Perseverance: Over the Edge Video

Here is the video of my descent to downtown Portland from the US Bankcorp Tower.  I wrote a blog about it that explains more about the event.

There is also a more professional one done as well.  Jerry is in both videos.

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#OVERTHEEDGE for @CPCBSA & Scouting

  The Cascade Pacific Council has started up a very cool event.  It’s called Over the Edge.  At first, I thought it was something that us volunteers do to our District Executives!  Well, ok, we do.  Then I thought it was National coming out with a new version of “The EDGE Method” for training. Great, I had just completed “The Trainer’s EDGE” class the other month.

Nope, it’s a fundraising event for the whole Council.  I talked about it during another Council event with my DE and even with Matt Devore the Scout Executive.  Now, I am all for promoting Scouting as you know.  I am not a huge fundraising type guy.  I am not in front of or on the ground floor of it.  I do not like asking for money.

I do promote the annual Popcorn Drive for Scouting in the fall that Elliot does.  He uses it to pay for his activities and camp.  Remember, a Scout is Thrifty and helps the Pack GO!

I get and understand what Friends of Scouting does as well as the James E West Fund.  However, this is a tad bit more fun.  I have to raise $2500 in money to secure my spot in order to rappel down the side of the US Bank Tower.  This tower is in the Pioneer District, of which Pack 221 is in.

I have rappeled off the Rims in Billings, Mt and also off the Clock Tower at Shattuck St. Mary’s in Fairbault, Mn. So, I figured this was cool, but taking it a tad higher.  Which, apparently the US Bank Tower is the 2nd highest building in Oregon.  It takes place on June 29th in Portland, OR.

So, I signed-up.  Yeah, I want to do this.  So, I need your support to make it happen.  I am asking you to help.  What do you get out of your support?

Besides supporting a great program and making sure that a lot of boys and girls will have the opportunity to do something like this (yes they offer climbing in Scouts) or other cool adventures and life skills.  I will send you a signed photo of me going over the EDGE and the old official Pioneer District Patch for your donation.  Also, I will include a hand made Woggle out of Leather.  It is the same that I used in giving to all of my Cubscouts at the beginning of the 2011-2012 year.  It represents that we are all fellow Scouts and friends no matter where we are. I made 50 of them and I still have a lot of material left over.

So, help me help the boys and girls in my area have a great Scouting Adventure.  I support Scouting as my way of giving back because I believe in it.

Donate here

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July Summertime Pack Event

Saturday was our 2nd Summertime Pack Event and it was Disc Golf.  As per normal Oregon weather, it rained. Ok, drizzled a bit in the middle of July.  A total of seven boys  and several Dads and a Mom braved the wet weather and went out to have fun.  Look, Oregon is the  BEAVER STATE, a Beaver is on our State Flag, we have the U of Oregon DUCKS and the Oregon State University BEAVERS!

As part of my years of being a Cub Master and slowly learning that “Scouting is a Game with a Purpose” I realized that if we do something as a Pack or Den that there has to be a purpose.  Disc Golf.  Yup, you can get a Beltloop out of it.  You can use it when your a Webelos to satisfy the Sportsman Activity Pin.  After about 30-45 minutes of instruction and practicing, we hit the links at Orchard Park in Hillsboro, OR.  I had never played there, but what a great course. It’s flat and wonderful to play.  Even the Pack Treasurer got in a round.  (He’s the one in the front).  My friend who I worked with at Nike, oh so many years ago, helped put on this clinic for us.  He is a ASM for a Troop in another District and a regional disc golfer who competes all the time.  He offered to help us over me facebooking about Disc Golf one night and that led to a long conversation over lunch with beer one day.    He had his son and four other guys come out and help us learn how to play and also walk the course with us.  Totally awesome!  Think St Andrews and Golfing.  Minus Balls, Clubs and Beer but with Caddy’s telling you how to address the tee and how to shoot.  That was us.  Yes, there were even prizes handed out by Scott, which were given to him by Rainy-Day-Games.  I didn’t know he was going to do that.

The boys and parents had a great time.  I found a place to play Disc Golf. I also figured out a good game to play before/during a Pack Meeting that is INDOORS!

The next wonderful thing is that Scott has offered to come to Roundtables to talk about how to teach Disc Golf to Scouts of all ages.  He has also offered to help coordinate a clinc/tournament in District or Council.  I have forwarded his name and offer to several people within Council and our District.  I think it would be a wonderful thing to do in the Spring.

Here is the great thing.  Even the BSA National website thinks it’s a great idea. Look here.  So, who knows.  Maybe Pioneer District will have a Spring Scout Fling?

Finally, Scott’s son needed to talk to Webelos who are close to crossing over about joining Boy Scouts.  It’s a requirement for First Class.  Techincally, the boys had to be CLOSE/Webelos II to crossing over.  These boys are Webelos I.   We obliged with the four Webelos I to listen to his talk.  It was just Matt and the Webelos.  I didn’t stick around to listen as it was their time.   Reason this happened today, is on Sunday he is off to Summercamp and would like to have the Scoutmaster Conference and get rank.  While I know the requirement says close/webelos II I would call it good in my book.  But I am not a Scoutmaster or ASM.  It’s up to them to judge.  Yes, Scott and I did talk about the specific’s of the requirement and we understand what is written.  I atlest obliged with asking the boys to help out a fellow Scout. There was the Good Turn done.

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I am the Troop Guide of……#100daysofScouting

As of today, about noon PST at Gilwell, on the coast of Oregon in a Boy Scout Camp called Camp Clark, a den of Cub Scouts were changed into a Boy Scout Patrol after the Blue & Gold.  Their Den Chief, ME became their Troop Guide.  I am the proud Troop Guide of BOBWHITES!  I am  very grateful and honored to be their Troop Guide.

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Rank Badges #100daysofScouting

Today I was off to Eugene, Oregon.  Home of the University of Oregon. DUCKS. Arch rival of the Oregon State BEAVERS…. That is in the Oregon Trail Council. It is only 90 minutes from my house.  After I was done seeing all my stores, I looked it up on my iPhone, got the address and plugged it into my GPS.   Realized that it was right next to Autzen Stadium.  OTCBSA has a great Council Office.  Really nice.  I found my way into the Scout Shop and looked around.  They had much the same as CPCBSA does.  A few different items.  Two things that I found and learned while I was there.

1)I can buy extra rank patches if my son has already earned them.  This is allowed because Parents might want to create a scrap book or something.  They won’t sell to anyone who just wants them.  That being the case, I bought a Bobcat, Tiger and the 2010 Wolf Badges.  I am doing this because I am going to sew them onto his fleece vest that he has.  I will do the same when he earns Bear.  Once he is out of the Blue Uniform, I will be saving it for him when he wants it when he is a Den Leader.  I am not going to put the badges onto his Webelos uniform.  (Yes, the image shown is wrong. I just has all the 2010 patches together.)

2) I saw a new set of patches that I was not aware that were around.  It is part of the Unit Award of Merit.  I know that there is a Knot, but there is a Should Sleeve Patch as well.  You have to be nominated by your Committee Chair for this.  My question was, and it’s been answered, can you wear the knot and the patch together.  Generally you cannot wear two awards at the same time.  It was answered on this website that explained that you can.

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Two Dads XLVIII of C of #100Daysofscouting

Well, it’s not like that!  If your old enough to have lived in the 80′s then you remember this TV Show.  If you don’t, look up “My Two Dads”.

This weekend was Spring Break in Oregon.  My family and another went off to the Oregon Coast to get away from it all.  Oddly enough the town is called ….OCEANSIDE!  It is right in the perfect area that NO CELL PHONES WORK!  Pretty nice.

So, my friend Nathan and I got tired of hanging out in the house at one point and wanted to get everyone out.  No takers.  Our boys are in Scouts.  Mine is a Bear, his is a Wolf.  Still no takers.  So, we took off by ourselves.  We had a simple simple hike all planned.  The fun this is that his wife is the Wolf Den Leader in another section of town.  She tells me what’s what in her Den/Pack and I tell her how messed up it is.   Her husband is the Treasurer and agrees with me.
Anyway, we got to talking about taking the boys camping and now have it somewhat planned.  It’s not a BSA event, but we have the Two-Deep Leadership thing covered.  What he has done with his son and daughter is make them earn their Backpacks.  They have to go on an overnight with him and camp.  Now, they have a daypack with their stuff.  But once they get through the process of how to camp, how to hike and all the things of what to do and not, they get to pick-out their first Backpack.

I find that really really fun.   It will get us out there and as Nathan puts it “Watching Caveman TV”!  You know, a Fire!

The one other thing (we talked about a lot, but our wives read this blog and I want to keep our marriages happy & healthy!) is the need to take a Wilderness First Aid class.  So, we are now on the look-out for a class that we can take.  I already have First Aid/CPR.

While is was not a real Scouting day or weekend, I did get in some things about Scouting.

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PS: I figured out this new gallery thing on WordPress…interesting…

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A Scout is Dirty

I missed my chance to do a Good Deed the other day.  It actually kinda bums me out.  For those who follow me on Twitter, I travel a lot for work.  I cover Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, California and Alaska.  It can be a lot of fun. I do get to see friends and family as I go.

I was up near Bellingham, Wa the other day when my Good Deed was supposed to happen.  Driving down I-5 I saw a young mother and toddler daughter walking down the highway.  Mom had car problems and was going to get help.  Daughter was in tow.  Mom had the car seat in her hand.   For whatever reason the car was not working and emergency lights were on.

I drove by pretty fast and realized what was going on.  I could not stop, but took the next exit down. It was a mile away.  The one thing that got me was how messy my car was.  Really messy.  There was no way I could stop and offer assistance.

So, I cleaned my car as quickly as I could.  Got back in and headed towards them.  As I got there, I saw that they were gone.  I spent 5 minutes driving around the on/off ramp looking for them.

Gone.  I hope that they were safely delivered to their home.

So, Be Prepared. A Scout is CLEAN!  If I was, I would have done a good deed.

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98 days left

Today we started to go to the Oregon Coast to help out on the Clean the Beach by Solv.  However, we got a late start and did not get there until everyone was headed back to the cars. Bummer.  There goes the Good Deed for the Day.

We did end up at the Oregon Aquarium where “Free Willy” was held for many years.  The pool he was held in is now a Shark tank as well as a native ocean fish tank.   Sharks were swiming overhead of us as we went through the tunnel.  Elliot and Rachel thought it was totally cool.

The other tank had fish like Rockfish, Lingcod and Hailbut.  All things that butter, garlic and herbs go well with.  Sorry, when I see fish like that floating past, I get hungary.

The Bear Den is looking to go to the aquarium in the late Spring for an overnight in the Shark Tunnel area.  Pretty fun. No tents, no bad weather, just falling to sleep with sharks overhead.

The other Scouting related thing is that my wife is warming up to going to Philmont as a family in 2011.   Thinking of taking the “Strictly for Cub Masters” class.

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