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Welcome aboard Strawberry! I agree with Angela -- keep mentioning your Gold Award. My wife earned that award and, once I understood what she had to do to earn it, I had no trouble equating it to the Eagle Scout Award I earned. Impressive! Unc.

Alright Mr. Smartypants . . . I'll trump you with a hindu fire escape at 4 paces Unc.

Here in Ohio, as a new voter, I was a little bit nervous. While Uncleguinea isn't my name, what they did to my name was similar to calling me UncleGuiness . . .just different enough to make a difference. Evidently, Ohio has witnesses and challengers. Partisans who's job it is to make it more difficult for you to vote. Fortunately, I have flexibility in my work hours. I showed up to vote at 3:00 PM and was home by 3:20. The only guy that got really challenged was a democartic challenger. He walked in and the little old lady asked what precinct he lives in. He said, "I'm a c

As long as we're having fun with this, oh yeah of littler faith . . . Bob, I think you need to learn more knots and up your prescription lenses. There are two wraps on the second class knot. It is indeed an overhand knot tied around a loop of rope. It is not a lark's head. Unc.

John: The answer I received at Philmont training surprised me, but made sense once they explained it. Let me start with what it is NOT. Don't waste your time calling the National Office. They're there to serve councils. Councils are there to serve you. Any idea or suggestion should go to your council service center via the appropriate committee. Call and ask who the advisor is and then write an email or send in documation of your idea to the staff advisor in writing (politely) asking that it be presented at the next meeting of that committee. Offer to come to the meetin

Mark -- As much as I hate to see you lose a Scouting buddy . . . I've seen too many Scouting divorces. If the choice were family harmony, or all Scouting, all the time, the wise head chooses family. I'll pray that they both find a balance. Unc.

Sorry, Bob, I agree with Eamonn. It's not a larks head. I believe it is an overhand knot created by taking a loop of rope and wrapping it around itself in the manner of an overhand knot. I will accept correction only from a current member of the United States Navy, Coast Guard, or Merchant Marines -- or a veteran of any of those organizations. Of course, I checked the grand scheme of things and the symbolism of the knot is much more important than what kind of knot it is. Unc.

Okay -- I'll admit early that this interpretation of the alleged quote is a long shot on my part. I did minor in literature. A shield is a reactive device. A sword is a proactive device. We forge ahead into our freedom with only our wits about us (the sword.) We protect ourselves from enemy blows with a shield. Hmm . . . sure sounds like violence to me. "The price of freedom is that we carry not a shield, only a sword." Perhaps this would be better, "the price of freedom is that we need a flashlight rather than a tent." Unc.

There's probably not much worse than getting unsolicited advice on a side topic, but that's what I'm about to give. Please forgive me for being so bold. MTD -- you said, "I'm planning a COH, our Scout Exec will be in attendance ... " I'm pretty sure your Scout Executive would agree -- don't do anything with him there that you wouldn't do without him there. Remember, he's a guy like anyone else. Besides, giving a guy a 50-miler that he's earned is doing the right thing. I'm glad you're willing to check into it. I do have to agree that it is absolutely the right thing to do.

Bob White is correct. Online training has not gone away. In some councils, you can even recharter on the internet, although you still need signatures on paper. Youth Protection training can only be linked through your council's web site. This to make sure you get the local reporting procedures and recognition. Fast Start for Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Venturers can be linked through your council's web site or directly from natinal. Unc.

I also agree with most of Barry's post. The only thing I would change is the size of the vision. When I was a Scoutmaster (long ago) my vision was having 15-20 boys wearing full uniform at summer camp with the black Troop 725 neckerchiefs on each. In my vision (which is simply an acievable dream) the boys did right-dress-right, and front-dress-front and formed well-spaced rows. They did it at the command of the SPL, while I stood some distance away and simply beamed with pride at the boys. I dreamed this vision when I took over a troop of 5. One was a Hindu who used our ignorance

Time to doff my hat and bow to SW -- SW is correct. My appications aged while I wasn't watching them at their residence in the trunk of my car. Even your old uncle can be wrong once in a while. Time for a refill of my forms. Unc.

Kristi -- Please do use it. Please also realize that I haven't had a chance to field test my little syllabus yet. The Roundtable isn't going to be held for another week and a half. Proceed at your own risk, but I wish you the best of luck. Unc.

I'm sorry that you're having trouble and hopefully my advice can help in some small way. I've been asked to put on an informal training session in conjuction with our next district roundtable that I'm chosing to call "Getting the Parents to do stuff." It's about recruiting. Let me run my course outline (written entirely by me who's pen name is Been There, Done That.) I'll begin the one hour session with the objectives: By the end of this session you'll: Owe someone a favor Know how to "recruit to the task" Transform the useless into doing something. BTW -- th

Eamonn: You know I'm not a parent. I don't give advice as a parent. But I do give advice as a Scout leader. OJ will be 17 when he attends the trip. He already has his own opinion of how Scouting should work. This vision of his is probably largely, but not entirely, based on the vision you have given him as a father and a Scout leader yourself. I say you let him go on the trip. For good or ill, with OJ, your parenting is 90% done. Easy for me to say . . . I'm not his Dad. Unc.

Eamonn: Here are some probably unexpected answers to your question. They're coming from an admittedly twisted mind, so please consider the source. They certainly won't pass muster for a United Way concerned with "Outcomes Measurement" Pah! Which I won't go into in this thread . . . When I was informed by the owner of a Ben Franklin craft store in Illinois that a Scout had tried to shoplift, the owner called the kid's Scoutmaster. She felt he had the most influence over the boy. Not his parents, not his coach . . . she called the Scoutmaster. I count that a troop success

Page 4 I won't retype all the bullet points here, but page 4 of the application outlines and expresses (I'll summarize) Bang -- "partisan political activities are prohibited" Bang -- pertains to military drill Bang -- pertains to religious faith and non-secretarian Bang -- two deep leadership Bang -- corporal punishment (don't do it.) Bang -- one on one activities not permited Bang -- child abuse, what to do if suspected Bang -- no secret organziations Then we go into the Declaration of Religious Principle Then the Policy of Nondiscriminat

Page 3 of the BSA Application Welcomes the parents to the BSA and informs them that there are more than 4 million members Has a paragraph about the BSA and the Cahrtered Organization -- what the responsibilities are. Has a section on Scouting's Volunteers and You -- extolling parents to take part. It also describes, in a few sentences, what the purpose of the program is. Then it goes into Program Policies. The following bullet points are listed and quoted here: Bang! "Leadership is restricted to qualified adults who subscribe to the Declaration of Religious Principl

Page 2 of the application: Contains a temporary membership certificate (and buried in there, the information that you're supposed to present a membership certificate when you buy the uniform although few seem to require it.) There is also the joining requirements as I mentioned previously. There are also instructions for the Scoutmaster "Scoutmaster. (1) Complete and sign form; (2) retain troop copy and forward the other copy to local council service center with proper fees; and (3) sign Temporary Membership Certicifact and present to member." I think it's a very nice job on Na

So what information is contained in the first two pages -- the ones normally tossed aside and ignored by parents and Scouters alike -- of the Boy Scout Application? I've got one in front of me and find several interesting things. These are often topics of discussion that come up in these forums that people say, "Hey, I didn't know." They could have. Don't just toss those introductory pages. On the cover (these things interst me and I'll confess I haven't used them all.) There's a spot on the left side that reads, "I want to be a Scout. I have read the Scout Oath or Pomis

My advice (which I follow myself) is to get rid of your Boy Scout Applications every August and replenish your supply with fresh ones at the Scout office. It seems like they get revised all the time. I've also been told that the council doesn't pay for those. National does. Somehow, I don't feel so bad throwing out the old ones once I found that out. It seems like it takes forever for old forms in the BSA to disapear, but that's a topic for a different thread. According to the fresh application I have in front of me, on the inside front cover, it says, "Parent Information. Y

Shucks. T'weren't nothin'. Thanks. Unc.

Timber: Welcome to the forums. I like you already. Unc.

Perhaps it may kick-start things if I delve a bit into my memory and what I've heard. In case you didn't know, I've been kicking around in the Boy Scouts of America for several years. Here is a brief list of what used to be heresy and forbidden in the BS of A that is now not only permitted, but encouraged on some level: Cub Scout Camping Tiger Cubs wearing neckerchiefs Tiger Cubs being part of the pack Two deep leadership (wasn't around when I was a kid.) Youth Protection Training for youth and adult (unheard of in 1973) National Youth Leadership Training (new and current

This would be the specific request for advice that I was looking for in another thread (as opposed to a hypothetical.) If I were in Kristi's shoes, here are the steps I would take. 1) Accept the Cubmaster position and finalize it by completing a new adult application, securing the proper signatures, and regstering at the council service center. 2) spend about $4.00 each for a full set of Program Helps for each Den leader and Assistant. 3) Find out who the committee chairman of record is and get him or her to conduct a committee meeting to plan the next month of meetings.