Eagle69

For 27 years I've done it pretty much the IS way. A couple of differences is that I've never registered anybody as a merit badge couneselor and the blue card never leaves the troop. I've never seen or heard of a Council/District Merit Badge Counselor list and have never been asked by the Registrar for a blue card.

I spent years on the training team and have spent many hours sitting in the DE's office visiting and this has never come up so I presume it is not something our council does.

Here is an excerpt from an email by an Eagle Scout and Vigil member of the OA that is about to become the Consular General in Bahgdad, Iraq. It relates how his Scouting background prepared him for the training he recieved in preparation for his new assignment. This and the other posts show you that you never know when skills you picked up in Scouting can be useful later in life.

"It might interest you all to know how applicable my Scouting skills have been in getting ready for this post.

- Two days of intensive first aid - Nice brush-up for an old Boy Scout, a total wake-up call for some of my "classmates".

- A day at a training facility in West Virginia becoming "familiar" with various firearms - The Diplomatic Security Agent doing the training watched me fire and said, "You've done this before, haven't you?" Well yes, I thought, at Boy Scout Camp among other places.

- A friend already in-country gave me only one piece of advice - "Don't skimp on boots. Buy a good pair because you'll be wearing them 14-16 hours a day." I learned when I was Boy Scout that ill-fitting boots can be pretty expensive in the long run. I spent umpty-ump dollars on a pair of Corcorans.

Counter-Surveillance training? Just an urban version of Second Class

Trailing, Tracking, and Stalking.

I don't want to give the impression that I think I'm James Bond (or Jack Bauer). I'm no hero, and I have no plans to do anything heroic. Fact is, I will be spending most of my time sitting at a desk, but we are constantly encouraged to "Be Prepared" for the worst that can happen - another thing I learned as a Scout. Here is something you may want to share with your Scouts to encourage them to "Be Prepared" - One trainer pounded into our heads this saying "When bad things happen, you don't rise to the occasion. You descend to the level of your preparation." I'm sure Baden-Powell would have said the same thing, if he had thought of it."

Here is a link to an interesting post in today's New York Times about how China is using the Boy Scouts to find and report copyright violations on the Internet. I wonder if they will create a badge for the one that turns in the most people?

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/18/arts/18pira.html

Ok, I'm working from memory here, but the columnists suggestions strictly applied to new scouts. There was mention of making them wear their clothes inside out and having them having to say certain things when responding to a question from an older scout. Nothing physical, but still things that only they were required to do and that would make them stand out.

If you are still getting 4-6 weeks turnaround on Eagle Approvals from National then my council must be doing something different. I have had 4 Eagles in the last 6 months and 7-10 days from the date I turned it into the Registrar to the date it showed up in my mailbox from the Council has been the norm.

I used to tell parents the 4-6 week rule, but after being told by the Registrar on my first one this year that it would be back in a week and it was I changed my tune and my planning.

In our Council everything on the application is checked before the Board of Review so afterwards it's just a matter of making sure the final signatures are there and getting the Scout Executive to sign it before it is sent to National. Having everything computerized has made a big difference.

I think when we congratulate the new Eagle at the end of his Board of Review we always add the caveat "Pending Approval by National" and then once I get the paperwork back I let them know it's official.

In the most recent Boys Life there is an "Advice" Column where readers can send in questions and get answers from a guy and a girl. In this month's issue there is a letter from an older scout talking about the fact that he got in trouble for new scout "Initiations". He didnt' see anything wrong with it and it was something they had "always" done. The two columists gave him a reply and offered some other ideas for things to do to new scouts. I was surprised that they recommended any kind of activity that involved singling out the new scouts and having them do something different than the others. To me this is still hazing, which I thought was strictly against BSA rules, yet here it was being advocated in Boys Life. Did anyone else see this column and am I out of line in my thinking?

35+ years ago I served on staff at Boy Scout Camp. The first year it was a new camp and everything was still under construction, staff arrived two weeks before camp started. The first day we had to build the staff area so we would have a place to sleep that night. For the first week we ate b-fast in town and lunch and dinner in the dining hall by natural light because no electricity. We worked out tails off from sunup to sundown and didn't get to go home for 3 weeks. During camp we generally started classes at 9 and went to 5. At night there was one night a week that was staff night off and we left camp the other 5 nights something was going on that required us to be there. Staff ate with the campers family style so the amount of food was how much was available after everybody was served once. The bottom line is that Scout Camp Staff is doing whatever needs doing whenever needs doing to keep the camp going and meet the program of the campers. It is hard work.

There are some good comments in the other replies, especially raising the question that once you take a step down this road you have set a precedent.

My question is has this project been approved at the Troop and the District Level? As a Scoutmaster I would not approve a project that had a cost like this without it being stated who was going to pay for the materials. A line saying "I will solicit various sources for the money needed to carry out this project" wouldn't fly with me and I would not with a District reviewer either.

Good luck because it sounds like you are between a rock and a hard place.

SR540Beaver,

The Quapaw Area Council hasn't caught up with this new thing called the Internet yet. It doesn't offer any online registration, recharter or any of this other stuff I read about. The placement of some of the things on the website make no sense, but I suspect that they have no full time web maintainer and nobody at the Scout Office really understands how to make it better. Feel free to email me if you have specific questions. I haven't had anybody in camp in 3 years, but I know up to talk to.

A bit of History, for what's it worth. For years there used to be another Scout Camp right down the road from Kia Kima. Camp Cedar Valley, which belonged to the Eastern Arkansas Area Council had a camp out of Hardy on the Spring River as well. It moved in 1967 about 45 miles West and became part of a new camp Pine Trail Reservation, Camp Cedar Valley. It was a beautiful camp with a 40 acre lake, Jr. Olympic Pool, nice Dinning Hall, tents on platforms, etc. About 2000 the East Ark Council went bankrupt and all Scouting functions were absorbed by the Quapaw Council. They didn't need the other camp and it was sold to a private individual who happened to be a scouter. He has maintained the camp and it is available for use by Scout Groups for a very reasonable fee.

"I used to be a Beaver, a good old Beaver To". WWB-SC134.

What do you want to know about Blass Scout Reservation? It is located in North Central Ark outside the town of Damascus. The camp has an Olympic Size Swimming Pool and a small lake. Here is a link to the 2006 Summer Camp Leaders Guide that might answer your questions.

http://www.quapawbsa.org/db/uploads/1138307706_Local_2006summercampleadersguide.pdf

Camp Kia Kima, while in Arkansas, is not associated with Arkansas Scouting. It belongs to the Chickasaw Council in Memphis, TN. It is located near Hardy, AR on the banks of the Spring River. I went there once 40 years ago so all I know is what I see on it's website.

I vote for keeping the current shirt. I remember wearing the one that didn't have a collar and think it is still hanging in my closet. I very seldom wear a neckerchief, but always wear my Wood Badge Beads and on formal occasions my Silver Beaver. Wearing those without a collar would ruin both fairly quick.

Last weekend a Troop from Little Rock was canoneing on the Caddo River and a canoe with two scouts overturned, one was rescued and the other was not. The one that wasn't was found later trapped under the canoe which was pinned under water. From what I have heard everything was done by the book and there was no negligence. We had a ton of rain here last weekend and the rivers were running full. How tragic for all involved.

That has to be a rumor. My council would just give you a blank look if you asked them about Online Rechartering so I sure don't see being able to do Advancement Online.

I know a couple of volunteers that tried to make being a DE a second career and didn't like it. You go from worrying about program and the boys to worrying about the number of boys, number of units and how much money you need to raise.

I have done both, but for years have been car camping oriented. I agree with the post that says Backpacking creates a more prepared scout, but you have to adjust your program to what the boys what to do, what the adults can do, and what the boys physically can do. The physical part is why we stopped. I had a generation of boys that were on the small side and trying to find a hip belt small enough would be one problem and the limited amount of gear they could carry was the other.

There is something to be said for both styles. We do most of our camping in the months when most people aren't out so the crowds aren't a problem. There are times when I think about starting to backpack again, but then I think nah, if I'm giving up a weekend at least I want to eat good and sleep comfortable.

I would not discourage them from transferring. He contacted you so if he likes your troop better than the one he is in, welcome him and any others with open arms.

If you look at the dates of TREVORUM's post it was in 2004, so he was must have been talking about May of 2005 since he said "next year". However anybody that is thinking of a Buffalo River Float trip should be aware that the drought has impacted Arkansas as well. We have cities all over the state that are having water supply problems, the big Corp of Engineer lakes in North Ark are the lowest thay have been in years and that story is being repeated all over the state.

Somebody must have given us an exception since I recharted last year and this year with only 4 boys.

Interesting topic since I'm in the same boat. I have 4 boys, 3 seniors and 1 junior, by May they will all be Eagles. Our Cub Pack folded in the fall for lack of boys and lack of leadership. For the last few years the Pack would get a bunch of kids in from School Night and in 3 months they would be gone. I am in a city of 200,000 people and there are 2 other troops on the same street we are on, and at least 5 other troops within a 2-3 mile radius. In our area the competetion for boys is intense and by unspoken agreement Troop A doesn't try and recruit WEBELOS from Troop B's Cub Pack. I have been SM for almost 30 years and my chief assistant has been an ASM and a CM and also has 20+ years experience. We are both Wood Badge Trained. Our CO, which has been our sponsor for 42 years, could care less. We are the Scout Troop that meets at xyz, not xyz's Scout Troop.

When I was running a High Adventure Backpack program I easily had 30 kids, but when the Cub Pack starting floundering we stopped growning. The Pack has always been an on again/off again thing, they do not have an uninteruppted charter.

My plan is to send a letter to all of the WEBLOS leaders telling them what an opportunity they have with us and trying to get a dozen or so boys and start rebuilding, I also intend to recruit a Cub Leader and then try and get some boys. If that doesn't pan out I don't know what to do. I and others associated with the Troop don't want to see it die, but we can only do so much.

As has been said you can't operate like a Troop with only 4-5 boys. On the other hand we can haul everybody in 2 vehicles and if you get up on Sunday and decide the weather is too nasty to cook it is no problem to stop at SONIC.

Unfortunately I think most coucils operate on the method of "all excess money over expenses goes to the general council fund" instead of staying with where it was raised. I used to do training and we would do the budget for the Scout Leader Basic Course and if we made money we tried to get it to stay with the District, but were told all "profit" went to the general fund.

This has been a very good thread. It also made me realize why my Mountain Hardware 2nd Dimesion bag doesn't keep as warm as I thought it would. I sleep on a cot, 18 inches off the ground, with a thermarest on the cot underneath my sleeping bag. I guess being up in the air is causing me to lose some of the heat and that is why I get chilly at a temp that I wouldn't expect based on the bag's warmth rating. A fleece throw over the bag does wonders as long as you don't toss and turn, but a flannel sheet inside the bag makes it nice and toasty.

The elements of the Eagle Court of Honor are whatever you and possibly the honoree want them to be. There is no hard and fast rule about what to do. In my 25 years of being SM I have always read the Eagle Charge as part of the Court of Honor, but that is my personal preference.

I ran a high adventure program for six years travelling all over the country during our summer trips. For overnight lodging while on the road I made great use of military installations. I stayed at Air Bases, Naval Training Centers, Reserve and Guard Installations. I don't know if the military is still as cooperative as they were, but I would start by looking at something like that. If there is a Base, Fort, etc. near you see if they have a Scouting Liasion person and talk to them.

The floor of a Army Reserve Center sleeps just fine after 12 hours on the road and it has a/c and hot showers.

I have all of my troop's ribbons strung on a leather thong separted by a plastic bead. You can buy the leather and the beads at any hobby shop. I thread the leather through the grommett that the cord of the ribbon is looped through. Ours are all hung off the Troop flag and as you say it gets awfully top heavy.

I have Adobe 7 and you still can't save a filled out form. It pops up and tells you that as soon as you start filling out the form. There ought to be a way that BSA through the Internet could allow you to fill out their forms, but no other Adobe Forms. It seems like that would be a nice compromise between the software people and the end user.