April, 2003 Newsletter

Table of Contents

Scoutmaster Scribbles

Every scouting activity moves boys towards the three basic aims of Scouting: Character Development, Citizenship Training, and Mental & Physical Fitness. These aims are accomplished by the implementation of 8 distinct methods. Method 5 -- Association with Adults and Method 8 -- The Uniform, are the topic of my column this month.

From the Scoutmaster's handbook:
"Since 1910, the Boy Scout uniform has been a recognizable part of the American scene. Wearing the uniform helps boys develop a sense of
belonging to their patrol and troop. It reinforces the fact that all members of the BSA are equal to one another. People seeing a boy in a Scout uniform expect someone of good character who is prepared to the best of his ability to help those around him. Likewise, Scoutmasters in full uniform set a good example for members of their troops and are also seen as community leaders fulfilling a very important role."

So as you can see, uniforms help the boys look, well ... uniform. The official class A uniform includes the official tan shirt (long or short sleeve), a neckerchief, a neckerchief slide, the official green pants or official green shorts, the green web belt and the green socks. See page 12 in the official Boy Scout Handbook. How will this impact your son? That's where Method 5 comes in.

At the February leader's meeting, we discussed our collective desire for better compliance with the official uniform and ways to encourage it. Method 5 (Association with Adults) teaches us that as adults, we need to lead by example. All leaders present at the meeting agreed to bringing their own uniform into compliance before we require the boys to do the same. You may have recognized that an increasing percentage of leaders now wear the official uniform.

When the leaders are wearing a complete uniform, we will then expect boys in leadership positions -- basically, PLC members, Den Chiefs, Troop Guides, and Instructors -- to set the example for the rest of the troop. As most of these boys have already gone through Junior Leader Training (or will likely go this year), they should already have a complete uniform as it is required by JLTC.

Eventually with a concerted effort, we should all reach full uniform status. Considering that this particular year is our 90th anniversary where we will find ourselves in the public eye quite a bit, I would encourage all of you to do what is necessary to get the jump on your or your son's uniform before the Scout-a-rama on May 17th.

Along with the Troop Committee, I recognize that this can be a substantial financial burden in an economic time that has been especially tough around Rochester. To that end, we are going to do two things to help: 1) Don Knab, Asst. Scoutmaster, will be organizing a
gear swap to allow older boys who have grown out of uniforms,
especially pants, to turn them into the troop for duty with another scout, and 2) The Troop Committee has agreed to seed the swap with a few new pair of pants for boys to exchange with. These activities are in line with our Troop's policies of not denying participation to any scout for financial reasons. More details will be forthcoming soon on the gear swap. I will be contacting the Scout Shop to see if we can get any discount for purchasing in quantity. If this is possible, you will receive further instructions.

Meanwhile, I would encourage any of you with questions to contact me in person, preferably, at the Scout House to discuss any situation you may
have. Rest assured that your comments and concerns will be treated confidentially.


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New Scouts

Mr. Whritenor, your patrol's assistant Scout Master, or Mr. Sparacino will be handing you a package at the next scout meeting. It will include an introduction note from Mr. Whritenor, a blank medical form, and a personal info form. Parents, please be on the look out for this info. Your scouts will not be able to participate in anything events other than meetings without this info being completed in a timely fashion.
We are trying to BE PREPARED! Thanks!


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Stephens Family Fund

Many of you know Ron and Sara Stephens' who are former member of Troop 10. Ron is a former Webelos II Leader with Pack 10 and a former Asst. Scout Master. Their son Jeremy earned his Eagle Scout with Troop 10 a few short years ago. Their youngest son Adam was also a member of Troop 10 and graduated from HFL in June of 2002.

In March, Adam was critically injured in Charlotte, North Carolina where he was attending the University of North Carolina. He is still in intensive care in North Carolina and Ron and Sara have been at his side constantly. They are fast using up what paid vacation and leave time that they have and have to deal with a prolonged hospitalization yet. The STEPHENS FAMILY FUND has been established by their friends and neighbors to help the family through this difficult time. If you wish to help, checks made out to Ron or Sara Stephens may be sent to:
Stephens Family Fund
P.O.Box 32
Honeoye Falls, NY 14472-0032

This information also can be found at http://www.stephensfamilyfund.org.

Your fellow Scout Family….
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2003 Annual Troop 10 Skiing Trip to Camp Russell and Old Forge

When the only McDonalds in Old Forge is closed because there are not enough people in town, beware! You may have picked the wrong weekend!

Oh well. When we left beautiful Honeoye Falls on Friday afternoon, it was the most promising Spring day with sunshine, a bit breezy but warm. We did check the McCauley Mountain web site before we left: it said spring skiing conditions (the last update was March 4th - 3 + weeks ago). As we got closer to Camp Russell, remnants of snow became visible and hopes for a fun Saturday on the ski mountain were very alive.

16 boys and 10 of their fathers ended up in the nice Camp Russell cafeteria were we set up to sleep and eat for the next 36 hours. Everybody was told on Friday night that 10:30 pm was bed time. It was so quiet at 10:31 pm, it was almost scary. Never in my scout life have I seen such a great behaving bunch of kids (and parents). We started Saturday with a pancake breakfast, while rain and warm temperatures tried to wipe out the little snow that was left. Oh yes, this is known as the “Mud Season” I was told by Spike, the camp director, “We showed up at possibly the worst weekend of the year”…great!!!

What do you do with 16 boys on a rainy day in the Adirondacks? We quickly developed and deployed plan B: morning at the Old Forge Hardware “Museum” (half the people just go in to look), then go bowling in town or see a movie. The famous hardware store was open (they gave everybody willing to buy anything a 20% discount) and we spent part of the morning looking at hardware - awesome.

After that our caravan of 6 SUV’s and Vans moved around town to find the bowling alley – we found it closed. The only other place in town that was open was the tourist office, just to find out that nothing is open and our best bet would be to drive to Utica.

Plan C was to go to Utica, have a quick lunch, watch a movie and play bowling. An hour later we found ourselves at the Utica Mall standing in line at the Wal-Mart’s McDonalds – the line was too long to make it in time for the next movie at the theater nearby. We decided not to eat and head straight for the movie theater, where one of the parents bought a super size of refillable pop corn – enough to get us all through lunch (we had the entire theater for ourselves). After an exciting and scary movie, we headed downtown to the bowling alley. Great fun! We played a couple of rounds, had some Pizza and headed back up to Camp Russell. The day was saved.

Dinner was next: Pasta with meatballs and spaghetti sauce, salad on the side. The kitchen is great – all commercial grade equipment. Due to the lack of pots and pans, we used aluminum containers to heat up the spaghetti sauce and meatballs in one of the ovens. Unfortunately, we left one of the full sauce containers at 350 degrees over night in the oven to wake up to what looked like a Cajun delicacy to the untrained eye.

After dinner, a bunch of boys and parents got together for a Euchre championship. It sounded like a lot of fun and it was little past 11 pm when the last card was drawn. Other than a lone sleepwalking and talking boy, the night was uneventful.

We finished off our weekend at Camp Russell with our second annual individual made to order omelets and everybody headed back home with some fresh snow on the road. Despite the lack of snow, we all had fun and are looking forward to next year. We probably should call McDonalds in Old Forge before we leave next time.

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Philmont 2004

There will be an informational meeting on Tuesday, May 6th at 7:15 p.m. at the Scout Service Center (East Avenue) for Scouts, Scout Leaders, and Parents who are interested attending Otetiana council's trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in 2004. Otetiana Council (all of greater Rochester) will send 4 crews of twelve next summer. Last year, there was a waiting list in June for this year's trip. See Mr. McIntyre with any questions.

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Scout-a-Rama is Coming!

Troop 10 will be hosting a Scout-a-Rama on May 17th at Harry Allen Park. Did you say: “What is a Scout-a-Rama? A Scout-a-Rama is a showcase of what the Boy Scouts are all about. Since it is our 90th birthday, our Scout-a-rama is being billed as a celebration and demonstration of scouting! It will be a little different than the Camporees we are used to attending in that we will be holding the Scout-a-rama for the greater HF-L community. We want our neighbors, friends and adults to come and have fun with us. We’ll show them that Scouting has a little something that appeals to everyone. We’ll be offering historical exhibits, scouting demonstrations, and of course, games and fun for all ages. Scout-a-Rama is being billed as an event for ages 5 to 90.

May 17th will be a grand day of celebration for Troop 10. Scout-a-Rama will run between 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM. In the evening following the Scout-a-Rama there will be a Troop 10 Alumni Banquet at the Burgundy Basin Inn, starting with refreshments at 6:30. Sorry, no campout for this one!
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