2006

Change

I was released from scouts this week and it is kind-a sad. I’ve put in almost 4 years working with the 12 and 13 year olds and then asked to change. I was finally beginning to think I had figured out how to be a decent scout leader and was becoming somewhat confident that I could really do some good with the boys.

Our troop is in a period of transition with two older boys turning 14 and two younger guys just turning 12. I was eager for the new challenge with the new boys. I was also looking forward to ‘starting over’ because this year the majority of the skills/merit badges the boys need to learn I have already taught.

That would mean I wouldn’t have to teach myself how to do things before I presented it to the boys. It would mean I could focus more on teaching the skills effectively, rather than just being able to teach it at all. Maybe it would mean I could devote less time and get the same (or better) results.

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But, now I have a new assignment—working with the 14 and 15 year old boys (ie. the Teachers Quorum or Varsity Scouts). Ironically, I’m working with the same guys I’ve been working with for 3 years. From what I gathered, the reasoning behind the switch is that I already have a relationship of trust with those guys and I should be able to continue to do some good with them.

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But, I can’t help but think I’ve already ‘taught’ them all I know. I can’t think of a meaningful story I haven’t shared or a personal experience I haven’t expressed. I hope I can find something new to say when we hang out or when I teach Sunday lessons…I guess I’ll have to dig a little deeper into my memories. Hopefully I can come up with something good.

We’ll see how this goes. I’m feeling pressure.

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In memory of the 'good times' over the past several years, I'm going to post pictures from each year for the next few days. I'll start with my service in Troop 950. A struggling little troop that ultimately dissolved and merged with another troop. Then, there are pictures from Troop 630. This is 2005.

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Enjoy:

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This was my very first campout as a leader. I threw a futon mattress in the back of the truck and slept there....a lot has changed since then.

Pioneering

Last weekend the scouts and I went on an outing to work on the Pioneering Merit Badge. Pioneering is sometimes known as "backwoods engineering." Basically pioneering is building stuff out of materials you find in the wilderness. The project we worked on this weekend was to build a tower. The boys worked together and their knots held. The tower turned out great.

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(we brought our own poles and rope).
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Here is a 'photo summary' of the trip:

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Friday night we ate some dutch oven food and spent time around the campfire.

I told a ghost story that Berkley and I made up on the ride up. I partially redeemed myself from the totally lame ghost story I told last year at the same location.

Saturday morning we ate breakfast, raised the flag and reviewed the knots.

Here we are having a bowline tying competition.

Then we reviewed the tower "blue-prints and went to work:

The boys tied all the knots. I was mostly there for moral support, and to be the 'human scaffolding'. It seemed like I held those spars up for over an hour (but that's an exaggeration).

Then, once the tower was built, the photo shoot began.

The sitting/standing platform was 8 feet above the ground

I'm glad we put the tower in front of the flag pole. The pictures turned out great.

The knots were strong enough to even hold me.

Here's the whole group--proud of our accomplishment.

and, here's our scoutmaster...a good man. I can't think of a better person to have worked with the last couple of years.

Scouting for Food

Here are some pics from our troop when we participated in Scouting for Food this year.

We collected canned foods for local food banks. It was definitely a success.

Jan. Outing

Ok, Ok Ok...

I know this is late, but I have to post a few pictures from the Scout outing we had in January. We went up to my folks cabin to have a 'planning retreat.'
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Friday night we outlined the badges we will earn and the campouts we will go on in 2009. If that's all we did I would have been considered the outing a success, but Saturday we did some Leatherwork and finished making our belts too. (see Metalworking for more info). So, it was awesome. The boys had fun and the leaders were comfortable, which is the perfect combination.

We also saw several Javelina and got some good pics.

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It seems like only yesterday I was their age and playing the exact same keyboard at the cabin.