Jump to content

DYB-Mike

Members
  • Content Count

    254
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by DYB-Mike

  1. Hi Dan, Admittedly my response was geared towards the case of a cub and I had to give some thought to the scout/adult perspective, as we dont have classes of that sort at our Packs Derby. I still would be inclined to let the car race. The scout obviously wanted to participate, he made the effort and built the car, and at least his conflicting event was something worthwhile. Presumably you dont have a set rule in place that disallows in absentia racing. You could issue a rule next time around that clearly states that if you know you cant attend the race you cannot enter and any
  2. Hi Cubmaster Mike, Im just curious about the rational you allowed the absent boys car to be registered, to race, and to be eligible for all awards except the speed trophy, which I assume would be the overall winner(s) of the race. Why make that exclusion? I havent experienced the in absentia situation as yet but Im inclined to vote for letting the car participate. The boy has invested the time and effort to build the car and to put him in a position of having to choose between things that are important to him (as in your example, the out of town soccer game where his team might b
  3. We recently had our Pinewood Derby. Twenty-eight scout cars were registered. We had our registration and weight-in the night before. Once registered, the cars were kept at the hall. After that, volunteers stayed to assemble the track and decorate. This saved tons of time on race day the next day. The race commenced at 9:00 a.m. (a Saturday) and was over at about noon. We had a good turn out and I believe we retained most if not all of the audience for the duration of the race. We were not competing with any youth sports so that was helpful. I think it would be safe to say that
  4. Massachusetts does allow limited distribution of BSA materials in the schools. http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/advisory/boyscouts.html Im not a lawyer but if Im reading this right the local school committee may elect to create a limited public forum for groups that may have discriminatory policies that the school cannot sponsor. It also appears that they can limit the limited public forum to certain types of groups. Does this mean that they can allow the BSA but exclude the KKK from distributing literature? The date of this memo is 11/15/00 but as I havent come across anythin
  5. OneHour, I have always taken a philosophical approach towards great institutions like our government, my church (Roman Catholic), and scouts. Each holds forth lofty ideals and goals but theres one problem the administrators and participants are mere human beings and as such these institutions will always be less than perfect. If a politician falls in disgrace because he or she failed to abide by the law does this mean we should just give up on our laws and our Constitution? The sex scandal that has rocked my Church has outraged and tested the faith of many, but I remind myself that
  6. Our webelos recently participated in a Klondike Derby with webelos from another pack. Although the Derby itself was a District event, our Pack organized a series of practice sessions and invited the webelos from the other pack to practice with us. It all worked out very well and our boys got to know boys that might be crossing over into our big brother troop, as they will. YIS Mike
  7. Thanks everyone for the comments, history and advice. RememberSchiff, I was thinking more like 20 years for the considerable length of time. As for hot water heaters, we had one that did the job for well over 30 years. It came with the house when we bought it and I did my best to keep it functional, replacing the heating elements on several occasions. Finally it rotted out at the bottom and we had to say good-bye. Thanks again! YIS Mike
  8. Greetings all First, let me say that I mean no offence about what Im about to ask. Im a new leader and hoping to take Wood Badge in the fall. Im a cub leader now and plan to stay in cubs for my younger son (Tiger) but my older son is just about to Cross Over and I hope to have some involvement with the Troop. I have pieced together some notion about what Wood Badge is all about, what I can expect, and what it might do for me going forward. I was curious about RememberSchiffs comment: Long ago, one's commitment to scouting had to be firmly established BEFORE one could be "conside
  9. Greetings david.self, We dont dry clean our uniforms at my house; they have held well in the washer. I suppose the greatest advantage is that its a lot cheaper! Shortly after putting the Centennial Quality Unit patch on my Webelos II sons uniform shirt it was necessary to wash it (he spilt tea all over it). It was dried in an electric dryer. The patch came out intact. YIS Mike
  10. I believe the early Roman state was built by the assimilation of tribes first Italic, then Celtic (Gaul, Spain and Britain). Then add the former independent states (Carthage, Egypt, the Greek states, etc.) that Rome conquered and absorbed and welded into a powerful state loyal to the central authority of Rome. If tribal or civic loyalties could not have been overcome, or at least subordinated, then how could there have been a Roman Empire in the first place? Peace and prosperity are pretty strong motivators. At any rate, as Skeptic said, This debate never be settled to the satisfacti
  11. Im gonna regret this but I couldnt let the Roman stuff go. their established cultures fit the Romans quite well. The rude Roman shepherds and the sophisticated Greeks fit quite well? Eventually they did but not right away. Conservative Romans looked down on some aspects of Greek culture as effeminate and even went so far as to enact laws to keep these Greek influences at bay. There may have been more of a kinship between the traditional Roman of the early Republic and the barbarian tribesman of later times but of course the traditional Roman had become more sophisticated through cultu
  12. Recovering from Pinewood Derby Day! The Scout, to some of your points: Romes collapse had little to do with cultural change. Rome absorbed the Greek states in the later days of the republic and, while adopting aspects of Greek culture to compliment or enhance its own inherent national traits, Rome continued on almost two more centuries of expansion before leveling off. The granting of citizenship I mentioned was primarily to expand the tax base but at least it gave some benefits to peoples who had been living as Romans for centuries. Barbarian immigration actually helped Rome sta
  13. And anyway teaching history as it was taught for many years before liberals took over the American education establishment is not a shame. There was a time when our schools celebrated the greatness of American and its heritage, not diversity. What kind of a statement is that? Are you saying that owning up to the fact that other races and cultures contributed to American greatness by their sweat and blood is a shame? You dismiss my comments about the blatant bigotry and violence committed against other European Christians as simple Old World antagonisms brought to the New. I guess th
  14. Oh wait, this is the heritage of the country, the beliefs that made this country great. America is a European/Christian country; and a very successful one too. So I guess the Native Americans who were here first, the African Americans who were carted over here in chains to work the plantations, and the Chinese who helped to build the transcontinental railroad in the 19th century (just to name a few) can all just pack their bags and leave because it appears you think they have made no contribution to America's greatness? I like America how it was. The European/Christian thing worked p
  15. Our current crop of Webelos II (my son included) received their Arrow of Light at the Blue and Gold this past February but will not formally Cross Over until a special camp-out in May. As to when the previous crop or Webelos II got their AoL I cant say, but the May Cross Over camp-out has been a tradition for our Pack a number of years. No one has been able to tell me why we do the May Cross Over but I have read in the past about not subjecting new scouts to the tribulations of winter camping. This is probably not an issue in warmer climates but it is a real issue here in New England.
  16. Be careful of those Maynard G. Krebs references or the next time you ask your scout to take out the trash youll get this high-pitched shout work! EBay has some dealer designation called Square-Trade which is supposed to give you a feeling of confidence when dealing with someone who has that designation. Someone who is square, daddio, basically means that person is honest, trustworthy, a straight shooter. YIS Mike
  17. Greetings Cineburk, Maybe too late but Dont know what neck of the woods youre from (my plug for the usefulness of profiles) but here in New England we have a lot of Klondike Derbies going on about now. These are troop events but Webelos can participate. It takes some prep work to participate on your own (you need a sled for one thing) but you probably could find a troop that would let you tag along as a good turn to potential recruits. There can be camping involved but the actual event takes place over the course of one day. YIS Mike
  18. Thank you Infoscouter for the reference and link. Apparently I didnt look hard enough. The guidance says (** mine): the den or pack may designate a special-purpose uniform, **such as** the Cub Scout Activity Shirt (shown here) to be worn in place of the official uniform shirt for certain activities, such as sporting events or day camp. The such as seems to indicate to me that the den or pack has some latitude in what they designate as an activity uniform. As for the the pack does not have the authority to make changes to the uniform, and should encourage proper uniform use by all m
  19. Pappy, I ahead of you, kinda. I wear a campaign hat and I had to buy a couple to get one that fit right. One of them is an old (1940s?), well worn BSA Official manufactured by Sigmund Eisner. I showed it to my Webelos II son who asked if he could wear it. The fit was good and he took right to it, so much so that I have to remind him to take it off inside. His future Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmaster have seen him and they have said that they have no problem with him wearing it if he wants. Our Pack and the Troop share the same Charter Organization so I figure between my son i
  20. Greetings Folks, Thank you, OldGreyEagle; I think you understand where Im coming from. At the root of my post was a suggestion to creatively save our parents some money. A simple, traditional neckerchief costing the parent $3 or $4 (the rest of the cost subsidized by the Pack) versus a wardrobe of activity shirts (and maybe pants and shorts), varying by season, which must be discarded and replaced as the boy grows or destroys them. Clearly, there is no choice on the official uniform end, but it would be nice to give some relief on the activity end. I think it would be more of a be
  21. Folks, During the height of the clergy sexual abuse scandal here in Boston I remember seeing a news spot where a group of lawyers representing the abuse victims proclaimed that they were indignant over the fact that there might not be enough settlement money to go around. Nothing said about justice being served, just outrage over not enough cash. I realize lawyers have to eat and victims might have lawsuit-related bills to pay, but the memory of that spot left me thinking of how hazy the line between the pursuit of justice and opportunistic greed can be. YIS Mike
  22. Greetings scouters, Thanks everyone for your insights and recommendations. Jblake47, Im not seeking anyones approval here. Im just looking for feedback and ideas. I believe thats what this Forum is all about? Furthermore, the neckerchiefs arent intended as a means of keeping track of our boys. I envisioned them as a cheap (operative word here) and easy way of giving our boys some uniformity, to let folks know where they are from, and to identify them as scouts as they engage in activities which, in my humble opinion, the official uniform is not practical. OldGreyEagle, my
  23. Hi Folks, I didnt want to hijack the thread since it goes in a little different direction but I think it also addresses the best outdoor uniform question. Im planning proposing to my Pack Committee the concept of a Class B neckerchief. Currently all we have for Class B wear is a T-shirt, which obviously doesnt cut the mustard during a New England winter. Recently my son and I wore our T-shirts over sweatshirts and it wasnt very comfortable. I had begun to recommend that we look into Class B sweatshirts. A recent camp-in at a museum attended by a number of other packs also raised
  24. Im not against a good game of Capture the Flag and I dont have a problem with my Cub Scout son participating in laser tag in a non-scouting venue. That being said, I dont agree with jblake47s statement that the scouts should return to to the dyanmics of military leadership that the BSA program is based on in the first place. I believe this is a fallacy, at least as how the founders envisioned the movement. Granted the roots of B-Ps program are militaristic, but the horrors of the Great War (WWI), the War to End All Wars (wishful thinking), lead B-P himself to distance himself from m
  25. I wish you well in the coming year. Im happy our B&G went well but then I think how are we going to top that next year? Were going to lose three active leaders and their spouses at cross over this year, maybe four if our Chairperson decides to cross over with her son, so I hope we can get some folks to step up to the plate and keep the positive momentum going. Keeping my fingers crossed! YIS Mike
×
×
  • Create New...