I noticed a decided quiet on the forum until this evening. At first I thought " oh,oh better get a life Chris." Then I thought saturation. We've done everything but analyse the edge geometry of G.I. can openers. Then it finally struck me simultaneous with the wailing of several nieghbors- TAXES! Mine are long in the confident hands of the USPS, probably being checked for anthrax spores due to the shaky lettering on the envelope. My return is allready spent at Blueline, assuming it ever gets here. 364 days until the next filing deadline and counting.

Chris,<br><br>No. We did that a month ago. This is ETS! We're at ETS because we get outdoors, etc. on weekends & other occasions when we get a chance to try out the wonderful things we learn here.<br><br>This was our BSA/CSA District's Camporee weekend. Oh, very well, thank you for asking. (Kindly forgive as a proud father gloats): <br><br> :-)))<br><br>Baseball, etc decimated our CSA pack. My 9-year old son comprised a 1-boy den. He performed extremely well in comparison to the competition of 5 other 5-6 boy dens ranging from Wolf to Webelo II (8-11 year olds). He dropped only 37 point out of 1000, trouncing the nearest competitors by nearly 60 points. His performance was spoken of in awe by the older BSA participants.<br><br>Oh, and yes, my nearly 12 year old son also did well. He completed advancement thru 1 BSA rank, & is close to completing another rank. He actually has a chance of completing both ranks by his court of honor at the end of the month thereby advancing to 1st Class in about 10 mos in BSA. And yes his troop also did well coming in 2nd overall in the competition of 6 troops being beaten by a troop of older, more advanced boys. We also celebrated a 1 day old Eagle in our troop (who did not compete).<br><br>Wife & I enjoyed ourselves at campout as well. Only complication was the predictable 2nd day outage of tp. But we were ETS. So we were sitting pretty. ;-)<br><br>:-))) Proud father will now cease his gloat, & retire to relative quiescence (for awhile anyway). <br><br>John

Congrats all around! Isn't it nice to see a group of young men come together and perform as a team?<br><br>Your son is at the leading edge by getting his First Class rank by end of year one. That's been a target for many leaders, although I personally think anytime before the end of year two is fine. Still plenty of time to advance through Star, Life and Eagle. Yet obviously participating. Boys that are not First class by their third year are either not participaing or simply do not have their heart in the program, and there are lots of reasons for the latter.<br><br>Anyway, your son is on track. Once he makes First Class, impress upon him his responsibility to help the others reach that rank as well. By helping the others, he will start to develop leadership skills, confidence and help set the skills and knowledge through repetition while teaching the others.<br><br>

by all means gloat! I was riding in the orchards, and one of the younger workers was all excited. His brother actually had an article published in the newspaper. I was interested, until I saw it was the San Quentin prison paper. His article was a report of a stabing in cellblock 9. I rode off after a prefunctory "nice article."

Guys,<br><br>Thank you very much.<br><br>I couldn't help bragging. I'm very proud of both of them. They're both making excellent progress. <br><br>They're learning & practicing useful fundamental outdoor skills (as well as developing well rounded knowledge & character) such as orienteering; knots & lashes; knife, ax, saw, & sharpening. They also need to plan, outfit, & supply for groups camping. Even mistakes like a shortage of pots and forgetting to pack a ground cloth are instructive. They also learn how important it is to cook properly. Responsibility is developed.<br><br>Scouting provides a wonderful opportunity for for kids to learn, grow, & develop. It's also a lot of fun (as well as work) as a parent watching it happen. <br><br>It's really gratifying to see your children thriving.<br><br>John