Posts filed under 'Boy Scouts'
January 2nd, 2007
spryken
Legacy of Honor: The Values and Influence of America’s Eagle Scouts
by Alvin Townley chronicles the impact of Eagle Scouts in the USA since World War II. This is the type of information that can inspire boys and keep leaders working.
Over the Christmas holidays, our Troop welcomed 2 new Eagle Scouts. Thinking of them and the death of President Gerald Ford, an Eagle Scout, had me pondering the role of current and past Eagle Scouts. Then the latest issue of Scouting Magazine arrived with a review of Legacy of Honor. I haven’t read it yet, but it is now on my list of books to read - SOON. In fact I have already ordered it.
Why Scouting I am sometimes asked. Just the few excerpts from this book that I have read have provided me with new answers. The biggest is because we make a difference!!
Technorati Tags: Boy Scouts, Scouting, Eagle Scout, Books
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Entry Filed under: Boy Scouts
December 11th, 2006
spryken
This is a delicious and easy soup. It can be cooked stove top or in a dutch oven. And it really tastes like lasagna!
Yield: 8 cups - 4 servings for hungry scouts, so double or triple
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
2 cups onions, chopped
1 cup carrots, diced
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbs. garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth
1 can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, chopped (14 1/2 ounces)
1 can tomato sauce (10 3/4 ounces) we used jar marinara sauce
2 1/2 cup bowtie pasta
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1 cup provolone cheese or fresh mozzarella, shredded
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
4 teaspoons thinly sliced fresh basil - optional
Brown sausage in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and carrots; saute’ 3 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and garlic, and saute’ another 3 minutes.
Add broth, stewed tomatoes, and tomato sauce, and bring to a boil. Drop in pasta and simmer until cooked, about 10 minutes or according to package directions. Stir in spinach and cook until wilted.
Place 1/4 cup cheese into serving bowls and pour soup on top. Garnish with Parmesan and basil.
Technorati Tags: boy scouts, scouting, bsa, scout, cooking, camping, recipe
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Entry Filed under: Boy Scouts, Camping, Cooking, Recipes
December 11th, 2006
spryken
As a “drought buster” troop, that is almost every time we camp it rains, we have some experience with tents. We are hard on tents. The boys care for the tents after a camping trip, so some are not care for as well as the adult leaders would like. We try to overcome this with training.
The first thing we do with a new tent is to seal the seams. This is an easy step to overlook, but is essential for any one that does wet weather camping, well worth the effort. The next thing is to mark each tent is an out of the way place with a number. Each bag or stuff sack also gets marked. This is so we can keep track of which tent is missing what part. It also adds a level of responsibility to the scout. Each scout pair knows which tent number they have, so do the leaders. That means we can enforce accountability.
Each year, when the Webelos cross over, our troop goes through the new scout orientation. We have our older scouts teach the new scouts the way to pitch a tent among other essential scouting skills. They teach our troops method of handling tents. We tend to review this lesson during the first couple of campouts with the new scouts. Of course, we when have a really bad campout, that is no one came seem to treat the tents with respect, we schedule a refresher for the entire troop.
After any campout, each tent is sent home with one of the scouts that used it. They work out who will take it home. They are to set the tent up to dry it out. Usually, I would say air it out, but our troop’s experience is more along the lines of wring it out then dry it out. If it is still raining, they are encouraged to set it up in the garage. We try to get the tents dry as quickly as possible. Ideally, we would have enough space set aside for our troop, that we could hang the tents. We don’t, so we send them home. After the tents are dry and the scout has made sure that no extra gear has been left in the tent, he stores the tent, bringing it back to the next troop meeting.
This process has worked fairly well for us. We have had mildewed tents. We have had missing parts. That is why we have started marking the tents and encouraging more accountability. No one likes finding out that their tent is missing a stake or pole when you are trying to set it up, especially if it is raining. No one likes sleeping in a tent that is mildewed or smells like sweat socks. Encourage your scouts to take ownership, they are the ones who will suffer if the tents are not treated with respect. It is hard to overcome our society’s attitude of “If it breaks you’ll buy a new one, so why should I care”. Maybe we should consider adding a 13th point to the scout law…. A Scout is Frugal. What troop has the money to buy new tents every year????
Technorati Tags: boy scouts, scouting, bsa, scout, camping, tents, gear
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Entry Filed under: Boy Scouts, Camping, Gear
December 7th, 2006
spryken
A few months back, we were working on the Historic Trails award. I was the adult grub master. The other leaders have come to expect me to do Dutch Oven cooking on our campouts, at least the “flop and drop” campouts. I didn’t want to disappoint. I fixed the Chicken Chili Verdi for supper and my Mom’s Pound Cake for dessert. Mom always uses a tube pan to make pound cake. It provides more crust. So I adapted a dutch oven to make a tube pan. Really all I did was to cut the top off of a 12 ounce drink can, so that if fit under the lid of the dutch oven.
Here is the recipe…
- 1 cup butter or Crisco
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between additions. (This can be done the night before the campout, just bring to room temperature and mix lightly before adding the other ingredients.) Combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk to the creamed mixture.
Oil and flour the dutch over or tube pan. Spoon the batter into the pan and smooth. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until done. If cooking in a dutch oven on coals, I used about 8-10 coals on bottom and 12-16 on top. Rotate the dutch oven 90 degrees every 15 minutes and the lid in the opposite direction 90 degrees. This will help insure even baking. You may need to adjust the amount of coals on top if it browns too fast or not fast enough.
There is nothing like hot pound cake on a camping trip.
Technorati Tags: boy scouts, bsa, scouting, dutch oven, cooking, recipe, camping
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Entry Filed under: Boy Scouts, Camping, Cooking, Recipes
December 4th, 2006
spryken
The Boy Scouts of America get some poor press regarding their exclusivity. That is they do not allow atheist or homosexuals to join.
I really want to talk about the INCLUSIVENESS of the Boy Scouts of America. In order to do that, I will have to address the exclusiveness. I admit the BSA does not allow known homosexual male leaders. While all the research I read when I was getting my undergraduate degree in Psychology indicated that the majority of pedophiles are white, heterosexual males, the BSA has decided to not take any chances with the well-being of the young men entrusted into their care. I find that understandable. It does not de facto exclude young men who have a homosexual orientation. Individual troops may have issues, but the requirements state:
Youth membership is the Boy Scouts of America is open to all boys and young adults who meet the joining requirements. Membership in Scouting, advancement, and achievement of leadership in Scouting units are open to all youths without regard to race or ethnic background and are based entirely upon individual merit.Your son can be a Scout if he is 11 years old (or has earned the Arrow of Light Award and is at least 10 years old, or has completed the fifth grade and is at least 10 years old), but has not reached age 18.
On the religious, or non-religious topic:
The Boy Scouts of America maintains that no member can grow into the best kind of citizen without recognizing an obligation to God and, therefore, recognizes the religious element in the training of the member, but it is absolutely nonsectarian in its attitude toward that religious training. Its policy is that the home and organization or group with which the member is connected shall give definite attention to religious life. Only persons willing to subscribe to this Declaration of Religious Principle and to the Bylaws of the Boy Scouts of America shall be entitled to certificates of membership.
In a nutshell, you can believe in any god/God and be a Boy Scout, but you can’t be an atheist. The entirety of Boy Scouts is based on a religious belief, that of a higher being. It is in the Oath and Law.
Our troop has Protestant and Catholic Christians and Hindu scouts. We have participated in Council activities with scouts from the Church of Latter Day Saints. We have scouts from each religious background working on and earning the religious award for their particular faith. Scouting is extremely inclusive when it comes to religion.
I have an issue when a scout or their parent want to complain and bring media attention when he is denied the rank of Eagle Scout due to being an atheist. What really amazes me, is that a scout is allowed to advance so far without meeting the requirements of living the Scout Spirit by fulfilling the Scout Oath and Law. The difference in earning Eagle and the other ranks is that the local troop oversees the advancement up to Eagle. For the Eagle rank, the Council conducts a Board of Review. Holding all scouts to the same standard for that Council.
So, I guess I want to say…Yes, the Boy Scouts of America are Exclusive. But, and this is a VERY big but, they are up front about it. Duty to God is a central part of Scouting. If you are an atheist, perhaps you should consider some other organization for your son. If, on the other hand, you believe in some higher being — Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, Buddist or any other faith — then scouting is a great organization to train young men in character and leadership.
Technorati Tags: Boy Scouts, BSA, Scouting
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Entry Filed under: Boy Scouts
