What do you do when your all packed up to go backpacking and everyone cancels on you?

Ok. So we put on the official calendar a 15 mile hike to pickup for the Gold Hiking Merit. Weeks out it's talked up. 1 week out... temps are forecasted into the 11 degree range. Soon and very soon the calls and emails start coming in or not coming in... can't go...uhum.... pretty soon Only one going is Me and my backpacking buddy Rob. So on 6:30 am the day we are to leave .....errr hum... it's going to be cold...no boys are going. If I was to cancel this would be the one to cancel he said.

I said. My backpack is packed my food is packed my backpack is in the front room ready to go... we don't have to go if you don't want to. Since no boys are going...I can stay home and hang Christmas Lights and replace 3 light switches and fix a few other things and go shopping with my wife and eat at Red Lobster and stop by and pickup a new North Face Jacket and buy some survival knives for Rangers..... man o man I could have saved 500.00 smackers if I had went backpacking.

Moral of the story? Not every event is going to be a smashing success. Just don't make a habit out of it. The good news. A outpost up north in our District had a winter survival campout and had a great time shooting guns, bows, making tarp shelters and hanging out around the fire.

It's all Good when Jesus is in it.

Mark Jones

Been there, done that. Although we no longer had Rangers, the "new guy" was on his way out. I got approval to take boys and men to last summer's PowWow. Everyone got excited. But the week before, it was down to me and a Dad with his boy. Two days later, it was just me. I should have gone by myself and just put my feet up all weekend. But 200 miles each way is a long ways to go for something I could do at home.

Mark Jones wrote:...... the Gold Hiking Merit.  

Gold???? are we talkin old school here?

Well your right the information is right here. Under the Green merit reference...... errr um.... can we get a update?
http://agwebservices.org/Content/Resources/hiking.pdf

Old School. Mid School. Pre School. Post School. GRIN!
Ever just want to strangle a God fearing Ranger Program Changing changeling? (I admit.... more than I really should)... GRIN!

Mark Jones

I would have still gone to pow wow for us it's the biggest event of the year even when Camporama is due. Main reason for the this weekends failure was the cold weather in the teens and going to a place that doesn't have the Arkansas wow attraction to it. I was trying to get the boys to finish the merit requirements. They can get so under motivated.

I spent the last 2 weekends hanging out and watching way to much tv. If I keep that up I will turn into a coach potato with a extra ring or two around my neck... GRIN! That stuff is bad for me.

I love Pow Wow. Haven't missed one in 20 some years that I can recall. We have to keep pushing that easy life away...it will kill us before our time.
Mark Jones

joecool wrote:Been there, done that. Although we no longer had Rangers, the "new guy" was on his way out. I got approval to take boys and men to last summer's PowWow. Everyone got excited. But the week before, it was down to me and a Dad with his boy. Two days later, it was just me. I should have gone by myself and just put my feet up all weekend. But 200 miles each way is a long ways to go for something I could do at home.

My first Pow Wow was in Washington in 1981. If you discount the ones I missed when deployed overseas, I never missed one until the "new guy" cancelled Rangers.

Mark Jones wrote:Well your right the information is right here.  Under the Green merit reference...... errr um.... can we get a update?  
http://agwebservices.org/Content/Resources/hiking.pdf

Old School.  Mid School.  Pre School.   Post School.  GRIN!  
Ever just want to strangle a God fearing Ranger Program Changing changeling?   (I admit.... more than I really should)...  GRIN!

Mark Jones

Since you brought up "changeling" program we should go back to the "Founders" vision.

Canadarangers wrote:

Mark Jones wrote:...... the Gold Hiking Merit.  

Gold???? are we talkin old school here?

Old school? Nothing post 2000 is old school. Go back to the days of the "fraternity", trailblazers, Indians, and Buckaroos we'll talk old school then!

Ok. I typed for 30 minutes. Deleted it all We need a romping stomping program back.

Mark Jones wrote:Ok.  I typed for 30 minutes.  Deleted it all  We need a romping stomping program back.  

Sorry I should have known that would trigger you

Yes it is very hard for me to want the premiere sunday school class on making life long servant leaders. Just warms my heart up just enough for them to keep from calling me a old dead stiff. GRIN!

These changelings need some FIBER in their program. Put that stuff back on the burner and there will be folks showing up knocking doors down to get back involved.

It's so plain to me. I wished they saw it.

Mark Jones

For the very first time, there will not be a state Pinewood Derby in Montana. I think that says a lot about where our program is going. Our district staff is old and worn out. But they haven't brought any fresh blood in for a decade or more. Back when I was a bit younger, I helped with district events and let it be known that I could fill a staff position that was open. But no call back.

Everybody gets sick from time to time. It's better to take the cod liver oil when you need it, and recover, rather than try the de-fib paddles when it's too late.

We have added several younger guys to the staff this year.

( I deleted a paragraph or two on needing fiber in our program) GRIN!

We do a Outpost, Section, Division race each year. Every now and then a District level race every few years. Also have done the racing at 2 Camporama's ago. It's fun but I can get burnt out on it after 3 races with in 2 months.

There are times when you can have too much of a good thing. Better to keep people wanting to do it again rather than getting tired of it.

Phillip Gross wrote:There are times when you can have too much of a good thing. Better to keep people wanting to do it again rather than getting tired of it.

So what happened to Sunday night services? Does anybody out there still have them? When I moved here 13 years ago, I had to get used to not having one. Not sure I ever got used to it, though.

I haven't been to a Sunday night service in 20-25 years I bet. Now, I'm at church almost every Sunday afternoon/evening nowadays because that's when we have our outpost meetings, but there's no service.

As I've mentioned before, while everyone knows that the outpost is a ministry of our church, there's nothing else going on during meeting times so we get a lot of kids from other churches that come. It has an autonomous feel to the outpost, so people don't feel like they're being "unfaithful" to their own church.

We still have them but they are often canceled for holidays. We meet on Sunday nights for RR. When church is closed we generally close as well.

It's handy and we get a nice break through out the year. Sometimes toooo much of a break.

We had fun last night.

Mark Jones