Eamonn

Not that long back, I was chatting with a inmate in jail. If memory serves me well? I seem to remember that he convicted of murder. He was/is a nice enough fellow. A real hard worker, even in jail. He mentioned that he'd been a Boy Scout and had really enjoyed and learned from having been a Scout. He came from a not very nice part of Philadelphia. Raised by his Hispanic Mother and was hoping to get a transfer to the same jail as his brother was in. Not long after I ran into a Lad I remembered from him being in a local Troop He was /is a Eagle Scout. I asked him what he was

Wow!! I don't ever remember a thread going to ten pages as fast as this! I did read the first six pages but that's as far as I got. I think maybe it's time for me to admit that I was wrong when I said this would never happen in my life time. This local option does seem to make a lot of sense. Of course what happens next? - Is the $64k question. My great hope is that this will act as a wake up call for many of our CO's. And they will take more of an interest in what's going on and who is signing up as adult leaders. I'm not sure what happens when a Lad in a unit that d

Wow!! I don't ever remember a thread going to ten pages as fast as this! I did read the first six pages but that's as far as I got. I think maybe it's time for me to admit that I was wrong when I said this would never happen in my life time. This local option does seem to make a lot of sense. Of course what happens next? - Is the $64k question. My great hope is that this will act as a wake up call for many of our CO's. And they will take more of an interest in what's going on and who is signing up as adult leaders. I'm not sure what happens when a Lad in a unit that d

Wow!! I don't ever remember a thread going to ten pages as fast as this! I did read the first six pages but that's as far as I got. I think maybe it's time for me to admit that I was wrong when I said this would never happen in my life time. This local option does seem to make a lot of sense. Of course what happens next? - Is the $64k question. My great hope is that this will act as a wake up call for many of our CO's. And they will take more of an interest in what's going on and who is signing up as adult leaders. I'm not sure what happens when a Lad in a unit that d

I don't know how the membership fees that are sent to the National Office are spent. Still, even with the falling membership numbers, it seems to me that the BSA ought not be short of the odd dollar. Add to this the other income from sales and magazines and the income that most volunteers don't know about or aren't aware of and I can't help feeling that the BSA is doing OK. Often companies will support organizations in the area where they are located or have offices in. The Council I serve receives hardly any money from grants,companies or the like. The local United Way used to gi

"On the other hand, they would have met the criteria if it had existed." And the dog would have caught the rabbit if he hadn't stopped for a pee! I don't really think any of this really matters. But.. Without wishing to be unkind or in any way harsh. I tend to think that you might have done these Lads a disservice. Because it wasn't around at the time. There is no way they could or might have earned this award. Handing out unearned awards is never a good thing. It makes the award meaningless and allows these Lads to fall into the frame of mind that they don't have to do an

Ive heard that there is a group of Republicans meeting to look for reasons why they lost the election. So far I haven't got any real hard info. About what reasons they have come up with. I'm not a Republican. Maybe it's hard for me to push aside the fact that I don't agree with a lot of what they stand for? It's hard to be objective. While I don't agree with them, I do of course respect them and respect that there are people who strongly believe in the party and what it stands for. Over the past few decades I've started to believe that both parties have kinda drifted toward the m

Hi, Sounds like you are a man with a plan. Do take care not to allow the District to push you into anything that your not ready for. The DE and maybe even the other members of the Key 3 might have a different agenda than you have. Were I in your position, I think that I'd be looking to putting together an adult leadership team that works. A team that is able to get along well and share a common goal. While it seems like a no brainer!! It's worth remembering that the Lads you get to start are young and very new. With this in mind there is a good chance that some of the stuff that'

While I understand global markets and the need for them. I'm a very local type of fellow. I can support efforts to change things half a world away. But more often think that I stand a better chance helping or changing things locally. We used to have a great small town bank. It had three branches all in local towns. The family that owned the bank were part of and supported the community. My Mother-In-Law served as Den Mother to the bank President. They knew what was going on in the area and were very much involved in helping make things better. Over time things changed. Fir

OK, so I think that the NRA is way out of line. But.. Could it be that the President went a little bit too far having all the children act as a backdrop when he made his televised announcement? Years back I didn't have a security system on my home. The truth is that there wasn't that much worth taking and I wasn't able to afford it. While there really isn't that much worth taking today. Some people might think because I live where I do and the house is a nice house that maybe they will get lucky. Hence the need for the system . (That and I'd hate anyone to harm my "Watchdogs"!

I know a fair number of people who have got divorced. Some who were and some who still are volunteers in Scouting. Nearly all the people I know well are men. So of course I'm only hearing one side of things. While many of these guys say that their wife blames the time spent Scouting and away from the home as the reason for the split. I tend to think that there is more to the story than what's being told. Some try and make it sound like this is the start of a new adventure and they are thankful to at long last be free from the shackles of being married. If that were really t

I know a fair number of people who have got divorced. Some who were and some who still are volunteers in Scouting. Nearly all the people I know well are men. So of course I'm only hearing one side of things. While many of these guys say that their wife blames the time spent Scouting and away from the home as the reason for the split. I tend to think that there is more to the story than what's being told. Some try and make it sound like this is the start of a new adventure and they are thankful to at long last be free from the shackles of being married. If that were really t

I spend a lot of years serving as a District Key 3 member. Over the years I received a fair number of reports of things that Scouts had done and things that they had got into. There were times when I felt the urge to rush in on my big white horse, sort things out and save the day. I of course resisted the urge. Why? Because much as I might have wanted too sort things out, this really wasn't up to me. I didn't know the Scouts involved, I didn't know what the CO wanted to do, I didn't know what the Troop Committee might want to do. I did of course make myself available to offer adv

Have to admit to not liking or watching the show. So, I missed this one. Here in the area where I live most comments about Scouting and Boy Scouts tend to be on the positive side. Many people who were Scouts look back and seem thankful for having been Scouts and many feel that Scouts and Scouting does good. Eamonn.(This message has been edited by Eamonn)

Beavah is right on the money when he says this isn't your call. What happened and what happens next is up to the Troop. Ea.

One of my favorite TV shows is Jeopardy. I'm sometimes amazed that when it goes in re-run, I get the same things wrong as I did the first time I seen it. I suppose that either I'm just very dumb? Or there has to be some reason why even after receiving the right answer I still continue to not get it right. When it comes to prejudice? This is a tough one. I go along with the idea that adding diversity makes us better. The idea of people coming from different backgrounds, different cultures and having different ideas and view points working toward a common goal. Is a good thing.

Pope? Have to admit to having never thought of that one. Thanks. Ea.

To the best of my knowledge the BSA doesn't have ownership of any First Aid courses. They do recognize courses from organizations like the Red Cross or the American Heart Association. For some reason the State (Pa.) Uses the courses provided by ASHI (American Safety and Health Institute) http://www.hsi.com/about-hsi/our-brands/ashi/ I think maybe because their services are cheaper than anyone else! I'm not sure why? But the state sent me to become a Wilderness First Aid Instructor. Being as the DOC has its own Training Center it really wasn't that big a deal. One of the in

This part of the course can work and can go over in such a way that it adds to the course. I'm not a great fan of it mainly because I've been on staff on a course where it wasn't presented well and a lot of people had their feelings hurt and got upset. I think just knowing that this can happen should make taking a long hard look at the game a no brainier. There really isn't time at the Course Directors Conference to go over the game and look at ways of ensuring that people don't get upset. I was very lucky in that I'd seen it go about as bad as it gets before I became a CD. As JFL

This part of the course can work and can go over in such a way that it adds to the course. I'm not a great fan of it mainly because I've been on staff on a course where it wasn't presented well and a lot of people had their feelings hurt and got upset. I think just knowing that this can happen should make taking a long hard look at the game a no brainier. There really isn't time at the Course Directors Conference to go over the game and look at ways of ensuring that people don't get upset. I was very lucky in that I'd seen it go about as bad as it gets before I became a CD. As JFL

Have just looked over the Queens New Year Honor list. Seems that I'm not going to be Sir Eamonn. At least not this year. - There is of course the Birthday list. While the list this year seems to more all about the Olympics, I noticed as I was speeding through some guy who is a Master Rope Maker. He got an award for Services to rope making. I'd never heard of a Master Rope Maker before. Love to meet this guy. I'll bet he is an interesting fellow. As I didn't get a knighthood, think I'll hold out for making it as a Peer. Lord Eamonn has a better ring to it than Sir Eamonn. E

Hi Skip, Back in the day, I remember the joy of finding a Bucket Shop in London and booking a last minute trip for next to nothing. Today here in the US, everything is done on the web. I live about a 45 minute drive from downtown Pittsburgh, about an hour from the airport. We have a small regional airport. Arnold Palmer Regional in Latrobe PA. About a 15 min drive for me. Used to be that I could book a flight from Latrobe to Pittsburgh. The advantages were that I avoided the drive to Pittsburgh (Always a pain). There were no lines and the parking is free. The cons were that it co

I have no idea how many people here in PA have guns. I spent most of last week with a group of guys who belong to one of our DOC Specialist teams (Our own SWAT type team, Hostage Rescue team or sniper team. - I was the only member of our Hostage Negotiation team!) These guys, most are ex-military know guns and I trust them. In part because they stand behind me at times when I trying to talk someone down and I don't have a lot of choice in the matter. We were out near Harrisburg PA. A lot of the guys made it a point when we got out early, to rush to Atlantic Tactical a store that

Not in any way trying to hijack the Thread. But.. I haven't taken the time to look back at my old postings. I do however think that over the past few years, I'm not a mule headed as I used to be. I'm not saying that I was wrong! Lord forbid me to ever admit such a thing!! I'm just more accepting than I once was. While we can all advise and chat away here in the Forum. If the truth be known. When it comes to Patrols, Patrol size and what age the Scouts in the Patrols are? We work with the Scouts we have. Some Troops have for one reason or another older Lads, while the Troop

There seems to be a lot going on here!! I'm very much OK with there being different courses for different horses. While of course my ego isn't ever going to allow me to say that what I've been doing is wrong. Still if someone finds something that works for them? Then not going with it, might seem kinda daffy. I'm not in favor of age based Patrols. In part because I never used the idea. I also tend to think that this isn't the way it ought to work. I'd never seen or heard of age based Patrols or New Scout Patrols before coming to the States. Back in the UK, when I was