Tonight was a good night…

2 times per year, the troop gets “booted” from the lodge to allow the hunter’s safety group to come in and teach their classes. We take the opportunity to go bowling. Now, we aren’t like Bryan’s troop where we would need a whole bowling alley, but we have pretty good turnout every time we go. Tonight, we had 11 of 13 scouts, one sister and one scout that brought a friend, me, and my 2 ASMs.

As usual, we bowl, eat some fries or pizza or hot dogs or cheese curds (it’s a Wisconsin thing) and the scouts encourage their troopmates to bowl well and to have fun. For the most part, that happened tonight. One scout, who has a down opinion of himself due to some bullying issues, got down on himself and got upset…he was thinking that the other scouts were teasing him and being sarcastic when they told him “good job” and “you can do it!”…

I saw him upset, and went to talk to him. He said that he hates bowling, so I said, “why come if you hate it?”

“Fine, I won’t come again…”

“Well, that’s your decision…you aren’t hurting my feelings by not coming. You will be missing out on hanging out with guys that want to do things with you, not do things that embarrass you. It’s been fun, but if you don’t want to bowl, then don’t” and I walked away. His Dad went over, and the scout got a little more upset…that’s going to happen…the old father-son conflict that’s been happening for millions of years.

He sat there for the rest of the game, and once one game was done, I went over and asked him if he was going to try again…”fine” and he tanked. “See? It’s not like Wii bowling! I can’t do this!”

“Of course it’s not…a Wii remote weighs half a pound, and you don’t really control it…it’s a bunch of ones and zeroes that are telling you that you are doing well. This is a 7 pound round rock getting tossed down a real 50 foot lane, hitting 5 pound blocks of wood…it’s not the same.”

So, wouldn’t you know it…he goes up and tosses the rock…gutter…

He takes his second shot…they all go down…spare. Now he’s happy. I walked over, patted him on the back and said “See? It’s not Wii…but it is practice, and you will get better. Way to go…”

It was one of those moments, a good feel moment…

Oh, and by the way, he won that game against 4 other scouts, buy 7 pins…

Have faith in yourself, and you can do amazing things.

Tonight, we held our OA elections…the first one for our troop. It’s a huge step for us, but it seems that all steps for our troop are huge.

We are building a legacy, one that I hope will be there for years down the road. One step at a time, the foundation is getting stronger and stronger, and our program is getting better for it.

One thing that got me to thinking was how our vote went down…without getting too much into it, one of two scouts was elected, when I thought that both were shoo-ins. Now, before anyone gets on me about what I thought, realize that this was my first OA election…heck, I figured…we have 2 eligible scouts, they will both get 100% of the vote and that will help our program grow.

It didn’t happen that way, and only one got in…the boys spoke. The one scout that didn’t get elected is the son of one of the ASMs. The ASM thinks the results of the OA election was a bad thing for our troop. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him more about it, but I think that it’s actually a good thing.

It shows that the scouts truly have a mind of their own…one scout was deemed worthy, another wasn’t. I thought that both of them were worthy, but was wrong. Maybe this is the wake-up call for one scout…maybe there will be a new light shining on the troop…

Who knows, but things are certainly going to be different from now on…

Our first campout of the new year…our focus for the month was the Winter Camping program and for the most part, we did pretty darn well with it.

We met at the Lodge on Friday night and trekked to our site…no, not outside. The scouts don’t think that they are equipped well enough, and a couple of them would like to take OKPIK before trying in out on the troop. I respect their decisions, so I was fine with staying indoors.

We drove to Camp Rokilio…the council’s Cub Scout Camp. Yea, back to where almost all of these guys started. We didn’t stay in one of the theme buildings, but instead, we stayed in one of the 3 room lodges. One center room, 2 bedrooms, a kitchen and a water closet. Not really roughing it, but the accommodations are not the point. We arrived to camp later, around 8 pm…about enough time to get set up, squared away and have a bit of cracker barrel. With our tummies full, the scouts went off to bed, and played the goof-off game for awhile. I poked my head in the room and recommended that they get some shut-eye, as we would have a busy day the next day.

We rose the next morning, and each patrol’s Grubmaster prepared breakfast and everyone ate. They got squared away and assembled in the commons. I pulled out our new Brunton Orienteering Education set. I went through the nomenclatures and handed out the compasses. We then went outside, out on the lake and practice pace counts and “Red in the Shed”…they did wonderful and were really into it when they realized that they made a square…not individually, but as a team.

The rest of the day was filled with designing their ideal patrol site and sledding. One scout wanted to earn his 2nd class, so we went out to the fire pit and he struggled to build the fire…yes, he didn’t need to light it, but even if he would have had to, it would have never lit. So with the help of the Scoutmaster, the SPL guided the scout to building a fire. We tried to light it later, but things weren’t going our way, and we decided cracker barrel and cocoa were better options.

The scouts played some games, but for the most part, they were ready for the sack…lights out and all sleeping by 9:30, with the adults soon behind.

I awoke first on Sunday morning. I decided to clean up all the food, and get breakfast ready for the scouts before we departed. Fruit, cereal, bagels and milk was placed out…the adult patrol, decided on Mountain Man. As I got the food out, one of the dads came in and asked why I was getting the boys’ breakfast…

“Well, it’s kind of my penance for what I am about to do…” and I started to hum Zippity-Do-Dah…

Let’s just say that the more experienced scouts knew what was going on, so they were awake…the rest of them got waken up to a rousing chorus of the song, along with what they must have thought was an earthquake, as their beds were shaken ever so gently.

Welcome to 1363, newbies…you are now “my boys”…

We talk about discipline in the sense that it’s a bad thing, that it’s a punishment.

From Wikipedia

In its original sense, discipline is referred to systematic instruction given to disciples to train them as students in a craft or trade, or to follow a particular code of conduct or “order”. Often, the phrase “to discipline” carries a negative connotation. This is because enforcement of order – that is, ensuring instructions are carried out – is often regulated through punishment. Discipline is also believed to be one of the main pillars of our modern life, according to many different religious beliefs.

I had mentioned it before and have been talking about it with my other leaders. The reason that we have been talking about discipline in the troop was based on one of my last posts, the one with the decision of the scouts to go elsewhere. I was told that one boy went to the other troop because I have too much discipline in our troop…that’s not the case.

There are a set of rules, put in place by the PLC, that the scouts are expected to follow. Most of the rules are based on the Scout Oath and Scout Law. If you follow those, then there really is no reason to have any other kind of rules. Now, our troop has a couple of guidelines when it comes to behaviors, but nothing set in stone. Each case is going to present itself in a different manner, so each case will have a different outcome.

When I was told that we have too much discipline, at first, I took that to heart. No, we don’t…we don’t punish anyone or make anyone do something over and over again until they get it right. Then I realized the were may be too disciplined…in the true sense of the word.

Our scouts expect more from each other than their counterparts. They laid out the expectations, and they are the ones that want everyone to do the right thing. Some scouts are used to running around, goofing off, and doing whatever they feel like, and wait for one of the adults to step in and “ruin their fun”.

Our scout’s self-discipline has led to a higher quality program, and the scouts in the troop now, don’t expect any less, and I don’t think that they will allow that quality to get any lower. Through their high expectations and strong self-discipline, they have matured and learned many things that I wouldn’t expect boys of that age to do.

I am happy that we have too much discipline, it keeps the boy’s eye’s on the prize, and keeps me in my easy chair with a cup of coffee. Sure it sounds lazy, but why do for a boy when he can do for himself?