Eamonn

Call me a "Knee-jerk liberal. When it comes to who is best at mentoring good character? I would say the best people for the job are people of good character. I don't care if they are male or female. When I read the vision and the mission of this great organization I see both men and women working toward that goal. When I look at the methods used in all three of our programs, I see that both male and female can deliver the goods. The program relies on willing, committed and trained volunteer leaders, be they male or female. Eamonn.

Back home we had the District Camp Craft Competition.The trophy was a felling Axe, with a chromed head. The Shaft was carved with the winning patrols animal. It was a real beauty. The competition was a real tough one. As a Scout winning this was all so important.At least I was led to think that it was. Sure we had Patrol Leaders and a PLC,but something was missing? We really were not leading, we were carrying out the wishes of the Scoutmaster. Sure winning this as we did was nothing short of super and we had a hard time getting through doorways because our heads were so swelled. When I became SM, I wanted to win. I wanted to show that my troop was the best. I wanted to show my old SM that I was every bit as good as he ever was. I steered the PLC into wanting this as much as I did. I trained them. It was my ego that was on the line. We won twice, before I worked out that I was wrong. Patrol Leaders Council meetings are for ideas and plans that come from the participants, my role in the troop was not to lead they to victory, my role was to support them and give them the tools that they needed to lead. They did make the decision to enter as Patrols (I had picked winning teams and teams in training!!) They Incorporated the stuff that they thought they needed to work on into the annual plan. In the end they won if fact they came in and took first, second and third. The victory was theirs. The lesson was mine. And yes they still needed to go through doorways side ways. They never once said that they were training for this event. The event did help them come up a program that was a little bit more Scout skill oriented. Eamonn.

I thought I had them there skills down pat? Along with a few facts. That come in handy every now and then. I'm just a little worried that the powers that be will ask me to get more involved and this isn't really my cup of tea. Sure I know how important it is and I don't mind doing my bit, but .... Eamonn.

Without wanting to blow my own trumpet. Our District has the most successful community FOS campaign in the Council. My part in this is very small, I do know all the workers, I make a few speech's and when we meet our goal I have a small "Victory" celebration. Once a year I invite all the workers to dinner at camp and invite them to tour the camp and hang around for the OA ceremony. About two weeks ago our DE, said that she needed me to go with her to a day long conference on FOS. The conference is free but lunch is $15.00. As she was the asker I agreed to go. However I don't want FOS to become my "Thing." Yes I am 100% for asking anybody and everybody who would like to donate to do so. I don't have a problem with FOS. Still what can whoever it is who is putting this on hope to pass on to me? Our next campaign kicks off in late January, I have made the reservations for lunch. I have a meeting in October with the Community Captains, where I will introduce the new DE and we will look at soft spots. Have to admit to being puzzled why I'm going. Eamonn(This message has been edited by Eamonn)

I agree with Bob. But if you need me I will have to ask permission from Her That Must be obeyed. Eamonn

I think that the Scout Sign is a wonderful tool,when it is used right. You or who ever needs to explain how to use it.When the "Sign is up" EVERYONE is to be quite. Everyone means everyone, adults as well.The sign is a message from me to you. You are responsible for you. Yelling "Sign's up" is not an option, so don't do it. The sign should remain up until everyone is quite. Once everyone is quite, thank them. A standard line that we used to use back home was "Thank You, as you know I'm very polite and I refuse to talk when you are talking. I know that you are as polite as I am." When planning the meetings have a couple of back up activities ready. Things that can be brought up quickly and need little explanation or equipment. The entire meeting needs to have a flow to it. Very often things get out of hand when there are lulls. Use quite games to bring the Scouts down after something that was loud and boisterous. The PLC might want to look at a ongoing inter patrol competition, with points given for whatever they decide. Some things that come to mind are:Attendance and uniform. The SPL could deduct points for un-Scout like behavior. We had a patrol of the month neckerchief which was greatly prized. After a meeting that hasn't gone well you and the members of the PLC might want to do a reflection on why it didn't go well and then work on how to make it go better. Eamonn

You might indeed be right. If I really want to haze the poor unfortunate little fellow with size 13 feet!! I have lots of "Baby Pics". As a baby he loved to go skinny dipping in the pool, a phase that he has since grown out of. Much to the joy of many. At this time I'm really enjoying his driving permit. Six months of "Yes Dad". Eamonn. Shoe size 8.5

Some thoughts that I have. Any form of written communication does lose something in the translation. When I am face to face with someone I can use body language to soften what I might be saying. A smile and a little shake of the head, which says "No - Hang on a minute,I don't think your right." Is a lot less threatening then "I disagree." Sad to say there are times when someone asks a question. One where the answer is clearly answered in black and white, with tons of reference material. But that wasn't the answer that they wanted to hear or read!! They then attack the answer. The person who gave the answer tries to defend it and so it goes on. Things that we might and do ignore in the real world become real big on the Internet and in these forums. In the real world I see all sorts of things that others pass off as a uniform. I rarely if ever say anything to them. Yet when uniform is the topic here everything becomes black and white.Right and wrong. We don't very much about each other and this not knowing can lead us to at times hurt each other. I think that almost all who post here are "Good People" They get as big a kick out of a kid smiling and or accomplishing something as you and I do. I feel sure that even those who seem to come off as being very up-tight and very prim and proper are much loved by the youth that they serve and have served. As things are now in this Forum, I don't see anyone trying to be "One up" on anyone else. I get the feeling that we are very much in this game for all the right reasons. I am aware of the good stuff that I have taken from the wise people that post here, I'm aware that I have shared it with a lot of others. Maybe we ought to make better use of the private messages and ask people what they were trying to get across before we go full steam ahead? Eamonn.

Back home across the pond there is only seven Scout Laws. #5 Is "A Scout is a brother to all Scouts." Over the eleven years that I was Scoutmaster,I spent countless happy hours going over and explaining what these Laws meant to me, with the Lads that were getting ready to be invested as a Scout and a member of the 17th Fulham (Pioneers). I have a brother John, who the family calls Sean, and we each call each other Mick!! He is four years older then I am. Like most little brothers I used to get on his nerves and like most big brothers he sure as heck didn't want to be seen with me. As a Boy Scout, the troop used to have weekly uniform inspections. This was before wearing gym shoes was cool. We were expected to have a clean and polished pair of shoes at the meeting. I hate to polish shoes. My brother spent one night a week at home polishing his shoes. Come troop meeting night I would just borrow a pair of his nice shiny shoes. Of course I never asked and when he found out, he would beat the tar out of me. So how do I explain that "A Scout is a brother to all Scouts" to a little fellow, when the memory of having the tar beaten out of me is still fresh? I used to say to these little fellows that brothers don't always see eye to eye and at times do have a falling out, but because we are brothers we can work through it and get past it and then move on. That is how things are in Scouting, we promise to help other people, but this brotherhood thing is more then that - A lot more. Fuzzy Bear, I thank you for your apology. I both accept it and am humbled by it. Do you have a shiny pair of polished shoes that I could borrow? Eamonn

Same thing with slightly different words "Plan your work and work your plan". Eamonn

One of the Scouts who went to NOAC from our Council got around to e-mailing the photos that he took. Most of them are of the Scouts who went from our Council. All show a nice bunch of kids /Scouts having a really good time. There is a super one of OJ wearing a Sunflower Hat, which I will be forwarding to all his female friends. He looks just tooooo Cute!! I don't know if any of the people who put NOAC together ever look in on these pages. If you are out there Thanks, my son had a great time. Eamonn

The idea was that we could use this as a quiz that would get our Scouts used to looking in their Scout Handbooks. As such we should use the book that they are most lightly to have on hand. The most up to date edition. Edward Cave wrote The Boy Scout's Hike Book. It was published in 1920. If I remember right I think he also wrote another book on hiking with his brother as the co-author, his name was Neil or Nigel? Eamonn

Robert Birkby is the chap who is credited as being the writer of the Boy Scout Handbook, the last two anyway. Eamonn Question: List the 7 main points / Principles of the "Leave No Trace Program"

That half Beaver half Bird guy must have a funny tail? The summer before last I was the Troop Guide for a very wild Beaver Patrol. Please don't tell your half and half guy that I let you know but he says that you guys are "A good bunch." Our Advancement Committee has been actively signing up teachers as Merit Badge Counselors. So far it is working out well. We have had a few problems with teachers that were unwilling to complete the application form with the S.S number. I'm not sure why. Eamonn.

I have to admit to being a very lazy parent when it comes to the troop fund raising events that the troop OJ is in offers. They have a system where each Scout is asked to keep a $50.00 min. In their Scout account. When the account falls below $50.00 they send a note home. To my mind they do way too much and far too many fund raising events. Everything seems to be for summer camp but with a price tag of only $160.00 it is just too easy to write a check. We do sell popcorn, and he likes the car washes and participating in the Hogie sales on the side of the road. We don't have a very big family. All what is left of mine is on the other side of the pond. Both of Her That Must Be Obeyed, parents were only children. Her Father passed away and she has one brother. I do take the popcorn order form to work. But selling stuff is tough. It is cheaper to write the check that for us to buy a lot of stuff that we don't really need. Eamonn

Dan, I'm unsure if it was a rant or a rave. I find it strange that this comes from a person who wants the Council and District provide the backbone of the program. He is now saying that we don't invite the Scouts to help provide the funds to allow this. Then he claims that other people are irrational? He claims that due to excess intake of alchol others in this form are in favor of a "Forced Sale". While I find this both insulting and rude, if it was directed toward me, which I think it was. I think if he reads my postings he will see that I used the word Invite. I don't know about you Dan, but to go from an invitation to a forced sale is a real stretch. But when we look at someone being irrational, we have a person that has never met me, lives no where near me and knows next to nothing about me accusing me of allowing myself to indulge in access alcohol. This is truly not rational. He fails to see that the Council's existence does rely on selling popcorn. If that income was lost many of the services that Councils now perform would face drastic cuts. He goes on to mock the people who state that the Scout Law, which states that a Scout should pay his own way. He fails to see that if a Scout was working to pay his own way by participating in fund raising events that the Scout might not need the Campership or the amount needed would be of a lesser amount. While I don't know the Gentleman, I would suggest that he takes a long hard look at the Budget for his Council. No one other then him has even suggested that selling or not selling popcorn makes a Scout any better or any worse. However this is the 21st century and if we are to make the vision of this organization a reality it takes money. Good turns are the foundation on which this organization was built and are both commendable and needed. But take away the money and soon there will be no place owned by the BSA to perform these good turns. Sure the FOS campaigns go a long way, however last year in our Council we didn't meet the goal- if we had to try and raise the money that the popcorn sale brings in addition to the FOS, I feel certain that we would never do it. Our Council is fortunate that so far the United Way has not cut our funding in the amount that they donate, but it hasn't been increased in three years, which in real dollars is about a cut of six percent. Dan, as I say I don't know if this Gentleman is ranting or raving. I do know that he has been very rude, very insulting and is just plain wrong. Eamonn(This message has been edited by Eamonn)

Someone play the theme music from the Twilight Zone. I just got off the phone. The Cubmaster I was talking too said that she was in Wal mart in uniform and was stooped by two people who wanted information about having their sons sign up. I informed her that she has to do all of her shopping in uniform from now on. Eamonn

So where does the money come from? Eamonn

Wow!! I should stop right there. I know that this can happen. Our District Commissioner is President of a Lions Club that charters 3 units. You might try getting someone that the SM respects to talk to him and explain the error of his ways? Sad to say the only other thing that I can think of is to pack your bags and see about starting a new Troop or moving to another one. If you can find an organization in your area that is willing to be the chartering organization, I strongly urge you to get as many people trained as you can before you "Open Shop" and recruit any Scouts. Making sure that everyone knows what they are letting themselves in for, before you start does help avoid some of the problems that can pop up. Sad to say very often when a unit splits only one half makes it. At times there can be ill feelings, to make matters worse this can spill over to the youth members. Whatever happens we need to remember that we are Scouts. Eamonn

Hi Boleta, We have 48 units in the District, which are chartered by 21 different organizations. Like you we don't get that great a turn out for COR's at any of the meetings. Like you we have sent post cards to each and everyone of them, for each and every meeting. We used to get two or three, we are now up to five or six. It is a sad fact of life that most of the people who now make up the District Committee are friends of mine. Sure they are a very diverse bunch, but they are people that I knew who I could ask to serve and would. It is sad that nearly all of them like me. I didn't invite my enemies!! Some of these people had little or no Scouting knowledge before and what they have now has mostly come from our DE and myself. I am aware that one of the reasons that I was asked to do this job was because I knew so many people thanks to being a business owner in the community for 17 years. Still, while none of these people are what might be called "Yes Men." I know that in most cases they will follow my lead. Needless to say I think that I'm a very fair level headed nice guy. But to my mind it would be far better if the committee was not so one sided. As an example. My ongoing battles with our Field Director are well known. I am not one to suffer in silence. We now have Committee members who don't like him and they have never met him. I know that I have overplayed my hand with the nominating committee, but I needed people to do the work that needed to be done. In time if things go well things will sort themselves out but when I think of someone else bringing all their old cronies on board it makes me shiver!! Eamonn

Did the patch from the 1977 Jambo ever dry out? Eamonn

I still fail to see how this fits into the meaning of the word political. A word that is used way too much, if you ask me. Ed While I have no plans to go just yet. I think when my time comes and St Peter gets the book out. He will see if I have been a good little Eamonn. He will see if I played the game down here by the rules laid down in that other good book.He will see the Sundays when I was just too lazy to go to Mass. He will see the times that when someone needed a hand and I was just too busy. My Mother always said that I would argue with Saint Peter. I don't think that I will. But if I did, I kinda think he would argue that his boss gave me all the opportunities to do things to get into heaven and I choose not to take them. I can't see me telling Saint Pete that I think that this is political. I think it comes under the heading "The Lord helps those who help themselves." Eamonn

Hi Wolfpack, While at times it might seem that some of us (Me) are a little testy. Our bark is far worse then our bite. At times we agree to disagree. At times the best thing to do is take plenty of no notice. It helps at times to get your own back, write it all down and then put the backspace in overdrive. I'm sure that you and the little fellow are in for a great ride. Please pop in and let us know how much fun both of you are having. Welcome. Eamonn.

I think the prune brandy is pay back for me nipping the Communion Wine when I was an Alter Boy. Yes even God has a sense of humor!! Eamonn

I have a picture in my minds eye of a Scout who looks like Radar from the TV serious MASH. Eamonn