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Hmm. That's not quite the way most people think of the "buddy system" in scouting. We've always used the term to mean 2 scouts doing something together. *NEVER* before have I seen it defined as "parent or legal guardian or another registered adult". That language introduces confusion and dilutes the simple power of the buddy system.

The "girl scouts" thing is definitely justified in being picked apart. We all have a lot of adjusting to do to the new language of the BSA, so calling each other out on missteps I think is necessary and constructive. Not just because of the lawsuit. I cringe every time we're at a Pack meeting with girls in attendance and a leader addresses the Pack saying "boys". At the Cub level we've been at this since last summer and we're still not getting it right. This needs to be picked apart.

I suppose so. That might make the numbers work. I wouldn't want to just add busywork to the kids work load. I carefully plan my units and lessons to give the kids a valuable learning experience. I try to not waste their time.

"""Yes, the OA is a service organization. But there was a camaraderie in the work. Sometimes that "cheerful spirit, even the midst of irksome tasks and weighty responsibilities...." resulted in turning it to fun or even turning the task into a joke to make it more bearable. Sadly that is missing. When I was CA 10+ years ago. I suggested promoting the fun stuff as well as doing our own. We sent folks to fellowship and conclave. We had fun meetings and even did some special trips. Our work load didn't decrease, in fact we did a few extra community service projects. OA was getting back on tr

Born in New Orleans. Raised in "Metry" as folks call the suburb Metairie. But I lived in Gonzales for about 3 years. Gonzales makes more Jambalaya than anywhere else. Now that we can agree upon. :) Although I can tell you having a chef or 3 in the family, I ate pretty well, especially during the holidays. ;) Had this conversation with the chef at work. He was stationed in New Orleans, and knows you don't put okra in Jambalaya. But the recipe he has to use includes it. Probably written by someone who has never been to Louisiana. Could be worse, I guess. Could be Disn

I agree. Scouting should be an adventure experience, not efficient rank advancement. Barry

No.

Not here in Florida. Hiking is a little easier here at this time of year, when it can still be relatively cool. Much of the Florida Trail tends to be fairly level, although trekking through water, mud and sugar sand can slow you down a bit.

Never, ever heard of okra in Jambalaya. And I lived in the "Jambalaya Capitol of the World" for a while.

This is going into our District News..... Thank you....

I'm still intreguied by the new unit Commissioner part of @Ranman328's question. I've always been of the understanding that the role of a UC is to provide guidance to the unit leaders to help them be successful. Advice can certainly sometimes be directive i.e. "you should allow the Scouts more time to individually finish ranks on their own timeline instead of rushing it." But, generally I've always thouht of the UC as more of a trusted advisor or a consultant. If a new UC showed up and started telling me what I was doing wrong, I'd don't think I'd listen too much. "who is this UC

That sounds like a good approach. The point isn't to have a car built to precision specs, it's to develop some pride in workmanship and to build a stronger relationship with a parent by working together. How good the car looks or how fast it runs is secondary to the experience of making something yourself. When my son was a Cub, the pack had a rule that whoever won the race --- that parent would be the PWD chair next year. It was a good rule.

I suspect therein lies the confusion. At a glance, buddy might sound like "2nd scout working on the same MB", but further review (like the above) clears it up. Hopefully it's just a case of discussing this with the SM to clear up the rule for all involved.

A sportsman's club. What kind of sports? Hunting? Fishing? Hockey? Croquet? Maybe there are possible Scouters among the membership? Has that been broached? Isaac Walton League here abouts has always been very Scout friendly, for instance. They allow their grounds for Cub Scout Day Camp, Archery Camp, Rifle and Shotgun Merit Badge camps, many things Scouty. If yours is to serve brats and sodas, make the most of it. Scout PR, a demo campout, PineWood Derby, whatever. It could be a win win for both of you. Perhaps the membership is aging and no longer able to keep up the

Yes things adapt and change. No more "Blacksmithing" MB. And I must remind folks that there is no truth to the rumor that BSA is planning to fold the Pet MB into the Cooking MB.....

The mention of "buddy" has never explicitly stated that the "buddy" must be another scout, let alone a scout also working on the MB. It is/was for 2 deep reasons that you couldn't have a MBC meeting one-on-one with a youth. "Buddy" could have been a parent, sibling, or another youth. Straight from the BSA's website, current language states: "Scout Buddy System. You must have another person with you at each meeting with the merit badge counselor. This person can be your parent or legal guardian, or another registered adult."

You're going to need about 50 scouts to do this over the course of the year. With 40 scouts between the pack & troop, you'll probably want to ask each scout to sign up for 1 or 2 spots. That's not an awful burden to help fund the pack. But, I think my real question would be - do you want to do this? As I see it, your CO is basically asking you all to be more involved in the CO's success. We as Scouters are often commenting how uninvolved the COs are in our units. This strikes me as an opportunity to be more engaged with the CO. That can be a very good thing. My recommendati

From the back page of the Brotherhood Ceremony 1949. Song of the Scouts. by Edwin Markham We are the boys of the helping hand.Banded together for the good of all; We cheer the steps of the ones that stand,And we lift the ones that fall. Our feet are willing, our hearts are light,And we take the road with a cherry song; For we are the friends of every right,And the foes of every wrong . Soldiers are we of the nobler warsThat great souls fight for the common good; We follow the call of the morning stars,In a knightly brotherhood.

One of the first times my SM volunteered to come to a crew event with me, he volunteered to transport ... thinking that he'd wind up with a car full of the boys ... since they basically knew the drill and he was, after all, their SM. (As you might guess already, I'm not to map out these details in advance.) Well, sure enough, come departure time (which involved the complexity of roof-top carriers, etc ...), the boys piled in my car and the girls in his! The terrified look on his face was one of those precious crew advisor moments that will stay with me forever. It wound up being one of his bet

Hey all! With my time cleared up now and my health more or less restored, I have been asked to serve as a commissioner by my district committee leaders. They told me to register as a unit commissioner, but they specifically want me to help with training new Cub Scout leaders, facilitating Cub breakout sessions at Roundtable, and above all being on-hand to support Cub Scouting at the district level. I am taking every training course I can find online and doing everything possible to make sure I am as well-versed in Scout policies and procedures as possible (luckily my mom was a commissioner for

A couple of weeks ago, I ran across this great blog called Scouting Rediscovered, which is run by an Eagle Scout who has dedicated a considerable amount of time to poring over seminal writings from Scouting's past (particularly those of B-P, GBB, and John Thurman) in an effort to foster a return to the sources of Scouting. His series on "Keystones of a Scout: The Ten Virtues that Make a Scout" and "Traditional Scouting 101" are particularly exemplary. Anyway, just thought I'd pass this resource along for anyone who hasn't yet seen it, as I think his philosophy of Scouting will resonate with ma

Does anyone know why national stopped using it as a national base? Waa it just low attendance or is there some interesting history here.

Hilarious, from Dave Barry, and so many apply to us, especially the last one! KS_____________________________________________ NINETEEN THINGS THAT IT TOOK ME FIFTY YEARS TO LEARN by Dave Barry 1. Never under any circumstances take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night. 2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings." 3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." 4. People who want to share their religious views

... especially given to those "unmotivated" & "I don't have any time to spare" parents ... An Hour of Your Time Daddy how much do you make an hour? With a timid voice and idolizing eyes, the little boy greeted his father as he returned from work. Greatly surprised, but giving his boy a glaring look, the father said: Look, sonny, not even your mother knows that. Don't bother me now I'm tired. But Daddy, just tell me please! How much do you make an hour, the boy insisted. The father, finally giving up, replied: Twenty dollars per hour. Okay, Daddy. Could you lo

The Carpenter An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials.

An Indian water bearer had two large pots, each one hanging from the ends of a pole which he carried across his shoulders. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other was perfect and always returned a full amount of water.At the end of the long walk from the stream to the village, the cracked pot always arrived only half full. For two years, this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one-and-a-half pots of water to the village. Of course the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, knowing that it always returned a full pot of water. The cracked pot, on the ot

Now the $64000 dollar question, and maybe @RichardB can give us clarification. Are two registered adults over 21 required for a merit badge counseling per the G2SS, or do pre-October 1, 2018 rules allowing 2 Scouts, or a Scout and a unregistered parent, meet with a MBC acceptable still? Or do you need 2 registered adults over 21 and 2 Scouts to do a MB session now?