Lone Star Scouter

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Tonight I had the honor of attending the Eagle Scout Court of Honor for Josh S. from Troop 533. Josh started out with our Troop, 483 and moved to 533 about two years ago. Josh is an amazing young man with all the service work he has done in OA, not to mention being the current Chapter Chief. I have many memories of Josh while he was with our Troop with many campouts and two high adventure trips to Philmont and Packard High Adventure Base, along with doing our ordeal together. Josh will be off to college in August where I know he will do well.

Congratulations Josh on becoming an Eagle Scout.

What happens when the Scoutmaster goes out of town with his son to visit a college in another State? What happens when the Scoutmaster only let the Crew Adviser and a Asst. Scoutmaster know about his absence? What happens when the meeting starts and the Scouts, leaders and parents notice the Scoutmaster is absent?

Well from what I heard the SPL ran the meeting as planned, the Asst. Scoutmasters handled the Scoutmaster conferences, and the committee did board of reviews and Scouts earned new ranks. This is a great example of a boy led troop. The meeting ran smoothly with out me there. I have to say I never doubted the boy leaders or the Asst. Scoutmasters ability to have a successful meeting without the Scoutmaster there. Thank You.

It turned out to be a great trip with my son visiting LSU in Baton Rouge. I believe I know where my Son and my money will be going to college.

If you are paid to do Scouting, you are called a Professional.
If you are not paid to do Scouting, you are called a Volunteer.
If you pay to do Scouting, you are called… … A Scouter.

Once there were two brothers, the sons of a tribal chief. One day the chief gave his sons bows and arrows. The oldest son took his bow with an arrow, aimed high, pulled the arrow far back and shot his arrow high. The younger brother took his knife and made a small mark on a near by tree. He stood about ten feet from the tree, put the arrow in his bow, drew back as far as he could, shot his arrow and hit his mark.

The father praised his youngest sons shot. His older brother asked his dad why he praised his younger brother since his arrow flew higher and farther. His father explained that even though his shot did go higher and farther, his younger brother made a mark on the tree, setting a goal to hit his mark, even though he is not as big or as strong, his arrow hit the mark.

As scouts we must set our goals and make our own marks to hit.

Looking back, looking forward, looking in…

Even as our Scouts are looking at what they need to do, what they have done, and what they think they can do, we should be doing the same thing. Evaluating our performance, reviewing our goals, and reflecting on the difference between the two are important aspects of leadership, and of Scouting in general. Through the advancement method, we teach Scouts to set goals, do their best, evaluate their performance, and learn from their experiences. To be effective unit leaders, we must do the same thing.

Looking Back

At every opportunity, a Scouter needs to evaluate what he or she is doing. The Scoutmaster needs to evaluate how effective his Scoutmaster Conferences and Scoutmaster Minutes are. The Committee Chair needs to evaluate how good a job the unit committee is doing. Evaluation is the only way we can see where we are, compared to where we’ve been and where we want to go. Like a Scout, we set a goal for ourselves, work toward that goal, and occasionally look back to see how much progress we’ve made.

If you’ve ever tried hiking in deep snow, you’ll have a pretty good idea how important evaluating our progress can be. You see, if we just start hiking through the snow, pretty soon we start thinking about how far we’ve gone, and how far we have to go. If we don’t look back, chances are we’ll think we’ve progressed farther than we have. The longer we go without looking back at our progress, the more discouraged we’ll be when we finally do.

That doesn’t mean we need to look back at our progress every couple steps. That can be equally discouraging because we won’t be able to see much progress. The trick is to look back just often enough to reassure ourselves that we’re making progress, and that our progress is in the right direction. The rest of the time, we need to keep one eye on where we’re going, and one eye on where we want to be.

So, when we evaluate the job we’re doing, we’re basically making sure we’re going in the right direction, looking at what adjustments need to be made, and estimating how far we have traveled. Our evaluation helps us review and reflect on what we’re doing, just like evaluation helps a Scout understand what he’s learned, and figure out what he needs to do.

Read full article at Green Bar

 Have you ever wondered what happened to the fifty six men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the fixty six fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well death would be the cost if captured. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their thirteen children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education.

They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: “For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn’t fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government!

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn’t. So, take a few minutes this year while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It’s not much to ask for the price they paid.

This past summer camp at CIMA was interesting to say the least. With injuries and illness that sent 3 Scouts home, the Troop had one Scout that shined brightly and who went above and beyond the call to duty. With 32 Scouts we started out with two SPL’s, but by Tuesday morning I made the decision to make the ASPL the SPL. Dillon, who typically skips MB classes, and causes mayhem in and around camp. But this camp something was different, he was showing amazing leadership, taking control while leading by example. He demanded respect not only for himself but for his assistance’s, adults and the troop in general.

When a Scout fell he would carry him. When a Scout was injured he administered first aid while he had another Scout find adults for help, and help younger Scouts with home sickness. I was amazed as I sat at camp and watched Dillon lead the Troop, using patrol method, teaching respect, correcting un-scout like behavior. Yes the light bulb came on. I have to say Dillon demonstrated the best leadership I have ever seen from an SPL at a summer camp. The other two SPL’s who became ASPL’s were relieved and supported their SPL when task were delegated to them while learning to become better leaders themselves from his example.

It’s Scouts like Dillon who make their Scoutmaster proud.