Scouting Skills IQ Test

Here are the questions to a Scout Skills IQ test:

1. Where and when did the first Scout camping trip take place?
2. What does GPS stand for?
3. GPS is nifty, but the ever-reliable compass has been around for a long time. When and where did compasses first appear?
4. Name two new Scout positions introduced in the new handbook.
5. Other than backpacks, how did early Scouts carry supplies?
6. Name three signs of dehydration.
7. What is the order of water rescue?
8. Who builds the leaders of tomorrow?

I guess you will just have to wait a day to get the answers.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
Great Alaska COuncil
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
NSJ '05 WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08

Scout Healthy Food Tips

Here are some healthy eating tips from Scouting magazine:

• Water instead of soda: -150 calories (12 oz. serving)
• Pretzels instead of chips: -80 calories (2 oz. serving)
• “Light butter” instead of “movie theater butter” microwave popcorn: -75 calories (5 cups)
• Skim milk instead of whole: -60 calories (1 cup)
• Whole-grain Fig Newtons instead of Chips Ahoy: -60 calories (per serving)
• Subway Turkey Sandwich instead of McDonald’s Quarter Pounder With Cheese: -300 calories

These ideas are designed to help you switch various foods for something more healthy which will lead to a calorie reduction of at least 700.

Here are some camp food ideas:

• Healthy trail mixes: dried fruit, nuts, seeds, and a healthy cereal (Grape Nuts or Kashi, for example)
• Lowfat stews made with lean protein and veggies
• Beans and rice
• Fish or lean meat with vegetables in a foil pocket
• Oatmeal with dried fruit and skim milk

Here are some other nutrition tips:

• Adding 5 to 10 grams of soluble fiber to your daily diet will reduce LDL (“bad”) cholesterol by 5 percent.
• Adding a daily dose of 2 to 3 grams of plant-derived stanol and sterol esters (a supplement found in foods such as yogurt, orange juice, and margarine products) typically lowers LDL by 6 to 15 percent.
• Adding fruits and vegetables, reducing sodium and alcohol intake, and increasing physical activity will reduce blood pressure by 2 to 14 mmHg.

Obviously it would be impossible to do all of these things at once but taking a few of these ideas even if you just take 1 and are super committed to it then you can make a big difference.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
Great Alaska COuncil
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
NSJ '05 WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08

BSA Press Release for New jamboree home:

National Executive Board News I am writing to share some exciting news. Today, our National Executive Board took another significant step toward establishing a permanent home for future national jamborees and creating another premier outdoor adventure Scouting site. The board approved the purchase of more than 10,000 acres of some of the most spectacular land you’ve ever seen. It’s located in the New River Gorge area of West Virginia-an area that offers some of the best rock climbing, whitewater rafting, and mountain biking anywhere in the country. It is a perfect site for the full complement of activities we intend to offer at our new facility: extreme sports, leadership training, camping, high adventure-anything you can imagine doing in the great outdoors, and, of course, the national jamboree. We still have a lot of work to do, but under Jack Furst’s tremendous leadership, we are well on our way toward going from vision to reality. As Jack said to board members, “We are only limited by our own creativity and ingenuity.” And as we know, with Jack at the helm, that means there are no limits to what we can accomplish through this effort. Stay tuned for further details and a formal unveiling of our plans in November. Until then, my sincerest thanks to the team for its tireless efforts in bringing this exceptional opportunity to our Scouting family. It is, truly, one of the best investments we will make in serving Scouts for the next 100 years.


Sounds like National is definitely moving quickly on this issue. Seems a lot quicker then normal but the I guess the Next jamboree after 2010 is expected to occur in 2013 in order to get back on schedule of the national and world jabmoree schedule of one or the other switching every two years. This schedule allows scouts to attend both events and allows for less of a finanicial burden. Both these events are very expensive but the fact remains you can attend both if you know far enough in advance and if you plan for the expense.

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
Great Alaska COuncil
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
NSJ '05 WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08