Mourning of a lost Cub Scout

A 6 year old named Micheal james Stokes from Leavittsberg, Ohio was swimming with a group of cub scouts and then as the group was getting ready to leave they noticed that james was missing and found him drowning in the pool. Originally the boy was still breathing but unfortunately stopped breathing once he was at the surface. This incident was purely accidently and i hope the media does not take advantage of this story and turn it against the Boy Scouts like they usually do.

Please send your thoughts and prayers to his family.

Also please feel free to see the complete news story at the following site.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
Great Alaska COuncil
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
NSJ '05 WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08

Post Slacking

I know in august I am suppose to be having a good month and able to keep up with my goal of 20 posts a month will most definitely not be met. The primary reason is that I have left for college and this week getting ready for college has consumed the majority of my time. Most of the family and friends believe that I need to take a serious break from scouting especially during my first semester in college. I probably will not take this advice for two reasons. The first one is because scouting is my ultimate passion and it drives me crazy to think that if I were to follow there advice I would have to give up scouting for a extended period of time.I know that this advice does make sense if I use purely logic but using purely logic ll the time is not enough to satisfy certain peoples needs.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
Great Alaska COuncil
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
NSJ '05 WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08

As an American, I will do my best to Be clean in my outdoor manners. Be careful with fire.Be considerate in the outdoors. and Be conservation minded.

This is the outdoor code which all scouts should follow whenever they are enjoying the outdoors even when they are not n scout outings. These statements are more than just simple words. I have come to the conclusion that if more americans followed these simple rules the environment would be much better off.

One thing that I would like to say is that I love technology and think that the majority of technology, tools, and toys we have as americans are good things but we as a society need to learn how to use them in order respect and preserve the world around us. I am definitely not a super environmentalist or what most people would consider a tree hugger. I believe that the world needs these people in order to make progress but I do not expect that the whole world will become like this because it will never happen. I do know that we all need to do little things to better preserve the environment.

The last note that I am going to leave you guys with is a answer to a common question I get from scouts during cleanup at the conclusion of a activity or outing. The reason why cleaning up another persons mess at the end of the outing is because if we don't do it then who will. The funny thing about this is that everyone wants to camp in a clean campsite when using public facilities but no one is willing to claim responsibility for the mess and clean it up. So if others do want to do it, and the scouts are not going to be environmental stewards then who will become our environmental stewards. We need environmental stewards because people are not careful and because there are others who just don't care.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
Great Alaska COuncil
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
NSJ '05 WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08

Quote of the Week- Fitness

Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person's physical, emotional, and mental states. ~Carol Welch

Exercise is a dirty word. Every time I hear it, I wash my mouth out with chocolate. ~Author Unknown

The body of man is a machine which winds its own springs.
- J. O. De La Mettrie

True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; the two are united.
- Alexander von Humboldt

Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness.
- Earl of Derby

If you don't do what's best for your body, you're the one who comes up
on the short end. - Julius Erving

Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while
movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it. -
Plato

The higher your energy level, the more efficient your body. The more
efficient your body, the better you feel and the more you will use your
talent to produce outstanding results. - Anthony Robbins

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
Great Alaska COuncil
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
NSJ '05 WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08

Swanson River Trip After Report

I think that all of the Troop had a great time during the trip. It was really fun to see the scouts go from barely somewhat experienced to a moderate level of experience. The Trip difficulty level in my opinion definitely suited the experience level of the boys. The group was between 12 and 14 years old. I know that seems like they are a little young for a back country trip like this but overall all the scouts did really well. One thing that all of the adults could have worked on was being a little more patient we it comes to the speed and ability levels of the scouts. I do not think that had a very large negative impact but time will be the only way to tell whether or not it will have a impact. Other than that the adults and the boys had a really fun time .

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
Great Alaska COuncil
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
NSJ '05 WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08