more scouting frustration - Page 2 - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

MikeWaters · 12-10-2006, 01:54 AM

We hiked in 5 miles....to make a long story short, I brought all the food for the survival campout, Farrah packed it for me, and we discovered that the main course was missing.

So that was kind of a bummer, but we survived. Whole ears of corn in foil placed on coals was a big hit. We also cooked potatoes, and an apple dessert. Cored apple with sugar and cinnamon placed in the middle. Was like apple pie without the crust.

It's been a long time since I have camped in cold weather. Not since I was in teacher's quorum. I put long longjohns, got in my summer bag which I was using as a liner in my down bag. That was probably overkill, as I started sweating. But as the night wore on, man did my face get cold. Eventually I mummified my bag so that only mouth and nose were exposed. I found that it's not particularly comfortable to be confined in one position. I am someone that moves a lot when I sleep.

I'll post pictures of our various shelters (no tents on the survival campout). This is survival-camping-lite. We can bring tarps. But given that when I started it was a big deal for the boys to bring and cook their own foil dinners, I think we have made some progress. They can actually cook bacon and eggs, even if at first the claim it is impossible. "What do I cook it in?" "How about that pan you brought."

Sometimes being scoutmaster does not make confident for the future of the church. Or world.

We have a 12 year old who loves to act like a bump on a log. He is one of the laziest guys I have ever seen. And selfish. (example: one campout everyone was asked to bring something, I asked his mother to have him bring some drinks. at the end of the campout I notice that he has many drinks, all of which he drank himself.) This same kid, knowing that we would do some hiking, did not even bring a school backpack. Why not? "Because it has my schoolbooks in it." He had never brought any water on a campout. For about three weeks, I reminded him to bring water. Of course he didn't. He slapped his forehead, "I knew I forgot something." On another campout, I arrived at teh church parking lot and he picks up his stuff from on the ground to put in my truck. His father is in their minivan, and says "Why is your sleeping bag wet?" "I guess because I set it down in that puddle." And to top it off he's a smart-aleck. We had a ward youth bonfire, where everyone said what they were grateful for. As luck would have it, he was the last one in the circle, and he gave some extended smart-aleck response. Nice cap stone to the evening.

I hope parents realize that it is not my responsbility to shape these kids' character. I can't move mountains.

I take my victories where I can. And the definition of victory keeps getting watered down.

MikeWaters · 12-10-2006, 02:26 AM

Here are the "shelters" we constructed.

Mine. You will note that it is not very high off the ground. My face was just a few inches from the tarp.

Asst. Scoutmasters. His was most tent-like and I think he did a good job. He had the best location. Only drawback was that it was very short. I think he had to sleep in the fetal position.

3 boy scouts'. They rolled these telephone poles together and laid a tarp over themselves. This shot was taken in the morning as they were still sleeping. Not surprisingly there was a little bit of frozen condensation under the tarp. These guys, again, not surprisingly, chose not to actively participate in our Scout night activity on how to set up a tarp. But I credit them with coming up with their own plan. I think they were satisfied.

cougjunkie · 12-10-2006, 02:31 AM

We just had a meeting last sunday and we are combining all of the scouts in our ward and two others. Except we have 12 deacons in our ward and the ward we just split from has 14, so i guess this will be pretty big in the younger age groups.

However we only have 1 priest and 1 teacher.

We lay everything out this sunday, the good thing is i may get released from my calling, since i cant imagine they need 9 committee members.

MikeWaters · 12-10-2006, 02:34 AM

Here's another good one from that twelve year old. To a 16 year old scout, "I can't help clean because I just put a chemical warmer in my gloves." About two minutes later, the 16 year old noted, "I see that you were able to take your gloves off to eat the food I cooked."

The dynamics are interesting. I know that in my home ward, I would have gotten my trash kicked by the older boys in a similar situation. I guess I have to credit my older boys with patience.

MikeWaters · 12-10-2006, 02:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cougjunkie

We just had a meeting last sunday and we are combining all of the scouts in our ward and two others. Except we have 12 deacons in our ward and the ward we just split from has 14, so i guess this will be pretty big in the younger age groups.

However we only have 1 priest and 1 teacher.

We lay everything out this sunday, the good thing is i may get released from my calling, since i cant imagine they need 9 committee members.

You're in Utah, right? I may have mentioned that similar talk is going on in our stake. 3 wards that meet in 1 building have combined scouting programs. My YM's president is against doing so, because he had a bad experience in the past. When he was Bishop he felt his kids were being left out (the kids felt superfluous because the other ward's scoutmaster wasn't involving his kids). So what we are looking to do now is to have combined activities, but stop short of forming just one troop.

Is it really possible to run a scouting program with 7 boys? 3 of whom may be on a campout? It's tough. WIthout numbers you can't even play 2 on 2 football, much less capture the flag.

FMCoug · 12-10-2006, 02:54 AM

Where did you go? Cold last night.

MikeWaters · 12-10-2006, 02:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FMCoug

Where did you go? Cold last night.

near Terrell.

FMCoug · 12-10-2006, 03:08 AM

Right in my back yard. I wondered who that was out there.

il Padrino Ute · 12-10-2006, 04:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FMCoug

Right in my back yard. I wondered who that was out there.

Jeez - just how big is your lot, you obnoxious braggart?

Eddie R. · 12-14-2006, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Is it really possible to run a scouting program with 7 boys? 3 of whom may be on a campout? It's tough. WIthout numbers you can't even play 2 on 2 football, much less capture the flag.

I'm in Utah. We have 2 deacons, 3-4 teachers, and another 3-4 priests. This includes active and inactive kids. Our campout in November had 2 boys attend - along with the 3 leaders that went.

A bigger group would be nice. Tough to do many of the things you say (football, etc.) and it is pretty common to only have 3-4 kids to campouts.

Lots of challenges.

12-10-2006, 02:31 AM	#13
cougjunkie Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Utah Posts: 5,741	We just had a meeting last sunday and we are combining all of the scouts in our ward and two others. Except we have 12 deacons in our ward and the ward we just split from has 14, so i guess this will be pretty big in the younger age groups. However we only have 1 priest and 1 teacher. We lay everything out this sunday, the good thing is i may get released from my calling, since i cant imagine they need 9 committee members. __________________ LINCECUM!

12-10-2006, 01:54 AM	#11
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	We hiked in 5 miles....to make a long story short, I brought all the food for the survival campout, Farrah packed it for me, and we discovered that the main course was missing. So that was kind of a bummer, but we survived. Whole ears of corn in foil placed on coals was a big hit. We also cooked potatoes, and an apple dessert. Cored apple with sugar and cinnamon placed in the middle. Was like apple pie without the crust. It's been a long time since I have camped in cold weather. Not since I was in teacher's quorum. I put long longjohns, got in my summer bag which I was using as a liner in my down bag. That was probably overkill, as I started sweating. But as the night wore on, man did my face get cold. Eventually I mummified my bag so that only mouth and nose were exposed. I found that it's not particularly comfortable to be confined in one position. I am someone that moves a lot when I sleep. I'll post pictures of our various shelters (no tents on the survival campout). This is survival-camping-lite. We can bring tarps. But given that when I started it was a big deal for the boys to bring and cook their own foil dinners, I think we have made some progress. They can actually cook bacon and eggs, even if at first the claim it is impossible. "What do I cook it in?" "How about that pan you brought." Sometimes being scoutmaster does not make confident for the future of the church. Or world. We have a 12 year old who loves to act like a bump on a log. He is one of the laziest guys I have ever seen. And selfish. (example: one campout everyone was asked to bring something, I asked his mother to have him bring some drinks. at the end of the campout I notice that he has many drinks, all of which he drank himself.) This same kid, knowing that we would do some hiking, did not even bring a school backpack. Why not? "Because it has my schoolbooks in it." He had never brought any water on a campout. For about three weeks, I reminded him to bring water. Of course he didn't. He slapped his forehead, "I knew I forgot something." On another campout, I arrived at teh church parking lot and he picks up his stuff from on the ground to put in my truck. His father is in their minivan, and says "Why is your sleeping bag wet?" "I guess because I set it down in that puddle." And to top it off he's a smart-aleck. We had a ward youth bonfire, where everyone said what they were grateful for. As luck would have it, he was the last one in the circle, and he gave some extended smart-aleck response. Nice cap stone to the evening. I hope parents realize that it is not my responsbility to shape these kids' character. I can't move mountains. I take my victories where I can. And the definition of victory keeps getting watered down.

12-10-2006, 02:26 AM	#12
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	Here are the "shelters" we constructed. Mine. You will note that it is not very high off the ground. My face was just a few inches from the tarp. Asst. Scoutmasters. His was most tent-like and I think he did a good job. He had the best location. Only drawback was that it was very short. I think he had to sleep in the fetal position. 3 boy scouts'. They rolled these telephone poles together and laid a tarp over themselves. This shot was taken in the morning as they were still sleeping. Not surprisingly there was a little bit of frozen condensation under the tarp. These guys, again, not surprisingly, chose not to actively participate in our Scout night activity on how to set up a tarp. But I credit them with coming up with their own plan. I think they were satisfied.

12-10-2006, 02:34 AM	#14
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	Here's another good one from that twelve year old. To a 16 year old scout, "I can't help clean because I just put a chemical warmer in my gloves." About two minutes later, the 16 year old noted, "I see that you were able to take your gloves off to eat the food I cooked." The dynamics are interesting. I know that in my home ward, I would have gotten my trash kicked by the older boys in a similar situation. I guess I have to credit my older boys with patience.

12-10-2006, 02:54 AM	#16
FMCoug Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Kaysville, UT Posts: 3,151	Where did you go? Cold last night.

12-10-2006, 03:08 AM	#18
FMCoug Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Kaysville, UT Posts: 3,151	Right in my back yard. I wondered who that was out there.