From the beginning this blog has held two roles. One has been as a resource to share ideas with parents and fellow Scout leaders. The other role has been as a diary of my own reflections of events gone by. According to WordPress this blog was viewed about 11,000 times in 2011. I certainly appreciate all the eyeballs, and especially those that have joined the conversation. As I look back at 2011, here are some of my favorite posts from the past year and the memories behind them.
☆ When I was in grammar school I would regularly walk from school to the town library. Besides all the great books of horror and adventure I enjoyed their collection of Boys Life magazines. In 2011 nearly the entire history of Boys Life publications became available online via Google Books.
☆ In 2011 I participated in 100 Days of Scouting for the second year in a row. I’m not sure if I’ll be participating this year. If I do it may be more of a Reader’s Digest version.
☆ In 2011 I officially took over as Scoutmaster of Troop 83 and gave my first Scoutmaster’s Minute.
☆ The troop welcomed its first crossovers from the pack I was formerly Cubmaster for. The Phoenix Patrol literally rising from the ashes began to take form.
☆ We had our first campout of the year on the grounds of Friday the 13th including a hike that would make Bear Grylls proud.
☆ Probably my favorite post of the year was one about the bravery of a Polish Scout many years ago.
☆ 2011 also began my career as a volunteer with ShelterBox which led me to many a different day in green socks.
☆ I got to experience my first summer camp as a Scoutmaster.
☆ The ShelterBox Scouting connection couldn’t be any more evident then Operation Cranford which was followed by Hurricane Irene.
☆ A recurring theme was the purple patch and the world brotherhood of Scouting.
☆ It wasn’t all a happy roads though and more than once I thought about throwing in the towel.
☆ My 15 minutes in the limelight moment was definitely appearing as a guest on the ScoutmasterCG podcast.
☆ As with many a new Scoutmaster I often wondered what would Green Bar Bill do?
☆ Throughout my travels I found my iPad to be a useful companion.
☆ Whether via iPad or iPhone there were plenty of Scouting apps to help me along.
☆ My best training experience was definitely attending ShelterBox Ambassador Field Training.
☆ The most popular resource post came as a result of a District request to create a Google Sites BSA template for Council and unit websites.
And that my friends was 2011. So what’s next for 2012? I’m looking forward to the troop growing and God willing my application for ShelterBox response team keeps moving forward. Good luck to all in your adventures.
