Catching Up on my 100 days 9-21

October 6th, Reviewed  my be a scout presentation for tomorrow night.
October 7th, Helped with  info packets for roundtable, Gave a quick present at roundtable for BeAScout.org, Committed troop to teach knots at our Troopadillo Adventure (Webelos Woods like event).
October 8th, Packed and headed out  with a local pack for Family camping at Inks Lake State Park.
October 9th, Helped Webelos I with Fire building and Baked a dutch oven birthday cake. I really wish I had a good picture of it.
October 10th, Came back from Camping, opted to take Hammock nap instead of posting to the blog.
October 11th, Read troop requirements for Journey to Excellence, developed  goals for the PLC. Many have a due date of 12/31/2010. To make sure issues get resolved before recruiting starts.
October 12th, PLC occurred before troop meeting.  I think they covered about half of the goals.  Surprised we have 5 or more boys eligible for NYLT maybe more by June. Council's requirements are 13 and first class having taken part in TLT. This will make who to send a tough decision. I think some really should have gone last year.
October 13th, Purchased a copy of the 1942 Scoutmaster's handbook on Ebay.
October 14th, Drove Son to a local pack meeting, He explained to the Cubmaster that Den Chief training will not happen until January, yet he has read the handbook and is ready to start if  that was OK. I picked up Popcorn for a Saturday show and sell.
October 15th, I took the day off. I really should have posted.
October 16th, Supervised the Show and Sell, Picked up the troop trailer from storage, Washed contents of two chuckboxes for 3 hours... Need to talk to boys about why we do KP before it gets dark. Two adults and one youth almost lost our lunches.
October 17th, worked on figuring out  why trailer brakes locked up. Found I wired  my RV plug backwards while changing from 6 pin to 7 blade RV plug. I discovered 6 pin trailer connections have two possible pinouts. When using the wrong pinout it will lock up the trailer brakes.
October 18th, Took the trailer back to the storage area. Received  my 1942 copy of the Scoutmasters handbook, read section on a new scout master in an established troop. I'll be rereading this often.
October 19th, Today, I have my first Committee Meeting as Scoutmaster and  the third troop meeting of our cooking theme.

Days 7 and 8

Yesterday,  I went to promote powder horn  and  the troop to a pack. I also picked up the keys to the church. Today  I ran to the scout shop  and picked up a copy of the TLT syllabus. I grabbed my son a copy of the Den Chief handbook.  I'm writing an email to a pack that had written off the troop as possible troop for crossover.  And tonight is my first night as  the scoutmaster. I'm wondering what  to do  as my scout master minute.  Maybe a game on participation.

Day 3-6 Of being a New Scoutmaster

I spent days 3 - 6 at my second weekend of Powderhorn. I now have many new resources and ideas for the troop. COPE was very challenging. Rappelling didn't hold the glamor for me it had in my youth.  although it was cold a couple of nights, cold for South Texas that is.  One of our troops young Assistant Scoutmasters  attended with me.  We  were introduced to  the Diamond H Scout Ranch in Eastern Oklahoma that invites you to choose your own adventure.  Diamond H is a partnership between National and Last Frontier council. I'm exhausted so I'm hitting the rack.

Day 2 of 100 days as a New Scoutmaster

So while I prepared yesterday, I ended up writing my thoughts and it evolved into my scoutmaster's vision statement. It will take a  while but I hope to get the Scouts to come up with their own vision of our success.

"If I may take just a few moments of your time, I want to share with you my vision for this troop. A vision is a picture of what future success looks like. If we can see it, we can be it.  In the best tradition of Scouting, this will be a boy-run troop. My vision of what success looks like comes in parts.

As Scoutmaster I see myself fulfilling my responsibility for the safety of everyone and the general direction of the troop’s program. I see the troop operating according to the Scout Oath and Law, and following the guidance of the National Council. We are all here to help one another have the best possible experience. The Scout Oath and Law can guide us in that direction throughout our lives.

I see the adult leaders giving responsibility for leading the troop to the senior patrol leader and the troop’s other youth leaders. We will always be available to coach and mentor them, but as much as possible I see us staying on the sidelines while the senior patrol leader and youth leaders plan and carry out a great program for the troop. We will not hide that coaching and mentoring. In fact, now and then we will ask you to watch us doing it.

The Troop will offer boys the opportunity to explore the outdoors and experience new adventures.  The troop will continue to expand the outdoor program. It will be the boys' responsibility to research and discuss new and exciting locations for future outings.

Advancement is a very important part of any Scouting program. Troop 745 is committed to providing boys the experiences and resources necessary for rank advancement. It is the responsibility of the individual scout to set his goals and put into action a plan to achieve those goals. The troop will provide all the necessary support: Troop Guides, Merit Badge counselors, etc. The troop will be a resource for advancement while upholding the integrity of the rank.

A quality troop also must reflect service to others and duty to God. Troop 745 will expand its efforts in community service. We will also continue to do our Duty to God by our renewed commitment to the Scouts Own Program. At this time we have an active Troop Chaplain and Chaplain's Aide. We will work together to start holding Sunday services at all campouts.

My vision of success includes everyone, both youth and adult, seeing himself as here to help each of you learn as much as you can. It is my desire for all the boys to feel this is “Their Troop” and that they have pride in what it stands for. All members are to be treated with respect and dignity. I want all boys to develop a concern for each other's welfare. We are here for you. I see us doing all we can to make it possible for you to enjoy the fellowship of other Scouts."

1 of 100 days as the new Scoutmaster.

In my last post, I laid out that I'm going to become Scoutmaster tonight. I have had a couple of weeks to plan for this, but I really haven't done much to prepare for tonight. The current Scoutmaster hasn't said a word about this to me, that has me a bit on edge. The Committee chair has assured me that the change will happen and the current Scoutmaster is planning a changing of the guard ceremony. I should put together a few words  for tonight.

I have done a bit more to plan for my First 100 days. Although I have gone through all the required training, Am I really prepared to mentor  the scouts? Did Wood Badge prepare me for this? I'm not sure. While this won't help me in my first 100 days, I have volunteered to help with our council's NYLT course. Locally, we call it Cedar Badge.  This should help fine tune my ability to mentor the youth leaders. After watching our last two SPL's, being able to mentor them is a huge concern for me. Both have had to fall into the realm of a dictator or the big boss role too many times. That's the first bit of our culture I feel I have to change.

I have read and reread  a series of blogs from www.thescoutmasterminute.net on "If you build it they will come". Many thanks to Jerry Schleining for writing that blog. I see the value of planning. I have felt the need for and asked the PLC via the scoutmaster for an annual plan for the last year. Jerry's series of posts and a list of questions I found on a Webelos to Scout transition paper have helped me start to wrap my head around a series of goals for my first 100 days. These goals will be goals for me, for the PLC, and for the Troop Committee.

Since everything starts with the PLC. Let me speak a bit about  the PLC that will take office with me. The SPL  is an experienced Eagle Scout. Before the elections I spoke with him briefly, he stated he came back to SPL because he doesn't like the way the troop is heading.  I really appreciate him  taking up the role. His ASPL is a Life Scout  that recently transferred into the troop. He has had some challenges in his life and scouting. I think he has turned his recent challenges around  and will be a great leader in the future. One of the PL's will be in his second term. He is a Star Scout looking to turn 13 soon. The other PL is Second Class Scout in his first term. One  of them is going to try and balance Jr. League football in a championship team with his position. I see that being a big challenge for him. I am looking forward to working with them

Wow was it really May?

Was it really may the last time I posted?  So much has happened in the last few months. I have worked my self out of my real job. The company decide to use me to move their servers to Rackspace managed hosting, a local company from San Antonio.  I've been working on starting my own business. That's pretty much it on the personal side.

On the scout side, I went to summer camp with the troop at Bear Creek Scout Ranch. (http://alamoarea-boyscouts.org/Bear%20Creek/bear%20creek.html) My son went through the 1st year scout program called the Ranger Program. With his troop experiences, that carried him from Scout to Second Class. Another campout and he managed to get First Class in 11 months. Many people in Texas say that Bear Creek have the best new scout program in the state, followed by Buffalo Trails Scout Ranch (BTSR). I'm not prejudiced though, it is our council camp.  At the end of the summer the Troop committee leadership came to me and asked that I take over as Scoutmaster. Two weeks ago  I started  in the Alamo area council's high adventure resource training for troops and crews known as Powder Horn.

I grabbed some interesting  facts  about Powder Horn in my council.  The first course was held in 2003. I am in the 5th course. Our course's normally have a waiting list.  The teaching methodology is based on a Venturing Crew. If you not familiar with Powder Horn, you are probably asking what is Powder Horn? For me, Powder horn so far has been Leave No Trace, COPE, Center-fire, rim-fire, black-powder, shotguns, clay, gear,  SCUBA,Fishing, flies, awesome food, Canoeing, kayaking, Rafting, communications, gear, physical fitness, Climbing, rappelling, Treks, rivers, lakes and scout's own. I still have a weekend left to go.

Back to the troop and the committee though, I have accepted their offer to become Scoutmaster and tomorrow's Court of Honor is to be my installation as Scoutmaster.  The last couple of weeks I've been working on and looking at how to set my tone, my culture for that I'll bring to the troop as the troop's chief mentor and guide. Back at the beginning of the year, I followed a group of bloggers that were writing about 100 days of Scouting. My goal for this blog is now to write about my first 100 days as Scoutmaster. I don't expect to do this daily, but I'll try to do this at least weekly. I started by blocking out time to do that  on my calendar.

(Survival and New foods) Which cacti are the most edible and nutritious?

While this doesn't really answer the question... It does help you to figure out how to harvest and prepare the fruit of our beloved Prickly Pear.  Just don't go hugging any of them.

From Survival Guru Tony Nester

Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia spp.) is the most common cactus found throughout not only the desert but much of the U.S. It is my favorite cactus to harvest, and I usually gather up the red, golf-ball sized fruits in August or September, depending on the elevation.

The surface of the fruit has tiny hairs called glochids which can get into your skin (or tongue!) and cause irritation. When gathering the fruit with my kids, I always bring along Elmer's Glue, which can be poured onto the hairs impaled in the fingertips or skin and later peeled off to remove the glochids. Tongs can be most helpful for picking fruit, but it always seems like you end up with a few hairs in your fingertips.

After obtaining the fruit, we then place them over a grill on the fire for 1-2 minutes to singe off the glochids. They can then be eaten raw or cut in half to dry in the sun to make cactus fruit leather. Like most cacti fruit, prickly pear is 80-percent seed on the inside, and it takes quite a bit to make a meal. Your lips and hands also will be stained purple for the next few days.

As with any edible plant or cacti, make sure you know what you are putting in your mouth as some can be toxic and downright deadly. Take a class at a desert botanical center or with a reputable instructor. One such course that focuses on desert edible and medicinal plants is taught in Arizona by Mike Masek (theforagerspath.com) and provides a hands-on approach to learning how to gather your own wild foods.

Other than prickly pear, there are many desert succulents (another name for cacti and their relatives) that can provide fruit, such as the Saguaro, barrel cactus, and cholla. Some are protected, so you will have to look into state laws when gathering.

An excellent book to get started is Food Plants of the Sonoran Desert, by Wendy C. Hodgson.

Here's a list of nutrients you find in the paddle.

Cactus pads contain beta carotene, iron, some B vitamins, and are good sources of both vitamin C and calcium.

There has been medical interest in the Prickly Pear plant. Some studies have shown that the pectin contained in the Prickly Pear pulp lowers levels of "bad" cholesterol while leaving "good" cholesterol levels unchanged. Another study found that the fibrous pectin in the fruit may lowers diabetics' need for insulin. Both fruits and pads of the prickly pear cactus are rich in slowly absorbed soluble fibers that help keep blood sugar stable. There are on going studies and at this point there are no proven results on humans. You can make your own study and see if works for you, which is the only test that really counts.

Here's a recipe for a tasty, spicy dish:

CACTUS CREOLE

2 cups of diced cactus
1 pound of hamburger (cooked and drained)
6 ounces of tomato paste
1 cup of water
1 diced jalapeño pepper
6-1/2 ounces of canned shrimp (drained)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together in a pan and cook them over medium heat for about 20 minutes or until the cactus turns a deep green. Serve hot over noodles, rice, or potatoes . . . or in pita bread or a folded tortilla. It's delicious!

Cactus also tastes great with fish. Here's a recipe for pescado, desert-style:

CACTUS OVER FISH

1/2 cup of cooking oil
1 clove of garlic (chopped)
1 teaspoon of chili powder
1 cup of flour
1 pound of filleted fish
1 cup of diced and boiled cactus
1/2 cup of water (from the boiled cactus)
1 hard-boiled egg, sliced
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
salt to taste

Heat the oil in a frying pan, sauté the garlic until light brown, and then remove the garlic pieces with a slotted spatula or spoon. Combine the chili powder and flour in a bowl and roll the fish in the mixture. Fry the coated fillets until they're golden brown . . . add the water (be careful to prevent spattering — pour in just a bit at a time). . . reduce the heat . . . and cook the fish for a few minutes longer. When the fish flakes easily, remove it from the pan and serve it smothered in cactus and topped with sliced egg, lemon juice, and salt.

It was election time.

This week started out with a call that a fellow scouter had died suddenly. He will never know how much he inspired me to be a trainer. He really focused on getting us trained on the trained patch level. Mr. Barrentine, you will be missed.
Next up were  elections  for my sons troop.  The elections went surprisingly well considering the boys elected the  SPL and both PL's before the Scoutmaster announced that the new boys would be in a new boy patrol.  I still have many questions about the elections and how they were carried out.  But I am very proud my son was elected PL of the new boy patrol. The scouts had unknowingly elected  a new boy, an experienced boy  and a solid candidate for SPL.   The Troop committee adoted a training policy so that ASM's get trained within 6 months of joining the troop. This vote was a lot less debated than the healthcare vote. Everyone seemed to be ok with the results.

The pack is doing something interesting tonight, They are having  Den meetings for 45 minutes then 45 minutes of Pack meeting.  I'm not the Cubmaster  and I'm not sure I 'd do it this way.

Saturday, I'm bailing on the troop campout to train some webelos leader's  and my son opted for his school's  spring carnival. But we have a solid show for the campout. 5 adults and 8 or 9 scouts.  This is a backpacking trip in to  a primitive camp site, so it should shake the  new scouts down. They are all looking forward to it.

Storing My camping gear

 I told @scoutdude that My storage arrangements for camping gear was a blog post so here goes. It all lives in my garage. We also have a pop-up, but I prefer to grab the tents and go as I can decide to go camping on the way home on Friday.

Car Camping gear:

Section one the dutch oven stack:  On the bottom is a Sportsman's Warehouse Fire Pan Similar to this. Next is a  Camp Chef Dutch oven Table. My  14" Lodge  Dutch Oven, My two Sportsman Warehouse 12" dutch Ovens, and  2 Cheap  footless dutch ovens. In a bag similar to a USGI mechanics bag  I have  a DO tool set.  gloves/ Mair Lid Lifters, tin spoons, spatulas, and several tongs.  I almost forgot the Chimney Starter.

Another pile / Section 2 is the  Folding aluminum Tables, Camp Chairs, and Our 10 x 10 Canopy.

Section 3 is the cheap sleeping bags There are 5 of us  so that  takes up a shelf on an 18x 36 shelf unit.

The shelf above that has  an army shelter half tent, 3 Coleman 4 man tents ( our normal tents), a Sears 3 room tent, and a two man hiking tent  from Academy Sports. and finally  on top of that is  an Eagles nest outfitters Hammock, strap, and tarp  setup.

Contico Footlocker 1: Coleman stove and Propane canisters, Bowls, Car Camp mess kits, flashlights, emergency ponchos, misc...
Contico Footlocker 2: Dry goods for car camping.

Hiking Gear:
The packs are leaning against the  wall near the car camping gear. Most of the little things stay in the pack while the big items come out to get proper care.

(This is both My son's and My Gear) Pads and Sleeping bags unstuffed / unrolled and laid over top of Shelving unit.

Kelty Super Tioga:  Dad's bathroom ditty bag, Jetboil, Brunton Raptor stove , Xbowl and X cup, MSR folding spork, powedered drink ditty bag, Frog Toggs,  Led light for tent, Stuff sacks for clothing, drop cloth for tent/ tarp. Personal first aid kit, Camp axe, Firestarter. camp towel. Camp cord.

Jansport scout: Son's Bathroom ditty, Coleman  exponent stove,  GSI Outdoors  group pot set,  Camp towel, Rain gear, Personal First Aid kit, Stuff sacks for clothing.

The Googling Commissioner Service

About mid February, I registered  a URL for  my district UC  service and a toy for me.  I wanted to see how google apps and sites tied together and how best to use it.  You can get an awesome front end view from  the Scouting units that have come to use Google apps.

I was just handed a couple of necessary but annoying  forms that needed to be completed and turned in.  So I went and created google apps forms to replace the paper forms. So  for now  We don't have a Commissioner's website, just a commissioner's tools website.  Hopefully it has the tools we need to be more successful as Commissioners.

The best part of  this was  I shared it with my District Commissioner, who in turn spoke about it  at a Council commissioners meeting.  The other districts' commisioners were  all like, "I want  those tools too!"  While the tools aren't exactly what I'd want to go public on  they are a far site better than we have available otherwise.

What tools did I create? Unit Self assessments, District monthly awards nomination form and Unit contact  information submittal.

Intro to Outdoor Leader Skills

I'm off to the new Intro to Outdoor Leader Skills. It isn't really a new course as far as I know It's just the first time my council has offered it since it became a requirement for Webelos Leaders. This meant that council had to make a new flyer for the Class. It will be akin to spending 28 hours camping in my backyard. WOO HOO! Our training / cub scout campground is surrounded by city. All around you here the sounds of cars and freeways and sleep under the light of the near by fast food joints.


Since I'm a gear nut, I decided to celebrate by spending lunch at Whole Earth Provisions. Why there and not our other trusty sporting goods store Academy. WEP has the Therm-a-rest Neo Air. It is supposed to be the best Camp pad since self inflating pads. They had 3 sizes in stock. Fortunately for my pocketbook I was not yet prepared to part ways with $170.


I did however pickup an Xbowl and Xmug from Sea to Summit (http://www.seatosummit.com). Together they are smaller and flatter than my current mess set. I also picked up a folding spork from MSR. (http://cascadedesigns.com/msr/cookware/cookware-accessories/folding-eating-utensils/product) the spork is longer than my current set of Light My Fire Sporks. The current ones are just a bit short reaching into a Jetboil pot.


Last but not least I grabbed the wrong book, but hope it will pay off in the end. The Best in Tent Camping: Texas (http://www.amazon.com/Best-Tent-Camping-Concrete-Portable/dp/0897326849). Why did I say Grabbed the wrong book  Because I didn't see the subtitle any where. "A Guide for Car Campers Who Hate RVs, Concrete Slabs, and Loud Portable Stereos"  I do fall into the category  of disliking Concrete Slabs, and Loud Portable Stereos. Occasionally I like the comfort of a RV in the form of a pop-up camper. Yet I was hoping for the top 50 tent camping sites in Texas no matter who else may show up. 


I'll let you know how things turn out. I almost forgot because I was so busy.  My son finally had his Crossover ceremony last Sunday. I rechartered with  the pack as Committee Chair  because we had two few  stand up. 

Girl Scout Cookies

My wife is fully engrossed in that American tradition called Girl Scout Cookies. I haven't seen her most of the week. Now that is partly because I haven't been home much, but neither has she.

She is at booth sales and delivering cookies.

If your council uses Trails-end the popcorn money is pretty easy to follow. But no-one could really tell me where all the money from the Girl Scout cookies went, until now.

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/02/06/girl-scout-cookies-by-the-numbers-just-where-do-all-those-dolla/

$0.85 Bakery

$0.50 Troop

$0.08 Patches

$2.07 Local Council

For a total of $3.50

So let's scale this up to the $9.00 tub o' popcorn the Boy Scouts sell.

So for the $9.00 you'd get 39 cookies from the GSUSA or 8.5 oz of Carmel popcorn from the BSA.

GSUSA	BSA
$2.25 or 25% to the Bakery	$2.25 or 25% to Trails-end
$0.18 or 2% to prize patches	$0.45 or 5% to Prizes
$5.31 or 59% to the Local Council	$3.15 or 35% to the Local Council
$1.26 or 14% to the Troop	$3.15 or 35% to the Unit

I'm not so angry at the baker's anymore. I know the BSA has FOS, United Way, and other fundraising going on throughout the year. I wonder what other funds the GSUSA raises during the year. It seems the girl scouts put more of the council's financial burden on the girls. My daughters goals were to sell 150 boxes each for a total of $73 in the troop coffers. But nearly double the total sales of my pack for nearly the same commission per scout.

To me it would seem the Local GSUSA council could give a bit more back to the scouts.

AB100 meets the wild west in San Antone

Life is what you make make it. That pretty much sums up my Adventure Base 100 experience. I'll talk about that portion later or not at all.

AB100 was not a standalone event for the Alamo city. Yet they managed to place the AB100 in an area of the rodeo grounds that received little to no traffic. I think they could have found a better place for us.

The patch above is the only thing that is exclusive to AB100. Our store staff said they had trouble getting the patches. The Adventure base showed up Thursday the 4th, but the patches showed up late in the afternoon on the 6th. So we had the patches for 1 day of the Bases four day stay. If you register for an AB100 passport you get $5.00 of a souvenir book. so for $20 you get a book and the patch.

The museum was cool. I thought some councils could have put more in their time capsule. Heck it would have been nice if my council had submitted a time capsule. Some of the items were a CD-Rom, a belt buckle, a custom coin, and some OA flaps. I rocked the early morning evironmental Pinewood race with a score of 390.

When you get in the go scouting dome go in front of the table and lay down on your back. The show displays up past the top of the dome. In side you feel kinda like your in an igloo and at a forest campsite. It was a nice 5 minute show.

Many scouters took advantage of the green screen. Your white water rafting or rock climbing. I think I saw one dad getting carried up the rock face by his Webelos scout. What I could do there with a little more time and imagination.

The penny press breaks at the drop of a hat. I really wish they had more than one press traveling with the show.

The ropes course was awesome as an attention getter. Can I order one for my council? Ok for the walk through... once harnessed up you walk up the ramp around and over some teeter totter blocks. Around the next corner is swing steps. The next challenge is Swinging across the vines to the cargo net. Once you side step across the cargo net you jump off a box and "zip line" down to where you harnessed up.

Since most places haven't had this yet. I'll let you know that you need about 20 volunteers minimum to help run the AB100. Please make sure your council has somebody that is good at scheduling people to run this. Nothing worse in my opinion than to have 15 Explorers show up and have nothing for them to do.

I would like to give special recognition to SAPD Chief William McManus. Prior to Chief McManus, SAPD had Explorers, but nothing like they do now. San Antonio has 180 police explorers in part due to the Chief's mandate that every substation or precinct have an explorer post. I have no doubt that these explorers will turn out to be fine officers in one of the nations law enforcement agencies. More importantly to me, it is just another way that the SAPD shows a compassionate face to San Antonio.

A time to face the Facts.

Well it all started about 6 months ago I had to take a break from blogging and finish some things up. You know little things like Wood Badge, Finding someone to get my back, getting trained for a new position.

I'm going to run out of chairman stuff to talk about. Although it appears with my various hats I have today that a new blog title was due. I find myself rambling through scouting. Taking different positions and trying different things as I help my son through his scouting career.

So my posts will take on more the idea of sketches of where my son, his unit, my units, and myself are today.

The difference between IN and OF

Today is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Boy Scouts of America.

Today I have ran across some that are incorrectly saying it is the Anniversary of the Boy Scout Movement IN America.

Troop 1 in Pawhuska Oklahoma has the honor of being the First Boy scout troop in America. They were founded in 1909 roughly 9 months prior to the incorporation of the Boy Scouts of America by W.D. Boyce. Troop1 was founded under an English charter.

Too many the argument about the use of the word IN and OF is like like arguing whether the new millennium started January 1, 2000 or January 1, 2001. It could also be said I was arguing use of the Metric system versus the Imperial System.

So I may be arguing over small verbiage, yet I would believe that the scouts in Pawhuska, Oklahoma were not the only scouts that were practicing Lord Baden-Powell's methods in the United States before 19010.

So let's Celebrate the anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America and remember there were at least 18 Boy Scouts in America before then.