On my honor...

I had an interesting conversation with my neighbor this past week.  He is a retired real estate professional.  I was out with my boys going door to door selling popcorn.  When we got to my neighbor’s house he was working in his garage.  For fun and for some money he trains horses and sells carriages.

 

We talked about his carriages. He told me he changed suppliers from a company in Poland to a group in Pennsylvania. The group in Pennsylvania is Amish.  He said he had a hand shake agreement with a gentleman to supply him his carriages.  He couldn't believe the arrangement.  What was interesting is that his last supplier from Poland...lied to him just about a 100% of the time.  My neighbor told me that he is a seasoned man and had been in the real estate business, but he had never been lied to before in his life.

I thought wow!  I'm considerably much younger than he is and I've been lied to by a lot of people.  I think we all have been.  I am certainly not impressed with the jokers we send to Washington and I'm certainly not impressed with a lot of CEO's and executives lately.  Just look at the news and you can find a story where some top executive is headed to jail or is under investigation.

 

So why has our society moved to this state?  Can't we work under some values?  This is why I started my blog and why I volunteer so much of my time to the Boy Scouts. We need to start somewhere and perhaps we can influence our youth to be REAL leaders.  The Boy Scouts teach our young leaders about honor and trustworthiness.

 

Help me by helping the Boy Scouts...buy some popcorn, encourage a boy to join Scouts, be a merit badge counselor, or purely make a donation.  It’s our Nation’s and our world’s future!

 

BTW, my nieghbor...an Eagle Scout.  How cool is that?

 

Lead by Example,

 

Scouter Steve

Video Game Belt Loop?

When I first heard about this belt-loop, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was at a Blue & Gold to help some Webelos cross over to Boy Scouts. I kept hearing the Cub Scout leader read out “Video Belt-loop.” I thought, what did they do make up their own belt-loop. I asked another adult that was sitting at my table if he was hearing the same thing I was hearing. So as soon as I got home, I jumped on the internet and found this “Video Game” belt-loop. I had to laugh. What is Scouting coming to? I couldn’t believe that it was a real award. After all, if you look at the word “Scouting”; 75% of the letters spell “outing” as in the outdoors. Good Greif! But then, I read the requirements…

Belt Loop Requirements from Meritbadge.org

Complete these three requirements:
1. Explain why it is important to have a rating system for video games. Check your video games to be sure they are right for your age.

2. With an adult, create a schedule for you to do things that includes your chores, homework, and video gaming. Do your best to follow this schedule.

3. Learn to play a new video game that is approved by your parent, guardian, or teacher.

There even more requirements for the more ambitious scouts that want to earn the advance pin award.

These requirements all make sense to me now. It’s geared towards safety and taking care of responsibilities. It gives adults or parents an opportunity to have a good conversation with these scouts about playing video games in a safe way. Heck, it’s a part of life.

It goes to show that Scouting adjusts their program to be relevant for todays’ culture.

I have to admit, not that I thought about it too much before; I had earned the computer merit badge when I was in Boy Scouts. Back then there were 4 requirements. Now there is 9 requirements to work on and it does include Internet safety. Although, the computer merit badge is geared toward career exploration, not playing games.

I guess I should be more surprised that the Video Game belt-loop didn’t come out earlier.

With all of the different gaming systems out there, we should encourage these guys, but do it in a manner that doesn’t affect their noodle too much.

What are your thoughts on this belt-loop?

Lead by example,

Scouter Steve

Summer Time...Summer Camp

One of the greatest things about summer is going to summer camp.

I went up to Camp Laramie Peak (CLP), near Wheatland, Wyoming.  It is its 90th anniversary year.  It is also the 10th oldest boy scout camp.   I can't imagine going up to that camp back in the 50's.  That was one long dirt road to get to camp.  In respect to Camp Wilderness near Park Rapids, MN,  CLP was a fairly small camp.  However, it was the size of other camps I've been too.  CLP focused on the extreme sports like mountain biking, BMX, and they had two zip lines.  Of course they had all of the basic Boy Scout Merit Badge courses too.  The camp is tucked along the mountains.

The best time I have at camp is spending a half hour with my son at the trading post enjoying ice cream and one on one time.  That's one of the best things about Scouting is the time I get to spend with my boys.

Recovery time from camp was long.  I picked up some infection up there and was down with a fever for 3 days.  One of the new scouts in our unit went down too.  Overall, it was a good time to get away from work and enjoy the outdoors.

If you have a favorite camp, write a comment.  I would like to hear why you like summer camp.

Lead by example,

Scouter Steve

3 Points, 3 Priorities!

The other day I was helping a few newly crossed over scouts earn their first rank, the Scout Rank. One of the requirements was to describe the scout badge. The Scout badge has the flour de lei emblem, which represents the 3 points or part of the Scout Oath. The first point is “Duty to God and Country”, the second point is “to help others at all times”, and the last one is keep one self physically strong and mentally awake.
I found it interesting, when I was in Primerica Financial Service, my RVP, kept reminding the team his three priorities; God, Family, and then Business.

I started to see 3 things everywhere from there. Oh back to scouting…

So God and country come first, go to church and be patriotic. Respect our military and our flag.

Then help someone out. You should do this every day. The Scout slogan is “Do a good turn daily”. This can be as simple as holding a door open or saying “Hello!” to a stranger. You never know when they need a friendly face to make them feel better.

The last priority is taking care of yourself. There are two parts to this one. The first one is to keep yourself in good physical condition. Eat right and exercise regularly. For me, my wife helps me eat better. I also have started to run. I’ve registered for the Bolder Boulder on Memorial Day. So I am out and about in Longmont, running here and there. However, being active in Scouts keeps you moving. The second point is mentally awake. There is a lot here. You can be aware of the situation; is it dangerous or safe? You could be awake during a class or lecture versus day dreaming. You could be aware of how you are thinking; is it positive or negative. If you don’t think you are mentally awake, then you should go read “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. This book will elevate your awareness. Even if you are awake, go read the book and study it. You might find out that you weren’t awake.

What are your priorities?

Lead by example!

Scouter Steve

Dreams and Goals

Well the winter Olympics is finally over. Many of the athletes achieved their dreams. Some dreams or goals were to compete in the Olympics, some were to win a medal, and many were to win the Gold. I wonder about those that competed and didn't hit their final goal or dream. The goals are limited. Only one Gold is given out to the individual or the team.

In scouting, the goal for every boy is to make Eagle. In Scouts, every boy has the opportunity to work hard follow a plan and if he sticks with it he can reach the rank of Eagle Scout. It’s not a race or a competition. There are specific requirements with lots of flexibility. Like the Olympics there is a story behind every Eagle Scout. Some have parents that didn't support their efforts, some move during their Boy Scouting career, some have troops that fold, and some don't like their troop and must change.

We have some friends in Michigan that have two boys in Scouts. Some circumstances occurred during a few troop meetings. The family didn't like what happen; they could have easily given up on scouting. Instead, they talked to the council office. The council gave them an alternative route to fulfilling the boys’ dreams and goals of becoming an Eagle. There is no doubt in my mind those two boys will become Eagle Scouts.

Less than 4% of boys who join scouting make it to Eagle. What a foundation those boys have for being goal achievers.

Don't give up on your dreams or goals. The set back is just part of the story...push on!

Yours in Scouting,

Scouter Steve

Making Time

Wow! Time certainly flies when you’re having fun or in most of our cases...just heads down busy. My last posting was back in September. That is crazy. It's already the New Year, and we're getting ready to cross into February.

My last posting was about 100 days to the end of the year. I challenged everyone to set a 100 day goal. I completed mine. I was able to move my family into our new house. Now, we just need to finish some of the remodeling projects. This brings me back to my title, Making Time. I've neglected this site and I know I need to make time for it. Most importantly, part of my time away from the computer at night is time with my kids.

Both of my boys are in scouts and are currently playing basketball. My daughter is taking up piano lessons. With our busy schedule of working and remodeling our house, we've made time for our kids.

It is important to every kid to have their mom and dad make time for them. With scouting, that is a perfect excuse to spend time with your kids. Spend time making a pinewood derby car, time taking a hike, time playing a game, or just time sitting with them at their den meeting. It goes a long way and it is the time that the kids appreciate the most.

Lead by example,

Scouter Steve