Eamonn

Fuzzy Bear, I at times think of the preacher who every Sunday gets up and gives a wonderful sermon, the congregation sit in the pews hanging on his every word, but as soon as they leave the church resort to their old sinful ways. Many of the leaders we see at training are the new leaders, while we might convince them that the trusted and true ways work, they never get the chance to implement them when they get back to their home units. I seen this happen with OJ, He came back from JLTC, full of the Patrol method. His Scoutmaster has some strange ideas about how this should work. His patrol method is not by the book and goes about half way?? Yes I know that sounds strange - But it is Strange!! For a few months OJ tried his best to change things and did make some headway.But then his term of office as SPL was over and he just gave up. This troop has lots of ASM's most have attended specific training, but under the present Scoutmaster they will never get the chance to put into practice what they may have picked up at training. The Scoutmaster has been around for a very long time, all three of his sons are Eagle Scouts and are now married, so I'm guessing that he has 15 -20 years in. He is Wood Badge trained and has led a Council Jamboree Troop twice. The troop is one of the largest in the District and the parents think very highly of him. We also have a almost new troop, only four or five years old, the guys who started this had no idea what they were getting themselves into, so they went to training and took everything back. I have overheard people say that they are doing things by the book because they were too dumb to do it any other way!! I have no idea why people like OJ's Scoutmaster opt to do things their own way? Maybe they tried doing it by the book and it didn't work for them? I just don't know. Just like the preacher, trainers will keep on spreading the good news, maybe some of it will fall in the ears of the people who are too dumb to do it any other way. Eamonn.

Backpacker, I will gladly admit that there have been times when I have been wrong. I like to think that when this has been pointed out to me that I have stood up and admitted it. Any way, thank you for your kind wishes,I do intend to have a very merry Christmas and I wish you and yours the same. Eamonn.

Do people really retire? I am not keen on plaques. Her That Must Be Obeyed isn't keen on stuff on the walls and as yet I have not got Eamonn's Scout Room. I like the idea of some sort of fund that will help pay for something that was near and dear to the recipients heart. Maybe a campership fund or money to help pay for leader training. The hard thing is keeping a fund like this going. There is always the Council Endowment Fund, we have a plaque in the Council Service Center, which has little brass plates that name all those who are James E. West members. We have as a District recognized outstanding people.For Scoutmasters I got a list of old Scouts and I sent out a letter saying that we were honoring the individual with a James E. West and asking for a donation. Along with the checks people sent really nice letters. We mounted the letters in a very fancy "Scrapbook". We also held a dinner, where we read the letters,presented the award along with the book, we then just invited people to share their memories about the individual. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. We have also made the dinner the way of paying for the award, using the profits from the sale of tickets. This really excludes a lot of people. The trick to getting this right is keeping it very simple. The more technical you make it the more chance you have of things going wrong. I also think that it is important to recognize the spouse of the Scoutmaster and maybe his kids. Her That Must Be Obeyed tells me that once her Dad got the Scouting bug family vacations went out the window. Her Dad used his vacation to take the troop to summer camp. Eamonn

Any Scout Executive that embarked on a knot removal program should and hopefully end up in hot water. Leadership Training Committee Guide #34169E: "The leadership training recognition plan is intended to honor demonstrated performance and tenure of trained leaders in all areas of the Scouting program directly involving units. Leaders interested in collecting recognitions for the sake of the emblem only should be counseled as to the true intent of the plan." Are there "Knot Collecting Leaders" out there? I'm sure that there are. All the training awards have requirements that entail: Tenure, Training, and performance. Council and District Training Committees promote training and the use of the Progress Record. You can't use the tenure from one award toward another. So it would take seven years to earn all the Cub Scout knots. I haven't added up the time it would take to earn the Boy Scout Training Knots or the Venturing Knots. How many District Award of Merit and Silver Beavers that can be awarded is governed by the size of the District or the size of the Council. A District the size in which I serve can award two Awards of Merit a year and our Council can award four Silver Beavers. We have several hundred volunteers in the District and I'm guessing that we have more than a thousand in the Council. These awards are held in very high esteem and the recipient's are selected with great care.We as a district have awarded the District Award of Merit to non-uniformed members of the District. One of this years recipients is the District Community FOS Chair. Sure you can buy a knot!! I don't know anyone foolish enough to donate $1,000 just so they can wear a tiny piece of cloth. Nearly all of our Executive Board have donated the $1,000 needed for a James E.West, most of these guys don't own a uniform. Still National has said that along with the certificate comes a knot. There are a lot of other non training knots, that people can earn. All have requirements that need to be met. Some are not awarded by the Council (They might need Council Approval) but they are awarded by National. How could a SE remove something that he didn't award in the first place? I think what we have now works. Each individual can choose if he wants to wear the knots or not wear them, he or she can choose to wear all the knots that he or she is entitled to wear or just select the knots that he or she feels are important to him or her. As I posted in another thread I have different shirts with some knots, some with no knots and a couple with all of them. With the exception of one knot that is the wrong way I have kept within the guidelines laid down in the insignia guide. Some really good leaders have their red jacket covered in temporary patches, I have to laugh when these same leaders talk about people who wear knots. Hopefully we are all doing what we do at what ever level we serve in order to help the BSA achieve the vision and mission of the BSA. While I'm all for proper and correct uniforming, in the grand scheme of things knots and beads are way down on my list. I do use them to promote training and express gratitude to people who have done a good job serving the District and the Council. Eamonn.

Both Lord and Lady Powell shared the same birthday, February 22. He was 32 years older than her. In some countries Girl Scouts and Girl Guides celebrate the day with "Thinking Day." In England we use Saint George's Day , April 23. St George is the patron saint of Boy Scouts and England. Queen Scouts are chosen to attend the National Scout Service and Saint Georges Day Parade at Windsor Castle. King Edward the VII, started this in 1934. This service is held on the Sunday nearest April 23. I'm not trying to hijack the thread but... Each Queens Scout also receives a Royal Certificate that bears this message from her Majesty: "As a Queens Scout you have prepared yourself for service to God and other people and have shown yourself a worthy Member of the world wide Scout Movement. I wish you God-speed on your journey through life;may it prove for you a joyous adventure'. Elizabeth R" There has also over the years been a lot of Boy Scout postage stamps. More than 200 countries have issued thousands of stamps depicting Scouting activities.During the siege of Mafeking stamp supply was short, and in April, 1900 emergency stamps were produced, intended for local postage within the sieged town. One of the stamps shows a portrait of Baden-Powell. Even though this was 7 years before scouting started, the Mafeking stamps are considered the first scouting stamps. Many countries celebrate Scouting on or around Baden Powell's birthday, some use St Georges Day and some celebrate the date when Scouting started in their country or when Scouting re-started . I have never heard of a Eagle Scout Day, Eagle Scout is the highest rank that a American Boy Scout can attain. There are several other countries that have Eagle as the top rank, some have "President's Scout,many have Scout Knight. There are big plans for "Scouting's Sunrise" to be held on August 1st, 2007. Scoutings Sunrise provides an opportunity for Scouts everywhere to jointly celebrate the Centenary of Scouting, raise the profile of Scouting, and through practical activities help to make the world a better place. National Scout Organizations are encouraged to start planning their Scoutings Sunrise celebrations using one or more of the following ideas: a Sunrise Ceremony where Scouts and former Scouts renew their Promise perhaps on their nearest high ground, or at a symbolic location for each particular group a group Good Turn, where Scouts undertake practical activities to directly help their community on 1st August 2007 a Centenary of Scouting Celebration, involving Scouts and former Scouts, their families, friends and supporters The timing of the Scoutings Sunrise activities will be as follows: at 08:00am local time in each country, Scouts will gather to renew their Promise and create a cascade of Sunrise Ceremonies around the world. They can then follow this with the Good Turn and celebrations. Scouts can join in with the Scoutings Sunrise taking place at 08:00am on Brownsea Island and at the 21st World Scout Jamboree, via television or the Internet. This would be in addition to their local Sunrise Ceremony. The dawn of the Second Century of Scouting could also be celebrated at other suitable times on 1st August 2007 and on neighboring weekends for maximum publicity. August 1st was the date that BP,took a bunch of Lads to Brownsea Island in 1907. These events are being coordinated by the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). The BSA will be 100 years old in 2010. The National Jamboree has been moved from 2009 to 2010 and I feel sure that there will be lots of celebrations. Eamonn.

I think that the quality of training has to come back to the quality of the people presenting the training. HTCN and myself have discussed if we should build training teams that consist of the best presenters or teams of people who might not be so hot on the presentation but are knowledgeable of the program. He was for going with the best possible presenters. This was a new to me when he brought it up. It does make a lot of sense to have the best people present the training and build up a team of presenters, rather than trying to grab people who in most cases are already busy wearing some other hat and trying to make them into presenters. Most training goes well until people start straying from the syllabus or start trying to add the things that they see as being important. There is a time and a place for these creative ideas, maybe at a Show 'n' tell or a Pow Wow or even a round table. I had the great pleasure to work with a really outstanding Cub Scout trainer. At the old Cub Scout Wood Badge she was out of this world. For a living in the "Real" world she was a music teacher at an elementary school. She brought an enthusiasm and love of the program along with a real sense of caring to her trainings. When she presented the old Cub Scout fundamental course she insisted on presenting each participant with a big bag of junk. The bag had about 20 or 30 items in it. Each item symbolized something. There was a tooth pick to remind people not to pick on the Scouts, a blue stone for Cub Scouting, a rubber band to remind people to remain flexible and so it went on. It took ages to get all this stuff sorted (She never managed to get it done before hand) The courses always ran way over and participants would have to leave. But this was her thing. When I replaced her some of the trainers were shocked that I didn't continue this. I was the Council Training Chair. when we changed from the old training's to the new ones. I'm a big fan of the NLE. The material is really good, but I find that the bridge is a distraction. Not that big a distraction that it should be left out. I am not a fan of the Cub Scout Specific training's. I hope that the powers that be see the light and come up with something better. I don't see it changing anytime in the near future. I like both the Boy Scout Training's. I have only presented the Venturing Training one time and have never presented the Troop Committee Training. The new videos are far better than the old ones. The new Wood Badge is good. There still seems to be a lot of people who don't understand that it is just a course on leadership. Sure it uses the troop setting, but it isn't a Boy Scout course. All the stuff you need to run a troop or run a Den should be covered in the specific training's. Of course no one is dumb enough to think that attending a training course is going to equip those that attend for every situation. One of the last things that participants hear on the Wood Badge course is "Training Never Ends." Most people who have been around training for a while are normally fairly good at the basics.Most participants attend because they think that they will come away with more knowledge than they had when they arrived. Every now and then at a course there is the couple of guys that really have no intention of coming away with anything, they are just there to be a pain. Some have come to show off how great they are and how much better their program is than that "Book Stuff." Some have an ax to grind with the Council or the District and think that training is a good place to voice their dissatisfactions. We really drum our training teams into not getting involved in arguments. We tell them that if they don't know something to say the words "I'm sorry, I don't know" then if possible to try and find the correct answer. I remember someone asking me if a venturer who was an Eagle Scout could wear the adult knot? I said that I didn't know, at a break I overheard the guy who asked the question telling his buddies that he "Had shown" me!! Scouting is supposed to be fun and we try to keep training upbeat and fun, I'm not sure if I would go as far as saying that it is sugar coated.We do hit people with a lot of information in a very short amount of time. One good way to ensure that they really got it and understood it was to ask them to help with training. Which if we go with a Presentation Team, isn't going to happen. Sometimes you just can't win. Eamonn.

"First of all no one is threatening" Yes I knew that when I seen "So we leaders all drafted a letter to the SE and council exec. committee demanding they take action otherwise we will not allow any FOS presentations this year to our units. That I was reading it wrong, silly me I thought that was a threat. Yes Backpacker you are right I have moaned, groaned, ranted, raved, vented and complained about the Council in which I serve. If you do a search you will find that I have posted that when and if (So far I have not heard that anyone is even talking about it) the BSA enforces a strict no smoking any where on BSA property, that I will pack my bags and and donate my time and my money else where. This might be seen by some as a threat. But the big difference is that I am only talking about me. I am not passing my moans and groans on to other people. I am in no way denying any one else the opportunity to donate to the Council or the BSA. someone who doesnt post here anymore is far better looking than I am and is far more knowledgeable than I. So I will take what you said as a complement. You can check with our moderators and Terry our gracious host and they will attest that I am me and that he is him. While I can't speak for someone who doesnt post here anymore , you might want to give some thought to the fact that while you are of course free to express your opinion, it does seem that you do have a knack of getting things wrong. Eamonn. (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

Am I reading this right? There are a couple of old timers that are not members of a unit? These guys are wearing patches that upset you and a few other people? Because of this you and a few other people are willing to see the Council cut programs, because the money that would come from FOS isn't going to be there? How is doing something that hurts the Scouts going to teach these old timers? I must have missed something!! Commissioners are selected by the District Commissioner and approved by the Council Commissioner and the Executive Board. If you have a problem with the Commissioner Staff it needs to be taken to the District Commissioner and if things are still not worked out at the District level, it should be brought to the attention of the Council Commissioner. Threatening to harm the program that our youth members participate in is not the way we do things. Eamonn

I have a few friends that feel much the same way as Backpacker does. They and him are entitled to their opinion, I don't think that they will ever change their minds. Still being that a Scout is Kind, I hope that no one would ever be so rude as to voice that opinion to a knot wearer. "Too many scouters are in this program for their own self gratification and "look what I did attitude" than helping" I have no idea why people do what they do in this program. I don't think it is any of my business. I find that statement to be down right pompous. Eamonn.

Back home Santa Claus, is known as Father Christmas, I think that I believed until I was ten or eleven. About that age my parents started buying us them terrible practical gifts (Socks and underwear) But Father Christmas, was a kindly old Lad, nothing practical about him. We woke up on Christmas Day morning to find the end of the bed stacked high with toys and good stuff. You think he could have had a word with my parents and informed them that kids don't want socks and underwear. Maybe they were just slow learners. Santa still came to our house until OJ was nine. By the time he was ten he pretended to believe, I'm not sure if he didn't want to hurt our feelings or if he thought that he'd get more stuff? Eamonn

Laurie, You know that I have for a very long time been a great admirer of you. Even if we did have that misunderstanding about "Way To Go." Through your postings and the E-mails that we have exchanged, your love of the program has shone through. Your love and caring for the little Lads is what makes Cub Scouting really work. Moving on or moving out is not going to be easy. Weighing all the pros and cons, is something that only you can do. What might be a big pro for me could be different for you. I really enjoyed the time I spent as Scoutmaster, leaving the troop was one of the hardest things that I have ever done. It was made easier because I was moving away. Hearing that it was going down hill and then hearing that it wasn't there any more was very painful. I have to admit that not being active and only attending a couple of meetings a year was really nice. Again I was really busy, working my tail off chasing the dollar bill. So I didn't have or didn't take the time to think about the youth members. Scouting without kids!! Didn't seem like Scouting, I suppose at some level I thought that what we were doing was for the youth, but they were not around and the meetings were like a chance to catch up with what the other guys on the committee were doing and then go for a drink. When I got involved with the pack, it was like turning the clock back. I hadn't done anything with Cub Scouts for over 20 years. The little fellows were great, I really enjoyed working with the Webelos Scouts. Trying to get the Pack to work like it should and undo and then redo what was to what I thought it should be was a challenge. I didn't know it at the time but I was allowing myself to become more and more involved. I started helping at R/T, then I got involved in Training and then became Assistant District Commissioner Cub Scouts. About this time our District Commissioner started having enormous personal problems. Her husband was hitting her and she had a break down. She went MIA. No one had the heart to replace her, and I got left "Holding The Baby". About now a couple of things became very obvious. The first was that I wasn't being fair to Her Who Must Be Obeyed, she was working part time at the hospital, something she took on in the early days to get her out of the house, but then for a long time it turned out that we needed her to work in order to get the Health Insurance, and there were times when we needed that pay check so we could the staff in the restaurant. Scouting was taking me away from the restaurants and I was passing more and more things that I should have been doing to her. I thought nothing about taking a week off to attend Wood Badge and just telling her what needed doing. The other thing was that I was so busy doing "District Stuff" that I was neglecting the Pack. I did see what I was doing to my wife was unfair, but it took the Assistant Cubmaster having the guts to meet with me face to face and say it as it was before I seen what I was (Wasn't) doing with the pack. We made the announcement to the parents at a B&G banquet. We had informed the Den Leaders and the committee. Some of the Den Leaders were very unhappy, some thought I was trying to be promoted!! Some didn't like the Assistant Cubmaster and some didn't care less. I did feel that I had let the little fellows down and for a while I couldn't look them in the eye. I had been asked to stay on as a Pack Committee Member, but I didn't think that this would be fair to the new Cubmaster. Her Who Must Be Obeyed remained on the Pack Committee, she didn't like the new Cubmaster, for a while She and a couple of Den Leaders would come to me telling me about things that they didn't approve of. I had given up the thing that I liked most about Scouting. I gave up having that interaction with the boys. I have to admit that I didn't miss the fund raising, and believe it or not the Pack Meetings. Handing out Awards to 65 Cub Scouts, was taking most of the meeting. The acoustics in the meeting hall were terrible and the behavior of some of the Cub Scouts siblings left a lot to be desired. I worked my tail off to sort the Commissioner Staff out. I was very fortunate to have worked with two District Chairmen who became very close friends and a DE that I thought the world of. I was shocked when I was asked to be the District Chairman. I was really saddened when I seen the new District Commissioner in action. The warm and cuddly staff that I had worked so hard to build up were being replaced with a bunch of twits that must have been trained at Storm Trooper's School. You will do what I hope is best for you. Still you might want to think about where will you do the most good? Maybe you could consider being a member of the troop committee, which would be very warm and cozy!! Right now, but look into the future will your boys want both parents involved in their spare time activity? I know that OJ really values his Independence. With your knowledge and great outlook on Scouting, I think that you would be a great addition to the training team either as a Trainer or as part of the R/T staff. I know for sure that if I got wind of you stepping down from the pack, that I would be on the phone to the nominating committee and you would find me and a member of that committee on your doorstep. Please, don't become a do nothing ASM!! You will not enjoy it. Her That Must Be Obeyed, really enjoys getting away from OJ and I for the meetings that she has for the Council Recognition Dinner, she gets to spent time with people she likes and they do a wonderful job. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers as I know that what you are going through isn't easy. Put on the back burner till after the holidays. I really hope you all have the warmest and merriest of Christmas's and the coming year is kind to you. Eamonn

There is a travel show on PBS, I think it is Globe Trekker. I want the presenters job. Many years back Dave Allen, the Irish comedian did a series on Eccentrics, in fact he did two one on English Eccentrics and one on American Eccentrics, he was really good. He didn't make fun of them he just let them show what they did. I kind of like the idea of doing something like that. Or maybe do something like Alistair Cooke and "Letter From America". I really enjoy listening to the radio and do have Public Radio on a lot. They do a good job of Magazine shows, still there is a need for more non-political radio talk shows. Something along the lines of Charlie Rose, but maybe a little more light hearted. I have a very long list of people that I would like to have a conversation with. Not just those who are doing the rounds promoting a new movie, but people who for one reason or another are just interesting on the list I have: Eric Idle (Heck make it the entire MP team.) Tom Hanks,Dustin Hoffman,Bob Dole and Elizabeth Dole,Peter Applebome,Ben Roethlisberger,Joe Paterno. The list is almost endless. Eamonn

Unc As you know I have in my time done more than my fair share of adult recruiting.Like you I have never ever used and have never ever heard the term "One hour a week." Sad to say I have heard a few horror stories about some really off the wall recruiting, most of these when you take a long hard look at what was done involved threats and bullying.One sure way to get the little green Irish hairs on the back of my neck to stand up is to try and bully me. I don't like it. I really don't like it when people ask me to do it. As you know on October first our DE retired. She did sign on as a District Member At Large (After it was OKed by the Nominating Committee and voted on by the District Committee.) Pam and I are very close and dear friends, we had talked about what she would do and planned it in such a way that she wouldn't step on or get in the way of the new DE. Pam would freely admit that she never got into the outdoor side of Scouting and never really got into the program side. She didn't need too, she had people like me!! I had dinner with our Area President, who also serves as the Council Vice President for Program. He said that he was going to ask Pam to be the Council Activities Chairman. I said that he could ask, but I felt sure that she would say no. I wasn't asked to do anything. I wasn't asked not to tell her or tell her. I choose to do nothing, he said that he was going to ask her, so my thinking was that it really had nothing to do with me. A couple of weeks went by and Pam and I went to the Heritage Society dinner. He asked Pam for a minute and asked her. She said that she would think about it. We have driven up to the dinner in the same car. She told me that he had asked and asked me if I knew? I said that I did. When she asked why I hadn't informed her before? I explained my reasoning. She said that she was honored to be asked but activities were not her thing.All the way home we discussed it. The VP, had been her Patrol Guide when she took Wood Badge and she really likes him, but activities? We still talk 3 or 4 times a week on the phone and she made it clear that she was going to say no. The wife of the VP is the Council Pop corn Chair. She invited the people who had been involved with the popcorn sale to dinner at her house. Again the subject of the Activities Chair. Was raised, He asked me what I knew? I said that it would be wrong of me to say anything as Pam hadn't said that I could. The conversations that I'd had were between two people and it would be wrong of me to get involved. He then said that he wanted me to ask her. I said I would ask, knowing that she would say no. Our December R/T is a very social gathering, everyone brings desserts. The new DE, was away at DE school in Texas. Pam is there, because I invited her. I was going to tell the District Commissioner, that the Nominating Committee wanted him to step down and consider taking the Membership Chair. We both thought that Pam could sell him on that and it would help ease his disappointment about not being the District Commissioner. ( A bit like good cop - bad cop.) As it happened he wasn't there he was sick. I had told Pam that I was to ask her to give the Activities position some thought, she said that she didn't want it. I look around and see two really good pals, Mike who was the District Chair, when Pam first joined and Jack the Council Program Director. This pair had been signed up to ask her. I was busy with District stuff, when I met up with Pam after the meeting she was upset and mad. She had explained to them that she didn't think activities were her thing, that she is really enjoying her retirement and has plans to travel. These plans are going and coming when she feels like it and she didn't want to be tied down to meetings and events. She also said that her first love was the District and she wanted to do everything that she could to help me. They then turned on her saying that she shouldn't be doing stuff for the district. This really upset her. She informed them that the reason she had quit was that she didn't like the Council and wanted no part of the Council, but she loved the District and the people in it. They left with a flea in their ear and full knowledge that she was not taking the job. Here we have us seeing a position that needs filled and seeing a person who knows the working of Scouting and the Council. But we have offered her the wrong position. We have gone over the top in asking her and to make matters worse we have nearly lost a person that will make a darn good volunteer. She is no longer a professional and how dare they interfere with the running of the District. I think given time Pam might have taken up a position in the Council, something to do with finance or membership, these were areas that she was very good at and liked working in. The way they have gone about it, we will be lucky if she ever does anything for the Council. I have her working on the District Outstanding Citizen Dinner. This is right up her alley, she loves planning Dinners and fussing over flowers and invitations. One lesson we have to learn is that no can mean no and to keep pushing can do more harm than good. Eamonn.

Maybe not being a native born American is the reason that I don't know very much about the ACLU. The real truth is that I don't know very much about them. I have a little sister that is a well known Barrister in the UK. She is what might be called a "Leftist". At present she is crusading in the area of employment law. I kinda think that if she was over here that she might be a member of the ACLU. How does someone become a member of the ACLU? And who funds their activities? I'm not really interested in what your opinion of the ACLU is. I have seen enough postings to have a fair idea of where you stand!! I do wonder with Americans having such easy access to the court system, is there really still a need for a group such as the ACLU? I also have to wonder if the Civil Liberties of all Americans are in such a wonderful state, that this group can't find more important battles than the placing of Nativity scenes or the few dollar's that the BSA or BSA groups receive? Surely there are bigger fish that they could go after.Looking at the laws that were past after 9/11. I would have thought that there was enough material there to keep them busy for a very long time? Of course I admit that I my perception of them coming after us (Me!!) is very biased. Please don't tell anyone but while I am proud that the BSA has stuck to their guns and not allowed the values that we hold near and dear to be compromised even in the face of lost funds and adverse publicity. I have to say that they have acted in much the same way, they have held true to what they see is not right and carried on regardless of the adverse publicity that has come their way. Eamonn.

I think that we those who do the recruiting tend to look at the position that needs filled and not the person. We know that when it comes to eating an elephant we do it one spoonful at a time. We forget that the best way to get the elephant eaten is to give everyone a spoon and have them work together. That way the elephant is eaten a lot faster and people don't get fed up having to eat elephant everyday with their tea. I have never taken the time to take a long hard look at all the volunteers in the District. We have 45 units. Our packs eat up a lot of man power. I have no idea how many people who serve at the pack level have not been selected, but have been brow beat or bullied into serving? It does seem that where as we used to see a lot of Cub Scout people hang around and serve at some other level, they now can't wait for that final B&G Banquet and they are gone. One thing that does seem to have changed is that we are seeing a lot more Dads sign up as ASM's. Most of these guys are about worthless. They are there for their son, they never really lead anything or take on any real responsibility. I am not sure if this is because they are never given the opportunity. The troop that OJ is in seems to have a herd of "Do nothing ASM's". Summer camp this year they had 30 Scouts in camp and 18 leaders. I have no idea what this is all about? It seems a waste of man power to me. We have several hundred names on the Merit Badge list I'm guessing that 90% of these are people already in units. We have a lot of people involved in our Community FOS Campaign. We have worked hard to work on no one working more than five cards and when they reach five having them recruit someone else to work on five more. This is really working well for us. At the District level, we had a real mess. We had Committees of one!! We had unit leaders serving on the committee. We have really worked hard brining more non-Scout people in and on to the committee. This is working really well as these outside people know a lot more outside people and this has made the Nominating committees job a lot easier. Committees of one, just don't work. Having people that can share the work is good and allows people to choose what they want to take on. It also brings a lot more ideas and skills to the district. Most of us who do the recruiting or do the "Ask" are not going to let the poor soul that we are asking off the hook. Even when they say no to the job that we think that they need to say yes too, we have plan "B". Plan B is asking them to take on something else, that is normally some other position or if all else fails we will offer them the opportunity to donate at whatever level we think they will consider. I have been told by people who are in the volunteer business that the trend is now to have people volunteer for a specific task. Something that has a very clear end. The people who volunteer come, do the job and go home feeling that they have done something worth while. They then might offer their services for another task, when they have the time. We all laugh and joke about the "One Hour A Week". I feel that we do need to do everything we can to ensure that we don't waste the time of those that volunteer. I also feel that we need to get away from the idea that one position or one job is more important than any other. We are all in this to serve the needs of the youth in our communities. I am of the opinion that Den Leaders are the hardest workers in this organization. We need to do everything that we can to support them. This might mean having people from outside the pack or Den come in to offer some specific training or skill to the Den. Maybe one of the do nothing ASM's could attend 3 or 4 Den meetings and cover a skill that he has and the Den Leader doesn't. We are at times guilty of matching the person with a position that he does in the real world. I have a friend that is an MD. His real love is wood carving and he is very good at it. His work schedule is really odd. When I went to recruit him I had him down for the Finance Committee, mainly because he has money and also because he knows lots of other people who also have money. When I spent a little time talking to him he said about his love of wood carving, so we signed him up as a Merit Badge Counselor and he also joined the Advancement Committee. We still offer him lots of opportunities to donate money. But he isn't that keen on FOS he would much sooner give money that helps a Scout. He has paid for Summer Camps and uniforms that Scouts couldn't afford and has set up a fund for Boy Scouts to attend the Jamborees (One of his nurses had a son that had attended a Jamboree and then got killed in a car accident) This guy is doing what he wants to do. He is helping where he wants to help. Sure I would like to see him go to town on the District FOS goal, but it's not going to happen. He likes what he does and is doing a great job. Eamonn.

I really like Double Eagle's way of thinking on this one. I'm not going to get drawn into another long debate about rules. I think that we don't have to look very hard to see which Scout Law covers this. I can see if a Lad is messing up that he might be a candidate for training or re-training. The list of sins that might or could be committed is way to big for any rule book to cover every sin. I can see that there might be Scouts who are doing something that could be fixed with a look and then there are things that might need to be looked at by the committee. Eamonn

A few years back I was active in a unit. Our CO was a Catholic Church. The Parish Priest was not pro Scouting and the pack had been very poorly managed. The Cubmaster had been very much a one woman show. There was no real committee, meetings were held as and when she felt like having one and were mainly leaders meetings. The COR was active in the church with the church youth group and was the Webelos Scout Den Leader, he didn't seem to have any idea what the job was. He didn't like the Priest, mainly because the priest didn't have any time for the youth group. Things were a real mess. The Church did provide the meeting hall for the pack meetings. We started trying to get things on track. The pack kinda bypassed the Priest and worked through the parish council. We planted flowers outside the church, gave the food collected from Scouting for food to the parish food bank. We pushed the priest into allowing the pack to stage a really good Scout Sunday service and hold bake sales and sell popcorn after Mass. The COR stayed on, even though his son didn't cross over into a troop. I think that he liked the "New Order." and seen the renewed enthusiasm's that the Leaders and the new committee had, he got caught up in it all. The Priest never did get the bug. He never ever made it to a B&G. He did work with some of the Lads and their religious awards. But we never ever got the $20.00 out of him for rechartering. There is a new priest there now who is very pro Scouting, there is now a troop and a new Crew. Looking at the CO's that we have in the District there is of course the good, the bad and the ugly. I don't think that it is an accident that the better units are the ones with active relationships with the CO's. As a District we have really tried to involve the COR's.It seems to be a real hard uphill battle. We are also trying to educate our unit Scouter's that there are a lot of things that come up that need to be settled "In House", things like conflicts between leaders and misunderstandings about what the CO will or will not do. These need to be looked after by the unit committee with the COR and there may be times when the CO will need to step in. There are things that only they can do. While things are much better with the new Priest (Maybe 9 +) During my time I would say we started at 2.5 and ended with 7.5 Eamonn

I own a lot of Scout Shirts. Some have none of the knots on. Some one row of three, some two rows of three. and two have three rows of three. There will be very soon a couple of new shirts with four rows of three. The shirts with no knots are the ones that I used for Wood Badge. Knots are not allowed. The shirts with only a few knots are ones that her that must be obeyed never got around too. The shirts with all the "Salad" are the Jamboree shirts. Kinda like OGE,I think that if I dress to impress at the Jamboree it might help!! I normally wear the loops that go with the position patch on the shirt. If I'm wearing a shirt with a Scoutmaster patch -Red Loops. District Chair. - Gray/Silver loops. Regional Committee - Yellow/ Gold loops. I think not wearing my beads would be like forgetting to wear my belt. I don't need the belt to hold up my pants, but I wear it. (Philmont tooled leather.) I wear the four bead necklace because I in "Wood Badge Land" I'm now entitled to wear four beads. Wearing two or three would be like telling a lie!! My friends don't give a monkeys uncle which shirt I wear. I do get teased a bit when I wear the gold loops!! Some friends of mine opt not to wear any knots, some select which ones to wear. Many of the knots don't have very much meaning to me. I am very proud of my religious knot and the Saint George Award that went with it. Both the District Award of Merit and the Silver Beaver, as I feel that my peers selected me for those awards. I'm also very proud and have to admit to being a little smug about the International Scouter's Award, as I'm the first and only person in our Council to earn it. Add to that it took me 27 years to complete all the requirements. As to the "Dressing For Success" thing. Please forgive me while I take up way too much space retelling a Jamboree Tale. The Sunday of the Jamboree was anything but a Sun day, in fact the rain came down in buckets. My new rain suit was not working I was soaked. I had walked with the Catholic Scouts to attend Mass. All the way praying that the Mass would be a very short one. Seeing the Swiss Guards and hearing that the Pope had sent a special Bishop over from Rome, I knew that my prayers had got lost in the rain. In fact I wasn't feeling very Scout-like or very Christian as we stood in the rain waiting for the start, when a group of adults arrived and stood right in front of us with a big tarp that they were using as a rain cover. The big blue tarp blocked our view of the stage where the Mass was to be said. So we moved in front of this group of adults. They were a nice group and soon invited us in to share their tarp. Next thing they were taking photos of us and them under the tarp. They were from California. After the mass they invited us back to the VIP tent where they had their gear. They wanted to give all the Scouts a patch. The VIP tent was a nice set up. It was dry!! and a continental breakfast had been laid out. Everyone was being very polite, the trays of donuts and Danishes weren't attracting much attention. That was before Eamonn and eleven Scouts seen them. Soon even the wet gear we had on wasn't so uncomfortable, I had some coffee and along with the Scouts was making sure that the food was being put to good use. The group from California were taking more photos, patches were being exchanged as were names and addresses. All was well until the VIP tent people came over. They informed us that this was a VIP area. One member of the VIP Police was explaining this to our hosts, while one guy came over to me. I had taken my wet top off. He was just into his this area is for James E. West members, when he seen the knot. He then apologized. I explained that I was also a Heritage Society member he turned a little green. I was really nice to him. However one of the people from California was not as nice as me. He was giving this other VIP Policeman a good telling off. I drunk my coffee and we were about ready to leave when one of our hosts asked about the Scouts back in the site? He then proceed to give us trays of goodies to take back. Knots and beads really shouldn't make any difference. But ... Eamonn.

District Policy?? Everything the Lad needs to know is in the Eagle Leadership Project Guidelines. Tell the District to go pound salt. Eamonn.

You are not going to get any argument from me. I am looking forward to reading the new syllabus for the new course. Still no matter what the course or the syllabus is I think that it is a crying shame that Scouts attend only to return to their home troop with a "Training High", only to hear "We don't do it that way". Why bother sending them? Eamonn.

We had the misfortune to have a Council Commissioner in with us when we attended the Commissioner Service Conference at Philmont, this Lady wanted to make everything a youth protection issue. I am pro Youth Protection and 100% for the G2SS. Those who choose to venture outside the guidelines are taking needless risks. Looking back at some of the things that I did almost 30 years ago (Mainly roughnecking with the Scouts in the swimming pool) I clearly see that what I was doing was placing me in situations that today would not be acceptable. I have to think that with or without any of the rule books that we as adults need to use good old common sense. While some rough games have long been a part of Scouts and Scouting, we the adults need to be ready to step in and calm things down or even stop the activity or game if it is getting out of hand. My days of roughnecking are about over, not because I'm worried about the harm I might cause, but because some of my parts are no longer up to it!! Anyone who intentionally hurts a Scout or youth member really has no place in Scouting. The game that starts out as a friendly game (No matter what the game is.)and then becomes "I'm going to get him!!" Needs to be halted. Some adults can manage being beaten at some activity by a young Lad, sad to say some adults don't manage it very well and allow their competitiveness to kick in and get the better of them. I had an ASM, who was a lot older than I was he was 41 when he joined the troop, I was in my twenties. Pete was a super nice guy but he was one of those people who have to win. He could turn a friendly game of camp cricket into a grudge match!! I would hate to see him play Rugby with Scouts. I by nature am not a "Touchy,feely" Sort of person. I like my space, however there have been times and I'm sure that there will be times when I have put my arm around a Lad to console him, I have and will continue to give a Lad a pat on the shoulder. I miss the days of roughnecking in the pool with 20 or 30 Lads trying to drown me!! Not only because it isn't such a clever thing to do, but also knowing that I'm no longer up to it makes me feel old. Eamonn.

I don't think that it is any secret that Bob White and I are good friends /Pals. I have talked to Bob about his absence. It would be wrong of me to post what Bob said, he is a big fellow and is more than capable of standing up for himself. I have to admit thinking of Bob and myself as a "Tag Team", brings up thoughts of professional wrestling and makes me smile. I'm very much looking forward to meeting him at the Jamboree, who knows if National allows him and I could stage an exhibition bout? On second thoughts - not with our bad backs!! Eamonn.

As a rule Dens do not hold their own fund raising events. The pack Committee should plan these events, it needs to be approved by the Chartering Organization,the committee chair and the District or Council Finance Committee. Guidelines can be found on the back of the form http://www.scouting.org/nav/enter.jsp?s=xx&c=ds&terms=money+earning+application&x=28&y=12 Many packs allow the Dens to collect Den Dues, the amount varies. This money used to be collected weekly and used for the day to day running of the Den, covering the cost of glue, paper and that sort of stuff. The pack has a budget that covers the cost of rechartering, advancements, pack outings and pack events. What do you need the money for? Eamonn

When I see the Philmont Bull on a jacket I think the wearer has been to Philmont. I don't think about when he or she went there. The Patch for each jamboree is different, the guys who attended wear it above the pocket the guys who visited can wear it on the pocket. Again when I see it I just think that they attended a jamboree. Depending on where you live the trip to a jamboree or to Philmont could be a once in a life time experience. So I see no harm in wearing them. While I don't have a problem with adult Eagle Scouts wearing their medals at Eagle Scout BOR's I kinda think this is not kosher. But I'm almost sure that it's not a hanging offense. Eamonn

As luck would have it we have passed through the baggy pants thing. I'm really happy as I got fed up with Her That Must Be Obeyed telling him to pull up his pants. He is still into "Neck-wear", some look like small shells but he has one that looks like it should be used a plant hanger!! Kinda like a Wood Badge with attitude!! I would hope that he sees that there is a time and a place for when to wear what. But there again when it comes to him making good and ethical decisions, isn't it better that he works this stuff out for himself, rather than me forcing a lot of rules and regulations on him? Isn't that making good choices what we are in business for. OGE, I was at the Hammersmith Odeon on July 3rd 1973 for the Retirement Gig, Jeff Beck came on and played Jean Genie. We send Ziggy off in grand style!! Eamonn.