Eamonn

I always found that I looked after things better if I was the one who paid for them. Having things marked so if they are found they have a chance of being returned is a help. Her Who Must Be Obeyed even writes my last name in my underwear!! Having your little fellow do his own packing after been shown how to is a big help. If he knows where it was to start with, he will know if it's not there and might look for it. There is also a chance that he might put things back where they go. (I'm 50 and am still working on that one!!) Long cords do work, but I'm not mad about wearing things around little Lads necks, the cord can get tangled and ruin a good tree climb. I know the Scout motto is Be Prepared, but only taking equipment that you are going to need and use means that there is less to get lost. My Father-In-Law God rest him was into engraving his name on anything that could be engraved. I found fingernail polish did a better job. But he spent many happy hours with his little engraving tool. While it might sound a little harsh, making junior pay for lost items with his own money is a good learning tool. The thing I always forget is my wash kit. I have to do a quick trip back to the washroom. When I get there I remember that I left the soap in the shower. I now use the small bars that you get in hotels. OJ really is into carabiner clips,some of these have a web strap.They can personalized (We gave them away one year as thank you gifts to our customers, with the company name on them.) Maybe selling them might be a good fund raising event? Eamonn.

EagleScout316 I think you have the "Official Answer" to your question. I really like what NeilLup posted. Some years back I worked as the Executive Chef in a up market restaurant. Most of the waiters were gay. They did a wonderful job and made a lot of money. After work when we had closed we all would sit around and have a few adult beverages.They all knew I wasn't "interested" and they respected that. Of course there were some waiters I liked more than others, but there were some waitresses I liked more than others. Many of the customers were people who were highly respected people in the community and while a few years later when I opened my own restaurant made mention of the fact that "All the waiters were gay" It never seemed to be a "Big" thing. I was at times playfully teased by the wait staff about spending time with little boys!! Which I found funny as at that time I was serving on a Council Committee and had next to no contact with any youth members. Our busiest day of the week was Sunday brunch. With what we called the "After Church crowd" Many of whom were regulars, many of these requested a particular waiter and knew that he was living an alternative lifestyle, but seemed happy to leave a good tip. When I first read the title of this thread, I thought it was going to be about how we manage our time!! Selfish as it may sound. One thing I have learned over the years is that I'm the most important thing in my life. I have to look after me before I can go about helping to look after others. When I'm not feeling good for any reason I know it has consequences on the people around me. I at one time risked every penny I had and for a while wasn't making hardly any money. I didn't like it and wasn't very happy. Sure we can look back now and say they were the good old days and smile about them, but they weren't any fun at the time. I thank God that Her That Must Be Obeyed stood by me and supported me. Looking back on them "Good old days" I can say that in many ways the Scout Oath and Law were a big help. But I know that if I had quit Scouting within a couple of years many people would remember me as the white haired guy who talked funny. Keeping family,work and church before Scouting is to my mind very important. How I live the oath and law is up to me. I know that if I were to quit active involvement in Scouting tomorrow, the values I have learned from being involved would stay with me till the day I die. I'm starting to understand how two people of the same sex can have deep feelings for each other. I don't think I'll ever understand gay or homosexual sex. I happen to agree with the BSA that a homosexual life style is not a good model for young people, just as I agree that God is a vital part of Scouting. If you don't think you should be working someplace, you are hurting yourself and you are not going to be happy. If your not happy;living the oath and law becomes a big challenge. But if not having the cash you need is going to hurt you are not going to be happy and here we go again. At the end of the day it's all about you. Your values. Your standards and your happiness. I spent years clogging peoples arteries with butter and heavy cream. Now I spend my time explaining low cholesterol diets. Life is strange. Eamonn.

No you don't have to have a boat to be a Sea Scout Ship. Some Sea Scout Ships are into other water activities(Canoeing, Scuba) Our Scouts decided that they wanted to be an all purpose ship. We now have a 16 foot Fireball which was just donated, so we will be sailing, we have a few canoes and I have to try and make arrangements for us to pick up a 27 foot power boat that another Ship is giving to us. I had thought that donations would be hard as we are in land locked Pennsylvania, but that hasn't been the case. We have made arrangements with the YMCA to get our Scouts certified in Scuba. I have been really amazed at how supportive and nice other Sea Scouter's have been. In fact they are just outstanding. However it isn't cheap. I have been working on a budget and it's mind boggling. Even with the donations. The power boat is in good shape but will need about $3,000. I spent $1,000 in the marine store the other day on stuff that didn't fill the back of my SUV. The guy running the Scuba course normally charges $350.00 But is doing it for $200.00 and the Scouts are paying $20.00 a session. Sea Base for 2007 looks like $1,200 per person. Of course once we get better at it and find out more I'm sure the costs will go down. So far the expense hasn't been a problem. sweetspiritpamh Sounds like my kinda night. We had a lot of fun Cosmic Bowling. Nearly all the kids there that night went to the same HS as the Scouts in the Ship. Soon after we had 3 new girls join the Ship. It was an all night bowl. I was tired but didn't hurt nearly as bad as I did after caving. Eamonn. The Boys that we have that were still in a Troop found it very difficult to be in both the Ship and the Troop. We lost one really super Lad, he went back to his troop full time. He says he will be back when he completes his Eagle. He is 17. I think if I were to try and be active in both programs, I just couldn't do it. (This message has been edited by Eamonn)

Her That Must Be Obeyed was once an understanding bride. However bride and bridle are only a bit apart. Eamonn.

I think I remember reading that Councils started registering with National in 1913. In our area Boy Scouting first appeared in the Westmoreland Fayette counties in 1911. In 1920 a First-Class Council was organized at Uniontown in Fayette County. Depending on how you look at being "First" things can take on new meanings. Some of our Wagion Lodge 6 members maintain that Wagion is the second oldest Lodge in the USA, but it gets complicated when you get into merged and un-merged. Back home in the UK a lot of Troops claim to be the First Boy Scout Troop,but trying to document this is hard. Then you have things like continuous operation and Troops that merged. The Troop I was in was an early Troop, but along the way we had two other failed units join us. Then about 20 years ago (After I moved over here) It merged again and became the 11/17 Fulham. Eamonn.

Are we looking for the first Council? Or the oldest un-merged Council? Eamonn.

A little time back a ASM in the Troop that my son is in thought it would be a good idea to start a Crew. He didn't have to do any recruiting he plucked 5 Lads from the Troop, one being his own son. They started off with much enthusiasm. They designed a Crew T-shirt. They started working on a set of by-laws!! So far other than meet in the room next to the local police holding cell they haven't done an activity Then Basketball season started and the Advisor's son was on the team. They started missing meetings. When the son got fed up warming the bench (He wasn't a very good player -A nice Lad, but nothing Magic.) He was given the job of videoing the games. This meant that he had to be at all the games. I flipped out when I found out that the Crew had gone to a meeting with no adult and found that they couldn't get into the meeting place and had met in a local bar!! I know the bar owner, he is a nice fellow and ex-Cub Scout. But the bar is a little rough. They didn't try to buy a drink and ordered pop and chicken wings. Five months passed by and they had done nothing but write by-laws, design a T-shirt and eat some wings. They made plans to go skiing, at the last minute the Advisor backed out. So I ended up taking them. Soon after it died. The real shame is that these are five really good kids. I feel that we have let them down. OJ, is now in Sea Scouts. The last time I seen the Advisor he informed me that he was "Taking a break"?? (From what?) His kid is into four-wheeling and has the dirtiest old Jeep you will ever meet. One Lad just received his Eagle. He will be joining the Ship soon. (His Mom said he will!!)One has gone off to college. I'm not sure about the others. I will have to try and find them. The Crew was a one year wonder. Maybe someone looked good the year it came in. But the next year it meant that two new units had to be found. Eamonn.

I'm not good at Resolutions. I don't keep them and then beat myself up for not keeping them. But let's see. 1/ I'll make sure I make more time for Her That Must Be Obeyed. 2/ No matter what happens I will not be talked into serving on the District Committee. 3/ I will do everything I can to try and attend Sea Badge Training and get Derak ready for SEAL. 4/ I'll try and remember KISMIF works at home, at work, at play as well as in Scouting. 5/ I'll go out of my way to be a better friend -But I still will not be talked into serving on the District Committee. 6/ I'll do my best to remember that I'm not as young as I used to be - No forget that one!! Eamonn.

Seasons Greetings Sport, I don't know very much about Scouting down under!! But I'm thinking it is more like the Pommie Scouts? I'm having a hard time keeping up with all the changes that Scouting in the UK has made in the last couple of years. From what I've read there seems to be a big swing from advancement toward participation. The age groups have changed a lot and several other things have also changed. Of course not being there and not working with the changes it wouldn't be fair of me to pass any comment. I know you all changed the uniform of your Scouts a little while back, but I don't know what changes you made to the program? I'm not that very clever or smart!! So when things don't seem to be going right I fall back to the basics. Grab hold of a copy of Scout Pioneering by John Sweet. It comes up on E-bay from time to time. I think Scouts Canada still sells it (The UK book is the same but a little bigger in size, same number of pages) Pioneering books by Rex Hazelwood & John Thurman are also very good. It might be time to take a look at cooking and try new things. Pigeons cooked in mud or pigs cooked in a hole. Have the PL's work on a real Orienteering course over a very large area and then have the rest of the troop have a contest. If the Troop is young you might want to do some tracking? If you are in town? Maybe a Left Right hike. Most kids love water so anything in water works, Water fights using Fairy Liquid bottles are a blast. Night Hikes can be a lot of fun and cell phones have made them a lot safer. I have yet to get into all the new GPS stuff but it looks like it can be used to have fun. Yes I know all this stuff is kinda old, but it can still provide a lot of fun and learning for our Scouts. Eamonn.

I don't know if our Council is the norm? But our Lodge Advisor is asked to resign from all other positions before taking on the Lodge. Eamonn.

I have been offered some Sea Scout Uniforms at the best possible price -Yes Free!! But I don't know how to convert mens sizes to female sizes!! None of our female Scouts seem to be big busted? So I'm thinking that a male med shirt is much the same as a female shirt only the buttons will be on the wrong side. But pants seem to be a problem. I need to know what size female sizes 12, 14, 16 are in male sizes. Only ever having a son I have never had to deal with this before. I'm told that the problem is in the hips. If anyone knows where I'd find this information I'd be a very happy little camper. Eamonn.

EagleInKY I really think that it because of DE'S like yours that we have so many Crews that only last a year. Of course he may be under pressure from his bosses to bring home new units. purcelce I had a nose around the web site! It seems like you have all got it together. I have been giving this subject a little thought and have come up with: A lot of youth this age have out-grown being cool!! In fact the coolest things they do are things that they want to do! Many are happy to let everyone know that they enjoy things that are viewed as not being cool. They really want to be doing stuff and having fun. They will do the boring stuff if they see that it is the means to an end. We need to spend some time training the officers and at times provide a nudge. When someone volunteers or is in charge of something follow up is essential. Some people this age have made procrastination into an art form. Our Sea Scouts set a membership goal for the end of the year, they have "Ownership" of this goal. That way they want to see the Ship grow and it isn't me harping on all the time. When they bring a pal to an activity we the adults have to make sure we go out of our way to make him or her feel very welcome. Just because kids go to the same school doesn't mean they know each other, very often the only person he knows is the pal who brought him. The sooner he feels part of what is going on the better. Long term plans provide the carrot. Kids don't use e-mail. Adult made plans without their input fail. Structure isn't a bad thing. Parents still want to know what's going on and will help if asked. A wide age group is a good thing. Doing things is the big thing. The more stuff they do as a group the more fun they will have. Listening is vital. Not doing things will kill the group quicker than anything else. Membership is on-going and never ending. If you stop one day you will wake up and they will all be off to college. Cutting ties with the Troop isn't a bad thing. Just helping at Camporees is not what the program is about. Eamonn.

Venturing seems to be the program that is the one that is the most misunderstood. When Councils and Districts could make Quality by showing 2% growth, some units that ought to have been in the LFL program were placed in Venturing. Even now DE's who need to end the year +1 in units will look at a Troop with older Scouts and see if there is any way that a new Crew can be made to spring up. Still despite these misunderstandings and abuse, there are Crews that are doing a good job and are helping to work toward the vision and mission statements of the BSA. While it seems to me that many work in the High Adventure Area, I'm sure that there are others that work in other areas. I'm really interested to hear how these successful Crews go about recruiting Crew Members. So far the best thing that has happened in Sea Scout Ship 777 is girls. They seem a lot happier to invite their girl friends along than the boys do. Without any effort we now have 4 female members. Do First-nighters really work? I send out 48 letters to High School Students that had in the survey that our Council sends to the HS, said that they had an interest in nautical activities. So far the response has been a big fat zero!! While I'm sure that some of the Crews that are off-shoots of Troops do make it. Sadly in our area the Crews either only last a year or the youth are all Boy Scouts and don't really do anything as a Crew. I have read nearly all if not all the ideas that National has put out. I want to know which ideas work and which don't. I'd really love to hear ideas that you have tried and do work no matter how far "Out of the box" they are. Eamonn.

Sue, What would you do if you had been in the Eagle Patrol and your friend had sent you an Eagle Scout Medal? Eamonn.

baden, My feelings about the Silver Beaver, have nothing to do with me being an old timer!! In fact I don't see myself as an old timer! - While I no longer see myself as a spring chicken. At 50 years old I also don't see myself as having one foot in the grave. Our Council awards four Silver Beavers a year. It's only in the past few years that we went from 3 to 4. When I received the Silver Beaver five years back I was deeply honored and very proud. I have never heard it refereed to as the "Metallic Rodent". I do wear the tie pin to functions that are Scouting related and where uniforms would not the correct dress code. Maybe I am showing my age, but I really think that any part of the highest award that a Council can bestow on a volunteer does not belong on a campfire blanket!! Many Silver Beaver recipients that have passed away have been laid out wearing the award. It is a very special award. Eamonn.

My feelings about the Silver Beaver Pin: Just as you wouldn't wear an Eagle Scout medal that you didn't earn and wouldn't wear the same goes for the Silver Beaver pin. Campaign Hats and the Red Wool Jacket are parts of the Official Scout uniform and what can be worn on them is covered in the Insignia Guide. Eamonn.

Sandy Alderson ? Eamonn

scoutldr I have mixed feelings about what you see as an obligation. I know that my kid isn't by any means an Angel. But he has earned my trust. We hear the words of the Scout Law and I think that if we believe that a Scout is Trustworthy we have to put our money where our mouth is. I have looked over his shoulder when he has been on line and on the myspace site. Not to spy on him, but because it was there. I admit to being a little surprised at the provocative poses of some of the girls. Nothing over the line but very close to the line. I was too lazy to keep a diary when I was a Lad, but I kinda think the Myspace site is a little bit like a diary. Still I happy that your intervention may have prevented something bad from happening. This may well be the Information age, but they still don't send kids home from where they were born with a parenting manual. Eamonn.

I have to admit this is the first time I have been wished a happy solstice. Thank You. I like to think that I'm doing my best to be a practicing Roman Catholic. I smile when I see practicing, it somehow reminds me of a Recovering Alcoholic. Her Who Must Be Obeyed is not Catholic, before we were married in St Thomas of Canterbury Roman Catholic Church in London, the Priest asked her if she was going to convert? She said No! When he asked her why? She said that she didn't think that his Catholic God was any different than her Protestant God. He replied that he couldn't argue with logic like that. I was raised in an Irish Catholic home, the church was a big part of my childhood and having attended Catholic Schools was a big part of my education. When I first became an Alter Boy the Mass was still in Latin. I was brought up to believe that I was very fortunate to be a Catholic as we were right and everyone else was wrong!! At Easter services we even prayed that one day the Jews would see the light!! I have to admit that I still feel fortunate to be a Catholic and part of me still feels that I have made the right choice. If that seems wrong or upsets anyone I'm sorry. I think that feeling has been embedded in me. I don't claim to know very much about other Religions. I do now accept that everyone isn't Catholic!! I didn't really understand that until I was about 12 as everyone I knew was Catholic. It may sound a little two faced but I can understand and accept somethings, but I know that they are not for me. I can understand and accept that people get divorced, I don't think any less of them or thing that they are bad or have failed, but it's not for me. I made a promise and I'm going to keep it. I'm very slowly becoming more understanding about the gay thing. I don't understand the sex, but can accept that two people of the same sex can have deep and meaningful feeling for each other. Back when I was about 11 just before I was Confirmed, I remember that we spent a lot of time learning our Catechism. Sadly, I remember Sister Mary Anne tapping a beat while we chanted the words, not really understanding what they were all about and now when I read it there are parts that I question. Still I'm happy and feel secure in my Christian beliefs. I'm not saying that I'm right and anyone else is wrong - Just that I'm sure what I'm doing is right for me. I'm not going to argue about it. I have a really hard time believing that so many people have been hurt and killed in the name of Religion. I'm certain that my God never wanted that. I hope that all this debate about Holiday and Christmas doesn't go to far and ruin it for children. When this time of year only becomes a toss up between an X-Box and a Play Station we will have lost something that was good. When OJ was younger one of my jobs each night was to go in and hear him say his prayers. I'm not sure what happened but somehow we got out of the habit. He is going to be 18 next year. He is very much his own man. He has and is questioning lots of things and there are things that we don't agree with each other. I don't take him to Mass anymore, he still goes a lot of times with me. The other week we were driving home from Mass and he said how much he had enjoyed our nightly ritual of him saying his prayers and me at times teaching him the words, kissing him and tucking him in. He said that it made him feel good. A lot of what I feel about this time of year is about feeling good. Call it what you like. But it is nice that even if it's just for a little while the world seems a little kinder and we seem to go out of our way to be a little nicer. I'm going to make time over the next few days to sit down and watch George Bailey's "It's a Wonderful Life." While where I live isn't exactly Bedford Falls, it is a lot closer to Bedford Falls than London was!! I don't spend a lot of time thinking what life would be like if I hadn't been born? I don't spend very much time thinking what my legacy will be?I do believe that "no man is a failure has friends" Thanks to Scouts and Scouting I have a lot of friends, some who I got to know in this Forum, some who I have never met. While I never wish any of them ill or bad, this time of the year it is traditional to wish them well.I don't care what words you use to wish me well! -I'm going to take it and run with it. I have never turned down a drink or a dance in my life, so I gladly accept a good wish or a blessing from anyone who is dishing them out. So please accept my wish that you all have Blessed and Happy Christmas. Looking ahead a little I hope we all have a year of peace and joy in the year ahead and for many years after. Sadly I just found out tonight that friend of mine who moved out of the area and I haven't seen for a few years has discovered that he has lung cancer, things don't look good. All I can do is keep him in my prayers. Jeff is a super nice guy, he was a Boy Scout and has been through a lot fighting addictions to drugs and alcohol.He met his wife at a meeting and together they made a new start. If when you are talking to your higher power you could put in a word for him I would be very grateful. Eamonn.

Hopper, Pre-paid phones are real big in the UK. Virgin phones are almost the norm. OJ is hard on phones! I don't think he was bouncing off the cope course. But he had one on his Santa Wish List. So this will be number 3 or 4. Him and his buddies are into the MYSPACE.COM I use my phone a fair amount. Rory and I spend about an hour or so a day walking and I'm not so dumb that I can't walk and talk at the same time. Eamonn.

I bought a solar powered battery recharger to the Jamboree with me. Lord knows there was no shortage of sun -But I wasn't impressed with the recharger. OJ was on youth staff, so he was able to keep me well charged. I have been getting a charge out of since the day he was born. You might say I went from one Sun to another Son. Eamonn.

I don't shop at K-Mart. The last time I was there they had a lot of people and only two cash resisters open. Since then they have rebuild the store. It's now a Super K-Mart. But I don't know if it's any better or not because I haven't been back. Sadly as volunteers we don't always get it right. I remember one guy I asked to do a presentation, a guy who I knew that knew his stuff and had attended the pre-training meeting. Got up wearing his full Scout uniform including a campaign hat and then spent 20 minutes talking about his darn hat. Needless to say I never asked him again. Even more sad is that many of the people who were at that training are going to think about training the same way as I do about K-Mart. I agree that we should put on the best Training's that we possible can. But I also think that units have to allow the people who have attended the training's to put the stuff that they have been shown to use. We can drill the methods of Scouting into a participant, he or she can see that it's all good stuff but if when they get back to the home unit they hear the "We don't do it that way" line they think it has all been a waste of time. When I was Council Training Chairman, I tried really hard to get the presenters to present the stuff that is in the syllabus. It seems that most of the mis-information comes from covering things that are not in the course material. This is a difficult situation. Trainers want the participants to come away happy and feeling that their questions have been answered, but very often the presenter allows what he or she does to become the answer, even if it's not right. Our Council doesn't have any Varsity Scouts. I know next to nothing about the Varsity program. When I was the Course Director for a Wood Badge course we got some questions about the Varsity Program. I had National send me enough handouts for every participant that covered the program. In the participant evaluation a number of people noted that we didn't give them enough information about Varsity programs!! Sure I could have bluffed and of course I'm still a little befuddled about why they need to know as we don't have any in any of the councils near us. When I attend the big expensive courses that my company pays to send me to. They don't try and change their presentation to make it more "Local". So while the Parking Lot does help to ensure that we cover the things that people want to know, there has to be times when the right answer is "I don't know" Of course a good Trainer will try to find out, but there are times when even this does work!! While I hold training to be very important it is worth remembering that if you send an idiot to training what comes back is a trained idiot. Eamonn.

How to make training more effective? You lead by example. Eamonn.

I spent a lazy night last night watching the telly. The West Wing is about the only show on TV that I really watch. If I know I'm not going to be home I get OJ to record it for me. I keep saying that I will read the book that explains how the new DVD recorder works, but I don't use it enough to worry about it. Strange how things that we don't care about can change and we can not worry about them. Independent Lens was on PBS. It showed how a group of Benediction Nuns were coping with change. I don't know very many Nuns, I see a few at church and know their names and say Hi. I think if I was to tell the truth I'm a little scared of them. The Nuns I had at Holy Cross School back home were tough cookies. I watched the show and I was really surprised how these woman were not only aware that things were changing but how many of them seen the changes as something that was good. Some of the ideas that they expressed were a long way from what I thought a Nun might have. The show ended with shots of a burial of an elderly nun and the ordination of a new nun. A Lady who looked as if she was in her late 40's or early 50's. Earlier in the show she had said in an interview that she had two grown up kids and her husband wasn't around. My point is that if the Benediction Nuns can embrace change, I'm almost certain that we can. Now I have to find that instruction book. OJ informs me it's easier to set than the VCR was!! Eamonn.

I don't know anyone who really needs them. But I really think that this was a very nice and kind thing to do. My hat is off to you sir. Eamonn.