Quote of the Week

If youth are denied opportunities to test their own strength, then the leadership foundation will be weak and unready. Equally as serious, however, is thrusting unprepared youth leaders into situations in which they fail because the demands of that situation exceed their experience and capacity. -- Robert L. Backman (Ensign, July 1973, p 84)

It always rains on tents. Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles, against prevailing winds for the opportunity to rain on a tent. -- Dave Barry

Sorry i know it says Quote of the Week but sometimes you just stumble upon multiple quotes when searching that you just have to use.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Junior Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day

Thanks to all the men and women who have served or are currently serving this great country.

Thanks to all those families who have loved ones or have lost loved ones in the line of duty.

We Troop 1616 and the rest of the scouting community proudly support you and the sacrifices that you have made to make this country a great one.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Junior Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616

After Meeting Review

After Meeting Review
Cub Scout Crossover Night 1
May 26, 2008

Yes I know that this seems a little late for most crossover ceremonies because I know the standard is usually sometime in February or March maybe even April but definitely not may. It just happens that this is the best time for the cub scout units up here on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. The Crossover went great, probably should have rehearsed for it a little more but all in all it went absolutely fabulous. This was the event that took place instead of a regular meeting, yeah that probably isn't the best solution but it is what it is.

Thanks to all the new Cub Scouts and their parents for making the decision to join Troop 1616.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Junior Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616

Spring Camporee 2008

Spring Camporee 2008
Tustumena District, Great Alaska Council
May 16 to May 17
May 16

Friday night was arrival and setup night. The major thing was the adults interfering too much in unloading and setting up of the campsite. I expect the adults to be their to assist but it should be the responsible of the SPL for the campout to ensure the site is setup properly and all camp chores are completed. I will be talking to the SPL about the duties of a SPL during a campout in the hear future so he knows that he needs to take a more active participation level in activities. Friday night was Order of the Arrow Tap outs and unit elections. Three people from my troop went through tap outs and those were Leif D, Olen D, and Tony D. After that we a a dutch oven desert, played capture the flag with another unit at the camporee and went to bed.

May 17

Troop wake up time was 7:00 and everybody in the Troop was out of their tents by 7:50, the SPL was one of the last people out of tents which is disappointing to me as the JASM for the weekend because of the fact that it should have been him to wake up the scouts and not me. During this time we cooked dinner and had breakfast done by 8:45 because we started at approximately 7:15 even without the SPL. Cleanup was done by the adults because the adults had the idea of dismissing everyone from the site before cleanup was done. I know that I should probably not be complaining about not having to do dishes but the fact remains that it should have been the youth's responsibility for making sure camp was cleaned up. One of the older scouts did a excellent job cooking and did not have to participate in cleaning but everyone else in the Troop should have assisted in this task. After this their were about six or seven different stations to work through and earn points at, I am not going to spend time explaining each activity but i will say that all the activities put together took about 2 hours to complete. After this competition period came lunch preparation for the Dutch Oven potluck later that afternoon. My Troop decided to do gumbo but forgot the okra so we ended up we a fairly good tasting stew. After the dutch oven competition we had approximately 45 minutes of free time and then site pack up and awards. Our Troop to first place in the camporee and got a ribbon for participation. After this came time for departure. The adults did most of the packing into vehicles which disappointed me again because the youth should have to show some level of responsibility for Troop gear too.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Junior Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616

Tuesday Meeting Review

Troop 1616 After Meeting review
May 13, 2008

The reason why this one is so late is because of homework and having a scouting meeting or activity everyday from tuesday all the way to saturday. Hopefully I will get posts out about the scout activities that happened but I may not. This meeting is the last meeting the regular SPL is not going to show up which is going to give me a chance to take a step back and work on leadership development instead of being in the middle of everything. Being on the frontlines is fun and exciting but it is not my job to be in that position anymore I am a advisor and need to start doing this job more often. Their was one major issue and that was a scout who will not be named showed up to teach a activity but was not ready to teach and I as the JASM had to step in and take over the activity. I was not irritated about it because he let me take charge of the group but the scout should have known that he was not comfortable with the skill and (A) should have not accepted to job assignment or (B) should have asked for assistance in preparing the activity. Everything except for this including the pack inspections went great. We did not have any major gear issues which is a great thing for the Troop.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Junior Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616

Mothers Day

The Scouter's Wife and the Scout's Mother

If your laundry routine includes inspecting for red shoulder tabs ... you might be a Scouter's wife or a Scout's mother.

If a dab of Coleman fuel behind each ear is more alluring to your husband than Chanel No. 5 ... you might be a Scouter's wife.

If your laundry routine includes inspecting for blue cards in shirt pockets .. you might be a Scout's mother.

If a Thursday night family dinner consists of Whoppers in the car in the church parking lot .. you might be a Scouter's wife and a Scout's mother.

If you cook a nice pot roast for supper for the Scoutmaster because he came straight from work to a PLC meeting at your house, and then heat up the leftovers for your husband when he gets home, ... you might be a Scouter's wife.

If your only real vacation in 5 years involves driving from Maryland to Philmont with a carload of boys ... you might be a Scouter's wife.

If your husband plans a "night out with the boys", and you know that it will be a night _outdoors_ with boys ... you might be a Scouter's wife.

If your most memorable vacation with your husband was being the only woman in a crew of nine men and boys on the Allagash River in Maine .. you might be a Scouter's wife.

If you spend your honeymoon wearing green shorts and knee socks ... you might be a new Scouter's wife.

If your husband mutters in his sleep about a ticket, and you know we hasn't just caught speeding .. you might be a Scouter's wife.

If you've converted your dining room into an office, and your garage looks like L.L. Bean's attic .. you might be a Scouter's wife.

If your husband's tan line starts just above his knees, and ends three inches below his knees ... you might be a Scouter's wife.

If you have shelves of coffee mugs, and you don't drink coffee ... you might be a Scouter's wife.

If your best china cup has a 1865 Camporee logo on it .. you might be a Scouter's wife.

If your husband has disappeared, and you know you can always find him at Price Club trying to get a deal on #10 cans of peaches for cobbler ... you might be a Scouter's wife.

If you tell your husband you are expecting to hear the pitter-patter of little feet, and he thinks the PLC meeting is at your house tonight ... you might be a Scouter's wife.

If your husband brings home three rolls of red-white-and-blue ribbon to be sewn into Mothers' ribbons, and says "Don't worry, the Court of Honor isn't until tomorrow night and we only need 15 made" .. . and you don't have a sewing machine ... and you get it done ... you might be a Scouter's wife.

If you just _know_ that the sun room will be finished, right after the next Goshen Bears workend ... you might be a Scouter's wife.

If your family car seats 8, even though there are only 4 in your family ... you might be a Scouter's wife.

If the money collected for your memorial is used to but an air compressor for Scout Camp, and everyone thinks that is just right ... you were a Scouter's wife.

If you keep your Mother's ribbon, with the Eagle pin, with you _forever_, .. you were a Scouter's mother.

Copywrite: Chuck & Nancy May, June 1996.

Congratulations to all those mothers of Scouts and Wifes of Scouters for all your family members to participate and share the gift of scouting with the rest of the world. Without you their would be no scouting community. Thank you Very much.

I wanted to especially thank my own mom, Jennifer.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Junior Assistant Socutmaster
Troop 1616

Picture of the Week

Reminder: Get out There and Do a Good Turn Daily

Quote of the Week

Quote 1
If youth are denied opportunities to test their own strength, then the leadership foundation will be weak and unready. Equally as serious, however, is thrusting unprepared youth leaders into situations in which they fail because the demands of that situation exceed their experience and capacity. -- Robert L. Backman (Ensign, July 1973, p 84)

Quote 2
One hundred years from now it will not matter what your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove; but the world may be different because you were important in the life of a child.- Author Unkown

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Junior Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616

After Meeting Review

After Meeting Review Troop 1616
May 6, 2008

The meeting on May 6, 2008 went fine. The one person who was suppose to run the dutch oven activity did not show up and did not contact me about why they did not show up to the meeting that night. I decided to investigate this issue on Wednesday and found out that it was due to family matters. I was perfectly fine with the the reason why the scout was not able to attend but was slightly disappointed that the scout did not call to inform me about his decision not to attend. The reason why this is important is because what if I was depending on that activity to take up the majority of the meeting, what would I do especially if I had no preparation time for the activity, I can't just cancel the meeting but would be placed in a very hard position. I am not saying that I do not accept that scouts will miss meetings even when they are assigned a specific job but the point I am getting across is that communication between me and scout would have gone a long ways in preventing this situation from developing. The meeting went fine and I split the time between the other two activities. Those two activities were the meal plan for the district camporee which is coming up on the 16 and 17 of may and the other activity was that of a first aid demonstration. I decided not to do a relay which was the original plan due to the fact that only 4 scouts showed up. I know that this seems too small to hold a meeting but the average Troop meeting usually has approximately 10 scouts anyway. In the first aid demonstration I focused on the treatment of fractures. I walked the scouts through upper arm, lower arm, upper leg, lower leg, wrist, and ankle fractures. I did not do neck and spine suspected fractures because those are advanced first aid skills, which do not need to be taught at the boy scout level especially when most of the scouts attending the meeting were not even Tenderfoot Rank yet. The scout who was chosen to lead the meal planning and that person is Zach did a average job in leading the activity. The one thing I think that Zach needs to work on is engaging the really young scouts in planning and logistics and activities. Everybody dislikes these activities but they are necessary in order to ensure the smooth flow of information to the Troop.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Junior Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616