Shake Down

[wagionvigil]

WEstmoreland-Fayette had their Shake down this weekend at Eberly Scout Reservatioin Camp Conestoga. I went up to get my JSP,s and my Lodge Flaps for the Jamboree but stayed and helped a bit.
Eamonn is the SM of one of the troops and found out he had back surgery this week so he was awol.. ALso this weekend was the unveiling of the Gateway and JSP honoring Mister Rogers FRed was a native of Latrobe,Pa. in our council and Mrs. R and Mr McFeeley were on hand for the unveiling . The gateway includes one of the Trollys from the SHow. Wagion is doing a flap and full poscket for the Jamboree it is pretty nice.

[DPuck]

shake down for what?

[hops_scout]

The Jamboree!!!

[Billiken]

ALso this weekend was the unveiling of the Gateway and JSP honoring Mister Rogers Fred was a native of Latrobe,Pa. in our council and Mrs. R and Mr McFeeley were on hand for the unveiling . The gateway includes one of the Trollys from the SHow. Wagion is doing a flap and full poscket for the Jamboree it is pretty nice.

Sounds impressive.

Please post a picture or two when you get a chance.
Thanks.

[Eamonn]

I was upset about missing the weekend.
I wanted to get up there for it. But Her That Must Be Obeyed, got to the Doctor before I did. He said I wasn't allowed to go.
On the good side, I found out that he has two boys in Scouting and is willing to circulate a FOS letter to the other members of the hospital staff, the hospital isn't in the District I serve so it isn't going to count toward our goal.
The SPL said things went well (That's a good Lad!!)
I had to smile two ASM's complained about Scouts not being able to tie knots needed to put up brand spanking new tents. One ASM is the SM of a Troop which has ten Scouts attending and the other is a ASM from another troop which has six Scouts attending. A lot of the boys unable to tie a tautline were from their home troops. All Scouts are supposed to be First Class Scouts. Me thinks that something is rotten in Denmark.
Talking with the other Scoutmaster, he tells me that the changes we made in equipment will really make a big difference. We went from wood tent stakes to metal tent stakes and changed from dining fly's to the framed garage port type shelters.
It took the troop a little over 3 hours to get everything including the gateway up. There were a few moans and groans about the amount of work this entailed and a few Lads thought it was "Slave Labor". I hate to have to tell them how much harder it will be when the ground is as hard as a rock, the temp is in the high 90's and before they start they will have had to unload the truck!!
Please don't tell Vigil Wagion, but I really dislike the two part Lodge Flap and it will get in th way of the Scouts wearing the Jamboree Emergency Preparedness award!! Why can't a flap just be a flap? With all the over-sized patches we look like Christmas Trees!!

[wagionvigil]

Remember E the yout made the decision I am glad you are feeling better. I have a proposition for you and your troop so I will speak to you about it later. Talked to The other troop already!

[Eamonn]

Thanks for the call.
I had a little Lad and his Dad arrive at the house on Tuesday. The Lad is a super nice Lad, who is going to the Jambo. He needed approval for his Eagle Scout Service Project.
The project was a good one, but he really hadn't put down on paper very much in the way of a plan.
I gave him my very best "Plan your work and work your plan speech" I went over the leadership skills that he would need to use to complete his project.
As with so many Lads we see they just hate writing things down on paper. I could tell that my plan your work speech wasn't making it. I had also given him a few wise words on communication, so letting him go unsure not knowing what I was talking about wasn't an option.
As it happened on my desk I had all the plans from the shakedown weekend, the menus, the equipment lists, notes from all the Jamboree Committee meetings.
I showed him these and asked what might have happened if we hadn't done all this before the shakedown? I seen the light go on. He understood what I was talking about.
The Lad only lives half a mile down the road and he wasn't upset when I asked him to come back when he had come up with a real plan.
This got me thinking how very lucky we are that we have so many people who do so much, for no reward. I will get to attend the Jamboree and share in the fun and excitement that the Scouts experience, we have people that have worked their tails off in order to ensure that the Jamboree is a success, they do my life a lot easier. I know that without them and the work they do I would never get it all done.
We owe so much to these guys and the Jamboree Staffers who not only bring their knowledge and experience to the Jamboree for our Scouts to enjoy and benefit from, they lay out their hard earned cash to do so. I hate to even imagine how much the Jamboree would cost if all these guys and girls were to be paid.
I don't think that there will be a lot of time at the Jamboree to thank these guys and the Council people who do so much. But please know that I do appreciate what you do, our Scouts may not see it now but as they get older they do understand how much effort you all put in and in twenty years from now they will be telling their kids that they went to the 2005 Jamboree, they will say this with great pride and with a smile.
So in case I get busy and am having too much fun Thank You.

[t305spl]

I am off to my council shake down weekend for the jamboree. That means I have to pack. I will let you all know how it went.