U.S. Scouting Service Project Updates

Ask Andy

2009-06-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

Maybe that Scouter's blowin' his own trumpet about all the Scouting "hats" he wears and how important he is... but you'd better check to see if the valves are movin' before you start marchin' to the tune...

Ask Andy

2009-06-11T14:02:00.000-07:00

An arrowhead-chipper might take all day; a hunter gets the job done in about 2 seconds. But each needs the other or they both go hungry. Which are you?

"Be A Sport" Baloo's Bugle for June's RT and July's Theme is On-Line

2009-06-01T03:49:00.000-07:00

Lots of games and action this month

Bill Smith, the RT Guy, writes about Communication
Jim Jones talks about Doing Your Best

Activities for Webelos Aquanaut and Geologist

Read it and have fun.

As Dave in California wrote me, "I was named Cubmaster of the year but I am just an ordinary guy with a copy of Baloo's Bugle under my arm."

Baloo's Bugle for April's RT & May's Theme, "Nothing But Footprints," is on-line

2009-04-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

The "Leave Nothing But Footprints" edition of Baloo's Bugle is now on-line in Word.doc and Adobe.pdf and soon in HTML, too

May is a perfect time for Den and Pack Hikes and to enjoy the great outdoors. Respect for the outdoors is an important concept for everyone. Cub Scouts can set an example for their parents and friends by learning the principles of Leave No Trace and ways they can minimize their impact on the environment. .On their hikes the boys will have a great time taking photographs of nature and wildlife. This is an ideal time for Cub Scouts to start working on the Wildlife conservation Belt Loop and Pin. The end of the month has all dens moving up the Cub Scout Trail.

This month we will explore the wonderful outdoors, a place that delights almost every boy your Cubs cab work on their leave No Trace Award and some neat Belt Loops. Just because they have earned their rank for this year does not mean they are through. Dens and Packs might take a trip to a local, county, or state park to hike the trails, they can go to natural history museum, an animal shelter, a local landfill. They should practice leaving places cleaner than they found them.Lots of activities for your Cubs to do and have fun learning about the outdoors. Great theme for your energetic Cub Scouts and aspiring world travelers. Get Bill Smith's advice for your annual planning meeting. Be sure to read Scouter Jim's Thoughts about boys and the outdoors. There are articles and items for things for Boys and Leaders to do. And ceremonies for all occasions. Lots of pages and ideas for theme-related activities and the OUTDOORSMAN and ARTIST Webelos Activity Awards.

Plenty to do to keep your Cubs busy and open their minds to the outdoor world and preserving it for the future. And plenty of things where they can have fun playing and learning with their dens, families, friends and buddies!!!

The "Jurassic Pack" issue of Baloo's Bugle for March's RT's and April's Theme is on-line NOW!

2009-02-22T21:03:00.001-08:00

The "Jurassic Pack" edition of Baloo's Bugle is now on-line in Word.doc and Adobe.pdf and soon in HTML, too

This month we will explore the wonderful world of dinosaurs, a world that delights almost every boy. What have paleontologists, who are scientists studying early forms of life, learned about the great beasts that roamed the Earth millions of years ago?? How large were they?? Were there any dinosaurs living where you live now?? A den might take a trip to a museum where the boys can see dinosaurs fossils. Or a den might go on a rock collecting hike. This would be a great month to work on the Geology Loop and Pin.

Lots of activities for your Cubs to do and have fun learning about DINOSAURS. Great theme for your imaginative Cub Scouts and aspiring Paleontologists. Get Bill Smith's ideas about Pow Wows, Learn about Pack Communications and get hints for your Den Leaders. Be sure to read Scouter Jim's Thoughts about boys and dinosaurs. There are articles and items for things for Boys and Leaders to do. And ceremonies for all occasions. Lots of pages and ideas for theme-related activities and the SPORTSMAN and FAMILY MEMBER Webelos Activity Awards.

And get Alice's unique ideas for using this theme!!

Plenty to do to keep your Cubs busy and open their minds to GEOLOGY AND DINOSAURS. And plenty of things where they can have fun playing and learning with their dens, families, friends and buddies!!!

Baloo's Bugle for March's Theme (& February's RT), "When I Grow UP," is on-line

2009-02-01T18:13:00.000-08:00

The newest edition of Baloo's Bugle is now available in Word.doc and Adobe.pdf

March is the month to explore career opportunities!! Your den or pack can host a career fair and invite adults to share what they do for a living and discuss how these careers may change with technological advances as boys grow up. Take Cub Scouts on field trips to learn about different occupations. This is a great month to work on any of the Academics and Sports Belt Loops and Pins.

Lots of activities for your Cubs to do and have fun thinking about their future. Great theme for your aspiring Fire Fighters, Police Officers, Engineers, Doctors, and more. Learn about SAFE HAVENS from Bill Smith, the Roundtable Guy. Be sure to read Scouter Jim's Thoughts about THE GREATEST GENERATION. There are articles and items for things for Boys and Leaders to do. And ceremonies for all occasions. Lots of pages and ideas for theme-related activities and the ATHLETE and ENGINEER Webelos Activity Awards.

Plenty to do to keep your Cubs busy and open their minds to the bright future awaiting those who do their best. And plenty of things where they can have fun playing and learning with their dens, families, friends and buddies!!!

Baloo's Bugle for January RT and February's Theme, American ABC's, is on-line

2009-01-04T04:55:00.000-08:00

The newest edition of Baloo's Bugle is now available in HTML, Word.doc and Adobe.pdf

Let's tour the united States by the letters: Austin, Baton Rouge and Cambridge to Xenia, York, and Zion. This month, Cub Scouts will explore scenic and historic landmarks in this wonderful country. What a great theme for your Blue and Gold Banquet!! A den or pack may choose a city or state, and the boys can learn all about it. Or you might decide on a theme such as national parks, zoos or museums. The boys can use their choice in their decorations, skits, and songs for the banquet.

Lots of activities for your Cubs to do and have fun and learn about America. Great theme for your Blue & Gold. Learn more about CEREMONIES from Bill Smith, the Roundtable Guy. Especially appropriate for February and your Blue & Gold. Be sure to read Scouter Jim's Thoughts about America.There are articles and items for things for Boys and Leaders to do. And ceremonies for all occasions. Lots of pages and ideas for theme-related activities and the Scholar and Engineer Webelos Activity Awards.

Plenty to do to keep your Cubs busy and teach them to appreciate our great Country and have fun playing and learning with their dens, families, friends and buddies!!!

New KNOTS Cartoon Added for December

2008-12-02T22:50:00.000-08:00

This month's KNOTS cartoon looks at the WEBELOS visit to a Boy Scout Troop! It's a very exciting transition which can be greatly influenced by the Boy Scouts they meet. Enjoy!

Baloo's Bugle for December's RT and January's Theme, A-MAZE-ing GAMES, is on-line

2008-11-29T05:58:00.000-08:00

The newest edition of Baloo's Bugle is now available in HTML, Word.doc and Adobe.pdf

Everyone loves to play games!! This month Cub Scouts and their families will have fun playing board games, and solving puzzles and mazes. This is a great opportunity for adults to teach boys the games they used to play as youths. How about making new games? Boys can share their games with others or challenge others with their word searches, jigsaw puzzles, or mazes. Have a family game night at your Pack Meeting or at a den meeting. This month would be a good time to work on the Chess Belt Loop and pin.

Lots of activities for your Cubs to do and have fun playing games. Learn more about DEN PROJECTS (NOT crafts) from Bill Smith, the Roundtable Guy. Be sure to read Scouter Jim's Thoughts about Games.There are articles and items for things for Boys and Leaders to do. And ceremonies for all occasions. Lots of pages and ideas for theme-related activities and the Fitness and Scientist Webelos Activity Awards.

Plenty to do to keep your Cubs busy and teach them to appreciate the games in all forms and playing them their families, friends and buddies!!!

Baloo's Bugle for November's RT and December's Theme - Holiday Lights is now on-line!

2008-11-10T17:08:00.000-08:00

The newest edition of Baloo's Bugle is now available in Word.doc and Adobe.pdf

This month Cub Scouts will share their Holiday Traditions with others in the pack and in the community. Lights on a Christmas Tree, candles on a Menorah for Hannukah, candles on a Kinara for Kwanzaa - many of our holiday traditions involve lights. Boys can be stars this month by brightening someone's holiday season with a gift of compassion. A den can plan a visit to a nursing home or children's ward. They might also sing holiday favorites.

Lots of activities for your Cubs to do and have fun helping others. Learn more about TRAINING from Bill Smith, the Roundtable Guy. Be sure to read Scouter Jim's Thoughts about Holiday Lights.There are articles and items for things for Boys and Leaders to do. And ceremonies for all occasions. Lots of pages and ideas for theme-related activities and the Craftsman and Scientist Webelos Activity Awards.

Plenty to do to keep your Cubs busy and teach them to appreciate the wonderful time of year, and their friends and buddies!!!

Sea Scout Quartermaster candidate helps with Hurricane Ike relief

2008-10-11T18:21:00.000-07:00

From our incoming email:

My friend, Eagle Scout Chris Bergtholdt, is organizing his Quartermaster Sea Scout service project for the children of Hurricane Ike, and I want to ask you to lend a hand.

When I worked with Hurricane Katrina evacuees in 2005 I learned that the hardest thing about being displaced isn't the loss of belongings but the loss of family stability. Keeping families together is the most critical thing in a crisis, and nothing brings a family together and helps mend traumatized feelings of security like the time spent reading to children.

The Galveston area was hardest hit by Ike, and there are thousands of people looking forward to long-term FEMA housing and a long period of uncertainty. Area residents have lost everything. They need to give their children a sense of safety and stability, and parents need to feel like parents after the loss of everything they own. In order to give the parents in Galveston shelters the tools they need to keep their families together, Chris is fervently networking with people all over the country to collect children's books.

Please look at home for children's books, or buy some new ones at your local store, and send them to the address below. Don't be afraid to include a personal message to the children who will read them. Let them know that they aren't alone.

*Families in need...
c/o Clara Barton Village
Alamo Elementary School
5200 Avenue N
Galveston, Texas 77550*

And please spread this message far and wide. If you're like me you probably hate the forward button on your friends' email programs but the more people who read this message the more good we can do together.

You will be helping parents and children - survivors all - to see that their lives are not on hold, that they are alive and well and living together, even if they are struggling, and that it is still a good time to dream.

God bless you and yours,

George Oldroyd, Skipper
Sea Scout Ship 48
Fairfax, Virginia

New Cartoons Added for October

2008-10-03T12:02:00.000-07:00

The October Knots cartoon is now posted! This month we look at the model design and building merit badge.

Hugged Yer Commissioner Lately?

2008-10-03T09:42:00.000-07:00

Commissioners are pretty tolerant folks. They've listen for years to jibes like "The redcoats are coming!" and "Here comes a Commissioner--hide the coffee!" and "Uh-Oh! There's the Patch Police!" Yet, despite these wisecracks, they have just one thing motivating them to get out there and visit with you, even though their own kid's long aged out of the program -- They believe in Scouting, as the backbone of your town, and our country. They're there to help. They've been visiting your unit probably for several years, maybe more, with only the mission of helping you deliver the best Scouting program you're capable of to the youth you serve. So, have you hugged your Commissioner lately? Invited 'em to you Blue & Gold banquet? Asked 'em to do some judging at your Pinewood Derby? Presented them with a Troop Neckerchief and made 'em an "honorary member"? Asked 'em to speak at your Court of Honor, or make a presentation at it? Invited 'em to sit on a board of review for one of your Eagle candidates? Think it over. Scouting's a two-way street, too. Happy Scouting! Andy

Baloo's Bugle for October's RT & November's Theme, "Seeds of Kindness," is on-line

2008-10-02T05:27:00.000-07:00

The newest edition of Baloo's Bugle is now available in Word.doc and Adobe.pdf

This is a service oriented theme with lots of action - just in time for Scouting for Food !!

Lots of activities for your Cubs to do and have fun helping others. Learn more about ADVANCEMENT from Bill Smith, the Roundtable Guy. Be sure to read Scouter Jim's Thoughts about spreading Seeds of Kindness.

There are articles and items for things for Boys and Leaders to do. Be sure to play Pam's Bean Game (Beans are Seeds!!)

And ceremonies for all occasions.

Alice is there with her wonderful projects and ideas!! Lots of pages and ideas for theme-related activities and the Craftsman and Readyman Webelos Activity Awards.

Plenty to do to keep your Cubs busy and teach them to appreciate Seeds of Kindness, and their friends and buddies!!!

New Cartoons Added for September

2008-09-11T00:17:00.000-07:00

Knots or Not scouting cartoons is please to present for your viewing pleasure, Mike Bowman's cartoon debut ! For September we look at the surveying merit badge. Enjoy.

Baloo's Bugle for September's RTs and October's Theme, "Adventures in Books" is on-line

2008-09-07T07:18:00.000-07:00

The newest edition of Baloo's Bugle is now available in Word.doc and Adobe.pdf
The HTML will be up soon

It loaded with lots of good things to do to get your Pack energized.
This is truly an action theme - and you choose the direction of the action!!
Lots of activities for your Cubs to do and appreciate have fun with books with action
The can be Knights, Folklore characters (I m still Davy Crockett!!), wizards with Harry
(and maybe they can get some of their wizard friends to join your pack)

Learn more about BOYS from Bill Smith, the Roundtable Guy.
And how your pack can use this theme from Great Salt Lake Council
Read Scouter Jim's Thoughts about Adventures in Books.

There are articles and items for recognizing Boys and Leaders
And ceremonies for all occasions.
Alice is there with her wonderful projects and ideas!!

Lots of pages and ideas for theme-related activities and the Citizen and Showman Webelos Activity Awards.

Plenty to do to keep your Cubs busy and teach them to appreciate the Adevntures found in their books, and their friends and buddies!!!

On the value of Scouting - A Scouter's Essay

2008-08-31T12:33:00.000-07:00

Reprinted with permission - Copyright 2008 Michael Pocalyko

Camp Minsi continues great traditions

Friday, August 1, 2008

Michael Pocalyko

In the extraordinary unsettled summer of 1968, the Lehigh Valley was a hot place in weather and in politics. That didn’t matter to me. I was headed to Camp Minsi in the Poconos. It was the last summer that our national treasure of a Boy Scout camp, built by Bethlehem Steel in the 1950s, would be run by the old Bethlehem Area Council. Five months later three Scout councils would merge to form the Minsi Trails Council, now widely regarded as among our nation's finest. I hear this when I visit national Scout events: “So which council did you grow up in? Minsi Trails? What a great place.”

Today is one of those personal milestones that are meaningless outside your family, but that really define which young-guy lessons you carry into grownup life. Forty years ago, Aug. 2, 1968 at Camp Minsi, I became an Eagle Scout. That's Scouting's highest award, and it means as much to me as the university degrees and professional achievements I've collected since that day. Improbably young when I hit the mark at age 13, I sat down that Friday morning at a picnic table in front of a few stern, caring men -- likely younger then than I am now -- for my Eagle Scout Board of Review. They talked to me kindly in those dense woods about Scouting, ''conservation'' of natural resources, responsibility, being a man, and what today we'd shorthand as ''giving back.'' I think I answered their questions pretty well. In my memory of that day I was nervously talkative but not glib. I passed the board and was recognized that evening at the camp-wide campfire as a new Eagle Scout, along with David Belzner and Charles Ortwein of Bethlehem and William Scheidler from Hellertown.

Much has changed in Scouting and American society since then. It is worth looking back on this personal anniversary to what I learned at Camp Minsi and in Lehigh Valley Scouting.

Scouting may be the last place a young man can still learn to be a regular guy, with all of the manylayered implications of that expression. At Camp Minsi, I was raised into a sort of Emersonian self reliance embedded within a system of values that are truly timeless and transcendent -- the Scout Oath and Scout Law. Here I'm with E. O. Wilson, Harvard professor and the country's best-known naturalist, who once invited his readers to come up with a better code for life, “particularly in 56 words.” In truth, “regular guy” penetrates deeper meaning within Scouting's peculiar sociology. Boy Scouting imparts genuine psychological centeredness to young men at a time when, let's face it, guys are gooberish and struggling. I know I was in 1968. Scouting gives boys a safe place where failure is fine if you learn to fix it, where success is measured against demanding standards and never against other Scouts. I don't know any place else where you're encouraged to be kind and friendly and tough all at once, where rough-cut teenagers and reverence for nature meet in dwindling wilderness and an ethic of service.

Our leaders at Camp Minsi in the '60s, including my father, once lived a kind of woodsman Scouting before World War II. Our Scouting was in turn more primitive than the program is now. What I learned from the woodsmen could be called subliminal lessons of camp: There's time and place for everything, including being profane. Scouts know the difference. Hard work is better than brains. But you can't be stupid, and that's independent of being educated. Fitness matters in the woods and every other unforgiving place. Respect knives, fire, and firearms -- but man, they are cool. There will always be jerks, but you don't personally have to be one. When you give a guy crap, make sure it's because you care about him and never to put him down. Everybody screws up. Every Scout started out as a Tenderfoot, so give that new kid a lot of breaks, just like you got. Becoming an Eagle Scout, taking on any real mantle of leadership, isn't yours by natural right or because of what you've done. It's because of what's expected from you. And that's a whole lot more than you think.

From time to time, national Scouting gets yanked into the values wars. Every time that happens I don't like it. As antidote to anger I recall Camp Minsi, including my four years on camp staff. America, the Lehigh Valley, and the whole Scouting movement were all simpler then. Not better. Simpler, standing solidly on common ground. That time is worth recalling because Scouting is yet an exemplar for America, showing how common ground endures at the core of what we believe. That principle is also why I still wear a Scout uniform with the pride and humility of that kid who stood up at the campfire 40 years ago.

Michael Pocalyko, a Bethlehem native, is CEO of Monticello Capital in Reston, Va., and on the executive board of the National Capital Area Council, Boy Scouts of America. His e-mail address is pocalyko@monticellocapital.com.

New Cartoon Added for August

2008-08-08T21:04:00.000-07:00

Howdy. Stop by the KNOTS cartoon for August. This month we look at the rifle shooing merit badge!

"New Buddies" Baloo's Bugle for August RT and September's Theme is On-Line!

2008-07-27T17:43:00.000-07:00

The newest edition of Baloo's Bugle is now available in Word.doc and Adobe.pdf

It loaded with lots of good things to do to get your Pack off to a great start.
Lots of activities for your Cubs to do with their Buddies
(and maybe get some of their buddies to join your pack)

Learn about PACK MEETINGS from Bill Smith, the Roundtable Guy.
And how to snazz up your ceremonies from Sean Scott's article, "Are You A Ziploc Pack?"
Read Scouter Jim's Thoughts about Friendship.

There are articles and items for recruiting, inducting and recognizing Leaders
And ceremonies for inducting new families into your pack.

Lots of pages and ideas for theme-related activities and the Citizen and Communicator Webelos Activity Awards.

Plenty to do to keep your Cubs busy and teach them to appreciate their friends and buddies!!!

New Cartoon Added for July

2008-07-12T12:27:00.000-07:00

July's KNOTS cartoon celebrates 10 years of venturing and high adventure. Have a look!

"S'More Summer Fun" Baloo's Bugle for July's RT's and August's Theme is on line!

2008-07-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

The newest edition of Baloo's Bugle is now available in Word.doc, Adobe.pdf and HTML.

It loaded with lots of OUTDOOR Games and Activities for the final month of Summer 2008.

Learn about RECRUITING ADULT LEADERS from Bill Smith, the Roundtable Guy. Read Scouter Jim's Thoughts about Discovering America. There are lots of pages and ideas for theme-related activities and the Forester and Naturalist Webelos Activity Awards. There are a lot of outdoor activities.

Plenty to do to amaze your Cubs or to teach them to appreciate the OUTDOORS so they can amaze their friends!!!

Copyright - U.S. Scouting Service Project Visit us at http://usscouts.org News at http://usssp.blogspot.com

Tornado Tragedy at Little Sioux Scout Ranch

2008-06-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

12 June 2008

STATEMENT FROM THE U.S. SCOUTING SERVICE PROJECT, INC.
USSSP, Inc. is operated by volunteers and not associated with Boy Scouts of America

We tell our Scouts to "Be Prepared" -- to be prepared for life and what it gives you. It is more than a motto -- it in a capsule states the goals of the Boy Scouts of America.

This Thursday morning finds us, as well as many of you, stunned at the fact that overnight four Boy Scouts -- three participants in a junior leader training camp and a youth staff member -- died in the aftermath of a tornado which struck the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in Iowa. Many other participants in that training experience suffered injuries which have been treated at area hospitals. The camp is an activity and facility belonging to the Mid-America Council, Boy Scouts of America, which is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska and which serves youth in eastern Nebraska, northwestern Iowa and southeastern South Dakota.

We grieve and offer our sincere condolences for the loss of the four Scouts to their parents, the other members of the training course and their adult advisors and mentors, and to the communities in which they resided. We know that the local Council will do everything in their power to support the families and their fellow Scouts and Scouters in their time of extreme pain and loss.

The Boy Scouts of America, through their local Councils like Mid-America, provide a special week of leadership development training each year. The course is called by different titles within different local Councils to give it a local slant and flavor. Course participants are nominated by local Scout Troops to attend the eight-day course; in many cases, the leaders attending these courses are the leader of their Boy Scout Troop, called a Senior Patrol Leader, or aspire to serve in that role in the future. The course is a nationally structured and scripted course which emphasizes small group leadership and management and, as a component, instruction on how to deal with emergent situations as they occur. Since Boy Scouts and Venturers camp in the outdoors as a central part of who we are, a great deal of time is spent on basic techniques in dealing with extreme weather -- whether it is tornadoes, great amount of cold or heat, and strategies for what happens when transportation fails or when the overhead cover is destroyed or damaged. Part of the week's training as conducted by the Mid-America Council's junior-leader camp called for tornado reaction drills and instruction, which was conducted the day before the tornado struck.

We are extremely proud of the Scouts and Scouters -- some as young as 13 and others as old as 17 -- who reacted to this emergency in true Scouting style. You will no doubt hear, see and/or read about accounts of true Scouting heroism in the face of extreme danger performed by those Scouts as well as their adult mentors and advisors -- Scouters. Many of you are surprised at the ingenuity, strength of character, and overall service that those Scouts -- young as they may be -- acted upon. We are not. This is what Scouters train Scouts to do; this is what Scouts do. More than the camping and outdoor aspect of our program, may we be bold as to remind you that Boy Scouting first is a program which prepares young men for their role as responsible strong citizens of quality character. This is why we have a Scouting program in this nation, and the Scouts and Scouters you are witnessing through media accounts -- and their own personal accounts -- are realistic, true-to-life examples of the value of Scouting, even in this "internet and playstation recreational environment", and why we place so much of an importance to what we do and how we do it.

You will also hear, see and/or read about the exceptional quick level of support rendered to the Council's camp leadership by a host of local, state and regional authorities. This is part of a coordinated plan -- an emergency plan the Council coordinated with each year before the start of the camp year. Once executed, the plan was accomplished in a grand way and we are sure it assisted in a large part to the treatment and care of those Scouts and Scouters caught in the wrath of the tornado's destruction. We thank those organizations and agencies for their support to the Mid-America Council, and indirectly to the families of those Scouts at the Ranch.

Again, we at the U.S. Scouting Service Project, Inc, join with our fellow Scouters all over this land in our deepest condolences for the loss of life during the Mid-America Council's junior leader training camp program in Iowa. We pray and offer our best cheerful thoughts for the families and fellow Scouts who will deal with their loss of family and friends. We also extend our innermost pride and elation at the many Scouts and Scouters who stepped forward -- even through personal pain -- to offer first aid, recovery and staging during this emergency. We stand ready to assist the Mid-America Council and their leadership in whatever way we can be of service because that's what Scouts and Scouters do.

As we get information about camp restoration efforts, we will provide them to you. In the meantime, we encourage you to find out more information on the strength of personal character and how the Boy Scouts of America encourages, promotes and trains this through their youth in these ways:

Official Boy Scouts of America Websites

News Media - Omaha, Nebraska