Jump to content

Eagle74

Members
  • Content Count

    247
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Eagle74

  1. Welcome River2K! I believe that you will make a fine Scoutmaster. "You must be willing to accept the simple fact that you have flaws and will need to work every day to become a better chieftain than you were yesterday." (Leadership Secrets of Attilla the Hun, Wess Roberts) You have taken stock of yourself; know your strengths and your weaknesses. Weaknesses are only weaknesses to those who do not acknowledge them or know them. Your strengths will complement other's weaknesses and vice versa. You say that you work well in the background. If your troop runs itself with a good
  2. ""When you are 45 you won't remember or care how you got your Eagle."" Can't speak for others, but I do remember and I do care. It is a personal sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that I feel confident in saying that I thoroughly learned and mastered all of the skills on the Trail to Eagle. And once there and on the Eagle Trail, I began to give back what I had learned and mastered so that others could do the same. I instill this same outlook on my two Scouting sons - one who reached Eagle and is now an ASM; one who is Life and within a couple required merit badges and project awa
  3. Since the cat's out of the bag - the quote is commonly attributed to Socrates, but apparently there is no conclusive evidence that he actually said it. The Library of Congress notes that this quote is "attributed to Socrates by Plato" in a 1950's book the name of which escapes me. The quote may have come from Plato's Republic Book 4, where Socrates is quoted saying the following regarding things that he thinks have been neglected: "I mean such things as these: when the young are to be silent before their elders; how they are to show respect to them by standing and making them sit; what
  4. Silver-shark, there isn't a pat answer because the committee hasn't set a definitive policy. Oddly enough, we haven't had any Scouts transfer out to another troop; at least since I've been with this troop - about 6 years. There has only been one, but under slightly different circumstances. He quit, we re-registered him for another year out of his account funds, but he never came back during that following year. Subsequently, about 1-1/2 years later his family was moving and was going to have him join a troop in their new city. Parents were informed that the funds had reverted to the t
  5. Clarification: In my post I mentioned that funds in the Scout's account can't be used for food. That should have been food other than campout meal fees such as snacks. Our standard operation is that each scout going on a campout forwards $10 to the scout buying the food at the Monday meeting before the campout - they could in reality draw on the account; it's just less convenient. Silver-shark; some of the reasons you cite are why we have stuck with 100% into the scout's account for so long. Everyone pulls the same weight for troop needs through annual dues. The scout that "busts his
  6. Up til now, 100% has gone into the Scout's account (paper account - all funds are in troop treasury account). Scouts may draw on the account to pay for any activity fees, registration/annual dues, summer camp, etc. The funds cannot be used for equipment, food, personal items, etc. If the boy leaves the troop, the troop pays the following year's registration from the boy's account and holds the funds through the following year - just in case he changes his mind. After the following year, the funds revert to the troop's general account to be spent as the committee sees fit - usually for troo
  7. Two thoughts: Don't do the wrong thing for the right reason; Don't do the right thing for the wrong reason; Do the right thing for the right reason. Ever notice that the "Last-Minute Eagle" usually takes more than he gives. There is rarely a return on the investment for those who made it possible (here today, gone tomorrow).
  8. Thanks for the info, BW. I have read several articles about Mr. Cahill or mentioning his name; a dedicated and most respectable man.
  9. Eagle74

    Kudos

    To the troop from Maine that was making part of their return trip from the Albuquerue, NM airport on July 24 at about 1:00pm, you made us proud! Your entire troop was in full uniform and your behavior was Scouting exemplary. I noticed that your uniforms attracted many a friendly "Hello!", questions about where you were from, questions about where you had been, etc. In passing, I overheard one person say that ". . . that group of Boy Scouts over there are some of the best-behaved young men that I have ever seen . . ." I'm sorry that I didn't have time to get to know you and for the
  10. I'll second what BW penned above. As the ASM for first-year patrols I run into this same or similar scenarios with some regularity. Usually, once the parents - who are accustomed to the Cub Scout way of doing things - get over the hump on the transition to the Boy Scout methods, they back off. A direct, friendly, but firm explanation works almost all of the time. One way that I have found helps this situation for my Troop Guides is to let them transfer the monkey to my back. I have instructed them that if a scout wishes to use an "alternate" method other than to "demonstrate", "do", "
  11. Does anyone know - dsteele this might be a good question for you - if BSA has ever considered allowing Red Cross certified lifeguards to "challenge" the practical tests for BSA Lifeguard and only have to go through the BSA-specific parts of the course? In other words if you already have Red Cross certification, and given you can satisfactorily demonstrate the lifeguarding skill set, you would only need to go through Safe Swim Defense, Safety Afloat, and any other BSA specific portions without having to spend time "redoing" the entire class. My older son, who is now an Asst. Scoutmaster a
  12. This is on the public part of the website. I just tried copy and paste (or cut and paste) and it worked. If that doesn't work go to "firehouse.com" and look near the bottom of the home page for an article by Harry Carter. Can someone advise how to get a link to a url onto a post in the forums?
  13. Handled well and in a manner that should achieve the desired end result.
  14. Just thought this was interesting - a nice reference to Scouting. It's a long article, the body of which will probably be of little interest to most, skip down to the last couple of paragraphs. http://cms.firehouse.com/content/article/article.jsp?sectionId=5&id=14932 (may have to copy and paste in your browser)
  15. Man of Steele; personally have appreciated your insight into many topics in the forums. You bring thoughtful posts from a different perspective. Don't always agree, but then again, know that many don't agree with me either. For me, that's what it's all about - throw out your viewpoints and see what comes back (personal attacks notwithstanding). Find that I have changed my perspective on some topics due to insightful posts by others. My problem with some - emphasis on "some" - professional scouters is that they don't seem to remember that they work for us (volunteers) and indirectly, t
  16. OXCOPS, no arrows shot your way & none intended. It was a shot at the seeminly low priority your case received. The vast majority of police officers and Scout leaders wouldn't even think of becoming involved in this type of incident. But, it happens, and to be surprised that it does takes a certain amount of disconnection from reality. As I mentioned earlier I was directly involved in one sexual misconduct investigation with one Explorer Post. I have also been indirectly involved in two others due to the successful manner in which the first was handled. All three involved emergen
  17. ""Well, I never heard back from the SE today. According to the secretary, he was "in a meeting for the rest of the day". I left a home and cell number for him to call and told the girl that it was a very important Youth Protection matter."" Maybe this thread and the one over in Issues & Politics re: police explorers (see the first sentence of my post there) are more closely related than we would like to think?
  18. This should come as no surprise to BSA unless somebody has their head buried in the sand. Background checks are not the answer as they are already done. I would be surprised if any of the involved officers had not already had background checks as part of their application to the force. Two-deep leadership is part of the answer. Many Police Explorers are involved in ride-alongs with a single (as in one) officer because most medium to small departments operate with a one officer per car.
  19. I am making no presumption of the guilt or innocence of the subject in "suspected", "potentially" (my words) improper conduct. Factual hard evidence appears to be lacking at this point, but the circumstantial and hearsay evidence is sufficient to warrant an investigation into the facts. My issues are: 1. There is a perception of improper supervisor/subordinate behavior. 2. There is a perception of a predatory behavior. 3. There is a suspicion of conduct in violation of BSA policy/standards of conduct. 4. There is a suspicion of potentially illegal conduct. 5. The program ha
  20. More: http://www.hanscom-cap.org/cap/www/afo.html Look at the first photo.
  21. Meanwhile back at the ranch: "-The US Code does not address the positioning of the flag patch. It is appropriate to wear an American flag patch on the left or right sleeve. When worn on the left sleeve, the union would appear towards the front and the stripes would run horizontally toward the back. When worn on the right sleeve, it is considered proper to reverse the design so that the union is at the observers right to suggest that the flag is flying in the breeze as the wearer moves forward. - Since the law does not specifically address the positioning of the patch, a decision is
  22. Do not wait. Call the Scout Executive, fill him/her in, and ask for a face-to-face with the SE or someone from council at a location convenient to you - your PD for instance. Or, call the Scout Executive and relate no more than you need to talk face-to-face with someone at council regarding a possible sexual harassment situation. Tell them where you are able to meet that is convenient to you. My experience says they will jump on this right now. If they don't; shame, shame. Do not wait.
  23. Posts above all offer good advice. Other than as Scouter reporting a case of suspected sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment (gender-based harassment for the PC) step to the side and try to let the "system" do its job. I can appreciate your position as a police officer. Fulfill your obligation as a police officer and use it to your advantage. Since the apartment is inside your jurisdiction (is the camp?) pass the information into the proper channels within your department and let Council know that you are doing so. Either the investigating officer should make contact with the Cou
×
×
  • Create New...