Weekend Patrol Box #22

This has been a busy week.  Scouting on top of end-of-month processing at work, punctuated with a pack performance on Wednesday night.

Family Camp at Camp Rock Enon started the week--cool weather, and plenty of rain.  The rain forced the event's campfire indoors, but we still had fun while drying out.

But honestly, I wasn't prepared enough for the rain.  Our family tent needs to be replaced.  We need a few more disposable ponchos.  Glow sticks--I always forget the glow sticks!

Take a few minutes to enjoy the weekend with this patrol box:

1. Merit Badge of the Week:  Bugling I never hear enough buglers at Scouting events.  And recordings just aren't the same.
2. Nothing But Nets initiative with BSA.  Video, BSA-Nothing But Nets tool kit to download--19 powerful pages of program for your units to take on. Do you currently have a service project that actually saves lives?  This is your chance--it is that big.
3. Bat Conservation Times latest newsletter--important, and still creepy.
4. Pamlico Sea Base--how is this in my backyard and I've never heard about it? Video Prices seem reasonable, too.
5. Year of Celebration patch, requirements for Cubs, Boy Scouts, Venturers, Scouters and Alumni
6. Summary of options available for Scouting Resources for the disabled.  Have you used these?  
7. Make Leaf Prints:  perfect for this time of the year, courtesy of NWF's Green Hour.
8. Boy Scout fabric?  Yep, my sons are getting curtains soon!
9. United Methodist Men offer a new volunteer position:  Scouting Ministry Specialist (via @UMM_Scouter)
10. Does your camp offer something like Haunted Woods at Camp Rock Enon?  Stop by if you are in the area...

If your council has a Haunted Woods program, leave a comment below and share the details!  

Wired Scouts and Wireless Scouting

This has been an interesting year so far, and not at all what I imagined.  

I've been working on a number of projects, and learning how to work in a few new tools, like Facebook and Twitter.  Our council's camping committee asked me to put together a web presence for Camp Rock Enon in the little blip of Gore, VA.

So, how does this benefit you, the Scout and the Scouter alike?

First, these tools are being used regularly by our Scouts.  They "get it" without the long explanations.  They don't require the convincing that these tools are worthwhile, important or relevant.  I've yet to meet a 40-50-60 year old Scouter that just "gets it".

It is a perspective thing--often our Scouts have had the Internet in their homes their entire lives.  These tools are as pervasive to their existence as we see television and radio.  Yeah, that wasn't fun to realize.  We all like the story about the Scoutmaster who had to explain rotary dial phones to his Scout so he could call home.

Some of these tools will come and go.  In the past 15 years, we've seen the near death of fax machines, replaced by scanners and email.  

There is a place for it.  Like pitching a tent, starting a fire and reading the weather, technology is an important skill.  Maybe we don't need a "Web 2.0" merit badge, but our troop historian may need to be a bit more savvy.

But the important thing is to embrace them so that we can understand our Scouts' lives.  A "wired" Scout ("wireless"?) out camping is a different creature than one who a few years ago couldn't make a phone call from his front yard.

Second, the Internet can help you generate interest in your local council's units, activities and camps.  Big or small, there is a great opportunity to share what makes Scouting special with other members of the Scouting community and the broader world.

My efforts so far have been small and careful.  But I'm getting feedback from our local Scouters, and even from outside our area.  They are getting the word (tweet) and seeing programs (blog) and learning that we have something going on.

Our summer camp is almost completely booked solid, in a down economy.  

I've seen an email from someone who "discovered" us and is looking at 2010 events now.  Another person reached out to see if Camp Rock Enon could be a stopping point before the next Jamboree.

The future of Scouting is now.

How do you embrace technology?  or your council?  What do your Scouts use?  Have you asked them?  Comment away below.

The Rock is online!

Camp Rock Enon has joined the Internet.

Read the blog.

Tweet at Twitter.

...and more to come!