLICK HERE
Well, tonight, I got a call tonight from the Dad of a scout who wants to crossover to our troop. I will say that I am excited, as this scout is from "outside" the unit that I know. I have been a part of Pack 4363 for the last 6 years, and getting another scout…
