Dutchman

In a Troop I used to be affiliated with, before I left and started a new Troop, we used attendance as a carrot. At the weekly meetings a boy in uniform got 2 points, a boy in attendance but not in uniform got 1 point, and a scout not there got 0. At the end of the year, the boy with the most points earned 1/2 his summer camp fee as an award. You could use other awards, but keep the attendance over a year and watch the uniform wearing increase...

Several years ago National Geographic published a map of the Northern Tier showing all of the upper tier of Canada and the Artic. An interesting feature was that they had marked the Magnetic North's location in 1891 and 1996. It makes explaining the angle of declination very understandable.

We have both patrol boxes listed above in use in our Troop. We have 3 of the ones with legs and found them to be too small and heavy (as well as hard for boys to hold them while attaching and removing the legs). We have recently made 2 of the ones marked as "the small one" above, with 2 more under construction, and found them to be preferable. Ultimately we will replace all our legged boxes with this design. They are actually larger inside than the boxes with legs, plus easier for the Scouts to carry. Biggest drawback is they set on the ground so getting into them requires bending over,

I recently posted a reply pertinint to this in the "Scout Oath" Forum. This might help.

A wise old scouter from our District, who is no longer with us, summarized the Scout Spirit definition as the "Three A's". Attendance, Appearance, and Attitude. Attendance-the Scout comes to meetings, goes on campouts, and takes part in the Troop's community activities. Appearance-The Scout wears his uniform correctly and with pride in all the above functions he attends. Attitude-The Scout must show the proper attitude in dealing with the leaders and other Scouts when he is in attendance in any of the above functions. I have adopted this guideline with the Scouts in my Troop and