(no subject)
FPicci1215@AOL.COM
Fri, 5 Mar 1999 18:10:16 EST
Rick,
As a scoutmaster who has had the pleasure of taking 20 members of his troop to
Great Britain, and who had 4 of those youth return from Great Britain with
Kilts (we were hosted by a Scottish Troop), I'm afraid you are incorrect in
many of your positions.
The youth who came back with those kilts have been PROUD to wear those kilts
to several Scout functions as well as several public events. They understand
what a kilt is, what the elements of it are, and are not ashamed to wear them.
Look at it from the "the Scout's point of view". They do not consider it
crossing gender lines. They are VERY aware of the history of Scottish
Traditional clothing and would probably be VERY incensed at your comments.
In terms of the "It is a uniform designed
by a dress designer, Oscar De Laurento. It is a piece of puff
designed to be worn indoors for what Baden-Powell dismissed as
"parlor scouting." I have worn the Scout uniform on EVERY campout, EVERY
activity, and EVERY trip that our troop has taken. This includes two trips to
Philmont, 4 Bike hikes covering 140 miles each, a 50 miler canoe trip, over
700 miles of backpacking and hiking, and over 200 nights of camping in many
states. These uniforms have crawled through the dirt, climbed mountains, and
otherwise "done it all". I have also been a member of the armed forces (15
years combined Active/National Guard/Reserve) and had the pleasure to wear
fatigues and BDUs.
I would rather wear the Scout uniform ANY DAY. It is more comfortable, wears
better, looks better, and fits better (EVERY pair of Fatigues and BDUs I ever
owned needed to be tailored to fit properly)!!
I have 65 youth in my troop, we travel in uniform, our troop meetings are in
uniform - at the request of the youth. I have talked to them about this and,
from their point of view, IT WOULDN'T MATTER WHAT THE UNIFORM WAS. In fact,
they were the ones who objected to some of our youth wearing BDUs (that's why
we wear the Scout uniform now) because it was "military" - and they aren't in
the military".
Franco Piccione
Scoutmaster, BSA Troop 225
