Email questions!

I’ll answer email questions concerning patrols and planning in this week’s podcast. I think what most of us want is patrols with long storied histories, stable membership, and high functioning Scouts.

It’s my suspicion these kinds of patrols only exist in the pages of handbook.

I had a dog eared copy the 1940’s era Patrol Leader’s Handbook as a kid. It’s illustrated with line drawings and cartoons of a bunch of cheery fellows doing great things in an orderly fashion. It depicts an idealized patrol that never was.

I chased that idealized patrol for a long time. None of my patrols reached that state of idealized perfection although I had even had a glimpse of it now and then. Eventually I learned to encourage my patrols without chasing an idealized version of something that never actually existed.

Another listener asks about patrols and planning when it comes to independent patrol camping trips. they want to know if I would consider limiting options for this sort of thing a usurpation of Scout leadership. I don’t have any argument with defining the choices. We play a specific game on a specific field of play and this limits our choices, you may say it lends focus to our activities.

Podcast Notes

Happy Wanderer Opening Music

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