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. So first off welcome to my virtual trail to eagle. You will be able to read most if not all of my trail to eagle posts here or you can view them at http://trailtoeagle.posterous.com . You can also view them on the page above called trail to eagle.
Why would anyone need a "Life to Eagle Guide"? We already have a Scout Handbook and an Eagle Project Workbook - any Scout can understand and work their way through the trail to Eagle with these resources alone. Yet every Council and District seems to have 'resources' that are often confusing and often contain information that…
When it comes to getting boys interested in shooting sports, the BSA is on target. That was the message from the Crosman Corporation, which last month awarded its annual Friend of Youth Shooting Award to the BSA. The award recognizes "An organization or individual whose commitment to excellence in youth shooter education and dedication to…
Today I: Invited a young man to join our Tiger Scouts. Wrote and emailed an invitation to our various church email lists (Knights of Columbus, Scouts, homeschooling, etc.) to join our new Venture Crew's first fundraiser, a pancake dinner for Fat Tuesday.
First off, let us stopping using Boy Led! We are making men here so let us stop labelling them as children. I have made an effort to call them 'guys' instead of boys and Scouts at ceremonies instead of "this kid" or "this boy".
My wife is fully engrossed in that American tradition called Girl Scout Cookies. I haven't seen her most of the week. Now that is partly because I haven't been home much, but neither has she. She is at booth sales and delivering cookies.
0 Vote On Idea Can we merge the Tiger Den Leader, Cub Scout Den Leader, and Webelos Den Leader positions into one single Den Leader position; as well as the assistant den leader positions? Concurrently, can we train den leaders at once on how den meetings operate for tigers, wolves/bears, and Webelos at Leader Specific…
0 Vote On Idea I hope it's not just wishful thinking, but I'd like to see us return to a more objective standard set of goals for units to reach to be able to be considered "Quality" like we had before 2007.
Boots Hanson was the first caretaker of Many Point Scout Camp. In fact, he and the other council leaders created a new style summer camp in which Boy Scouts would camp together with members of their own troop. His hard work and great love of the outdoors and Scouting brought this new idea to reality.
And so continues the celebration! Today I organized the Leadership position wants and needs for the SPL to pick his Quartermasters, Historians and Librarians. I then went to the Troop Committee meeting to give the Scoutmaster's Report. I had to attend my son's Band Concert so was late, emailed my report to the CC to…
100 is a powerful number. 100 years of Scouting. 100% is everything. 100 degrees is hot weather, no matter where you are. On the 100th Anniversary of Scouting, I started a new blog: 100 Days of Scouting . The purpose is to record the positive things I do for Scouting each day--big or small.
7 Vote On Idea How about webinars covering intermediate and advanced Excel, Word, and Power Point skills. Maybe something about data base management. Learning new tips and tricks would help all of us be more effective employees. Comments (0) Technology
Last week, we asked you to send us photos of your unit's 100th Anniversary celebration. And we were impressed with what we got. It's clear that the BSA Centennial spirit is alive across the country. That's certainly the case at the library in Alton, Ill., where Troop 7 has created the Scout history window you…
Get the DVR, TiVo, or VCR ready, because you won't want to miss this. On Feb. 25, the iconic quiz show "Jeopardy!" will feature a special category all about the Boy Scouts of America. The game show of questions and answers will also spotlight the BSA before the first or second commercial break, so stay…
12 Vote On Idea For the sake of improved service to all who purchase items from National Supply, we need to establish a standard system to notify shops on the availability status of requested merchandise. A strong connection needs to be developed between customer service and the buyers of BSA merchandise so that customer service…
Today I: Pulled together the list of participants from Scout Sunday to order their patches . Posted a new blog entry for our council . Posted a new blog entry for our BSA camp . Found a bunch of Leave No Trace materials aimed at Scouting.
Today I: Got ready for a troop meeting that I thought was tonight but is actually tomorrow began finding old troop photos to present to the church this sunday Posted via web from 100 Day's of Scouting
Continuing the Adventure: - Worked on the roster for our October Gettysburg trip - picked up 37 new neckerchiefs for our 37 Webelos crossing over in March - talked to one Scout and offered him a Troop Guide position (the only Leadership Position in our Troop assigned by the Scoutmaster) - went to Roundtable were I: - approved an Eagle…
I just came home from our Blue and Gold dinner....that in itself rocked the house. The dinner was at our usual place, Legend's in DePere. We had the same dinner, and yes, there were service issues, but nothing was going to get me in a bad mood...ya see, I knew that I was getting 6…
I like the new 2010 Centennial rank awards. Adding the date makes them special, and I think we'll look back on them with fondness in the future. Watch for all of them in future editions of the Scoutsigns blog. Snow has been in abundance.
This excellent painting by BSA artist Joseph Csatari encapsulates the essence of the 100th Anniversary in a single image. Now is your chance to have this memorable keepsake in your home or office. It would also be a fitting addition to the site of your unit's meetings.
9 Vote On Idea The sample grant proposals should be organized by subject category on the Finance Impact web-site. Also, there should be an open forum for sharing grant proposals among Council development departments. I have seen the same sample broad grant proposals on this site for many years.
4 Vote On Idea I was at a Job Fair and speaking with a few recruiters from our various Armed Forces. I was suprised to find that many of them did not know that being an Eagle Scout gives someone a higher rank and pay grade when they enlist in the Military.
Today I: Contacted my state delegate about instituting a version of " Scouting for State Parks " in Virginia. Submitted our council's Eagle Scout recommendation form for the Advancement Committee. Published Weekend Patrol Box #29 from Scoutsigns. Also posted to BoyScoutTalk and CubScoutTalk YahooGroups.
While redoing our Troop Guide guide with the 2010 advancement requirements, I noticed the Second Class cooking requirement (3g) no longer says "over an open fire". The Second Class rank does have a requirement (3f) to build a fire, but the fire does not need to be actually lit.
BSA Adventure Base 100 is in San Antonio, Texas. Take a peek inside the exhibit and meet Eagle Scout Anthony Trevino. Anthony describes his Eagle Scout project which supports the military men and women being deployed from Lackland Air Force Base, by providing them with a piece of home.
And the beat goes on: - prepped for Wood Badge Staff weekend tomorrow - read Aids to Scoutmastership by LPB (34 edition I picked up at local Trade-O-Ree last week) - talked to Council about being part of the new Scout Education Center being built.
Some folks from the Charles L. Sommers Alumni Association have lost their bearings and ended up down at Sea Base for a few days. While I'm sure all of us with snow on the ground would love to be in sunny Florida, we have the next best thing – videos!
WITI-TV, MILWAUKEE – 100 years old and ready for another century of service. It's exactly what the Boy Scouts of America and the Milwaukee County Council of the Boy Scouts celebrated Friday. More from the FOX6 News team and Bob Moore.
+ The popular game show Jeopardy will have an all BSA category in play during the show on February 25. Mark your calenders and set the tivo for this. This episode will also spotlight the BSA during the first and second commercial breaks.
Today I: Helped our troop try to plan an alternative camping event this month for next weekend, since our council event was snowed out. Emailed our council that our Eagle Scout candidate is at college, making it difficult for him to get back for a BOR next week.
Check out the latest video from the Adventure Base 100 folks. You'll meet Eagle Scout Anthony Trevino, who helps the men and women serving our country overseas get a little piece of home. Previous Adventure Base 100 videos: Vol. 5: Austin, Tex.
I've just finished updating the program guide our troop's Troop Guides use to help new scouts reach First Class. I added Leave No Trace and Water Safety, as well as an emphasis on EDGE. I also updated for the 2010 requirement changes.
This is a poster that was produced by the Ministry of Information in 1939 and was to have been used if Britain had been invaded by the Nazis. We weren't, so it wasn't! However a copy was rediscovered in 2000 ( read about it here ) and has since gone on to be quite popular.
A few days ago I got an email from the publishers of the forthcoming book 'Scouting Skills: A Complete Guide' asking if I'd be interested in having a copy and maybe doing a review. 'Yes please!' was the reply, so it appeared in the post this morning.
-4 Vote On Idea We have many merit badges that focus on different career paths. What about the multimedia career path? The idea here is to bring about what multimedia designer do. The finished product is to be a video, interactive website, or print brochure.
It's one small step for man: Awoke at 5am to make it to Camp Red Wing for Wood Badge Staff meeting. Spent the day developing my Troop Guide skills and getting my assignments. I'm an Eagle (both an Eagle Scout AND a Wood Badge Eagle) and will be the Troop Guide for Buffaloes!
-2 Vote On Idea I put this idea together from "Merit Badges and Scoutmasters" as well as from the comments posted in that idea then inserted some information from my past experiences and slammed them all together as such am putting out two ideas; this one and one on "Improving Scout, Volunteer & Unit Retention Rates".
-1 Vote On Idea I put this idea together from "Merit Badges and Scoutmasters" as well as from the comments posted in that idea then inserted some information from my past experiences and slammed them all together and am putting out two ideas; this one and one on Merit Badge Policy – Education & Actions / Possible Template.
3 Vote On Idea This idea follows up on "Improving Scout, Volunteer & Unit Retention Rates". If we use a form where the unit leaders fill out the names, phone numbers, and reasons for removal we will be able to utilize that data on ScoutNet.
I'm not really an advocate of pushing fast advancement on new scouts, but it's important to have opportunities for advancement available so those that participate are not held back from moving ahead. Not much worse than a scout not getting to forge ahead when he's chomping at the bit.
Today I: Helped our new crew with their first Unit Money-Earning Application, getting signatures and converting to pdf for email. Confirmed second adult for troop's backup camping trip next weekend. Provided advice on snow day policy for Eagle BOR, if it happens.
They call me the Working Man....that's what I am.... - updated Troopmaster for Leadership positions to reflect the elections last Tuesday - started building our Troop Leader Training book for TLT Weekend - updated Troop website, new Scout Webmaster starts soon. - worked on Gettysburg trip roster...all filled up and we have a waiting list!
From BSA The Boy Scouts of America is proud to announce that we will be a featured category on the February 25 episode of Jeopardy!. This is a tremendous opportunity to extend our brand footprint to a nationally televised audience during our 100-year celebration.
This morning our troop participated in our charter organizations scout Sunday service. We had five socuts and two leaders attend which wasn't bad for it being winter vacation here. Our main role in the service was to act as readers for the call to worship and the opening prayer.
For this week's video I found a great skit that was done by Melrose Troop 68 during there annual Laughs for Lunch show. Enjoy!
Everybody who has been in Cub Scouts or had a son in Cub Scouting has probably enjoyed the wonder of racing in a Pinewood Derby. The folks in Milwaukee are taking it to new heights literally. There will be a Pinewood Derby event just before the Milwaukee Wave game against Philadelphia at the stadium with…
This spring, the three high-adventure bases, Philmont Scout Ranch, Florida Sea Base, and Northern Tier, in conjunction with the American Red Cross (ARC) and Emergency Care and Safety Institute (ECSI) will be offering the opportunity of a lifetime. ARC and ECSI will be providing an opportunity to participate in a WFA Instructor Course and a…
New Activity for All scouts
New Active Game for All scouts
Scoutmaster Podcast 4 Featuring; Merit Badge Quality, Bevis & Butthead, 4th in the series Instructional Methods for Scouts, Scoutmaster Minute; A Scout is Trustworthy. Most of you know that us blogging podcasters or podcasting bloggers (your choice) thrive on conversation with our readers and/or listeners.
12 Vote On Idea We (a Council Shop) continue to spend too much time identifying duplicate bills and bills for merchandise never received from National Supply. We have even been billed for discontinued merchandise that no longer even exists! I propose a complete review of National Supply billing practices.
If you are going to the Chicago Auto Show make sure you don't miss your opportunity to see the Boy Scouts of America Indy car in the Chicagoland Motor Speedway booth. This car will compete in the 2010 Indy Racing League Series including the Indianapolis 500.
Our newly implemented recycle dumpster We here at ClassB have extended our recycling efforts once again. With a little help from GreenFiber, recycling is now easier than ever! There is now a GreenFiber recycle dumpster on ClassB premises. A lot of traditional "garbage" can go into the dumpster to be recycled into insulation for homes…
6 Vote On Idea On behalf of Scouter Jay Oakman, Bellevue NE: We should begin to consider loops in the areas of dance, drama, showmanship, and the performing arts. There is too much emphasis on our soccer, baseball, and basketball players without enough recognition for the "non-academic" activities that are fun.
Today I: Helped a Tiger Scout get his "dentist visit" elective signed off! Advertised the Venturing Crew's Fat Tuesday dinner again. Emailed Blue and Gold dinner reminders and contact information. ...and yes, it is snowing again! Hopefully, you didn't have to go to the dentist today to help a Scout, but I'm sure you did…
How will you be remembered when the Bicentennial of the BSA comes around in 2110? What will the future scouts say about what we did and how we ran the scouting program? Interesting questions? I, for one, hope that the scouts of the future will follow some of the same program ideas we have followed…
Home again home again jiggidy jig.... - today I put together the Agenda and Worksheet for the PLC Meeting tomorrow. This is the first for the new PLC so I set the agenda as part of the Troop Leader Training Weekend...
#214-I Believe In A Thing Called Love Lots of news stories and feedback on Blue & Golds, "Farve"-ing it, and Adventure Base 100 are on tap for this Valentine's Day show. And thanks to the folks who came early and stayed late to have some extra fun.
9 Vote On Idea From: Terry Whetzel [[email protected]] I don't know why Supply Division every changed their packing lists. You always had a retail price and cost. Now there is only cost. When you are extremely busy, it is ridiculous to have to stop and look up all the retail prices, so we know what…
Baden Powell called Scouting a "Game with a Purpose". The idea in that thought is that boys, young men, well heck.. even us older men, like to play games. There is something about the boy that moves him toward playing, competing, having fun.
I came across PatchDisplay.com on Facebook. It is "owned and operated in historic Chester County , Pennsylvania by individuals involved as both parents and leaders with Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts for over fifteen years." They construct custom displays (you provide the patches, etc) to commemorate a Scout's accomplishments.
On February 8th, Scouting News started the 100th Anniversary contest on Scouting News , and today we announce the winners! We had 44 entries to the contest during the one week period it was open. Thanks to everyone that entered! How we selected the winner In order to enter this contest, you had to: 1.
As a child, Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder , saw being outdoors as necessary to his mental and physical health. "The woods were my Ritalin," he writes. "Nature calmed me, focused me, and yet excited my senses."
Today I: Provided details on our new crew for a report to our charter organization, the Knights of Columbus. Many were Scoutmasters 30 or 40 years ago, so are unfamiliar with Venturing. Especially, an all girl-crew. Attended the crew's first fundraiser, a pancake dinner.
You can't order them online (they are rank badges after all), but you can now take a look at the 2010 commemorative Cub Scout rank badges at scoutstuff.org. Link
Welcome my friends to the show that never ends: - Continued working on the TLT handbook - talked with SPL about TLT and PLC meeting - edited TLT powerpoint to add some changes I've been thinking of - went to PLC Meeting, ran most of it as it is a portion of TLT training.
Back on the 18th December 2007, I wrote about an Explorer Scout who had just spent a year living in a tent to raise money for a children's hospice. Unhappily, it appears this young man passed away a couple of days ago whilst walking in the hills in Scotland.
In this two part show, Scoutmaster Jerry has a discussion about starting up a new Troop and what it takes to make Troops successful. Join Scoutmaster Jerry as he brings in a special guest, Brand New Scoutmaster Shawn Cleary to talk about the challenges, the hopes, and the program that will make a Troop successful.
This email came from a listener/reader. I answered it in Podcast number 4 as well as in this post; Hi Clarke- I really enjoy your thoughtful blogs and podcasts, and I'm interested to learn about your views on merit badge days.
As I mentioned before, the kind people at Random House have sent me a copy of this book to review, so here goes. Although it is produced by The Scout Association and the foreword is by the Chief Scout, Bear Grylls, it's not specifically targeted at Scouts.
In case you don't read the 100 Days of Scouting blog regularly, here are the links to the first 5 days: Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Stop by and take the challenge!
African Adventures Today I: Reached a 100 Days of Scouting , and personal, milestone: 10% of the way through this project! Pretty exciting, and even more so to see the efforts others are putting in, like @bryanspellman and @scoutdude . Congratulated our newest Eagle Scout!
With the olympics in full swing I thought the Snow Sports merit badge was quite appropriate. Skiing and snowboarding our great winter pastimes enjoyed by many scouts and scouters. So here are the requirements: Discuss winter sports safety, and show that you know first aid for injuries or illnesses that could occur while skiing or…
had a great lock-in at the Rock Gym in Midlothian, VA. Joe shot a couple of vids with his iphone, so I'm posting them here for your perusal .
It was just one of those days... - sent files to get printed for TLT Book for this weekend. - called SPL to remind him about Fish Fry this Friday and find out what he would be teaching at TLT and any thing he wanted to change or get rid of - took 30 minutes to organize paperwork…
Well, we picked a great weekend . Snowed on us … not as bad as the previous weekend … just flurries this time! Before going out to deliver fliers for our annual Mulch Fundraiser, we did the Adopt-a-Spot (the road in front of our Charter Partner).
One of our ASMs always likes to address the Scouts at this time of year! He says it's time to do a good turn, go our and find the local fire hydrants and dig them out. Take your shovel and lay it down with the handle touching the top, and then make sure you dig…
100 Days of Scouting blog keeps rolling along--10% finished now! More days: Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Don't be bashful--stop over and share your love of Scouting!
9 Vote On Idea Now, if a new Webelos Cub Scout joins Scouting and wants to be in uniform with a belt, he is required to purchase the belt with the Cub Scout buckle and the Webelos buckle to replace the Cub buckle.
I've used a good many analogies in an attempt to express what the simple yet subtle ideas at the heart of Scouting. My hope is that readers find an analogy that makes sense of an otherwise tricky idea. But be warned that while analogies lend definition to abstract concepts but even the best break down…
0 Vote On Idea 2 thoughts - thanks for all the ideas, this is a good site. 1.I know we are running out of room on the adult applications with all the details that need to be on there - but can we have a block before the first name for Mr, Mrs, Ms, etc?
8 Vote On Idea Creating an Exploring career interest survey that is web based for schools to use would help dramatically reduce staff hours it takes to scan and sort the data, let alone create career counselor booklets. This type of online Exploring survey system would also allow quicker response times in getting the school…
Today I: Helped the Venture Crew get their reimbursement from Krusteaz in the mail. [Continental Mills will reimburse half of the cost of your pancake mix used for fundraisers.] Discussed posting the list of newly-minted Eagle Scouts to the council blog each month--Success!
1 Vote On Idea Wouldn't it be great if the parade organizers would advocate a youth adult ratio that's consistent with our Youth Protection Training? Each council's contingent is supposed to be 21 people. How about encouraging a YPT-friendly mix of 17 youth and 4 adults?
Scoutmaster Steve and Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, return in episode twelve of the Around The Scouting Campfire podcast. Listen in as the guys talk about how the Scouting program was discovered by William D. Boyce during a trip to London in the early 1900's.
Scoutmaster Steve and Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, return in episode twelve of the Around The Scouting Campfire podcast. Listen in as the guys talk about how the Scouting program was discovered by William D. Boyce during a trip to London in the early 1900's.
S coutmaster Steve and Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, return in episode twelve of the Around The Scouting Campfire podcast. Listen in as the guys talk about how the Scouting program was discovered by William D. Boyce during a trip to London in the early 1900's.
12 Vote On Idea Can we please add e-mail address to be listed for adult leaders on PAS Find and Rechartering, just as we pay attention to home address and phone number? It can be just another field in internet rechartering for units to add in. Comments (0) Technology , e-mail registration communications
New Active Game for Cub Scouts
Yes this is being posted at 4am on Day 11 :) Today (yesterday) I: - went to Scout Shop and purchased a new Handbook, some PoR Patches and Trained Patches - contacted the last Troop Guide Candidate and talked to the SPL about him...chosen :) - talked with ASM about 2011 Philmont trip...already 18 on the list - talked with parent…
ClassB Volunteers part I I have always wanted to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. The idea of making such a large difference in another person's life has always been appealing. I can remember being a little girl and seeing the commercials thinking, I want to do that someday.
A great month for the City of New Orleans just got even better. After celebrating the Saints' Super Bowl win, the city got a visit from Adventure Base 100 . The video features an uplifting story about Eagle Scout William McCorkle, who helped rebuild a community center damaged during Hurricane Katrina.
So for this week's Gear Head Friday we are going to talk about stoves. Before I tell you what I think let me share with you the results of a poll I conducted using google forms to find out what others use.
10 Vote On Idea Custom order invoicing should return to the previous practice of the local National Scout Shop invoicing to the Council. If I have a problem with the invoice, I have no one to contact to resolve it.
Today I: Passed along plans to build outdoor planters for Woodworking merit badge--and they are free. Received, and will probably accept, an offer to join a BSA camp inspection team for VA and NC. Emailed the logistics for a Free Throw tournament coming up soon, courtesy of the Knights of Columbus in our area.
For some unknown reason.. I geuss I am just not that tech savy.. the show, both parts posted as I wished. Unfortunately, when I posted it the way I did iTunes did not want to play nice. So here is a repost to let iTunes catch up of Part 2 of Show 50.
Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort Story by Lance Cpl. Courtney White Cub Scouts line up along the caution tape surrounding the race track while preparing to watch their car compete against other cars for the fastest speed. Chatter fills the room as the scout master puts up two fingers, a move that all of the…
From facebook Subject: Registrations for AdventureJam are now OPEN! Hey - jump on to the http://www.facebook.com/l/ 1d6e5;AdventureJam.scouts.com. au website and download your application form for the New Zealand Jamboree and Tour! Remember to take a look at the Tour page to see what you will be up to as it is looking really good...
New Active Game for All scouts
