Eagle69

I guess the ones that recruited me to be SM almost 30 years ago didn't know that single males weren't supposed to be SM and all the adults that have stayed with the troop long after their son's had aged out didn't know they weren't welcome either. I didn't have anybody say they wanted my job, the Advancement chairman's job, or the Troop Committee Chair so we all stayed on helping kids.

I'm 55 and still single and serving as an ASM since my troop ran out of kids and folded. The Troop I'm with has a SM that had a daughter, she's grown and married now and 3 of his ASM's don't have any kids in Scouting now. Thank goodness for people like us or there wouldn't be a Scouting program in a lot of places.

You can complete the practical part of the course and never complete your ticket which you might consider to be "failing".

We went to using Cast Iron skillets a long time ago because they are almost indestructible, easier to clean, and do a great job of proper heat distribution. You just have to teach them and keep reinforcing the proper care of cast iron.

For backpacking I'd definitely use White Gas, for static camping I'm a propane lover. I can do many campouts on a 20lb propane tank that runs about $18.00 around here as opposed to $6.00 - $8.00 for a can of white gas that lasts about one campout. I live in Arkansas so even in the cold weather it's not too cold for propane on the big stoves. I have seen the problems mentioned with small backpack stoves in cold weather even here. We once had to heat a pan of water with a white gas stove to put the canister of propane/butane in to warm it so the boy could use his stove.

Through the loops on the bottom of the pack and then around the frame. I would hope there is a horizontal frame piece somewhere about where the straps attach to the outside of the frame and if so that is where you run the straps over. You reserve the top for tent and ground pad. I know it says "bag shelf", but unless you can't mount it to the bottom I wouldn't put my bag up there.

Interesting thread. I am 55 have no kids and was SM for 28 years and now serving as ASM with another troop. I was recruited to be SM at the ripe young age of 26 because they wanted someone closer in age to the boys. I always made sure to have parents of the kids involved with the program to help bridge the age gap as well as to supplement my thoughts/knowledge on dealing with kids with theirs from the parent side. With the number of units that are struggling for leaders, getting rid of one because he has no kids involved because his grew up and left the program years ago is a bad idea.

If I could only wear six they would be:

Eagle Award

Silver Beaver

District Award of Merit

NESA Outstanding SM

Scoutmaster Key

Religious Award - Youth

My troop from Arkansas went to Colorado in early July and I didn't hear of any problems with getting their National Tour Permit approved and I don't think they sent it until sometime in May.

As a SM cooking is one of the things we have really tried to get the boys involved in and have them learn. We see the long term benefits of it even after they get out of scouts. I think bringing it back as a required Merit Badge is a great idea. You have to start out setting the example yourself by cooking good meals and hoping the boys look at what you are eating and what they are eating and think you eat better. This sets the hook where you can start teaching. You may have to monitor patrol menus and force the issue that way by vetoing canned chili, etc. As for the idea of cooking at Summer Camp instead of a chow hall, I think you have to offer both options. In our council they started out with Patrol/Troop cooking, but after numerous surveys showed the troops didn't want it they switched. Summer Camp is for having fun and getting needed advancement and most troops didn't want to have to fool with cooking. This week would be a horrible week here to be at camp and have to cook with temps hitting the 100 degree mark for real temperature and heat indexes higher than that.

NESA should stay out of the uniform awards business. The Eagle Knot should be the Eagle Knot and your membership in NESA should not have anything to do with the appearance of the knot. If NESA wants to create something for civilian wear to recognize a Life Member that is fine, but not for the uniform.

Kia Kima is operated by the Chickasaw Council out of Memphis, TN and is located on the banks of the Spring River.

There is also Blass Scout Reservation operated by the Quapaw Council. It is located in North Central Ark above Conway.

http://www.quapawbsa.org/facilities/blass/

Camp Orr on the Buffalo River operated by the Westark Council.

http://www.doubleknot.com/openrosters/ViewOrgPageLink.asp?LinkKey=3300&orgkey=1154

Camp Pioneer operated by the Caddo Council

http://www.camppioneer.org/

Camp Ross Rhodes operated by the Ouachita Area Council

http://www.ouachitabsa.org/camp.html

Adobe Acrobat is the software you have to buy, Adobe Reader is the freebie. I think National should make all the forms like Eagle Applications, Tour Permits, Physical Forms so that they can be filled out online and saved. I think there are some programs floating around that might convert the form to a format that can be saved, but I haven't tried any of them.

There is no rule that says you have to be miserable on a weekend campout. I bring my cot so I can get a halfway decent night's sleep and be able to function over the weekend and when I get back to work on Monday. In 32 years of Scout camping I've done my share of pad on ground sleeping and have no qualms about using a cot; especially when it's no trouble to carry it.

I went in 89 and spent a day there. The things I remember are the distances from the parking lot to where things were, the long lines to try and get food and the fact that not everything is open to visitors. If you have a council contingent that you want to visit be prepared for a long hike to get to their camping area.

A review committee that desires a 100 page write up has way too much time on their hands and an elevated since of importance. I served as Eagle Review Chair for several years and 4-6 pages was probably the norm and that included the materials list. It might run up to eight pages with drawings. We (there were two of us) required that the format be like what was shown in the EPWB and as much detail be provided to convince us that the project was worthy, the candidate knew what he was doing and he explained how he was going to provide leadership. If we weren't satisfied we sent the project back with notes explaining where clarification was needed. I think most projects were approved after 2-3 go rounds and only 1 during my tenure was approved on the first submission and that project looked like a Master's Thesis.

If you read the following website it sounds more like the person that makes the $1000 donation gets to wear the award, not the one who is honored by it.

http://www.iac-bsa.org/Finance/james_e_west.htm

But this site agrees with what was said about the one who is honored being the one who wears the Knot.

http://www.nwsc.org/finance/JamesEWest.pdf(This message has been edited by Eagle69)

Our Council and District have never heard of this rule. When we have District/Council Camporees at our Council Camp they cram everybody together one group after another in a big field. I've had the next troop 6 inches from my tent. In National Forests if you are camping in a campground most of them where I come from don't want you camping outside the designated campsites and some have a rule for how many people and tents can be on a site, if you are out on the trail and stop for the night you can usually camp anywhere so spreading out is possible. National Parks and State Parks no camping outside of designated campsites, limits on how many per site, and even if they have group sites they aren't big enough for 300 feet between patrols.

In my council/district they spend 0 hours on final review. It isn't done. Once the project is approved by the District they don't see the workbook again until the Eagle Board of Review. The project is done when the group that benefits from it says its done and the SM generally looks over the final write up and if satisfied contacts the District for an Eagle Board of Review.

Even back in tail end of the 60's Summer Camp was the prime place to earn the Outdoor Merit Badges. We ONLY had dinning halls back then. I don't think you should be teaching Citizenship and some of these other badges at camp. We only had small windows, usually late afternoon when the pool and rifle range weren't being used for classes and were available for free swim or shoot. A lot of the problems/complaints now are tied back to the fact that we have a generation that had everything given to them and never really had to struggle to earn something. They came from the era of everybody got an award as opposed to only the top 3 because we didn't want to hurt little Johnny's feelings or they were passed on something with minimum effort. When I was a camp counselor if you didn't do it right you didn't get credit. I had an area director that had the same philosophy and that helped.

The statement: " One must be a registered MBC to sign off that a boy has earned the merit badge. " is interesting. In our council the Blue Card never goes outside the Troop and if we are finishing up a Merit Badge that was started at camp there is no Blue Card. I was SM for 27 years and never saw any kind of list of Registered Merit Badge Counselors and since I was on the District Advancement Committee I sure would have known if it existed. I guess other councils are more stringent than ours.

If the BSA Scout Shops are like ours then they won't just let you buy an Eagle Badge on your say so that you were one. For us to get one we have to show the approved paper work from National.

Anything other than possibly mentioning the new requirements and asking the young man his thoughts about them then using this discussion as part of the overall review wouldn't be right. BSA rules on Advancement are clear that if you are already past the rank where new requirements are added you don't have to go back and do them.

Beardad, it sounds as if you are out of luck claiming any kind of Tax Exempt Status. The way Bob White explains it is the way I'm always heard it. The Scouting Unit in of itself cannot exist without a charter organization and as such it assumes the characteristics of said charter organization. If your fictional "friends of..." wants to make themselves a Non-Profit Organization then they must go through all of the appropriate legal steps to be officially recognized by the IRS.

I think part of the problem of the sleeping bag pulling the pack down is the fact that you have it attached to the pack and the frame. Attaching it this way will not let you get things tight enough so you might want to just strap it to the frame. That is the way I always carried mine and once strapped down it didn't move. It was also in a stuff sack and the bottom of the frame was long enough below the bag so it would rest securely against the frame.

On a National Tour permit you are allowed 600 miles of driving in a day. I would plot that from your starting point and then start looking for a military installation of some kind. I spent 6 years back in the 80's taking my Troop on high adventure trips out of state and we stayed at Army Reserve Centers, National Guard Armories, Navy/Air Force bases, etc. The rules may have changed and they don't allow Scouts to stay anymore, but since you are in the San Antonio area with Fort Sam Houston I would see if they have a Scouting liaison and see if he can help you. Another alternative is to figure out what Scout Council serves the area where you are looking to overnight and go through them and see if someone can hook you up with a church to stay at.