You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face… The danger lies in refusing to face the fear, in not daring to come to grips with it… You must make yourself succeed every time. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.  Eleanor Roosevelt

The Troop will be leaving for BTSR in the Davis mountains in west Texas at the end of the week. The boys and a few adults went through the gear, serviced and washed the trailers, so we would be ready for the trip out there.

BTSR happens to be my favorite camp and this will be my third time there. I will be with the high adventure group at Calvary for the week. The rest of the group will be at base camp while the newer boys will be working on their trail to eagle and the older ones attending MB classes.

 In the last few weeks we have had two of our Scouts become Eagle Scouts. Casey and Cameron had their BOR’s and are now officially Eagle Scouts. Congratulations to these two young men. All we need now is to celebrate their achievements at the upcoming Court of Honors.

 In the past week I have had the pleasure of having two Eagle Scoutmaster conferences with two other Scouts. all that is left for them is paperwork and the BOR’s.

Today, we started locating all our gear for next week’s week long excursion to Buffalo Trails Scout Ranch.  In doing so, I realized that a couple of our lids and straws to our beloved Camel Bak Water Bottles had perished.  Off to the internet I went to seek out locations where I could replenish our supply.  To my delight, I happened upon a website called trailspace.com.  Who knew that the lids were designed to fit other bottles. With this knowledge, I can outfit our other bottles with the anti-leak protection I’ve come to depend on.  Go check out the site and see what you can learn about.

If you are here, and you are a male scout leader… Happy Father’s Day.  It includes all of you; whether or not you actually have a child.  If you are an adult scout leader, and you are a male, you are a father to them all.  I hate to pull out the gushy words, but you nurture these boys, and mold them into stronger, more resourceful individuals.  Without your care, what else would they be doing?  What trouble might they be in?  Without your guidance, what would they do in an emergency?  What experiences have they had that they might not have otherwise?

So for all this; thanks Dad!  Even if you aren’t biologically one yet.

Wondering what the title means? The Sam Houston Area Council is promoting this very heavy. Those scout savvy may recognize this as the year for BSA’s 100th. anniversary. The Council is planning a Council wide campout on this date at Texas World Speedway near College Station. Packs, Troops, Crews and Ships are all invited. Packs will be there for the day while Troops and Crews will be camping. Unfortunately they turned down my request for Troop trailer races around the track. Our troop is already making plans to be there. Not all the details have been planned out, but it sounds like this will be the campout of the century.

It is important to remember that before any big adventure, one must be certain they are physically prepared for the tasks to follow.  Simply said.  Be prepared.

This year’s summer camp is going to involve a lot of fun.  However, some of the scouts and leaders will need to do a little preparation.  Two of our fearless leaders will become life guards.  It is impairative that they practice thier strokes ahead of time to be sure they can meet the rigorous requirements to pass the course.  Others will be hiking two miles up hill with all their gear for the week.  OK…  to some of you I know that is hilarous.  But to someone who isn’t used to carrying 70 pounds on their back, much less, up a hill for two miles, it’s a little daunting.

Think about what your unit has ahead of them and how you can help them prepare so that everyone will have a fun time at the event.  I for one am on my way downtown with the family to walk around in the heat, on the (hold laughter please) hills of Buffalo Bayou.  For those unfamiliar with Houston, there are no real hills here, only bridges.

Before I can take on the task of getting the troop and crew pumped up about geocaching, I have to master it.   Ok, I have to at least have a better idea of what I am doing.  I have tried to get prepared by glancing through my book on geocaching (Scout Shop), training (thanks Todd!), and research on geocaching.com where I found a set of 8 caches within, literally, a mile of my house.  My son is going to take on today’s adventure with me and we are not coming home until we’ve found at least three of them.  Should I tell him that?  Nah.  I’m really excited about it.  Today’s the day I am going to be successful.  I’m sure of it.  :: gulp ::

In preparation, I am setting up a backpack to be sure we’ll have everything we need.

GPS (Garmin Oregon 300)       Print outs from geocaching.com
Water bottles                          Long Pants (learned that the hard way)
Small 1st Aid Kit                       Hiking Boots (to protect our feet)
Bug Spray                                Camera (for proof of this day)
Snack (could take a while)       Non-food Goodies to take one, leave one
Pen                                          Paper (in case of damaged/full logs)

Don’t forget to include the local scout shop on your list of places to go when gathering items for your vacations this summer.  Have your scout ask the advancement chair to print a list of his merit badges and work with the scout to figure out what can be worked into the trip.  If there are merit badges he hasn’t started yet, like fishing, hiking, or Citizen in the Community or Nation, then he can talk to the merit badge counselor(s) and scout master to get a blue card.  Last, stop off at the scout shop for the merit badge book and your scout will have something to read on the way before accomplishing requirements to get to his next rank.  Oh, and don’t forget his scout book because there might be things he can work torward in that too.  Be sure to have him document what he does, and if possible, take pictures.  That will make it easier for him to get things signed off when he gets back.  Pictures… hmm… does your scout know there is a photography merit badge?

Have a safe summer!  Don’t forget to check in here for Troop 483’s and Crew 483’s adventures too!

Have you seen the new BSA commercial on TV?  It flashes the Scout Law, starting and ending with TRUSTWORTHY before focusing on a man is climbing a mountain, setting his next anchor.  As he struggles to pull a climbing device from his bag, a Scout quickly rappels down to the man with his wallet and tells him he had dropped it at the base of the climb.  The man watches, puzzled, as the scouts gives the wallet back and then the boy takes off out of sight as the narrator talks about character.