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Do not forget your medical form. This can be found on pages 62-64 in the Leader’s Guide or through the links on our website.

We must discuss whether or not we want to go on Big Stump, which will involve bringing throw-away clothes. We will also be discussing other troop-time activities at the next meeting. Do you want to have any input? Good. Be there.

Don’t forget to pack:

• Prescription medicine (Which is to be turned in to the medical facility downtown.

• Enough clothes for a week at camp, including plenty of socks. We do a lot of walking and blisters are common. Closed-toed shoes are to be worn at all times, and a spare pair of shoes is important. Wet shoes or socks are no fun. I like to bring water shoes, too.

• Hats keep off sun and bugs.

• Do you have a favorite walking stick?

• Field (“Class A”) uniform. A Scout should travel in field uniform, wear it to dinner each night, and have his troop photograph taken in it. You should have troop t-shirts as well.

• Swim suit and towels

• Long pants and a long-sleeved button up shirt for boys taking any of the aquatics merit badges.

• Toilet articles: soap, washcloth, towel, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, deodorant, etc. The showers are private, not gang showers like they were back in the good old days. There is no reason not to smell good every night.

• Personal first-aid kits are nice to have.

• Raincoat or poncho

• The type of powder you put on personal areas to prevent rashes, such as Gold Bond.

• Flashlight

• Insect repellent. The bugs are bad at La-No-Che. Oh, and insect repellent, because the bugs are bad. Also insect repellent. No, you cannot borrow mine. And insect repellent, too. Don’t forget insect repellent, either. You might want bug spray, too.

• Sunscreen

• Pocket knife and Totin’ Chip card.

• Compass

• Sleeping bag or sheet and blanket. You will sleep on cots in canvas tents. You could bring a mosquito net also, if you want to.

• Scout handbook, merit badge books, paper, and pens

• Canteen, bottle, or Camelbak. Water is your friend.

• Spending money (No large amounts of cash)

• Optionally, a locking trunk will keep stuff safe. We will have the trailer, but you will not have access to it whenever you want to get to stuff.

Please don’t send unnecessary items to camp that might get broken, lost, or stolen.

Label everything.

Do not bring electronic devices.

If you bring electronic devices even though I said not to, and they are distracting you or others from the task at hand, I will impound them. 

Do not bring electronic devices. You’ll cry if they get wet, dropped, or stolen, but I will not shed even one tear, nor waste a single minute trying to make you feel better.

Do not bring electronic devices. Listening to an iPod while going to sleep is not going to get me mad, but walking around with one stuffed in your ear while we are doing scout stuff will.

Do not bring electronic devices. If you bring a cell phone to talk to your parents at night in your tent, I will probably not notice, but you might get really homesick and cry and mope. Camp can be hard on a kid in this regard, especially for first-timers. Don’t torture yourself. If you call your parents and tell them that there are air-raid sirens going off and the enemy is going to nuke the camp at any moment, and that they should panic and run right to camp to pick you up, I will be furious with you. (Parents, if you get such a call, please call ME before you panic.) Yes, this has happened to other scoutmasters before and they do not permit cellphones at all because of it. Don’t blow it for yourself and the rest of the troop. I personally have been the victim of a scout being taken by his parent from La-No-Che without telling me, and the camp was locked down until after midnight while we contacted various officials, non-custodial parents, and grandparents trying to find the kid. I was not amused.

Do not bring electronic devices. There may or may not be a place to charge anything.

Do not bring electronic devices. If you bring a device that is solely intended to play games, such as a PSP, Gameboy, or whatever, chances are good that I will impound it. We are going to camp to do camp things, not couch-potato things.

Do not bring electronic devices. If I get mad enough, in the future we will ban all electronic devices, complete with gear checking before departure. It happens in many other troops. Can I trust you to be responsible?

Do not bring electronic devices.

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Youth safety is the No. 1 concern of the BSA.

To increase awareness of this societal problem and to create even greater barriers to abuse than already exist today in Scouting, the Boy Scouts of America is implementing several important changes to further enhance its Youth Protection policies.

Effective June 1, 2010:

* — Youth Protection training is required for all registered volunteers.
* — New leaders are required to take Youth Protection training before they submit an application for registration. The certificate of completion for this training must be submitted at the time application is made and before volunteer service with youth begins.
* — Youth Protection training must be taken every two years. If a volunteer’s Youth Protection training record is not current at the time of recharter, the volunteer will not be reregistered.

To ensure these policies are fully implemented, please take the following steps: BSA Card

* — If you have not taken Youth Protection training within the past two years, please log on to MyScouting and take the training. Be sure to have your member ID number. The number can be found on your Boy Scouts of America membership card.
* — If you do not know your member ID number, contact your unit leader or committee chairman. Your council can also assist.
* — A person does not have to be a registered volunteer or have an ID number to take Youth Protection training. To take the training, log in to MyScouting and create an account. From the MyScouting portal, click on E-Learning and take the Youth Protection training. Upon completion, print a certificate and submit it with an application or submit to the unit leader for processing at the local council.
* — If you have taken Youth Protection training online but did not input your member ID number, please log on to MyScouting and input your member ID in the My Profile section so the training will be linked to your records.
* — If you have taken Youth Protection training within the past two years but did not take the course online, log on to MyScouting to ensure your records are up-to-date, or contact your council for verification that your Youth Protection training records are accurate.
* — Finally, please share these important changes with other Scouters.

To find out more about the Youth Protection policies of the Boy Scouts of America and how to help Scouting keep your family safe, see the Parent’s Guide in any of the Cub Scouting or Boy Scouting handbooks, or go to http://www.scouting.org/Training/YouthProtection.aspx.

Thank you for your commitment to our nation’s young people and to Scouting.

Sincerely,

James Terry
Assistant Chief Scout Executive

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Vol. 2, No. 5

This is the National Council’s outstanding newsletter promoting our rich culture of Scouting traditions. Let the troop know what you think about it.

Taking Aim at Summer

Scouts everywhere are setting off on great adventures. Two activities that have been around as long as Scouting are tracking and archery. Each demands practice, focus, and steady nerves. For a fun afternoon or for serious sports to enjoy for a lifetime, archery and tracking offer all the challenge you can want, and more!

BENDING THE BOW

Earnest Thompson Seton and Daniel Carter Beard, two founders of Scouting in America, admired the abilities of many American Indians to handle bows and arrows. They encouraged Scouts to take up archery, too, and become accurate marksmen.

Early BSA literature also showed ways to make bows that were strong, and arrows that would fly straight and true.

Many Scout camps today have ranges where you can learn archery basics. Instructors will issue bows and arrows, explain safety procedures that must always be followed, then help you develop solid technical skills.

While lots of archers continue to find satisfaction in building their own equipment, the Compound Bow Set and Archery Merit Badge pamphlet will give you the gear and guidance to get started on your own. Both are available online from Scoutstuff.org.

From there it’s up to you to have as much success-and as much fun-as possible!

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Tracking Success

The cover of a 1908 installment of Robert Baden-Powell’s Scouting for Boys features his sketch of a Scout studying tracks. Baden-Powell believed tracking was one of the most important skills that Scouts could master. It required them to be observant, notice clues on the ground, and figure out what was going on. Footprints and signs left by other Scouts provided great practice as boys made their way through the backcountry.

One of four historic merit badges that Scouts can earn during the Centennial year of the Boy Scouts of America is Tracking. The requirements are almost the same now as they were in Scouting’s earliest days.

Handbooks through the decades have given Scouts plenty of advice on becoming good trackers. Look closely at the ground to find footprints. Keep an eye on the big picture, too, as you make your best guesses as to what those footprints mean.

The signs left by wildlife can tell you much about the creatures that live in an area and what they have been doing. Broken twigs, abandoned nests, droppings, and claw marks on trees all reveal something about animals’ activities.

When your tracking skills lead you within sight of wildlife, stay hidden so that you can observe what the animals are doing. Move only when they are looking away from you. Staying downwind of wildlife with keen senses of smell can help you conceal your location, too.

Always follow the Leave No Trace principle of doing nothing that might disturb animals or their surroundings. Watch at a distance that is safe for them and for you. Take photographs, make sketches, or just keep a picture in your mind of what you have learned while in the presence of wildlife. Then slip away as quietly as you arrived.

Tracking Quiz

The Tracking merit badge asks Scouts to know and recognize ten different prints common in their area. Can you match these sets of tracks with the owners of the feet that made them? You’ll find the answers below.

Answers to Tracking Quiz:

1-c. 2-f. 3-a. 4-b. 5-d. 6-e.

For requirements and an on-line edition of the Tracking Merit Badge Pamphlet, go to Scouting.org

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Mug It Up!

Everyone going camping needs a mug or cup. Yours should be sturdy enough to survive the backcountry and big enough to hold drinks and soups. If it is insulated it can keep beverages cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

From there, the sky’s the limit as you choose the cup or mug that fits your hand – and your personality.

Feeling old-school? Scoutstuff.org brings back the metal camper’s cup carried by hikers in California’s high country more than a century ago. Hanging a Sierra-style cup on your belt can still be a symbol of a true backpacker.

Clip the carabiner handle of a modern outdoor mug to a strap on your pack for secure storage and easy release. Rugged construction includes plenty of insulation and sometimes the security of a tightly-fitted lid.

Mugs with Scouting emblems can be terrific collectors’ items, too. Display a few on your shelf to show your pride in the Boy Scouts of America.

While mugs are terrific for collecting memories, the real purpose is holding beverages. There’s nothing better than an evening in Scout camp visiting with friends and sipping a delicious beverage from your own special mug.

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Related posts:

1. Be Prepared – For Adventure, For Life
2. Be Prepared – For Adventure, For Life
3. Historical Merit Badge Program

A Guest Post by Nelson R. Block

The young sailor ­­— already a three-year veteran at age 20 — stood before a review board on his application for a college scholarship program leading to an officer’s commission. The seaman was newly posted to this base, so the board officers did not know him. The chairman focused on an indiscretion from early in the sailor’s career, and would not let it go, grilling him about it time and again.

While the other officers asked questions, the chairman studied the rest of the young man’s record, then suddenly looked up. “You’re an Eagle Scout?” he asked. “Yes, sir,” the sailor answered. The chairman slammed the file closed and announced, “We’re done. The application is approved.”

Thus began the university education that would lead Mike McCulley to a career as a captain in the Navy, an astronaut and the president of Houston business United Space Alliance LLC. Eagle Scout — the title that has been described as “a resume in itself” — has opened the doors of opportunity to hundreds of thousands of its recipients. High school boys who notoriously procrastinate about everything rush to finish their requirements in time to include it on college applications. Grown men with resumes full of adult accomplishments proudly list it. Why should something done as a youth have such an impact on the American imagination? Most importantly, it is the shared achievement of many American business and professional leaders, which they themselves acknowledge as an important part of their training.

President Gerald Ford, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, hotel magnate J. Willard Marriott Jr. and H. Ross Perot, all Eagles, have praised the trail to Eagle as an important part of their development. As information entrepreneur and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said, “Whether you choose to become a teacher, a police officer, a doctor, or even the mayor of the greatest city in the world, your experiences as an Eagle Scout will prove invaluable.” Houston U.S. District Judge David Hittner says that his Eagle rank has followed his career, “all the way to the White House on my application for a federal bench.” These men value the work that led them to achieve the Eagle rank. It is not a task easily accomplished, and typically requires four to six years to complete.

Only about 5 percent of Boy Scouts earn the Eagle award. Eleven-year-old boys are not known for long-term goal setting or deferred gratification, yet each year tens of thousands are inspired by the older Scouts in their troops to begin this long journey. Although the requirements have varied over the century the Boy Scouts of America has offered the advancement program leading to Eagle, the basic idea has remained the same.

A Scout begins with the basics, learning how to hike, camp, swim, cook, identify wild plants and animals, read a map, use a compass, make things with knife, axe and ropes, and give first aid. This is all done in the company of six to 10 boys, usually of different ages, living and working together as a patrol. Here they learn that they are responsible not only for themselves but for their brother Scouts, in an outdoor setting which leaves little room for error and encourages that essential adult skill, planning. After forgetting the sugar, a boy is more likely to check the ingredients for a cookie recipe before again disappointing the rest of the guys. A cold evening without a coat is a chilly reminder to go over the camping gear checklist in the Boy Scout Handbook before leaving home. These experiences provide a boy with his first R&D opportunities and are strong teachers of a great American trait, ingenuity.

Scouting is one of the few places in our culture where a child has a safe place to make mistakes, and learn from them. If you have no sugar, sweeten the cookies with some juice brought for breakfast. If you have no coat, learn how to warm yourself in layers of lighter clothing.

After mastering the basics, earning the Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class ranks, the Scout advances by completing merit badges, where he is introduced to 122 subjects, as diverse as citizenship, atomic energy, lifesaving, medicine, music, athletics, collecting and archery. He also serves as a leader in his troop and works with community organizations. By now he has earned the Star and Life ranks as he completes 21 merit badges required for Eagle. He calls on all these skills when he undertakes Scouting’s graduate case study in good citizenship, the Eagle service project. The Scout works with a school, religious institution or other nonprofit to create something of lasting value — a bridge at a park, wheelchair ramps at a shelter, a collection of books for a neighborhood center. The Scout consults with the leadership of the beneficiary organization, submits a written proposal to his Scoutmaster, raises money, gets materials donated, recruits volunteers, plans work days, supervises the project and reports on the results.

Earning the Eagle award is a man-sized job a boy can be proud of, and adults will respect.

Related posts:

1. Planning CJ’s Eagle Project at Lake Tuscarora

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1. Scout Show Information

A Few of the Cub Scouts from Pack 804 attended the 2010 Spring to Spring camp out at Camp La-No-Che, and all had a great time. Nate Ridgway brought both his dad and his brother Ben, and Japheth Eckhardt brought his dad and brother Silas.

After arriving on Friday evening, the scouts set up camp and discovered a great swinging vine in the Ponca campsite. The four Glenwood guys met several scouts from other areas and they all took turns swinging and having a great time.

During the day on Saturday, the guys participated in a scavenger hunt in the downtown area of La-No-Che, and Silas won a Great Outdoors pack! The boys also played tug-of-war and basketball, went swimming in the La-No-Che pool, and made some bunny rabbit crafts. They also shot BB guns and arrows, and went on a nature hike. At the camp fire on Saturday night, the boys joined with their new friends at the council ring and performed four different skits for the whole assembly. They were the best part of the show!

On Sunday morning the boys awoke and attended the closing ceremonies after breakfast. Pack 804 won the blue ribbon for their outstanding performance all weekend. After the church service they packed up and headed home.

Related posts:

1. 1910 Spring Camp-O-Ree
2. Cub Scout Outings – Alternatives to Day Camp
3. Webelos Woods, 2010

Vol. 2, No. 4

This is the National Council’s outstanding newsletter promoting our rich culture of Scouting traditions. Let the troop know what you think about it.

LET’S GROW!

Ready for spring? Warmer weather brings fresh adventures for Scouts everywhere.

It’s also a fine time to plant a few seeds in a pot or cultivate a couple of rows in a garden. Scouts have been doing that for a very long time.

A collector’s edition embroidered patch celebrating the BSA’s 100th Anniversary commemorates gardening as one of Scouting’s national Good Turns. The patch shows Lady Liberty sowing seeds and asking, “Will you have a part in Victory?”

The idea arose during World War I when the Boy Scouts of America was still very new. “Every Scout to Feed a Soldier” became the slogan that encouraged boys to plant gardens and help provide America and its people in uniform with plenty of food. Those early Scouts showed that young people could make a real difference.

Scouts stepped up again throughout World War II by planting “victory gardens” all over America. The vegetables they produced help feed their families and the nation.

Today, Scouts continue to discover the satisfaction of growing gardens. Many start by tending potted plants on windowsills. Some cities have transformed vacant lots into “pea patch gardens,” where people without space of their own can grow vegetables and flowers. In rural areas and communities with more open land, gardens can be shared fun for Scouts and their families.

Through your efforts, you can make the world a little greener, and perhaps even provide some fresh vegetables for the table. That’s a victory garden any way you measure it!

To learn more, check out the Gardening Merit Badge. Passing the requirements can give you a good understanding of gardening basics.

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JEOPARDY QUIZ REVISITED

The television show “Jeopardy” recently celebrated Scouting’s Centennial Year with a special category, The Boy Scouts of America. Contestants were asked to identify a teepee firelay, a tomahawk, a way of using shadows to find north, and the first American president to have been a Scout (John F. Kennedy).

Here’s your chance to match wits with the latest Be Prepared Scouting quiz. (The correct responses are at the end of this section.)

And as they say on “Jeopardy”, make your answers in the form of a question.

Ready?

Begin!

1. The words “Silver on the sage, starlit skies above…” are sung by Scouts visiting this BSA High Adventure Base in New Mexico.
2. Cub Scouts can build gravity-powered model cars to race in this event.
3. In 1907, Robert Baden-Powell hosted the first Boy Scout campout on this English island.
4. The BSA’s 100th anniversary themeCelebrating the Adventure – Continuing the Journey will be heard often during this summer’s National Jamboree ^® held in this state.
5. Members of this popular Scouting program can earn the Gold Award, Silver Award, and Ranger Award.
6. Scouts selected to join this national honor society of the BSA ^® call one another brothers.
7. God and Country, On My Honor, God and Church, and Ad Altare Dei are awards closely related to this point of the Scout Law.
8. A moleskin donut is one of the recommended ways to treat this common hiking injury.
9. The letters CPR stand for this first aid treatment provided to someone whose heart and breathing have stopped.
10. The letters UU represent the hoof prints of this “mail burro” and mascot ofBoys’ Life Magazine .

1. What is Philmont?
2. What is a Pinewood Derby?
3. What is Brownsea Island?
4. What is Virginia?
5. What is Venturing?
6. What is the Order of the Arrow?
7. What is Reverent?
8. What is a blister?
9. What is Cardio-Pulmonary-Resuscitation?
10. Who is Pedro?

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LEATHERWORK

An early Boy Scout Handbook included these instructions for making moccasins:

-Boy Scout Handbook – 3rd edition, 1927

It’s a pattern still found in the Moccasin Kit sold on

Scoutstuff
. The moccasin is also the image on the Leatherwork Merit Badge.

Making useful items from leather is a skill that fascinated Ernest Thompson Seton, Daniel Carter Beard, and other founders of the Boy Scouts of America. Learn about leather work and the projects you can complete, and you might discover a terrific new hobby.

Punch It Out!

A punch kit is all you need to imprint messages and designs onto leather items. Figure out what you want, then use a small hammer to tap letters, numbers, and designs into your projects.

Check www.Scoutstuff.org for leather tooling letters, numbers, and designs.

There are plenty of leatherwork projects to choose from, too, including keychains, rounders, and neckerchief slides:

The neckerchief slide with the longest history in Scouting – the woggle – is also made of leather, but it is tied rather than stamped.

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WOGGLE

When Robert Baden-Powell wore a neckerchief, the founder of the worldwide Scouting movement often held it in place with a neckerchief slide called a woggle
.

Technically, a woggle is a cord tied as a Turk’s Head Knot:

You can see the shape and weave of the woggle replicated in today’s metal neckerchief slides for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts:

The woggle also plays important roles during Wood Badge courses, Scouting’s advanced training in leadership skills for all adults in BSA programs.

Every Wood Badge participant learns to tie a woggle with a piece of cord. At the completion of the course, a graduate receives a Wood Badge neckerchief and a permanent leather woggle.

Wearing the woggle is one way adult leaders can acknowledge that they are living by the values of Scouting. The same is true whenever Scouts perform Good Turns, from planting gardens to being leaders. Guided by the Scout Oath and Law, members of the BSA continue to make positive differences every day for their families, communities, and country.

Wood Badge Emblem

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Related posts:

1. Be Prepared – For Adventure, For Life
2. Be Prepared – For Adventure, For Life
3. Changes to Youth Protection Policies

How you you like to be banned from a public store for wearing your uniform? These guys were, and they were not happy. You’d think these blokes would know the difference between a gang of neds and Baden Powell’s finest.

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Merit badges have been a fixture of the Boy Scouts of America since its inception in 1910. The requirements that generations of Scouts have completed have taught lifetime citizenship lessons, personal fitness habits, and life skills. They have been the beginnings of countless careers and lifetime hobbies. In the last 99 years, there have been many changes in the merit badge offerings. As society has changed, the Boy Scouts of America has adapted by revising the requirements, implementing name changes, adding new merit badges, and in some instances, eliminating some badges altogether.

For the 100th Anniversary Celebration, four vintage merit badges are being released for the centennial celebration year only, giving Boy Scouts the hands-on opportunity to experience the exciting past of Scouting while learning how our world has changed in that 100 years.

Here are the basics of the 2010 Historic Merit Badge program.

→ An overall goal of the program is for a majority of the BSA’s registered Boy Scouts to earn one or more of the merit badges during the centennial year, 2010.

→ The badges offered have a history that can be traced back to the origins of the BSA.

→ The original requirements are being used, as well as supported by scanned pages of the early merit badge pamphlets so a Scout can view what a Scout 100 years ago used. Supporting the scanned pages of the original pamphlets are information guides for each merit badge that explain what a Scout of 1910 might have experienced, along with background information to assist a Scout in understanding what maybe unfamiliar terms.

→ The contemporary merit badges closely resemble the original designs of their counterparts with the exception of the border, which is gold The unique border will immediately identify it as a 2010 historic merit badge.

→ The four historical merit badges may be used toward a Scout’s rank advancement.

→ The effective date for earning these new merit badges is April 1, 2010, and requirements must be completed no later than Dec. 31, 2010.

→ The BSA will not reprint the pamphlets for these merit badges. Reprints of the original merit badge pamphlets are posted to www.scouting.org/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/MeritBadges.aspx.

→ As with all merit badges, units, districts, and councils should recruit and register qualified counselors for these badges.

Badges may be earned by individual Scouts. District and council advancement committees are encouraged to offer opportunities for Scouts to work on at least some of these merit badges at resident camp, at camporees, or during special anniversary celebrations. See the “how to” sections for additional support at www.scouting.org/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/MeritBadges.aspx.

Historic Merit Badge Flier

Sample Press Release

Historical Merit Badge Implementation Plan

2010 Historical Merit Badge Program session guide for University of Scouting, roundtables, and other training venues

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