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Eagle74

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Everything posted by Eagle74

  1. Maybe somebody should tell these folks about Scouting! http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-21-no-child-left-inside_x.htm
  2. May be some things of interest to you here: http://www.uscg.mil/leadership/lead/comp.htm
  3. FastFingers; can you email me a contact at Idaho State that is involved with this? I've made some initial contacts locally to see what can be done to gain ACE credit recommendation for Woodbadge participants. (I had anticipated maybe using this for a Woodbadge ticket, but my participation in a WB course has taken a back seat to degree work, work commitments, a remodeling project, and regular scouting commitments)
  4. Traditions are good as long as they serve a purpose and we know/learn the meaning behind the tradition. There comes a time though when we sometimes need to respectfully bury the old tradition. And sometimes start new traditions. My vocation (fire & emergency services) is steeped in traditions that are an integral part of the bond holding together all firefighters as brothers & family. But even we get trapped at times as noted in this firehouse quip: "Two hundred years of tradition unimpeded by progress." (Look on the wall in the background of the fire station scenes in "Backdr
  5. EagleInKy, Looks pretty good. We are in the process of a rewrite as our guide hasn't been redone in eons. This will serve as a good example. BTW, I've visited your troop website in the past, but never got around to telling you how much I like it. Excellent site layout, ease of navigation, and information!(This message has been edited by Eagle74)
  6. The mesh size as I referred to it is the sieve mesh size (sand granule size). Stainless steel mesh is used in place of metal flashing for termite shielding or laid around the foundation to protect openings in foundations though. It wouldn't really help for the project noted above unless laid under and then up around the sides a bit. The mesh is fine enough that termites can't pass through it and tough enough that they can't chew through it.
  7. What goes around comes around? Brings back memories of Dan Beard's "The American Boy's Handybook" that was one of my "bibles" as a youth. Anybody in for kite wars (kite aerial dog fights) with razor blades attached to the kite tails?
  8. Cinder Blocks or brick definitely works. Some other thoughts: Sand Barrier under and around - at least 6", 10-16 mesh (termites can't tunnel or establish tunnels in this) Commercially available termite resistant woods: Redwood Cedar Sappy southern yellow pine (heartwood) Charring the wood in contact with the ground seem to help. This is an old trick used by farmers for instance, on the buried part of locust fence posts. Other moderately or very resistant woods: (Trees found locally that can be cut into boards at a local saw mill. I've had this done and have seen t
  9. First new "field useable" pants and now a single app without the medical info on the back that almost always ended up messing up the front page. Hooray! Hooray!
  10. Excuse my slide back to the basketry discussion for a minute. . . I just had a "things that make you go Hmmmm?" moment. Just came back from summer camp (had to leave a day early) and there were numerous basketry merit badge blue cards completed, but . . . I don't recall seeing a single basket anywhere in our site; neither being worked on nor a completed one. I must have missed something. For that matter, I haven't seen a camp stool seat for several years.
  11. The previous thread is here: http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=111672#id_111672 BTW, I sent a nice letter by mail pointing out the inconsistency - no response.
  12. Headed off to summer camp in a couple of weeks with "It's Your Ship" and "Freakonomics".
  13. Sounds like what I had in 1978. One could do either the "Scout Leader Development Course" or both "Cornerstone" and "Outdoor Experience" to fulfill the training requirement for the Scouter's Training Award. I did the SLDC. We were Troop 99. It consisted of several classroom type sessions (troop meetings) and then a weekend camping experience. Troop meetings were spent learning assorted things like how to run meetings, planning, rules & regs, etc. We were divided into patrols (had a couple patrol meetings in addition to the course sessions), had patrol flags/yells, and functioned
  14. Great story Eamonn! Lisabob; we always put one senior scout in each vehicle with the responsibility for keeping the other boys behaving appropriately. Also, if there is not another adult in the car as the navigator, the senior scout is in the front passenger seat as the navigator and communications person (cell phone, FSR radio, etc.) so that the driver can concentrate on driving.
  15. Here is a clue from the back of the Tour Permit Form in the Our Pledge of Performance section: 18. If more than one vehicle is used to transport the group, we will establish rendevous points at the start of each day and not attempt to have drivers closely follow the group vehicle in front of them. Convoy driving is not something most people know how to do or do well. - The tendency is for vehicles to follow each other too closely. "Close the gap!" - Groups traveling in convoy frequently don't give each driver good directions/maps. "Follow the leader!" Now everybody else is mo
  16. gilsky; clarification please. You mention 25 to 30 service hours done (and sound to be quite worthwhile service hours), but did the SM approve the hours/service beforehand, as required? If so, they're done. If not, it would be at the SM's discretion to accept or not. I do however fall on the side of "adding to the requirements" if "leadership" is required. Not that a leadership component can't be acceptable or desirable, but rather that it can't be required. In my world I like to see "advancement" in the type of service hours performed as the scout advances higher in rank - to me a Li
  17. There are two issues here that are confusing and lead to conundrums. First: (G2SS) "3. Swimming Ability A person who has not been classified as a "swimmer" may ride as a passenger in a rowboat or motorboat with an adult swimmer, or in a canoe, raft, or sailboat with an adult who is trained as a lifeguard or a lifesaver by a recognized agency. In all other circumstances, the person must be a swimmer to participate in an activity afloat. Swimmers must pass this test:" (goes on to explain swimmers test) If all scouts are at the "swimmers" level this section won't apply. If all are n
  18. Sounds to me like you are doing the right and good thing as a MB counselor. Some lads really appreciate working on a merit badge where the counselor is not just a rubber stamp. My best times as a couselor are when a scout - after having completed the badge or sometimes a couple of years later - tells me or another scout "I really learned something doing xxxx merit badge, thanks!" Sometimes, you just have to stick by your guns though. I had a scout call me to do Fire Safety merit badge last year. He was a last minute Eagle trying to earn his last few merit badges. "I would like to mee
  19. In addition to ScoutNut's recommendations, our council has a record. Also NESA (National Eagle Scout Assoc) has records of it's members.
  20. Beavah, this is what I was referring to. I will need to do some digging in my paperwork to find the source, but this same thing has been relayed to me by council staff: "Intentional and criminal acts are not covered by the General Liability Insurance. Although criminal acts are fairly obvious,and we hope not a problem, intentional acts might need some explanation. Among other things, an intentional act would include conducting activities that are not authorized by the BSA or conducting activities in a manner contrary to the safety guidelines of the BSA. In these cases, the Boy Scouts of Americ
  21. Sue; sounds like you are doing a fine job and on track! You note that you have been working 18 months to get where you are now. Remember that you are trying to change a culture - that takes time; sometimes a long time. The complete cultural change won't happen until the old culture has moved on. You also mention ups and downs, and sometimes getting one thing on track brings up another. It's an indication from reading between the lines that you are operating in a continuous quality circle - you are raising your own bar constantly as a leader. The "bad" part about that can be that you
  22. We've been running into the same issue for the last couple of years - lots of adults (parents) to the point that the ratio of adults to kids is sometimes more than 1 adult for every 2 scouts. Finally came to the realization that sometimes we seem to be running two programs; one for adults (not troop leaders) and one for the Scouts. Kinda like the scout outing is also an escape outing for the adults and naturally with a different adult agenda. Have been discussing many potential solutions, but haven't arrived at a good answer. This is one of those forum threads where I hope to hear how othe
  23. Thank you, John-in-KC. Thank you not for general agreement with my suggestion, but thank you for taking an insightful view into the conundrum of sunsetandshadow. Sure, BSA does not require a uniform - these boys could go without and use some type of common t-shirt, polo shirt or whatever. Or sure, there could be the haves (able to wrangle a full uniform) together with the have-nots (can't afford, so will not be wearing any part of the uniform per the letter of the law); with a resulting rag-tag looking group of boys. To what end result? Just to be able to say they're following the r
  24. 1. I am a proponent of proper uniforming. Uniforming is one of the methods. 2. The world is not all black and white; most of it is shades of gray. 3. Delivery of a Scouting program should not sacrificed due to a genuine inability to be fully "BSA uniformed". For my troop, there is no genuine reason for every boy presently in the troop not to be fully uniformed (although most are not). Not everybody is as fortunate. My humble opinion/recomendation: - Start everybody with the shirts if that's what everybody can afford for now ("experienced" shirts work well). Forget the "official"
  25. Are only troop adults signing off on requirements? If so, mention it to one of the adults that you have observed that seems to work well with younger scouts. He might be able to draw your son out with an encouraging talk. This example is one that reinforces the concept of experienced scouts signing off requirements - troop guides, troop instructors, etc. A good experienced scout that likes working with younger scouts is a significant asset. Also, under these circumstances, young ASMs like Eagle Scouts just aged out can often connect better than us old fogeys.
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