Waco Section Royal Rangers

During the past few years we have seen an explosion in devices that connect to the Internet. It is now common to have cell phones, PDAs, Blackberries, and other handheld devices that are capable of connecting to the Internet from anywhere, anytime. With these devices, come increased technologies that allow quicker trade of information between users. More and more users are able to connect at faster speeds, although there is a significant portion of dial-up users. It is easier than ever to purchase an item, catch the latest news from around the world, or gather information to write reports or do homework. Along with these resources are aids that provide information and resources for use in the local outpost. If there is anything you don’t know, just do a search on search engines like Google, AltaVista, or Yahoo. You can find resources on games, skits, devotions, advancement aids, training resources, and answers to questions. You can also find sources for encouragement and for sharing of prayer requests.

There are many resources that have been placed on the Internet by Royal Rangers commanders others are placed by sections or districts. Still other resources are placed on the Internet by sources like the Boy Scouts. These resources can be found on web sites, e-mail discussion groups, chat rooms, and RSS syndicated feeds. We shall look at each of these in turn.

WEB RESOURCES

There is a long time resource that has been around since 1996 and developed and maintained by a local outpost commander D.J. Nemes. The site was down for a short time, but is now back with a cleaner, crisp, and modernized look. This site is found at http://www.rangerdj.com/. Included on his site, are links to many resources that will benefit the local commander including clip art, information about Royal Rangers, and resources for the weekly meetings.There is another Royal Rangers related resource that provides links to other relevant resources. This resource allows users to submit links to be included in the network. RoyalRangers.net located at http://www.royalrangers.net/info/links/pages/ is a network of links to resources. There are links available for pageantry and council fires, devotions, GMA resources, and many other resources that will benefit the local commander in preparing for outings, weekly meetings, and award services.

The National Royal Rangers Office has a web site, http://royalrangers.ag.org, which provides some resources for commanders, including the requirements for many of the merits as well as information for upcoming national events including Camporama, Rendezvous, and training camps. The South Central Region has a web site at http://scr.royalrangers.net that provides information on the region and upcoming regional events. The North Texas District Royal Rangers has a web site at http://ntd.royalrangers.net that provides pertinent information for the district events and activities. Finally, the Waco Section Royal Rangers has a web site at http://www.royalrangers.net/ntd/waco/ where information about upcoming events can be found.

If you are interested in Scouting resources, then The MacScouter http://www.macscouter.com/ is an excellent resource that contains links to relevant scouting and camping resources that will benefit the local commander and Royal Rangers. Here you will find links to cooking idea and recipes, skits, council fires, camping, training, and clip art.

If there are commanders that are interested in or work with boys from urban, inner city areas, or are running Urban Rangers may want to explore sites like The Coroner’s Report http://www.gangwar.com/. Other resources include M.A.D. D.A.D.S. http://www.maddads.com/, National Youth Gang Center http://www.iir.com/nygc/, the Justice Information Center http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Topics/Topic.aspx?topicid=147, or the National Gang Crime Research Center http://www.ngcrc.com/.

If you are looking for certain information on the Internet, then you can use one of many search engines that are available. All these sites will allow you to search for specific words or phrases, like “bow saw” or “frostbite.” When I was working on my Gold Medal of Achievement I found these search engines to provide great resources that allowed me to complete requirements and get the information and answers that I needed. Among the commonly used search engines are AltaVista http://www.altavista.com, Google http://www.google.com, the Open Directory Project http://dmoz.com, and Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com. Each of these sites will return literally hundreds of thousands of results containing the search term “Royal Rangers” (in quotes). In fact, AltaVista found 260,000 results as I wrote this article.

E-MAIL DISCUSSION GROUPS

There are several email discussion lists that are available for commanders. Some are general purpose ones while others are for commanders in specific locales. There is an e-mail list for commanders from around the world to come together to ask questions, send prayer requests, and share devotions and tips. The purpose of this list is to share ideas with other commanders, ask questions and get answers, and make announcements for major Regional and National events. To subscribe, send a message to Leaders-Request@RoyalRangers.net with the message “subscribe Leaders” (without the quotes) in the body of the message. Once you are subscribed, then you will be able to send messages to everyone that is subscribed by sending a message to Leaders@RoyalRangers.net.

For commanders that live in the South Central Region, SCR, (this region covers all of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and New Mexico plus the Gulf Latin and Central Latin districts) there is a mailing list that can only be posted to by the regional staff. This email list is to send pertinent information that pertains to the region. This list is used to provide information on Regional Conference, Regional Ranger of the Year, Territorial Rendezvous, and missions opportunities. To subscribe, send a message to SCR-Request@RoyalRangers.net with the message “subscribe SCR” (without the quotes) in the body of the message. Once you have subscribed, you will be able to receive emails that are sent by the regional staff. However, you will not be allowed to post to this list.

For commanders that live in the North Texas District we have a general list. This email list is used for sharing information on upcoming module training, district events, prayer requests, GMA ceremonies, and other important information for commanders. To subscribe, send a message to NTD-Request@RoyalRangers.net with the message “subscribe NTD” (without the quotes) in the body of the message. Once you have subscribed, you will then be able to send messages to all that are subscribed by sending an email to NTD@royalrangers.net.

If you are an FCF member in North Texas there is a FCF email list just for you, however, you will need to email Mark Woods at mwoods444@yahoo.com to be added to the NTD-FCF list.

For those commanders that live in the Waco Section, there is an email list that is available to share information, post announcements about upcoming events and training, and to share prayer requests. To subscribe, send a message to Waco-Request@RoyalRangers.net with the message “subscribe Waco” (without the quotes) in the body of the message. Once you have subscribed, you will be able to send messages to all those that are subscribed by sending an email to Waco@royalrangers.net.

RSS SYNDICATED FEEDS

This is a more recent technology that is starting to become popular on the Internet. RSS feeds serve several purposes. A web designer can create an RSS feed and allow people to enter a little bit of code on their website and as soon as the original web designer updates the RSS feed then it gets syndicated on all sites that are linked to that feed. It is more common though to have some kind of RSS feed software, a supported browser, or a supported email client that allows you to subscribe to RSS feeds and when information is updated on the feed, you immediately get the new information. This allows people to get information quicker and also allows web sites that are related to show the same information.

The Waco Section has had an RSS feed for slightly over a year now that is updated to include information on upcoming events, reports on past events, special articles, and other important information. This RSS feed is found at http://www.royalrangers.net/ntd/waco/rss/waco.xml. To subscribe to this feed you need to have a browser like Firefox (available at http://www.getfirefox.com), an email client like Thunderbird (available at http://getthunderbird.com), or a news feeder like SharpReader (available at http://www.sharpreader.net/) to be able to subscribe to and read the information located at the feed. Entering the actual RSS feed address into your browser will just return code, you have to have a piece of software that can interpret the code and display it for reading by humans.

UPDATE: The Waco Section now has a blog, which includes an RSS feed. The blog can be found at http://www.christianloop.org/waco-blog/. The blog can be viewed like a normal web page. However, if you wish to subscribe to the feed you will still need a piece of software that can interpret the code and display it in a readable format for humans. The feed can be found at http://www.christianloop.org/waco-blog/feed/. The feed included in the original article is no longer going to link to a valid feed.

FURTHER UPDATE: The Waco Section blog has a new url.  It can be found at http://www.wacoroyalrangers.org/. The blog can be viewed like a normal web page. However, if you wish to subscribe to the feed you will still need a piece of software that can interpret the code and display it in a readable format for humans. The feed can be found at http://www.wacoroyalrangers.org/feed/.  The feed included in the original article is no longer going to link to a valid feed.  Also, the link provided in the original update are also no longer valid.

CONCLUSION

This is just a glimpse of the vast wealth of information that is located on the Internet for commanders and Royal Rangers today. With a little searching, or just surfing the Web, you can find all kinds of information and resources that will make your job as a commander easier.

(This article is based on a related article written by Jonathan Trower in 1998 titled “The Internet as an Aid for the Local Outpost” for the High Adventure.)

David Trower
Sectional Web and Publications Coordinator