Scoutmaster Musings

Do you remember what it felt like when Mighty Casey struck out?
"Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville — little GoLite has struck out."

I received an email today that GoLite.com is having a liquidation sale. I figured it was some spam so I viewed the source - and everything looked legit. I went to GoLite.com and there was a banner "Liquidation Sale", but then every page after that just showed "service unavailable" - I imagine their server is overloaded today.

It's true - GoLite.com is bankrupt and selling out all their inventory to pay off debts.

GoLite is (was) my favorite, daniel-vs-goliath, ultralight gear provider. They pushed the price of gear down and seemed to really try to offer good stuff and reasonable prices. Over the past few years, they tried different sales models. Obviously, some part of their business plan didn't work out. :-(

When I hiked the Arizona Trail, my most important item was my GoLite chrome dome umbrella. It protected me from sun, rain, and big horses. I still have, and use, it but now will never be able to replace it as it is wearing a bit thin.
Also, my wife and I both got GoLite down jackets from Christmas gifts and I wore mine every night across Arizona. She wears hers from Oct. to March here in MN. :-)

But, it's not just me. Andrew Skurka's gear list includes many GoLite items.

Now that GoLite is going away, I find myself wondering if I could have helped prevent the closing of their doors. Here's all I could think of - do you have other ideas?

• Buy More Stuff - purchase what you need, or just want
• Give Feedback - let them know you like them and why they are your favorite
• Promote - tell your friends about them

Well, there are still lots of lightweight gear retailers - Granite Gear, Gossamer Gear, HyperLite, AntiGravity, ULA, ZPacks, ProLite, LightHeart, EMS, Katabatic, ... but I'll sure miss GoLite. Guess I need to find a new favorite.

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Need $25 for Scout Stuff?
Boy Scout Trail just hit 2,000 Likes on Facebook. To celebrate, someone gets a $25 Scout Shop gift card.

For a chance to win:

• Go to Facebook and LIKE http://facebook.com/boyscouttrail if you haven't already.
• Then, leave a comment on this Status post there.

I'll randomly choose a winner of all those that leave a comment before Monday.

I'll do the same thing when we hit 3000, 4000, ... and every 1K after that. Share with your FB friends so the next drawing happens sooner.

Scout On

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I just got back from walking 1/2 mile to my polling location and casting my ballot. Many of the positions were just the incumbent running for re-election unopposed. There was only one local referendum to vote on. It wasn't a really exciting election.

Modeling good citizenship isn't often an exciting role. As common citizens, our job is to vote and then support those people and policies we have elected and passed. Without the first step of voting, nothing else works out.

So, make it to the polls today if you haven't already - there's still time. Do your good turn of supporting our country by actively participating in the election process. And, maybe even get a cool little "I Voted" sticker to wear!

Scout On

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Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drugs have not been allowed around youth in the BSA program for quite awhile. Recent technological and political changes have caused two items to be added to section IV of the Guide to Safe Scouting.

• electronic cigarettes: Adult leaders should support the attitude that they, as well as youth, are better off without tobacco in any form and may not allow the use of tobacco products at any BSA activity involving youth participants. This includes the use of electronic cigarettes, personal vaporizers, or electronic nicotine delivery systems that simulate tobacco smoking.
  All Scouting functions, meetings, and activities should be conducted on a smoke-free basis, with smoking areas located away from all participants.
• medical marijuana: It is unacceptable for anyone to use or be under the influence of medical marijuana at or during any Scouting activity.

Being ignorant of e-cigs, I just reviewed a bunch of online videos of them. Proponents say they are safe, clean, and help kick the smoking habit. Opponents say they promote a smoking lifestyle, deliver drugs and harmful chemicals to the body, and are not helpful in kicking smoking addiction.

My casual observer view is that they look like silly and are very expensive. Youth seeing adults using them could certainly be swayed to use them, too.

Scout On

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