Spent the day with a bunch of Scouters in our District's Vanguard training helping them to become Trained. If you're looking for a Wood Badge Ticket Item, I highly recommend volunteering to serve on staff for a Training Course.  Not only would it benefit the yourself (aka, your Wood Badge Tickets), but it may just benefit your own son someday.

It will be officially Autumn, soon.  Which means like it or not, the Holiday Season is fast approaching. This is a great time to start some family traditions, or to continue some that you may already have.  We have some in our family that we very much enjoy. There were also some that we had started at old employers, that hopefully are continued on. One of the things that we can all do is donate a few hours or our own time to something.  I'm sure that there is something that we're interested in that we can donate time to somewhere. No matter your current situation in life, you can always give a little of yourself and I promise that you'll feel a little better and whether you call if Karma, Blessings, or whatever you will find that you will benefit from it in someway. Whether you do it yourself, with your family, a Scout Pack/Troop/Team/Crew, for a Wood Badge Ticket, whatever it is volunteering especially this year at this time of year is something that we can all do. Check out the Volunteer section of 211ut.org for opportunities in your area.

This is the type of thing that I was talking about the other day when I was talking about Eagle Scout projects. Find a project that means something to you and work on that, don't just do it because it's simple or a quick means to an end. That goes for Wood Badge Ticket items too.

I'd be willing to bet that the Eagle Scout project is probably the one thing that most Boy Scouts dread doing the most.  Check out what this young man is doing. People ask me frequently about what they can do for a project and while I don't usually have specific projects for them, I typically offer this advice. "Find something that you have an interest and a passion in.  Then do something in that area." What I don't like to see a situation where a parent is just pressuring a young man to quickly pick a project and then get it over with.  By doing so, the parents aren't teaching their son anything and they certainly aren't allowing him to apply the principles that he's learned in Scouting. Also with my position on the District Committee I hear a lot about how the Eagle Project paperwork is not usually completed properly and that it usually takes 2, 3, 4 and sometimes even more times to get it done correctly. I have a suggestion that may be a possible solution.  Someone should make it a Wood Badge ticket to create a Parental Orientation to the Eagle Project.  It doesn't have to be long or elaborate, but how powerful would it be if the Advancement Chair of your Troop Committee and the Scoutmaster were to take a few minutes and visit the parents of a young man who has just earned his Life Scout and help the parents understand their role in the entire process. Maybe a gentle reminder to Mom that this is Juniors Eagle Project.  He's the one in charge and that while Mom might mean well by make the 30 phone calls to see if she can get materials donated for the project, it's not helping Junior learn, grow and develop like the Eagle Project is intended. Sure it's still fine if Mom & Dad help, encourage and even prod Junior along the way, but always remember it's his project and he is the one that needs to earn it, not Mom. I always cringe when I hear someone at an Eagle Court of Honor joke about how Mom earned it just as much as her son did.  In my mind, that shouldn't be the case. Let your Eagle develop wings and fly.  Trust me, he will sore higher than you know.

Tonight the Troop participated in an Honor Trail.  For many of the boys it was the first time that they had done so.  Without giving up many of the details, it was along the beachfront of the lake and I think that it was done very well. The camp staff did a great job and it was honestly the first time that the boys were reverent the entire time that I've been here (despite repeated efforts to steer the conversation to topics that I had been asked by other leaders to discuss with them). I did have a very good discussion with my own sons when we returned to our tent that evening, which was good. One of the things that I feel has been severely missing in many of the Boy Scout units that I have visited with over the last few years, is the "Duty to God" aspect.  It's there in some respects, but for it being one of the first items mentioned in the Scout Oath, it's not emphasized much in many units. To me a great Wood Badge Ticket item would be to find ways to emphasize that more in the different units.  After all having a balance of all of the difference points of the Scout Oath and Law helps the units to run best. (And for those of you wonder, Yes I do have Internet access at Camp.  We're right on the shores of Bear Lake and I have my laptop because I left directly from work and I've been checking a few work items with it.  You know me, I can't ever fully put work out of my mind sometimes.)

The season is fast approaching again.  I can tell because the number of Wood Badge searches that are reaching this site have increased quite a bit in the last couple of weeks. I realize that I haven't posted any thoughts or ideas for ticket items in quite some time and I promise that I will soon, but in the meantime if you have any and would like to share, please do.  Use the Contact link on the right side of the page. I truly believe the more ideas that we can get out there the more it will help people think and come up with even more ideas on things that they can do.

In roundtable this evening I spoke about Summer Camps and especially the Varsity Big Event.  I've gone each of the last couple of years and have loved it. It's held at the East Fork of the Bear scout camp and is a great (and cheap) camp to attend.  I'm not sure what my plans are for this year, but I think that I'll be attending either with the Varsity Team that I was previously working with (if they'll have me) or I'll serve on Staff (again if they'll have me). You can see some information here. It's also a great camp for any Varsity Scouters looking to complete some Wood Badge tickets.  They are always looking for Staff Assistance.

It was nearly 18 months ago that I attended Wood Badge.  In fact, the charter for our course is expiring soon (November 19th). I received word this week that the last of the Owls have completed their tickets and that we are the first patrol to complete all of our tickets.  We also received a nice email from our course director. It feels a little like College again, only this time I didn't procrastinate until the very end to get all of the work done and oh how great it feels. I used to be an Owl...

It looks like the Great Salt Lake Council has released the 2009 Wood Badge schedule. You can see it here. I don't really know any of the Course Directors this year, though I've briefly met one of them. What I do know a little bit about is the locations.  It looks like a majority of them will be taught at Camp Tracy this year.  I've been to the training center there only once and it was nice, though I haven't been to Wood Badge there. I've also been to Travis once, but that was simply to drop someone off.  I've never attended any kind of training there. What I do know is the Snyder Mill Lodge is awesome.  It's the May 2009 course.  The facility is great, though you may want to wake up early in order to get a warm shower.  The first floor has several rooms full of bunks which is much better than sleeping in tents each night :D So if you're considering going to Wood Badge, I highly recommend that you go in May 2009.

For some reason I've always been interested in the Coins that the Military and other groups have and trade/give out/collect. I always thought that it was pretty cool to see the different designs and styles. I've got a few Scout coins myself. I received my first when I attended Wood Badge. As we were leaving our Scoutmaster gave us one. I've since then picked up a few others. All of one are Scout coins. The one that isn't a Scout coin was given to me last year at this time. It's a University of Utah Police Department coin and was given to me for my birthday by Ken. It sits on my desk at home and each time I see it I remember different things about him. It's still hard to believe that he's gone. Today is his birthday. Happy Birthday my friend.