Scoutmaster

UK Scout Association Names Bear Grylls New Chief Scout

The sometimes controversial television survivalist Bear Grylls has been appointed to the position of Chief Scout of the UK Scout association. Grylls televison show 'Born Survivor' was 'rumbled' by the British press for having been at best misleading about the predicaments depicted in the program. Apologies were offered and it seems that all is forgiven.
At 34 Grylls is the youngest Chief Scout a mostly celebratory office created for Scouting's founder Robert Baden-Powell.
Cynincism aside Grylls will likely be an inspiring Chief Scout. His accomplishents transcend mere showmanship (he did climb Everest at the age of 23. His biggest challenge will be to inspire more adults to volunteer their support for Scouting in the UK. Reportedly 33,000 youth are on a waiting list pending the appointment of adult volunteers.
Interview on BBC Radio

Ethnic Scouting Grows in Canada

From an article in the Ottowa Sun:

"Actively welcoming youth and volunteers of all different ethno-cultural backgrounds has become a major focus for our organization," says Glenn Armstrong, chief commissioner of Scouts Canada. "It's exciting to think that this major growth area for our organization is also simply allowing us to better reflect the cultural makeup of Canada."

But it's not just in Canada. In other western countries, including the U.S. and the U.K., the image traditionally pictured on the handbook no longer automatically mirrors the young people studying it. There are at least 47 scout groups across Canada -- with 3,177 members -- that are specifically designated as Chinese, and others who identify themselves as Greek, Portuguese, Estonian, Lithuanian, Syrian and Slovenian. Asjad's group is one of five in Canada classed as distinctly Muslim.

Read the full article here

Shiang Yang Open Scout Troop

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The Shiang Yang Open Scout Troop of Ipoh, Perak Malaysia was founded in 1999 and is chartered to the Meow Yuen Zen Buddhist Monastery. They have achieved much in their relatively short history including producing many King Scouts (equivalent to our Eagle) and building a tower five storeys high out of nothing but bamboo, firewood   and rope.

Read more about this world-class pioneering project here. (Apparently they have plans to build a bigger one this summer!)

Related posts at Scoutmaster
Pioneering as Sculpture

Scouting in the Netherlands during World War II

Piet Kroonenberg is the Historical Consultant to the European Scout Committee, and was awarded the Bronze Wolf in 1996 for his outstanding contribution to International Scouting. His books The Forgotten Movements and The Undaunted, as well as numerous articles, chronicle the history of Scouting in Europe. Piet writes with the authority of having been active in Scouting since before the Dutch World Jamboree in 1937.
"J" is a gripping and significant account of one Scout's experiences in Nazi-occupied Holland. "J" is the story of a Boy Scout, who, because of the terrible events of the Second World War, became a Courier for the Resistance, or Dutch Underground, an armed Resistance fighter, a translator and navigator to both the British and Canadian Armies of Liberation and, through it all and in his later years, a life-long Scout.

Read the story of Jay's life during the war at Scouting Milestones

21st World Jamboree

The 100th anniversary of World Scouting featured the 21st Annual World Jamboree
The Official Website is full of reports and information about the proceedings.
The BSA Contingent Website features many pictures of BSA Scouts participating in the Jamboree.

There are plenty of videos on Youtube

Scouts in Antartica?

Scouts in Antarctica?   here are a couple of pictures -

Looks like a nice day for a hike.

Nice pioneering projects too!

I would like to know more about Grupo Scout NRO. 3 "Esperanza" if you have any information  The Antarctica Argentina is considered part of Argentina. Here is a history of the base that is home to the scouts.

Pioneering Around the World

Peter at Ropes and Poles says:

I've been lucky enough to speak to Scouts all over the world while I've been running this blog. I realised the other day that I've spoken to Scouts on every continent on earth, except Antarctica (yes, there are Scout troops in Antarctica).

See the original post for a list of worldwide pioneering projects.

Scouting Newsfeed

ASM Steve from Richmond, Virginia helps maintain a newsfeed for items published about Scouting " The Scouting Vine" Subscribers receive links to news articles  reporting on the activities and achievements of Scouts from all over the world. It is always interesting and encouraging to learn about what Scouts are doing outside the borders of our troops, councils, and country.

The Scouting Vine
http://goodturn.newsvine.com
Scouting Vine newsfeed
http://feeds.feedburner.com/scoutingvine

If you aren't already subscribing to blogs and newsfeeds learn more about it here in an article on creating your own Google homepage. There are a number of similar services offered, but I like Google best.
What do I mean by 'subscribe' ? Here's a good article on RSS for Rookies.
Even the technophobic can create a homepage that will keep them up-to-date on their favorite blogs (like Scoutmaster!) and websites.

Tekes Esh - Fire Writing

Peter at the Ropes and Poles Blog writes about Tekes-Esh (Hebrew for fire writing) - a ceremony held by Israeli Scouts:

Scouts make fire sculptures for this ceremony, using paraffin-soaked cloth 'snakes' attached to a metal grid. The grid is supported by a pioneered frame, with tinfoil insulating the lashings that are closest to the fire. These pictures and words are clear for around 15 minutes of burning, after which parts start burning out, and after 45 minutes the fire is normally out altogether.

Complete post at Ropes and Poles
More pictures here
Related posts on the Scoutmaster Blog
Pioneering as Sculpture

Kohte - German Scout Tent

An earlier post about the Flickr Pioneering pool featured a picture of a giant tent complex.
A reader named Dan commented;

The tent you are looking at are standard German scout tents. Each scout carries a panel and when they reach the destination for camp they put the pieces together.

These tents are called 'khote' and are based on the shape and function of the Saami tipi-like reindeer skin tent. The Saami (sometimes called Laplanders) are the indigenous people of Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. (Ref. wikipedia)

Eberhard Koebel opinionated a design that incorporates several smaller canvas panels that are carried by individual scout as and assembled when they reach the campsite.

The panels are available in different sizes and configurations that can be assembled in many different ways.

Die-Kohte features some pictures and history (link to translated site)

Pfadfinder-rott has even more information (link to translated site)

Fahrtenbedarf sells the individual panels and complete kohten