Eamonn

OJ rushed out of the house to attend the OA banquet with a shirt with no loops. He called and asked me to bring him a set, he started asking for a set of red loops, then thought maybe he'd go with silver and then jokingly said yellow would be nice!! This got my little grey cells working! Why have different colored loops? I can tell the difference between a youth member and an adult. 95% of the time I spent scouting is spent with people I know anyway. Outsiders with no knowledge of scouting don't understand the color code anyway. To be honest most times I don't give a tinkers what color loops someone has on their shirt. I can't help wondering if somewhere along the line maybe just maybe some kind of "Snob" thing creeps in? I try and match the loops with the position patch on the uniform. There are still a few shirts in the cupboard with Cub Scouter patches on. I haven't worn them shirts in a very long time and the blue loops seem to have toddled off to that far away land of lost odd socks. There are a lot of shirts with District position patches hanging in the cupboard. OJ took some of the loops when he served on the Council Camping Committee. This really was a case of snob value!! Lots of shirts with different Boy Scout adult positions left over from Wood Badge courses and Jamborees. I don't think I'll ever use them again. My Wood Badge days are over and the time to pass the Jamboree baton on to someone younger and better looking was more than lightly before the last Jamboree. A couple of shirts with Area Committee patches on and yellow loops. Strange how nearly all of the meetings and activities were done with no uniform in sight!! I'm still trying to make sense of all the Sea Scout uniforms. The adult working uniform doesn't have any loops!! The white shirt has shoulder pads. I can't help thinking that it really is too close to looking like a military uniform. The NE-Region Bridge of Honor and Sea Scout Ball is coming soon and it seems the white adult uniform in the Sea Scout manual is not really the right thing to wear. If we were to do away with the loops, we would have no need for the epaulets and maybe a tan colored shirt made by Dickie's could replace the shirt we have at present. At about half the cost what the BSA shirt costs. These loops are of little or no use!! I'd be happy to see them gone. Ea.

Beavah, While I may well be on my way to old coot-hood, I have never seen myself as being a Conservative. While I'm not active in trying to get things that might be banned, un-banned, I do at times think banning them in the first place wasn't such a good idea. We as an organization talk a lot about "Ethical Choices". I suppose we could debate for many happy hours what this really means. Some see the choice being following the rule or not following the rule. I tend to see it as being more. In my book it's doing the right thing because it's the right thing to do. We old coots do our best to set the right example and at times teach what is accepted as being the right thing to do. A lot of what we do in Scouting is about something specific, but has a much deeper meaning under the surface. We can inform and teach a Lad what to pack in his pack before the hike. I'm happy to leave it at that. If he then decides he wants to pack the kitchen sink. He has made that choice -He is the poor soul who ends up carrying it!! Others will have a shakedown and tell him that Kitchen sinks are banned or not allowed!! This to my mind is not teaching him anything about making choices. My big beef about banning things is that the lists seem to take on a life of their own and become bigger and bigger. If this truly is the Land of the Free? Every-time we ban something it takes away someones freedom. Ea.

Done right!! Rechartering offers a great opportunity for everyone to see where we are, where we are going and what needs to be done to get there. Many of the complaints, moans and groans that get posted in the forum, might be lessened if the process was followed. As de4bsa has posted many of our Chartered Partners don't seem to know that they are Partners. Why? Because no one has taken the time to tell or explain it to them. When they don't know, is it any wonder that they don't provide the support we might want and need? As I grow older and retirement creeps up on me, I'm taking a more active intrest in my savings. Three or four times a year I meet with my financial Advisor and my accountant to see how I'm doing. Of course I know how much money I'm putting aside every month. If all I wanted was the amount? A few minutes with my pay stubs and check books would tell me. But I want more information. I need to know where my money is and how it is doing. After some of these meetings we decide that nothing needs to be done, but at times we change things a little. Rechartering should be the time when we all put our cards on the table and make sure that the lines of communication are all open and working. It seems to me!! That we spend far too much time recruiting and trying to find new ways of bringing in revenue and members. When the answer is staring us in the face. One meeting with everyone in attendance will save units, improve the number of trained leaders, maybe remove some dead-wood? Do more for PR and community relations than just about anything. Sadly when it becomes just about "updating the roster and collecting annual fees?" which is important!! We miss a golden opportunity. When I was District Chairman, I insisted that our DE did meet with all of the executive officers. I'll admit we never managed to get all of the units to hold the Renewal Meetings. I wish we had!! Over the ten years I was a member of the Key 3 we made Quality District, seven times. We used to go into September and school sign up night looking for a couple of hundred Cub Scouts and spent the rest of the year bullying and enticing Cub Scouters to recruit more Cub Scouts, with a last minute dash in late December. Life was so much better when we held School Sign up night and came away knowing that we had met the goal. Pam our DE at the time mentioned that Staff Meeting's were a lot more bearable, when she could sit there knowing that the rantings and ravings of the FD, weren't meant for her. While other DE's were rushing around in the snow to pick up one or two youth applications, she was doing her Christmas shopping!! Ea.

"Don't we all? " No! I'm happy to wear one hat!! As a member of the District Key 3 I had no unit affiliations. Some people less good looking than myself and not as kind as myself might also question "our quality district" If the number of Commissioners was "Iffy" -Maybe the District ought not be a Quality District. Of course I'd never mention that. Ea

The Lodge held the OA banquet yesterday. This is an all day activity. Along with the meal the activities committee organizes different activities, meetings are held, training's are offered. It started about 1000, with the meal served at 1800. Since Her Who Must Be Obeyed got ill, I really haven't been out and about much. But She ordered me to go and I obeyed. I think just about everyone in the Council knows me!! As ever I seemed to meet up and hang out with old friends. As ever in next to no time we were teasing each other!! This year I seemed to get more than my fair share as I went in my Sea Scout uniform. That's fine!! I'm a big enough to take it and dish it right back. The meal was OK, in fact the menu doesn't seem to have changed for as long as I have been around. Meeting old friends and catching up was really nice. I got to meet our new SE. He seems like a nice fellow. I had a really good time. I bumped into the Council Training Chair and was sad to hear that he was no longer the Training Chair. It seems his term had ended. I'm all for term limits. But no one has filled the spot! In fact from talking with him it seems that we no longer have a V-P of Program and the Council Advancement Chair and Activity Chair spots are all open with no one filling them. As I looked around the room at dinner, I didn't see very many new adult faces, I did notice that some of the faces that are always there, weren't there!! When I inquired about some of the missing faces, I was told that they were ill, had moved or had just stopped being active. Kind of sad. But I ate my chicken and went back to my teasing. Ea.

Spending money is easy. I'm good at it!! $50k?? Boy that sounds like a lot of money. But imagine the program that a unit could have with that sort of income. I ordered some items for the Ship from West Marine, with my discount I spent close to $2,500.00. It arrived in two tiny little boxes!! The last sail boat that was donated was in good shape, still before we could even pick it up the trailer needed over $300.00 spent just on tires. Add a VHF radio, compass and repairs and there goes close to another $1,000.00 Sadly our Scouts are no longer cute!! It seems that parental intrest in their offspring wains as they get older!! Just transporting the boats and get the Scouts to where they need to be becomes a challenge. Mooring a boat a marina isn't cheap. Insurance is expensive. Still my real question is: If we think small? Isn't that what we are going to get? John-in-KC posts that the band needs $35K. That doesn't seem to cover the cost of any uniforms or instruments that the band might need. Still at some level someone or some group? Decided that this could be done and they have forged ahead to get it done. Of course the Troop that attends the local Council Summer Camp each and every year and camps two miles from home in tents that the Scout provide and buy at the local Wal-Mart, can and will get by with very little income. I just can't help wondering what would happen if we dream big? Ea.

Lisa, While not trying to a royal pain!! "Some commissioners may be registered on a unit committee because they have a son in the unit or because of previous personal history in the unit, but their principle Scouting obligation should be with commissioner responsibilities." Doesn't seem open to a lot of interpretation. While it is a little unclear about if Commissioner can or should be a Committee member and the Commissioner for the same unit? I kinda think we all know that someone that close to the unit and involved in the running of the unit will have a very hard time being impartial. Commissioners receive their Commission from the Council Executive Board. Unit Leaders and Committee members serve at the will of the CO - Serving two "Bosses" is not a good idea. Imagine the mess if the CO removed the Committee Member, but he or she was still the UC! Ea.

SR751Fox Much as I hate to disagree with the powers that be. I think if you check: http://www.scouting.org/commissioners/home.html Scroll down to the end of the page, it states under "How are commissioners selected?": "Commissioners must not be registered simultaneously as unit leaders. Some commissioners may be registered on a unit committee because they have a son in the unit or because of previous personal history in the unit, but their principle Scouting obligation should be with commissioner responsibilities. Commissioners may be currently registered in only one commissioner position." While I was trying to find that, I came across the Unit Commissioner Box Score. Here the NE-Region it states that we have 18,577 units and 3,601 Unit Commissioners. Looking at the numbers it seems that we only have about half the number of Unit Commissioners that we need. As far as I know other than doing what we have been doing (Preach, moan and complain?) There doesn't seem to be any real plan in the works to improve on this number. The report can be found at: http://www.scouting.org/commissioners/newsletter/1-07.pdf I have to wonder what the number would be if they took out the people who are also serving as Unit Leaders? I also kinda think that the "Big Powers" that be in the Council you serve were aware of this ruling and have choose to ignore it. Heck if a dummy like me knows?? I of course am in no way saying that the people who are wearing all these hats should have them knocked off! - In fact my feelings are God Bless them and we should be thanking them. But again if we are going to set rules and standards, we need to play by them. If we or if they choose not to? Why bother having them in the first place? Right now something isn't working and from where I sit I just don't see any real move to fix it. When I look back at the Pack that failed,I can't help think that one visit from a UC who reported that the Pack Committee wasn't meeting could have or might have made a big difference. I find myself remembering The horseshoe nail For the want of a nail the shoe was lost, For the want of a shoe the horse was lost, For the want of a horse the rider was lost, For the want of a rider the battle was lost, For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost And all for the want of a horseshoe nail. One visit from an active Unit Commissioner might have saved the pack. Ea.

SR751Fox, Having a UC who is a member of the unit is not a good idea. In fact Unit Commissioners are not supposed to be unit leaders. (It's a BSA rule) What would happen if the CM and the Den Leader had a big disagreement? The role of a unit Commissioner should be that of an impartial friendly outsider. While there are in the forum some who do serve as Commissioners and from what I have read they do a good job of delivering Commissioner Service. I served as a District Commissioner for about four years. The District had about 40 units. With about 18 Chartering Organizations. When I attended the PTC conference, I found that with a staff of 21 commissioners, we were way ahead of most of the other Districts. At the start we were asked to list our biggest concern? The guy who sat next to me was from California, his big concern was "Scouting in a hostile political climate" Mine was the age of the Commissioner Staff!! Over the years when someone no longer seemed to be of use to a unit or the unit had failed promoting these people to the Commissioner team seemed like a good idea. I had a very large group of very well meaning, very nice old folks who loved to tell war stories, but sadly were out of touch with the real world. Still they were doing their best. We held a monthly commissioners meeting and they reported what was going on in the units they served. When I knew of a problem I could try and involve the right people to go in and give them a hand. That's what the people who serve on the District Committee are there for. Units that needed help with budgeting were offered help from the District Finance Committee, if the problem seemed to be a need for training the Training committee and so on. No DE is ever going to have time to watch 40 units and it really isn't his job. Over the years I have seen the Commissioner Team in our District get smaller and smaller, much as I hate to admit it even with me as District Chairman. Many of these old timers just became too old. What we have now is a group of nice people who seem to do everything but deliver Commissioner Service. Sadly when I look at the people in the District I don't see too many people who are attracted to commissioner service. Maybe they think they aren't old enough? At some stage we as an organization need to take a long hard look at what works and what doesn't. I happen to think that Commissioner Service is a wonderful thing when it works, but right now it needs a little fixing. We the unit volunteers and the CO are led to expect that the service should be there. Right now as a unit leader, I have my work cut out for me delivering the program to the Scouts in the Ship. That is my job!! While I am a member of the BSA, I really serve at the pleasure of our CO. They can at any time thank me for my past services and tell me to hit the bricks. They decided that the Ship was going to be part of their organization and selected me to lead their Ship. As long as we are supposed to have certain services, I have every right to expect that the services will be there and be available. When they are not? That's not my problem. I'm busy doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I do not report to anyone other than the Ship's Committee (the COR is a member and he reports to the CO) If the District /Council wants to know what we are doing and maybe see if I'm playing this game by the rules. They have in place a way of finding out. If this doesn't or isn't working they need to find a way of making it work. It seems far too many Councils and Professional Scouter's are throwing the stuff we find in the books that the BSA publishes out the window. If they are not willing to make things work, I can't help but feel expecting us to make things work is not only unfair, but just plain wrong. Ea.

Some chat a few weeks back in the Sea Scout forum about money. I have been having problems getting on to the site so I didn't participate. Someone laid out a plan for upgrades that long term were going to cost a little over a million dollars. This led to a debate about money. Some said that there was no way they could even ever entertain the idea of such a large undertaking. The reply to this was that we only ever get what we ask for. They (Who ever they were?) went on to say that if you talk to units that have a budget of $5,000.00 a year. These units will say that they have a hard time raising that amount. But it seems when a unit has a budget of $50,000.00 a year they seem to do better. The $50,000 group tend to plan bigger and better events and people get behind them more. Any thoughts? Ea.

$500.00 A plate! While I'm not wild about Oliver North. Me not being a great college football fan, have to admit to not being really impressed when our council got Joe Paterno as the speaker for a fund raising dinner (Only $350 for two tickets!!) As it turned out Joe Paterno was a lot more interesting than I thought he would be. Still over the years I have handed over my hard earned cash, not because I like chicken or because I have any real interest in the speaker but to support the program. I am very impressed that any District can find 300 people with $500.00 to donate!! I had a hard time finding 125 at $100.00 a plate! Ea.

Hawk Mountain a not very large council, serving the area around Reading PA, has not had a dropped unit in a very long time. The Council is fortunate in having an outstanding Council Commissioner,Darnall Daley. They say the reason for their success is in part due to the fact that once a year a meeting like the one outlined as the 45 day meeting is held. All CO heads, the DE,UC and unit leaders are at the meeting. It works for them!! Ea.

Hi SR751Fox Welcome to the forum. The UC is a friend to the unit. The unit is more than just the weekly or monthly meetings. To tell the truth his or her attendance at a regular meeting other than to get a feel for the strength of the unit, doesn't really make a real difference. When we asked the units in our District what they expected from the UC, most seemed happy with one visit per month at either the Committee meeting or the regular Troop/Pack meeting. The recommended number of units any one UC should serve is 3. I don't think that attending 3 or 4 meetings a month is out of line. A unit that has a "Paper Committee" and becomes a one man or one woman show really is in the hands of that one person. As we know it is the job of the committee to take over the meetings if the leader isn't there until a new leader can be selected. A unit with no committee or a committee that doesn't meet should be a red flag for the District. Who tells the District that there is no committee? The UC. Rechartering should be done with the UC and the CC working closely together. Ea.

I'm sorry de4bsa, I feel your not meeting with the Executive Officers of the CO in the District you serve is just not right. While I am happy for us volunteers to sort things out on a volunteer to volunteer basis without interferences from professionals. When it comes to dealing with the Executive Officer of a CO this is clearly your job. When you fail to do it it is no wonder you receive the look!! You and you alone are the Council Representative, you are the partner that makes up 50% of the partnership. I can understand why some CO's feel that the scouts as just a group that uses their building once a week. Part of your job is to ensure that they don't feel that way. Ea.

"What really happens if you dont recharter on-time? " Boy oh Boy did you hit a nerve!! First to answer your question. Not a lot!! There is some kind of a time line?? The unit can be on time. Late. On hold. Or a dropped unit. Unit Commissioners are supposed to ensure that units recharter on time. The Council Commissioner, prods and pokes the District Commissioners, they in turn push the Unit Commissioners. Back when I was a District Commish. I was a real pain about us following the process. Which when followed is a good one and works. Sadly it isn't followed very often. We used to recharter by District, each District was assigned a month. This was changed a few years back and now Troops and Crews are due in on January 31 and Packs are due in at the end of Feb. The recharter packs should be ready in October for the Troops and Crews and in November for the packs. The DE is supposed to meet with the Executive Officer of the CO to review the charter. Sadly this doesn't happen as often as it should. -Some CO's never see the DE!! Two months before the renewal date the Unit Commissioner is supposed to meet with the Unit Committee to do a membership inventory. Again this doesn't happen as it should. 45 days before the renewal is the big meeting.The Charter Renewal Meeting, the people at this meeting should be the: UC,CO Executive Officer, COR, Unit CC, Unit Leader and all other unit volunteers. This is when the forms should be completed and funds collected. Sadly I have never ever seen this happen or been able to make it happen!! 15 Days before the renewal date the UC is to turn everything into the Council Service Center. (This is what it says on: No.28-410V 130M602) What tends to happen in the real world. DE picks up the packs. Doesn't meet with anyone!! (We wonder why CO seem to not know what is going on?) His goal is to rid of these things as quickly as he can! He takes them to a R/T. Off loads them to the Unit Leader?? The guy who has the no real part in the entire process. Units that are not at the meeting might luck out and have the UC stop in at a meeting and handed to them again the Unit Leader is given this!! Dates are set for the return of the pack. In most cases at another R/T meeting!! All the "Good Stuff" that could or should come from the rechartering process is bypassed or lost. In the case of the Ship. Being as there is only one other "Real" Venturing Unit in the District and they don't attend R/T, I see no real reason for me to attend. I'm happy to not attend another waste of time meeting!! Being as we are the only Ship in the Council we seem to not have a unit commissioner. The packet which was due in on January 31 was left in my doorway when I wasn't home on January 31!! The print out had been done in October!! I was peeved!! A lot of things had changed since October and I decided that I was going to be a pain!! I requested a new packet. I asked for the DE to meet with the Executive Officer of the Elk's. So far none of this has happened!! I called the Registrar and explained what was going on. She informed me that our charter was on "Hold". The Council Commissioner who is a pal called and asked what was the matter, implying that I needed to set the example!! I gave him an ear-full telling him that his staff were not doing their job. He ummed and ahrrhed a lot, telling me how short staffed he is!! The ship has now been part of the Council for 15 months to date no one from the Council has ever contacted the Elk's. If this is a partnership? Something just isn't working. I just don't see why I need to go ahead and do something which really is not my job. I know that "They" see me as being a pain and maybe I am, but if I allow them to not follow the process they never will. I feel sure once someone looks at the numbers and sees that the membership numbers are down, something will hit the fan. The loss of a unit and 30 youth members is sure to act as a wake up call. Eamonn.

A week or two back I started a thread about "Controlled Risk". I think that there is a difference between risk and fear. When I take the Sea Scouts out on the water, I'm aware of the risks, I don't fear them because we have tried to find out what the risks are and are ready to deal with the situation should it arrive. We spend a lot of time on training and learning skills to avoid the risks and a lot of money on making sure we have the safety equipment needed in case something should go wrong. Could something still happen? Yes! But that's a risk I seem willing to take. A risk the parents of the Scouts also seem willing to take. At the risk of sounding egotistical. I feel very honored and enjoy the trust they place in me! I hope I never abuse or misuse that trust. Scoutings core values can be found in the Scout Oath and Law. While we have in this forum discussed at great length discipline, rules, regulations and that sort of thing and I don't really want to revisit that discussion! But with the Oath and Law as my guide I don't find the need for a big book of rules. We are all at times going to mess up. Hopefully when we reflect on what we have done, we will see where we didn't go right. Back when I was a Boy Scout leader one really hard thing to do was to keep a bunch of Scouts busy from that time after supper until bedtime. Very often "Wide Games" got way out of hand with Scouts getting hurt and fights broke out. The Scouts who didn't get hurt or didn't get hit thought these games were great fun! I however at times thought I was living "The Lord Of The Flies". Over time we got better at planning these games and were able to avoid most of the hazards. While some might see the snipe hunt thing as all being good fun? I see it as not being kind and because it is a waste of time falls short of the Scout is thrifty. The good Lord knows that at times I'm anything but politically correct and at times miss the Scout is kind by a very wide mark. Still at the end of the day, even when I have done something that isn't very popular with the Scouts or at home with OJ, I like to think that they know whatever I have done is because I care deeply for them, this might be called fear? But I see more as a matter of trust. Ea.

svendzoid, Welcome to the forums. I think I feel your pain. In the past I have read in the forum of the sale of Council properties, which have not been managed as they should be. Like Beav posts, we the unit leaders hate to see places and things we love, not be there anymore! This is made worse when the sale isn't done as it should be. I have never been to Camp Onway and at this time have a feeling I never will. It never has been on my "Must Visit List". It is a shame when it seems that the management of the Council seems to be a "Them And Us". We after all are the Council. The system is in place that we are or have representation on the Executive Board. COR's vote the board into office and District Chairpersons are on the board to represent the District and the feelings of the District. The has been times when I was a District Chair, when I had to put my feelings aside and push for what the District wanted. I'm not going to sign the petition, because I feel I don't know all the details, not just about the camp, but all the reasons why the camp is for sale or the state of the Council. The members of the Board are there in office to do what is for the best and in the best interest of the Council. I really don't see that some guy with a funny name in SW Pennsylvania is going to make any difference. I do hope that no matter what the final outcome is? That this doesn't become something which is going to split the Council and end up harming the people we are supposed to be serving. Eamonn.

I was of course happy that the three stranded climbers on Mt. Hood made it home with no real harm. Rory and I have had a long chat, me telling him that he needs to be more like Velvet the four-year-old Labrador retriever. He is taking it under consideration!! When I looked at my MSN Homepage I seen the story :The Price of Survival from Newsweek. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17247966/site/newsweek/ Have to admit it got the little gray cells working!! While I feel sure that Mt. Hood is not ever going to be on my list of things I ever want to do (Far to cold!!) I'm both pleased and grateful that there are groups like the National Mountain Rescue Association, and State Agencies that do come out and are there when needed. I know at times I can be a little unkind to some of the members of groups like this and even more local groups like our volunteer firemen. I'm not sure if there is such a thing on the books but a volunteer Appreciation day seems like a good idea. Heck -I'd be in favor of replacing Black History Month with Volunteer Appreciation Month. Ea.

When we started the Ship I went ahead and incorporated the Ship as a 501©(3). Mainly because the Council refused to accept donations of boats. Our Charter partner, the local Elks really does want them either. At the time I was really upset at our Scout Exec. But un-scout-like as it might be! I got the last laugh. After the UW started to de-fund the Council, I met them and applied for a grant. I got $1,500 for the Ship. This year we are asking for $25,000. We need to transport the Scouts. Talking with some of their board members they seem to think we stand a very good chance of getting it. As not only did they de-fund the Council, they did the same to 38 other organizations and now have lots of money. As a Sea Scout Ship we of course follow all the fund raising BSA guidelines, but as the Friends of we are not bound by these guidelines. While we in no way try and hide that we are Sea Scouts, we make no mention of the Scout Oath or the Venturing Oath, we do in the by-laws have the Sea Scout Promise. One foundation that gave us some money has in their guidelines that they will not donate to ant organization that discriminates. They were happy to go with the Sea Scout promise. I feel sure they knew who we were and what we were but with no mention of anything that might cause a stir they let it go!! Sadly becoming a 501(3)© is expensive. It cost almost $900.00 here in PA. Ea.

The Specific course does take nine hours!! Much of the material covered could be cut back, but some of the material that I think is important (The Methods) need more time. We tried offering it over 3 weeks one night a week. But by the time people got to the course location after working the earliest practical start time was 1900 add the three hours and then the drive home? It made for a very long day. So we went to offering it on a Saturday. The Outdoor Skills course is supposed to start on Friday night and end on Sunday afternoon. Trying to cram all this and NLE into one weekend just seems like way too much! Something has to suffer. Maybe the Eagle Scout with good outdoor and Scouting skills doesn't need as much attention as the Den Leader who has just crossed over? But the Eagle Scout is a wonderful resourse to the Patrol he is placed with. It also gives him the opportunity to work at passing on his knowledge to others. While WB groups are called Patrols, the opportunity to come together and work as a Boy Scout Patrol (Yes Team Development is part of the course.)is limited. WB Staff are busy presenting the course and the time they have to help anyone who needs help with a basic skill just isn't there. Last night the Ship started looking at Navigation. I started with a basic compass (a Silva compass) Three Eagle Scouts had no idea how to use it! They didn't know because they were never taught. They were never taught because their leaders didn't have the skill. When we don't train the adults, they can't train the Scouts. Untrained Scouts don't get to enjoy the full measure of the program and they quit!! The Ship has been going for just over a year and so far I have yet to meet a Boy Scout who can tie even the most basic of knots. They have never got to enjoy building pioneering projects. If they can't use a compass I'm sure they will have problems with maps so I wonder if they have ever really been on a hike. If we as an organization are happy with the Merit Badge Class mindset? Then the outdoor training is a waste of time. I just don't see Scouts as sitting animals, they yearn for the fun and adventure that we promise in the Boy Scout Handbook. When the leaders don't have the skills they really can't deliver the program. Without the challenges and the adventure the best we can hope for is holding the interest of a Lad is about 3 or 4 years. I know I'm now ranting!! But when we fail to deliver the goods we fail the kids we are supposed to be serving. All the other stuff is very important. But teaching a Lad Leadership when he isn't able to use that skill because all he knows is leadership is just silly. Ea.

A parent of a Sea Scout serves as a Trainer in another Council. As ever there was a clash of dates between a Ship activity and the date of the Spring Training that this District /Council is presenting. He is a presenter and his son is a participant. He explained to me that they have combined all the Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmaster Training courses into one weekend. Friday Night NLE is done and the Specific and Outdoor Skills have been combined and are covered starting Saturday and ending on Sunday. I think while this does save time, the participants are being short changed. I'm not a great lover of the Specific course. Mainly because the participants have to sit for way too long. It is a nine hour course. The Outdoor Skills course is a good one, but for people new to Scouting who have never learned the skills, trying to get them feeling at ease to be able to teach our Scouts the skills in a weekend is hard. If anything I'd like to see both course combined and spread over two weekends!! Is this new "One Stop Training" becoming the norm? Does it work? I know when it comes to basic skills I tend to be a bit of a stick in the mud!! Ea.

While until I read your post, I had never heard of these shoes. I kinda think that if we try and have a policy on everything that comes down the pike, we are going to end up with something bigger than the US Tax Code. The shoes are not the real problem. The problem is the people in the shoes. Before you set the policy writers to work, you might find that the answer lies in the Law of the Pack? Maybe "The Cub Scout gives goodwill " covers this? Ea.

"The award is a personal achievement and as such it represents things quite different to each recipient" I couldn't agree more. Of course when a Lad you know and have worked with is caught doing something really stupid, it really hurts -Especially if when you worked with him he didn't seem like a bad Lad or dumb kid. When OJ was in second grade he had Sister Lucille. I hate to be the one who talks ill of a nun, but she was real pain. Everyday she would phone to inform me of the sins that OJ had committed. Never anything big, but always something. Her Who Must Be Obeyed, not being a Roman Catholic was happy to leave me with the nun. The calls lasted from 20 to 45 minutes. I was starting to think that my kid was going to turn out to be the next axe murderer! The calls were always at supper time when I was busy in the restaurant and after a few months got really old and I started to get upset. In the end I went to the school and asked for a meeting with her and the principal. At the meeting she came on saying that while nothing was really bad, she expected better from a good catholic boy!! I tried to explain that he was just a little kid -But was making no headway. The Principal, who I never really liked (He smiled too much and was way too happy for my liking!) Tried to explain to me that they both thought of OJ as a child of God! I shut them both up when I explain that was the problem. I didn't see him as a child of God, more as a little Devil!! I know some Eagle Scouts who are the nicest people I have ever met or had the privilege of knowing, but I can't help thinking that maybe they would still be nice even if they had never been a Scout. I sometimes think we as an organization make to big a deal about some things. Just because a kid wears a Scout uniform does not transform him into some kind of little Angel. Eagle Scouts do at times mess up! Send a idiot to training yes even Wood Badge and you have a trained idiot- Or one with beads! Not sure why? When I read about the Mail Boxes, Cool Hand Luke came to mind. Back when I was a Scouter in London for a while I seemed to spend a lot of time in the West London Juvenile Court as a character witness /spokesperson for some of the Scouts in the Troop. The sad thing was at times they were in trouble for doing stuff I remember doing when I was their age, but they just seemed to get caught! Of course I never told them that! Ea.

"help us throw people off the tower." Being the thrower - Might be fun. Being thrown - Might hurt. As you move from being a little fellow into becoming a big fellow. Jerry has moved from being cranky to being old and cranky!! Eamonn.

Hey Hopper! I'm sure that this advance in years doesn't mean that you are taking early retirement!! I kinda think the Ropedope has other plans for you!! Sadly Gary is retiring this year, so I don't know if he will be back on the tower in 2010. OJ, is hoping to return. He like you is now an "Old Fellow" he is in the Ship, but his real love is the OA. He is going to run for section chief in June. As yet I'm unsure what I'll be doing in 2010. I was hoping that my friend who was ASM in 05 would be the 2010 SM, but he lost his job and may have to move. As yet no one is talking about 2010, I'm busy doing what I'm doing and I'm unsure if I really want to go back. Of course Jerry can't wait!! Try and find a good Crew or Ship, enjoy being a youth member for as long as you can!! Take my word for it everything is a little down hill from there. Your Pal Eamonn.