[vpalango]

in reply to: Carter, Middle #53868

We intend to be on the trail at 7:30am and start back down no later than 2pm given the possibility of inclement weather later in the day.

[vpalango]

in reply to: weather report #53859

Trying to stay positive….

http://www.outdoors.org/recreation/tripplanner/go/pinkham-washington-weather.cfm

This forcast calls for the posibility of showers late…. If this holds, from our group’s point of view we’ll make sure to start down perhaps a little early.

[vpalango]

in reply to: Planning Meeting Weekend? #53330

The 12th is Mothers day. Yikes, my months are filling up again, Mothers Day on the 12th, Whitewater Rafting on the 19th, Memorial Day the 26th….

Sigh… Another year where I probably won’t be able to make it to the planning meeting, as much as I’d like to.

VLP

[vpalango]

in reply to: Ideas for 2007 FOT48 #53269

@Chris wrote:

There are some difficulties with opening registrations much earlier (if anyone is interested in what they are, PM me). Now if this has been covered and I’ve forgotten, please feel free to correct me, but why can’t the scout troops plan on attending the event, then have one of the leaders sign up when registrations open? Can’t the troops plan on attending without knowing what specific peak they’ll be climbing? Or do you all need to get permission slips with specific locations (like where you’ll be staying) before you can plan the event?

Sure, we can plan on attending without knowing what peak we will be climbing. It’s more that we need to know before summer hits us that we will get a peak. If I don’t know the actual peak until late July, that’s not a problem. I just need to get my boys, and parents, committed to the trip before we shut down normal troop meetings for the summer.

Yours In Scouting,

[vpalango]

in reply to: Ideas for 2007 FOT48 #53265

@Sherpa John wrote:

1.) No pre-registration of peaks for ANYONE including the Boy Scouts. Preference should ONLY be given to those with disabilities who wish to take on a “reserved” peak for them specificly (ie. Washington, Cannon, Wildcat D)

No objections here, if this is implemented, however, I’d suggest that the peak selection start MUCH earlier than in previous years allowing youth groups like the Boy Scouts to be able to plan calendars effectively prior to the end of thier previous year. In July, our troop is already in its summer prorgam (in fact durring the registration time last year we were camping for a week, and completely isolated from all electronics).

Ideally, if there is no pre-registration (and I don’t want to re-start that argument 🙂 ) It would be ideal for us if the selection were complete before mid-June.

Other Suggestion….

If there are more than enough people to cover all the 48, start registration for secondary (less than 4000 ft) peaks so that people who want to raise a flag can hike somewhere else in the area and raise one as part of the event.

Great job everyone who organized the event, we had a great time with our boys, and look forward to participating again in the future.

[vpalango]

in reply to: 2007 signups #52703

@Sherpa John wrote:

Vernon.. with ALL due respect… I must interject…

I am an Assistant Scoutmaster myself, and you just made the scheduling process sound MORE difficult than it actually is.

What you and your troop have planned is a WEEKEND long event… I assume your camping with this being the main project of your campout. However.. EVERY peak that the scouts of acquired in this years event (and in years past) is a day hike for ALL of the boys in your troop.

Actually, for us this is not a feasible day-hike. It is a 4+ hour ride for us to the area, so a weekend event is the only option for us. To make it a day-hike we’d need to leave the area at 3-4am on Saturday, not something I’m going to convince parents on the Saturday of the first week of school.

Yes… Scout camping weekends do indeed take some time in planning. HOWEVER.. if your troop wished to make it an available day hike activity for your troop… all you need is 2 weeks. 1 week is to hand out your permission slips and acquire a tour permit.. the other week to have the boys bring the permission slips back.

As an assistant scoutmaster and former scout… I STRONGLY AGREE that the scouts should NOT take precedent over others wishing to participate and they should also have to wait to sign up just like everyone else. ONLY because this event can be a day hike just as much as it is monthly campout. Yes.. I know the next argument… “but we live in Massachusetts.” I guess leaving earlier is in the solution.

I actually agree with you on most points. As I’m part of a troop with a long drive to the event, I do have some constraints to make sure this is planned and organized. Mileage may vary of course, and youre experiences are different from mine.

Again… I’m not asking for anything, just giving a data point. Niether am I asking for preference of any kind. A simple solution might be to hold the selection process earlier, so that someone like me can plan further in advance. I was not trying to imply that I thought we should get preference as Boy Scouts, and I appologize if I left that impression. I’m just looking for options in how we may be part of the process, which works for us, and the larger group.

[vpalango]

in reply to: 2007 signups #52700

OK… I’m going to post from the Scouting point of view. I certainly understand everyone’s concerns about favoritism, and other issues, but part of the issue is understanding how the Scouting program runs.

First off, someone posted about the Scouting calendar, and how it works. For us (in my troop), to go on the Flags on th 48 Hike, I need to have a committment on what’s going on in September back in the May/June time frame. This is because in our scouting year, this is when we are doing planning for a September activity.

Someone else posted saying

Why can’t the Scoutmaster simply sign up for the peak and then worry about filling it later, or giving it up later?

.

Again, it is a scheduling issue, as someone stated. First, sign ups this year were on July 10th. In my case, I was with my troop at summer camp that entire week.

In addition, scout troops are actually run by the boys, not the Scoutmaster. You see me posting here on behalf of our troop, primarily due to youth protection guidelines associated with the web (essentially, having under 18 boys post name/address information in any form on the web falls outside youth protection guidelines). Becuase of the summer scheduling issues that my troop faces, our next planning meeting after the signup wasn’t until early August.

Finally, when I’m working with the scouting program schedule from an administrative level, I need to get signups going in late June, as that’s when I loose the parents (who at the end of the day need agree to the trip). I don’t have direct contact with all the parents in my troop again until next week, when we start meeting again.

At the end of the day, I’m not stating an opinion in any way, as my opinion is obviously biased by the group I represent. I know my Troop loves the event, and I know the boys have gotten alot out of it. If we were in a system where our peak/participation became more unsure, unfortunately it might make our decision process/ability to attend/participate in the event more unsure as well depending on how the rules/regulations of the event is set up.

Again, I’m not making a plea on behalf of BSA units (far from it). I’m simply stating the effect/consequences of decisions that the Steering Committee might make. At the end of the day, this is not a BSA event, it just happens to be one which is very compatible on both sides, as the BSA is a patriotic organization, and this is a very patriotic event. As a Scout leader, I use this event to really emphasize the outdoors, and patriotism all at the same time. Its a great lesson for our boys.

If we didn’t have this event, I’d find ways to do it another way, so no pressure should be felt by the steering committee from my statements.

[vpalango]

in reply to: How did you learn of Flags on the 48? #52897

I actually found it when searching online for camping/hiking ideas for our BSA troop back in 2004. We’ve been joining in ever since, and it’s rapidly becomming a tradition for us.

[vpalango]

in reply to: Pre-POST Event Gathering #52533

I may drop by on my way home. I have to scoot that evening, but I may show my face this year as I won’t be staying with Troop 131 for the whole weekend.

[vpalango]

in reply to: Planning Meeting Attendance #52244

Elsewhere Troop 131 said we were comming, but we’re going to have to back out of the planning meeting unfortunately 🙁

We had some unavoidable conflicts come up, and as a result needed to reschedule some things, and this event unfortuately suffered.

We will be hiking in September, and already have that locked in our calendar.

Good Luck in 3 weeks at the meeting!

[vpalango]

in reply to: 2006 Planning Weekend/Gathering #51997

I’ll be there with another Scoutmaster and some boys from the leadership of Troop 131. I look forward to meeting everyone. We still need to figure out if we will stay at the KOA, or if we will camp at one of the National Park sites.

See you then.

[vpalango]

in reply to: Flags on the 48: The Documentary #50925

Frodo Your inquiring on who might be willing and available to interview is the way to do it, and as previously mentioned, the Boy Scout Troops who participate in this event would be an interesting interview…

Hopefully, the Boy Scout Troops will all be camping in a single location, somewhere near Waterville/Technumse. *I checked the map, and we are all hiking in that general area.

I’m sure we’d be glad to have someone come by with a camera, we just will need to make sure we abide by the youth protection guidelines we need to follow in regard to filming the boys.

I’m hoping we will know our camping location within the next couple of weeks.

Yours In Scouting,

Vernon L. Palango
Assistant Scoutmaster – Troop 131 Wrentham, MA

[vpalango]

in reply to: Planning Meeting Question (Newbee) #50741

After being away from the topic for a while, our troop is definitely unable to attend the planning meeting, but we will be entering the lottery for a peak.

Can anyone give me some good advise for an “Easy” peak. The younger scouts in the troop won’t be able to handle a difficult route.

Also, if anyone from the nearby MA area is going to the planning meeting, I’d be happy to talk with you offline about the capabilities our troop can bring to the event in terms of helping out.

V. Palango
Asst. Scoutmaster Troop 131, Wrentham, MA

[vpalango]

in reply to: Planning Meeting Question (Newbee) #50739

It looks like we won’t be able to attend the planning meeting (we have a major camporee the previous weekend, and it will overextend us to make it up there on the following weekend). We, however, will be entering the lottery to participate on a peak, as the troop committee and Patrol Leaders Council have both expressed interest in the event.

Thanks for all the info.

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