Greetings Don!
 
 MF> Greetings all.. Sidewinder BBS in Auckland joins the echo with this
 MF> message...
 MF> I'm a Venturer scout and sysop from Auckland New Zealand... and would
 MF> like to see both SCOUTING and SCOUTER continue...
 DB> Welcome from Central Mississippi, USA!
 DB> Does your unit have any interesting plans coming up?
 .. My unit doesnt even talk to me anymore :/
 I have kind of been detatched from the unit for the last 6 months.. I
 tried three times to reconnect, get involved.. but they didnt seem
 terribly phased. Ive still got the unit minutes book here but they dont
 seem to care...
 I ran our local JOTA event for the Scouts myself.. it was *originally*
 going to be a Venturer project.. oh well :/
 Umm if youre not sure... In New Zealand, Scouts are from 10 1/2 to 14
 1/5.. Venturers from 14 1/2 to 19... (I'm 17)
 DB> Last month, Troop 88 camped out at Holmes County State Park where the
 DB> Scouts  worked on their Skating (the park has a roller skating rink)
 DB> and Cooking Merit  Badges.  At the meeting before, the three Patrols
 Roller Skating Merit Badge? Sheesh... Cant think of an equivalent here.
 DB> were asked to develop menus.  Two Patrols came up with canned stew and
 DB> the other came up with canned soup.   They were directed to take the
 DB> "canned" out of the menus.  The meals turned out good, but could have
 DB> used some work in the seasoning department. 
 ... sounds like a typical scouting menu. Ours are generally simple but
 effective.
 DB> The facilities at Holmes County are good - full bathhouse with hot
 DB> water for  the showers.  Only $2.00 per camper and $2.00 per person to
 DB> skate, including  skates.  I only fell down twice.
 Hehehe. I went Ice Skating for the first time yesterday.. fell down 3
 times I think.. but by the end I was nearly able to skate..
 DB> This month we are going for an overnighter on the U.S.S. Kidd in Baton
 DB> Rouge.   It is the same day as the Christmas parade, which will end at
 DB> the Kidd.  There  will also be fireworks.
 Wow! That'd be Awesome.. Im a military nut.. hehe ..
 DB> The Scouts are planning the January campout themselves, probably to
 DB> Rocky  Springs Camp on the National Park Service's Natchez Trace
 DB> Parkway, about 35  miles from here.  Sometime after we get the new boys
 DB> crossing over from Pack  88, we will begin work on the Cycling Merit
 DB> Badge, which will end with a bike  hike from our Scout Hut to Rocky
 DB> Springs. 
 DB> For Summer Camp, we are going to a camp outside of Nashville.
 Sounds like you have a very active unit there Don. My unit werent too
 bad.. when we did things, we did them.. recently we did a bit of
 caving, virtual rock-climbing (a place called Rockarama, the kind of
 walls you see on the program Gladiators), and various fundraising...
 I myself have been tied up with the Auckland Central Gang Show. I was
 in the cast twice as a Scout - I assisted with the Sound Systems this
 year, since that is a field I am reasonably familiar with...
 Technically, Im not a member of the scouting movement at present, since
 I didnt pay my fees this year. Unless I find a leaders position in the
 near future I'll become a 'dormant' member. :/
 Mark.
... "And God looked upon the earth, and He said, 'Oops...'"
~~~ ReneWave v2.00 [NR]
--- Renegade 10-05/Renewave 2.0
---------------