Golden Words

If you don't get the reference in the title, this blog is for you. If you are a member of ScoutsBSA and your leader is pushing you to your Eagle, this blog is for you. If you get it, but know someone that might not, this blog is especially for you! There, I think I have all bases covered. Shall we begin? The Pony Express Council has a Wood Badge Course coming up this spring. The staff for the course was set up over the summer, and training has been ongoing for the last several months. How much training? There are sixteen members of the staff. A total of on site training is approaching over 300 total hours. This Saturday we are returning for an additional 100+ hours. Now mind you, this is the on site training. It does not include set up, take down, and individual preparations for the group meetings. The course will be held at Camp Geiger in St. Joseph, MO. It comprises of two weekends. The first is April 5-7, Friday starting in the morning, through Sunday afternoon. The second is Ap...

 "True grit is making a decision and standing by it, doing what must be done. No moral man can have peace of mind if he leaves undone what he knows he should have done." John Wayne   The title is from the Wood Badge song. The residential camping season at Camp Geiger is over, and the camp awaits pow wow, and then a season of renewal. Yes, there are opportunities to camp at Camp Geiger during the off season, but that is not my topic. Six weeks of Scouts BSA, add in residential Cub and Webelos Camps, and it is time for a break. But your author is not sitting idly by, waiting until the process starts over in January. Maybe presumptuous to think that I would be rehired, but I know that no one is indispensable, including me. That is the beauty of the program. Would things be different? Likely, but camp would go on.  So, Scouting offers so much to the world, that in reality it should be shouted from the roof tops. The impact on youth, particularly those that come from difficult...

As I am writing, Fourth Session of Scouts BSA camp has ended. Next week is Webelos Weekend, followed by the sixth session and the end of the camping season at Camp Geiger. Camp Geiger is the resident camp for the Pony Express Council, in St. Joseph, MO. What may not be known is that many troops that call Camp Geiger home are not local. In fact. more than half of the campers at Camp Geiger are out of council. The questions are how far out of council are they, and why do they choose this camp. There is no question that Mic-O-Say is a significant draw for the camp. The honor camping program, nearing its century anniversary, is an important factor in the decision to go. It teaches the Scout Oath and Law in a unique manner that impresses those timeless values on youth, and adult leaders alike, and is a key reason that the retention rate for youth is so high in the Council, and  those troops that attend the camp. Mic-O-Say and Camp Geiger complement each other, and rely on each other to ...

I don't even know where to begin on how this made me feel. But first... Before I dive in, I just wanted to acknowledge those who read a previous post, or at least took the time to look at it. I try not to write frivolity, and it is good to know that many people empathized with that ideal, acknowledging the unsung heroes around us. And while the timing of this post coincides with the end of the 2nd session of Scouts BSA at Camp Geiger, I do want to maintain the theme of gratitude. Normally management team exercises to me are just so meh. Been there done that, wish I hadn't bought the t-shirt, etc. So when, as a staff, we were directed to begin an exercise, I won't deny a little eye rolling may have occurred, on my part (hope it wasn't obvious, Ed). As it turned out, you have my feelings summed up in the first sentence of the post.  Our task was to find people, preferably people that weren't close friends, and to write on the paper taped to their back, how they had ha...

 When you think about summer camp, what comes to mind? A. Fun B. Adventure C. Heat and Humidty D. Naps E. All of the above I guess it depends on your perspective. There was a skit frequently done, where different roles were acted out. Staff members, Scouts, and Scoutmasters. While the refrain for the first two are slipping my memory, I will never forget the refrain for the Scoutmaster.  "If I weren't a Boy Scout, a Scoutmaster I would be! 'Do this! Do that! While I take a nap!'" Having been a very long time camper for summer camp (49 years since my first experience at H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation), I can speak about the roles played by the various actors in the camping experience. As a kid, as an adult leader, a father, and even as a staff member. I would like to give my perspective for all those preparing to go to camp, as well as those who are contemplating it. When a youth goes to Day Camp, with their Cub Scout Pack, the leaders are right with the kids every...

I have written on this topic before, so forgive the indulgence. It is too important in our organization to not mention it. Today, I began getting the store ready for summer camp. Beginning with Feast this Saturday, and rolling into Cub Camp, and finally Scouts BSA. Yes, I am a paid employee, unlike so many that I am getting ready to write on, without naming names. By paid, of course, I mean that I should have enough to cover gas, and some of the things I need to buy through the summer. And not much more. Truth be told, staff at Geiger get a fraction of what they could get at other camps. So why? First let me tell you what sparked this post. I had come in, and was getting the trash cans set to put out on the porch. As I took them out, I noticed that the planters that surround the porch were still filled with last year's dead stalks. I know the person that takes the time to come out, and plant fresh flowers every year, and was surprised that it had not been done. Truthfully, my first...

 Welcome to the Voice of Golden Words. For those that don't know, this has been a blog running for nearly two years, detailing the views of this member of the Camp Geiger Staff. Where can you find me? Almost always you can find me at the Trading Post, feel free always to stop in the office if I am not on the floor of the store. The door is nearly always open. Since this is an intro for the season, let me introduce myself. My name is Philip Lovesee, and have attended Camp Geiger as a camper or as a member of the Staff, since 1978, having missed only one summer, when I served a mission for my church in Spain. I am one of the exceptions to the whole host of Eagle Scouts on the Camp Geiger staff, being a Life for lifer. Not proud of it, and continue to push youth to make the commitment to get their Eagle award. For that, if nothing else, I can be the example of what not to do. It is something that I have always regretted, and while I feel I have served my penance, I always look back at...