I spoke with Russell Smart this week about some projects he has been working on. One of which was the successful summer that the Summit had in camping more Scouts and units than they ever had previously. They did so without any incidents of COVID which is a testament to their procedures and staff. He has been doing a...Read More
This week I have really thrown myself back into my camp director role. We have a small team editing the leaders guide and I've been making updates to the camp website. All this is leading up to a very busy few weeks in October of recruiting troops to come to Camp Barstow in 2021. The first weekend in...Read More
Last night at our Webelos den meeting I was trying to show the boys what Scout Spirit looked like. So we sang the classic camp song "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean". Only after each verse I asked Scouts how we could add a motion. Pretty soon on the word "ocean" we were spinning around and on the...Read More
Once again I was contacted by a Scouter that was looking for someone who would appreciate and find a new home for his Scouting collection. This collection came in 3 boxes and weighed more than 40 pounds. He sent it to me on preview so that I could evaluate what he had and make him a fair offer. Since filming...Read More
One way you can stay active in the hobby during COVID is logging into the Scout Patch Collectors Facebook Group. With over 16k thousand members this is the most active group on the platform. I randomly posted some things for sale as I was leaving work Friday. As of last night almost all of those items are now sold...Read More
This morning I published an article on www.CarolinaOA.com that was written by Josh Ammons of Atta Kulla Kulla lodge. Josh sent me an email offering to help share some knowledge about the issues of his lodge for the site. He penned the article and shared it with me in a MS Word file. I want to thank Josh...Read More
This group also included about 40 binders that were the 3" D-ring design. So what I did was post on eBay that they were for sale sy $5 each. Free pickup in CLT or a TOR that I would be attending. Otherwise, I would give a shipping quote and just charge that exact amount. This goes back to...Read More
This was an unusual trip to Lowe's Home Improvement! I was contacted by an older Scouter who wanted to sell his collection to me. I get calls and emails like this all the time and that is what keeps my business running. However, this generous Scouter didn't really need the proceeds and wanted to donate the money to a good...Read More
I love getting time capsule collections! I define these as small collections that have everything a Scouter has held on to for years. Many of these guys never got back involved with the program but they held on to their Scouting treasures for decades. Who know how many times they moved over the years and always put that box back...Read More
I heard the idea floated of a virtual TOR. This might sound a little crazy except basically it was done 20 years ago by Deryl Radder. Some of you might remember that I interviewed him before he passed on my podcast. We talked about his Y2K TOR which took place over the New Year in 2000. Certainly these days...Read More
This weekend on Facebook there were some posts sharing images of the 2010 museum that Sam Fairchild organized at the Centennial Jamboree. The posts led to discussions about needs, tough issues and memories of the event. This reminded me that I need to do devote some time to my displays which has been a very hot and cold project....Read More
On January 21, 2019 I published an episode of my Scouting Hot Finds Radio podcast featuring an interview for John Athayde who is the primary driver behind the project. The show notes from that episode include some of the interesting origins and details of the project. What I really like is that reminiscent of the Blue Book effort this...Read More
This week I leveraged Facebook to try and catch up on the last 8 years of camp patches from my home camp. It looks like I last displayed my collection at the 2012 lodge Winter Banquet. One of my struggles was just finding out what has been issued. I think with the help of some of the active Scouters and...Read More
I spent several days sorting out these pages by manufacturer, size and condition. Some of these I have in a giveaway box that I will take to future Scouting events to share with youth collectors just getting started. Others I could easily use as part of my Trade-O-Ree set up in order to sell items. But what I needed was...Read More
My mother always needs sewing projects to pass the time. When all this started she made 100 masks for her church so that they would have them available at worship if anyone forgot theirs at home. So about a month or so ago I visited her and brought a tote full of vintage BSA neckerchiefs. She figured out a way...Read More