Ex (or current) Boy scouts Check in!

[Superfly]

How far did you go in Scouts? Any good memories?

I attribute a large amount of my success today to the values and lessons I learned in the Boy Scouts. I cannot wait until I have kids and I can volunteer with them.

[terrya]

1. I quit the Scouts after a couple years.

Which was rather far sighted for me, since they don't want my kind (gay) in their organization, anyway.

[GOPisEvil]

2. I am an Eagle Scout, and I learned a lot.

However, if I have kids (and that's a large if), I would do LOTS of research about the local BSA organization. I know the Nationals are corrupted by Right Wingers (they had ANN FUCKING COULTER speak to them), but maybe the locals have it together.

I think it's a good organization in terms of the positive impact it can have, but I think they are out of touch with my views on tolerance at this time.

[Superfly]

5. The problem I have is

that most Scout Troops are sponsored by ultra-conservative organizations like churches and the military.

[GOPisEvil]

7. Exactly. Although...my troop's sponsor was an elementary school.

That's where we had our meetings.

There are some liberal churches out there that sponsor troops. That's why I think a lot of research is in order.

[Superfly]

11. Here is a list of troops from my local council...

Pretty much all churches except 2.

Troop 1, First Christian Church, Norfolk
Troop 6, Great Bridge Baptist Church, Chesapeake
Troop 12, Providence Presbyterian Church, Virginia Beach
Troop 24, Larchmont United Methodist Church, Norfolk
Troop 48, Great Bridge United Methodist Church, Chesapeake
Troop 57, Great Bridge Presbyterian Church, Chesapeake
Troop 65, Foundry United Methodist Church, Virginia Beach
Troop 66, Kempsville Ruritan Club, Virginia Beach
Troop 151, Elizabeth City Rotary Club, Elizabeth City
Troop 158, Shiloh Baptist Church, Shiloh
Troop 179, St. John the Apostle Catholic Church, Virginia Beach
Troop 212, Aldersgate United Methodist Church, Chesapeake
Troop 306, St. Luke's United Methodist Church, Virginia Beach
Troop 362, Community United Methodist Church, Virginia Beach
Troop 370, McKendree United Methodist Church, Norfolk
Troop 375, Old Donation Episcopal Chapel, Virginia Beach
Troop 378, Virginia Beach United Methodist Church, Virginia Beach
Troop 391, Bayside Baptist Church, Virginia Beach
Troop 392, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 392, Virginia Beach
Troop 405, Glenwood Baptist Church, Virginia Beach
Troop 408, Church of the Ascention, Virginia Beach
Troop 413, Hickory Ruritan Club, Chesapeake
Troop 471, Salem United Methodist Church, Virginia Beach
Troop 473, Courthouse Estates Civic League, Virginia Beach
Troop 488, Congregation Beth Chaverim, Virginia Beach
Troop 493, Wycliffe Presbyterian Church, Virginia Beach
Ship 671, Islamic Sea Scouts of Hampton Roads, Chesapeake
Troop 777, Church of the Holy Family, Virginia Beach
Troop 791, Nimmo United Methodist Church, Virginia Beach
Troop 828, Centerville Baptist Church, Chesapeake

[GOPisEvil]

17. There are a few choices...like I said...research.

Find out about the church that sponsors the troop. Some churches are ACTUAL REL-LIVE Christians, not the fakers.

[Superfly]

18. Whoa!!!

Check out this troop!

Ship 671, Islamic Sea Scouts of Hampton Roads, Chesapeake

Their website: http://hometown.aol.com/alislam4/

I thought the BSA was 100% Christian?

[GOPisEvil]

21. No no...the Scout Law says REVERENT...

You only have to believe in God; doesn't say which God.

I noticed that; I think it's pretty cool. I learned a lot about other religions from scouting; most notably Judaism and LDS.

[terrya]

14. The Mormon Church is a big sponsor of the Scouts. eom

[Kolesar]

10. BSA did not seem that way in the 1970s

They used to have messages like SOAR, "Save Our American Resources". It sounds like there has been a concerted effort to ruin the Boy Scouts. Btw, I am a "Bicentennial Year Eagle Scout". I have this little leftover Webelos Scout "Constitution Pin" that I wear on my lapel sometimes.

(Ann Fucking Coulter! That is an outrage.)

[GOPisEvil]

15. I have my bicentennial scouting stuff too.

I was a mere Cub back then. Joined the Boy Scouts in 1979; made Eagle in 1983. :-)

Like most parts of Amerika, the BSA has been corrupted by the ultra-right wing. :-(

[Kolesar]

20. I see scout troops when I am backpacking, &wonder if I should talk to them

"look away boys, there is a godless unmarried heathen who backpacks into God's country to fornicate with his girlfriend"

"and smoke the demon weed"

[GOPisEvil]

22. *snarf*

My troops smoked the demon weed on camping trips. We fornicated a lot too, but not with each other! We were the anti-troop. :D

[Kolesar]

24. "destroyer of youth" eom

[Throckmorton]

36. Were we in the same troop, boner, is that you?

Boy scouts was time away from the 'rents.

I also beleive that most troops are what you choose to make out of them.

[GOPisEvil]

37. Troop 713, Universal City, TX

If "Boner" was my nickname, you guys said it behind my back! :P

[thom1102]

56. I DID fornicate with a lot of my troop!

well, some of them, anyway. "There was this one time, at scout camp" came about for a reason!

[Ediacara]

3. big gay eagle scout here

[sexybomber]

4. I quit in protest of them barring gays.

Even though I'm straight, I didn't want to associate myself with an organization that bans gays for no apparent reason. It was taking up too much of my time anyway.

[Drifter]

6. I forget the rank that I made ...

perhaps 2 or 3 steps up.

The only reason that I joined BS was to do the camping trips. I have hiked 50 miles and canoed 50 miles in the Adirondacks. I have been to most of the high peaks in NY (Denver stop snikering).

While I have respect for anyone who makes Eagle Scout, I don't think rank is very important. It is the personal experience that is important.

Cheers
Drifter

[Zolok]

8. Another eagle here...

in was a much more tolerant organization back in the late seventies when I was a pup...
But the Mormons and the Baptists charged in and have completely corrupted and organization once famous for it's broadmindedness.
C'est la vie...gave up on the organization when they pulled whatzisnames eagle after he was outed IN COLLEGE....
I mean he had no contact at the BSA at that point and they pulled his effin' eagle-spiteful bastards!

www.chimesatmidnight.blogpsot.com

[Aristus]

9. I got as far as Tenderfoot, then quit out of sheer boredom.

Actually, I'm glad I did; seems the Scouts have become an instrument of the devil by masquerading as a tool of God. If there was just one place, one place where gays would be accepted for who they are, and not what they are, you'd think it would be the Scouts. I'm not gay, but it's the principle of the thing.

"We don't accept......well...THEM!"

Who the f**k wants to be part of an organization like that? May as well join an ultra-right-wing whites only country club.

[KinkyDem]

12. I quit

after I was beaten by the majority of my troop aas the troop leaders looked on and encouraged them.

The reason for this beat down, I did not know and so could not recite the Lords Prayer, what ever the fuck that is anyway. I still don't knopw and don't realy care.

I know that my children will NEVER associate with those evil bigoted people..

[thom1102]

13. It's a sshame, because I agree with you about

attributing my success to the lessons and values I learned as a boy scout, and I have years of great memories of my time in scouting, and the summers as staff at camp. But their association with extremist on the national level is unconscionable to me. I guess I am just waiting for the pendulum to swing back.

[GOPisEvil]

19. Another camp staff guy here!

:hi: I worked in the aquatics area. We called ourselves "The Bronze Gods". :D

[thom1102]

28. I started out on the waterfront...

My second year, though, I started breaking out, (not that bad, really. Typical teenage acne)and my mom worried about it so she took me to a dermatologist. He put me on Retin-A and Tetracyclin, which both have bad reactions with the sun. They doctor told me that if I wore lot's of sunscreen and kept covered, that I would be ok. Well week 2 I got second degree sunburn on my shoulders after spending the day with my t-shirt on (I am also very fair, and sensitive to sunlight anyway, being Irish), and they took me off the waterfront and put me in the camp store.

I stayed there that summer and the next, and then my last summer, at 17, I was no longer taking medication, and they put me back on the waterfront. Again, week 2, my appendix ruptured and I was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. That was the end of my camp days.

[Loonman]

16. Scouting rounds a guy out

The skills I have learned are indispensible.

[TlalocW]

I never made it past my 3rd badge

The first four badges the Cub Scout earns are all diamond shaped and fit together to make a larger diamond on your uniform (at least they were back then). I seem to remember they're named after animals - wolf, bear, etc. but I can't remember what they were for.

Being a scout was very boring as our scout masters weren't all that great, and we never did anything exciting.

Now I refuse to give money to any organization such as United Way that supports the Scouts. I give it to other charities.

TlalocW

[Superfly]

25. Bobcat?

Wolf, bear, webelo I think?

[arwalden]

23. I Can't Recall Our Troop Number... But It Was At Langley AFB

[trotsky]

26. I was a Cub scout as a kid, now I will have nothing to do with them.

I enjoyed the activities and crafts tremendously. But I will not be signing my son up for scouts, due to their discriminatory policies. I support gay rights, and we're atheists, so on both counts I oppose the scouts.

[Lars39]

27. Scouting family......

son's working on Eagle project right now. My dad was scoutmaster for years about 45 yrs ago. Scouting has changed.

[drb]

29. Being a Scout...

...was definitely one of the best things that ever happened to me. Sid Lynch was my scoutmaster, and a true inspiration to every guy in the troop - he drove a great old GMC truck and rode a Harley - how cool is that?!? Plus he was an ex-marine, and a fan of Mad magazine and Robert W. Service poetry.

Just about the single coolest individual I ever met. Taught us a bunch about life and being outdoors.

[pansypoo53219]

30. does being a brownie count?

although once i hit girl scouts, i wasn't much into it.
but i followed what my brother was doin in cub scouting.

[ulysses]

31. Eagle

but my children will not be unless the organization pulls its head out of its ass on gays and atheists.

[mitchum]

32. Life Scout and Order of the Arrow

[GOPisEvil]

34. I did the OA thing, too.

I did some ceremonies, and service work with them. I was lodge elections chairman one year. Talk about a thankless job...

[Loonman]

35. Thankless

Try being Vigil Chief.

What a barrel of laughs that was.

Up all night, grabbing a few hours of sleep in an Admin. lodge closet.


Or being on ceremonies team and getting complained at by some jackass Scoutmaster because we had to eat at different times in the dining hall from being out at the site ALL DAMN DAY!

[GOPisEvil]

38. Oh yeah...very true.

Although...I was a mere Brotherhood member. I didn't have the deidcation to the cause to be Vigil. Although, most of my very good friends are.

[Loonman]

41. Usually I just did ceremonies team every year

Until I got nominated and elected Chief for one year. Why, I don't know....

Maybe because I never complained about anything, ever, but I preferred to just do ceremonies because you weren't stuck in camp the whole time.

[mitchum]

47. our OA activities mostly consisted of smoking a lot of pot...

in the woods. It was the 70s

[Kellanved]

33. Ex-Scout

But I don't know how the level translates (was Rover, Leader in training). I quit when I moved to Berlin; was in the DPSG (catholic Scouts). Far less "militaristic" as the US scouts and despite the Catholic church being behind it dominated by protestants.

[greendog]

39. Eagle Scout

I think I learned more in scouts than I did in school. :)

[Nailzberg]

40. OA and only first class? That's me.

Hey, I didn't give a shit about merit badges. I like camping and hiking and building things. I did get some cool merit badges, like wilderness survival, riflery, achery, stuff like that. I enjoyed the volunteering that our scout troop did. But really I never was motivated by making Eagle scout, so merit badges were meaningless to me.

I loved scouting, and I think it's a wonderful experiance for kids, and can really teach you alot. Too bad the national organization is overrun with bigotry. I would consider if I had kids, allowing them to join, but I'd need to really check out the local troops to make sure they were tolerant groups.

EAST CAMP RULES WEST CAMP SUCKS

[Superfly]

42. Anybody been to Philmont in NM?

That was the single most formative event in my young life. I still think on that trip as if it happened yesterday....it's 16 years later.

[GOPisEvil]

43. I went (gulp) 20 years ago.

Breathtaking. I'd love to go back someday.

[Superfly]

44. I was there for the diamond jubilee in 1987

Never did the Tooth of Time, but we did do every other damned peak! I think our trip was 125 miles long. The ones they're running today have a max length of 60 miles, I believe.

B

[GOPisEvil]

45. We did the tooth, Baldy, but not Black Mountain

A guy on our trek hurt his leg, so we went AROUND Black Mountain. Lengthened our trek significantly, but it was cool.

[Superfly]

49. I loved the sweat lodges at 1/2 of the camps

Really let you unwind after a long stroll through the Sangres.

[GOPisEvil]

53. Oh yeah...I have never felt that clean before or since!

I thought I could actually hear my pores slamming open! The sounds of my pores slamming closed were drowned out by the screams of someone who has just jumped into cold mountain stream water!

[greendog]

50. I went to Philmont in 1972...

from Indiana, and I've been in love with the west ever since. Beautiful place.

[Lars39]

51. Son went a few yrs ago. He loved it.

Wanted to go back when he was recuperated!

[ulysses]

52. yup! 19...

85? I think that was it.

Started my love affair with New Mexico...

[qb]

46. My Weebelo troop leader wasn't very inspiring...

I dropped out because the meetings interfered with my watching "The Swiss Family Robinson" TV series. Anyway, I'm an atheist now, and they wouldn't want me.

It's too bad the Boy Scouts aren't as enlightened as the Girl Scouts. My daughter's Brownie troop substitutes "Good" for "God" whenever it comes up in a pledge or other recited text.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

48. It was all about the camping for me.

We went at least one weekend a month all year long.

[prolesunited]

54. I was a Girl Scout

They actually kicked me out. :evilgrin:

[Beer Snob-50]

55. I am the scoutmaster of a local troop

I have made it so that we are very open to all.

[electricmonk]

57. Got kicked out.

Didn't give the older kids respect 'cause I went to school with them and hated them, hated wearing the uniform and got busted sneaking some booze on a camping trip.

Parents pretty much forced me to sign up to begin with and when a friend said he was going to I said what the hell the camping and hiking will be fun.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

58. my bro is an Eagle scout

he hated boy scouts but stuck through it anyway!