SM Minute—Bull’s Eye

Scoutmaster Minute—Bull’s Eye

Many years ago a young man traveling through the countryside noticed that on many of the barns was a large bull’s-eye painted on it with an arrow squarely in the center of the target. He thought he would like to meet the great archer, and asked around until he found out the name of the man, who lived in a nearby village.

He introduced himself, and asked the archer for a demonstration of his great skills. “Sure,” said the archer, and they walked to the outskirts of town to a barn. He carried his bow and a quiver of arrows and several buckets of paint and some brushes. He selected a barn site, and carefully took aim at the barn, and hit it squarely in the middle. Then he walked up to the arrow, and carefully painted the bull’s-eye around the arrow.

He then proudly stood back and admired his work.

The moral of the story is to not be misled by things as they sometimes appear. Often, things are not as they seem.

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(from Troop Program Resources, pp.19-20)

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National Preparedness Month

September is a good time to work with our Scouts—Pack, Troop, or Crew—on being prepared during National Preparedness Month.  Expand on the Bear Law Enforcement Activity with FEMA resources.  Ask your PLC to refresh the Troop on basic First Aid Skills or work on Wilderness First Aid for the backcountry.  Bring in your First Aid and Emergency Preparedness merit badge counselors.  Ask your leaders to take the online BSA Hazardous Weather training.

Be Prepared.

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH: YOUR FAMILY PLAN

Main Content

Release date:

SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

Release Number:

R6-12-143

DENTON, Texas – September is National Preparedness Month. Putting together a family preparedness plan for disasters or emergencies can serve you well in any circumstance. Whether you are facing a severe weather event, a fire in your home, a hazardous materials incident in the neighborhood, or any other emergency, it’s a good idea to plan in advance.

• Talk to your family members about preparedness and how to respond calmly to emergencies. Discuss what you would need to do to shelter in place, leave your home or evacuate your city.
• Identify two meeting places, one near your home and one away from the neighborhood in the event family members cannot return to the house.
• Post emergency phone numbers beside the telephone. Teach children how to call 911.
• Choose a friend or relative out-of-state whom all family members will telephone to check in. The out-of-state relative can relay messages. When evacuating, notify relatives and friends about your plans. Be familiar with designated evacuation routes leading out of town.
• Draw a home floor plan and choose at least two escape routes. Make sure you know how to shut off the water, gas and electricity.
• Keep an emergency supply kit, including water, non-perishable food, important documents, radio and flashlight with extra batteries, extra eye glasses, medications and special needs products for babies and the elderly.
• Make plans for family members or neighbors with special needs, as well as for care of pets.

During National Preparedness Month, and throughout the year, FEMA and the Ad Council invites everyone to prepare in advance for all types of natural disasters. The Ready Campaign’s websites (ready.gov and listo.gov) and toll-free numbers (1-800-BE-READY and 1-888-SE-LISTO) provide free emergency preparedness information and resources available in English and Spanish.

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Related articles

• National Preparedness Month: Does Your Family Have a Plan? (whitehouse.gov)

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Claiming my Technorati: XDRKBRXMPMQD

Scoutmaster Minute—Peer Pressure

Scouting (Photo credit: omer_k)

SM Minute—Peer Pressure

Now that we have a couple weeks of school under our belts, I hope each of you have made some new friends. Why don’t you invite one to our next Troop meeting, or campout?

Good friends ask you to do good things, like going fishing, or on a hike.  Some so-called friends, though, don’t have your best interests in mind.  Let’s look at page 61 in your Scout Handbook again:

Real friends will not ask you to do anything that could put you at risk.  If those who say they are your friends are smoking,drinking, using drugs, watching pornography, using profanity, or doing anything else that is unwise, you don’t have to go along with them. You might need to look for new friends who are interested in healtheir activities. Don’t worry, they are out there.  Be true to your values, and you will find them.

Remember, a Scout is Friendly and Loyal, but a Scout is also Trustworthy and Clean.

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Scoutmaster Minute—New Friends

Scouting (Photo credit: omer_k)

SM Minute—New Friends

Going back to school is a time of new starts, new beginnings.  You’ll have new classes, and hopefully new friends. A Scout is Friendly after all!

This is a great time to reach out to new kids at school, and old friends you haven’t caught up with in a while.

It’s also a good time to remember the importance of making good choices, from page 61 in your Scout Handbook:

Good Judgement in Choosing Friends

Choose friends whose values you share and admire.  Be open to those who are not just like everyone else you know.  Differences in race, culture, and language may keep some people at a distance, but those differences can also be doorways for you to expand your understanding of other people and of the world.  Disabilities might seem to be barriers to friendship, too, but look beyond what seems to separate you.  You might be surprised to discover how much you have in common with others and how much you can share with one another.

Have a great week at school.

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Erickson earns Eagle Scout Recognition

Local coverage by Rebecca Hudson, courtesy of the Murray County News

Three is a charmed number in many ways. For Ryan Erickson and his family, it represents the ultimate achievement to be had in the Boy Scouts of America: the rank of Eagle Scout. Ryan, along with his two older brothers Jake and Ben, has reached that goal and was officially recognized at a ceremony held Sunday afternoon.

A member of the scouting organization since he was 12 years old, Ryan says that he has worked his way through the various ranks on the way to the top achievement. “It was a lot of work,” he admits. As he worked his way through the requirements, Ryan says he got bogged down for two years working on the life skills badges.

“And I didn’t feel determined to get it [Eagle Scout rank].” But as he progressed and got older, he found scouting to be very rewarding. “I liked it a lot then I was 15 or 16 years old because it was more enjoyable,” he explains. “It’s been a lot of fun doing activities and learning a lot of stuff,” he adds.

Earning the coveted Eagle Scout award is no easy task. Scouts must earn at least 21 merit badges and demonstrate Scout spirit through service and leadership. Planning, organization and management of an extensive service project is the final leg of the journey.

For his project, Ryan singled out a much needed landscaping renovation at the Shetek Lutheran Bible Camp. The perimeter of the main camp building had been overgrown with plants and weeds and posed a definite challenge for him. Undaunted, he went to work at creating a new design to replace the aging rocks and plants that had been there.

Last October Ryan, along with a select group of helpers, moved in bricks and plants and other materials necessary to transform the overgrown landscaping near the camp building into a tastefully updated makeover. In all, Ryan’s project entailed 137 hours of labor. VIP Floral donated all of the plants while the camp paid for the rest of the materials.

Though Ryan’s project work date had to be delayed a week because of some personal health issues, Ryan says that it ended up going much better than he had originally planned. “I got many compliments from people who have seen it and think the job was well done,” he says.

Ryan is now headed off to college at St. Cloud State University to pursue a computer science degree. But he will remain a lifelong Boy Scout, joining the ranks of nine local scouts who have preceding him in achieving the Eagle Scout rank.

Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men. The title of Eagle Scout is held for life, thus giving rise to the phrase “Once an Eagle, always an Eagle.”

The Eagle Scout Service Project is the opportunity for a Scout to demonstrate leadership of others while performing a project for the benefit of any religious institution, any school, or his community. The National Eagle Scout Association researched the total volunteer hours of the Eagle service projects ever done and it came a total of more than 100 million hours of service. Each year, new Eagle Scouts are adding more than three million more hours.

Ryan and his brother Jake both did their projects at a local bible camp, near our district Scout Camp on Lake Shetek.

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