Eamonn

Have to admit that I have not been keeping up with all the changes that have been going on.

Today the mailman left a copy of Scouting Magazine in my mail box.

I was interested to read the "Cub Scouts: The New Adventure".

From the very little that I seen, I kinda think some of the changes are good.

 

However, just like all of Scouting's programs, while the content might be good or even wonderful? 

We all know that it all depends on the delivery.

The delivery depends on the people who are tasked with making the rubber hit the road.

 

At the risk of being wrong. My guess is that most of the people who take the time to participate in a forum like this have been bitten by the Scouting bug and are willing to devote a lot of time and energy into something that they enjoy and maybe know a lot about.

 

I served as District Commissioner and as a District Chairman, for a little over ten or eleven years.

During this time I watched the Packs in the District.

Packs unlike Troops have a Leadership Team that as a rule remains the same.

In the area where I live there are very few Scoutmasters with less then ten years in, with the same Troop.

Pack leadership seems to always be in motion.

Adults move from Pack to Troop or quit when their kid has had enough or wants to do some other activity.

 

The better Packs seem to have a hard core team of adults with one or two people who have strong leadership capabilities and are able to not only bring out the best in other people but also in many cases make the entire ride fun for both the kids and the adults.

This is not easy.

 

Parents of children Cub Scout age are, in my opinion the most stressed group of people on the planet.

Today in most cases both parents are working full time, very often not working Monday through Friday nine till five jobs, but all too often working various shifts.

They are paying mortgage payments, car payments and a good many other payments.

They have a good many different groups making demands on their time. Church, PTA and groups that they might have been involved with B. C. (Before Children.)

They might also have had the misfortune of having had a girl!!

So add all the stuff that girls do. (I thank my lucky stars that I only had a boy!).

 

If we are honest, all the wise words and tested recruitment methods go out the window when it comes to many of the Cub Scout Leaders.

All to often it becomes almost a bullying of the adults, the parents of the new Cub Scout recruits.

Any idea of selection or finding a qualified person just doesn't happen,

More often then not the new Den Leader is the poor person who allowed the guilt trip to take hold and was willing to raise their hand.

I worked with a really nice Lady. She was an RN, Her first son, from a previous marriage was /is an Eagle Scout. She had remarried and had another son. 

The Lad came home from School with all the information about Sign Up For Scouting Night, which was happening at his school.

She knew that I was involved with Scouts and Scouting. She was proud of her Eagle Scout son and seemed happy with everything he had taken and learned from the program.

She had served as a Den Leader and Pack Committee member. However she said that she was unwilling to "Go through all that again." The demands on her time and what it took away from her family was just too much.

So she told her young son that if he was willing to give School Night and Cub Scouting a pass that she'd buy him a gold fish. - The kid took the fish.

 

I'm not sure what can be done that might improve the delivery of the program?

Part of the problem as I see it is that when it comes to Cub Scouting the delivery takes far to many adults and these adults burn out very quickly.

The time it takes to serve as a Den Leader who attend way to many meetings is very hard for most normal parents. 

Maybe the time has come to study parents in the 21st century?

Maybe the time has come to see if Dens are the best way to deliver this new and improved program?

If not there is a chance that gold fish sales might rocket.

Eamonn

.    

Thanks for the more then kind words.

Have to admit that one of my main reasons for not being around was, after the change I got fed up with things not working.

Don't tell anyone!

But I put most of this down to me not liking the changes.

It is nice to see so many familiar names and nicer to hear that there is a feeling of friendship.

More then once I think that I might have commented about how the parent or worse still a youth might feel if they stumbled here by accident and seen the lack of friendship..

Hi,

Not sure how or why?

But today in my mailbox I received a note saying that someone had commented on something that I'd posted.

I followed the link but once there got a notice saying  sorry.

 

I'm thinking that it has been at least a couple of years since I visited or posted anything here.

That's kinda strange especially when I think about the amount of time that I used to spend here.

I really haven't looked around the site that much.

But have noticed some very familiar names.

There are of course a lot of new names and that's as it should be.

While maybe old timers like myself might like to think that we have the know, have the knowledge and "Have been there"!

All living things need to have new life. Without it the alternative is not good.

 

Back in the day (Boy do I ever hate saying that.)

While I was on really only active in this forum, I had a pal who was a Moderator on another site.

The site he was on had very strict rules about what topics were and weren't allowed.

One word that didn't follow the party line was enough to have the offender booted off and banished.

This site was by far the most active and I like to think the most friendly.

Friendly to even people who had at times some very off the wall thinking and people that I very well might have called "Twits."

Terry and most of the other Moderators were good about not over-moderating.

This was by far the best Scouter Forum.

 

On a personal note or two?

Yes! I'm still in the land of the living.

No I haven't moved to Ireland yet.

OJ my son who some of you "Seen" Grow up, through my postings here. Is now 27.

He is getting married next year to a very nice girl.

I can't wait to be a Grand Dad and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I have a Grandson, so we can play this wonderful game of Scouting.

My great hope is that I don't ever become one of the old geezers who stand around complaining that things are not what they used to be.

I'm still working for the DOC.

Everyday I'm saddened to see young guys who end up in jail, in my view them not having a support system at home or close to home has played into them ending up where they are.

The dog count has gone up to four.

Friday the terrier that was abandoned eight years back and we took in, is still terrorizing the local ground hogs.

Ollie the English setter who was gun shy and tied to a fence post down in Georgia. Is now eleven. Like me, he is starting to slow down a bit. He still likes to chase the Canadian snow geese who take up residence in the corn fields.

Dudley the Goldie is nothing but ninety pounds of love and rarely if ever leaves my side.

Then we have Jorge. She was dumped in the fields.

She is a tiny little thing who likes to yippy yap and bite people.

Sad thing is that she is so good for both Her Who Must Be Obeyed and myself.

I'm working on bringing her around.

 

I'm really not doing anything is or for Scouting.

My name is still on a few lists.

I receive the odd notice about a dinner or a meeting.

I no longer follow what's new or what's happening.

Very few of the group that I used to hang out with are still involved.

Some of us do get together every now and then, have a couple of beers and try to embarrass each other telling stories  about the times when we messed up.

In my case there seems to be more of these then seems fair?

Well that's about it.

Nothing that wild or that exciting happening here in sunny Pennsylvania

Eamonn    

There are times when I can't help smiling.

 

Her Who Must Be Obeyed will be telling or re-telling one of our many family stories and I know for a fact that she has it "Not right."

 

One great thing about being Her Who Must Be Obeyed is that you never have to admit to ever being wrong.

 

I honestly do believe that she believes that what she is saying is the truth and she has nothing to gain or lose from what she is saying.

 

While maybe there are times when she might be impressing someone? A lot of times the stories go the other way and do anything but impress.

 

 

 

I'm not sure why? But when a group of us get to standing around the embers of a campfire and telling war stories.

 

It very often seems that there are a lot more stories about me, things I've done, things that have gone wrong and situations that I've got myself into than anyone else.

 

None of these stories are lies. Some have been embellished over the years.

 

But what gets me is when I tell someone that what they are saying isn't what happened. They inform me that I'm wrong!!

 

I'm OK with having more mishaps then most people.

 

Mainly because I think that I'm more willing to try stuff that others shy away from. ( That and having a child like sense of fun and wonderment.)

 

 

 

I do believe that some people can if they stick to something long enough believe that it's true.

 

I know a guy who is a convicted murderer. He has been locked up for over 30 years.

 

To this day he believes that he is going to get a new trial because the jury wasn't sworn in.

 

Of course I wasn't at the trial, but my thinking is that even if the jury hadn't been sworn in?

 

It doesn't take 30 years to fix.

 

Ea.

I'm not sure if I really ever had a plan for what comes next.

 

For some time I have been upset with the state of how bad things are, as far scouts and scouting go in the area where I live.

 

I'm egotistical enough to think maybe even know that I am able to do a far better job then what I've witnessed over the past few years.

 

The problem has been and is that I have become very lazy and unwilling to find the time to do anything about it.

 

I think somewhere in the back of my mind I had this idea that when the time came, I'd retire and start over with my grandson.

 

 

 

Long term goals are nice. But goals that are dependent on the unknown and on people who are not party to the plan?

 

Have a nasty habit of just being dreams and remaining that way.

 

Problem one.

 

This goal entailed my son having a son.

 

At the time he showed little if any sign of wanting to settle down and while he did arrive with the odd girlfriend (Some were really more then odd!).

 

The chances of me hearing wedding bells? Were slim too none.

 

But this changed. He has found a very nice girl. Who the dogs love dearly and even has the approval of his Mother!!

 

I seen this as a wonderful sign and was making plans to grab this as yet unborn grandson and get him fitted out for his Cub Scout uniform.

 

 

 

For a while it looked like things were starting to work out.

 

Problem two.

 

Maybe I'm guilty of moving a little too fast?

 

I waited for the right time and made it known to my son that I hoped that he wasn't going to wait very long and I expected to hear the sound of a grandson as soon as possible.

 

The look of shock on his face!

 

You might have thought that I'd hit him on the head with a hammer.

 

He wasted no words in telling me that both him and his young lady had no plans for children and didn't want any kids.

 

The look of shock on my face?

 

You'd think that I'd been hit on the head with a hammer!

 

I explained to him that he was being selfish and that if things hadn't gone as they had. He was to have been one of at least four boys.

 

But the good Lord hadn't seen it that way.

 

Much as I tried, my guilt trip wasn't working.

 

Seems that my empty nest is going to remain that way.

 

 

 

One nice thing about plans that no one knows anything about is that you can go to "Plan B". And no one but you is any the wiser.

 

With little or no prospect of a grandson. I was forced to go back to the drawing board.

 

 

 

Thinking about returning to hands on working with Scouts again?

 

The first big and important question that needed an answer was Why?

 

I don't feel that I owe anyone anything.

 

Sure I'm grateful to the men who years back were willing to invest their time and their energy in me.

 

Scouts and Scouting has played a very important part in making me the person that I am today.

 

But owe?

 

No, I don't think so.

 

While it might be nice to have some reason that has meaning for the ages.

 

The truth is that I miss it.

 

I enjoy the young kids. Love seeing them have fun and taking on new challenges.

 

The idea that they are willing to allow me to see the world as they do. Is a gift. Be it the young Lad who dearly wants to please or the older Lad who is wrestling with understanding the ways of the world and who wants to be understood.

 

 

 

While I'm not always a very nice person and find some adults to be real pains.

 

I'm known for being likeable and for getting things done.

 

That's the good stuff.

 

The bad stuff?

 

I'm not as young, fit or adventurous as I used to be.

 

I'm not as willing to devote as much time as I did 30 years back.

 

The easy thing would of course be for me to find a Troop that is looking for a ASM.

 

But that darn ego gets in the way.

 

 

 

I think this plan is starting to take shape.

 

I'll update you and let you know how it goes.

 

Ea.

I have in the past posted a quote from one of my favorite bartenders.

One night when I was upset about something or someone she said "Take plenty of no notice."

There have been times when after looking at all options. - This has been the one that worked best.

 

While the media seems to want to scare everyone and seems to like telling us how we all are facing nothing but doom and gloom.

The truth seems to be that no one is taking that much notice.

It's a lot like having a box of fireworks that have got damp.

You light the fuse wait for the big bang and ....

Nothing happens.

 

 

This national trend of "Taking plenty of no notice."

Started with all the forecasts of doom and gloom.

Which were supposed to start at the beginning of this new millennium.

If ever there was a case of scaremongering, the Y2K problem, the Millennium bug ,was scaremongering gone wild.

I had friends who stockpiled bottled water, gas and emptied their checking accounts.

Others rushed out to buy generators. Believing that they were prepared for the worst.

Some were really upset when nothing happened.

 

Just recently the sequester was supposed to bring a lot of things to a grinding halt.

While maybe it did? In some places. But here in rural PA?

It was business as usual.

The government may have closed down but the Dow went up over 60 points?

NBC news last night had a story about a group of WWII vets who had traveled from afar to visit the WWII Memorial.

When they arrived the memorial was fenced in and guarded by a Park Ranger (Wonder who is paying her?)

These old timers really are from the Greatest Generation.

They very well might have been upset? I don't know.

But from what I seen they were taking it all very much in their stride. Maybe taking plenty of no notice?

Maybe because NBC was there with cameras rolling? - But it wasn't long till the fences were open and these brave and gallant old timers were enjoying the memorial that honors them and their fallen friends.

 

A few years back the Governor and State House of PA Were at loggerheads. Unable to pass a budget.

I was deemed an essential worker and had to go to work.

But I wasn't essential enough to get paid till things got sorted.

It wasn't that much of a big deal for me. But some of my co-workers who live from check to check., were finding it hard.

My hope is that everyone who is laid off or isn't getting paid, will be OK.

 

My guess is than in less than a week this budget thing will all be sorted.

Then the media can get to work scaring the heck out of us all when the guys in DC fight over the debt ceiling.

Which will once again be ignored by a lot of people,

Who if they have any sense will be busy enjoying an adult beverage and taking plenty of no notice.

Ea.

Tend to agree with not messing with it.

 

Kind of.

 

Much in the same tend to think that its more then just about hygiene.

 

Same as "Straight." isn't about a direction.

 

 

 

Each and everyone of us has our own take on what the Oath and Law is about.

 

We take ownership of it.

 

I don't think that it is possible for us adult members to force or impose what we believe it means to the other adults or youth we serve.

 

We can explain what it means, but this is where having the youth be around different adults comes into play.

 

A Lad can look at us and take what he likes or sees as being a good fit for him and then make it his own.

 

On the other side of the coin, if we are not living the Oath and Law.

 

He can take that and make that his own.

 

This is where us being as good an example as we can be comes into play.

 

Eamonn.

Respect was in there back when I was a Scout in 1969.

I'm too lazy to look up what is was before.

I do remember : A Scout smiles and whistles thru all difficulties"

Don't know about anyone else.

But I can't smile and whistle at the same time.

The only change that I see in the UK Scout Law is #4.

Back then it was A Scout is a brother to all scouts.

But back then we didn't have female Scouts.

Eamonn

I served on an Area Committee for a while.

We were the group that were supposed to work with Councils that were had hit a rough patch.

The meetings were about as interesting as watching paint dry.

I was the youngest member on the committee.

At that time our Area Committee covered 11 Councils.

Other than the people who knew or who had first hand dealings with a Council.

For the most part all the Committee members knew about the Council was from reports.

These reports covered finances, membership, total available youth.

To be fair. There were Committee members who were involved with Training (Mainly Wood Badge) Camping (Recruiting and training Summer camp inspection teams) And the OA (Making sure that Lodges had turned in their reports and what-ever at the right time.)

The Committee met every 3 months. - It tried to meet in a central location, but I still had a two hour drive each way!

A lot of time was spent going over how well or how badly each Council was doing and grading each one using A, B, C and so on.

Provisional Charters were threatened and later given to Councils that the Committee seen as not meeting a standard.

The Standard was not really laid down or in black and white. - It was just what and how the Committee felt at the time.

 

These Provisional Charters are supposed to act as a warning, kinda like a yellow card in soccer.

The Members of the Area Committee are supposed to meet with the members of the Council Key 3 and help them come up with a plan to fix what is wrong.

Again to be fair, I've seen it work really well, but I've also seen it not work at all.

 

The Council I serve has received a Provisional Charter.

After the Executive Committee fired the SE.

Firing your SE is seen as not being a good thing. It also causes problems for both the Region and for National.

Someone from the region as a rule is tasked with keeping an eye on the council until they find a new SE and National has to find something for the fired SE to do.

 

I used to follow the reports of how each Council was doing. But I gave up and no longer receive the reports.

I tend to think. That here in SW-PA. We have a lot of small councils and I'm not sure how they are doing.

Here where I live, membership is way down and donations are also down.

 

I know that I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

But...

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to work out that Program drives membership. Membership drives donations.

When we have more kids, we have more popcorn salesmen, more families who might donate to FOS.

With more members I can approach local businesses and say "Hey we serve X number of families and your support will be seen"

To my mind everything comes back to what's on offer to the youth in the areas where we live.

Eamonn.

I've never been to New Zealand.

There was a Scout Executive in Erie PA. Married to a girl from NZ.

He had lived and worked over there. From what he said to me NZ Scouting was very close to UK Scouting.

Eamonn

For my sins I have served as a District Training Chair. Council Training Chair. Been on a lot of Wood Badge courses -Boy Scout, Cub Scout and the 21st Century course serving as CD before I was put out to pasture.

My feeling is that the problem isn't the number of courses.

It's the quality of the trainers.

As Training Chair. I really didn't see my job as organizing and putting on courses.

Like many roles in Scouting my role was more about training trainers.

So far all the "Train The Trainer" courses that the BSA has come up with fail to do the job.

 

The best train the trainer course was the old Cub Scout Woodbadge Course.

Which was all about adult leader training. - I never really thought about as being what at that time I seen as a WB course.

 

We need to do everything we can to try and ensure that training course are all about the participants.

Not about the course staff or them earning beads, knots or dingle dangles.

The aim of the District and Council should be all about ensuring that the adult leaders are trained. Not about putting on courses.

I'd much sooner wait till I had a trained staff before staging a course rather than having a course just because it was on a calendar.

A good mantra for all trainers should be "I know what I'm talking about and I'm not going to waste your time.".

That doesn't mean that there isn't time for fun or one on one instruction.

 

District and Council Training Chairs can get by doing very little.

But, they should be on the look out for people who can join the "Training Team."

Where possible these people should not be active unit leaders. - These poor guys have more then enough on their plates to start with.

 

The District Training Chair. Should work hand in hand with the District Commissioner, helping identify units that need a hand and might benefit from training and identify people who might be an asset to the District Training Team.

 

I'll bet if training wasn't seen as a waste of time and was fun.

More people would be willing to attend and those who do will come away wanting more.

Eamonn.

My first thoughts were: If it's not broken then don't fix it.

But on reflection.

I like clean.

While it's OK to get dirty.

It's not OK to be dirty.

Back when I was a young teenager, I thought that cussing was cool.

Back then I was warned (And warmed!!) About having a dirty mouth.

At school one of my masters found my stash of Playboy magazines. He must have known that I wasn't reading the articles.

He said they were dirty magazines and would lead to me having dirty thoughts!!

My Mother was informed and she said that this was just filth.

 

I am able to get past a lot of things, but most of the time and in most cases (Not all.) I don't understand any reason for someone being always dirty.

I don't think that being poor and being dirty, go hand in hand.

I have met people who are maybe just a little too clean. - Scared to get their hands dirty or in the case of one nephew of mine who took five or six showers a day.

A little overboard about what good hygiene is all about.

 

At work I have to pat down a good many inmates everyday.

Before I do I always ask each one "Are you clean?". Meaning do you have anything hidden on you that you ought not have.

In a way it's maybe a little unfair, because if I find anything after they have said that they are clean, they also face a charge of lying to a employee.

 

Clean?

One great thing about the Scout Law, is that we youth and adult members grow into it.

I'll bet if you ask a young Lad who has just crossed over from the Pack , his interpretation of the Scout Law, it's going to be different than if you asked a 14 year old, which would be different then a 17 year old.

I have been on the planet for a good while. (Yes I'm an old codger!) Have been a Scout for over half a century!

I like to think that I'm living the Scout Oath and Law.

Then every time I think that I "Have it down pat." The bar gets raised a little higher or I do something or fail to do something which I know has let the side down.

 

Without wanting to re-start any old arguments. I think that maybe with todays interpretation of "Straight.". Maybe we could come up with a word that replaces it?

How about "Morally Correct"?

We did take "Square" out of the Webloes Scout promise some years back when square no longer seemed to fit the bill.

Eamonn .

Help!! How do you start a new topic? I have pressed the new topic button till I'm red in the face! While I'm at it why do I have to go to the top of the page to go to the next page. Please Help!! Ea.

acco40. Like you I was at Fort AP Hill back in 2005.

Looking back, it's easy to see the things that didn't go as well as they might have or maybe should have.

I've only ever been to 3 Jamborees. Two BSA National and one World Nordjamb back in 75.

I'm far to lazy to look up how many Scouts were at the Nordjamb event in Norway. -But our Scouts (I was an ASM at the time) got to hike and mix with Scouts from all over the world.

I don't think our Scouts would like the very primitive bathrooms -A trench with poles lashed together which offered a place for you feet and your back!

Not sure if the menu was designed to ensure that we all at one time or another had to use the facilities?

But for lunch one day I remember having prune soup -This was the first and last time I ever ate prune soup.

 

I have at times been called a bit of an old mother hen.

The fact is that I really do want the Scouts I serve to have fun.

One sure way of someone not having fun, is for them to get harmed or hurt.

This doesn't mean that we shy away from doing things. It does mean that when we do them we know what we are doing.

I was and am deeply saddened when the BSA said that Patrol Camping was no longer an option.

For me seeing a Patrol of Scouts camping and making things work was truly Scouting at its best.

 

I have had chats with youth who either were never Scouts or who quit soon after crossing over from the Pack.

They say that the uniform is dumb, the merit badges are silly and the list goes on.

Kinda strange that those who know a little bit about Scouts and Scouting do see the OA as being kinda cool?

 

I tend to think that if we the adults try and see things thru the eyes of the Scout we are working with we can and do offer things that are anything but prissy.

Some of this really isn't rocket science.

Watch a young Scout crack his first egg in a frying pan. The concentration, the anticipation.

Listen to a van full of Scouts returning home from an event.

A few years back I had a car full of Sea Scouts, who had just covered about sixty miles in a week of sea kayaking.

The night before we had a camp fire, lots of silly songs, jokes and the like and I'd presented them with their 50 miler patch.

These kids were so proud of what they had done, so full of stories about wet lunches and the only little gator we managed to bump into grew a foot every time someone re-told the story.

A truly wonderful time.

Made better by the fact that no one had got sun burnt. In part because every morning the old mother hen was making sure that every one was covered in sun screen.

 

I get to work with a lot of gang members and not very nice young men who think that they are "Bad".

When I tell them what "My" prissy Scouts do. They have a hard time believing it and think it's cool.

What's a real shame is that if only we could get to these guys before they end up in the Big House, we'd all be a lot better off.

(I'm 142 pounds, drink a lot of coffee and have been known to enjoy the odd adult beverage. - I also teach a class of defensive tactics and response in the jail where I work.)

Eamonn

I'm OK with going along with the people who have posted that MB's go along with the skills of the day.

I'm just not so sure about " Low-Rent".

Here in the area where I live, the units that are viewed as being good tend to be in the areas where rents are anything but low.

Not for want of trying. We don't have anything that might be seen as a unit that caters to any ethnic group.

Walk around our Summer Camp and it's rare to see a face that isn't white.

Eamonn.

Seems to me that one sure way of upsetting someone is to tell them that they are doing it all wrong.

Lord knows that I've done more than my fair share of book thumping and when it comes down to being right?

I'm your man! I thought I was wrong once, but I made a mistake.

A good many of us do what we do, because that's the way we do things. Or because that's the way it's always been done.

 

I strongly dislike MB classes, parents who are MBC for their own kid and the idea that a Lad can earn just about every MB out there without ever going outside of his own Troop.

But...

It happens and like a lot of what happens, when it goes on long enough it just becomes the way things are done.

I always seen it as being sad that a group of new adult leaders would attend trainings, see all the good stuff that can be done. Stuff that is not hard to find or do.

Only deep down I also knew that once they got back to their Troop. - None of it was going to happen.

 

If there is one area that over time has become: Abused, misused, confused and maybe ruined by good intentions. It's Advancement and Merit Badges.

Sure, it's easy to point out all the stuff that's in the good books.

Sure some of us can see and understand that what others are doing. Is not the way it should be done and maybe some of us can get on our high horse and call out everyone who isn't doing the way we should do it or the way we might go about doing it.

The fact is that a lot of Districts, a lot of Troops and some Councils have ways of doing things that don't follow the good book.

 

I haven't played chess in a very long time.

Kinda think that if I was a Lad, looking through the books that this Chess Merit Badge might seem that it was one that I could fall into.

Kinda think if I were a SM who had always covered Merit Badges at Troop meetings. (I'm not and never will be!!)

This one might be something that was a great fit for November when it's cold outside, when because of the holiday time will be cut short.

Also think if I was lucky enough to have an older Scout who knew what he was talking about? I'd be happy to let him get on with it.

 

During my stints as a member of the District Key 3. The biggest pain I endured was the District Merit Badge List.

Rightly or wrongly? For a few badges the District Advancement Committee said it would be OK if a teacher went over the requirements with the Lad and with the go ahead from the District signed the card.

In this case. If the Troop does things this way?

I see no harm in a youth going over the material, explaining whatever needs to be explained and doing all the leg work.

Hopefully the SM or some other adult might go about finding someone who is acceptable to the District Advancement Committee to sign off.

 

There is a chance that maybe? Just maybe a Lad might sneak by and get the badge without really meeting all the requirements.

This of course is never a good thing.

But at the end of the day isn't igniting an interest in a subject almost as important as just proving that the Lad is good at it?

Eamonn

Thanks for the warm welcome.

I got really fed up and annoyed posting and writing stuff, only to get an error message when I tried posting it.

 

About the same time, I found myself getting very annoyed and a little fed up with what seems to be an overall acceptance that Scouting in my area is in a free fall and no one seems to want to step up to the plate and fix what's wrong.

As if this wasn't enough?

The debate about gays seemed to have consumed and over taken the forums.

As often happens (At least for me!) I read what was posted the good, the bad and the ugly.

It seemed that people were happy digging their heels in, covering their eyes and ears and being very unwilling to give the other side a chance.

When all that is being said is "I'm right and your wrong".

It just becomes a waste of time. - I don't believe that I'm the only person who seen the both sides had valid points and valid fears.

It now does seem that I can post.

I do still think that this "New" improved Scouter.Com is going to take some getting used to.

It's great to see some new names and new people involved.

Eamonn

Nearly all the problems that I've had with advancement have been due to parents and people who fail to grasp and understand the methods of scouting.

There are times when I read about some poor little Lad who is held up on a pedestal for becoming "The youngest Eagle Scout" or "The youngest Scout to earn each and every merit badge"

I say that he is a poor little fellow, because to my way of thinking he has been cheated or maybe even robbed of the opportunity to enjoy the journey .

 

Some years back when I served as District Chairman, one of my goals was to update and make the List of District Merit Badge Counselors a tool that really worked.

The list we had over the years had been re-formatted but never really gone over and brought up to date.

Some people on the list had moved and the list didn't have the right address or phone number, some people had quit Scouting and no longer had any involvement and a good many of the people on the list were no more, they were dead.

Working with the District Advancement Chair. And the Dean of Merit Badges, we tried to contact or find out who was where and who wanted to remain on the list.

It didn't take long for us to find out that the task was more than we could manage.

So the District Committee (With a lot of help from me.) Made it known that the list was being done away with in six months time and a new list would be made available. Anyone wanting to be on the new District Merit Badge list would have to apply and the District Advancement Committee would approve or not approve the application.

 

Boy oh Boy!! Did I ever get it.

Some people thought that I was being very unfair. I received a few nasty emails and the parking lot meetings held after R/T and other District meetings lasted longer than ever.

The District Advancement Chair. Who was and still is a very nice fellow had requested that unless there were special circumstances, that people not apply for more than five badges.

There was one ASM in a Troop that was on the old list down for 137!

Of course I knew and the Advancement Chair. knew that according to the guide lines that National put out, we couldn't stop anyone being a MBC for more than five, but the guide lines didn't say that the anyone would be guaranteed to be on the list for more than five.

 

Six months past and soon after we had our new list,

The Advancement Committee and the Dean of MB's had worked their tails off.

I was very proud that one of my goals had been reached.

 

A little while later I just happened to be in the Council Service Center when a Scouter from the District arrived.

He was getting ready for a COH that was happening later that week. He had a big stack of blue cards.

The nice Lady who works in the Council Scout Shop gave him the badges that he asked for.

I was a little upset and called the Council Advancement Chair. Telling him that it was a waste of the Districts time, working on District MB Lists and having people apply to be MBC's if at the end of the day no one in the Service Center was checking the Blue Cards.

He must have talked with someone?

I received a call from our DE saying that the girls in the "Office" were in an uproar telling the SE that they just didn't have time to check these Blue Cards.

Oh! Well You win some and you lose some.

Eamonn

How very sad. I kept meaning to take the time to visit him at the Haggis eating festival held near where he lives in September. I haven't been around much since the site changed and I was unable to post Eamonn

Does a "Burner" email kill bed-bugs?

Eamonn

I still get that Error Message.

That's the main reason I've not been around this past week or so.

I do like the idea of people being uniform in uniform.

Something that seems to no longer being the in thing with the BSA.

 

There were a lot of different Sea Scout Ships wearing all sorts of uniforms.

Some just wearing the old working uniform.

Some wearing both the working and dress whites

Some wearing dress blues and whites.

Some wearing black pants and white shirts.....

And the list went on.

 

Of course being as Sea Scouts came under Venturing all of this was OK.

However some Sea Scouts attending big events were made to feel a little uncomfortable at times for not falling into what other Ships were wearing.

 

I think that it's great that the shirt and pants can be bought from stores like Wal-mart and are not going to cost an arm and a leg.

 

All in all I think the committee did a good job.

 

Kepp getting "Error while saving content: SyntaxError: Invalid character"

Have no idea what it means?

Think I'm going to need to have to duck??

I like it!!

Ea.

Just thought I'd mention that while maybe some of the other Moderators might be super?

I'm still just me.

I now return you to the important stuff.

Ea.