What is a Wood Badge? It's a question I've been getting a lot lately so if you'll indulge me a couple of minutes I'll see if I can't explain it a bit.

If you follow me on Facebook you will have noticed quite a few pictures and comments relating to the Wood Badge course in which my wife and I just participated in at Camp Preston Hunt through the Boy Scouts of America.

Wood Badge is a tremendous training course for adult BSA leaders. It doesn't really matter where you start -- Den Leader, Scout Leader, Committee person, Venture Scout Adviser, etc. -- the wood badge program teaches you how to do it better. Leading through service to others, coaching and mentoring techniques to help you break through the clutter and build your team and scouts into a well-oiled machine of service.

The scouting program is all about turning boys into good men and hopefully one day great leaders. No matter what they do in life, the wood badge course helps us help them do that.

The course is six days long spanning two weekends, The first three days are mostly indoor instruction and discussion then sleeping in the cabins at night. The second three days took place on what's called the backside of Camp Preston Hunt, in the primitive camping area. The days are long, and it takes a few to recover from it as well, but it's worth it.

Our conservation project while at Camp Preston Hunt was putting new tin roofs on the Adirondacks, not far from the Pirate Ship if you know where things are in that part of the camp ground. They look great by the way. If you stay in the one with the Owl plaque on it, that's the one we worked on. When I say we, I'm talking about my new friends Zoe Nakashian, Reese Shuffield, Phil Burkhalter, JJ Williams, Ken Crane and our Troop Guide, Tanya Stone.

Owl Patrol - Adirondacks
Owl Patrol Selfie - Zoe, me, Phil, JJ, Reese and Ken at the Adirondacks
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I want to thank Greg Perry and his amazing staff for a very inspiring course and a fun six days. Also thanks to the Caddo Area Council for making it available here in our area and Troop 3 for their support and encouragement.

The Wood Badge itself is actually more like beads that are worn on a leather necklace. It will be several more months before I receive those and thereby complete my Wood Badge course. But I have made some fantastic, new, hopefully lifelong, friends, brothers and sisters in scouting and in life.

Worth every moment. If you're in scouts, getting into scouts, even thinking of getting in one day and someone says they would like to talk to you about Wood Badge, my advice is listen.

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