Kevin's Watch

Haha, me and Sky were talking about this not too long ago...

I was a brownie when I was in 4th grade or so... I got the nifty little hat and sash with a few patches but I didn't stay with it long enough to become a full girl scout.

I was not a scout myself, but am a scout LEADER. s'fun.

I was a Cub Scout for one summer. We mostly hung out at the Den Mother's house doing lame crap. My Mom thought I looked cute in the uniform. Thankfully no pictures exist.

I went to scouts once, and once only.

I was a Boy Scout in the 70's and had a blast!
Our troop had 57 fellow scouts and we had a campout once every month.
I learned a LOT of things while scouting and to this day, use some of that knowledge.
"Always Be Prepared" motto was in the back of my mind when getting
ready for Hurricane Charley.
Later in the years, I was "volunteered" to be a scout leader, since one of my kids joined a brand-new troop.
(Only had 8 scouts)
Somewhere packed away in my garage is merit badges and (what was then) skill awards that went on your belt.
Now I have two grandkids in scouts and they like it also,
although it seems that scouting is on the decline here in the States.
(I guess Playstation or X-box gets in the way of Cub/Boy Scouts now...
lazy Americans. )

I never joined the scouts.

I was a scout...if you can call it that. I'm a young'n who joined the scouts long after they ceased to be a real organization, so although I'm an eagle, I can't say that I have much pride in it. The troop I was in was pretty decent at first; we had a few leaders who used to be scouts, so we did some pretty decent deep-woods camping. We had rock climbing trips as well as the occasionally deep-wilderness survival expeditions, but as the original few members (including myself) got older, with some of us getting Eagle and quitting, their parents lost interest and stopped getting involved. Adding to that was the exponential growth of the troop with a bunch of spoiled and/or ADD-riddled children. At that point we were bringing to every camp-out THREE large tupperware containers filled entirely with brain-drugs, and we were no longer able to do any of the real survival stuff. At that point my troop became little more than a glorified babysitting service for drunk, lazy parents who refused to care for their children and never got involved with anything we did. The last remaining members of the older crowd were pretty much in a race at that point to achieve eagle, so we could get the hell out of there.

After our parents stopped being involved, there were only about 2 parents left willing to run the troop, not enough to participate in any kind of outdoorsy activities, but somehow several of the little brats managed to achieve eagle. If you knew these kids, you would understand why their "accomplishment" pretty much completely devalued my own. I doubt they received it legitimately, either, which saddens me.

I suppose those who became Order of the Arrow members could be called real scouts...at least those who participated, which I didn't. By the time I became an OA member, the babysitting service had driven me to the point where I lost all interest in scouting, so I didn't do anything with it.

Well, gosh, now that I've reread my entire post, it seems like I had a miserable scouting experience, which isn't entirely true. As I said, it was only near the end that I despised my troop. In the beginning, I had a lot of fun! I participated in great survival trips similar to the one you describe, Fiz, which were typically exciting experiences. I held a number of positions, rising from Assistant Patrol leader through to Senior Patrol leader, and became the resident "sharp object guru." It was always my job to teach the new recruits the proper way to handle knifes, axes, machetes, and the like, which I accomplished with my (in?)famous "Johnny Do, Johnny Don't" routine. I made a lot of friends there, many of which have gone on to do some great things. One of them is training to be a SWAT member, which, if you knew the guy, would scare the hell out of you as well.

Finally, therefore, furthermore, and in conclusion, scouting can be fun if you have a good group. If not, get the hell out before you become a bitter and hateful person like myself.

I always thought it would be fun to find out where some scouts were going, then go there too, and eat them. They'd have to change the brats commercial though. "Zephalephelah cooking Scouts on a spit! ... scouts on a spit! ... scouts on a spit!"

I was a Sunbeam

Troop 3 in Houston, Texas, Zeph. Go for it. Please. If it's anything like what it was when I left, the parents probably wouldn't miss the kids, and there wouldn't be much adult supervision to get in the way of your festivities. Though all the drugs those kids are hopped up on might give you indigestion...

I went through Boys Brigade and now im a junior officer in it.

Oh aye, I did do Boys Brigade for a year or so. I have no idea why, really.

My son is in Cub Scouts. He likes it and I'm glad he's doing it.
He was taught how to use a bb gun and bow and arrow this summer and loved it.
I feel bad that I'm too much of a wimp to be his den leader.
Although I am volunteering as much as I can.

troop 81, concord (new hampshire)

cub scouts - webelos - boy scouts.

loved it.

I was in a journalism Explorer Post in high school -- does that count?

I made it to Life Scout, but then I got a driver's license.

a big wish of mine is to revisit the boyscout camp i went to as a youngster. my dad went with the troop more than a few times. we have called the scouts and they say i can get a tour when we get back up north. i can't wait. went camping all seasons, you should try it in the winter.

The Girl Scouts went lodge camping in the winter. Basically just a big sleepover. Running water and everything.