Wood Badge SHAC 113

We survived six days in the Texas heat! (Yes, the leaders are wearing JACKETS in 100 degree heat due to it being a tradition.) It was an incredible experience. I wouldn't trade it for the world, but I'm not sure I would want to go through it again. The heat was brutal. Lots of friends were made, lots of tickets were written and I anticipate great changes to come about from the Wood Badgers of SHAC 113!

WoodBadge

I'm finally going to WoodBadge! In just a few weeks, I will be spending the week up at Camp Strake and experiencing WoodBadge. I'm so excited! Instead of the traditional two three-day weekends, this is a five day course and we get to sleep in air-conditioned cabins!  I've wanted to do this for years, but either couldn't find the time or the extra money. Plus, I was really concerned about the heat and the effect it could have on my MS.

Thanks to the generosity of our troop and the new program during the summer (with a/c cabins), it's finally happening!

Camporee & Camp Inspections

This was our first Camporee. My youngest son went along with his troop to the Tall Timbers District First Camporee. (Our district recently split into two smaller districts, which made the event a lot more manageable!)

My son's troop won the Honor Troop Award for the SECOND year in a row. Before we left for the weekend, the Scoutmaster told us we probably wouldn't win because rarely does a troop win two years in a row. How surprised and thrilled we were when we did!

My son and his friend had so much fun. They were talking non-stop about it on Sunday. I can't tell you how proud I am of them and excited that they love scouting as much as my husband and I do! The friend that he was talking with was planning on dropping out of scouts when they finished Cub Scouts, but his parents and the other boys talked him into trying Boy Scouts to see how he liked it. He's hooked and LOVES it! All of the boys from my husband's den crossed over to Boy Scouts. (Go Cubmaster Dave!)

While my son and his troop were competing in the activities, I got the opportunity to do camp inspections along with District Reps and a few other volunteers. Each troop was judged on these inspections. There were about forty things we looked for in a campsite. The most common thing lacking in the camps was a portable CPR face shield. (See picture below.)

Every troop should have their first aid kit immediately visible when entering their campsite. Every troop should have, among other basic first aid tools, a CPR face shield and gloves that offers protection to both the rescuer and the victim and helps eliminate hesitation when performing CPR.

One thing I also noticed consistently while doing inspections was the ground cover visible under the bottom of the tents. If your ground cover is exposed and it rains, the water will hit the cover and run right under your tent and get you WET! Tuck that ground cover under!


Overall, the camps looked incredible! I couldn't believe how neat my own son's tent was inside. (Why can't he keep his room that neat?) Yes, if the inspectors can see inside your tent, they judge you on it cleanliness and orderliness. They can't enter the tents, but if they can see in, they can judge it! Also, the adults effect the youth's score. In BSA, we are to teach by example. The adult campsite should be neater and more organized than the youth. If there site isn't clean and orderly, how can we expect the boys to be?

This was a great learning experience for me. As a relatively new Asst. Unit Commissioner and District volunteer, this taught me a lot of what is expected in Boy Scouts. I've had years of experience in Cub Scouts, but Boy Scouts is a whole new game! I honestly had as much fun as the boys seemed to have!

Go Troop 895 in winning the Honor Troop!

Patrol Names

A few weeks ago my son told me that their new patrol name was the "Ghillies". For those of you like me, who had no idea what a "Ghillie" is, here is the definition from Wikipedia:

A ghillie suit, yowie suit, or camo tent is a type of camouflage clothing designed to resemble heavy foliage. Typically, it is a net or cloth garment covered in loose strips of cloth or twine, sometimes made to look like leaves and twigs, and optionally augmented with scraps of foliage from the area.

Since I didn't know what  a ghillie was and certainly didn't know how to spell it before looking it up, I just entered "gilly" into Google. Interestingly, a "gilly" is also slang for drugs and a derogatory name for Hispanics. :(

Urban Dictionary (Caution - Profanity)

These poor ten year old boys have no idea what else it means, so should I say something or just ignore it? They will have this patrol name for eight more years.

On a side note, I found the perfect patrol for myself and the other leaders. (Cute, huh?)

The Coffee Cup Patrol

Merit Badge Counseling

My next step in scout leadership is to become a Merit Badge Counselor. This is something kinda new for me. I'm aware of what an MB counselor is, but I've just never taken the time to DO IT. 


Now, the issue is which ones to choose.There are so many fun topics I want to counsel on them all! Going through the list makes me wish I had the opportunity to be a Boy Scout growing up. In my experience, Girl Scouts wasn't nearly as much fun! LOL


I was already interested in Geocaching. Seeing that it is a Merit Badge is exciting. I've heard that it is popular in this area and we have own two GPS devices. Now maybe we can actually get some use out of them! 


Knowing that treasures are nearby makes me want to start today! Plus, the weather is so awesome! What a great activity to do with your kids OUTSIDE of the house!

Arrow of Light Ceremony

Here are a few pictures from our Pack Arrow of Light Ceremony. We have a District Ceremony coming up this Friday night. It will be held outside and the Order of the Arrow members will perform and present the award. I can't wait! I think it will be a really cool ceremony. I just hope the weather holds out like these last few days. It is gorgeous!

 

New Blog

My husband and I have been volunteering in scouts for the last ten years. We have two sons, ages 16 & 10 that started when they were Tigers. Our youngest son just earned his Arrow of Light and has crossed over to Boy Scouts. When I say "just", I mean last week! Our oldest son is in scouts, but took off a year and is just now getting back into it.

Ten years of Cub Scouts came to an end. We are relieved to have some of our free time back, but also very sad to see such a huge part of our lives gone.

Being an Asst. District Commissioner, I will still have a little to do with Cub Scouts, but it won't be the same as being right in the middle of the fun! We are now onto Boy Scouts with our youngest and are looking forward to jumping right in as volunteers