Jared gets his Woodbadge beads

Last summer, Jared had the opportunity to go to Woodbadge. Woodbadge is a week long camp where you learn to be a better scout leader and more fully understand how the program works. Jared had such a fun time and learned so much. He came home so fired up for scouts, which is a good thing because I think that as members of the church, we tend to have a bad attitude towards the scouting program sometimes, but if you think about all the amazing things that it teaches our young men and look at how much of a difference it can make in the lives of our youth, we would not be so critical about it.

Anyways, so during Woodbadge you have the opportunity make goals that they call tickets. (They call them tickets because Lord Baden Powell was the founder of the Scouting program. He was from England. In England, you would be sent out from their Army to many different places and serve your allotted time. The military did not pay your passage home when you were discharged, so over time you would try to get transfered closer and closer to home at the armies expense before getting discharged.  This was called earning your ticket.) So you have 5 "tickets" that are suppose to be things that strengthen you and help you along your way to becoming a better leader. Jared's tickets were to finish his master's degree, organize his records of where his scouts standings were in their rank advancements, better organize our budget, take our kids to Silverwood, and attend individual activities of his boy scouts to be able to build a stronger relationship with them and support them in their own talents. I am really proud of Jared for all that he accomplished!

We had a nice relaxed dinner with friends at a park before we did the beading ceremony.

Melissa Dunn was Jared's troop guide during his time at Woodbadge, she is sitting directly across from Jared at the table.

Jordyn getting some daddy time before he goes up for his beading.

Brother  Kevin Landon ran the Woodbadge week that Jared attended. He is also in our ward. He called the meeting to order by blowing on his kudo horn made out of an animal horn.

Jared recieves his rose neckerchief and beads from Melissa Dunn.

(Lord Baden Powell wanted to award his scout leaders more than just a piece of paper for their accomplishments and so he gave them Zulu beads from a tribe that he had tracked and tracked but never succeeded in catching, He came upon their camp which was hastily abondoned, the coals were still warm, and several artifacts were left behind. He found some beads of great value and used those as gifts to his scout leaders.)

Nine people got their beads that day and many people from the staff at the camp were there to support them.

Jared was part of the Fox patrol and had such a good time. Melissa was a great troop leader!

Here is Jared and Mel hamming it up in front of the old outhouse.

He/She who smelt it, dealt it!