dsteele

It sounds like you may have received an older certificate. It may be Jerre (pronounced Jerry) Ratcliff's signature. He was Chief Scout Executive, I believe from 1992 to 2001. He was a good guy. DS

Buffalo2 -- I'll be happy to share these with you, but can we wait until tomorrow? I'll need to dig out the national position descriptions, and I'll also offer my experience in what works well and what doesn't. One disclaimer -- please pay careful attention to my post and realize when I'm presenting my opinion. I don't want to use the word interpret, because some people might think that my words are an interpretation of law . . . that isn't the case. As always, your local leadership takes precedence over what is typed on these boards. This includes mine and any other member of th

I don't want you to think that no one is responding to your question. I just read it for the first time and am trying to figure out where to find your answer. I think you may be on to something about the manufacturer, but I'm not sure. I'll give it some thought. Don't hold your breath for an answer, but I do have it on the back burner to check into just for the sake of curiosity. DS

This message is posted purely to keep on the table what ought to be there. Someone screwed something up on 5/26/03 and I don't think it was any worker/moderator of these forums. DS

Something bad happened in these forums this evening. I'm not sure what it is, but didn't want to see this thread buried before we were done with it. So here it is. Post away. DS PS from DS, is there a moderator who would explain what happened? Just curious and I'm sure I'm not the only one. DS -- again.

The other guys who posted above me are more respectful and polite than my heart tells me to be. I will, however, follow their excellent example of the Scout Law in action and not knock your head around the room as I so very much desire to do. I, too, applaud your pride in your crew. However, I would like to point out that I spend my personal time (and I have precious little of that) on these boards trying to answer the very real concerns some folks have who also do not wish to call their local council officials to answer. I consider this my service project that I truly enjoy.

KoreaScouter: I'm so sorry for your loss and the family's loss. I truly wish us civilians could do something meaningful to those who pass in the name of freedom. I spent several hours this afternoon calling veterans and thanking them for their service. I think it made them feel good. I know it made me feel good. The veterans I spoke to were from all branches of service and spanned WWII, Korea, the Bay of Pigs Invasion, etc. Today I talked to cooks, sergeants, and a Colonel. I'm proud and grateful of and for each one. I only wish it could help your efforts, but maybe you'll smi

KoreaScouter: I'm so sorry for your loss and the family's loss. I truly wish us civilians could do something meaningful to those who pass in the name of freedom. I spent several hours this afternoon calling veterans and thanking them for their service. I think it made them feel good. I know it made me feel good. The veterans I spoke to were from all branches of service and spanned WWII, Korea, the Bay of Pigs Invasion, etc. Today I talked to cooks, sergeants, and a Colonel. I'm proud and grateful of and for each one. I only wish it could help your efforts, but maybe you'll smi

I'm all for providing organizational tools to the Scouts to help them keep track of the required paperwork for badges. However, let's not forget on whom the responsibility lies . . . the individual Scout. It's part of his learning curve. Parents can, and probably should, encourage and keep advancement in the forefront of the Scout's brain, but it's up to him to complete the requirements and, to a large degree (at least in my mind) keep track of what's done. I have seen parents who literally run around a campout with the Scout's book open and saying, "Billy, you just met a requireme

KS -- Isn't it amazing that some people in this world refuse to make sense? I wish there were something we could do to re-join the kid's mom with reality, but I fear there isn't. One final story before I leave to do something truly important -- call the veterans I know and thank them for their service on this Memorial Day 2003 . . . There was a Scout Executive, not so long ago, who had been in the same position in the same council for 23 years at the time of this story. Let me further illuminate by saying that calling this man merely eccentric would be like calling a Harvard P

KS -- Feel free to respectfully disagree whenever you respecftully disagree. I will point out that I was responding as a technician. My intent was to post the bare bones the BSA system will accept when the registrar enters a new troop and the first charter is issued. I definately agree that I wouldn't want to run a troop without Assitant Scoutmasters and I meant no disrespect to Assistant Scoutmasters. I've been a Scoutmaster and, KoreaScouter, I think we'd be lucky to have even a spork to eat with without them. I also agree with KoreaScouter that it's probably easier to

As someone pointed out, there are a whale of a lot of approvals required before a young man earns Eagle. The system is designed so it can't be circumvented (and we all know that someone, somewhere, somehow will find a way to circumvent just about anything.) It sounds like the system was circumvented in this instance because no one was prepared to take the heat and say "no." Mark, I applaud you for sticking to your guns on the Family Life Merit Badge. It sounds like you took a substantial amount of heat for doing it, but I think your conscience would have troubled you much more at a

Eamonn: I love your sense of humor. Or is it humour? Either way, in American, you is a funny dude! We keep the good cheese in Wisconsin. I'm afraid that American cheese is American, but it isn't really cheese. I'll also admit, sheepishly, that cheese in a spray can isn't really cheese either, but I've been known to eat it with cheer from time to time. If you come visit, I'll make sure the cheese is good in exchange for a properly made cup of tea. Earl Grey is my preference. DS

Tim: I'm glad you had a great time and learned a lot. Now you understand why I cut my sweatshirt off with a pair of scissors when I got home from COPE school! I couldn't lift my arms. But what a great time it was. DS

Julia: I've read your OA post. One option to keep in mind is starting a new troop. Here's what you need: 1. A chartered partner. Contact your District Executive if you're interested. They can help you find one. This can be a church (my perference) or service club, or business, or one of a myriad of other options. 2. A chartered organization representative. This person will be the liason between the troop and the chartered partner. Should be a member of the charter partner, but not neccessarily. This position can also be doubled with a committee member or the committee

What I'm about to tell you is an opinion -- I'm speaking as someone with a lot of experience with the BSA and not, at the moment, as a professoinal. My theory on why a district representative is required to sit on Eagle Scout Boards of Review is that you are there to make sure the process is followed correctly. This is not to say that you can't ask questions like any other member of the board of review, but I think you should remove yourself a bit and watch the types of questions being asked and the Scout's answered. If I were in your position, I would hope to make it through the entire

New anacronym -- GBTUSA. I used to put it on correspondence, but no one really caught on. I mean it to stand for God Bless the United States of America. GBTUSA DS

Eamonn: You took a risk to do the right thing. You broke a rule to do the right thing. The point is, you did the right thing. I don't believe you need to punish yourself any further. However, if it will make you feel better, I'll put in a little good natured ribbing (you would call it poking) by saying that most Americans feel that the Boston Tea Party was a risk. Most Americans feel that we broke a rule or two in doing it. Most Americans feel that it was the right thing to do. The only difference is that you agree with the rule and we didn't. I think that makes yo

I want to go to the question someone raised earlier (and I thought I was going to take the weekend off,) about "how do we get the council to open it's books ... or something along those lines. He/she was speaking of the financials. The best way is to call the office and make an appointment with whichever professional is in charge of finance. That's what you ask for when you call. Depending on the size of your council, it might be an appointment with the Director of Finance, Finance Director (yes, there is a difference,) Assistant Scout Executive, Field Director, or even the Scout Execu

Thank you to all who have ever served the United States of America in the armed forces. Thank you to all who remember that Monday is the day we remember those who have fallen, each in our own way. I plan to spend a significant portion of Monday calling the veterans I have phone numbers for and thanking them personally. To the veterans who read this (I don't have your phone number,) but please accept the thanks of myself, my wife, and my family. Yours truly, Dave Steele

MiG -- 19: Welcome to the campfire. Feel free to post anytime. Hopefully others will see this post, but we seem to be pretty slow this Friday before Memorial Day. BTW -- I was never in the military although I desperately wanted to be. I usually spend a fair amount of time calling the people I know who are veterans of any branch of military service. I call them to say, "Thank you for your service. I look up to you and believe you are a credit to our nation." Or something along those lines that doesn't sound canned. In that vein, MiG -- 19 . . . Thank you for your service.

Excellent list, Joni. I especially liked #1. I do have to admit that you've given me some homework to do. I haven't really explored the net resources you've listed. I trust you. I'm just intrigued. DS

Eamonn: You did the right thing. Period. End of report. DS

To all: I want it noted for the record that Bob White is not quoting from the book and is not reciting national policy. He's stating an opinion and it is solid. I have, however, sold my position short -- well not, specifically my position, but those in similar positions in other councils -- short. Ultimately, the responsibility for all council functions falls on the Scout Executive professionally, and the Council President and Commissioner from the volunteer side. Those three positions make up the key three of the council and are responsible for supervising all local, district, a

Here's Steele's Law #2 and I'm about to break it. To quote myself, "when you find yourself in the path between two charging Rhinos -- dodge." Here comes my violation. I'm dodging, to be sure. I just want to answer the question that TwoCubDad asked, fair and square. Is collecting 15% up front for activities by councils common practice? Yes, and no. How's that for fair and square. I've been involved in councils that did it that way and in a council that did it by counting every photocopy, stamp, etc. against the event. It pretty much balances out. The concern I have is that