Let's Try Something New for 2015

Since I am currently between jobs (something that seems to plague many in the country these days) I've been sitting here contemplating how to improve the way things are with Troop 101; more specifically, how this blog could help current members, future members and their families. 

Since this blog was started, it has pretty much been about what we we've been doing as a troop; meetings, events and camping trips. I plan to continue keeping everyone up-to-date on that front - it is the backbone of everything we do after all. However, if you are regular reader, you'll notice that many of our trips come back around every year, and unless something really off-the-wall happens, its pretty much the same trip. So, in the spirit of making a new and helpful blog, I plan to start writing a few series of posts that I'll label so that they can be referenced at any time.

1. Troop Calendar Updates: This will be the posts related to what we've been doing. Hopefully I can keep this up-to-date.

2. Gear & Gadgets: This is a series where I will be discussing the pros and cons of various equipment that we use in the troop, as well as what you should be using as a Scout (or looking for for your Scout). Hopefully it will be pretty in depth on various topics, like sleeping bags, foot wear, flashlights, etc., etc.

3. Navigating BSA Policies & Procedures: This is where I'll be talking about various policies and procedures that the BSA uses to help your Scout on his path to Eagle. Items like uniforms, paperwork, merit badges and rank advancement will fall into this series.

4. Troop 101 Tips & Tricks: Okay, this may not exactly be tips & tricks, but it will cover how T101 handles certain items, such as purchasing food for a camping trip, or summer camp procedures.

5. Our History: I am an amateur student of history. It was one of the few non-art related classes that I took in high school that I was really good at. I've discovered this year marks quite a few key milestones in America history, and since many of the hikes we go on are history related, I felt it was a good idea to occasionally remember where we came from - and possibly where we are going. 

So, with that said, I hope to have a much more well rounded blog. Hopefully most of what I write about will help out in the long run. So keep an eye out for new posts as I intend to do them on a weekly basis - and if they going longer than that, I pray that it won't be a year.

Tempus Fugit

Once again, I find myself stunned by the fact that I am completely incapable of keeping this blog up-to-date. Previously, I've missed a few weeks or months, and here I am realizing that I have missed pretty much an entire calendar year. That's pretty bad, even for me.

Happily, my job as scoutmaster does not require me to keep the blog up-to-date. If it did, I obviously would not be writing this blog entry, or for that matter, any blog entry here. So, let me start by saying that yes, we are all still here and Scouting on. Obviously, our lives did not stop just because the blog did - we have done so much since the last posting about the 2013 Asbury Park Zombie Walk.

To begin, in the past year, we've picked up two new Scouts. One is the younger brother of a Scout that joined us when their troop folded (as troops sadly sometimes tend to do), and the other, is the second of possibly four brothers that will be joining the troop over the next decade or so. Both are doing quite well with their rank advancement and learning how to be a Troop 101 Boy Scout. Our other boys are doing well - our eldest at 17 made Life Rank and is currently working his way to an Eagle Scout project and - hopefully - his Eagle Scout rank. We have four Scouts working their way through the middle ranks, and hopefully by June of 2015 they will all have made the rank of 1st Class, and be ready to start working on their Star Ranks at summer camp.

Our 3 youngest are moving along quite well through the early ranks, all of whom show great potential in rocketing up through the middle ranks rather quickly. For the one set of brothers, it sets quite the fire under the older one when he realizes that his younger brother could easily out rank him at some point. Also on the horizon is another crossover from the Cub Pack coming this spring - and he has quite the legacy to live up to. His great-grandfather was Scoutmaster, his grandfather was Scoutmaster and his father is Cub Master as well as an Eagle from 101 - obviously there is no pressure there what-so-ever.

As for me, things have been busy on a personal level.

For those who have no idea what a Scoutmaster does, let me say that running a troop is like having a part time job. Despite what anyone at Council may say, my job is not "one hour a week, one weekend a month, and one week a year". (This is part of the reason this blog is almost never up-to-date - of all the things I need to do, this is not high on the priority list.) Summer camp alone - while the actual event is only a week - takes months of prodding to make sure that merit badges are signed up for, medical forms are filled out, everyone is paid up, and for me to pack all that we need, it takes at least 3 weeks of running around!

On top of all this, I work full time. Happily while at work, I have downtime enough that I can answer emails and help set up events for the troop during the week. (What I can't do is stop and write a blog entry though). The miracle of modern technology (and a Scoutmaster willing to use it) allows me to answer questions almost instantly when they come up. The week before a campout I have to make sure everyone is notified that we are going, if we their Scout needs any special equipment, get a head count, and make sure that the person buying food for the weekend gets everything we need. The last thing I want is a Scout to go hungry. I am always the last to eat, which means if we are low on food, I go the weekend without - but frankly, I could afford to miss a few meals.

Finally, I am married and my wife and I are expecting our first - soon. Like, "I'm-expecting-a-phone-call-any-minute-soon". So my spare time has been spent getting the nursery ready, and basically preparing for my life to be completely turned upside down.

As you can imagine, a blog is least of my worries.

The only reason I am writing today is because its snowing out, and I have to do some work in my garage for the baby - and since I have no heat and spray paint won't spray correctly in cold weather, I find myself at a stopping point for the moment.

Which segues into the reason I wanted to write a blog today. We live in New Jersey, and our winters can be "hit or miss". Sometimes we get monster storms, sometimes you can ski all winter in a t-shirt. Its just the nature of our area - or global warming. However you want to look at it.

When it does snow, I like to encourage our Scouts to go out and not only help their family clear the snow, but also friends and neighbors. Sometimes we forget how quickly things change over the course of the year, and we forget that what was routine last winter is an impossibility this year.

The reason I bring this up is because just this past weekend I had this exact issue happen to me.

My parents moved into their current home in 1985. They have been living in this home for 30 years, and for 30 years their driveway has been a nightmare to clear of snow. Their house is located on the side of a hill - or mountain depending on how you look at it. If I had to guess, from the back of the property to the front sidewalk/street there is probably about a 10-15 foot change in elevation. At the center of this elevation change is their house - a split level built probably sometime in the 60's. While the font entry and the rear entry of the lower floor is the same level - meaning that the house isn't built into the side of the hill - the driveway slants down to the street, thus creating the nightmare.

I don't know the actual degree of angle for the drive, but we were taught as soon as we got our licenses that you set the parking brake when you pull in. (A good rule of thumb - never park on a hill and expect the gear shift pin on your transmission to hold the weight of your car from rolling away - always set the parking brake.) If your car door had a weak spring, there was enough of an angle to close the door on you - and I took a few to the head over the years.

Over the years we went through winter after winter - and for the most part they were mild. Sure, there were a few that were really bad - one I even used snow shoes to get to friends' houses - but our little Sears snowblower managed to do the trick; if the snow was deep enough. That stupid little thing needed at least 2" of snow to work, and even after you were done, you had to go back and really clean it down to the asphalt if you didn't want ice to form. Eventually, the little guy started showing his age, and dad went and got a big gas powered monster. (Oddly enough, this was about the time I went off to college for 4 years. Up to that point I was doing the bulk of the shoveling when I could manage (dad could get pretty sneaky shoveling at 4am)).

The monster served him well. Even when I got back from college, I would use it to clear the drive so dad didn't have to. We would even load it up and drive over to my grandmother's and do her driveway. It was a beast to get on the truck, but it was self-propelled and could eat snow 2' deep like it was nothing.

As I and my sister grew up, we eventually moved out - as children tend to do. Things were fine up until last winter - my grandmother had fallen ill, and my mother had tumbled down some stairs and broken one ankle and sprained the other - while on vacation in Russia. Between going to the hospital for my grandmother and rehab for my mother and working two part-time jobs, the stress began to take its toll on dad. Eventually, my mother began walking under her own power - though she hasn't fully recovered - and sadly, by February my grandmother passed. It was at that point dad, as eldest child and executor of the will, had to now deal with even more stress of the sale of my grandmother's house, distribution of assets, etc., etc. (Even as I write this, the house has still not sold.)

By this point, summer was here and things were moving ahead as life usually does. My wife and I had broken the good news about the baby, and life just... went. Then fall came and dad started having trouble with his health. He was in the hospital a few times, and now wears a monitoring vest for his heart. Mom is still not walking correctly, and my sister is still living in Florida. I do live closer, but not close enough to drop by whenever.

Then the weather report came for this snow storm - a possibility of 2'.

...and just like that, you realize that even with a self-powered snow blower, your parents are going to be snowed in. You also realize that there are probably other things that they may no longer be able to do. My parents aren't 88 like my grandmother was - they are only in their 60s - but sometimes life throws a curve ball.

Happily, arrangements have been made for someone to come and dig them out.

So where am I going with this long tale? I know my Scouts go out and help those whom they perceive as "elderly" with snow removal - as they should. What I am getting at is check in with those who aren't so "elderly". Many people pass as a result of a heart attack or over exerting themselves while shoveling snow...

...and they aren't all that elderly.

So, don't just check in with the 80+ crowd this winter, check in on everyone you know - even if they declined help last year, they may just need it this year (even the young ones expecting a baby could always use a second set of hands :)

2013 Asbury Park Zombie Walk

Well, we started out September with such high hopes, however our first month was... less than spectacular.

Then October came, and our first weekend was spectacular! Friday we found a potential new Scout, and Saturday we got all zombied up and headed down to the Asbury Park boardwalk to participate in the annual Asbury Park Zombie Walk!

Last year, the NJ's honor was taken away when Minneapolis took the Guinness World Record for most zombies in one place at one time. NJ, and Asbury Park in particular, were determined to get those bragging rights back, so all the zombies of NJ descended on the Asbury Park beach.

Despite being unseasonably warm, the turn out was great and we beat out Minneapolis for the record by over 1,000 zombies! That means that Troop 101 is now in the Guinness Book of World Records! (We were also pretty popular with everyone down there too - not only were we a themed group, we were an actual Scout Troop!) Everyone is already working on improvements to our costumes...

On top of that, we were approached by a National Geographic photographer who is compiling a book about zombies... or maybe the zombie phenomenon. We don't know yet. At any rate, we were photographed by a NG photographer and are going to be in a book! (and its not about Scouting!)

How cool is that?!

I'd love to post pics, but we're having a few issues at the moment. I'll update later.

Summer Camp 2013

I'm really behind on keeping the blog up-to-date. To all 7 of our loyal readers, I apologize. For those of you who don't know, I work on a computer all week, and on some occasions well into the night and the next morning. The last thing I like to do is go on the computer on my days off and my down time - but for the most part, between actual work and Scouts, there isn't much of that either.

At any rate, I apologize, and I will hopefully be keeping this up-to-date with more and exciting news as the weeks and months continue.

That being said, summer camp.

This year we had a very strange phenomenon happen - it was actually COLD at summer camp. That's right, cold. Sure, in past years there have been times when you get up and throw on a pair of shorts, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt because its a little chilly, but for the most part by the time breakfast is over, you've taken the sweatshirt off because the sun has heated the woods to 80 and the humidity has gone through the roof.

This year, on Thursday, I wore not only long pants, boots, hat and fleece, but I had them on all day. Mr. Foray woke up one morning wearing a wool hat (thought what possessed him to even bring a wool hat to summer camp I still haven't figured out.) So, yeah, it was cold for summer camp. On the up side, none of our campers or the rest of the camp had any issues with heatstroke, sunburn or heat exhaustion - though there may have been hypothermia down during the swimming merit badge in the morning, though don't quote me on that.

Frankly, based on the weather we were having before we left, when the temps were reaching the high 90's with 100% humidity, I was concerned not only for my Scout's health, but for my own as well. For the most part, we get so used to being able to wonder into an air conditioned building or car whenever we want, that when we don't have the convenience, we forget how taxing weather can be on the healthiest of people. In conversations with staff members, they told me that their own EMT passed out during the heat wave because he didn't leave the AC cooled health lodge for a few days, and then tried to go rappelling. He was fine, but it goes to show that even the best trained are sometimes affected badly.

As for life in our little corner of Turrell, things were a bit better than in past years - we tried a few new items that helped us out in the long run. The first was a portable message board, which was coated in chalkboard paint as well as magnetic paint so that we could post papers, as well as right daily messages. The reason this was important was because we didn't have a message board to hang our important papers on, and it cost us in our campsite inspection. So, we solved the problem.

We also solved the issue of the tiny, and leaky dining fly over our eating area. Last year, it rained quite a bit, and the tarp leaked from the middle, right into our food during meals. Not to mention that it was pretty small, and we all were at the table on top of each other trying to stay dry - most of the time to no avail. So, being fed up with staff not properly storing their equipment, I headed to the hardware store and bought a 30'x20' tarp - yes, you read that right. (Yes, it is huge.)

It worked great - we had our message board, or patrol box, water jugs, juice jugs, table, and camp chairs all underneath, and everyone had room to spare. The down side - that large of a tarp holds a lot of water. When it rained (which happily wasn't much) gallons of water would build up and need to be emptied - in minutes. Alot of other Scouters who saw it thought we had some sort of MMA fight going on underneath, but they were pretty jealous when we were comfy during the rains.

We're thinking a frame to put the tarp on for next year. It gets annoying having to drain it every 5 minutes.


Speaking of the kitchen, ours was probably the best in camp, other than the one at the dining hall... actually, ours was the only one at camp. I was at the Scoutmaster's meeting, and the question was asked 'Who needs a sheephearder?' and I enthusiastically raised my hand... which I then realized was the only one in the air. I looked around, and said 'Really?' in disbelief. How can a troop go camping and not cook in their own site? Then I heard another Scoutmaster whisper 'What's a sheephearder?'

I damn near cried.

Shaking my head in dismay, I was asked how many I needed; really, I needed one, but I said give me 2, 3 - whatever you want - I'll take whatever is on the truck. By the time I returned to my site, I had three, because (and I quote) "We had three, and we knew you needed only two, but we didn't feel like driving the other one down to the yard, and we figured you'd use it anyway."

AND USE IT WE DID! As our usual M.O. we started inviting staff to our site for meals, two of which were the Nature Director and the Handicraft Director (both ladies) who were a vegan and a vegetarian. So, our one sheephearder was for veggies only, the second became our baking surface (we got really good using aluminum trays to create a oven on the top without burning anything) and the third was for pretty much everything else. We also discovered that the waterfront staff was cooking on their own sheephearder during lunch, so we invited them as well. For lunch all week, we had at least 4 staff member eating with us and horsing around on the monkey bridge.

That 30'x20' tarp doesn't look so crazy now, does it?

How did this all pay off? Well, the waterfront staff was so appreciative, on their night out they went and got fresh ingredients for stuffed peppers, chicken Parmesan, and garlic bread, and cooked dinner for us on Thursday night! (Thursday is the kitchen staff's night off, so everyone has to cook in site.)
Our guys made chili, and we all shared the bounty together. The staff then had to go and do open boating, but then came back and roasted marshmallows with us over the open fire.

The staff loved it because most of them had either done it when they were in their Scout troop, or had never done it (i.e. the ladies) and our Scout liked hanging out with the staff when they weren't on duty (I told them when they are eating with us they are friends, not staff). We also got paid a great compliment that our Scouts were well behaved and weren't bugging the staff about merit badges or anything - I think the term used was they were "chill".

I actually should have said this before, but our Scouts earned the cooking merit badge this year, which will be required for Eagle next year. So, they left after breakfast and then returned for dinner - they had to cook lunch for the merit badge with their counselor. That meant that Mr. Foray and I were all alone all day (and thus bored) which is what started the staff coming over for lunch.

...and speaking of the cooking merit badge, I was very happy and proud when our Scouts pointed out to the counselor that he was using sheephearder wrong, and got him in trouble for it.

Then there was our site guide, Kevin. We've been going to Turrell for so long that we don't need a site guide to show us around, but they do get us certain equipment that we don't carry, but still need that are provided by the camp. The first is a sheephearder - so we can cook. The second is a fire bucket - in case something gets out of hand. The third - a patrol box to store our cooking utensils, pots and pans.

Our site guide failed us. I had to ask another staff member for sheephearders, I had to beg the director for a patrol box, and he gave us a fire bucket with a hole in the bottom.

Kevin worked in Handicraft, near our site, and the location of several of our Scouts' merit badges. On a daily basis, he was reminded that he had failed us, and things got a little crazy when our fun little rivalry became the talk of not only Handicraft, but also the whole camp. (Its weird when another Scout  stops you on the trail to tell you the counselor won't let your Scouts out of class.)

Kevin was talking trash, so we had to teach him a bit of a lesson- he coveted his hooded staff sweatshirt, and the more he talked trash, the more we had to have the sweatshirt as a trophy. Our latest Eagle Scout (and reigning Monkey Bridge King) visited us on Tuesday, and we told Kevin that he had to fight "the Greek" in order to redeem himself.

Despite the fact that he said we'd never get his sweatshirt, we got the sweatshirt.

We hung it in a place of honor 30' over our gateway. In the process of getting it down, he left his hat behind, and when he fought the Greek (and lost) he left behind his wallet, two pocket knives and a lighter.

At this point, it wasn't even fun anymore, it was just too easy. However, that didn't mean he wouldn't get everything back. I gave several other staff members his stuff and told them they could do whatever they wanted to make him get it back.

I wonder if the waterfront staff ever got that cake? :)

In spite of all this, Kevin wanted another shot at the title against Nick. Despite Nick's short time with us, we put some time aside for the rematch. It was a long match which ended in a draw. Why? Well...

I'm sad to say that we lost a crucial member of the troop this summer. Its with a heavy heart that I report the death of one of our come-a-longs. Donations can be made to Troop 101 care of the Come-A-Long Memorial Fund. :(

At the end of the week, Kevin got his stuff back, the boys earned merit badges, and we all had a great time.

There are more stories, some involving us all, some involving individual Scouts. I could tell you about a small war that started with a crush on the Handicraft Director, Daisy, between two Scouts who are friends and have been for several years. (It got pretty intense when it sounded like someone was getting shanked - on Monday night!)

If you want to hear more, ask the Scouts, or join and be a part of the stories!

Pictures can be found here.

2013 Troop 101 Family Picnic

Darth Vader BBQ illustration by Kim Herbst

My god, is it that time of year already?  It really is amazing how fast time flies when you are Scouting. May starts coming to and end, and so essentially does our Scouting year - which means it was time for the annual Troop 101 Family Picnic.

It was a great time had by all (as far as I know) with a major thanks to Mr. Emmetts our committee chairman who once again was the... Prince of the Propane...? (I was looking for some sort of whitty title, but there aren't any B noble titles.)

No wait; Maharaja of the Meats!  

Hmm...yeah. We'll go with that for now. *ahem* Let me try that again.

It was a great time had by all (as far as I know) with a major thanks to Mr. Emmetts our committee chairman who once again was the Maharaja of the Meats and worked the grille like a master. Mrs. Emmetts also gets a special thanks for assisting with the food prep and work. Thanks to all who helped set up.

Mass quantities were consumed and lots of volleyball was played, and all in all, a very nice evening.

Wish I had more, but since we are a family show at a dry church, there aren't very many whacky antics shenanigans going on. 

 

May 2013: Camp Yawpaw

I screwed up.

There. I said it, and admitted it to everyone out there on the interwebz.

Generally, I make a tentative schedule during the time that I am up at summer camp with my 1st assistant Scoutmaster, Mr. Foray. We sit there, pondering what we are going to do with the troop during the coming "normal" Scouting season.

While up at camp, I have limited access to the internet, and therefore, I pull dates out of a hat during the month while looking at a calendar, and figuring out when events are that we can't move, things that we can, and making sure to schedule a camping trip sometime during each month.

In my effort to fill out our schedule, I had a camping trip down for Mother's Day weekend.

Yep, Mother's Day weekend.

Now, I love my mother... most of the time. I did not intend to have a camping trip that weekend, but we had so many other things going on during the month of May that it was the only weekend that was open to have a camping trip. Dances, proms, Memorial Day weekend, birthdays, Mother's Day, family trips... the list goes on. On top of all that, what better way to celebrate than having your child out of the house and the weekend to yourself? (I think you'll understand this better when he is 30 and living in your basement.) Not to mention that many people go out for dinner, or brunch or something for Mother's Day.

I figured I could have them back early and no one would be the wiser.

I was 50% right.

Half my mom's had an issue; half didn't. My mother threw in her two cents but it didn't count - I was back with plenty of time to go to a not-so-great brunch (which is a whole other rant in itself) with the rest of the clan.

In an effort to appease everyone, we chose Camp Yawpaw since we would be really close to home; the plan being to skip breakfast and pack most of the gear the night before.

So, we got there Friday night, and immediately got lost. Usually, we stay in the cabins at YawPaw in February for our build up to the Klondike Derby. This time, we were on the other side of the camp, where (apparently) no one really stays anymore. The site had a lot of dead trees laying about, and it was apparent that no one had been there in a while. The same trees that had been blown down in Sandy were also the ones that had the markers for the different sites on them - which is how we got lost. Trudging through the night with a humidity north of Equator, we found a nice campsite - though no the campsite we were looking for. Which didn't really matter as there was no one else there... since it was Mother's Day weekend.

The guys were up bright and early, and practiced there knots and lashings making quite the variety of items. First was our usual dual tripod set up for cooking, a flag pole, then a trash bag holder, and finally a practice door for their gateway at summer camp this year. Most of which was done before lunch! (Yes, guys, there is a 6am as well...)

Despite a mild downpour and the echoes of thunder around the mountain, for the most part the weekend was quite pleasing in the weather department.

Two major milestones happened this weekend: 1) this was the first weekend where we had 3, count them 3 meals on Saturday and 2) Danny ate cheese and butter! (Why he doesn't like them, I'll never know).

Speaking of Danny, I have to give him a lot of credit. He woke up Saturday looking like he went 12 rounds with Mike Tyson - his eyes were red, his sinuses swollen, and his nose a' running. (He wiped it so much he wound up with 3 mild nosebleeds during the course of Saturday). Despite his new found seasonal allergy condition, he powered through the weekend and worked with CJ getting all the lashing projects done. He's a real trooper sometimes.

As Saturday night wound down, we packed up as much as we could, so that we could get an early start on Sunday morning. As the morning came, it was pretty much packing up personal gear and tents and checking out with the Ranger.

We managed to get back to the church by 8:45am.

I think this is a new record for us.

That being all said, I'd like to give an apology to our Scouting moms - I'm sorry for scheduling a camping trip on Mother's Day weekend... though in all honesty, I'll probably wind up doing it again next year. So, sorry for that as well.

We actually contemplated taking the moms with us next year - but realized we'd be better off taking all the dads, kids, uncles and grandfathers fishing.

Think of it as our mother's day gift to you. For an extra fee, we can even leave them out there...

______

Pictures to come soon... I hope.

April 2013: An Undisclosed Location

April's camping trip. What can I say about April's camping trip... actually I can't say a whole lot.

Why? Well, we got skunked again by a series of events that forced all of our Scouts to stay home. However, after polling all our adult leaders, it appeared as though everyone wanted to continue with the trip, without our Scouts.

Hmm...sounded ok to me.

So, instead of heading to our intended destination in the South New Jersey area, we opted for a more established site that required far less effort on our part in setting up shelter (a cabin). I won't tell you where the cabin is as it is a well guarded family secret, but I will tell you that it is in the state of PA, and it is much closer that the camp that we had intended to go to that was almost 2 full hours away.

So, off the adults headed with two Jack Russell Terriers in tow, and made our way Friday night to PA.

I can't go into details since this was an adults only trip and therefore it is classified, what I can tell you is that it was quite chilly for April (though no in the mountains, where is was actually about the normal temp for this time of year), and if you ever have an opportunity to hike through Bushkill Falls, I highly recommend it.

Bushkill Falls is located just over the Delaware River in PA and is about an hour's drive or so from the Wayne area. It is a series of natural water falls that cascade through a gorge which is part of the tributary system for the Delaware River Valley. Within the gorge are several walking trails and paths that combine with man-made bridges and walkways in the actual gorge that make for something out of the Lost Boys hideout in "Peter Pan". I would have liked to have seen actual lashings holding the whole thing together, but I guess the "10 Penny" type will have to do.

During the Spring right through to the Fall, the falls do get a little crowded as it is a touristy destination during the summer months, but if you head out there in the spring or fall, the crowds are lighter, but so is the temperature. In the gorge itself, since you are below ground and in the shade, combined with the watery mist, it can get quite cold. Be careful as you traverse the various stairways and walkways as the water and cool climate can create quite a slippery mess for the unprepared and careless.

When you complete one of the 5 trails throughout the gorge (or all of them) you can then wander through the Bushkill falls museum, nature center, gift shop, fudge maker... what have you. Like I said, its a bit touristy.

Pets are allowed through the trails as well, as long as they are on a leash, so the pups got to come along for the ride as well!

All in all a nice quiet weekend. Sometimes we adults need a break to not only recharge but also take the quiet time to discuss some troop matters and figure out the future of T 101.

Well, that and we eat a whole lot better. ;)