Eamonn

A week or so back I asked if "Honesty was the best policy?" I have to wonder if the people who start or use these "Fake Policies" ever think about the fact that they are not being honest? While maybe their intentions are good maybe even better than good? In my book they lose credibility when they can't be trusted. Normally as a rule when it comes to the "Travel in Uniform" policy that isn't a policy. I out of choice do wear full BSA uniform (depending on where we are going and what we will be doing once we get there!) OJ, isn't very keen about being seen in his Boy Scout Uniform, outside of Scouting functions. I suppose I could lie to him and pretend that there is a policy saying "You have to wear it because the BSA says you must" So while I would like him to wear it and do at times tell him that he is going to wear it!! (Hey no one said that my home is a democracy)He knows that this is coming from me not the BSA. I'd far sooner him think that I'm a bit of a pain in the neck, than for him to find out that I was telling him lies. Anyone for a Espresso? Eamonn.

"The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law." "The Boy Scouts of America is the nation's foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training. In the future Scouting will continue to Offer young people responsible fun and adventure; Instill in young people lifetime values and develop in them ethical character as expressed in the Scout Oath and Law; Train young people in citizenship, service, and leadership; Serve America's communities and families with its quality, values-based program." Based on the Mission and Vision statements I would say that there is hope. I like to think that there is more hope for a Lad in Scouting or a youth organization like Scouting then there is for a Lad who doesn't have the help and support that we can offer. Still I can't help thinking that we can lead a horse to water, but we can't make him drink. So far I think I have been blessed because OJ seems to be a good kid -Maybe better than I was at his age. But maybe I had a lot more freedom than he has had. We live in a small town and low crime area, but still I have heard reports about kids taking drugs and going to school under the influence of alcohol. Many moons back I know my brother-in-law who was at the time a SM had problems at a summer camp with Scouts using marijuana. Looking back I'm not sure how good a kid I would have been if it wasn't for Scouts and Scouting. My parents loved and cared for me, giving me almost anything that I asked for. But my Father was busy making money. He was far better at earning it then spending it. He didn't know how not to work and didn't have much time for his kids. My Mother was a stay at home Mum, but she rarely got involved in anything outside of the home. I don't think she had any idea of what was happening outside of her own little world. I really like the crowd that OJ hangs out with, most are in Scouting. I do what I can to make it known that his friends are welcome in our house and that I'm doing what I can to be as fair and open minded as I can be. I give them all heck about driving too fast. I warn them about doing nasty stuff along with drugs, booze, sex and not working toward a real goal. Still I know that they are at an age where they will want to try new things and experiment with things that would be better left alone. I have this strange idea that bad habits can become habit forming?? For some time I had been working with a few local judges (Mostly JP's) about the idea of having kids who get caught doing dumb things having the choice of paying their fines or maybe joining a Scout unit. Up until now, there really wasn't a unit in our area where we could send these kids. But now we have the Ship? I have no idea if this is going to work or not. But I think it's worth a try. Even if we only reach one or two (I'm hoping we do better) kids and can maybe prevent them from ending up in "The system", it will be worth the effort. Having the Ship do this also helps when we apply for money from foundations and grants. Back home a lot of the Scouts we had in the troop had at one time been in some sort of trouble. Sadly those that opted to not stay ended up in more trouble and while we still had a few that did some silly things and got caught, for the most part we kept them too busy to have time to get into any serious trouble. I felt bad for the Lad's who did end up with big problems, but I didn't beat myself up over it. I felt that I had given it my best. And there were a couple of good kids who also got caught doing some silly things. One who got drunk, stole a car and ran it into tree and ended up dead. I admit I cried when I heard about him and I really had a hard time when I read the lesson at his requiem mass. We as leaders do bring a lot onto our plates, but if we ever give up hope. We have nothing. Eamonn.

While I'm all for training and trained leaders I'm not for mandatory training. I be believe that there are people out there that are just too busy to take training. I know Den Leaders who are single parents who have a heck of a time making the time. There are some people who love attending training's and seem to take anything training that comes down the pike. There are others who have never attended and think all of it is a waste of time. Many have reasons or excuses. To be very honest when I took training's it mostly to get it done and out of the way, with a dose of my own ego thrown in. As a Training Chair, when I met with the Training Team, one of the first things I covered with them was that the participants need to know that: You know what you are talking about and that you are not going to waste their time. But even working on that some people see some things as a waste of time, while others really take a lot from whatever? At the end of the day a lot will come down to what role does the person want to play in Scouting? I found that most of the training's aimed at District and Council Committee members were a complete waste of time. Sure everyone had fun and the fellowship was good, but the take home message was really weak. If a person signs on as a ASM and his main area is going to be working with Scouts on the water, I'd sooner see him take water activity based training's than Wood Badge. So while I'm all for training and agree that every boy does deserve a trained leader, I'd sooner see a person trained in the area that he is working in take my kid than a leadership course. We need to remember that not everyone works 9-5 Monday - Friday and even if they do they may have a spouse who doesn't. They may have kids at home or elderly parents that require care and attention. I honestly do believe that strict training guidelines will end up hurting the program. What we need to work on is making training's worth while, user friendly (Yes the on-line stuff is a good idea) and available when and where the people who want to take training are available. Scouter's take the same promise to do their best. I sure as heck don't want to sit as judge and jury as to their commitment. I don't know what other commitments they have? I don't know how understanding their spouse is? I do know that there are only about 52 weekends in a year. Take four or five out for holidays and a dozen out for camps and that sort of thing and any more could well put a hurting on peoples happy homes. Eamonn.

Back home in the UK,when I was active over there, Scouting was really in the hands of the volunteers. The District I was in had something like 50 units. No DE, no professional support. Our County (I was in Greater London Central) Covered a lot of ground and at that time served a lot of Scouts. Again without any professional involvement. When I moved to this side of the pond, I used to joke about our tiny little Council having a bigger staff than the National Office (It's not called that!)of the Scout Association. I was, when I first arrived in this green and pleasant land, amazed and pleased to see how well organized the BSA was and the support it got from different communities. Over the past twenty odd years that I have been in the BSA, it seems to me that things have changed. Or maybe it's just me who has changed?? Then again maybe America has changed? Twenty years back it seemed that most of the professionals I met came from a strong Scouting back ground. They must have really loved Scouting as they sure as heck weren't earning very much!! I remember a good friend telling me that he was earning $13,000 a year. I don't know what the SE's were earning? Maybe it was just me but when I talked with these pros. It seemed that we talked about Scouting and program type stuff. Not numbers and money. When I first went on the Board, most of the board members were involved in Scouting at some active level or had been. Sure there were a few business executive types, but they had knowledge of the program. At a board meeting we held last November I looked over the list of Executive Board Members. The list had over seventy names, but less than fifteen were what I might call people with real Scouting experience. Which is really sad as we were looking at ways of trying to save money and the idea of selling a camp was up for grabs. The majority of people discussing the idea had never seen the camp. I worked very closely with our last DE,in fact we are the best of friends. Looking back, I now see that we started working on the FOS Campaign (Community and Family) in January and that seemed to occupy most of our time until April or May. Then we worked on special events -Events that raised money. July till October was spent working on recruitment and October till November was spent pushing popcorn. Somewhere in the back of my mind was the idea that we as a District had to earn enough money to pay the DE's salary. Sure we worked on Camporees and Training events and attended meetings that were to do with program. But even our attendance at B&G banquets was more to do with FOS than any great love of Cub Scouting. Even if we didn't get very much cash, at least we could report that we had gone to the unit and could cross that unit off the list. I like our SE. He is a nice fellow, but I'm unsure what he is good at? I'm maybe a little confused at what I want him to be good at? He isn't that great at bringing big money into the Council. I've recently got involved in a few foundations and was very surprised when I seen that the Council had never even applied for any money. He doesn't seem to fit the role of a knowledgeable Scouter. He doesn't interact well with kids and other than attending Wood Badge (Which I give him a lot of credit for!!)He doesn't seem to be the outdoor type. He isn't that great with numbers. If he was maybe we wouldn't be in the financial mess that we are in. He is very good at recruiting Board Members. Sadly we are not an area where we have many corporate headquarters, so these guys nice as they all are don't really have much say in what support the company they work for will give and I sometimes wonder if they are just adding a line to their resume? Twenty years back it seemed that nearly everyone on the board seemed to be a parent of a child who was in or had been in Scouts. That is no longer the case. Of course while it's easy to moan and groan, I really think that the grass roots Scouter's do need to start working at forming better relationships with their CO's and do whatever it takes to get their COR involved at both the District and Council level. It really is sad that we don't see more COR stepping up. I really like the idea of the partnership between the volunteers and the pros. But if we are not making our COR's accountable to us -We are lost in the water! Eamonn.

I think if you were to do a "Search Forums" on uniforms you would find that it is a hot topic. Correct and proper uniforming should be the goal of each and every troop. I do see how the price of uniforms is making this really hard. I wonder why Troops go with the shirt only idea? Why not go with the shorts and socks?? This way the Scouts would be in correct uniform when it comes to the activity uniform and I think you will have more luck getting the parents to take the next step -Buying the shirt. As for fund raising ideas??? What might work in our area could or couldn't work in yours. Our local schools sell candy bars and it's almost impossible for us to sell them. We seem to do well with frozen pizza kits and later this year we are holding a yard sale and a Sea Scout Dinner and Ball. We didn't make any money on our youth dance, but I didn't think we would. It was however a good promotional thing and we recruited a few more Scouts because of it. Good Luck and keep on keeping on. If you decide to not make uniforming a goal; it's never going to happen. If you keep it on the back burner?? Who knows maybe a year from now or maybe five years from now everything will fall into place. Eamonn.

"Upon completion of the Wood Badge Ticket as certified by a ticket counselor and the Scout Executive, the participant will be presented with the Wood Badge certificate, neckerchief, woggle, and beads at an appropriate public ceremony." You need the SE to approval. He or She has the right to deny the award no matter what the CD feels. Eamonn CD NEV-IV-153

In another thread someone mentioned "Grumpy Old Men". I rarely think of myself as being old and in keeping with the Scout Law try not to be over grumpy. Still I have about 30 years in Scouting as an adult. During this time I have served as: Assistant Cub Scout Leader, Cub Scout Leader and Scout Leader. (Back home in the UK.) On several District, Council and Regional Committees here in the USA. Unit Commissioner, Assistant District Commissioner, District Commissioner, District Chairman, Webelos Scout Den Leader, Cubmaster. Scoutmaster, Council Training Chairman and at present Sea Scout Leader/Skipper. By far the job I disliked the most was District Chairman. The job I had the longest was Scout Leader back home (Scout Leader is the same as SM.) I was very young and full of ambition, wind and vinegar. I had an ego the size of the great outdoors, which while not a good thing wasn't always a bad thing. I really enjoyed working with Webelos Scouts. Everything was an adventure to them, I love the way they see the world and really loved showing it to them. I'm having the best time with this new Ship. Sea Scouting is new to me. The Scouts we have are super and it seems that Sea Scouter's are a very special breed who really do go out of their way to help each other. I was Training Chair. When all the new Training's came along. The training team was made up of some of the best Scouter's I have ever worked with. While of course we had the odd participant who really didn't want to be at the training's and tried to be a royal pain, for the most part the people who attended wanted to be there and were very enthused about being in Scouting. As a Cubmaster I was blessed with really good Den Leaders and a great Committee, with them in place being a Cubmaster is easy -Maybe a little too easy?? Being a Commissioner is OK if you could just be a Commissioner, sadly it seems that Commissioners become the "Let the Commissioners do it" force in Districts and Councils and end up doing FOS presentations, Camp promotions and everything else that comes down the pike. Add to this some of the UC's did give a whole new meaning to being grumpy and at times I ended up trying to do damage control. So while I'm really enjoying being with the Ship and do enjoy working with the older youth (Kids!!) the position I liked the most was being a Scout Leader. I'm sure in 30 years time when I really am old and maybe very grumpy I hope I will be saying it was Sea Scout Leader. So which job in Scouting do you like the best? Eamonn.

I have to agree with acco40. Sure it would be nice if this was the U.S.E (United States of Eamonn) and Eamonn could cut the BSA a brake, but it's not. With only 40 Sea Scouts paying $6,000 a year is going to be very hard. Our Ship has been trying to secure cheap berthing and it's not easy. In part because very few people have ever heard anything about Sea Scouts. Maybe if more people hear about the Berkeley Sea Scouts they will be more willing to support Sea Scouting? Rightly or wrongly a lot of people who felt that the BSA was being victimized did start to take a more active role in supporting the BSA when some news items like this one became known. Back when I was District Chairman a Lady I didn't know called me at home and talked on the phone for nearly an hour, telling me how much she she admired the BSA for standing firm. She sent a donation in for the FOS and send me $50.00 to take the Scouts who were attending the 2001 Jambo out for ice cream. I bought all the Scouts ice cream just before we toured the Pentagon. I told the person who had organized the tour (Sister-in-law of a Scouter in our Council) the story of our ice cream and before we left she gave me $30.00 to buy the Scouts a coke when we stopped on the way home at Breezewood. So while some might see what is happening as BSA bashing , we were busy doing some lip-smacking. Eamonn.

Like others have said we don't have all the facts. But if you are not a member of the BSA (For whatever reason) The BSA is not going to give you a BSA training award. Eamonn.

One of the nice things about being an American must be that you don't have very much history. One bad thing about being English is that we have too much. When I talk to friends from India, they seem a little confused that the English don't know more about what went on in India under English rule. While a good number of English people might know the date 1776 and a few might even own up to losing the colony, for the most part we don't know a lot about American History. So I do admit that my knowledge of American History is not the best. I did teach English history for a couple of years. When we talked about people leaving England and other parts of Europe was to escape religious persecution. Beginning in 1630 as many as 20,000 Puritans emigrated to America from England to gain the liberty to worship God as they chose. Most settled in New England, but some went as far as the West Indies. Theologically, the Puritans were "non-separating Congregationalists." Unlike the Pilgrims, who came to Massachusetts in 1620, the Puritans believed that the Church of England was a true church, though in need of major reforms. Every New England Congregational church was considered an independent entity, beholden to no hierarchy. The membership was composed, at least initially, of men and women who had undergone a conversion experience and could prove it to other members. Puritan leaders hoped (futilely, as it turned out) that, once their experiment was successful, England would imitate it by instituting a church order modeled after the New England Way. Having read some of the speeches by early American statesmen and presidents there does seem to be a use of language that is akin to the language used by the Freemasons. Eamonn.

You didn't have spot for Queen's Scout -So I made myself an Eagle Scout!! Wood Badge only allowed one Patrol, I have both the old Cub Scout WB and the Boy Scout WB. Two different patrols. Eamonn.

ScoutNut has hit the nail on the head when he states:"It's up to the boys, thru the Patrol Leader's Council, to decide what they want to do. " As adults we might want to look at the methods of Scouting and see how we are doing? Advancement is only one method. I really like the idea of Scouts doing things because it's fun and learning as they do it. Of course this doesn't work all the time and can be really hard at times, but learning how to tie a knot before you go climbing or sailing beats spending hours in the Scout hut with old frayed ropes. Having the younger Scouts try their hand at reading the map on a hike, brings map reading to life. Right now I'm having a slight problem with some of the Scouts in the Ship. They come from units where if you do something once it gets signed off and there are some requirements that only require that you do something. However I read some of the requirements as know how to ... We seem to have a problem defining the word know. All of our Scouts have completed the United States Power Squadron Boating Course. Part of the course covered charting and navigation. They all passed the course. But they have not gone out and charted a course. I'm happy to leave this where we are at?? Later in the spring they will get to go out and will be given the opportunity to put the skills they have learned to use. If they need help, it will be on hand. They don't know that they are working on advancement. If I'm doing my job right they will be having fun facing a new challenge, participating in a new adventure and the advancement just happens. If it becomes apparent that they really don't know what the heck they are doing going over it with them and helping them get it right, so that they do know it is far more important than just doing it and having it signed off. If you focus on the big picture, not just parts of it I think you will find that everything starts to fall into place. Scouts join Scouts for fun and adventure, if we can find a stealth method of teaching them the skills that they need to advance and not allow advancement be the master, Scouting is a lot more fun and with more skills the adventures can get bigger and better. Eamonn.

I do smoke and do enjoy adult beverages. I do follow the BSA guidelines. Having been in the business of selling alcohol, I have boxes of t-shirts with different advertisements on them. All brand new. I'm not a great lover of t-shirts and would not wear a shirt to a Scouting event which promotes tobacco or alcohol. I do have shirts with logos on. Some have Rhino while others have polo or gator on. My jeans have Levi's or Lee. Eamonn.

$225,000 !! Not bad !! Eamonn.

I really don't like the idea that youth members are "Kicked out." Leaders don't have the authority to revoke the membership of a Scout. The Troop committee is the group that is supposed to handle discipline and only the CO or the SE can remove a Scout. I don't understand why a Lad not attending should be a surprise? Week one: Timmy isn't at the meeting. SM notices that he isn't and asks Timmy's pals "Where is Tim?" -No one knows. Week Two: Timmy isn't at the meeting. SM tries to contact him. Timmy tells SM that he has quit. SM can now choose to just accept the fact that Timmy has quit or he can talk with him and maybe meet with his parents (I think it depends on the age of Timmy.) Timmy may have 1001 reasons why he wants to leave. The Troop may have a problem that SM isn't aware of? (Bullying, hazing,..) Timmy might be involved in an activity that means he can't attend the meetings? Or maybe Timmy is just fed up with Scouting. Open lines of communication need to be in place. Sometimes whatever isn't working can be put right or things can be worked out. Timmy has the final word. It is up to him to decide if he wants to stay or go. If he decides to leave. Time stands still. Because he has quit he isn't able to fulfill the duties of any office he may hold. But if he has completed a term, it can't be taken away from him. Rechartering time comes around. Timmy is on the charter that is about to run out. The Troop Committee is working on the new charter. Of course they would be nuts to spent the money paying for a Scout who isn't there!! But they know if they don't call Timmy, the unit commissioner will be doing so. (Yes when I was District Commissioner, our Unit Commissioners called each and every Scout that had been taken off a charter.) Timmy is called and asked if he wants to come back? If he says no. Timmy is no longer a member of the BSA and is not entitled to the benefits of membership. But he has been informed that if he changes his mind he will be welcome to return. We might never see or hear from him again. He might decide that he wants to return. If he does he can pick up where he left off. Not so long back a Council near us received a bequest of over a million dollars from a man who had been a Scout for only a year and had not been involved in Scouting since his youth. He gave the money because he felt the people in Scouting had been kind to him. We never know what sort of impact we have on a youth. We never really know what or where our Scouts will end up. I've seen really nice kids end up in Jail when they have grown up and Scouts who were little toads grow up to become really great men. We never know. Our job is to work with each and every Scout as an individual. Maybe that's why the title is Scoutmaster and not Troopmaster? Eamonn.

I do enjoy the odd adult beverage. I hope I never get to the point that I ever need one!! Going without alcohol is not a big deal. I'm happy to comply with: The Boy Scouts of America prohibits the use of alcoholic beverages and controlled substances at encampments or activities on property owned and/or operated by the Boy Scouts of America, or at any activity involving participation of youth members. I did buy $5.00 worth of tickets for the Superball thing the other week -I didn't win and view my $5.00 as going to help the programs it supports. I'm not a very good loser, so I don't like gambling. Over the years I have been in Scouting I have introduced a good number of Scouts to Contract Whist and I enjoy a good game of Hearts. It does seem that poker is really big. It is cheap TV. I was very surprised when at an OA weekend poker was an activity. They played for chips and no money changed hands. I suppose them playing poker is no better or no worse than me playing Whist. To my way of thinking gambling isn't in keeping with "A Scout is thrifty", but maybe the people who won the big Powerball thing the other week would disagree? I have has several people who have worked for me, who spend $10 or $20 a day on playing numbers. They get very upset if by chance they miss a day. I have a good friend who owns and places video poker machines in bars and restaurants. He has made a lot of money. So much that he is no longer involved in the day to day running of his company and spends his time breeding cattle, flying his plane and racing his car. So far when I have ever asked him for a donation he has always donated. I think he donates a lot of money to a lot of organizations. Still my feeling is that gambling around youth members or allowing them to gamble is not a good thing. While the policy from the BSA on the use of alcoholic beverages and controlled substances is very clear. I do wish the policy on gambling was a little more clear. I cringe every time I go to a B&G and someone tries to sell me a 50/50 ticket. When we discussed raising money for the Ship with the Quarterdeck (Youth members/ officers) Our Purser said that he would have a hard time selling product, but could sell tickets. He earns $75.00 a night working at the Bingo his church runs. Needless to say we settled on selling frozen pizzas. Still if I had won that Powerball thing, you can bet we would be the best equipped Sea Scout Ship in the USA -I bet ya!! Eamonn.

Talking with my son the other day he said that one of the members of the Ship had mentioned that he loved the story I had told about smoking pot. In fact he is thinking of retelling it at his Eagle Scout COH. I don't as a rule bring up things I'm not proud of, but a few of the older Sea Scouts were talking about drug use and I was asked if I'd ever taken any drugs? I explained that I felt very lucky that I hadn't got into that sort of thing, especially seeing that I was a kid growing up in the big city during the 60's and 70's, but I had once after a school play gone to the party we had after the final performance and there was marijuana. It was like a over-sized hand rolled cigarette, I took one drag, bust into a fit of coughing and never tried it again. I went on to say that I'd seen a lot of good friends ruin their life because of drugs and booze. I'm sure the idea of me being young?? And smoking a joint must have conjured up some strange and funny ideas. But I wasn't trying to be funny. I didn't in any way want to glorify or condone any sort of drug use. I suppose I could have lied? But I'm not sure that is the best thing. It's really hard not to give an answer when you are asked a direct question. What would you have done? Eamonn.

Beavah Help me out a little here. You posted: "When he wants to rejoin, require a SM conference and an application, and then think carefully about whether that will be a good thing. You don't have to accept the application if you feel the boy is just manipulating the system to "get" Eagle, rather than living the Oath and Law to "be" Eagle." While I agree with meeting with the Lad and talking with him. I'm a little confused about :"whether that will be a good thing." My thinking has always been that we the adults are here to serve the youth members, so I'm puzzled about how having a Lad return can be a bad thing? As for: "You don't have to accept the application if you feel the boy is just manipulating the system to "get" Eagle, rather than living the Oath and Law to "be" Eagle." I just don't think that I have the right to sit as judge and jury on the Lad's reasons for wanting to return. I do know if we turn him away we are never going to meet the mission of the BSA. Sure a Lad might return for all the wrong reasons, but isn't it our job to help him see that these are the wrong reasons and do our best to help him make ethical and moral choices? Eamonn.

Hi Hops, 200 OR 300 words is going to be tough!! I use more than that to order breakfast. I have to admit to not really understanding what help you are asking for? "What qualities of leadership do you think are most important?" I love that you have included Listening. I kind of like "positive, constructive criticism " but maybe Feedback would be a better word? To my way of thinking many of the best leaders have been great communicators. Communication is a very important leadership skill. A little while back I was in a Doctors office and picked up a magazine. I don't remember the name of it, but it was a kind of Trade Mag, put out by companies that sell equipment to the military. Inside there was all sorts of specifications about boats and helicopters. Most of which went way above my head. There was however a really good article about the things we could have done better in the war in Iraq. One thing it said we needed and didn't have was enough people who spoke the language. It said that many of the interpreters were unreliable and the guys we had training the Iraq army were finding it really tough not being able to talk or communicate with the people they were training. At the risk of starting a big forum debate about which leaders were the best communicators, I think if you look at Winston Churchill, Ronald Regan, JFK and the speeches made by George W. Bush after 9/11. You will see some great communication at work. While I also like the goal setting idea, I think it's important that a leader has a really good understanding of the vision and mission in order to make sure the goals are taking him in the right direction. I would add "Good personal Values" to the list. As for "requesting rather than demanding " At times we do need to make demands, so I'd go careful with that one. I'm not sure if this is what you were looking for? Or if it is of any help? Eamonn.

Rooster7 Has hit the nail on the head when he posts: "Its the volunteers at the Pack or Troop level that will make that program run well, or not. Just like any other organization, it comes down to whos really running the show. Frankly, I dont understand what kind of support Packs or Troops are hoping to obtain from the national organization (or even if a significant number of Packs or Troops are seeking such support). The BSA offers a program to chartering organizations. As part of the package, the BSA offers uniforms, policies, procedures, best practices, fund raising ideas, alternative programs, camps, and other resources. They offer more than enough resources for any CO to garner and use, as they see fit, to make their Pack or Troop successful." At the end of the day it comes down to program. Maybe we do need to seek out a more diverse group of CO? But even in the tiny District I'm in we have 43 units chartered by: Elks, Lions, VFW, The American Legion, a few Methodist Churches, A Funeral home,a few Catholic Churches,A couple of Baptist Churches and a sports complex. I feel that most parents if they wanted to pick and choose a CO should be able to find one out of that lot that suits them. But as a rule most youngsters join the unit where their pals are. Their pals are there because the program is a good one. Eamonn.

I agree with SemperParatus. While I can't back anything up with numbers. I think that maybe we do see slightly more special needs members in Cub Scouting than might be the "Norm". I remember when I was Day Camp Director, it seemed that about a third of the little fellows were taking something for ADD. When I took Boy Scouts to the Jamboree, out of 36 we only had 2 taking meds. We have one Lad in the Ship that has a rough time with it (ADD) At times he can be very annoying. The other Scouts (one is his little brother) are aware of his condition and really try to accommodate him. Still when he gets to far out of hand they just tell him to "Shut up!!" His Dad is a Ship's Mate, sadly he seems to be the one who does the worse job of working with him. There are times when I feel really bad for the Lad. Nearly all of the Scouts we have are very bright kids, they talk about report cards that are full of A's. This poor kid is really struggling at school, I know that he is really trying and at times I know he must get so very frustrated. The Lad is a good Lad, he knows that I like him and does at times come to me. I'm not in that field, so the best I can do for him is just be there for him. Thankfully I don't get upset hardly ever and it seems when he is going a little to far I can just say his name and give him "The Look" and that seems to work. He was with me at the Jamboree and never presented me with a problem. Eamonn.

The ship went to visit another Ship in West Virginia, yesterday. It isn't that far, about 50 minutes by car. I had four Sea Scouts in my Ford (yes I do have five seat belts!) They trundled in with all their "stuff". Everything a well dressed Sea Scout doesn't really need: Cell phone, Walkman, camera and change of clothes. As room was a little tight I opened the back of the Explorer and they deposited what they thought they could live without for the ride. I never said what they should or shouldn't place in the back. I did have Paul Simon playing in the car. We drove all the way without a cell phone coming out. One Lad had kept his Walkman, but I didn't see him wearing his ear-phones. I really do try to pay extra attention to my driving when I'm transporting other peoples children, so I wasn't really joining in the conversations that they were having. Like any group of kids they talked about school and one Lad (our Boatswain) had everyone laughing when he tried to explain that his Mom is losing it because she says yes to the things that he thinks she will say no to?? We drove back, only stopping for a quick burger at Burger King. Queen was playing in the car and again there was no sign of the cell phones or Walkman. I really do enjoy just sitting there listening to a group of happy kids. Of course I wish I was their age, but I know that will never be and anyhow if I was I would miss out on the fun of just being a Scout Leader. Eamonn.

At this time I don't have the 2005 membership numbers broken down by chartering organization. So I can't prove how much losing public schools really hurt the membership or if it did? I do know that in the Council that I serve numbers were down and we didn't have any units chartered by public schools. We did have 3 packs that are in public housing complexes and when the memo came out other organizations replaced HUD as the CO. The membership of these units went up. Still it does seem whatever we are doing isn't working!! While no one has as yet asked me, but it seems the more we try and be trendy or keep up with the times the more it bites us in the you know where. When I did ask about the 15% loss of Venturers in the NE-Region? I was informed that most of the loss came from just six councils and was due to a "Correction". It seems these youth members ought to have been in LFL and not Venturering. While I'm sure that there are parents who feel very strongly that the BSA is wrong and will never allow their kid to join because of various reasons. But I'm just as sure that there are a lot of parents who might never have thought about allowing their kid join, but see having him or her join as a way of showing their support. It would be all to easy to blame the falling numbers on the ACLU or Fox TV?? However we have got to take the blame. We need to look at where we are losing the members and plug the hole. While once again I don't have hard numbers, I do think that we are doing a good job of recruiting youth members our big problem is retaining them. I been play this game for a fair amount of time. I've heard the loss blamed on: TV, after school activities, video games, home-work, single parents,Gays, Girls, God,money, lack of money, rock music,uniforms,petrol, the cost of petrol,Band,soccer, track,sex,dogs, cats,spiders,advancement,warm weather, cold,and the list could become a Monty Python sketch. Still I feel if we can deliver a program that offers adventure, fun and challenges all of our youth members with age appropriate activities we will keep the youth we recruit (Yes we need to work on marketing) Along the way we can help the youth members work on making moral and ethical choices and the membership will grow. Eamonn.

We have had a few students suspended from out local high school because of some really not so nice photos. Thankfully none of the students are in the Ship, but sadly a couple are in Scouting. It seems that some female students took some pictures of various body parts. They used their cell phone cameras to take them and then send them to boys that they knew. Soon the pictures were all over the place. Teachers found them on cell phones, laptop computers. Some had been downloaded and printed. I never seen the photos, but OJ said they were like you would see in Playboy!! I have to admit to being shocked that girls would do such a silly thing. Some of the boys got a ten day suspension and it seems that they will not be able to be on the track team this year. At the dance the Ship held a couple of weeks back, I noticed that the young people there seemed to spend half the night taking pictures of each other using cell phones and digital cameras. As far as I know these were just snapshots and were taken fully dressed -But I wasn't in the Ladies room!! When I was their age I had to buy film and then pay to look at the pictures I'd taken. Of course now the picture is there in an instant and can be on it's way around the world seconds later. I know within an hour of Rory arriving I'd e-mailed his picture to six different countries!! On the news this week there have been stories about some of the web sites that youths are using and how perverts are lurking trying to pick up youngsters. One tip they had for parents was not to allow web-cams in your teenagers room. I'm sure the parents of the girls who took the photos that did the rounds of our local HS were shocked and upset, but when you think how much worse it could be or could get (One of the boys could have posted the picture along with the name on the Internet!!) It really is shocking. We really do need to talk to our kids, Scouts, youth members and make them aware of the danger. We also need to be sure that we set a good example when we set up unit web sites. Eamonn.

Normally the adults prepared and cooked their meals on their own. But if the Scouts had been away for the day, we did cook meals for the entire Troop as a way of saving money the alternative would be eating out. At most Troop camp outs the adults did prepare the night time snack and a hot drink for everyone. If a Patrol was camping as just a Patrol, I would look in around supper time and would eat with them. My sneaky way of making sure that they were cooking -Yes I had checked menus and shopping lists before they went, but there were times when they got too busy or maybe a little to lazy to cook a real meal. Yes I have heard of Corn Flakes for supper!! Eamonn.