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Last night, I talked to a friend of mine, and he asked how things were going in the troop. I told him that I had to do some “soul-searching”…it’s not that I am having all kinds of troubles, I just need a minor course adjustment. That term, soul-searching, may have been a little too much for what I was trying to describe.

I am having some troubles with the direction of my troop. I don’t know if they are scared or haven’t really learned anything. Our last campout left me with second guessing myself, wondering if I am doing right by these scouts. I took to writing a 3 page manifesto, at this point in time, is still undone, but in it, I looked at every angle on things that I need to do to help these scouts. If they fail as a scout, that falls on me…I didn’t teach them correctly.

So I have to make some adjustments to our program so that my boys can get a better experience. I understand that this isn’t a Rockwell painting, but I have the canvas, and I have the paints, and I have the brushes…let’s see what we can create.

>I just posted a new video, a song AND a skit from last weekend’s Webelos Resident Camp…http://www.youtube.com/get_player

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Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent.

The 12 points of the Scout Law. Words to live by. We all know them and as scouters, want our scouts to not only be able to recite them, but to live their everyday lives by them.

Earlier this week, I was at Webelos Camp with my son, and six other boys. Four of the seven are Webelos II, and looking for a troop…this was a good thing for me, as I could do my recruiting right at camp, and not have to make a special trip.

The weekend started on Sunday and was scheduled to end on Wednesday. Some of us decided that we wanted to sleep in our own tents, as opposed to the platform tents. As we set them up, I saw one scout setting up in the same tent as his dad…not a no-no, but I think that it takes away from the scout experience. I asked the scout’s dad why the boy wasn’t going to sleep in the same tent as the rest of the scouts, to which dad had a couple of reasons, such as “he’s not used to being in a tent with other boys” and ” he is a bit shy”…all legitimate reasons, and I had no issues with that. I said, “Oh, OK…that’s your thing, and I am fine with it. I just assumed that Jack would sleep with the other scouts. I like to see the camaraderie that comes out of sharing a tent. But either way, you will still have fun here at camp.”

What I didn’t know, is that Jack was listening to what I was saying. The next morning, Jack’s dad, Jon, approached me and said “Jack told me this morning that he is going to stay in the tent with the rest of the guys, because he heard what you said last night, and thinks that you are right. Thank you for that…”

I was happy about that and went on with my day. A couple of hours later, Jack came up to me and told me “I want to join your troop, I think that we will have a lot of fun.” His dad was pleased, and I asked his dad to be an ASM, to which he accepted. With that bit of recruiting done, the relationship between me and Jack opened up and we started to talk and goof a bit.

We went swimming later that day, and then to the trading post. I was with my boy, Sam, and saw Jack in the store, getting some candy. I didn’t think about it, until later, when Jack approached me while we were lining up for dinner.

“Mr. Cleary, are you going to make coffee in the morning?”

“Sure, I usually boil the water and make instant, but to answer your question, yes, I will be making coffee tomorrow morning for me and Bob.” [Bob is my troop CC, and Jack's WB II Den Leader]

“OK…” said Jack. I thought it was a weird question, so I asked him why?

He got a devilish look on his face and said that he was going to pull a prank on Bob, using his coffee cup. Bob has a flip-top carry mug that he uses for his coffee, and young Jack, the boy who just told me that he wanted to be in my troop, was going to put the sour spray on the lip of the cup.

And hence, Jack now knew the 13^th and 14^th points of the Scout Law…Mischievous and Devious.

I looked at him and said “Jack! I can’t believe that you would do something like that! What is wrong with you?”

He got a bit of a shocked look on his face…

“You don’t put the sour spray on the outside of the lip…unscrew the cover and put it on the inside of the cap, otherwise he will taste it right away…”

We laughed and smiled…

Welcome to 1363, Jack…you should fit right in