Eamonn

I just spent the night in front of the telly!! PBS had The Royal Year followed by Monty Python. I didn't see anyone passing the plate collecting a few quid for terrorist organizations. Not wanting to change the thread but... I wonder what some American Judges would think about the jailing of Abu Hamza al-Masri,the radical Islamist cleric jailed for seven years for soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred? Sentencing Abu Hamza, the judge, Mr Justice Hughes, said he had "helped to create an atmosphere in which to kill has become regarded by some as not only a legitimate course but a moral and religious duty in pursuit of perceived justice". Would this go against the first amendment? Back to the ports. I say we make Wal-Mart take over the management, maybe then they will see how much they really are importing. (Joke) But being more serious from what I have heard on CNN it seems that the entire process of how these contracts are awarded needs to be looked at very closely. Of course the U.S.Coast Guard might end up with a full time graffiti patrol. Some of our ports have terminals which are operated by Danish companies. Who knows one bored Danish artist could draw some offensive graffiti which might cause offense to a visiting UAE worker and we end up with docks full of overripe bananas. Eamonn.

I'm not 100% sure of the right answer. I would think that as long as you keep the dues paid you can belong to either your old Lodge or the Lodge in the council where you now live. But in my opinion now that you are an adult you might want to think about the adult role in a Lodge: "Selection of the adult is based on the ability to perform the necessary functions to help the Order fulfill its purposes, and not for recognition of service, including current or prior achievement and position. The individual will be an asset to the Order because of demonstrated abilities that fulfill the purpose of the Order. The adult leader's membership will provide a positive role model for the growth and development of the youth members of the lodge" If you now do your Scouting in the Council that you are in? Are you really going to fulfill these purposes in the old Council? Sure it might be nice to wear that old flap, but I would hope that we are more than flap wearers? Eamonn.

rfwlcdr I didn't take my smart pill and the Holiday Inn Express was full. What is the VLSC? Eamonn.

I have never heard that the swim was or wasn't an approved activity! My take on it is that as long as the Safe Swim and the rules are followed I don't see it being an different than any other swim. Where things might get a little blurred is how it is sold to the swimmers. I've seen Scouts who love to get up do the "Run for your life" and then enjoy a quick dip. But it seems once they reach about 16 years old, they don't like to go to bed and once they do they don't want to get up!! Sadly some leaders resort to a form of hazing to get the Scouts to participate. I don't enjoy early morning dips and I'm happy to make it optional. But maybe if the PLC had said it was something that the Troop was going to do, I would have to have a rethink. As for the Staff, I hope that they remember that they are there to serve the needs of the campers, so their opinion doesn't count. (And yes I have served on a camp staff.) Eamonn.

I do miss Pow Wow. It was the biggest training event of the year. Of course being the fellow that took it off the calender when I was Council Training Chairman, I suppose I ought not say too much. I have a lot of respect for Cub Scouter's who don't move on up. We had a great little fellow who was a CM for going on 30 years.He also served on the District Committee. He got involved when his son was a webelos Scout and never left. He was in his 70's. He was (Sadly he passed away a year ago last October)It didn't matter what I asked him to do, I knew that I could count on him doing it and doing a good job. He missed a District Committee meeting and phoned to apologize, he said he was having trouble with his mother!! His Mom was in her 90's and at that time was suffering from Alzheimer's. Him and his wife didn't want to see the old Lady placed in a home, so they took care of her. I still miss him and can't help thinking that he was a wonderful example of living the Scout Law and Oath. Eamonn.

The Council Volunteer Recognition Dinner is coming up soon. I really enjoy it every year.Being a very small Council just about everyone knows everyone and goes out of their way to be extra nice. As ever we will hand out a bunch of awards. I'm getting a 40 year pin. Which is driving home the fact that I'm really getting very old. But when I look out at the gathering (I'm MC)I know that compared to a lot of the guys wearing strange colored uniforms I'm just a young whippersnapper. This year will be the first year in a very long time that I will be going as a Unit Leader. We didn't make Quality District last year, in fact only one District managed to achieve Quality. The Council didn't make Quality Council. I have to own up to not missing the "District Stuff". Tracking membership, chasing Committee Members, trying to find money, planning FOS kick offs. It really is kinda nice not to be doing that stuff. I'm having a great time with the Ship, I'm really enjoying spending time with the kids. I'm learning a lot of new skills. But most of all I'm seeing the results. The Scouts are having a good time, they are learning new skills and they are looking forward to the next adventure and having more fun and learning even more stuff. I can honestly put my hand on my heart and say that I'm happy doing what I'm doing. When I look out at the 200 or 300 Volunteers at the Dinner, most of them will be Unit Leaders. Sure some will have the odd moan and groan about the Council, the Region and National. But I think deep down they are a little bit like I've become; way too busy serving the units to let this stuff get in the way. There are times when I see things that really get my goat and it's very easy to dwell on that. However a lot of the really important and good stuff is going on un-noticed by a lot of people. It is going on week in and week out at Den meetings,Crew meetings and Troop meetings. The people who do notice it a lot are the kids that are there. Some of the really old timers at the dinner will have seen as many as nine or ten Scout Executives come and go. But they are still there. Of course for some this is about as active as they get, but some are still doing what they can to serve the units to which they belong. My Father-In-Law passed away about 17 years ago. He had been a Cub Scouter and Scoutmaster here in the town where I live. About ten years ago I was tending bar in one of my restaurants when a youngish fellow asked if my Mother-In-Law was around. She was, and I called her down to meet with him. He said that he had stopped just to say thank you. It seems his small infant son had fallen in their swimming pool and he had fished him out and given mouth to mouth and saved the Lad. He said that he had learned that while he was a Scout in the Troop that my Father-In-Law was the SM of.He just wanted to say thanks. So while at times things do upset me, I still think that at the end of the day Scouts and Scouting is as good as it is because of the good people who volunteer and do so much for other peoples kids. At the dinner we will award five Silver Beavers, I'm all for recognizing people and I'm very proud of my Silver Beaver, but I'm even more proud to be in a gathering of people who are just good people. Eamonn.

Sue As you have guessed I'm a transplant!! But I love living here. I love my small town. It isn't possible to drive with two hands on the wheel, you need one hand to wave back at the people who wave at you. Her Who Must Be Obeyed, comes from a long line of local undertakers. I think that it's really strange while local businesses are closing in part because of the big stores moving in and the population of my small town and the surrounding small towns seems to be shrinking the local funeral directors seem to do well and are always the first to get behind local and community groups. If you ever want to move back I know of a Scout Ship that could use another female leader and maybe I could see about getting you the professional discount at one of the funeral homes. Eamonn.

I think OGE said what I wanted to say only better. When I had given this a little thought I arrived at what OGE stated so well when he said: " The youth itself is supposed to be "asexual", they arent straight, they arent gay, they are youth" FScouter, Scouting and Sea Scouting ideals are required in Sea Scouting, so we will be covering all this material. I'm really looking forward to meeting his parents. Eamonn.

I was hoping that this would just all fade away and I could go for a long winters nap. We had our Safe Boating course today. I don't know where these kids get their energy. It was way late last night when we got done with the clean up. But they ended up at a Ship members house playing DDR ??(OJ has it -It's Dance, Dance Revolution for Play Station. When he hooks it up to the big TV and tries to play it sounds like a herd of elephants running through the house.)I heard that they played till 5:00 AM!! (OJ wasn't with them he has the flu) Anyway, we were to start at 9:00 Sharp!! So I'd asked them to be at the Elks by 8:30. The first to arrive was a Scout and his Mom. I know Mom really well, in fact she was one of the chaperone's at the dance. We chatted about the dance and how well it had gone. She said that she'd heard that this Lad was thinking of joining. I said that I'd heard. She is a Troop Committee member and was a participant in NE-IV-153 (A great course director!!) I was happy to leave it just there. But... She went on to ask "What are you going to do?" I hummed and harred a little. I really hadn't decided what to do and I was still hoping that this would all just go away. I was just about to tell her that I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but before I could she said " You know he's gay - He went to school on Valentines day all dressed in pink!!" I couldn't help myself I laughed. She must have seen the funny side of it as she laughed too. I don't know what happened but then and there I said if he wants to join I'm going to let him!! I went on to explain that I don't know what the proof of being gay or homosexual really is? Acting that way doesn't mean that you are that way. I'm not sure what you have to do or not do to be a homosexual? But I think you have to have sex.I'm never going to ask any of the boys or girls in the Ship if they are having sex!! Not only is this not in my job description. But I'm from a Irish catholic family where we didn't talk about sex until I was about 27!! I would be far to embarrassed. About a year or so back OJ was trying to make a point, the school didn't have a boy's volley ball team, so he played on the girls team. At the time I thought it was great. There he was taking a stand, getting to play a game that he likes and getting to be with all the good looking female volley ball players into the bargain. Maybe this Lad has his own agenda, he gets to be with the cheer leaders? Maybe he can recruit a few? Sure enough at 8:45 this Lad arrived and asked for information about joining. He said he couldn't stay. A couple of the other Ship members seen me do my dive into my briefcase to fish out the application form and information sheet. I didn't say anything, but they asked is "Kenny joining?" I informed them that I'd given him the paper work. They smiled and said "That's great". I think he will join. I don't know if he will stay, that will be up to him. If at some later date he wants to become an avowed homosexual, I'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now I can't see any reason why he can't make the Sea Scout Promise: As a Sea Scout I promise to do my best: To guard against water accidents; To know the location and proper use of the lifesaving devices on every boat I board; To be prepared to render aid to those in need; To seek to preserve the motto of the sea, Women and children first. Or the The Venturing Oath: I promise to do my duty to God, and Help strengthen America; To help others, and To seek truth, fairness, and adventure in our world. I bet that he is a great DDR Player!! I don't think I have crossed the BSA guide lines. I can't help thinking that my role is to serve the youth not to judge them. Eamonn. (This message has been edited by Eamonn)

If I was the Cubmaster or whoever was in charge of the ceremony I'm sure that mu Irish temper might well get the best of me. But when I calmed down I might ask myself the following questions: Did I do a good job of communicating? Did I really follow up and make sure everything was in order? What went wrong? I don't know how it is in other Lodges but I have seen things fall apart very quickly. We have a youth in the Ship who is a member of the OA Dance Team, he was telling me that they (the team) were to dance at some sort of Community Festival, at the OA weekend everyone said this was a great idea and said they would be there, but on the day he was the only one to show. He wasn't a happy dancer!! Some wise man in this forum once talked about herding cats?? At times trying to get a group of Lads all from different units to turn up for anything is really hard. This of course doesn't make things right, but maybe if I thought about it along these lines, maybe, just maybe I wouldn't be as upset? Eamonn.

OK. Here goes. We had a really outstanding night!! Our first ever Sea Scout Youth Dance. You had to be there. It rocked. Our small town of less than 5,000 were behind the Ship 100%. We had the local VFW donate the hall, the local DJ donated her fee back to the ship. The local newspapers gave us lots of ink. Maybe I would have liked to see a few more people there, but we will work on that. Everything apart from asking for the hall was done by youth members. The DJ was both kid friendly and parent friendly. The music was what they liked. We had about 90 kids; who all seemed to have a good time. The VFW is thrilled and can't wait to do it again and have donated $250.00 to the Ship. I'm starting to get into rap music - Well maybe I'm not going to hate it as much. As I say a wonderful night. How I'm going to get the Ship members calmed down for the Safe Boating course tomorrow is another thing! We have one super nice girl who aspires to be a dancer. She is really good. She invited a young Lad (16 years old). I watched him dance. He is outstanding. I didn't get a lot of time to talk with him. But he did talk to me. He is very well spoken, very polite and maybe a little effeminate. He is the only boy on our HS cheer leaders squad. Our girl dancer wants to ask him to join the Ship. I would love to see him join. She mentioned this to a few of the other Ship members and they just laughed. They all said that he can't join -He's gay. They all seem to like him and if and yes it's a big if in my mind - If he is gay they don't care. I'm a little unsure if at 16 a boy can know if he is or isn't gay? I do know that where I'm at right now I would love to see him join. But I don't know and I'm not sure if I want to know about his sexual preferences? As far as I know he isn't an a "Avowed" anything-But nor are any of the other Ship members. What would you do? Eamonn.

hereajo I really am very sad that your son was hurt or harmed in any way. No Lad joins the Boy Scouts to get hurt and while at times some of the adults don't get "It" right,I like to believe that we are involved because we know each and every member is special and we can help them along the right path. I can understand where you are coming from when you say: "I excused myself from administering punishment .." However I can't agree with you. I can't help but feel you passed the buck. You are the COR. It is your job to act in the best interests of both the CO and the Scout unit. The following piece came from the staff of the Truman Presidential Library. It tells the origin of the phrase: "The Buck Stops Here". I thought you would like it. The sign "The Buck Stops Here" that was on President Truman's desk in his White House office was made in the Federal Reformatory at El Reno, Oklahoma. Fred M. Canfil, then United States Marshal for the Western District of Missouri and a friend of Mr. Truman, saw a similar sign while visiting the Reformatory and asked the Warden if a sign like it could be made for President Truman. The sign was made and mailed to President on October 2, 1945. Approximately 2-1/2" x 13" in size and mounted on walnut base, the painted glass sign has the words "I'm From Missouri" on the reverse side. It appeared at different times on his desk until late in his administration. The saying "the buck stops here" derives from the slang expression "pass the buck" which means passing the responsibility on to someone else. The latter expression is said to have originated with the game of poker, in which a marker or counter, frequently in frontier days a knife with a buckhorn handle, was used to indicate the person whose turn it was to deal. If the player did not wish to deal he could pass the responsibility by passing the "buck," as the counter came to be called, to the next player.(1) On more than one occasion President Truman referred to the desk sign in public statements. For example, in an address at the National War College on December 19, 1952, Mr. Truman said, "You know, it's easy for the Monday morning quarterback to say what the coach should have done, after the game is over. But when the decision is up before you -- and on my desk I have a motto which says 'The Buck Stops Here' -- the decision has to be made." In his farewell address to the American people given in January 1953, President Truman referred to this concept very specifically in asserting that, "The President -- whoever he is -- has to decide. He can't pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That's his job. The sign has been displayed at the Library since 1957. As I have said I don't agree with your decision. But I do think once you did you were and are duty bound to go with the decision that was made. It seems to me that you are trying to be a Monday morning quarterback!! While your goal of "fostering a "safe haven" environment that has zero tolerance for bad behavior" sounds great, I'm sorry to say that I don't have as much faith as you do. I can't help thinking about Luke 2:42-51. While we now know why he was in the temple, I can't help wondering what Mary and Joseph were thinking while they spend 3 days looking for Jesus? Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I were anxiously looking for you. I can't help thinking that this doesn't fall in line with zero tolerance for bad behavior". Eamonn.

BrentAllen You are of course right on the money. However it seems that a Hunting Merit Badge is now being field tested. Let's hope a long way from where Mr Cheney is doing his hunting. Back in 2003 he was at the Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier, shooting pheasants and ducks. I know the Chef fairly well and he makes a very good game consume, he tops it with a very light puff pasrty crust. Who knows if the VP didn't take all the birds home with him, he may well have shot the bird that ended up in my soup? Eamonn.

Our local PBS TV station aired the Irish Tenors live in Belfast tonight. I had thought that I'd seen it before, but I must be a little confused. I had seen them when I was in Dublin a few years back. I like Irish music and do get a little emotional when they sing Danny Boy, it makes me think of both my parents who are buried in Ireland. Ronan Tynan was with them for the concert. I think he is a wonderful chap. He is a MD and a wonderful horseman even though he was born with a lower limb disability. He is also a great motivational speaker. The tenors without Ronan will be at Heinz Hall on March 5th (I already had my tickets) and He will be at the Palace Theater on May 12th. As I say I hadn't seen the Belfast concert. I would like to share the words of one song that he sang which dedicated to all the parents who in his words had been blessed with a mentally or physically challenged child. Scorn Not His Simplicity (Lyrics Phil Coulter) Sung by Ronan Tynan See the child With the golden hair Yet eyes that show the emptiness inside. Do we know... Can we understand just how he feels, Or have we really tried ? See him now As he stands alone And watches children play a children's game. Simple child, He looks almost like the others, Yet they know he's not the same. Scorn not his simplicity, But rather try to love him all the more. Scorn not his simplicity, Oh no. See him stare... Not recognizing the kind face That only yesterday he loved. The loving face of a mother who can't understand what she's been guilty of. Scorn not his simplicity, But rather try to love him all the more. Scorn not his simplicity, Oh no Oh no. Only he knows how to face the future hopefully, Surrounded by despair. He won't ask for your pity or your sympathy; But surely you should care. Scorn not his simplicity, But rather try to love him all the more Scorn not his simplicity, Oh no Oh no Oh no Eamonn.

Ed you posted: "No need to have training on it. The discipline should fit the crime & a bully should be suspended or expelled from the Troop. What we don't need is more wishy-washy BSA regs that don't really deal with the problem! What we need is adult leaders to be adult leaders & not tolerate this type of behavior" I think this posting only goes to show the need for training!! Please read http://www.scouting.org/nav/enter.jsp?s=xx&c=ds&terms=Youth+Protection+Training&x=13&y=13 It states: The unit committee should review repetitive or serious incidents of misbehavior in consultation with the parents of the child to determine a course of corrective action including possible revocation of the youth's membership in the unit. As for the SE the guide states: The unit should inform the Scout executive about all incidents that result in a physical injury or involve allegations of sexual misconduct by a youth member with another youth member. It doesn't say that he will or has to take any action. I read this as the ball being with The unit committee. Eamonn.

I'm not a great lover of insurance companies. At one time insurance was a very big expense for me. I not unhappy with my insurance agents or the companies that I have coverage with. In fact I like both of the Agents I use. They are really nice fellows. I really liked that before our agent would add OJ to our policy, that he insisted that he meet with him and explained what was what. I think him being an ex-state trooper was a big help. I never took the time to find out if the millions of dollars that the CEO of Progressive Insurance donated to the ACLU was from his own pocket or from company funds. I never paid much never mind as I don't deal with them anyway. Years ago when I first landed in this fair land a lot of people told me that I sounded like the Beatles. I didn't see it as they had very strong Liverpool accents and I have a very nice London accent, maybe not Cockney but close.Then came Austin Powers, some of the younger people said I sounded like him. Now it seems that the Geico gekko is a Londoner.I'm a little unsure about making the gekko a Cockney. Its an American commercial. But he is kind of cute. I have to smile when he talks about "Pie and Chips." Maybe Geico don't know that most meals of pie and chips are eaten in the pub!! Still I'm happy that their spokesreptile is a Brit and who knows maybe the Robot will soon be danced in Windsor Castle. I can just see Prince Charles and Prince Philip doing it. I'm not going to change from Erie Insurance, but I do turn up the volume when the Geico gekko comes on. Eamonn.

If a Lad or a group of Lad's think that they will get more out of one Troop than another, it's their choice. I'd welcome them them in, or if I was the leader of the Troop that they were leaving I'd want to try and make some improvements. Eamonn.

But would you be willing to take the responsibility of taking a Boy Scout hunting party? Eamonn.

Well Done. While the course has undergone many changes and each country has a different syllabus. It is really neat that the course has been around since 1919. If you ever get the chance to attend the Gilwell reunion at Gilwell Park, don't think about it just go. There is some good information about Wood Badge on: http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs145001.pdf Eamonn.

I managed to buy a lot of these on E-bay and gave each member of the Wood Badge staff a copy of this along with the One Minute Manager. I seen it as a book on leadership more than any sort of religious text. Eamonn.

Long Haul, While not trying to a real pain could you (I'm not sure where to look) tell me where you are finding this in the Youth Protection Training's. Again for a few moments let's put the case in question aside. We as leaders are very often put in the situation where we have to decide what to do next. We see a PL arrive at camp and is trying to get set up, but the other Patrol members have a different agenda, they want to go and play or whatever. The PL becomes very frustrated, he gets mad and very angry. Soon the frustration and anger gets the best of him. All the good stuff we have given him goes out the window. He starts swearing and threatening. Before long the Patrol members take him up on his threat and there is a fight. This is a true story. I was the SM. Needless to say I'm not happy. I break up the fight. I now am left with what to do next? I could grab my cell phone and ask the parents to come and collect the two fighters and have the committee deal with this once we get home. I could call the SE and see what he has to say? Or I could use this as a lesson. I opted for the lesson. Of course the PL didn't live up to what is expected.The way he choose to deal with things was wrong. But I have to ask myself what did I do to give the PL the tools that he needed? Did he just forget? Where was the SPL? Why did the Patrol members behave this way? Was there a lack of communication. Was there a plan as to what had to be done when the got to camp? Were they just being little toads? Using what I think are my skills of leadership, my knowledge along with a reflection we managed to get back on track. I wonder how a unhappy parent might describe this? " The Patrol Leader threatened and used profanity, he went on to beat up on a Scout" No I'm not for passing the buck, but if it is going to get passed we need to be sure it gets passed to the right people. Eamonn.

Having re-read the other thread a few things come to my mind. I don't know about other Councils, but where I serve OA events are not Troop events. If this is the case then technically the incident should be under the jurisdiction of the Lodge. As the SE is the Chief of the Fire,yes it should end up on his desk and in fact doesn't fall under the Troop Committee. But for a minute let's put that to one side. First and foremost as soon as the Bullying was noticed it should have been dealt with, then and there. I'm to lazy to look up the reference in the G2SS,but I believe (And I might be wrong) that the guide says that the bully or those doing the bullying should be sent home. What happens next is up to the Troop committee. What is really sad in this case is that it seems that this sort of thing has been allowed to happen over some time. If this is true the problem is with the leadership.This needs to be brought to the attention of the CC and the COR. Of course we don't live in a perfect world. We are trying to teach leadership. I wish that I could put my hand on my heart and say that not one of the Patrol Leaders I have worked with over the years isn't guilty of leading by threats, intimidation and at times bullying. I seen my role as SM as teaching these Lads that this isn't the way things are done, this isn't in keeping with the Scout Oath and Law and at the end of the day doesn't get the desired results. The Lad who is supposed to be the bully here is also accused of using bad language and profanity. We are all aware that this isn't acceptable. Dealing with it can be difficult. But it can be dealt with. Over the years I have noticed that it seems to be a stage that some Lads go through. For a while they seem to think that it's cool to talk this way.Left unchecked it can become like a virus (Having led a Troop in down town London I have seen it happen)In most cases I found that talking with the Lad or Lads and telling them that we don't do this works and following up with friendly supervision will in time get rid of it. The Lad is also supposed to have made a verbal threat. The posting doesn't say what? While to my way of thinking threats falls under the heading of bullying and hazing. Of course we don't condone them, but there are threats and there are threats. "Give me my ball back or I'll punch you on the nose" is a threat. But is it as bad as "I don't like you so I'm going to kick your butt and burn your house down"? Both are violations of the Scout Law. Then there is the gun. I don't know much about these things. Years ago I did cover the B.B. range at Cub Scout Day Camps and one thing that we couldn't stress enough was that you never point a gun at anyone. So if I were the SE and this came to me. I have a lot of accusations about a kid that more than lightly I don't know from Adam. I have a Troop Leadership core that isn't following the G2SS. I have some very upset and unhappy parents. I don't know what if anything led up to this incident? I think as SE I would turn it over to the Troop Committee, I would more than lightly want to attend the meeting. What is paining me most about this thread is that we the forum members are being asked to look at something which isn't that clear and worse still so many Scout leaders are saying what they would do. The truth is that it isn't their call. I don't know if expelling the Lad is the right thing to do? It might be. But I do know once we kick him out we have lost every opportunity of bringing him around. It saddens me to think that we as trained leaders who can work with Lads who have an alphabet of problems can't bring ourselves to work with this Lad. Still if the SE (Being that this might have been a Council event) Or the Troop committee say that he has to go I would abide by their decision, but if they say he stays I would abide by that also. The older Scouts we serve (14 +) have a really overwhelming sense of justice, they more than lightly know more of what went on than we or the adults do. If all we go by is the facts that we have been given and we get it wrong we are really in fact telling them that there is no justice. Yes as the post says there has to be justice but I would hope we get the fact right, follow the correct procedure and temper our justice with mercy. Eamonn.

Of course I'm hoping that She opted for the Ship!! I'm really good with dogs. I have my moments with Scouts. But teenage girls are new to me. If it is any way possible I would try not to get involved with the Ship or the Crew. Our female Mate is the mother of one of our female Sea Scouts. A super nice Lady, very down to earth, gets on very well with the male Sea Scouts, but tends to shall we say "Crowd" the females. I'm of course not saying that you would!!! At age 16 and on up we can try and give our kids two things: Roots and Wings. If you can remember that things will go great -Well maybe OK!! Eamonn.

Our District holds District Eagle Scout BOR. I know some Districts hold these with just one or two members of the District Advancement Committee present. I don't have any idea why we do it this way other than we always have. We do ask that one Committee Member from the Scouts Troop be present. He or She can at times iron out the things that seem a little off base. Things that the Troop may have done a little tweaking with! Last year our District Advancement Chairman wasn't able to make some of the BOR,so me being the helpful lovable chap that I am took his place. The first one I attended there were four Scouts, after that we never had more than two. I didn't know how long each one would take so I asked if they could all come at the same time. Before we started I spoke with all the Scouts as a group and explained what was going to happen. I really did try to put them at ease. But I also explained at this time what the procedure would be if they were denied and how they could appeal. I did my best to make sure that the Troop Committee member understood this as well. Sadly we did have to tell one Lad that he was denied. The facts were that he hadn't done a project it was all a big lie. After we have talked with the Scout and done the review we ask him to leave the room, the committee member stays the board than has a chat and after they decide we ask him to come back in and inform of what was decided. The board doesn't tell anyone other than the Scout and the Committee member. If the Scout wants to tell the other Scouts that's up to him. Eamonn.

One of the English Scout Laws was: . A Scout makes good use of his time and is careful of possessions and property. So a Scout should take care of his "Stuff" However it's not the end of the world if a card does go astray. Eamonn