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1 Vs. 100, Scouting Edition

Do you have what it takes to compete against the "MOB" of fellow scouts in answering scouting related questions? Come out to Thursday's troop meeting for the first ever "1 vs 100; Scouting Edition" Game.

Take a look at your scout book, or any other scouting related websites and material you may have and BE PREPARED to either take on the MOB or be part of the MOB.

Court of Honor and Friends of Scouting Presentation - February 25

Invite your family and friends to the Court of Honor and Friends of Scouting presentation to be held 7:00pm on February 25, 2010. 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 25th 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 14

As a show of support and thanks to our chartering organization, we will take part in Scout Sunday on March14th. Meet at the church scout room at 8:30 for the 9:00am service. Wear full uniform.

SUMMER CAMP 2010

June 27-July 3
HIDDEN VALLEY SCOUT RESERVATION

We will be spending a week at Hidden Valley Scout Reservation, situated on 830+ acres in Perry County,
Hidden Valley offers a varied program of outdoor skills including extensive merit badge classes and activities in aquatics, shooting sports, nature, handicraft, scoutcraft and climbing. This year’s theme is “Wild West”.
First year scouts will participate in the Dan Beard program where scouts are divided into Patrols of 8 to 10 boys Together they learn the essential skills of Scouting and complete many of the requirements for Tenderfoot through First Class through hands-on interactive lessons.

COST FOR CAMP *You may use Scout Account dollars towards summer camp.
$250.00 (Early Bird fee if paid in full by April 30)
Additional fees for certain merit badges

Important Dates: (the first two payments are optional, for those who wish to do a payment plan rather than pay all at once)

1/28/2010: Payment plan....Deposit of $50.00 per scout due.
2/26/2010 Payment plan....Add’l $50.00 add’l per scout due.
4/29/2010: Balance due for Early Bird Discount. AFTER APRIL 29th ALL FEES ARE NON REFUNDABLE
5/1/2010: Regular fee of $270.00 applies
After 5/31/2010: $20.00 late fee, making total cost $290.00

You must have a BSA medical form that has been completed by a doctor within a year of June 27. Make your appointment soon!

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.)

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.

NEW FIRST CLASS REQUIREMENT!

Beginning January 1, 2006, an additional requirement will be added to the requirements for First Class rank. Scouts beginning their First Class requirement work after this date must complete the new requirement. Scouts working on First Class requirements prior to this date will have until June 30, 2006 to complete First Class rank without completing the new requirement. The new requirement is as follows:

"Tell someone who is eligible to join Boy Scouts, or an inactive Boy Scout, about your troop's activities. Invite him to a troop outing, activity, service project, or meeting. Tell him how to join, or encourage the inactive Boy Scout to become active."

The new requirement tests the candidate's persuasive communications skills and can help make Scouting available to more boys.

Here's are links to troop brochure and troop flyer that you can give a friend to help you with this requirement:

http://www.troop121ship.org/upldDocuments/Unit241/Troop%20brochure%20small.pdf

http://www.troop121ship.org/upldDocuments/Unit241/Troop121flyer2.pub