Sea Scouts

Sea Scouts started in the USA in 1912. Ship 12 started in the hills of eastern Ky in 2005. How can you do Sea Scouting in the rural Appalachian mountains? Get the book, read the book, find a boat, and follow the program. It works!

We hooked up with Dr. E.D. Roberts, a local physician who has a 38 foot concrete sail boat. Yes, it is made of concrete and it floats very well, thank you. We are learning the basics of sailing out on Fish Trap Lake.

I don't know the first thing about boats, so I'm learning too. Sea Scouting is 50 % boating and 50% leadership skills. The youth members like it and they are getting to do new things and developing new skills. That is what Scouting is all about!

Ahoy! http://www.seascout.org/

The Best Show In Town

It just kills me, when I hear a fellow Scouter tell how he is losing all his boys to other activities. Band, basketball, soccer, etc, etc.

I had the chance to talk to some new folks from 4 different Councils at Winterplace this past weekend. I learned a few things.

There are 2 types of units. Those that continually grow and increase and those that struggle and are barely on the vine. You hear stories like, we have 6 new Life Scouts and are expecting 12 Webelos this spring vs. my older guys have quit and I don't do Cub Scouts any longer.

There is a lot of competition for young people's time today. This isn't the 50's, when there was a Troop at every church, and Scouting was about the only game going. As leaders, we must follow the book and have the BEST show in town. Kids and parents have a choice and will occasionally miss athletic banquets and soccer games, if your deal is better.

Don't let the band director out do you!

Snow Sports

I'm tired this morning. Really tired.

We just got back from Winterplace Ski Resort last night about 6:30. 20 of us ventured over to Flat Top, WV to ski and snow board. Tri-State Area Council does a deal twice a year over there and it is great.

Pre-Order Conclave Merchandise

This year's SR-6N Section Conclave is close this year. It is on the far side of Knoxville at Camp Buck Toms. I mention close because the last 2 years were held in Mississippi. It was actually shorter for us to drive to NOAC, than it was last year's Conclave in Eudora.

The Conclave will be different this year. Bud Tobin won't be there.

The Section has updated the website. The schedule is online and it looks to be great. Conclave merchandise is now available for pre-order at http://conclave2007.sr6n.info/?Trading_Post

I got the chance to see some prototypes, on paper, of what some of the Kawida flaps might look like this year. I was asked not to post them, but the kids have put some serious thought into some really cool colors and designs. It looks like the old traditional style might be back.

We are headed to Winter Place this weekend to do some tubing, skiing, and boarding.

150 Years Ago Today

Exactly 150 years ago, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell was born. What a childhood he had. What a career in the military he had. What he did for the youth of the world is still alive today.

So I guess, that if my math is correct, he was 50 when he started Scouting. On August 1, 1907 the deal at Brownsea Island took place and the rest is a 100 year history. We will be doing a big celebration on 8/1 at the Jamboree this summer, as well as Scouts from all over the world. The cool thing is that 8/1 is my birthday. I'll be 45.

Happy Birthday BP! I think you would be proud of Scouting today!

Big Events, part 2

One of the best kept secrets for Scouts is the Ace Adventure Center over near Oak Hill, WV. One of the best trips we have ever had!

You can do some serious, but safe, whitewater on the New or Gauley Rivers. They also offer guided rock climbing, caving, mountain biking, horseback riding, and kayaking.

Scouts can camp in their own tents, provided tents, or cabins. The lake at the Center has zip lines, an Aqua-Jump, and other fun water toys.

You can cook if you want, but the food is unbelievable! Gourmet buffet; all you can eat. Prime rib, crab legs, and all that other fancy big city fixings.

We'll go back to ACE.

http://www.aceraft.com/

Big Events, part 1

Each year we try and take one or two really nice trips. We always do the NOAC's, Jamborees, etc., but these events are short weekend trips with a big impact. Always affordable. Always fun!

Back in 2005 we went down to Charleston, SC and spent 2 nights aboard the USS Yorktown. They have a wonderful program there for Scouts. The tours are self guided, they show movies at night, a great scavenger hunt ( we won it ), merit badge opportunities, and the food is good.

If you haven't heard, you actually sleep on board the ship in the original bunk beds. If you go, get a top bunk. They are tight! The sleeping quarters are air conditioned now. It had to be extremely hot back then.

Also, you get to tour a submarine, cutter, and a destroyer. There are side trips that you can take too. We went out to Fort Sumter and helped raise the flag. How cool is that?

$75.00 each is a bargain. Check it out at http://www.patriotspoint.org/ under Overnight Camping.

9 from the Hills to go to World

In 1963, Judge Irvin Pruitt, took a patrol from the Lonesome Pine Council to the World Jamboree in Greece. Most of those guys still live around here. All of them are extremely successful and well respected. The one thing that they all say about the World Jamboree is that "it changed my life".

I learned about the 2007 WJ while at McKee during the 2005 season. I got one of the papers at the Thursday Scoutmaster's dinner. I didn't think much of it. I did look at it again and figured that my son was barely old enough, only by 4 days. So when I get home, I mention it to the wife. She asks where is it? I tell her London, England. She loudly tells me no way, they are bombing the subways over there. We don't get much CNN at Campsite #4 at McKee.

$4,000 is a lot of money to plunk down for a Scouting event. Paul Pruitt, Irvin's brother, told me that he sent his son to Greece, because he thought it was important. So important, that he went to the bank and borrowed the $1,000 to send him. It was the first money that he ever borrowed. Now Paul is tighter than anyone I know. So, I asked him, was it worth it? He said, yes. Very much so.

So, after many weeks of deliberation with the wife, she said that our son could go only if I went. I didn't want to go, but that was the deal. I applied, went through an interview, didn't think that I had a chance, but got picked to go.

William Hogg, William Goff, Don Combs, Viet Pham, Devan Allara, Andy Smith, Alex Hill, Stephen Burke, and I will give it a try this summer.

I wonder in 40 years, will they think back and say "it changed my life"?

I think so. Very much so.

Smack One Out of the Park

Remember the days when you played ball and you wanted that 1 pitch? You knew is was "yours" when you saw it roll off of the pitcher's hand. This is mine. All mine. SMACK. It was gone. Just a little smile; don't look at anyone.

I used to be a huge baseball fan. Riverfront, Wrigley, Fulton Co., Astrodome, just to name a few that I attended. My daughter talked me into taking the family to see a Braves vs. Dodgers game last year. It was great. In fact we are going to a Cubs vs. Braves game this year at Wrigley (I love it there!). So the plan is to go and see the Braves ( she likes them for some reason) play a game, somewhere, every year, until I can't walk.

I got a call yesterday from a Scout. He was in a van with a bunch of other Scouts from the BGC heading towards the Price of Freedom conference in Phily. He just called to tell me that they were in MD and there was a foot of snow there.

2 of the Venture Crew stopped by unexpectedly to visit and tell me about their progress on a service project. They were excited and plans are going well.

Scouting and what is provides for youth is like that 1 pitch. When the youth members want to connect with you, as a positive role model, then there is only one thing to do.

SMACK!

13 Year Old Eagle Scouts

I received a nice Eagle Court of Honor invitation from a young man who has earned the award. He is a fifth generation Boy Scout and his father was an Eagle also. WOW!

A lot of folks in our movement wouldn't be so excited about this, because of his age. Some would even question his work. Others would tell him to his face that he is too young. I should know, I was a 13 year old Eagle Scout too and all of this happened to me.

I've heard that some Scouters "make their kids wait until they are at least 16" to earn the Eagle rank. "They are more mature then". I agree with the maturity thought. Heck, there is a huge difference between 12 and 13.

My pal, who has now moved back to NY, Mike Kilbourne, has personally been involved with over 300 Eagles and he has seen all ages. He and I agree, that if the boy has met the requirements, than he has earned the rank. Maturity is not a requirement.

Now, if you feel that this is wrong, I would suggest that you write the National Office and have them change the requirements. Until, they are changed, I'm following the book and won't add my personal ideals to what should be done.

Congratulations to all Eagle Scouts!
(Regardless of age)

Declination on Valentine's Day

My father never sent flowers to my mother on Valentine's Day. They were both depression era, hard working farm folks that didn't "waste money" on things that weren't absolutely necessary.

I have always sent flowers to my wife on Valentine's Day. However, I send them without a card. I never claim that "I" sent them. It gets the kids all fired up and she knows who sent them.

Hey, if I can waste $55 bucks on a piece of cloth from 1959 Camp Offutt, then I can blow a few dollars on some flowers. If any of you monkeys aren't sending your sweetie flowers, then you had better check your compass. Your not factoring in declination.

Kentucky's SPL at World

I guess it is every Scout's dream to be the SPL of their Troop some day. It is the most important job, for sure. A good one will make a Troop shine.

I'll probably be talking a lot about the World Jamboree in the upcoming months. The 3 Councils from KY, Lexington, Louisville, and Owensboro, have combined to take 36 youth to England this summer. All 36 spots have been filled and I must say, after our meeting last fall, we have the best of the best. Just about everyone is Life or Eagle and have a strong Scouting background.

6 different guys wanted to be SPL of this unique and one time Troop. All 6 were awesome. Really awesome. However, 2 seemed to be a bit better. We discussed these 2 at lengths as leaders. Our Scoutmaster, Douglas Wagoner, asked them to send in a resume. Still a tie. Then he requested that they answer a questionnaire. It was a very tough decision, because both were such great leaders and only wanted the SPL, or nothing else.

Don got the call on Sunday. Our Chief will be the SPL for the KY Troop at the WJ. That makes me proud.

The Infant Stage

This past weekend was wonderful. There were 16 of us, from all over the US, attending the course. Folks from TX, OK, NY, and all over the south spent the weekend at the Dubose Conference Center in Monteagle, TN, learning how this new Venturing training is supposed to work.

I say new training, because it is only about 6 years old and is in the infant stage. Heck, there was a major change that rolled out last Thursday and there will probably be more after our conference. This frustrated some folks, but let me be the first to tell you, this is pretty cool.

It is so intense, that you are required to read it directly from the book. That idea cuts across the grain in everything, that we as Scouters have learned. The reason is, that this is so well thought out and planned, that if you tried to memorize it and forgot one word, it could mess up the whole deal. It is that serious.

I got to see several old friends from Powder Horn and I met a lot of great Scouters. Heck, I learned as much from them, outside of class, as I did in class. No surprise.

I guess the first thing to do is a pilot course with the crew and hopefully do one for the Council, maybe next summer.

Kodiak Anyone?

I am heading towards Chattanooga this morning for a Southern Region Venturing Kodiak Course Director Conference. (It takes longer to say that, than it will to drive).

There are basically 3 levels of training in Venturing. #1 is the VLSC which is about 4 - 6 hours. #2 is Kodiak, which is a week long; all outdoors event. #3 is Kodiak X, which is a weekend recap of all of the above.

There is a really good Kodiak scheduled over at Ace Adventure Center in WV this summer that would be great to attend, but it is at the same time as the World Jamboree.

So, my friends Mark and Maggie Belli (she is the National Youth President for Venturing; Mark is her dad), from Powder Horn 2006, talked me into this training so that we can do our own. It is only $95.00, which is a deal compared to what it would cost to go out to Philmont and get the same certification.

I don't like doing these adult thingys, but like Powder Horn, it will help our kids and the program.

http://www.kodiak-bsa.org/kodiak.html

Mike Warman has already told Elkhorn DE, Sarah Amand about this and she is all ready for me to do one for the Council. Thanks MIKE!! (You'll be in charge of the cooking).

That's a lot of pressure. I'd better pass this weekend!

I Screwed Up The Blue Book

Imagine that you bought a book at a local store and accidentally returned it to your local library. All sorts of bells and alarms would go off! No bar code, no purchase order number, no history in the computer. It would make a librarian cuss.

My buddy Tim Brown called me yesterday. He is the KY editor for the Blue Book, which is a collective listing of all OA Lodge's patches and such. Anyone who is serious about collecting, uses this reference as a check list.

It seems that the 2 Tomahaken Chapter patches, from this year and last year, "are not official" and are private issues, since they weren't issued by the Lodge or the Council.

However, they are certainly not restricted, as anyone can order as many as they want from BSA supply.

Our intentions were good, but you know what they say about good intentions.

I am truly sorry Tim for messing with the fine work that you and others do for so many of us collectors.

I'd break a steel ball with a rubber hammer!

Happiness Is A New Patch

That is our motto in Troop 12.

We had to cancel our meetings last night. First time ever! It wasn't because of the snow, but due to lack of power and water at the church. I know that some of you hard core monkeys would have held it at another place, but it was kind of nice to have a Tuesday night off.

Our fearless District Commissioner, Norm Marcum, has once again changed our District Banquet until March 1.

I see on Ebay that Tommy Martin and Dave Clemmons bought some nice stuff. Tim Cummins, where were you on that A2? You need that one.

Happiness is a new patch and it's all about the threads! How wonderful it is to go home and open the mail and find a surprise gift. I got this BGC Eagle Reunion piece from a good friend, who casually reminded me that I should have been there. Thanks!

The Mississippi Skank

Last year's NOAC up in Michigan was a hoot! I hadn't been to a NOAC, since I was on staff in Maine and they wanted a few of us to go down to Rutgers, NJ and promote the program. That was '83; fast forward to '06.

O.K., I had never been to MI and our mouthy contingent leader, Benjamin Alexander, just bragged and bragged how about how cool it was. It was hot, but that is another story.

My version of "the story" goes like this: It was early one morning and we were getting ready to go to breakfast. I was wearing my Scout pants and one of those customized O.A. shirts that you can order out of the catalog. This really ugly women, tells me that "I look cool and fresh". I thanked her and told her, it was a Christmas present. I told her we were from KY and she said she was from Mississippi. Good enough, but nooooooooooo. Alexander is giving me all sorts of crap about my "new gal from MS".

NOAC was winding down and the big day was Founder's Day. Kind of like Mardi Gras, only Boy Scout style. Parade, give away things, and a general sense of great fun. People are every where. A bunch of us from Kawida were up on a 2nd story balcony, overlooking the crowd. Alexander has one of the white ghost flaps, with a string on it, fishing for grabbers on the ground. Everyone grabbed at it, but he would always yank it up, before anyone could get it. Then a BIG FISH came from no where and snatched it off the line. We all looked over and it was the old gal from MS. She offered it back, but he said to keep it. Next thing you know, she is up on the balcony with us, sitting in his lap, and trading patches and phone numbers.

It was love among skanks.

Life,...after Eagle Scout.

I remember after the 2005 NJ, my daughter asked me who were those girls and guys in the dark green uniforms? I will never forget one of the adults at the church, telling Don that it looked like he had already earned everything.

So we started a Venture Crew ( and a Sea Scout Ship ). I had no clue what Venturing was. So, I bought the book, read the book, followed the book, and guess what? It works! Just like Cubs and Boy Scouts. Venturing is helping us retain and teach our older members.

We just finished up the Venturing Leadership Skills Course ( VLSC ) over the weekend. I've been involved with JLT, TLT, Brownsea, etc. All are good youth leadership courses, but when someone like Don likes it enough to want his own copy to teach another youth group, then I love it! It surprised me. Even the Hogg-man thought is was good. Say no more.

Squeaky emailed me and told me that the Council's Eagle Banquet went well and that my old buddy Mark Ray did a good job. However, I understand that his daughter was in an accident. I'll find out what happened and pass it on later.

Update: Hey, Barry. She's fine. Her knees, thumbs, and back are pretty sore (more yesterday than after the accident), but that's it. Thank God for air bags! The car's probably totaled.

Yes, I thought the banquet went well. It was nice to meet Will Hogg.

I hope my early departure wasn't too big a deal. I hated not to be there for people that wanted books signed.

Mark

Mr. Watts and the Chief had a meeting here Friday afternoon. Something about a Conclave meeting. These 2 seem to be hitting it off well.

Alexander wants me to tell "the story" about NOAC. I'll have to put some serious thought into that one.

We've got our physicals for WJ today. It is separate from the one needed for McKee. As Don said, "Oh great, I get to get violated twice this year!"

Poop, Puke, the A4, and Banquet!

My day started yesterday, with our cat pooping in the bathroom and not in the litter box. He is about 80 in cat years, my wife often reminds me. On the way to school, my daughter pukes in the truck. All of this, and I haven't had a cup of coffee!

I had a good email volley going with Tim Cummins of Frankfort yesterday. He is a big collector of KY - TN stuff. Several of you monkeys do that. I am trying to abstain. I thought I had the A4 that he needed. I got his hopes up. I went home to discover, that I had a bunch of the X4's. That sucks and I am very sorry Tim. Anyway, if you want some primo stuff from Lodges: Pellissippi 230, Ittawamba 235, Sequoyah 184, Ahoalan-Nachpikin 558 (or as my old buddy Harold Phillips calls them "A Holy Kitchen Napkin"), Chicksa 202, Wa-Hi-Nasa 111 (Yuck, who would want their stuff?) are the lodges that he is going to sell. Then all extra conclave stuff. Also, other patches from other Councils in lots of 25 patches.

Key Kawida pieces that Tim needs are: J1 Trail Hiker back patch, A1.5 Boone Trail with the round bottom, A2 Grey 15th Anniversary arrowhead, R2 Ceremonial Committees, and A4 1984 Section Conclave Host arrowhead.

Our District Banquet was supposed to be last night. Norm Marcum, our DC, wisely moved it to next Thursday. Although, we didn't get any snow? I get a call from Doug Ramey from Elkhorn City about 7:30 last night. He was in P-burg, wanting to know where everyone was? I felt like cat poop on the bathroom rug!!

Finally, it has been brought to my attention that this patch has been floating around this week. First off, let me say this: I found them at my front door and I do not know who left them there. Scout's Honor. I did some research on Google (since OA Chapter patches are no longer allowed, according to National Policy) and did discover that it is actually a French / English speaking fraternal organization. The Omega Alpha Tomahaken Chapter won this award last year. So now you know,...

New Vigil Placque

This is our Chief's idea. He wanted something to recognize the Vigil Honor members from our Chapter, since we reorganized. We started in January 2005, with 4 active youth members: Don Combs, Jeremiah Back, William Hogg, and Billy Zoellers. We ended December 2006 with 19 youth + 18 adults = 37 total members. Not bad?

This placque is from AAA Stamp & Seal. Barry Goldman has been doing laser engraved placques, name tags, address stamps, etc. for me for a long time. He is a Scouter himself and his work, as you can see, is wonderful and the price is always fair. Check him out at http://www.aaastamp.com/scouts/plaques.html

Why not do a BLOG? Every other geek has one. I can rant and rave, show pictures of patches, and talk about anything I want to. Kind of like, my own little newspaper and I am the Editor and Publisher, so if you don't like it, stop your subscribtion.

Today has been like any other Wednesday. Great Troop meeting last night. We finished our 4th and final meeting on Architecture for the older guys. Don and Billy are doing a great job with the newbies and their T-foot skills. Venturing was very thought provoking. We did an Ethics Discussion, which is one of the requirements for Silver. Any way, they discussed pranks and the fun they could be, which then turned into the trouble and consequences that could arrive out of it. I saw a few light bulbs over all heads. This is a good thing.

I've talked to Norm, Tom H., and Mr. Watts today. Had a surprise visit from Charlie "Squeaky" Davis for a bit. Always good to see the SQUEAK MAN.

I lost out on that Kawida A.05 neckerchief. I've only seen 2 and lost them both. The 1st, was over $500. and this week was $300. Guys, get on that A2 arrowhead. As Tim Brown say's, "It's a tough piece"!

Scout Sunday is this Sunday. Go to church and wear your uniform.