SCOUTER'S DIGEST
Scouting-E-Zine
A Chronicle of American Scouting
Volume 3, Issue No. 5, August 5, 2001
Copyright (c) -2001 Honor Publishing Company ;
Scouter's Digest, all rights reserved.
Circulation: 9395 - advertising opportunities
JAMBO 2001
IT'S HISTORY!The 2001 BSA
National Jamboree is over, but the memories are still fresh for the 40,000 Scouts who attended
Participants at the 2001 National Scout Jamboree
devoured more than 479,000 eggs, 76,000 hamburgers, 90,000 pancakes, 240,000 sausage links, 10 tons of beef stew, and 14 miles of submarine sandwiches. All in all, 1.2 million meals were served at Fort A.P. Hill, but they left plenty of food behind when they cleared out on August 2nd. Fortunately, It won't go to waste.
Dozens of people turned out the next day for bargain prices on groceries: gallon jugs of salad dressing for a dollar, giant boxes of shredded cheddar for $4 and small bottles of mustard for 25 cents each or $5 a case. A.P. Hill employees got the first crack. Wendy Kauling, whose husband is stationed at the post, loaded up two carts with chips, bacon, yogurt and lots of bread.
Jamboree Closing Show, President Bush Visit Canceled.
Because of heavy rains, and the fact that 40,000 Scouts would have had to sit out in an open field for as long as 6 hours during potentially dangerous weather, the BSA canceled the closing show and fireworks display. As disappointing as this was, it was the right decision to protect the health and safety of the Scouts. President Bush recorded a 4 minute video that was shown to the Scouts the next night during better weather.
Click here for:PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH'S
MESSAGE TO THE SCOUTS AT JAMBOREE
You can still find information about the Jamboree at:
http://www.bsa.scouting.org/jamboree/index.htmlor at The USSSP Jamboree Website
http://www.jambo2001.org/++++++++++++
A Scout is Reverent
The 12th point of the Scout Law—A Scout is Reverent—illustrates just how important spirituality is to the Boy Scouts of America. All Scouts, no matter what religion they practice, have a home and brotherhood in Scouting and at the 2001 National Scout Jamboree.
Nearly 6000 Catholic Scouts and adult leaders stood in heavy rain and unseasonably chilly temperatures to celebrate Mass at the Boy Scout National Jamboree being held at Fort A.P. Hill, VA. Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, the Apostolic Nuncio Presiding over the Mass was joined by Bishop Walter Sullivan, of the Diocese of Richmond, VA, and Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger of the Diocese of Evansville, IN. who serves as the Episcopal Liaison between the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America.
Approximately 145 chaplains, representing 19 religious denominations, provided spiritual direction and guidance to Scouts, Scout leaders, and visitors who attended the jamboree. The jamboree's 20 subcamps, which house 1,700 Scouts and leaders apiece, will have a chaplain of each Scout's faith, including Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, and more.
Worship services was held for all faiths on Sunday morning, and Jewish Scouts were be able to observe their daily customs while at the jamboree. Jewish troops will eat kosher foods and will be able to observe the Sabbath from sundown Friday to nightfall Saturday. Daily prayer services will also be held.
The Boy Scouts of America recognizes the importance of religious training but is nonsectarian in its attitude toward that training. All boys have a place in the Scouting movement.
INTERESTING FACTS:
Gabriel Montalvo, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, (ambassador to the United States from the Pope), celebrated mass for more than 6,000 Scouts and visitors Sunday, July 29, 2001. More was expected, but were put off by the heavy rains on Sunday.
From left, Bishop Walter Sullivan, of Richmond, Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, the Apostolic Nuncio, and Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger of the Diocese of Evansville, IN, during the Catholic Mass Sunday
Quote of the Week
A Scout is Cheerful
"I have learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions and not on our circumstances."
- Martha Washington
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SCOUTING IN THE NEWS:
-----------------------------------------------Tanzanian Scouts want to finish their education in the U.S.
(August 1, 2001 - AP-wire) (Virginia)
Four Tanzanian Boy Scouts who left an international gathering of Scouts in Virginia on Sunday and later voiced a desire for asylum want to finish their education in the United States, Tanzania's ambassador said. ``They think they will find green pastures,'' Mustafa Salim Nyang'anyi, the developing East African nation's ambassador to the United States, said Wednesday.
The four Scouts -- one 15, one 16 and two 17 -- were part of a group of nine Scouts who traveled to the United States from their homeland on Africa's eastern coast to participate in the National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill in Bowling Green, Va.
Tanzania, a country of just more than 35 million people, has been cited by the State Department as one of the poorer countries on the African continent, with an average annual per-capita income of just $730.
The Tanzanian foursome left the National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill without permission on a rainy Sunday afternoon and hitchhiked to Washington, according to the FBI. Shortly before midnight Monday, they approached a Washington police officer outside a juvenile detention center and later voiced a desire for asylum, police and immigration officials said. The youths aged 14 to 17, were being held at a US Immigration and Naturalization Service detention facility in northern Virginia on Thursday, said Ernestine Fobbs, an INS spokeswoman.
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Japanese Girl Scout found, will go home
August 2, 2001 - UPI (California)A Japanese teenager will likely fly home in the next few days after she gave her American relatives a scare and triggered a massive search after disappearing from a Girl Scout camp in the rugged mountains of Southern California. Yuri Kumagai, 13, of Senagi, Japan, was located safe and sound late Wednesday walking along a rural trail near the camp outside of Hemet, which is located about 90 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. She had been missing since Tuesday when she walked away from the camp carrying a canteen and a bag of snacks. "It appears she had purposely been hiding throughout the night and was dodging our search efforts," said Riverside County Sheriff's Sgt. Mark Lohman. Yuri's mother was scheduled to fly to California this week to fetch her wayward daughter.
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Massachusetts Volunteers earn top
Scouting honorDANVERS, MA-- Three local residents received awards from the Yankee Clipper Council of the Boy Scouts of America for their outstanding and distinguished service to youth and the community.
At a recent meeting of the council, Andrew LeClair of Tyngsboro and Frederick and Janet Pohl of Dracut won the Silver Beaver Award, the highest and most prestigious recognition a council can bestow upon a registered adult volunteer.
LeClair is cubmaster for Cub Scout Pack 46, chartered to the Tyngsboro Fire Fighter Association, and assistant scoutmaster for Troop 46 in Tyngsboro. He served in the Cub Scout's Museum of Science Camp-In Program, and directed the So-Key-Tay Cub Scout Resident Camp at Camp Wah-Tut-Ca for several years.
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Camp closes after second bear attack in nine days
August 3, 2001 - AP (Colorado)
Two bear attacks in nine days forced the closure of a Boy Scout camp Thursday. A black bear clawed through a tent at the Packard High Adventure Base and attacked a 17-year-old boy Thursday morning, authorities said. On July 24, Scout leader Vicki Myhnier, 44, was pulled from her tent by a bear that bit her hand and arm. The 17-year-old's name was not release because he is a juvenile. He is from Overland Park, Kan. He was sleeping in the same tent where Myhnier was attacked, camp director John Sallie said. Wildlife officials on Wednesday shot and killed a bear they believed attacked Myhnier but said Thursday they were no longer certain they got the right animal. "It was captured right in the middle of the campground. We felt it was likely this bear," Division of Wildlife spokesman Todd Malmsbury said. "Given the attack last night, we can no longer be sure it was the bear."
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Philmont - Boy Scouts take the timeless trek to backpacking Mecca
August 1, 2001 - Contra Costa Times (California)
Tooth of Time. Urraca Mesa. Baldy Mountain. To the uninitiated, the names are simply picturesque. But to hundreds of thousands of Boy Scouts, these are landmarks at one of the nation's premier high adventure camps, the Mecca of backpacking : Philmont Scout Ranch.
Straddling the Sangre de Cristo range in New Mexico, Philmont's 137,500 acres encompass rugged mountain terrain, idyllic meadows, mesas, and arid desert. During its 63 years as a scout camp, Philmont has seen more than 650,000 scouts and adult leaders traverse the trails, 20,000 each summer. This summer, several dozen of those scouts were Lamorindans, boys hailing from Orinda, Moraga and Lafayette. Orinda's troop left for base camp at Cimarron, New Mexico the morning after Miramonte's grad night, a sleepy, newly graduated Brian Vivrette in tow. Two weeks later, their paths crossed with Moraga's #234 at base camp. Troop #204, affiliated with Lafayette's Church of Latter Day Saints, made their trek last month and Lafayette's Troop #243 leaves shortly.++++++++++++
Boy Scouts see world from 11,711 feet up
July 31, 2001 - Hutchinson, (Minnesota)
After reaching the summits of four mountain peaks in the Sangre de Cristo range of the Rockies, Boy Scout Troop 246 has even greater reason to think that Hutchinson's plains are flat. Backpacking through rugged terrain in Cimarron, New Mexico's Philmont Scout Ranch, Boy Scouts Brandon Randt, Jesse Robbin, Drew Addington, Rob Malone, Brent Neubarth and Jason Swanson hiked more than 70 miles in 11 days, at an average elevation of 9,000 feet. "It's like the epitome of high adventure camps," said Bob Malone, an assistant scoutmaster and advisor on the trip. While Malone and the boys, ages 14 to 16, had never experienced the trek before, advisors Kurt Swanson and Jerry Robbin had gone in 1994 and 1998, respectively, with their older sons.
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Boy Scouts endure mental, physical stamina of Philmont hike
August 2, 2001 - (Connecticut)
When 11 local Boy Scouts and their eight leaders went on a high-adventure hiking trip in late June, it was considered a vacation only in the sense that they traveled to New Mexico. That's where all similarities to a vacation end since the remainder of their trip was wrought with rigorous tests of their mental and physical stamina during the 65-mile hike, including a bear scare, blistered feet, second-degree sunburn and extreme dehydration. "The big thing about this trip was the physical and emotional challenge everyday of the entire trip," said Boy Scout Troop 9 Leader Tyrone Mellon. "You're doing it and after four days you haven't had a shower and it's been seven days since you've seen an ice cube in a drink. It gets pretty challenging, the day in, day out pounding of it." Even the group's first day at the Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, N.M., presented a challenge when Mellon read in a local newspaper an account of how two scouts had been attacked in their tent on the ranch by a bear.
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Boy Scouts plan exchange program to Czech Republic
August 1, 2001 - Messenger-Inquirer - Kentucky
The Boy Scouts of America are planning a scouting visit to the Czech Republic in July, 2002. The trip is open to members of the Shawnee Trails Council BSA, and Pennyroyal Council GSA. The scouts will travel to the Czech city of Olomouc, and will interact with Scouts from several European countries. The trip will last about 21 days.
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Boy Scouts go 'coed'
August 2, 2001 - Philippine Daily Inquirer - Philippines
The Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) is breaking a tradition started by Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Scout movement. Starting this year, the BSP is shedding its "male-only policy" by welcoming girls from public schools to its fold. As expected, the new BSP recruitment strategy does not sit well with the Girl Scouts of the Philippines (GSP).
The two groups have been competing for membership since the schoolyear started after they were barred from collecting fees from their members in public schools, according to Education Secretary Raul Roco. "So they are now competing for membership because the Boy Scouts are poaching on the girls," Roco said. "The boys are saying "join the Boy Scouts, boy or girl, we will accept." But the Girl Scouts are saying only girls can be accepted. Let us see who will win," said an amused Roco.
The country's Chief Scout of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) is a woman. President Macapagal-Arroyo will be installed Saturday afternoon as Chief Scout of the BSP in an investiture ceremony at Malacanang. As provided in Republic Act 7278, the law that created the BSP, the incumbent Philippine president shall be the Chief Scout of the Boy Scouts. Macapagal will be the 12th Chief Scout and the fifth president to assume the post. Her father, the former President Diosdado Macapagal, was an honorary BSP president. "The BSP, especially its young members, looks forward to being involved in the President"s efforts at nation building, with the hope that her administration will continue the traditional support given by the country"s Chief Executive to the movement," BSP national president Jejomar Binay said in a statement.
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Politics:AUDIO - Boy Scouts: A Troop Divided
(August 6, 2001 - MSNBC -National)
http://www.msnbc.com/news/asx/audio/28/nwk_072701_scouts.asxA 9 minute audio recording on this issue, including an interview with Greg Shields, David France and Paul Thorou.
You will need Windows Media Players to stream this recording.
This will stream at any speed over 28K, and is compatible with any connection.
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Lightning Storms
A Real Threat to Scouts!
In just the past couple of months alone, Boy Scouts and their leaders have been struck by lightening twelve times while attending BSA events, including summer camps at Iroquois Trail Council's Camp Dittmer and the just concluded National Jamboree, held in Fort A.P. Hill Virginia.At the National Jamboree, Mark Evans, a 16 year old Scout from Newhall, California was standing under a tarp waiting for the storm to pass to empty the garbage in the cart he was holding on to. His Scoutmaster, Jon Neeley, was only standing 3 feet away when a bolt of lightning cam down and hit the cart. This threw Mark back a few feet and stopped his heart and breathing. Scoutmaster Neeley started CPR immediately, this being the first time he had ever done it on a "real person, and after about 5 1/2 minutes, Mark started breathing. He was taken to the Jamboree Hospital and then on to Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg.
Charlie Wilson, a 15 year old scout from California was talking on the phone when the telephone wire was struck and sent him reeling back, unconscience, but alive. After a few moments, the dazed Scout woke up and started running back to camp followed by a number of Scouts who told his Scoutmaster that he had just been hit by lightning. He too was taken to the hospital, and both boys were released the next day to return to the Jamboree.
A third Scout was shaken up when lightning hit the tent he was in and it caught on fire. Insulated from injury by his sleeping bag, he escaped without harm.
By the grace of God, and the quick actions of a trained Scoutmaster, all survived.
As reported in June of this year, a Boy Scout leader died after he was struck by lightning at a camp in Pennsylvania. He was on a campout with 118 boys when it started raining. He was struck while walking back towards his camp.
This story, posted on Scouts-L from the Messenger Post (local paper in Phelps NY) & reported by Anne Johnston, gives the details of the Camp Dittmer hit where two boys and a leader were hit by lightning.
Two boys and a man are hurt at a Phelps Boy Scout Camp
PHELPS - Three people were hit by a lightning strike yesterday afternoon at Iroquois Trail Council's Camp Dittmer, a Boy Scout camp on Toll Road, south of County Road 23.
One, a teen-age boy who was not breathing, was later revived. Initially treated at Clifton Springs Hospital & Clinic, he was listed in guarded condition this morning in the intensive care unit at Strong Memorial Hospital.
Also listed in guarded condition at Strong was a 48-year-old Scout leader who was having a great deal of difficulty breathing after the strike. He was taken to Geneva General Hospital in a condition that was not believed to be life-threatening, but later transferred. He was said to have suffered burns.
The third, also a teen-ager, was treated at Geneva General Hospital and released.
The incident happened just before 3:30 p.m., just as campers and counselors were in the process of leaving the rifle range, carrying the rifles back to a storage shed.
"The storm came real quick. They heard thunder in the distance and they were just shutting everything down, and then it hit," said Phelps Police Chief Ron Nieskes.
According to the Ontario County Sheriff's Office, a bolt of lightning hit a large poplar tree and the electricity traveled to the canopy of the outdoor shooting range, down a wooden post and into the ground.
The three who were injured were standing nearby, and fell to the ground. Nieskes said counselors used radios to contact camp headquarters immediately, and a call was placed to 911. The counselors, identified by the sheriff's office as John Kirsch and Mike Dubkozski, began CPR on the teen-ager, James Rozwood of Albion. Nieskes, who arrived on the scene within four minutes, said the boy's skin was discolored and he was not breathing. Phelps Ambulance rushed him to the hospital, and although some feared the worst, deputies said those working on him were later able to get a heartbeat and get him breathing on his own. Deputies gave Rozwood's age as 15, but Scout officials said he is 16.
Nieskes said when he arrived, a man later identified by deputies as 48-year-old Reed Markle of Medina was having a great deal of difficulty breathing and the third victim, Jacob Crooks of Albion, "was having a problem feeling his feet, and his feet were discolored." Deputies said Crooks is 14 and Scout officials said he is 17.
Finger Lakes Ambulance -which provides advanced life support - assisted Phelps Ambulance in treating and transporting the victims.
"It was really incredible that they ended up not being injured worse than they were," Sheriff's Sgt. Mike McCabe said.
"The camp did a nice job," Nieskes said. "Their counselors fortunately knew CPR and they got the process started. We just continued it for them."
"I would have to concur with that," said Ken Hardy, Executive Director of the Iroquois Trail Council No. 376. "The main concern was to make sure they received proper treatment in a timely manner."
The police chief said that in his 30-year career, this is the second call he has handled involving a lightning strike. The first, several years ago, involved a farmer in a field who was struck during a storm which, like yesterday's, "came up out of nowhere." That man survived.
We wish all those involved in this incidents be well and recover from this ordeal.
(END OF QUOTED ARTICLE.............................)
As an organization based on outdoor camping, Lightning is an issue that all of us need to confront as we consider our outdoor program in Scouting. The B.S.A. requires every camp to adopt, plan for, and train both staff, leaders and campers in the procedures for dealing with lightening when present at camp. The Guide to Safe Scouting also addresses the responsibilities of leaders while on unit events.
To further aid the Scouting Community in learning more about avoiding the hazards of lightening, the US Service Project produced an excellent web site specifically written for Scout Leaders. Mike Bowman, the lead webmaster for the website.
The web site can be found at:
http://usscouts.org/usscouts/profbvr/lightning_safety/index.htmlLightning Safety
During the last 30 days, over 70 articles and reports have hit the news about people being hurt or killed by lightning strikes. According to the National Lightning Safety Institute (NLSI), 32% of all lightning related injuries occur either in open fields, or from people running to find cover under a tree. Most of these injuries occur during the months of June, July, and August, probably because those are the month's people are most likely to be in the outdoors.
There are nearly 100 "lightning related" deaths each year in the United States, and nearly 300 injuries. Florida, Georgia, Texas, New York, Michigan, and Tennessee have seen the most deaths over the last 30 years, but as the more and more people trek out into the outdoors, every state will see a steady increase in lightning related accidents in the years to come.
Lightning strikes to people usually causes major injuries and is fatal about 10% of the time. Lightning strikes to an unprotected buildings can cause major damage both inside and out. Packing up to 100 million volts of electricity and a force comparable to that of a small nuclear reactor, lightning has the power to rip through roofs, explode walls of brick and concrete and ignite deadly fires. In addition to structural damage, lightning surges throughout power lines causing wire damage and destruction of valuable electronic equipment including computers, televisions, stereos, security systems, etc.
Lightning tends to travel the path of least resistance and often seeks out tall or metal objects. With lightning however, it's relative. A 'tall' object can be an office tower, a home, or a child standing on a soccer field. Be warned, lightning can and does strike just about any object in its path.
Be smart and be safe. Remember, lightning kills!There are a few basic common sense precautions you can take to minimize your risk of injury or death if you find yourself caught in a thunder or lightning storm.
Lightning Safety Tips:
· First, make a plan. When you first see or hear lightning, know where to go for shelter. Remember, lightning usually travels ahead of rain, so don't wait to get wet before you run for cover.
· Know and use the 30/30 rule. Don't go outside if there's less than 30 seconds between the lightning flash and its thunder. And wait 30 minutes after the last flash or sound of thunder before going back outside. By then the thunderclouds will be far enough away to be safe. The easiest thing to remember is: If you see it, flee it. If you hear it, clear it. Lightning can travel for as far as 40 miles before it hits the ground, or you. Do not think you are safe just because you think the storm is too far away. And, contrary to popular myths, lightning can, and does strike the same place twice (or more!)
· If you're caught in a storm, seek shelter immediately! A covered building is best. If you're at a playing field, head for a clubhouse, a substantial concession stand or a fully enclosed car with the windows up. Do not run for canopies, small picnic or rain shelters, or trees. Insulate yourself from anything that can conduct electricity, including cement, standing water, anything metal, or anything that is wet.
· Stay away from fences, electrical lines, pipes, bleachers, wires or other conduits that could funnel a strike toward you.
· Avoid water, high ground and open spaces.
· If you are on large rocks or boulders, get off immediately as lightning can flash over the surface. If there are cracks or crevices large enough to fit in, and you cannot get off the rocks before the storm begins, take cover there and stay as low as you can.
· If lightning is striking nearby, crouch down to get as low as possible and put your feet close together. The idea is to get as low as possible and create the smallest possible space for lightning to find you. If you have a pack, set it on the ground and stand on it. Cover your ears to protect yourself from the noise. Don't bunch up with other people. Stay at least 15 feet away from the next person.
· Immediately get out and away from pools, lakes, and other bodies of water.
· If you're indoors, avoid water. Stay away from doors and windows. And don't use electrical devices. That means don't use the phone, and turn off, unplug and stay away from appliances, computers, power tools and TV sets. Lightning really can shock you by striking outside electric and phone wires and flashing through the lines. If you feel a tingling sensation or your hair stands on end, lightning may be about to strike! Immediately crouch down and cover your ears. Do not lie down or place your hands on the ground.
· If someone is injured, begin first aid immediately and call 911 or send for help.As a "rule of thumb", you can tell how far away a lightning strike was by counting seconds between the flash and the thunder. Every 5 seconds equals one mile. So if you count 10 seconds until you hear the thunder, the lightning flash was 2 miles away. This can be useful to tell if the storm is coming towards you, or away from you. Obviously, the closer the storm is to you, the more dangerous it is.
Other resources:
http://www.lightning.org
http://www.lightningsafety.com
http://www.glatmos.com/lightinfo/recommendations.html++++++++++++
Salem County site is home to camp for disabled Scouts
The Associated Press. (New Jersey)
ELMER, N.J. (AP) - At this summer camp, the facilities include walkways paved with asphalt, a portable toilet equipped for wheelchairs and a close proximity to the pool.
Though these may not sound like amenities to most, but they're essential for the longtime members of Boy Scout Troop 652 from Rosemont, Pa. The group, a troop for mentally and physically disabled scouts, comes to the Roosevelt Scout Reservation in Salem County each year.
The campers are here to earn Boy Scout merit badges in areas that include sports and soil and water conservation. Some of the activities they participate in include swimming, sharpshooting and bird-watching. Scouts earn badges for tasks they complete. The more merit badges, the higher their rank.
The men range in age from 26 to almost 50. According to rules set by the Boy Scouts of America, a disabled scout can earn an equally challenging merit for every required merit badge he is unable to achieve because of his disability. Anthony D. Blackson, 32, has achieved the highest rank: becoming an Eagle Scout. Blackson has cerebral palsy and is paralyzed from the waist down.
At camp, he helps other scouts on the bus and sings along during camp songs and has taken on a leadership role in the group, said Scoutmaster Bill Kenny, 77, who founded the troop 37 years ago. Danny Collins, 26, who lives in a group home in Lima, Pa., said he enjoys coming to camp because he's a "people person." "I like to be here so I can meet everybody," he said.
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Doing a Good Deed
Secaucus, New Jersey
The Town Council honored John Flanagan for his quick action in saying a fellow student’s life. John Flanagan, then a seventh grader at Immaculate Conception School in Secaucus, wasn't scared when he heard a fourth grader choking. Although only 13 years old, family members claimed young John had the same sense of calm some of his more heroic older relatives possessed (family members had included a police officer and the one-time chairman of the Secaucus Housing Authority)- part of the reason that teachers had trusted him on that day last April to watch over the fourth grade during lunch. "The boy had Gummy bears in his mouth," John explained during an interview held on July 24, a few minutes before the mayor and council was slated to honor him for his heroics.The large big boned boy (another trait from the well-established Secaucus family) didn't even seem nervous at the meeting about his being thrust into the limelight, though he did grin a little. "Some of the Gummy bears got stuck in the boy's throat and I saw him gasping for air," John said. "So I went over and helped him. Then I stayed with him until the doctor came." Mayor Dennis Elwell, in reading a proclamation in honor of John's act, said John had learned a maneuver to help choking people as part of his lessons as a Boy Scout. John is a member of Boy Scout Troop 47 based in Secaucus. Elwell said Boy Scouting is an important part of the culture, but that John's acts were also a reflection on how he was brought up and on the influence of his parents. "This is an example of what good scouting and training can do," Elwell said. "John was paying attention, saw a problem and took action." In the pre-council meeting ceremonies, the Town Council also honored Arjyo Chakravarti for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout with Troop 22. Chakravarti, who was this year's valedictorian in the 2001 graduating class from Secaucus High School, earned 34 merit badges and had received his Eagle distinction during a ceremony at St. Matthews church in May.
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SCOUTING ON THE NET:
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Sometimes we need to find Scouting related resources and do not know where to start. The following links will allow you to search for just about anything related to scouting:The USSSP Search Engine
http://www.usscouts.org/GoScouting/Scouting Spider - The Worldwide Scouting Database
http://spider.scout.net/Yahoo Scouting Search Engine
http://dir.yahoo.com/Recreation/Outdoors/Scouting/
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STORIES:
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DO YOU HAVE A GREAT STORY TO TELL?What's going on in your Troop, Pack, or District? Do you have a humorous story about your Scouts and a pesky skunk? How about the time your Scoutmaster got lost and the Scouts saved the day. Tell us your story. We want to share your Scouting stories with all of our readers and bring a little fun and excitement to this E-Zine.
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This is a poem written by a scouter in our district and I thought it was pretty good and got his permission to share it.
Feel free to distribute it with his permission, but please give credit where credit is due. -- David RoperBy Ron Brown, Eagle District,
Alamo Area Council San Antonio, TXWhen I was a child, I spake as a child,
And acted in childish ways;
When I grew up, I put away
The trappings of childhood days.But then, without asking permission,
A little boy entered my life,
And noisily garnered attention
From me and his mother, My wife;And magically, that little boy
Got me to sit on the floor,
To play with the toys of my childhood,
That I had abandoned before.So that little boy has a playmate
Who's grown up and taller than he,
And I have this sneaking suspicion
A litte boy still dwells in me!So, I got my son to join Cub Scouts,
Ostensibly for his own sake,
And we do achievements together,
(Though Pinewood cars I mostly make)!When we go to Den and Pack meetings,
His friends think that I'm a great dad,
'Cause I volunteered as a leader;
(I downplay how much fun I've had!)I know, God chose to make me a person'
My folks helped with guidance they gave;
My wife made me husband and father,
And my boss turned me into a slave - -But my little boy made me a Scouter,
Like his friends wish their dads did for them,
And that little boy deep down inside me knows
That I also do it for him!
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SCOUTMASTER'S MINUTE
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GOOD FINISHERBoys, have you ever observed that some people accomplish more than others? No matter what they tackle, somehow they seem to get it done. They seem to have developed the ability to be good finishers.
Many people are good starters, but not so many are good finishers. Some never seem to finish the things they start. They postpone and put off till tomorrow what they should have done the day before yesterday!
At a baseball game, what would you think of a fellow who got to first base and then stretched out with his head resting on the base for a snooze? Pretty silly, huh? You'd probably yell at him to get going.
Well, we're at the start of a new program this year in our troop. We're getting off to a good start. Let's all stick to our goals and our jobs all the way through.
Stay with those advancement requirements until you reach the goal you have set for yourself - second class, First Class, all the way to eagle! Start now to form one of the most important habits of your life - persistence and follow through! Be a Good Finisher!
Adapted from BSA's "The Scoutmaster's Minute" 1958
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SCOUT'S OWN:
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This Scout's Own Service, Found on the N.A.U.M.S. (National Association of United Methodist Scouters) website can be adapted for many Scouting Worship
Services. This devotional was written by Dr. Joseph B. Kennedy, Sr.http://www.umcscouting.org/services/acorn_and_the_tree.htm
The Acorn and The Tree
A Children's Sermon
by Dr. Joseph B. Kennedy, Sr."Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies... If anyone serves Me let him follow Me..." John 12:24-25
One Sunday not long ago, I shared with the children at Johns Creek UMC this message during the time when the Pastor has a moment with the children. This is expanded a bit for those who want to renew it with their children or may have missed it. During the Sunday morning worship hour, I gave out acorns to all the children and asked them to plant them.
I have been meditating and thinking about our children, and how they can learn this very important idea. One that adults often miss the most. It is not easy to discuss with a child, but this may make it more possible. One thing we all must do is learn that it in dying we live, in giving up and in surrender we receive. Children need to know there is nothing out ahead of them but Life. That way, they can learn, not only how to give, but how to live. In one way, it is the same.
Once I was with my father in our front yard in North Carolina, when I was in the first grade. I was just five years old. (My birthday is January 6, so I would either be early or late in starting school. My mother had the good sense and the influence to see that it was early.)
My Father reached down and picked up an acorn. He said, "You know son, there is a tree in this acorn." He dug a hole, put the acorn carefully in, and covered it up. "Now," he said, "you will see there is really a tree in that acorn." The next day I came home from school, dug up the acorn, but did not see a tree. I felt kind of let down, but put it back. A few days later I looked again...and to my surprise and dismay, there was no tree! My father had never told me anything that was not true...till now. I returned the acorn back, and buried the disappointment in my mind.
Then one day, I was running to catch the bus, and I saw a little green-brownish blade coming up by the stick where my Dad had marked the planting of the acorn. I skidded to a stop, returned and sat down and stared at the little tree coming into this world. It was the most beautiful thing in the whole world. My brother said the bus driver blew his horn a long time before going on, but I never heard. I just sat there till my mother came out and said, "Joseph, Joseph Brown" (that is what she called me when I was in trouble,) "what are you doing sitting there on the ground. You are supposed to be in school!" "Mother, look...just look...there was a tree in that acorn!" She took my arm and drove me to school. After all, I had up to then, and for years later, never missed a day. I watched that tree grow and become a great oak, which stands tall in our yard to this day.
When you see an acorn on the ground, just remember, there is a tree in that acorn. And please, remember the lesson I learned that day.
The lesson I learned has stayed with me. "Don't dig up the acorn." So many of us make good beginnings, good resolutions, and good decisions. Then we want the "quick fix" the "instant everything" and have little or no patience to wait for the growth that comes, sometimes slowly, in ourselves and others, in God's own time.
As a Counselor, I have read and studied those who seek "instant gratification." You know what they found out...a bunch of scientists and people who study people. Children who know how to wait for things, who can learn not to scream and yell when they do not get their way, but have the power, the inner something that helps them to wait, grow up to be more successful in almost everything...business, marriage, and just plain living.
So remember, "Don't dig up the acorn!"© 1998 The Reverend Doctor Joseph B. Kennedy, Sr.
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