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Winter Camp

Winter Camp. It's COOL.

Those going need to be at the church Friday night at 5:00pm with a runner sled and all your stuff, (See page 293 of your scout book) and extra stuff

for 30-40 degree wet melting snow. Have a completed permission slip and part A/B health form with you.

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MUSIC VIDEO

Court of Honor and Friends of Scouting Presentation - February 16

Invite your family and friends to the Court of Honor and Friends of Scouting presentation to be held 7:00pm on February 16, 2012. The location will be at the Messiah Methodist Church.

Friends of Scouting, or “FOS”, is the annual appeal of Keystone Area Council to the families who are a part of the scouting program in our area. The council is a non-profit organization that must raise funds each year in order to continue to have scouting available to interested youth.

If you believe in scouting and value its programs, please help support it financially. A Scouting volunteer will be holding a short FOS presentation at our February 16th Court of Honor to solicit your financial support. Please be prepared to stand up and be counted. Tax deductible contributions to FOS can be made with cash, check or credit card Help our Council continue to make a positive difference in the lives of youth and their families.

Every scout and every family should attend!!

SCOUT SUNDAY - March 11, 2012

As a show of support and thanks to our chartering organization, we will take part in Scout Sunday on March 11. Meet at the church scout room at 8:30 for the 9:00am service. Wear full uniform.

C&O Canal Towpath Biking Trip

Coming this summer......

SATURDAY, JUNE 9 through WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2012

Cumberland, MD to Washington, DC. Over 184 miles of biking and camping along the C&O Canal Towpath. Cost is approximately $125.00

You must be able to bike 50 miles in one day. Each days distance will range from 30-50 miles. A good bike is necessary.

National Boy Scout Jamboree July 15-24, 2013

If you are interested in attending the National Boy Scout Jamboree, check out the information at this link which includes costs, age requirements and how to sign up. Spots are first-come, first-serve

Jamboree Information

Remember, the first Thursday of the month is not a regular troop meeting. Patrol Leaders' Council meets and Committee meets then. Also, if you are in need of a BOR, you can contact the committee three days prior and set it up for the first Thursday of the month.

Mike Rowe Offers a Potential Eagle Scout His Eagle Perspective

Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe is an Eagle Scout. Here is an exhange posted to his blog.

Mike,
I'm not sure where I heard that you are an Eagle Scout, which brings me to my question. Could you PLEASE take a moment & post to my 13 year old son Kelby & encourage him to finish scouting (& anything else that will help with this?) Reason I'm asking is that he only lacks 1 1/2 - 2 years in reaching Eagle, but some of his buddies have got him to thinking scouting isn't cool at his age. Thanks much, Gary

Mike's Response:

Kelby,

Your Dad asked me to drop you a line and say something inspirational that might persuade you to dig down deep and find the determination to make the rank of Eagle Scout. It's a reasonable request, from a father who obviously wants to see his son succeed. But here’s the thing - The Eagle Award is not really meant for people who need to be dragged across the finish line. It’s meant for a select few, and I have no idea if you have the guts to see it through.

Statistically, I suspect you do not. Only one out of a hundred Scouts make Eagle, so if you fail, there will be lots of other people with whom you can share excuses. Quitting now might disappoint your Dad, but I doubt that he or anyone else will be overly surprised. Anytime 99 out of 100 people do the same thing, it’s not exactly a shock.

I’m not trying to be cute with a bunch of reverse psychology. When I was 15, there was nothing that anyone could have said to me that would have inspired me to do something I didn't want to do, especially a stranger with a TV show. So I’m not going to assume you’re any different, or pretend that I have some influence or insight that you haven’t already heard from a dozen other people who actually know and care about you. I’ll just tell you straight up, that doing something extraordinary can be very lonely, and most people simply aren’t cut out for it. Being an Eagle Scout requires you to be different than most everyone around you, and being different is really, really hard. That’s why the award is called “an accomplishment.”

Personally, and for whatever it’s worth, the best decisions I've made in my own life, are those decisions that put me on the outside of being cool. Singing in the Opera, working in home shopping, staring in the school play when the entire football team laughed at me, and especially earning my Eagle, were all choices that required sacrifice, hard work, and delayed gratification. I have no idea if you possess those qualities, or even envy them. But I can tell you for certain, that NOT getting your Eagle, will be one of the easiest things you’ve ever done.

Anyway, I have no idea if you would prefer an easy life of predictability and mediocrity, or if have the passion to follow the road less traveled. Only you get to decide that.

Good Luck,
Mike

Online Rank Requirements for Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class

Are you looking for a fun way to work on your advancement? If so, check out the BSA website, where a new series of videos brings the Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class requirements to life.

At http://www.scouting.org/applications/rankvideo.aspx , you’ll find individual video segments for each Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class requirements.

The videos do a good job of introducing each skill, usually using Scouts as instructors. They’re a fun way to introduce the requirements, although the videos won’t replace real-life instructors or the Boy Scout handbook. (In fact, the videos often refer viewers to the handbook for more information.)