April Outing Review

April Outing- Hidden Lake Campground
April 18 and 18, 2008
Friday April 18, 2008

The Troop meet at the Soldotna Church of Christ which is our charter organization at 5 pm. After determining that the baxter family was either going to arrive late friday night or early saturday morning the Troop leadership made the decision to depart. The Troop departed from the church at 5:30 pm and were all on site by 6:30 pm. Site setup began after we arrived, I would probably have liked the adults to give the youth more space for figuring out how to setup the tent as a group but other than that setup for the Troop went great. After that we had a dinner of hamburgers and hotdogs which were cooked by two youngers scouts. After dinner the Troop hung out around the fire or went exploring until it became to dark to be considered safe. At 10:30 I met with the other three older scouts on the outing and told them that they would each be mentoring a younger scout during the lashings and tower building exercise tomorrow morning and then that the older scouts expect me would have the afternoon to do whatever they want while the new young scouts started work on some basic advancement skills.

Saturday April 19, 2008

The leadership group got up at 6:15 am and woke the rest of the Troop up at 6:30 am. wakeup went fairly smoothly which surprised because the standard wake up time for the Troop is a lot later than this. After this we had younger scouts supervised by me cook breakfeast. This cooking of breakfeast went according to plan and were done on time which was important due to the amount of time it took to finish the lashings activity. I served as a floater walking around the structure the troop was trying to lash together providing insights and information to the rest of the group. Each younger scout would work with the other older scouts to ensure that the lashing was done properly. This activity went fine and I was surprised and impressed by how much Zach stepped up and show leadership and expertise to the rest of the scouts. This showing of leadership this weekend made me realize how dedicated and committed to serving younger scouts Zach is. This person has now shown that he is not only able but willing to help others especially younger members when called upon. Don't get me wrong I was impressed with Tyler and Tony but Zach really stood out based on their performance levels. Hopefully Zach's example will continue to be a positive example for the Troop to follow. The major issue was with a young scout that I will call "Youngling A" even though this is not the person's name it most appropriate because unfortunately I am going to have to criticize. The problem with youngling A is that if you were not exactly on time or with his idea of things are suppose to be run this person would become slightly rude or abnoxious. To me this is somewhat normal for the new scout to exhibit but should be rectified because it makes the doer's life and the leader's life a little rougher than should. Even though it is somewhat of a normal pattern to new scouts i am not saying that it is a appropriate or mature thing to do. Other than this, their were no other major leadership or behavioral issues.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Junior Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616