Thanks Phil

Troop 12 had a very nice Court of Honor last evening. It was Scoutmaster, Kevin Auton's first and it was wonderful!

Several badges and awards. 5 Rank advancements.

All of the Scout leaders assembled in front of the crowd to honor retiring Assistant Scoutmaster, Phil Smith. Phil has been active in Scouting for 7+ years and he will be sorely missed.

A BIG Scout Salute to Philip Smith and all of his work with Troops 10 and 12!

DE Training

Our fearless District Executive, Jeremy Tackett, is down in Texas this week and next for some highly specialized D.E. Training.

PDL or "Please Don't Litter" training is just for professional Scouters and it is intense. You set around in a classroom and gorge 3 times a day at an all you can eat buffet.

Honestly, the Professional Development courses are wonderful and are some of the best organizational and management classes on the planet.

After Jeremy gets back from "D.E. Brainwashing", we'll have to really teach him how things work.

OA National News

http://www.oa-bsa.org/bulletin/nb-q1-08.pdf

New Crew

We have a new Venture Crew here in the great Lonesome Pine. Crew 700, chartered by the River Volunteer Fire Department in Johnson County, turned in their paper work this week thanks to Jeremy.

Rocky and Charlotte Caudill will be the Advisers and they are excited about the program. They have 9 boys and 4 girls.

Congratulations and welcome to the family!

Derby Pie Calendar

Douglas Wagoner sent me a care package yesterday and in it was the "2008 Derby Pie Calendar".

While we were in England last year, we gave away some samples of Kentucky's finest dessert and they were a big hit. People were reluctant to try it at first, but when they did, they wanted more.

We made the November 2008 page of the calendar. Very cool.

32,000 Waiting List

The United Kingdom's Scout membership has risen at the fastest rate for 22 years with young people attracted by new activities like snowboarding.

The UK Scout Association said 15,000 joined up in the last 12 months - a 3.7 percent increase in youth membership and a 1.7 percent increase in adult membership.

The rise brings the total of children and young people who are scouts in the UK to more than 465,000 with 100,000 adult volunteers.

The success has come on the back of the movement's centenary last year, culminating in an international jamboree in Essex and an updating of activities to include a street sports badge involving pastimes like skateboarding, alongside the more traditional of first aid and map reading.

Chief Scout and Former Blue Peter presenter Peter Duncan said the movement offered the "social cohesion" that the Government and the media want.

"Historically, Scouting has helped to develop strong community ties, while providing an outlet for young people who need support outside their family and school environments," he said.

"New volunteers have discovered that as well as having an adventurous time themselves they can contribute, on their own terms, to the bigger picture of social cohesion that the media and government are crying out for."

The figures from the association also showed a gap of nearly 6,400 volunteers who are needed because about 32,000 young people are on waiting lists to join.

"Our adult volunteers are what make Scouting such a success and without them there would be no scout groups," Mr Duncan said "It's vital that we keep recruiting volunteers to the movement. It makes us stronger, brings in fresh new ideas, and gives the upcoming generations of young people somewhere else to go and something else to do, a little out of the ordinary."
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Scouting started in England. Maybe we can learn from their success.

SR6N Conclave Threads

Conclave 2008

The Section SR-6N Conclave, held over the weekend at Camp Mack Morris in Camden, TN was awesome! The road trip wasn't bad at all. Actually, it was fun.


We always go out Friday night and eat and this year we did Chinese at the 4 T's in Camden and it was mighty tasty. If we were eating cat, and didn't know it, it was good cat.

The training sessions and American Indian Activities were good on Saturday. Hollywood and Aaron Shep. were instructors. The Quest Games are always a highlight and we did well this year. So well, that combined with the judging on other items, Kawida finished 3rd overall and got a nice piece of hardware to take home. 3rd out of 9 Lodges is great. First time in a long time and it speaks well of of youth members and HoggMan's leadership.

Don decided not to run again for Section Chief. Billy Z. and Hollywood took their chances at a Section slot, but didn't make it. Sometimes before you can win one, you have to lose one.

Win or lose, the event was great and next year it will be even more fun down at Camp Davy Crockett. Can't wait.

Smile if you like eatin' kitty cat!

Quest Games are serious business.

Pull!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Doug and Harold got caught doing something bad!

Go West Young Man

This time tomorrow, we will be pulling out for another exciting road trip to Conclave.

Don is planning on running for a 2nd term as Section Chief and Billy Z. may run for an office too. You can only get one thing when you mix politics, food, fun, and a little patch trading, and that thing is Conclave!

Load up boys.

Conclave Mode

It is that time of year again. All of the "Appalachian Americans" are rolling into Pikeville for one of the grandest celebrations in the time of mankind: Hillbilly Days!

That means it is time for us to go to Conclave and we are all excited. 2 vans this year, with 18 Arrowmen from our Chapter. Hollywood sent me a copy of the Training schedule and I must say that the courses look great. We can all benefit from such information.

Dairy Queen

If Miguel's Pizza is the place to visit while you are at the Gorge, then the Clay City Dairy Queen is the place, when you go to Camp McKee. We go there a lot!

I can't count the number of times we have been there while we are on a Scouting trip. Before we go to Camp, on our way home from Camp, and it was the first place we had tasted ice in 16 days when we got home from England.

Needless to say, we know everybody who works there and they know us too.

Over the weekend our new Scouts stopped by for supper on Friday night. The girl working there asked, "Where are the rest of the guys?" After explaining, the new Scout asked her, "Are you Heather?" She was shocked that he new her name.

Shouldn't have been.

The tradition continues,...

Great Hike

The Red River Gorge hike was a big success. Everyone did great! 15 miles on some of the hardest hiking in the state. Of course we had to stop by Miguel's Pizza for lunch on Sunday.

Everyone is learning how to work together as a group and I'm pleased.

Since I didn't get to hike, I ran by McKee and saw the New Scout campers on Saturday. Troops 12, 802, and 839 were there from the Hills.

The Gorge

Our next Philmont training hike is this weekend at the Gorge. "They" will be hiking the Rough Trail (#221) and the Swift Camp Creek Trail (#219). The total miles will be about 17, and the terrain will be challenging, particularly the first day, as there are many ups and downs.

I say "they" because I'm just driving the van this weekend, with this heel spur. I hate physically not being able to do something, but I will be fine for the Mischa Mokwa hike next month.

Heel Spur

I've been having a problem in my left foot for a while. Last month, the PMT almost did me in. I knew that I had to fix it, before Philmont and Northern Tier.

The problem was a heel spur. My only thought was fix it and get me ready for summer.

After a nervous visit to a Podiatrist this morning, all I need are arch supports and I'll be fine.

Wheww! Boys, get ready to be out hiked now.

Courteous In 2008

Ahh, the new Friends of Scouting CSP is out and it is beautiful. 2 things caught my attention though. I've never seen a split rail fence with barbed wire. If you are going to all of the trouble to build a split rail fence, why short cut and use barbed wire? Or, if you are wanting to keep livestock in, why even waste your time splitting rails? I grew up on a farm and I just love to over analyze!

The other thing is where is the fleur-de-leis?

Maybe I should shut up, put the patch in the collection, and just be courteous!

Chapter Development

I like to pull this photo out, when anyone of these guys "gets mouthy". Here is a bright spot for any struggling O.A. Chapter.

When we reorganized our Chapter, we only had 4 youth members. Good news was all of them were Chapter Officers. They made a goal to make Quality Chapter, which included Unit Elections, Camp Promos, and just generally being active in the Lodge.

Needless to say these 4 guys made their goal, several times. All Eagle Scouts. All Vigil Honor members. 3 Lodge Chiefs and 1 Section Chief, so far. This year our Chapter should end with around 50 members. Not bad for 4 little dweebs!

New Section

Once our Section SR- 6N Conclave is over next weekend, we will add another Lodge and become Section SR - 6. There have been numerous changes to our Section over the years and this change won't be the last.

We'll be joined by our Brothers out of Chattanooga, TN from Talidandaganu Lodge. If you check the old Section pole in front of the O.A. slab at McKee, you find that they were once a part of our Section.

We could have dual Section Officers for next year. Kind of complex, but I'm sure that it has happened before.

http://www.southern.oa-bsa.org/content/news.php?id=80

Picnic Tables

A bunch of new picnic tables will be available at Camp McKee this summer.

It is not too late to get yours.

http://www.doubleknot.com/openrosters/DocDownload.asp?id=11814

Kawida LEC

Kawida Kooking

One of the hot topics discussed over the weekend was a Lodge Cook Book. The idea generated a lot of discussion and general excitement.

Our Lodge Chief's mother, Juanita Hogg, has agreed to chair this project. The goal is to have them available at our Winter Banquet.

I know that everybody will want to submit a recipe and have their name and a picture or something in it. I'm not much of a cook, but I'll find something to send in.

Might even get the secret to Bill Montgomery's Wedding Cake recipe?

Breaking News

Troop 802, Glen Felty and the guys, had a full house for their OA Election last night. 4 new youth members, 1 adult for the Troop, and 1 adult through the District if all of the paper work is right.

After I got home, I got a call from Jeremy Tackett, our District Executive. It seems that he is accepting a youth pastor position in a church and will be giving his notice today to the Blue Grass Council. I hate to see him go. He has been doing a great job.

After all of that earth shattering news, my wife asked me who will be the next D.E.? My reply was "No idea". She said you might as well do it. So we talked and if Kelly and the Board will have me, I guess I can be a D.E. in the Lonesome Pine again. We'll see?