Scoutmaster Musings

With our 21 new scouts in the troop this spring, it's been a lot of fun having the first Scoutmaster conference with each one. The energy and enthusiasm and expectations of adventure are sky high. It's interesting to see how some scouts 'get the program' right away and understand how advancement works while others take a few reminders and prodding to get along. With our Court of Honor coming up the end of this month, I'm hoping that all the boys get through their Scout requirements, but a couple might not get around to it.
When it starts getting tight like it is now, I try to check in with the parents to make sure they understand that their son should be calling me in the next week or two. One of the most entertaining parts of being a scoutmaster is the timid phone calls from new scouts and getting to tell them they did a great job taking the responsibility to call me. Every bit of encouragement and positive feedback makes an impact.

Scout On!

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The FEEPs, Indians, Panthers, Alligators, Sharks, Cobras, Roadrunners, and Buffalo Bills patrols each cooked up an entry in the second annual Troop 479 patrol cook-off. Entries ranged from Eggs-in-a-Bag to Chicken Quesadillas to Italian Spaghetti.
We'll find out who won when the SPL and ASPL tally the votes from the impartial judges. Patrols were given points for Taste, Creativity, and Kitchen Cleanliness.
It was a fun event outside on a nice, clear, warm evening - great times!

Scout On!

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Hey, that Pom-Pom French Toast was really pretty good. It cooked a bit faster when we replaced the empty propane canister.
It was a bit challenging getting any powdered sugar or cinnamon to actually land on the food with all the wind blowing it away. :-)
Now, I'm on the prowl for something new to try for next month.

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Wow! It's amazing how much energy there is in the air around us! Saturday morning, the wind from the south-southeast was gusting to over 40mph driving rain. By mid-day, the rain had stopped but the wind continued. This made for excellent flag etiquette training at the Camporee with those flags just whipping straight out at attention.
By nightfall, the wind had completely stopped, the nearly full moon was out and it was a most excellent night for viewing stars and satellite hunting. A few of us took advantage and slept outside our tents with no bugs, rain, or wind.
Sunday morning, the wind picked up again, but this time almost 180 degrees opposite from the day before. Amazing! So much power. It was entertaining to see a couple scouts from another troop chasing a tent tumbling across a field for 50 yards or so - we were too far away to help. I've got to remember to keep a spool of kite thread in my backpack just for days like these.

Scout On!

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I'm sure thankful of the guys that evolved the station wagon into the mini-van. Some of the scout leaders in our troop are joking about calling us 'Troop Honda' since we have a caravan of Odysseys wherever we go.
But, I tell ya, they sure are a comfortable, flexible way to get scouts out and back. I put a trailer hitch on our Odyssey as soon as we got it and it can haul 1000 pounds just fine. I bought a trailer kit online, built a wooden fence for it and it works slick. We've also got rails on top so a soft-sided luggage carrier goes up there if it looks like a really full trip.

Of course, its not too macho tooling around in a mini-van, but what the heck - being dressed in a scout uniform I guess I already lost that edge. :-)

I'm off now to load up the adult tents, patrol box, and food. The weatherman says nice weather tomorrow - that's scarey.

Scout On!

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my knee. Pretty cool, huh?

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