So you may have noticed that the site has been down for a long while with a message that I had a virus. It’s true. The day after my last post my site was attacked by a script from somewhere that went through all my wordpress files and edited them to add some virus code so that my site could attack others.
Coincidentally I was adding virus scanning software to my pc and it detected that my own web page was trying to do bad stuff. I ignored it at the time because it just seemed too weird for it to start happening as I was installing the software. After a couple of days, though, and trying to access the blog from other places I realized I really had been hacked.
I went through the files and found several hundred modified files (anything that had a .php or .js extension). I took the blog offline and started trying to edit them by hand, but that was going to take forever. So, I wrote a macro in Excel and had it run on all the files I had downloaded. It found strings of text I had identified as the virus code and deleted it.
Life being what it is I never had time to get back to loading the thousands of files that make up the blog until now. So, I’m back up. My anti-virus software didn’t ping me when I brought the blog back online so all looks well. I’m glad I don’t know who did this to me (or the auto script they initiated to do it to me). I’d probably go to jail for a felony if I did.
For those of you who ever want a looping program that you can copy into a VBA module behind Excel, Word, or other Microsoft Office products, feel free to grab the code below and use it. Tonight I’m going to see my daughter’s annual dance recital (or my viewing of it; they have several showings). So, I guess I’ll start posting again when I have some time to pull up some interesting reading. See ya!
Sub Main()
Dim arrDirList() As String
Dim arrFileLIst() As String
Dim varDir As Variant
Dim strDir As String
Dim varFile As Variant
Dim intFileNum As Integer
Dim strFileData As String
Dim lngLen As Long
Dim intFileCount As Integer
Dim arrToReplace(1 To 10) As String
Dim lngNextChar As Long
Dim lngDataOffset As Long
Dim varString As Variant
Call BuildDirList(arrDirList, “C:\Documents and Settings\Me\My Documents\websitefiles\”)
For Each varDir In arrDirList
strDir = varDir
intFileCount = ADir(arrFileLIst, strDir)
If intFileCount > 0 Then
For Each varFile In arrFileLIst
Debug.Print varFile
intFileNum = FreeFile
lngLen = FileLen(varDir & varFile)
Open varDir & varFile For Binary Access Read Write As intFileNum
For Each varString In arrToReplace
Do
lngDataOffset = InStr(1, strFileData, varString)
If lngDataOffset > 0 Then
strFileData = Replace(strFileData, varString, “”)
End If
Loop While lngDataOffset > 0
Next
Close intFileNum
Kill varDir & varFile
Open varDir & varFile For Binary Access Write As intFileNum
Put intFileNum, 1, strFileData
End If
Close intFileNum
Next
End If
Next
End Sub
Function BuildDirList(arrDirs() As String, strPath As String) As Integer
Dim intDirCount As Integer
Dim intLoop As Integer
Dim intNextDir As Integer
Dim intSubDirs As Integer
Dim intTempCount As Integer
Dim intTempLoop As Integer
Dim arrSubDirs() As String
If intDirCount > 0 Then
intNextDir = 1
Do
For intLoop = intNextDir To intDirCount
intSubDirs = ADirectoriesOnly(arrSubDirs, arrDirs(intLoop))
DoEvents
If intSubDirs > 0 Then
intTempCount = UBound(arrDirs)
ReDim Preserve arrDirs(1 To (UBound(arrDirs) + intSubDirs))
For intTempLoop = intTempCount + 1 To UBound(arrDirs)
arrDirs(intTempLoop) = arrSubDirs(intTempLoop – intTempCount)
DoEvents
Next
End If
Next
If intDirCount = UBound(arrDirs) Then
Exit Do
Else
intNextDir = intDirCount + 1
intDirCount = UBound(arrDirs)
End If
Loop While True
ReDim Preserve arrDirs(1 To UBound(arrDirs) + 1)
arrDirs(UBound(arrDirs)) = strPath
Else
If Len(Dir(strPath, vbDirectory)) > 0 Then
ReDim arrDirs(1 To 1)
arrDirs(UBound(arrDirs)) = strPath
Else
MsgBox “Not a valid directory to scan”
End If
End If
End Function
Function ADir(arrFiles As Variant, strPath As String, Optional varAttributes) As Integer
Dim intCount As Integer
Dim strFile As String
intCount = 0
Do
If intCount = 0 Then
If IsMissing(varAttributes) Then strFile = Dir(strPath) Else strFile = Dir(strPath, varAttributes)
Else
If IsMissing(varAttributes) Then strFile = Dir() Else strFile = Dir()
End If
If Len(Trim(strFile)) = 0 Then
Exit Do
End If
intCount = intCount + 1
ReDim Preserve arrFiles(1 To intCount)
arrFiles(intCount) = strFile
Loop While True
ADir = intCount
End Function
Function ADirectoriesOnly(arrDirectories As Variant, strPath As String) As Integer
Dim intCount As Integer
Dim intFiles As Integer
Dim strFile As String
Dim arrFiles() As String
Dim booFirst As Boolean
Dim booAdd As Boolean
intFiles = ADir(arrFiles, strPath)
intCount = 0
intMatches = 0
booFirst = True
Do
If booFirst Then
strFile = Dir(strPath, vbDirectory)
booFirst = False
Else
strFile = Dir()
End If
If Len(Trim(strFile)) = 0 Then
Exit Do
End If
If strFile <> “.” And strFile <> “..” Then
booAdd = False
If intFiles = 0 Then
booAdd = True
Else
If aFind(strFile, arrFiles) = 0 Then booAdd = True
End If
If booAdd Then
intCount = intCount + 1
ReDim Preserve arrDirectories(1 To intCount)
arrDirectories(intCount) = strPath & strFile & “\”
End If
End If
Loop While True
ADirectoriesOnly = intCount
End Function
Function aFind(strSearch As String, varFiles As Variant) As Integer
Dim intLoop As Integer
For intLoop = UBound(varFiles) To 1 Step -1
If varFiles(intLoop) = strSearch Then
Exit For
End If
Next
It has been slower going of late for the remaining proof 2010 Boy Scouts Commemorative Silver Dollar.
A sell out of the coin could happen at any time with only 5,039 left, but the pace edged slightly slower with buyers picking up 2,381 more compared to last week’s reported 3,437.
The uncirculated version sold out exactly one month ago today. Their numbers continue to be tweaked as returns, cancellations and standby orders are processed.
Weekly numbers were first adjusted downward by 1,375, then by 226 and now 191. Their latest total is 106,897, which leaves 238,082 of the proofs sold.
Combined, 344,961 or 98.6 percent of the authorized 350,000 mintage are gone.
If you’ve been hoping your name on the stand-by list would be picked, your chances are getting slimmer by the moment.
The problem I see is the empowerment pledge as it’s shown.
The pledge says, “I pledge to responsibly commit my time and talent to ensure that the nation is empowered to achieve the following goals by 2025:
Every American child is ready for college, work and life.
Every American has access to jobs with a living wage and good benefits.
Every American lives in safe, decent, affordable and energy efficient housing on fair terms.
Every American has access to quality and affordable health care solutions.”
The hot buttons are “living wage and good benefits”, “energy efficient house on fair terms”, and “affordable health care solutions”.
This is written as if it was an endorsement of the platform of one of the major political parties. This invites the assumption that the Girl Scouts of the USA is more in favor of one party over another. Personally, I don’t think it’s an obligation for an employer to offer benefits. It’s a good business decision, but this pledge makes it sound like benefits are an obligation or right. When did home energy efficiency become the responsibility of the public? If you pour your money out of the leaky cracks in your home that’s your bone-headed decision. How is it my responsibility to make sure you aren’t doing that? What are fair terms for housing? Aren’t terms negotiated between the landlord and tenant? Doesn’t that mean both sides will probably feel like something about the arrangement was unfair? Compromise is like that. Fair is very ambiguous and there will always be someone saying that a decision is unfair. Putting affordable health care solutions as a pledge just seems like begging for trouble with the heated health care debate going on.
In short, this pledge seems like it will lead to nothing but ulcers for young girls being asked to take it. The intention of making the world a better place is there, but where are the other side’s talking points? Where’s the pledge to enhance the personal freedom of each American? How about the drive to increase the net income for families? Freedom for religious expression? Deregulation of political speech?
This can be played from both sides and so far only sounds like one is endorsed. Even the points written could have been better expressed so they shy away from charges of political bias. *sigh* Oh, Girl Scouts. When will you ever learn?
That’s why I like specific skills and camping. Not a lot of politics there. When’s the next campout?
Who’s getting excited for the Indy 500 this weekend? I’ve never watched it all the way through, but I might give it a gander based on the Boy Scouts of America IndyCar entry this year. If you’ve been following Alex Lloyd’s representation of your favorite youth group’s entry you’ll have a different sight for this race. The Dale Coyne Racing team is putting out a gold and white paint job for this event. It’s the special 100th year anniversary exterior.
There’s a nifty website that is getting driver comments about the race. It’s called PaddockTalk.com. Here’s what Alex has been saying.
May 15th – ALEX LLOYD (No. 19 Boy Scouts of America): “We seem to be lucky. We got a good amount of running in around the showers. Our car feels pretty good. We were a little high on our downforce. A lot of people were going for qualifying trim and going for speed. There’s no need for us to rush at it. We just looked at the balance. The balance of our car is very good, so that’s pretty promising. We’ll see how it goes when we start taking downforce off and see where the speeds are.”
May 21 – ALEX LLOYD (No. 19 Boy Scouts of America): “We finally got to trim out a little. The weather held us back the last couple of days. The speed’s pretty good. It’s certainly where we thought we would be. We certainly have more on the table with regards to downforce. We’re still a little on the conservative side. We’re feeling pretty happy. We finally got to show the speed we felt we had in the car. We’ll try to increase that. There’s definitely a little bit left.”
May 23 – ALEX LLOYD (No. 19 Boy Scouts of America): “If we had been able to do that speed a little quicker, it would have been top 15. But the heat came up, track temp came up, and we just lost the balance (Saturday) completely, and we just couldn’t get a four-lap run of any substance. Today we were happy that we got a decent run in. The car was pretty loose, and I was hanging on out there. I was ready for the checkered flag to fall. The times were pretty good, and I think it’s good enough to get in, but you never know until 6 o’clock. I’m pretty happy with what we’ve done, and the Boy Scout guys have done a great job. We’ve rebounded from a pretty tough day.”
No worries. Alex qualified and will be in this Sunday’s race along with 32 others. Keep your eyes open for that flashing gold and white hopefully passing under the checkered flag first.
Well, this is going to continue to confuse things. ScoutingNews.org is reporting on a BSA press release that states that the Boy Scouts of America will be participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Award, which is cool and allows American Scouts to participate in a programme (to use our British cousins’ spelling) that is used all over the world. The confusing part is now a young lady involved in the Venturing program of the Boy Scouts of America and in the Girls Scout of the USA will be able to earn 9 different metal-themed awards. First I’ll quote the ScoutingNews.org-related announcement.
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program announced today a new collaboration to promote the Young Americans’ Challenge to youth members of the BSA. The award program aims to involve youth in challenging educational and nonacademic programs in community service, adventurous journeys, and physical recreation activities to achieve a balanced development of life skills.
BSA Chief Scout Executive Bob Mazzuca and His Royal Highness Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, officially launched the program nationwide during a special reception at the National Scouting Museum. During the event, the two discussed the complementary efforts of both organizations to strengthen communities, families, and young people.
…
Although the award will be available to all Scouts, the BSA will specifically promote it to members of its Venturing program. Venturing is a youth development program for young men and women between the ages of 14 and 21.
The Girl Scouts of the USA has 3 major awards for different age-ranges: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Most people involved with Girl Scouts understand that the Gold is the top award that can be earned and involves long-term planning and management of a project as well as earning of certain number of skill badges (interest projects). Sounds a lot like a certain Boy Scout rank, doesn’t it? Yes, there is a leadership component to the Gold award, too. The upshot is that a lady in Girl Scouts can earn a Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Because the award is related to the age group she is in she can earn the Gold without having earned the others and vice-versa.
The Venturing program also has a metal-based recognition program. It is not age-related like Girl Scouts. It is a progression. First you earn the Bronze award. Next, to be difficult, you earn the Gold award. The top award is the Silver. That makes sense if you’re used to how all the top recognition awards are silver-based (silver beaver, silver buffalo, etc.). Beginning at age 14 (or after graduating 8th grade) a lady can work on these awards and can theoretically earn all of them (and the cool thing about not over-burdening the kids is that some aspects can be used for both award recognitions).
Now the Duke of Edinburgh awardwill be available which also has Bronze, Silver, and Gold level. These may or may not be progressive. You have to be at least 14 to try for the Bronze. You have to be at least 15 to try for the silver. You have to be at least 16 to try for the Gold. If you earn the Bronze and then go for Silver you don’t have to do the requirements as long for Silver level. If you skip Bronze and go directly to Silver your time period is doubled. If you skip Silver your time period for Gold goes from 12 months to 18 months. So the DofE award is like Girl Scouts in that you don’t have to earn the previous one to get the next level, but is different in that you aren’t barred from doing a Bronze if you’re older. It’s also different in that you get an advantage for the next level if you completed the one before it.
So, if a young lady starts on her awards as a Junior, continues as a Cadette, bridges to Seniors where she works on the award there and also joins the Venturing program where she can work on those awards and decides to try for the Duke of Edinburgh awards, too, she can earn all 9 of them. Boys can only earn 6. I hope that make her feel better about not being able to get the Eagle rank.
About 100 kids were involved in shooting a Nick News special on Wednesday at Marshall Middle School, said school counselor Sally Nelson. Nelson coordinated the filming for students and staff.
…
Best friends Maddie Rayner and Alena Buczynski organized an anti-bullying week at their school last month as a way to earn their Silver Award for the Girl Scouts. The week focused on Massachusetts bullying victim Phoebe Prince, who killed herself after weeks of being targeted at her school.
…
There is no planned premier date for the special yet, Poulos said, but it should appear on the channel this fall.
It’s not often that your award project gets the notice of a national media focused on just your peer group. I’m glad they’ll be able to remember this as a great moment in their lives and how they positively affected the lives of others.
The Girl Scouts Blog has a story on a lady who just turned 110 and claims the title of oldest living Girl Scout. Since she’s described as being a firecracker there’s no way I’m going to disagree. She sounds like she’s earned the title.
Thanks to Diana Rocco at MyFoxBoston.com for this cool story.
For decades, experts have argued that self-esteem is a fragile plant that can only be cultivated through an abundance of praise and an absence of criticism. Scientific proof was scarce, however, so a team of researchers at Columbia University devised an experiment. Led by psychologist Carol Dweck, the researchers gave 400 fifth-graders a series of IQ tests.
The first test was simple, and all the students did well. Afterward, half the students received person praise (“You must be smart at this.”), while half received process praise (“You must have worked really hard.”).
Those simple words made a world of difference in subsequent rounds. When students got to pick between easy and hard tests, most of the person-praise group picked an easy test, but 90 percent of the process-praise group picked a hard one. Moreover, the process-praise group enjoyed the harder tests, while the person-praise group worried that failure would make them look less smart.
Click over to check it out. The pack’s pinewood derby hangs in the balance!
I had no idea. My daughter is a founder, too. In fact, we’re foundering all over the place say my sailing buddies. According to Scouting magazine when you start a new unit and you recharter after your first year you can put a founder strip on your uniform. What a neat recognition of being at the beginning of something! Now that my Venture Crew has its first full year under our belt and we’re still active we can take advantage of this coolness.
But what is the answer to the all-important question: Where does it go?
The Founder’s Bar, shown above, is worn by all youth and adults whose names are on a new-unit charter or who officially join the new unit before the unit recharters for the first time. Members of veteran units still in operation who were on the original charter may also wear the Founder’s Bar with that unit’s numerals.
You don’t wear the bar until your original charter is up. After you recharter for the first time, all youth and adults who were on the new-unit charter can sew the Founder’s Bar on the left sleeve below the unit numerals.
As it happens the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles are moving their San Fernando Valley (North Region) office about a block away from where I work. They are moving to an area known as “The Warner Center”. Not the fancy, schmancy high-rise part, but still in the swanky part of town. This area is arguably the cream of the crop when it comes to office space in the valley. Considering the fact that when our valley was mounting a secession fight from the city of Los Angeles we were told we would become the 6th largest city in the nation I would say that being the swanky part of that town is not too shabby.
This would kind of fit with the discussion I had a year and a half ago with the fundraising chair for the newly merged GSGLA. They’re going after the big fish. Being able to project your image as contemporary and able to handle that sort of attention is just where this new office fits in. Black glass walls, brand-new interior, upscale part of town all say that this council knows how to handle its money. I’ll miss the old building that looks like a converted warehouse, but maybe they’ll actually use it as a warehouse for cookie season. I guess not since I saw the big For Lease sign on the front.
The GSGLA is moving at the end of next month. It will be convenient to pop by after work or during lunch to grab supplies. So, without further ado: your peek at the future of the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles.
Here’s a very cool photo of one of our Girl Scouts in the Low Desert selling cookies to Liv and Steven Tyler. Nice job Tiana!
Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio helps build girls of courage, character and confidence who make the world a better place. To learn how you can get involved with Girl Scouts, contact us at 1-800-400-GIRL (4475) or visit us online at www.gssgc.org.
Thanks to Juno for bringing this story to me. Cool beans!
When Lieutenant-Colonel Otha Thornton closed the planning spreadsheet in Baghdad, he hoped it would help the children of the conflicted city. Over the last six years he and hundreds of other volunteers from coalition forces have been working to build a special kind of infrastructure for the future of Iraq. Thousands of hours have been spent customizing a Scouting program for the boys and girls of Iraq. The spreadsheet he had worked on was a detailed plan for the next twelve months for every kind of activity for boys and girl in categorized age ranges and had dozens of different events for them.
LTC Thornton is an Eagle Scout and has taken the Eagle Charge seriously.
“The final responsibility of an Eagle Scout is service. The Eagle Scout extends a helping hand to those who still toil up Scouting’s trail, just as others helped him in his climb to the Eagle. The performance of the daily Good Turn takes on a new meaning when he enters a more adult life continuing service to others. The Eagle stands as protector of the weak and helpless. He aids and comforts the unfortunate and the oppressed. He upholds the rights of others while defending his own. He will always ‘Be Prepared’ to put forth his best”.
His best is our country’s best and is the standard of excellence that has been represented by all those in Iraq rescuing the Scouting program from its lost way. In 2004, Green Zone service personnel tried to give Iraqi children a refuge from people who wanted to turn children into soldiers. That refuge was Scouting. The idea spread to Camp Victory and was waiting when LTC Thornton arrived on 23 May, 2009. It didn’t take long for him to find a notice asking for volunteers and he became a regular at the Tuesday planning meetings along with 20 to 30 others.
I became aware of Lieutenant-Colonel Thornton from the army’s program that recognizes excellent service, called Operation Tribute to Freedom. An article featured the LTC and described the excellent work he was doing in Iraq. He felt compelled during his interview to interject a few words about the Scouting movement in Iraq. I was allowed the opportunity to interview him when he rotated back to the United States and he affirmed the words in the article stating that rebuilding Scouting in Iraq is one of the most important things he did while there.
“It’s important that the children see the other side of the soldiers,” he said, “so they’re not scared”.
In fact, if you go to the web site for the Victory Base Council you can see many pictures of children interacting with the soldiers and wearing huge smiles. Smiles are universal, but language isn’t so LTC Thornton said they rely on four to ten linguists to communicate with the kids. He impressed me with the information that one of the linguists working with the Scouts was an Iraqi national who has since achieved American citizenship and continues to work with the boys and girls to advance the Scouting program.
Lieutenant-Colonel Thornton’s world-wide travels – he has visited 22 countries and experienced their variety of cultures – allowed him to accept the differences he found in Baghdad, but he noted similarities in their Scouting program, too.
“Religion is a big part of the culture and meetings open with a prayer”. He also discussed how leadership development is a basic part of the skills passed on to the Iraqi children. The relationship between patriotic citizens and their government is another similar aspect of the program.
LTC Thornton described the close relationship between the coalition personnel and the Scouting program. The Iraqi Special Operations forces help to develop the activities and supplies for the kids and Scouting. They’ve supplied several containers for storage, space for meetings and the Ministry of Education has appointed a general to help promote the program in Iraq. It’s an incredible reversal for the children. Where they had previously been indoctrinated to fight for their dictator they currently are assisted by the military to develop into productive, well-balanced citizens through fun, safe activities.
These activities are for both boys and girls. I was a little hesitant to ask about this aspect of the program because I was afraid it might reveal a gender bias in the program, but the Lieutenant-Colonel said that there are activities that they both engage in and love. They all appreciate the arts and crafts, camp-outs and community service projects like painting over graffiti, but they spar in intellectual enterprises, too.
“Chess is very popular with them”, he said. Looking at the LTC’s calendar Tae Kwon Do exercises must be popular, too.
The entire program is very popular with fifty to one hundred kids who show up to the Saturday troop meetings. It’s no wonder the army would want to highlight an individual like Lieutenant-Colonel Thornton. The impact on the future of these children cannot be overstated. They are taught to love their country, both in the nature-oriented and patriotic ways; they see the soldiers in their government as partners in their upbringing, not authoritarian military to be feared; and they are learning to be the good leaders of the other young citizens who may not have the ability to participate in the Scouting program. He has already affected the life of one very important individual, his son holds the rank of Life Scout, and now he has helped to design a program that will affect the lives of scores of Iraqis on a weekly basis.
Lieutenant-Colonel Thornton is back in the United States now, but doesn’t intend to forget about the kids in Iraq. He said there is work that still needs to be done.
“One of the next things is to get uniforms for them over there”, he said. Another opportunity is to get the parents of the kids more engaged in the program. No one has any experience in this new brand of Scouting and trying to get the dads and moms actively involved while the entire country tries to completely rebuild itself is as difficult as it sounds. Although Scouters in the U.S. can’t substitute for parents in Iraq they have been lending a hand by sending supplies to the Scouts there. Perhaps there are a few who want to help get uniforms together for the kids and their leaders. It would not surprise me if a project like that was to find support from units all over America.
Lieutenant-Colonel Otha Thornton is getting ready for his retirement from the military and returning home to Georgia. From there he should be allowed a good measure of pride for being one of the hundreds of military men and women who have acted as the Daniel Beards, Lord Baden-Powells, and Ernest Thompson Setons for the Iraqi Scouting movement. As it spreads, the future political, business, and community leaders will count their time in Scouting to be formative in their fortunes. The legacy of the hard work done by personnel like Otha Thornton will become realized in the peace and prosperity of Iraq’s future.
PostScript: Personnel in the Baghdad area who wish to become involved in the Scouting movement at Camp Victory can learn more at their website at this link: http://www.victorybasecouncil.org/node/9
I’ve neglected to mention a couple of things I was doing the last month or so and wanted to correct that. Firstly, I attended the Cuboree for my Cub Scout pack last month. I’ve been through the entire program with my older son who started as a Tiger, achieved Eagle Rank, and is now an Assistant Scoutmaster and a Venturer. With my youngest son I’m going back through the program and with a baker’s dozen of years under my larger-than-it-used-to-be belt I have a different perspective on these activities. I have to admit I’m not as energized as I was in my 20’s and 30’s now that I’m in my 40’s. I know how to pack smaller, cook better, and allow others to take on jobs that I was eager to do before. Of course, trying to be active in Scouting with 3 kids is different from when I was doing it with only 1 and that’s a huge difference.
So, my son and I showed up on Saturday morning, instead of Friday night, for Cuboree to discover that the Cub parents had pitched enormous tents on a plot size that the district had obviously designed for smaller tents. There was almost no space for my son and I. Fortunately, I’d packed small and we were able to squeeze in between two other tents. We just threw our stuff on the ground and headed off for the day’s festivities. Our district combines Camporee and Cuboree so we walked over to the other side of the park and toured Boy Scout units with the pack. These guys had some serious pioneering skills. Their gateways looked like they were good enough for the national Jamboree. It was very cool. Clearly, this is the district’s idea for enticing Webelos Scouts to pick a troop to bridge to. It’s a good one.
We then did the activities including sack races, target shooting with nerf guns, a South American bolo game, knot tying, and many others. Parents swapped into and out of running our pack’s event and there was also scavenger hunt (too much parent involvement, but they were having a great time). One thing I need to try to get rolling as a pack policy is to bring washable dishes on the camp-outs. It’s hard to live the leave no trace lifestyle when generating bags full of disposable dishes. Besides, my son kept begging me to do dishes (I was in charge of dishes because I wanted to make sure they got clean) until I relented on the last meal and let him do the whole batch.
The campfire was fun, probably. I fell asleep in my chair. I was bushed. I’ve never done that before and it came as a complete shock when I woke up with people picking up around me. I was prepared for a freezing night because of what people were saying about the previous night’s temperature, but my son and I were toasty and slept straight through without a problem. Our pack didn’t win any high placing overall awards, but we did come in 2nd for the scavenger hunt and we picked up some ribbons here and there on a few events. Because we’d backed light my son and I were able to pack everything up quickly and help others get there tents folded and equipment stowed back in the minivans. I had forgotten how many new Cub parents have no idea how to fold a tent and it was fulfilling to help them.
The following weekend was the Gathering of All Mariners with the Girl Scouts. This is like Camporee, but with water events. Canoing, rowing, kayaking, rigging, sea chanties, identifying boat terms, and much else was all built in. This is a senior Girl Scout troop I was with so they had the whole scenario down to a science. Adults cook for the girls (which is something they’re dying to do anyway so there’s no problem) and the girls spend every moment running from event to event and studying for the next one and preparing for campfire.
This was my first GAM so I was a “Swabbie”. This meant I was free to help on all the chores and be a gopher for everyone. My daughter and a few other girls were also swabbies, but they weren’t burdened too much because they had to participate in their events. I got overconfident and ended up scorching my legs because I put sunblock everywhere else. We had brand new tents and brand new canopies. I got to bunk with another dad who is probably the sweetest person you’d ever meet. I ran around and snapped lots of pictures and even got to witness the drama of a baby rattlesnake that someone had removed from camp that crawled back in. Just like at Tambu last November the girls roamed in packs doing chants all the time saying how great they were, how great the other girls were, how proud they were of everyone, et cetera. It’s very different from Boy Scouts.
The next day we went to a local college where the swimming events were held and our girls won first place in the relay races. Although we only placed 8th out of all the troops for overall scoring for GAM the girls did a great job. Our troop leader and her family were honored by the service unit (district) for their participation in Girl Scouts and other charitable activities with the Girl Scouts Family Award. Another family I’m very close to also received this honor.
I decided to stop the show and when I went down to collect my pin for participation as a swabbie I yelled out my own chant and brought the house down. It was fun and the other dads laughed at me for my temerity. It was exhausting and sunburny, but very fun and a great time to watch my daughter mature. I got to bond with other dads, learn something new, and camp which is always cool. Plus I got to take some of the extra food home and ate barbecued chicken for the rest of the week.
Camporee, Cuboree, and GAM all in one month. Who could want anything more? My wife, apparently, who called a moratorium on camping for the next few weeks. Hee, hee. See you at the Grunion Run!
Scoutmaster Musings is reporting that the World Jamboree in 2019 will be held in West Virginia according to Tico Perez, the national commissioner of the Boy Scouts of America.
In 2019, the 24th World Scout Jamboree will be held at The Summit in West Virginia – BSA’s new high adventure base. This was announced by Tico Perez recently, not just that it was being worked on, but that it would happen. Of course, things can change.
Since 2019 is nine years away current Bear, Wolf, and Tiger Cubs are the most probable participants. It’s not too early to have a Scoutmaster talk about this global event at one of your year-end Pack meetings and have scouts start saving their nickels and quarters. It’s a great far-distant goal that will creep closer while keeping young scouts motivated to progress. A tiger den that makes a pact to attend the World Jambo together nine years from now – wouldn’t that be cool?
It most certainly would! My youngest son is a Wolf right now. The economy has slaughtered my funds this past year, but we’re talking about the far future when everything will be bright, sunny, and happy. I’m starting the penny fund now.
This was a cute skit I saw when I was browsing my cable station’s on demand service and watched an episode of Saturday Night Live from a couple of weeks ago. Asking the age-old question, “Why do Girl Scouts sell cookies only once per year?”. (as a side-note different councils around the country sell cookies at different times of the year so the opening statement by Seth Myers that this is the time of year for Girl Scout cookies is probably not true if you don’t live next door to him)
I have heard about many Eagle projects related to places of worship, but they are always Christian churches. Here’s a nice story about Brian Slatky out in New York who has honored his Jewish heritage while performing a service for his synagogue: a place of beauty and contemplation. Here are the details and pictures as written up by his mom. Keep an eye out for his impressive accomplishments in the religious program associated with Scouting.
On February 2nd, 1994, parents Lee and Cheryl and siblings Jeremy and Melissa welcomed Brian Elliott Slatky to the family. Brian was born over six weeks premature but weighed over eight pounds.
Brian began his Scouting career as a Tiger Scout in West Babylon Cub Scout Pack 175. He continued through the Wolf, Bear, and Webelos ranks and earned his Arrow of Light as a 5th grader in 2005. He immediately bridged into Boy Scout Troop 175, in which he has grown since his late childhood into the grown man he is today. During his years in Troop 175, Brian has held the positions of Assistant Patrol Leader, Patrol Leader, Librarian, Chaplin Aide, and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, and has achieved the ranks of Scout, Tenderfoot, 2nd Class, 1st Class, Star, Life, and, ultimately, Eagle.
Brian has been an active member in his synagogue for many years. During the period of illness leading to the passing of Rabbi Merin, Brian was frequently called upon to lead services for the Sabbath, and still helps lead the High Holiday services each year. In abidance with the Scout Law, Brian has shown reverence by earning the Maccabee, Aleph, and Ner Tamid emblems, and is currently working on earning the Etz Chaim, the final emblem for Jewish youths in Boy Scouts.
A driving force in Brian’s growth as a young man is his love of art. Brian is a passionate art student, and attends lessons after school each week, not only for enjoyment, but to learn necessary skills to enable him to reach his lifelong ambition of becoming a professional animator. Brian frequently attends East Neck Nursing Home with his art teacher to enliven the residents’ spirits with his upbeat personality and knowledge about art.
Brian developed the plans and supervised the construction of a Holocaust Memorial Garden on the property of his synagogue, Congregation Beth Sholom, at 441 Deer Park Avenue in Babylon. The Garden is shaped in a Star of David, with two benches inside the Star and a boulder with a commemorative plaque engraved with the word “Zikor,” meaning “Remember”. A large section of the property which is easily visible from Deer Park Avenue and was once unattractive has been beautified and become a wonderful place for reflection and meditation for all people.
Although he still has plenty of high school ahead of him, Brian plans to attend college when he graduates from West Babylon Senior High School to study art. Until then, Brian will remain an active member in Boy Scout Troop 175, and hopes to someday take a leadership position in a Boy Scout Troop.
They must mean adult leadership position. It’s clear Brian has already shown leadership as a youth. Here are the pictures provided.
Girl Scout Leaders… Take the Day Off! Go to the Spa. Kick back with a frosty mug of root beer (and a dollop of ice cream). Take a nap in the hammock. It’s Leader’s Day! If you’re not the leader or volunteer for your Girl Scouts troop, give a shout out of thanks to the mom (most likely) who is running your troop. Girl Scouts would like to encourage you to spend some cash on them at the Girl Scout store. Some of the knick knacks they sell are shown here. Click on the image and it will take you to the store where you can see other nifty stuff to show your appreciation.
Went to our District Camporee this weekend with my Venture Crew. We combined with some other units to form Crew 1 so we could provide support for volunteers. We served breakfast to the hundreds of scouts and scouters (I think the count was in the 600’s), served lunch to them, tallied all the score sheets (a team of 3 with an adult), delivered supplies to the various events (mainly scoring related), and then checked everyone out of their camp sites on Sunday morning staying late enough to dump all the trash in the dumpsters and make sure everything was spic and span.
We also wanted to compete against other Venture crews, but they didn’t show up and we had absorbed the small groups except for the Josepho crew who were monitoring radios and manning the first aid station. So we competed against ourselves and not surprisingly took first place in every single event. As a personal point of pride, my 15 year old daughter had the fastest time on the rock wall out of any Scout at the event. It wasn’t even fair. She’s been taking dance lessons since she was 3 and could probably out-kick Chuck Norris and only weighs as much as one of his biceps.
This was the ultimate event out at the Tejon Ranch near Lebec, California, capping all of the camporees that had come prior. Funny enough, the organizers didn’t really have any expectations for us when we arrived, but we made a big impression while there, especially my Assistant Advisor who really pulled it all together. We starved a little bit as the guys didn’t double-check the patrol box we borrowed from our fraternal troop and so we had no frying pans or pots. I think they’ll remember to check next time.
It was a great time and I even got to be in a skit with our rangemaster and got to shoot off a couple of blank rounds. I got to kill one of the main organizers of the camporee. He died well. He’s the guy on the scaffold in the picture. Next weekend is Cuboree and the weekend after that is Gathering of All Mariners (GAM). My wife is starting to miss me a little bit, but she’d rather do that than haul out the camp mattress for Cuboree.
I get behind. That’s the only excuse for not posting about the Union Pacific commemorative locomotive. Then I started reading other stuff (I’m still behind. I’ve got 1,200 e-mails to go through at last count). Then I saw Doug’s post over at A Scouter’s Journey and how he had entered a photo into the BSA photo contest which I incorrectly thought was a picture of the locomotive (actually his picture is of a Cub Scout in front of the Vietnam Memorial Wall and looks really good). But my error gives me an excuse to post the informaton from the press release about the train.
Union Pacific Railroad today unveiled the UP No. 2010 Boy Scouts of America Locomotive, created as a tribute to the organization’s centennial celebration. The UP No. 2010 honors Scouting’s 100-year impact on the nation and the many Scouting enthusiasts in Union Pacific’s work force and communities.
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A very rare honor, Union Pacific has created only 14 commemorative locomotives in its nearly 150-year history. The Boy Scouts-themed locomotive is decorated with a series of four distinct graphics:
The national Boy Scouts of America logo;
The BSA’s 100th Anniversary logo;
The words “100 Years of Scouting,” and,
Ten emblems representing stages of Scouting and an 11th emblem for the 2010 National Scout Jamboree
