District Wedding

Summer Camp

It is just about time for Scouts all over to head to Summer Camp. Wherever you go, and every Scout can and should go, you will never forget it.

I did some price checking on some area Summer Camps:

Cincinnati, OH - Friedlander $185.

Owensboro, KY - Roy C. Manchester $180.

Huntington, WV - Arrowhead $180.

Louisville, KY - Crooked Creek $165.

Lexington, KY - McKee $165.

Johnson City, TN - Davy Crockett $150.

Charleston, WV - Buckskin $150.

These are this year's basic fees for "in Council" units; after discounts; eating in the dining hall; etc.

For the price and the program, I'll stick with Camp McKee!

New Uniform

www.bsauniforms.org

Floyd County Times Article

New Silver Dollar?

http://www.coinnews.net/2008/04/28/boy-scouts-of-america-silver-dollar-centennial-commemorative-coin-4056/

http://www.texasinsider.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3381

Memorial Day

Remembering all of those Americans,

who are no longer with us,

that served so well.

Phily Trip

Quick family trip over the weekend.

Floyd Co. FOS Dinner

Big Scouting event last night in Prestonsburg. The annual Floyd County Friends of Scouting Dinner was held at Jenny Wiley in honor of State Representative Greg Stumbo. Greg is an old Boy Scout and was an Assistant Scoutmaster for a while.

Our Governor, Steve Beshear attended, which made it all that more special.

Greg Stumbo, Steve Beshear, and Johnny Ray Turner with Scouts from Floyd County.

Match Made in Scouting

A lot of rumors floating around this week about our old D.E., Clay Wheeler.

I talked to Clay yesterday and it is true. He is getting married! Marrying the girl we set him up with at a District Merit Badge Fair last year. http://scoutinginthehills.blogspot.com/2007/05/romance-executive.html

On March 21, 2009, Clay and Heather "Science Center Girl" Johnson, will tie the knot at the Fitzpatrick Baptist Church in Prestonsburg.

Does Clay know how to tie knots?

Pham Eagle

Viet Pham received Scouting's highest honor last night at a wonderful Court of Honor.

Viet has had a stellar experience in Scouting, so far. 34 Merit Badges, 119 nights camping, NJ, NOAC, WJ, Sea Base, and is a Brotherhood member in O.A.

This summer, he will be at Philmont and Northern Tier.

One of the remarkable items on his list of accomplishments, is his leadership. Viet is serving his 4th year as a Den Chief and does so better than anyone I have ever seen. He is also our Troop's ASPL and our Chapter's Vice Chief of Brotherhood.

Viet truly is a great example of how the Scouting program is producing responsible leaders.

Sad News

Art Leach just stopped by and had some sad news.

His wife Caroline, passed away after a very long illness on May 8. She was 78.

Caroline, like Art, was a great supporter of Scouting. She received the Silver Fawn award in 1972. I'll miss her smiling face at our District Banquets.

May the great Scoutmaster of all Scouts be with the Leach Family.

New McKee Patch

The McKee Outdoor Leadership Executive, Bill Montgomery (MOLE), sent me this year's McKee design. It looks great! We should have another great year at McKee, where,...

You know the drill.

Where every day is a holiday and every meal is a feast!

Legendary Camp Out

You are going to be hearing about this

Venturing Camp Out for a long time.

Five brave souls completed their Wilderness Survival and Shooting Sports requirements, plus shot well enough to earn the coveted Venturing Shooting Sports Outstanding Achievement Award.

Wilderness Survival isn't like camping. It is a skill that must be practiced and learned. You can say the same for shooting. All of the guys started off rough, but by Sunday morning, they had survived and shot almost every type of rifle in the world, including the big 50 cal.

Words really can't describe what these guys learned. I'm sure that for those who didn't go, you will have to hear about it, over and over again!

Michael, Don, Aaron, Ryan, and Will. All wilderness survivors and good shooters.

Multiple Directions

You know you are on good Scouting ground, when everyone is doing something "Scouty" over the weekend.

I guess we will brave the elements and proceed with our Venturing Wilderness Survival - Shooting Sports weekend. The younger guys in the Troop are doing a service project at the Relay for Life tonight.

I just talked to Doug Ramey and the District Camp Out for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, down in Elkhorn City this weekend, is ready to go and should have a huge crowd. Other happenings this weekend include NYLT staff meeting and Wood Badge.

So much to do, you can't do it all. Whatever Scouting direction you go in this weekend, it should be fun. Good camping to all!

Philmont 2008

This time next month, we hope to be on the trail at Philmont. I say hope, because this whole process has been extremely difficult and has taken a lot of work by a bunch of volunteers.

Our fee to go is $1,575 and after all of the hassle, reservations, and planning, we might be able to refund a $100 back to each participant. I've never complained about our Council's fees for these big trips and nobody else should either.

If I ever go back to Philmont, it will be through the Blue Grass Council contingent. Let the professionals deal with all of the red tape. I just want to go hiking with a few of our Scouts.

Shooting Sports

Our Venture Crew has been planning this Wilderness Survival - Shooting Sports weekend for a long time, and if the weather permits, it will be one of the best Scouting activities I have ever seen.

All they will have is a #10 metal can full of what they need to survive 2 nights with. As for the shooting: air rifle, .22 rifle, .22 hand gun, 12 gauge shotgun, muzzle loader, and for fun M-1 Garand, Springfield Model 1903, 30 Carbine, M-4 Carbine, HK MP-5, and the M-2 Browning.

It is going to be dang - bang awesome!

CVP

I received the new Council Venturing President officer badge. Very nice! The edge is in green mylar and it really stands out.

Now the big question is, who will be our Council's inaugural CVP?

We'll find out in June.

Kandersteg

I received a surprise package over the weekend with some Kandersteg goodies. Patches and a bottle of ashes that came from the International Scout Center over in Switzerland.

2010 is our target date to visit. http://www.kisc.ch/

Aaron's Eagle Project

Aaron Shepherd completed his Eagle Scout Project today and it was a good one. The plan was two fold. #1 pass out notices and collect needed items and #2 clean up and beautify the Pike County Domestic Abuse Center.

2 different vehicles were filled with donated goods, on 2 different trips. That speaks well of our community support. The entire perimeter of the building was weed eated and a new flower bed made.

A good job by all those who worked and supported Aaron in this wonderful service project!

A good plan starts at the truck.

Some of the items donated were strange?

Flowers and mulch make any place look nice.

A hard working bunch!

Scout Advertisement?

This ad appeared in our local newspaper this week and it obviously caught my attention. It looks like somebody has used Norman Rockwell's 1945 painting "I Will Do My Best" to help sell cars.

I don't know if this is legal or not? Maybe they paid a fee? It isn't conveying a negative message. Not to worry. BSA has a website for such issues.

http://www.bsalicensing.org/

New Knot

The National Eagle Scout Association is coming out with a new knot. All LIFE members of NESA will be eligible to wear this award.

LIFE membership is only $180. Pretty cheap over the long haul and the "Eagletter" is one of the best newsletters I have ever seen. Published quarterly, it is an excellent reminder that once an Eagle, always an Eagle.

The new knot will be similar to the regular Eagle square knot, except it will have a silver border. You are supposed to only wear one or the other. For some reason, I don't see that happening.


http://www.nesa.org/

Custom Patches

You can still get custom made patches from BSA Supply. It isn't easy, but they are get-able.

I think that the last paper catalog you could look through was in 2006. Back then, you could pick out a design and add 2 lines of text. The minimum was 12 badges.

BSA Supply still offers them. New designs too. Since there is no paper catalog and nothing on ScoutStuff.org, you have to ask. Until they overcome that small issue, it is worth the effort.

Bulletin Board

I had heard that there was a big, new, and blank bulletin board at Camp McKee. Not blank any more!

I stuck up a Sea Base, World Jamboree, and Venturing poster over the weekend and it got a lot of attention. I had several comments and questions.

The way I see it, we are competing for young people's time. They have to know about it, parents have to understand it, and we have to deliver. Posters at Camp are just a basic way to advertise.

If you look real close, I left you other guys a little room on the board!

First Ordeal

Kawida Lodge held it's first Ordeal and Brotherhood Ceremonies over the weekend. 29 new members and 13 Brotherhood conversions.

All of the tents are up at McKee and just about every camp site has 3 new tents. This is going to be a good year at McKee. I hear that there are several weeks already booked solid.

Of course with every Kawida event, we had some time for fun, food, and fellowship. The LEC meeting even went smooth with some new items discussed.

Our rookie Lodge Officers, all of them, did a good job. The first one is always the hardest and they made it look easy.

Pretty sight!

Jared, Mac, and Kevin are Troop 12's newest members.

May Roundtable

We had 21 Scouters in attendance last night at the Lonesome Pine Roundtable meeting. You can feel the momentum building.

Kevin Auton did a great presentation on the Ace Adventure Center. http://www.aceraft.com/ Oh by the way, it was our first Boy Scout / Venture Roundtable meeting.

Maybe someday we will get to the point that we can have break outs for Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Venturing.

Rare Award

During the Court of Honor the other night, Viet Pham earned the Vietnamese Interpreter strip. It is the first in our Troop and honestly, the only one I believe I have ever seen presented. To earn the award, you must demonstrate that you are fluent in another language.

The patch itself has changed, since I last saw one. They used to about half of the size and were red with white letters. Also, the language is now in it's native writing and not in English.

It is a small world and we need more Scouts and Scouters to earn this one!