A Scout is Kind

Found this via Twitter and @Insanescouter...enjoy.



Have you been fortunate enough to know Bill Burch?  What a storyteller!

100 Days of Scouting: Day 16 to Day 20

100 Days of Scouting had a great day to wrap up the first 20 percent of the challenge.

Scouting blog aggregator HalfEagle.com has even opened a section just for 100 Days of Scouting!

We--you and I--are making a difference in Scouting.  Tell your Scouting friends--add fuel to the fire.

More days:

Day 16
Day 17
Day 18
Day 19
Day 20

There is power in many of us doing a little bit, every day.  Join the 100 Days of Scouting challenge!  What can you do for Scouting...today?

Venturing age and grade guidelines--update

More Centennial changes!

Scouting.org has posted the FAQs about the new age and grade guidelines for the Venturing program.  This adds a lot of information to the announcement.

It was great to see so many tweets yesterday passing the word around quickly that the change was coming!

So, get the FAQs and start your recruitment efforts.  60 days isn't far away (and it will happen before the 100 Days of Scouting runs out!).

Venturing gets younger--new age requirements

Quick news before the weekend:

Effective May 1, 2010, the minimum age/grade requirement will be changed to14 years of age or 13 years of age and completion of the eighth grade. 

So a slight change.  Or is it?  Will this impact your recruitment efforts for the spring?

I guess we'll see in 60 days how much demand there was for this.  Our crew may benefit by a girl or two (all female crew).

What do you think?  Help?  Hurt?  Harmless? 

Blue and Gold Cubmaster Minute

Our pack celebrated the Blue and Gold last night, keeping the same simple format we always use for B&G.

Introduction
Flag Ceremony
Awards
Potluck dinner

Last night, we invited the troop and the new venture crew to attend as well, since it was the Centennial of Scouting.  [We bribed them with food to do the clean-up afterwards.  Worked like a charm!]

The Cub Scouts are pretty focused since dinner is a huge collection of casseroles, fried chicken and pizza.  And cake.  Don't forget the cake.

I had a flash of inspiration to help set the tone for the evening--a real celebration of Scouting.

Our first pack meeting six years ago was in February (so Blue and Gold) for six boys.  Four of those Scouts are still with our troop, the other two having moved out of the area (brothers).

So I called those four up, and explained how a mighty oak grows from a simple acorn.

Then I called up the Tigers.  The Wolves were next, followed by Bears and then the Webelos Scouts.

After that, both patrols from the troop.

And finally, the new crew (all girls).

Those four original boys have turned into forty-five.

It was amazing to see.

I think it gave the Cub Scouts a real sense of being part of something bigger than themselves and being a part of something great.

Hopefully, someone got a picture.

Did you do anything special for your Blue and Gold?  Share in the comments or on Twitter!

Scouting magazine online

Scouting magazine is due to your mailbox shortly. I really like the new design, and make use of many of the browser links in it (from the advertisers, too!).  

You don't have to wait for it to arrive in the mail though, read it online.  The format is easy to read and a good experience.  I get a number of magazines that have online sites.  None of them give me the feeling of actually reading a magazine though, except Scouting.

[Disclosure:  I'm quoted on pages 20 and 21 regarding homeschooling, which I've discussed here and here before.]

Merit Badge Misteaks...Misstaks...Problems

A little fun from Scouting magazine--what is wrong with the merit badges on the left?  The ones on the right are the current* version.  So why were they changed?

Answer (scroll to the bottom).

*Beekeeping is not a current merit badge, this was the last version of it.

100 Days of Scouting: Day 11 to Day 15

100 Days of Scouting marches on.  600 Scouters can't be wrong--take a look and share your news.

Or even better, start your own 100 Days project--just remember to share the link with us in the comments so we can follow your adventure!

Imagine the power of 100 people doing the 100 Days of Scouting project--that would be 10,000 days of effort packed into just over 3 months.

Think of the possibilities!

More days:

Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14 (The really cool patch is here!)
Day 15

What is your Scouting legacy?  What will you leave behind?  Make today count!  Share your 100 Days in the comments or on twitter.

100 Days of Scouting: Day 6 to Day 10

100 Days of Scouting blog keeps rolling along--10% finished now!

More days:

Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10

Don't be bashful--stop over and share your love of Scouting!

100 Days of Scouting: Day 1 to Day 5

In case you don't read the 100 Days of Scouting blog regularly, here are the links to the first 5 days:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Stop by and take the challenge!

Weekend Patrol Box #29

I like the new 2010 Centennial rank awards.  Adding the date makes them special, and I think we'll look back on them with fondness in the future.

Watch for all of them in future editions of the Scoutsigns blog.

Snow has been in abundance.  We've had to cancel meetings this month, as well as a long anticipated backpacking trip on the C&O.  Disappointing, but man do we have a lot of snow!

On to the Patrol Box:

1. Is Scouting in Jeopardy?
2. 100 Days of Scouting--what are you going to do to build Scouting?  Seize the moment!
3. Academics and Sports--all of the new ones.  Do you own a set yet?  Yes, why yes I do.
4. 50th and 75th Anniversary strips and where to put on your uniform.  Will there be a 100th in the same style?
5. Skijoring--I'm not even sure how to pronounce it, but it looks like fun in the snow.  Did I mention the snow yet?
6. 33 items for your bug out bag--there is a lot of "be prepared" here (@frugaldad) 
7. Something to do in the snow, besides complain about it (@campingblogger) Americans can do this, too.
8. OK, some indoor fun (the movie could be a great troop activity)--The Lightning Thief opens Friday.
9. Art of Manliness blog commemorates the BSA 100th Anniversary. (Usual debate in the comments though.)
10. Did you order the Scout Sunday patches yet?  $1.99 at Scoutstuff.org.  Free shipping through 28 FEB, no minimum purchase.  Use promotion code FB41827.

TV, book, movie, and blog suggestions for indoors, and plenty of outdoor ideas, too!  Share your thoughts and comments below (or tweet away!).

100 Days of Scouting project

100 is a powerful number.

100 years of Scouting.  100% is everything.  100 degrees is hot weather, no matter where you are.  

On the 100th Anniversary of Scouting, I started a new blog:  100 Days of Scouting.

The purpose is to record the positive things I do for Scouting each day--big or small.  It also makes sure I focus on accomplishing something each day for Scouting.  Busy, tired, can't think of something?  Something must be done each day.

Just think of what could happen if you stuck to it for 100 straight days. Could you impact lives?  Absolutely.

The Challenge!

I want to challenge you to write down and share the positive things you do each day for Scouting on  your own blog, Twitter, or in the comments section of the 100 Days of Scouting blog.

Don't have a blog?  Free and easy to start one.

Don't have Twitter?  Free and easy to start an account.  (Don't forget to follow Scoutsigns!)

Plenty of room in the 100 Days of Scouting comments, too.

Hundreds of people have looked at the blog since Monday.  Comments have already been posted, emails have been sent to me, folks have followed the blog, it has been retweeted, and it has been posted to Facebook.

Join us!  Make a difference in a child's life...and in Scouting.