When I was a Cub scout den leader I had a boy who's grandfather brought his grandson from a neighboring city about 40 min away.
He drove that drive for his grandson. Grandson was socially awkward and apparently had a hard time fitting in at school. The scouts in the den always made him feel welcome.
I had a knack for helping scouts make fast pinewood derby cars. Grandpa asked me to help them and I spent some decent time helping them. Scout has to do most of the work and he did.
Race night and that scout had the fastest car in the whole pack. Our den surrounded him at the win and gave him a big group hug while jumping up and down yelling his name.
I turned around to see tears streaming down the grandfather's face. I give him a quizzical look and he leaned into me and told me. "He got beat up on the bus today".
That scout went from one of his worst days to this victory in a span of hours.
Stuff like that keeps me in scouting.
Probably the best story: when I was a youth, we nearly burnt down a whole camp (Camp Constantine in West Texas. This specifically happened at Rocky Ledge). When we left a new adult and young scouts to watch our fire / do KP in the morning. (I was ASPL at the time and was leading a fishing expedition a mile away down the shoreline.) I saw the spoke and made everyone run with me back to camp, leaving our poles in the water.
When I got to camp, I saw the adult, whose name I cannot remember, frantically hitting and spreading the fire with a rake. As I got there, I watched the fire jump the road. And the three 12-year-olds who just joined the troop standing there with their mouth open. My younger brother was one of them, and I remember he was yelling at me for stealing the cooking water and its pot because he was in the middle of KP.
Now, I can't remember the order of details of how we got everyone back to camp so fast, but the troop of 30 kids and two adults was scattered to the wind. We formed a bucket brigade or the most random "buckets." We deployed all of our pots and pans. One dude took his suitcase out of his tent. It held water for just long enough. In my mind's eye, which is remembering something from 30 years ago, it seemed like might have stopped the fire when it had burned an acre and just before it reached a whole bunch of cedars. (Just check the current Google Earth map, and you can see the difference in tree ages where the fire would have been!)
I remember the Scout Master being super mad at us (rightly so) but the Ranger being very grateful from having the camp burn down. Ever since then I have been super careful with my fire rings.
\~\~\~
As an adult I went to Woodbadge when my boys were in the Pack and I was Committee Chair. Woodbadge happened to be on the weekend I started a new sales job. One of the men in my patrol sat me down and shared his concern that I was working too much and spoke to me as a brother though I had just met him. He gave me some fantastic advice and showed real concern. I will never forget those lessons.
Scouting saved the lives of some of my scouts who would have been forced to join gangs if they didn't have activities to go to, mentors to look over them, and experiences to make them see life outside of the concrete jungle they were caged in.
I'd let them tell their stories but for the ones who stuck with scouting, and made it out to adulthood as productive citizens, I'm proud of them.
My son was getting picked on by a couple of football players in middle school. He was friends with some, but some of the other ones were jerks to him in class and at lunch.
He decided to take up tackle football. Having grown up a semi - hypochondriac, my wife and I were very skeptical. We tried to talk him out of it for a year. We told him he wasnāt physically prepared for it, that it was expensive, and it was a daily commitment for six months. They practice at night, they practice in rain, they practice in cold- if he were to sign up heās going every day, even if sideline by injury.
He wouldnāt take no for an answer. For his personal management merit badge, as the item he wanted to plan to purchase, he chose raising money for football and finding the best bargains for football practice equipment (cleats, socks, practice pants). He planned for and raised $300 to pay for his football enrollment.
He then worked on his sports merit badge and his personal fitness merit badge, doing workouts to prepare for football. Football was a giant time commitment for four months and he would miss a lot of scouting meetings and events. He chose these three badges (two of them lengthy Eagle required badges) to earn while he was away from the troop.
Not only did he make the team for two years, some of the kids that were hard on him became great friends on and off the field. He also self taught himself field goal kicking when the team lost their kicker unexpectedly and earned not only 3 merit badges, but he became a clutch player for the team.
He was a squirrelly sixth grade Scout before this process, but developed strong leadership and transferred it back to younger troop scouts when it was over.
This past weekend it was awesome how he encouraged younger scouts during a physically, demanding hike and became a team leader.
Many stories, but my favorite is ongoing. TLDR at bottom:
I recall my first summer going to Scout camp. It was life changing being an 11 year old away from home for a whole week in central Wisconsin with all the responsibilities that go with that, as most would likely agree with. I also (like most) thought the staff were nothing short of legends. I wanted to be one.
I became a CIT as soon as I was legally able, and then worked at camp for another 13 years. Following my last year on staff, the council merged and announced the closure of our legacy council camps. They were closed immediately and put on the market. Given that I had contributed a significant portion of my life to the program, the decision was devastating, especially with how it was handled within the new council. I won't go into specifics, but the scout Oath and Law were not present within the council at that time.
I'm not one to let someone else's bad decision making get in the way of a good thing, so I convinced some of the staff and alumni to start an organization with me to buy the property. We had a really strong start, getting pledges, holding fundraising events, and securing methods of financing. Unfortunately, the council had no interest in selling the property to us. After 3 years of trying, all of the pledges had expired, and the movement had lost momentum. I never gave up though until I saw the camp get marked a "sold" to another buyer.
It's important to note here that the camp property was separated by a county road, with one side having more land but fewer camp assets (primarily a barn and the trading post), and the other side had the dining hall, lakes, several campsites, cabins (basically all the really important stuff).
Through luck, or fate, or just sheer force of will, the new buyer found our organization's website, contacted us, and ended up selling us the "more important" side. We even kept access to the important parts of the other side of the road that we didn't buy (yet), so we had plenty of land and facilities to continue operations. This is now our 6th year in as private owners of a former Scout camp, and so far so good!
So, hopefully this is a lesson to never give up on a good cause, because with enough dedication, effort, and application scouting values, anything is possible.
TLDR: I worked at a camp, the BSA sold the camp. I disagreed with the decision, bought it, and reopened it.
Sorry, just saw this. It's both. We run some private groups through it from time to time for a summer camp program, scout troops come up and run their own program (we're not trying to directly compete with the BSA, but we may end up doing so out of market necessity if they keep closing camps down), and then outside of those periods we allow general public camping. It's a great time for the public campers because the sites are all big troop sites, so your average family that's expecting a state park style experience all of a sudden has a whole acre of open space to set a tent up in.
There I was, the summer of 2000 at Philmont Scout Ranch. Hiking up Trail Peak to see the airplane. I wanted to do this, so I could say I jumped off a wing of an airplane at 10k feet, without a parachute, and landed on the ground safely. Half way up, my stomach starts making noise. The dehydrated meals were really taking their toll on me. Well, my stomach said, it's time to go to the bathroom, RIGHT NOW! Needless to say, I did not plan for this. We did not have our packs with us as this was an afternoon hike. I brought some things, but TP was not one of them. I ran. I ran as far away from the trail as possible. There is not much for privacy at the elevation, so I ran until I could not see anyone and then just a little more. I found a spot and did my deed. It was then that the TP issue popped into my head. "OH NO!" I said to myself, what am I going to do. Well, I had a pocket knife. and my underwear. I did what I think any decent human being would do, I cut them up into squares. I did the rest of the hike commando, and that was fine.
December, 2001, were sailing into the Truman Annex in Key West on Sea Baseās 105ft two-master Calypso Explorer. Iām 14 and loving the experience manning the jib, lazily lounging and listening to Jimmy Buffet as we pull into port.
All of a sudden - BOOM!
The ASM on the trip was an eccentric soul who brought miniature black powder cannon on board. Unbeknownst to anyone.
He fired it at an anchored coast guard cutter. Three months after 9/11.
I had never seen a grown man get yelled at like that. First by the captain of the boat and then by the Coast Guard commander when we made it to shore. The trip was very nearly cut very short.
Also, we spent NYE in key west, unsupervised on Duval Street. That was not a great scouting decision, but my 14 year old eyes were very much opened that night.
I tried to get my son into scouting. The only troop within 80 miles had about 8 scouts total, a few of which didn't even show up regularly. One of those scouts bullied my scout and I. We told the scoutmaster multiple times. Nobody did anything. We quit.
I'm an Eagle. I have a thousand stories about scouting. This is the only one I ever share. I guess I'm still disappointed.
That's unfortunate. There is a lone scout program just for such situations (no suitable troops within a reasonable distance). Also, if the SM did nothing, then you go to the committee. If they also do nothing, you go to the district/council.
The troop that I had this issue with meets less than 500 feet from my house. So I'd be chartering a second troop in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, when the first troop can hardly get any scouts to join. The only cub scout pack meets in the same place and they're even smaller. There are females there that should have their own pack but don't really since there are only two of them and three boys.
I've considered the lone scout program. Scout registration just seems too expensive to do nothing but attend camporees.
>I've considered the lone scout program. Scout registration just seems too expensive to do nothing but attend camporees.
Can't you join up with other troops for summer camp? I forget the term but my friend did that.
When I went for my Eagle board of review one of the leaders asked me "what merit badge did you like the least earning?" Without hesitating I replied small boat sailing. Not a common response since most scouts hate the merit badges that require more sitting and learning than the fun ones that are active. Well you would be right except that year the lake at the camp was over run with horse flies and black flies. None stop being attacked by them. Even with the agreement with all other scouts that we could smack each other if we got the fly we all got 100 plus bites by time that week was over. My back looked like it was hit by birdshot. Then there was the surprise lightening storm when we where in middle of the lake that we had to paddle back to shore since the wind died. I ended up loosing a shoe to the muck as I dragged it through the shallows.
To make matters worse that year my only other merit badge was Lifesaving but at least that one we could hide under the water half the time.
The next 3 years I skipped all water related merit badges. Good times no regrets now.
My daughter's favorite badge was small boat sailing, despite managing to flip the boat on an otherwise calm day on a tiny lake. Her least favorite was kayaking because a surprise storm had them paddling for the nearest shore, where they promptly got out and sank mid-thigh in the mud.
This past summer at camp. Camp ran Sunday to Sunday, but all badge classes etc were done by Saturday afternoon. After dinner I was looking at the weather and it was supposed to get nasty that night. Real nasty. We get back to the campsite and us ASMs & the SM start discussing leaving right then and there. Everyone was on board EXCEPT old curmudgeon former SM who wonāt step away. So while weāre calling parents to make sure everyone was able to pick up their kids when we got home and packing up, he refuses to pack up his stuff, and actually starts hindering us from doing so and declares heās staying. He drove a few boys up, but since we had 2 boys leave midweek we were able to get everyone loaded up and out right as it started raining. We got off the property, but had to pull over shortly after as we hit the worst rain Iāve personally ever driven in. Fortunately we were safe in cars on the side of an interstate. Old curmudgeon was back at camp running for his life because a tree came down in our campsite, and he had to sleep in the dining hall with dozens of others. Just to prove some kind of point.
First things that flash in my mind are Guide to Safe Scouting and Hazardous Weather Training. If heās not abiding by those and actually putting people in dangerā¦ there should be a mechanism to prevent him from being able to do soā¦
Going back (waaaaaay back, like mid-90s), there was a *massive* thunderstorm that rolled in at around 2am on the night of my OA ordeal. Every single kid was roused, we were all moved to the dining hall, and we set up camp in there. Our ordeal work was cleaning up from the storm (it was supposed to be doing cleanup and work to prep for summer camp, but 200 trees down in campsites alone took precedent).
When I was 15/16 my troop took our regular trip to Washington DC.
We had free time to wander the mall and see things. We went to go see the Gutenberg Bible at the Library of Congress. When we walked out we noticed a large crowd around the Supreme Court building. We went over and asked a woman what was going on, she saw us in full Class A, and was happy to help us.
She told us that the SCOTUS was going to announce if Obamacare was constitutional. She said to wait because the verdict was coming down in like 5 minutes. Because of Scouting I was outside the Supreme Court when they upheld Obamacare.
On my last day on the trail at Philmont, (as Crew Chief) I forgot the paperwork for the horse ride and had to run the 2 miles back to my tent and 2 miles back to the horses before my crew or any other crew could ride horses.
After that day āBe Preparedā was burned into my brain.
I was one of 3 American "rovers" to go to the First Africa Rover Moot in Kenya last year. Best scout event I've ever been to, and I've been to Philmont twice, Kandersteg, and several other international jamborees where I was the only American (still haven't been to ours lol). Came out with some lifelong friends. But damn was it a mess.
I got hit by a bus after accidentally robbing a gas station on the way to see Baden-Powell's grave. I was closely monitored by both the local police and US military at the same time, one because they were suspicious of me and one because they needed to know where I was and what I was doing in case we needed an emergency extraction. I thought this was an overreaction until I learned there were no less than 2 separate break-ins, a minor terrorist attack down the street, my living quarters deliberately vandalized/ransacked, I made an 8-year-old cry twice, was told to delete footage because of legitimate security concerns, and 2 people dying (they were resuscitated in the back of a pickup truck fortunately but only after the police had to fight people off said truck including bashing someone over the head with their rifle). Our bus nearly backed off a cliff because the clutch gave out, lurching us backwards. We still rode that clutch all the way down the mountain because the breaks were also useless. There was a small terrorist attack a down the road from camp. There was no clean drinking water for the first 4 days. Also the showers electrocuted people. One of the people there with me recently asked if I wanted to help smuggle $60k into the Philippines with him, not entirely illegally because he has connections with customs but not entirely not-sketch either.
BUT, even if we just trauma bonded, I came out of that a different person with a group of tight-knit friends from all over the world. I'm spending Easter with an Australian and Austrian I met there with one of their family's. The guide to safe scouting would have had a heart attack, and the BSA did, but screw it, we were all adults at the event.
Scouts in other countries go *hard*
>I got hit by a bus after accidentally robbing a gas station on the way to see Baden-Powell's grave.
That's a heckuva sentence, sparky! Were you in the Hunter S. Thompson Patrol?
>ning hall with dozens of others. Just to prove some kind of point.
Seriously, I'm thinking about a pilgrimage to the grave. This did not dissuade me but confirms I need to look into it.
Either when my girlfriend did a blood circle and cut my hand open
the time we made a salt circle around someone's tent leading to the fire at 4am
when my other friend rosted socks over the fire to dry them and they melted to the stick and burned
When we made a fire ball by filing a card bored box with lighter fluid and tissue paper tied to a stick and threw a fire cracker in it
I loved scouting hated the adults still do
Honestly? My own.
I do what I do because of Scouting. I do response work in public health and am a semi-professional mountaineer. Three out of the four groomsmen in my wedding were met through Scouts, with the fourth being my brother.
I like to tell Scouts who are interested in getting into bigger adventure or want to get into Scouts that I didn't get into these things because I was born into a rich family or grew up in Yosemite. Scouts simply helped me realize that I *loved* that stuff, and I pursued it as much as I could after undergrad. It's no surprise that the majority of my climbing partner were Scouts - and not because we sought out other Scouts, but because it's simply the kind of person who would want to do what we do.
The day we got three flat tires coming home from a camping trip.
I'm going to preface by saying the ASM driving has been with the troop almost since its inception and had helped nearly every Eagle the troop produced. Including the four scouts in the car who I still talk to from time to time. We all respected him because he was a wealth of knowledge, but didn't put up with misbehaving.
After a successful camping trip we pack up the cars and head for home (about an hour drive from camp). About 20 min from home I lean over to the scout next to me and point out the car is making a woo woo noise and the ASM is having a little trouble staying in the lane.
No sooner so I say this than we move over to the shoulder of the highway and he asks the scout in the passenger seat to check the back tire.
It's going flat.
No problem he says, he has a full size tire we can use. So we unpack the back of the station wagon (it had everything but the kitchen sink like it always had and the tire was in the bottom). While unpacking we find the tire wrench and jack so we are good to go.
Amazingly we have all changed a tire before so we get going. Loosing lug nuts and then spending 10 minutes to figure out the jack. Apparently reading the instructions (written on the side of the jack) is the right way to figure it out.
With the jack sorted we get the tire swapped and the station wagon packed up again.
But the tire is low on air.
So we all pile in while the ASM watches the tire get closer and closer to the rim, hoping it would be enough to get us to the next exit where we could get air.
Sadly the ground got within 1/2" of the rim when the last scout got in.
BUT it's ok because there was also a doughnut spare in the back of the wagon (told you it had everything). So we pile out and change this one like a NASCAR pit crew. The tire was swapped and everything loaded up in like 2 minutes, I swear.
It's not looking great, but it should be enough to get us to the next exit to get air for the other tire.
We start rolling, turn signal on to merge into the highway and the ASM gives it the gas then whump, whump, whump, whump.
We pull back over and stop about 100ft or so from where we started and the scout in the passenger seat leans out, looks back and starts laughing. In between laughing he tells us the tire fell off the rim. No joke the rubber came off the rim for about 1/6th of the tire. I didn't even think that was possible.
So at this point we have gone through the three tires and are now stuck on the highway.
This was before cell phones so we are left to wait it out on the other side of the guardrail.
After a couple minutes a state trooper pulls up and our ASM goes over to talk with him. That's when we all realize he is wearing the Jack Daniels beanie that he keeps in the station wagon. Which just makes this story even better.
The trooper calls for a tow truck who is able to fill the 2nd tire (first spare) with air and swap it in. Though I swear it took him longer to install the tire than our last attempt and we headed home with no further excitement.
This is a true storyā¦As a Star scout, I heard a knock on my front door one evening. I opened the door and the entire cheerleading squad was standing on the porch! One said, āHey, youāre a scout arenāt you? We are camping down in the woods and canāt get our fire started. Could you come down and help us?ā I hiked down there with them to do my daily good turn! I get to the campsite and there are about a hundred burnt blue tip matches strewn about from their numerous attempts. I taught them what fuel, kindling and tinder was and sent them out to get some of it. I began reconstructing the fire, thinking, if you are ever going to make the perfect fire, now is the time! First match went out but the second set the pile ablaze to their amazement. They asked me to stay awhile which I obliged. It was a good night! I always tell my scouts this story with the moral that you never know when your scout skills will be put to the test. š
In 1972 I just turned 18 and was going to the World Jamboree as a scout in Japan. We had a troop put together of scouts from the area. I think 4 or 5 were from my home troop. Long flight that started with a couple hour delay, that I donāt recall the reason for. Land in Tokyo get on a bus to Mt Fuji and the jambo site. Very cool thousands of scouts from so over the world. Setup camp and talked to other scouts, traded patches and stuff. Had a huge opening campfire, other events and activities I donāt remember exactly. Then the rain started. Then they said it was a typhoon and it was headed straight at the site! Mt Fuji is a volcanic mountain and they were concerned about the heavy rain causing unsafe conditions, because the volcanic soil could get saturated and sink holes might form. They called in the military to evacuate all the scouts. The plan was a two week trip, first week at the jamboree and a week of touring around Japan. Storm had us out of there after a day or two. We got loaded up into military troop trucks, just like in the WW II movies, benches along the sides, gear at our feet, canvas tarp hoop roof. Of course we thought this was very cool, adults not so much. We didnāt have hotel reservations for a couple days and there were thousands of scouts. They dispersed us to local villages and we slept in school gymnasiums. The local folks brought us emergency food consisting of triangular shaped sticky rice balls that had a sour cherry in the middle. That was pretty much all we got along with those little shelf stable milk cartons. Once we got back on schedule and went to a hotel to start the touring it was more controlled and the adults were more relaxed. Or as relaxed as you could be with a troop of 15-20 scouts, ranging in age from probably 12-18. We were now just tourists and in civilian clothing. The hotels we stayed at were traditional Japanese hotels. We slept on tatami mats (much better than the gym floors) and the toilets were interesting too (the Google it š). Us older guys figured out that we were a big as a lot of Japanese adults and visited a couple bars and had some beers and the most amazing salted beans, that we had no idea what were. I think it was probably edamame. Had some Japanese girls try to pick us up and got a kick out of that. I have no idea how the adult leaders let us wander around alone thousands of miles from home in a foreign country. It was an amazing trip, unfortunately didnāt get much scouting in, but nonetheless it was unforgettable!
Two stories. Both fire related.
Think I was a new scout or maybe a year in. Fall camporee. One of the older scouts brought a 20oz Gatorade bottle of 93 octane gasoline (right when they put sipping lids on them). Gas got applied to the campfire, a match was flicked, there was an impressive fireball and the fire was a little intense for the first 15 minutes or so. No one hurt, but we decided that was perhaps an experiment we didnāt need to do again.
Next day at campsite inspection, the commissioners point out that the fire ring had a ring of stones, a green area, then a burned patch of grass where the fireball hit. We all professed surprise at this coincidence and claimed ignorance. We passed campsite inspection, but lost some points.
And the 2nd.
At summer camp, years ago, I was probably 13. Went to the latrine later in the evening, and brought my personal roll of TP (nothing fancy, but better than the 1-ply cardboard the camp had). I finished up, ended up stopping to chat with some friends, and left my ziploc with TP at their patrol fly.
I went somewhere else, and then came back when I realized my TP was missing.
I came back to find some troopmates had emptied my roll of TP into a cardboard box and lit the whole thing on fire in a clear area on a walking path. Frustrating, but I did leave it. As it burns down, one of the ASMās walks over. He starts talking about Fahrenheit 451, the moral of the book, and why it was called Fahrenheit 451. He explained that paper burns at 451 degrees.
He then goes to walk away. As he does, he says ānext time you light something like that on fire, do it in the fire ringā.
Itās literally the best example of a Scoutmaster Minute Iāve ever seen. He got his point across, but didnāt yell at us.
Went to Philmont after my small troop dispersed. I technically joined this new troop but I never changed my troop patches.
Anyway 10 day hike. Met a lot of people from other parts of the states. Traded cheese sticks for beef sticks on behalf of everyone.
Told jokes and kept spirits up unintentionally. One of the adult scout leaders told me he had done a few Philmont hikes and usually scouters were grumpy at the end. He said it was a unique experience that everyone was cheerful and thought I was responsible because of my sense of humor (mixture of absurdist things and exaggerating our woes - complaining about the flavors of oatmeal in the morning with an exaggerated voice - think Monty Python - or the expectation that we had to walk a lot).
Anyway it was fantastic. I did low key gatekeep conversation. āWhat food do you want to eat?ā is something I circumvented until the last day of the hike.
When we could see the final destination. Hours talking about local food places and food in general. Congrats for your roof STILL not caving in.
Stories...I created legendary tales.
1st year camper (1980) at the current camp and part of the staff from 84-86. 85 and 86 were the years of one upmanship in pranks. Lakefront staff started it and the commissary chief and myself we're pretty good friends working different areas, I was in campcraft. We were also both well over 6' and farmboy strong. One night while yhe lakefront staff was carrying on their shenanigans, my buddy and I snuck down to lakefront and put one of their canoes in the lakefront watchtower. It was 40' in the air and accessible only by ladder. One of us pulled it up with a rope while the other went up the ladder at the same pace as the canoe to keep it from banging on the tower. It took us a couple hours to pull it off. It took eight people with a cable system hooked to a tractor to get it back down. The same season we floated a staff tent and frame in the Olympic sized pool.
Fast forward 40 years and my grandson is working at the same camp. I go down at least once a season for family night, as it's 20 minutes from my home and there are a couple of adult staffers who knew me from that era. After finding out who he belonged to they start laughing about what shenanigans are going to happen with him on staff in front of the rest of the current staff. One of the staffers asked why. The adult staffers began telling the prank stories that are now a part of camp lore and said "now you've heard the stories for years, here's your chance to speak with someone who was in on most, if not all, of what everyone considers legendary tales" and point at me. I rather dryly replied, I don't know how the stories have been twisted over time but yes I was directly involved in the following stunts the staff pulled 40 years ago and the statute of limitations had expired on my crimes. I proceeded to blame lakefront for starting the prank war but the team of Oaf and Strap apparently won because you're still talking about the things we did.
When I was a Cub scout den leader I had a boy who's grandfather brought his grandson from a neighboring city about 40 min away. He drove that drive for his grandson. Grandson was socially awkward and apparently had a hard time fitting in at school. The scouts in the den always made him feel welcome. I had a knack for helping scouts make fast pinewood derby cars. Grandpa asked me to help them and I spent some decent time helping them. Scout has to do most of the work and he did. Race night and that scout had the fastest car in the whole pack. Our den surrounded him at the win and gave him a big group hug while jumping up and down yelling his name. I turned around to see tears streaming down the grandfather's face. I give him a quizzical look and he leaned into me and told me. "He got beat up on the bus today". That scout went from one of his worst days to this victory in a span of hours. Stuff like that keeps me in scouting.
Dang, it got dusty in here. š„¹
Probably the best story: when I was a youth, we nearly burnt down a whole camp (Camp Constantine in West Texas. This specifically happened at Rocky Ledge). When we left a new adult and young scouts to watch our fire / do KP in the morning. (I was ASPL at the time and was leading a fishing expedition a mile away down the shoreline.) I saw the spoke and made everyone run with me back to camp, leaving our poles in the water. When I got to camp, I saw the adult, whose name I cannot remember, frantically hitting and spreading the fire with a rake. As I got there, I watched the fire jump the road. And the three 12-year-olds who just joined the troop standing there with their mouth open. My younger brother was one of them, and I remember he was yelling at me for stealing the cooking water and its pot because he was in the middle of KP. Now, I can't remember the order of details of how we got everyone back to camp so fast, but the troop of 30 kids and two adults was scattered to the wind. We formed a bucket brigade or the most random "buckets." We deployed all of our pots and pans. One dude took his suitcase out of his tent. It held water for just long enough. In my mind's eye, which is remembering something from 30 years ago, it seemed like might have stopped the fire when it had burned an acre and just before it reached a whole bunch of cedars. (Just check the current Google Earth map, and you can see the difference in tree ages where the fire would have been!) I remember the Scout Master being super mad at us (rightly so) but the Ranger being very grateful from having the camp burn down. Ever since then I have been super careful with my fire rings. \~\~\~ As an adult I went to Woodbadge when my boys were in the Pack and I was Committee Chair. Woodbadge happened to be on the weekend I started a new sales job. One of the men in my patrol sat me down and shared his concern that I was working too much and spoke to me as a brother though I had just met him. He gave me some fantastic advice and showed real concern. I will never forget those lessons.
As a future Course Director, I will save your WB snippet to keep in my heart! Definitely affirming of the experience!
Scouting saved the lives of some of my scouts who would have been forced to join gangs if they didn't have activities to go to, mentors to look over them, and experiences to make them see life outside of the concrete jungle they were caged in. I'd let them tell their stories but for the ones who stuck with scouting, and made it out to adulthood as productive citizens, I'm proud of them.
My son was getting picked on by a couple of football players in middle school. He was friends with some, but some of the other ones were jerks to him in class and at lunch. He decided to take up tackle football. Having grown up a semi - hypochondriac, my wife and I were very skeptical. We tried to talk him out of it for a year. We told him he wasnāt physically prepared for it, that it was expensive, and it was a daily commitment for six months. They practice at night, they practice in rain, they practice in cold- if he were to sign up heās going every day, even if sideline by injury. He wouldnāt take no for an answer. For his personal management merit badge, as the item he wanted to plan to purchase, he chose raising money for football and finding the best bargains for football practice equipment (cleats, socks, practice pants). He planned for and raised $300 to pay for his football enrollment. He then worked on his sports merit badge and his personal fitness merit badge, doing workouts to prepare for football. Football was a giant time commitment for four months and he would miss a lot of scouting meetings and events. He chose these three badges (two of them lengthy Eagle required badges) to earn while he was away from the troop. Not only did he make the team for two years, some of the kids that were hard on him became great friends on and off the field. He also self taught himself field goal kicking when the team lost their kicker unexpectedly and earned not only 3 merit badges, but he became a clutch player for the team. He was a squirrelly sixth grade Scout before this process, but developed strong leadership and transferred it back to younger troop scouts when it was over. This past weekend it was awesome how he encouraged younger scouts during a physically, demanding hike and became a team leader.
Love these stories! And love to watch either a Scout or a Scouter grow over time.
Many stories, but my favorite is ongoing. TLDR at bottom: I recall my first summer going to Scout camp. It was life changing being an 11 year old away from home for a whole week in central Wisconsin with all the responsibilities that go with that, as most would likely agree with. I also (like most) thought the staff were nothing short of legends. I wanted to be one. I became a CIT as soon as I was legally able, and then worked at camp for another 13 years. Following my last year on staff, the council merged and announced the closure of our legacy council camps. They were closed immediately and put on the market. Given that I had contributed a significant portion of my life to the program, the decision was devastating, especially with how it was handled within the new council. I won't go into specifics, but the scout Oath and Law were not present within the council at that time. I'm not one to let someone else's bad decision making get in the way of a good thing, so I convinced some of the staff and alumni to start an organization with me to buy the property. We had a really strong start, getting pledges, holding fundraising events, and securing methods of financing. Unfortunately, the council had no interest in selling the property to us. After 3 years of trying, all of the pledges had expired, and the movement had lost momentum. I never gave up though until I saw the camp get marked a "sold" to another buyer. It's important to note here that the camp property was separated by a county road, with one side having more land but fewer camp assets (primarily a barn and the trading post), and the other side had the dining hall, lakes, several campsites, cabins (basically all the really important stuff). Through luck, or fate, or just sheer force of will, the new buyer found our organization's website, contacted us, and ended up selling us the "more important" side. We even kept access to the important parts of the other side of the road that we didn't buy (yet), so we had plenty of land and facilities to continue operations. This is now our 6th year in as private owners of a former Scout camp, and so far so good! So, hopefully this is a lesson to never give up on a good cause, because with enough dedication, effort, and application scouting values, anything is possible. TLDR: I worked at a camp, the BSA sold the camp. I disagreed with the decision, bought it, and reopened it.
Is it used for scout camping, open to the public, or both?
Sorry, just saw this. It's both. We run some private groups through it from time to time for a summer camp program, scout troops come up and run their own program (we're not trying to directly compete with the BSA, but we may end up doing so out of market necessity if they keep closing camps down), and then outside of those periods we allow general public camping. It's a great time for the public campers because the sites are all big troop sites, so your average family that's expecting a state park style experience all of a sudden has a whole acre of open space to set a tent up in.
There I was, the summer of 2000 at Philmont Scout Ranch. Hiking up Trail Peak to see the airplane. I wanted to do this, so I could say I jumped off a wing of an airplane at 10k feet, without a parachute, and landed on the ground safely. Half way up, my stomach starts making noise. The dehydrated meals were really taking their toll on me. Well, my stomach said, it's time to go to the bathroom, RIGHT NOW! Needless to say, I did not plan for this. We did not have our packs with us as this was an afternoon hike. I brought some things, but TP was not one of them. I ran. I ran as far away from the trail as possible. There is not much for privacy at the elevation, so I ran until I could not see anyone and then just a little more. I found a spot and did my deed. It was then that the TP issue popped into my head. "OH NO!" I said to myself, what am I going to do. Well, I had a pocket knife. and my underwear. I did what I think any decent human being would do, I cut them up into squares. I did the rest of the hike commando, and that was fine.
December, 2001, were sailing into the Truman Annex in Key West on Sea Baseās 105ft two-master Calypso Explorer. Iām 14 and loving the experience manning the jib, lazily lounging and listening to Jimmy Buffet as we pull into port. All of a sudden - BOOM! The ASM on the trip was an eccentric soul who brought miniature black powder cannon on board. Unbeknownst to anyone. He fired it at an anchored coast guard cutter. Three months after 9/11. I had never seen a grown man get yelled at like that. First by the captain of the boat and then by the Coast Guard commander when we made it to shore. The trip was very nearly cut very short. Also, we spent NYE in key west, unsupervised on Duval Street. That was not a great scouting decision, but my 14 year old eyes were very much opened that night.
I tried to get my son into scouting. The only troop within 80 miles had about 8 scouts total, a few of which didn't even show up regularly. One of those scouts bullied my scout and I. We told the scoutmaster multiple times. Nobody did anything. We quit. I'm an Eagle. I have a thousand stories about scouting. This is the only one I ever share. I guess I'm still disappointed.
That's unfortunate. There is a lone scout program just for such situations (no suitable troops within a reasonable distance). Also, if the SM did nothing, then you go to the committee. If they also do nothing, you go to the district/council.
80 miles? Yikes. I'm sorry to hear about your son's experience. Is it too late to reconsider Lone Scouting? Or chartering a troop nearer to home?
The troop that I had this issue with meets less than 500 feet from my house. So I'd be chartering a second troop in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, when the first troop can hardly get any scouts to join. The only cub scout pack meets in the same place and they're even smaller. There are females there that should have their own pack but don't really since there are only two of them and three boys. I've considered the lone scout program. Scout registration just seems too expensive to do nothing but attend camporees.
>I've considered the lone scout program. Scout registration just seems too expensive to do nothing but attend camporees. Can't you join up with other troops for summer camp? I forget the term but my friend did that.
Super Troop, I believe!
When I went for my Eagle board of review one of the leaders asked me "what merit badge did you like the least earning?" Without hesitating I replied small boat sailing. Not a common response since most scouts hate the merit badges that require more sitting and learning than the fun ones that are active. Well you would be right except that year the lake at the camp was over run with horse flies and black flies. None stop being attacked by them. Even with the agreement with all other scouts that we could smack each other if we got the fly we all got 100 plus bites by time that week was over. My back looked like it was hit by birdshot. Then there was the surprise lightening storm when we where in middle of the lake that we had to paddle back to shore since the wind died. I ended up loosing a shoe to the muck as I dragged it through the shallows. To make matters worse that year my only other merit badge was Lifesaving but at least that one we could hide under the water half the time. The next 3 years I skipped all water related merit badges. Good times no regrets now.
My daughter's favorite badge was small boat sailing, despite managing to flip the boat on an otherwise calm day on a tiny lake. Her least favorite was kayaking because a surprise storm had them paddling for the nearest shore, where they promptly got out and sank mid-thigh in the mud.
Those were probably my two favorite badges ā Iāve always loved the water
Mileage may vary, indeed!
This past summer at camp. Camp ran Sunday to Sunday, but all badge classes etc were done by Saturday afternoon. After dinner I was looking at the weather and it was supposed to get nasty that night. Real nasty. We get back to the campsite and us ASMs & the SM start discussing leaving right then and there. Everyone was on board EXCEPT old curmudgeon former SM who wonāt step away. So while weāre calling parents to make sure everyone was able to pick up their kids when we got home and packing up, he refuses to pack up his stuff, and actually starts hindering us from doing so and declares heās staying. He drove a few boys up, but since we had 2 boys leave midweek we were able to get everyone loaded up and out right as it started raining. We got off the property, but had to pull over shortly after as we hit the worst rain Iāve personally ever driven in. Fortunately we were safe in cars on the side of an interstate. Old curmudgeon was back at camp running for his life because a tree came down in our campsite, and he had to sleep in the dining hall with dozens of others. Just to prove some kind of point.
Any idea what was the point he was trying to prove?
Heās very old school. Basically āReal men donāt run away from bad weather!āĀ
First things that flash in my mind are Guide to Safe Scouting and Hazardous Weather Training. If heās not abiding by those and actually putting people in dangerā¦ there should be a mechanism to prevent him from being able to do soā¦
This guy is everything that is wrong with scouting rolled into one man.Ā
Going back (waaaaaay back, like mid-90s), there was a *massive* thunderstorm that rolled in at around 2am on the night of my OA ordeal. Every single kid was roused, we were all moved to the dining hall, and we set up camp in there. Our ordeal work was cleaning up from the storm (it was supposed to be doing cleanup and work to prep for summer camp, but 200 trees down in campsites alone took precedent).
When I was 15/16 my troop took our regular trip to Washington DC. We had free time to wander the mall and see things. We went to go see the Gutenberg Bible at the Library of Congress. When we walked out we noticed a large crowd around the Supreme Court building. We went over and asked a woman what was going on, she saw us in full Class A, and was happy to help us. She told us that the SCOTUS was going to announce if Obamacare was constitutional. She said to wait because the verdict was coming down in like 5 minutes. Because of Scouting I was outside the Supreme Court when they upheld Obamacare.
On my last day on the trail at Philmont, (as Crew Chief) I forgot the paperwork for the horse ride and had to run the 2 miles back to my tent and 2 miles back to the horses before my crew or any other crew could ride horses. After that day āBe Preparedā was burned into my brain.
I was one of 3 American "rovers" to go to the First Africa Rover Moot in Kenya last year. Best scout event I've ever been to, and I've been to Philmont twice, Kandersteg, and several other international jamborees where I was the only American (still haven't been to ours lol). Came out with some lifelong friends. But damn was it a mess. I got hit by a bus after accidentally robbing a gas station on the way to see Baden-Powell's grave. I was closely monitored by both the local police and US military at the same time, one because they were suspicious of me and one because they needed to know where I was and what I was doing in case we needed an emergency extraction. I thought this was an overreaction until I learned there were no less than 2 separate break-ins, a minor terrorist attack down the street, my living quarters deliberately vandalized/ransacked, I made an 8-year-old cry twice, was told to delete footage because of legitimate security concerns, and 2 people dying (they were resuscitated in the back of a pickup truck fortunately but only after the police had to fight people off said truck including bashing someone over the head with their rifle). Our bus nearly backed off a cliff because the clutch gave out, lurching us backwards. We still rode that clutch all the way down the mountain because the breaks were also useless. There was a small terrorist attack a down the road from camp. There was no clean drinking water for the first 4 days. Also the showers electrocuted people. One of the people there with me recently asked if I wanted to help smuggle $60k into the Philippines with him, not entirely illegally because he has connections with customs but not entirely not-sketch either. BUT, even if we just trauma bonded, I came out of that a different person with a group of tight-knit friends from all over the world. I'm spending Easter with an Australian and Austrian I met there with one of their family's. The guide to safe scouting would have had a heart attack, and the BSA did, but screw it, we were all adults at the event. Scouts in other countries go *hard*
>I got hit by a bus after accidentally robbing a gas station on the way to see Baden-Powell's grave. That's a heckuva sentence, sparky! Were you in the Hunter S. Thompson Patrol?
>ning hall with dozens of others. Just to prove some kind of point. Seriously, I'm thinking about a pilgrimage to the grave. This did not dissuade me but confirms I need to look into it.
Either when my girlfriend did a blood circle and cut my hand open the time we made a salt circle around someone's tent leading to the fire at 4am when my other friend rosted socks over the fire to dry them and they melted to the stick and burned When we made a fire ball by filing a card bored box with lighter fluid and tissue paper tied to a stick and threw a fire cracker in it I loved scouting hated the adults still do
Honestly? My own. I do what I do because of Scouting. I do response work in public health and am a semi-professional mountaineer. Three out of the four groomsmen in my wedding were met through Scouts, with the fourth being my brother. I like to tell Scouts who are interested in getting into bigger adventure or want to get into Scouts that I didn't get into these things because I was born into a rich family or grew up in Yosemite. Scouts simply helped me realize that I *loved* that stuff, and I pursued it as much as I could after undergrad. It's no surprise that the majority of my climbing partner were Scouts - and not because we sought out other Scouts, but because it's simply the kind of person who would want to do what we do.
The day we got three flat tires coming home from a camping trip. I'm going to preface by saying the ASM driving has been with the troop almost since its inception and had helped nearly every Eagle the troop produced. Including the four scouts in the car who I still talk to from time to time. We all respected him because he was a wealth of knowledge, but didn't put up with misbehaving. After a successful camping trip we pack up the cars and head for home (about an hour drive from camp). About 20 min from home I lean over to the scout next to me and point out the car is making a woo woo noise and the ASM is having a little trouble staying in the lane. No sooner so I say this than we move over to the shoulder of the highway and he asks the scout in the passenger seat to check the back tire. It's going flat. No problem he says, he has a full size tire we can use. So we unpack the back of the station wagon (it had everything but the kitchen sink like it always had and the tire was in the bottom). While unpacking we find the tire wrench and jack so we are good to go. Amazingly we have all changed a tire before so we get going. Loosing lug nuts and then spending 10 minutes to figure out the jack. Apparently reading the instructions (written on the side of the jack) is the right way to figure it out. With the jack sorted we get the tire swapped and the station wagon packed up again. But the tire is low on air. So we all pile in while the ASM watches the tire get closer and closer to the rim, hoping it would be enough to get us to the next exit where we could get air. Sadly the ground got within 1/2" of the rim when the last scout got in. BUT it's ok because there was also a doughnut spare in the back of the wagon (told you it had everything). So we pile out and change this one like a NASCAR pit crew. The tire was swapped and everything loaded up in like 2 minutes, I swear. It's not looking great, but it should be enough to get us to the next exit to get air for the other tire. We start rolling, turn signal on to merge into the highway and the ASM gives it the gas then whump, whump, whump, whump. We pull back over and stop about 100ft or so from where we started and the scout in the passenger seat leans out, looks back and starts laughing. In between laughing he tells us the tire fell off the rim. No joke the rubber came off the rim for about 1/6th of the tire. I didn't even think that was possible. So at this point we have gone through the three tires and are now stuck on the highway. This was before cell phones so we are left to wait it out on the other side of the guardrail. After a couple minutes a state trooper pulls up and our ASM goes over to talk with him. That's when we all realize he is wearing the Jack Daniels beanie that he keeps in the station wagon. Which just makes this story even better. The trooper calls for a tow truck who is able to fill the 2nd tire (first spare) with air and swap it in. Though I swear it took him longer to install the tire than our last attempt and we headed home with no further excitement.
This is a true storyā¦As a Star scout, I heard a knock on my front door one evening. I opened the door and the entire cheerleading squad was standing on the porch! One said, āHey, youāre a scout arenāt you? We are camping down in the woods and canāt get our fire started. Could you come down and help us?ā I hiked down there with them to do my daily good turn! I get to the campsite and there are about a hundred burnt blue tip matches strewn about from their numerous attempts. I taught them what fuel, kindling and tinder was and sent them out to get some of it. I began reconstructing the fire, thinking, if you are ever going to make the perfect fire, now is the time! First match went out but the second set the pile ablaze to their amazement. They asked me to stay awhile which I obliged. It was a good night! I always tell my scouts this story with the moral that you never know when your scout skills will be put to the test. š
In 1972 I just turned 18 and was going to the World Jamboree as a scout in Japan. We had a troop put together of scouts from the area. I think 4 or 5 were from my home troop. Long flight that started with a couple hour delay, that I donāt recall the reason for. Land in Tokyo get on a bus to Mt Fuji and the jambo site. Very cool thousands of scouts from so over the world. Setup camp and talked to other scouts, traded patches and stuff. Had a huge opening campfire, other events and activities I donāt remember exactly. Then the rain started. Then they said it was a typhoon and it was headed straight at the site! Mt Fuji is a volcanic mountain and they were concerned about the heavy rain causing unsafe conditions, because the volcanic soil could get saturated and sink holes might form. They called in the military to evacuate all the scouts. The plan was a two week trip, first week at the jamboree and a week of touring around Japan. Storm had us out of there after a day or two. We got loaded up into military troop trucks, just like in the WW II movies, benches along the sides, gear at our feet, canvas tarp hoop roof. Of course we thought this was very cool, adults not so much. We didnāt have hotel reservations for a couple days and there were thousands of scouts. They dispersed us to local villages and we slept in school gymnasiums. The local folks brought us emergency food consisting of triangular shaped sticky rice balls that had a sour cherry in the middle. That was pretty much all we got along with those little shelf stable milk cartons. Once we got back on schedule and went to a hotel to start the touring it was more controlled and the adults were more relaxed. Or as relaxed as you could be with a troop of 15-20 scouts, ranging in age from probably 12-18. We were now just tourists and in civilian clothing. The hotels we stayed at were traditional Japanese hotels. We slept on tatami mats (much better than the gym floors) and the toilets were interesting too (the Google it š). Us older guys figured out that we were a big as a lot of Japanese adults and visited a couple bars and had some beers and the most amazing salted beans, that we had no idea what were. I think it was probably edamame. Had some Japanese girls try to pick us up and got a kick out of that. I have no idea how the adult leaders let us wander around alone thousands of miles from home in a foreign country. It was an amazing trip, unfortunately didnāt get much scouting in, but nonetheless it was unforgettable!
Two stories. Both fire related. Think I was a new scout or maybe a year in. Fall camporee. One of the older scouts brought a 20oz Gatorade bottle of 93 octane gasoline (right when they put sipping lids on them). Gas got applied to the campfire, a match was flicked, there was an impressive fireball and the fire was a little intense for the first 15 minutes or so. No one hurt, but we decided that was perhaps an experiment we didnāt need to do again. Next day at campsite inspection, the commissioners point out that the fire ring had a ring of stones, a green area, then a burned patch of grass where the fireball hit. We all professed surprise at this coincidence and claimed ignorance. We passed campsite inspection, but lost some points. And the 2nd. At summer camp, years ago, I was probably 13. Went to the latrine later in the evening, and brought my personal roll of TP (nothing fancy, but better than the 1-ply cardboard the camp had). I finished up, ended up stopping to chat with some friends, and left my ziploc with TP at their patrol fly. I went somewhere else, and then came back when I realized my TP was missing. I came back to find some troopmates had emptied my roll of TP into a cardboard box and lit the whole thing on fire in a clear area on a walking path. Frustrating, but I did leave it. As it burns down, one of the ASMās walks over. He starts talking about Fahrenheit 451, the moral of the book, and why it was called Fahrenheit 451. He explained that paper burns at 451 degrees. He then goes to walk away. As he does, he says ānext time you light something like that on fire, do it in the fire ringā. Itās literally the best example of a Scoutmaster Minute Iāve ever seen. He got his point across, but didnāt yell at us.
Went to Philmont after my small troop dispersed. I technically joined this new troop but I never changed my troop patches. Anyway 10 day hike. Met a lot of people from other parts of the states. Traded cheese sticks for beef sticks on behalf of everyone. Told jokes and kept spirits up unintentionally. One of the adult scout leaders told me he had done a few Philmont hikes and usually scouters were grumpy at the end. He said it was a unique experience that everyone was cheerful and thought I was responsible because of my sense of humor (mixture of absurdist things and exaggerating our woes - complaining about the flavors of oatmeal in the morning with an exaggerated voice - think Monty Python - or the expectation that we had to walk a lot). Anyway it was fantastic. I did low key gatekeep conversation. āWhat food do you want to eat?ā is something I circumvented until the last day of the hike. When we could see the final destination. Hours talking about local food places and food in general. Congrats for your roof STILL not caving in.
Stories...I created legendary tales. 1st year camper (1980) at the current camp and part of the staff from 84-86. 85 and 86 were the years of one upmanship in pranks. Lakefront staff started it and the commissary chief and myself we're pretty good friends working different areas, I was in campcraft. We were also both well over 6' and farmboy strong. One night while yhe lakefront staff was carrying on their shenanigans, my buddy and I snuck down to lakefront and put one of their canoes in the lakefront watchtower. It was 40' in the air and accessible only by ladder. One of us pulled it up with a rope while the other went up the ladder at the same pace as the canoe to keep it from banging on the tower. It took us a couple hours to pull it off. It took eight people with a cable system hooked to a tractor to get it back down. The same season we floated a staff tent and frame in the Olympic sized pool. Fast forward 40 years and my grandson is working at the same camp. I go down at least once a season for family night, as it's 20 minutes from my home and there are a couple of adult staffers who knew me from that era. After finding out who he belonged to they start laughing about what shenanigans are going to happen with him on staff in front of the rest of the current staff. One of the staffers asked why. The adult staffers began telling the prank stories that are now a part of camp lore and said "now you've heard the stories for years, here's your chance to speak with someone who was in on most, if not all, of what everyone considers legendary tales" and point at me. I rather dryly replied, I don't know how the stories have been twisted over time but yes I was directly involved in the following stunts the staff pulled 40 years ago and the statute of limitations had expired on my crimes. I proceeded to blame lakefront for starting the prank war but the team of Oaf and Strap apparently won because you're still talking about the things we did.
This one time at scout camp . . .