Browse by year
40 posts, oldest first.
August 2020 Time to make: 2 hours Boys Life "Slide of the Month" Apr. 1987, p. 63 Original design: Bill Fleming Coccinellidae (better known as ladybug in the US or ladybirds in the UK) are the gardener's friend because they eat lots of pests like aphids.
Weekends in the Munsch household flew by like a 90 mph fastball. On Saturdays, Jason Munsch, who at age 11 pitched a no-hitter in a Little League All-Star Game, played baseball. After the final out, Dona and Keith Munsch drove their son to meet his fellow Scouts wherever Troop 566 was camping that weekend.
Please join us in congratulating Jared Pickens, who will serve as Scout executive of the Cherokee Area Council in Chattanooga, Tennessee, effective September 1, 2020. Jared began his Scouting career as a district executive and then senior district executive at the Great Smoky Mountain Council in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Dear Scouting Family, With more than half of the year behind us, it’s natural for us to look back at the challenges we have navigated in the past few months, as a movement and as a country. But it’s even more important that we look ahead at the opportunities ahead of us.
During a pandemic, Scouts have had to get creative to continue their adventures and service. Sometimes, the changes transformed their plans into something much greater than they conceived. John-Aaron Bozanic, an Eagle Scout and current Venturer with Crew 774 in Laguna Woods, Calif., was working on a conservation project when the COVID-19 virus began spreading…
Jasper Wang (left) and his brother, Malcolm. Since its debut a year ago, our Unsung Heroes series has spotlighted 16 underreported acts of heroism. We’ve told you about a Venturer who rescued a family after a car crash, a Cub Scout who stopped a friend from choking and a Scout who saved an injured hiker…
Get ready this Saturday for the most fun event you and your Scouting family can attend from home. Introducing Family Fun Fest – where you get to join Scouts across the nation in building a Pinewood Derby car, putting together a model rocket, learning how to draw something new, listening to some really cool guest speakers…
This year has been hectic, to say the least — disrupted schedules, cancelled campouts and constant adjustments have become the norm. Any resource to help you keep track of changes and plan accordingly would be welcomed. Say no more. Boys’ Life magazine offers free downloadable calendars, notebooks and charts to help you Be Prepared and continue…
________________________________________ Last week’s column rang some bells! Here’s what some folks had to say about training and guiding Senior Patrol Leaders and Patrol Leaders, BSA resources available, district “diplomacy” and the need to avoid “politicos” and “power hogs”… Hi Andy, You’ve hit the nail-head again!
The pandemic has affected life in so many ways, Scouting being just one of them. Units have had to scramble to continue providing program despite restrictions on group meetings – the very lifeblood of the Scouting experience – and trying to plan for the future in a world where the future could change with little advance notice.
Rafe Kotalik of Troop 777 in the Woodlands, Texas (Sam Houston Area Council), makes face coverings to donate. Today’s in-demand superhero skill isn’t flight or invisibility. It’s the ability to sew. Sewing machine sales have skyrocketed as dextrous do-gooders put their skills to work making face coverings that could save lives.
We’re a few months into coping with the COVID-19 pandemic — though it probably feels like so much longer. Your Scouts’ summer adventures might have been cancelled; you might feel frustrated navigating life at home or going out in public; you might be examining your and your family’s mental health like never before.
What’s the easiest way for potential members to join your Scout unit? BeAScout.org ! It works even better if your unit information is up-to-date. Now, if you update your pin, your Scout unit could win! Just make sure your unit BeAScout pin is updated anytime between June 1, 2020, and Sept.
Ship 198 of the Del-Mar-Va Council, in a photo taken earlier this year. An impressive recruiting effort to introduce area teenagers to Sea Scouting. Community service projects that build goodwill — and often make the local news. An I-gotta-try-that schedule of monthly outings that includes sailing, swimming, fishing, waterskiing and wakeboarding.
As part of the ongoing process to identify how to optimize the Boy Scouts of America for success in the future, the National Executive Committee (NEC) recently asked the National Management Team to facilitate the evaluation of the 26 primary proposed recommendations that resulted from the Churchill Project .
Three years ago, Troop 25 of Emmaus, Pa., renovated its Scout room by adding a fresh coat of paint to the walls and replacing old cabinets with heavy-duty metal shelving to hold camping gear. The result gave the Scouts a cleaner, more organized space at the St.
Use your gravity controls to help your bot escape the space station. Use your gravity controls to help your bot escape the space station. View On WordPress
________________________________________ This letter is for a fellow commissioner who’d prefer not to be named: You asked be about a troop’s erstwhile “executive committee” and a policy they’d recently set. Now we know there’s no such thing associated with a Scouts BSA troop: All troops have a committee of men and women willing to roll up their…
Team Eagle Scouts, from left: Matt Moniz, Katie Hancock, Eric Lillstrom, Charley Walton and Corey Mullins When assembling a supergroup to race across rugged backcountry terrain using whatever means necessary — paddling or mountain biking, rappelling or climbing, orienteering or canyoneering — you’ll want a Scout or two on your side.
August 2020 Time to made: 1 hour ish Design: Bill Macfarlane I've been told many a story about the Monkey's Fist knot - everything from weapon to weighted end on a throwing line . Mostly I see them as key chain fobs, zipper pulls, or hanging off back packs but I got a thought.
________________________________________ Hi Folks! I’m going to have a bit of surgery tomorrow, to fix a physical problem that’s been buggin’ me for a while, and that’ll knock me out of action for several days. So here’s an “advance” column and I’m hoping to be back to you by the week of August 24th… Just the other…
Now you can support Scouting without lifting a finger — or at least not more than one. AmazonSmile, the simple and no-cost way to donate to a favorite charity like your local BSA council, now works on the Amazon Shopping app for iPhone and Android.
Now is the time to start planning your unit’s fall fundraiser. One company with a longstanding tradition of helping Scouts has a way your unit can provide beautiful, festive products and manage its profits, all while doing so safely for Scouts and customers alike during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s me on the right looking way too casual with a hammer while working on my Eagle project in 1998 at the Heard Museum in McKinney, Texas. Twenty-two years ago, over a series of chilly Saturdays in December 1998, I completed my Eagle Scout service project.
“You were never a Boy Scout,” one character tells another as they prepare to face a villainous vampire. “I, however, always come prepared.” This line, found in Stephen King’s 1975 dark novel Salem’s Lot , is one of dozens of Scouting references in the master storyteller’s works.
What's going on in this picture? What is that dinosaur doing or thinking? If you can think of a funny caption for this photo, just post it in the comment form at the bottom of this page. After we approve it, your funny caption will be on this page for everyone to read.
Scouting doesn’t stop, even after you move on from a unit. In 1988, a group of Scouters whose sons were no longer part of Troop 172 of Westfield, N.J., wanted to stay involved in the program that had shaped their families’ lives.
Faced with the challenge of keeping their pack active and running without the benefit of in-person meetings, Cub Scout Pack 145 from Christiansburg, Va., did what so many dedicated Scout leaders have had to do during these tough times: They got creative.
Eagle Scout Corey Mullins ascends Vuwa Falls. For fans of Scouting, it was the ultimate cliffhanger. The action-packed Amazon Prime show World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji ended its 10 episodes without revealing the fate of Team Eagle Scouts, the impressive group of young BSA alumni we profiled in a post published the day the show…
Figuring out how to create a fun den meeting in a virtual setting can feel overwhelming. That’s why the National Council and 50 councils across the country worked together to produce these Cub Scout Adventures video resources to help den leaders.
Article Submitted by Tim Hays, Senior District Executive, Longhorn Council By the time October hits, there are a few things that we, as unit-serving executives, should be doing and aware of as we continue to recruit new youth for our districts.
Article Submitted by Scot Fuller, Director of Field Service, Longhorn Council Back in June, the Longhorn Council held a focus group targeting our highest performing units when it comes to recruitment. One general theme came out of this meeting: it takes the entire Scouting unit and their network engaging the families in their community to…
Winter coats marked down all summer long! Halloween costumes on sale beginning Nov. 1! Some sales seem timed to meet the interests of the company, not the needs of the customer. But every now and then, the right sale comes at exactly the right time.
As the national organization continues to prioritize and focus our services, we have made the difficult decision to streamline certain services at the National Service Center to best position the organization and the Scouting movement for the future. Beginning September 1, 2020, the Member Care Contact Center will no longer directly serve volunteers and will…
It's time to honor the year's best videogames for kids. Help us pick the readers' favorites using the poll below. We'll announce the winners of the Boysies Awards in the December 2019 issue of Boys' Life magazine or online at boyslife.org.
For 107 years, Scouting magazine has been bringing leaders, parents and volunteers news about “all-things Scouting” as well as resources for building an exceptional program. The print version of the publication may have ended with the May-June 2020 issue , but the resources for Scouting volunteers and parents are better than ever in the Scouting magazine…
When you feel lost, music can be your saving grace. In April, as the virus continued to spread its dangers, toils and snares across the country, Alex Miller looked at the calendar with trepidation. He could practically hear the clock ticking down the three months until July 30, his 18th birthday.
________________________________________ Hi Folks! The surgery went well, and although it’s taken a little while, I’m back in action. So here we go… Hi Andy, Well, I wrote to our BSA National Office about the discrepancies in the definitions of the points of the Scout Law, and I did get a response.
This is Unsung Heroes , a Bryan on Scouting blog series celebrating under-reported acts of Scouting heroism. These are stories that don’t make national headlines — but should. That’s doubly true in this world that can always use more good news. Learn how to share your Unsung Heroes story at the end of the post.
As we recently shared in Scoutingwire and during the All-Staff Conference, several Churchill recommendations will continue to be considered, based on extensive input from the field and our subject matter experts. The evaluation process also included the following filters: Does the action help the national organization emerge from bankruptcy?
