Eamonn

Hi Barry, I no longer have any involvement with other forums that deal with Scouts and Scouting. I quit posting on one because I didn't like the way one Moderator went about things. Sad thing is that this fellow is a pal of mine. In "Real Life" he is a nice fellow. In the forum he is involved with; at times he comes off sounding like Attila. I don't know the reasons why people post in this forum or other forums? From where I sit, I do think some people see this forum as a way of spreading the word. For some the word is BSA policy, rules, regulations and any deviance from this is something they see as not being a good thing. For others the word is Scouts and Scouting as they see it. They seem to have an idea what Scouts and Scouting should be about. Very often what they see as Scouting is based on the writings of people who are no longer with us. Which I suppose is OK. But to my mind it doesn't take into account what these people might say today if they weren't dead. I wonder what BP would say or do if he were around today dealing with youth who live in some of our big cities and the problems that these youth face? Some people at times do come off with a "Holier than Thou" sounding attitude. How I deal with this depends on the mood I'm in and if I agree or disagree with them. Of course if what they are posting is something I'm in agreement with, I'm not as lightly to get upset, even if the way it is put over is on the pompous side of the track. I tend to use the forum almost like some sort of a blog. I post what is on my mind at that time. Be it what has happened when I took the dogs out, what happened at some meeting or something I may have seen or read. I'm happy to share my past experiences at times even admitting that there have been times when I may not have been right. As for meeting up with other forum members? Every year (Well most years!) On Christmas Eve I host an open house. I invite people to just stop by for a drink, a bite to eat or just pop in so we can wish each other the best for the season. While it is an open house and we have never and I hope would never tell anyone that they just weren't welcome, there are people who we don't invite. Some of these people I have known for a very long time, but for one reason or an other they just aren't my cup of tea. There are some people that are friends of mine or friends of HWMBO who one of us doesn't like very much. In fact HWMBO best friend is someone I see as being a real pain in the neck! Still, even she serves a purpose. When HWMBO and myself are at odds, I think how lucky I am not to be married to her best friend. I think I'm about the same in real life as I am here. I would hope that as time goes by I'm still developing and at least trying to do a better job of being a nicer person. One great thing about Scouts and younger people is that do have a good insight into what people are really like. They are willing if we allow them, to tell us what they think about us. They are also very forgiving, they take us as we are with all of our flaws and weak points. Hopefully they learn, not only from the good things but also from the not so good? As for us? Each of us is in charge of how we feel. We can allow someone to get too us, we allow ourselves to get upset or mad. At the end of the day the only true judge of character is ourselves. How do we feel about what we have done and what we might have failed to do? I spend my time at work with convicted criminals are these guys any worse than the people who didn't get caught? Do the guys who didn't get caught think about what they have done? I'm not exactly sure what makes humans human? But I think having a conscience is a big part of it. Eamonn.

"..know Scouting inside and out..." I read this the other day and was unsure what it meant. My problem is that I think Scouting can mean so many different things to so many different people. A lot of good people spend a lot of their time doing something for Scouts and Scouting, which at the end of the day helps make Scouting work. They can be wonderful examples to the youth we serve and maybe not have any of the outdoor skills, may not be good at working with youth, but at the same time be very good at what they do. I suppose my question is what topics should someone know inside and out? Eamonn.

I have been around Wood Badge courses for a fair while. The "Old" UK course. The old BSA courses and the new 21st Century course. I have staffed a lot -Maybe too many?? I have been around just about (Not All) the Training's that the BSA has offered in the past 20 years or so. Mainly because I enjoy them and also because I served as our Council Training Chairman. Some I have taken as a participant, some as a Trainer and some I have just looked in on. I can put my hand on my heart and say no matter what I have always but always come away having learned something. Reading the Course Evaluations after a few of the 21st Century courses, it does seem clear that people who have attended leadership courses for their "Day Jobs" don't seem to get as much out of the course as those who haven't. Some of the material is very much like the stuff that is passed on at these other courses. Which course is better? The new 21st Century course is a great improvement over the Cub Scout Trainer Wood Badge. The new course is a lot more demanding on the Staff than the old Boy Scout course was. The course (the new one.) might be guilty of trying too hard to meet the expectations of what someone somewhere thought the 21st Century leader needed or expected? I have met with many of the people who put together the 21st Century course back when it was kinda new. All seem like super nice people who know their stuff. I like to think that if we really want to take diversity seriously? That we don't ever look down our nose at anyone. The old timers still have so much to offer, the newbie has new ideas and new ways of looking at and doing things. Just as we accept just about everyone (Even displaced Brits!!) I hope we never get into any silly sort of "My course is better than your's" contest. The course we have now has been tweaked and I'll bet will be tweaked and changed as needed in the years to come. I'm OK with people who say that they don't want to attend. That is their choice. I do think they are missing out on something good. But I'll respect the choice they make. I think if we are totally honest there were parts of the old course that weren't so hot and there are parts of the new course that still need a little more tweaking. At the end of the day each of us is trying to do our best to serve the kids in the community where we live. These needs are not always the same from community to community, sometimes from Troop to Troop or Pack to Pack in the same District!! What might have worked wonders for an English Lord 100 years back, might just not work as well for a African American Troop in Philadelphia? But then again with a different leader? It might be absolutely smashing! Eamonn.

Currency? I don't use it very much.(God doesn't get a mention on my debit card) To be honest as long as it spends I don't care if it has the Queen, the Pope or Mickey Mouse on it. With more and more States turning to gambling as a way to raise funds. I'm not so sure "In God We Trust" is really appropriate? Eamonn

Nearly all Troops in the UK organize and run their own summer camp. There are no Councils, so while some campsites do offer some sort of organized camp, it's nothing like the Council Summer Camp offered by most Councils here in the USA. Summer Camp is seen as a time to have fun,help teach or reinforce skills and maybe do a little sightseeing! We used to plan a camp outside of England every-other year. We camped in Holland (The Scout Center near Rotterdam. A pal of mine was a Dutch Sea Scout Leader.) Ireland (Of course!!) Switzerland (Kandersteg.) and had one trip to the USA and Canada. Along with camps all over England and Wales. Some of the problems are: Transportation: Getting the Scouts and the equipment where it is supposed to be. We very often loaded the vans with equipment and had the Scouts travel by public transportation. Feeding: Having to leave camp to buy food. Some ASM's lose track of time and seem to get lost and when they do return they are experts in how good the Plowman's Lunch is in the local!! Checking Things Out: As a rule, where possible Easter Camp was only for the youth leaders and we went to visit the camp and the area so we could come up with programs that were worthwhile. (Finding a local swimming pool was a biggie!!) We were very lucky in that we had our own fleet of 15 seater mini-vans for our use. But when we took 80 Scouts this was a problem. Of course if your main reason or the parents main reason for going to summer camp is for the Scouts to work on Merit Badges? There is no way (Hopefully!!) That you can offer everything that a Council ran camp can offer. You do need to have enough adult leaders. English summer camps as a rule used to be two weeks. The adults do tend to get "Scouted Out" after a while and allowing them time off is very important. Allowing the Scouts (PLC) to plan the camp is also very important. All too often I've seen adults plan things that they think the Scouts ought to be interested in or they think is educational!! Only to find that the Scouts hate it. Having people with the skills that are needed is also important. If you are planning on swimming in the local lake you need to follow the Safe Swim plan, you will of course need a couple of trained First Aid Staff. We did have some problems with younger Scouts and chemical toilets. (I also never asked the youth members to be in charge of cleaning these out and only had the adults take care of it.) We used to cook almost entirely over wood fires. A large troop can burn a heck of a lot of wood in two weeks!! At one camp in Ireland we had a problem with a few Scouts shop-lifting. Discipline can be a problem when you are so far away from home and sending Scouts home really is not an option. Establishing a fair and workable code of conduct (Yes I know we have the Oath and Law) before you set off is worth while. I really did find that I got to know a lot more about each and every Scout when we ran our own Summer camps. The Patrols camped as Patrols and this made them stronger. I really wish more Troops in our area would think about giving the Council Summer camp a miss every now and then. Not because of cost, just because to my mind it is just so much better. Eamonn.

Done. Ea.

" Do we really have to get the DE blessing to proceed running the district events or can we do what needs to be done and provide the program to our boys?" Providing a program for the boys is something that lies with each unit. District events can and very often do supplement this. I'm not sure if we do things correctly in our area (District) The District Chairman working with the other members of the key 3 select District Chairs (In this case it would be the District Activities Chairman) He or She working with a small committee plan the district events. Very often the Activities chair will call on someone to organize an event. Before the event this person will give a report to the District Committee about what plans are being made, what the program is and ask for any thing that is needed. The District Committee will at times offer ideas and suggestions, maybe at times pointing out why something can't be done or maybe isn't such a great idea. But mostly they want to offer any help and support that they can. The DE does sit in on the District Committee meeting. As a rule he or she just sits there waiting to be told what help he can offer. Maybe ordering patches or checking something out that the committee is unsure of. A big problem can happen when a group does something for very long time with little or no supervision and that is that for a very long time they might have been doing something wrong. As a rule this "Wrong doing" has to do with money and budgets. Districts are part of the Council and district events do need to be accountable to the Council in most cases the go to person on this kind of stuff is the DE who is an employee of the Council. Eamonn.

Please don't tell Kudu! I do have to admit that my time as a Boy Scout and a Scout back in the dark ages in that far away land, were a little like what he describes. While I'm by no means a great outdoors-man. (I hate the cold!!) I'm fairly well versed in what I still call Scout-Craft. Not sure how many knots I can tie? Can do a lot of different lashings. Have done a lot of backpacking and hiking in my time. Have become fairly good at sailing and am still working on becoming a better navigator. I can cook just about anything, anywhere!! Sadly I think I'm becoming a dinosaur! Many of the new leaders I meet at training's look at many of the "Old" ?? Scout skills as being some sort of a novelty. Great things to have displayed or demonstrated, but not something that they want to learn or feel that they need. Without going into which edition of the Boy Scout Handbook is better than any other one. The Scout Handbook is now seen as a check list of things that need to be done in order to advance. Not a book that opens the door to new adventures and challenges. I don't like Larry The Cable Guy (if that's his name??) But it does seem we suffer from a "Get it done" mentality.. Maybe the idea of eating a half cooked pigeon cooked in newspaper and mud is a hard sell to the youth of today? Maybe the adults know the dangers involved? Maybe it's just a dumb thing to do? But boy oh boy did Scouts have fun doing it and at that time it tasted great! I hope I'm still open minded enough to be aware that things are changing. A quick trip into OJ's bedroom reminds me of how very different things are now as to the dark ages when I was a Lad. He has every high tech device known to modern man, I had a bed a bedside light and a book from the local library. I might hate the cold, but he lacks any real love of the great outdoors. Still having said that he is an Eagle Scout. He has his heart in the right place, he likes to help other people and can be a good leader. When I left for work today at 0400 his car wasn't in the garage, he was out putting out a fire, doing his part as a volunteer fireman. Using skills he did learn as a Scout. I fell sure he is never going to enjoy just messing with a rope the way I did and still do, he will never take one extra step as long as there is a space at the parking lot by the fast food restaurant. If he ever returns as an active leader, he is not going to have the same skills I have. He will have his own skills, his own way of serving the youth in the community where he lives. This by no means doesn't make him wrong and me right. It just makes us different. We can talk about "Scout-craft" until we are blue in the face, but isn't the real craft in Scouting living the Oath and Law? Eamonn.

Looking back!! I did when I was a young Scout Leader, back in the UK do more than my fair share of what might be called "Poaching". I was at that time completely and utterly certain that "My" Troop was just so much better than any other Troop. At that time I seen the Troop as a reflection of myself and how wonderful I was! I took more pride than what was good for me, seeing "My" Scouts with arms full of proficiency badges. I pushed "My Scouts" to win each and every district competition as a way of feeding my overinflated ego. Along these lines I wanted "My Troop" to be not only the best but also the biggest. I wasn't beyond telling a young Lad that he had made a big mistake joining the other Troop and pointing out how much better he would be in the "Premier Troop". At that time rather than reaching out to help a unit that was going through a rough time, I was happy to jump right in and recruit as many of their Scouts as I could. While of course what I was doing was wrong and not in keeping with any Scout Law, Oath or Promise. We did have a wonderful program, we were offering the Scouts more than other Troops were offering and the Scouts were in many ways benefiting from my wrong doing. I know now that I was a cocky little fellow who was very full of himself and can see why so many of the other Scouter's in the area took a dislike to me. It took me about five years to see that what I was doing was wrong and put my ego in check. A big part in correcting this came when I started to find out what a youth ran program was really about. Once this happened I was OK with everything not going as well as I would have liked and seen that Scouts do learn from things that don't always go as the adults (Me!!) Might like or want. Ea.

"So does anybody have an idea as to what criteria BSA uses when considering whether or not there is a sufficient population to support a troop/troops?" Hi and Welcome. It can be said that as the BSA doesn't own the Troops, it has no control over how many Troops there are. Chartering Organizations "Own" The Troops. I live close to a small town with a population of under 5000. The local Roman Catholic church charters a Troop, the Presbyterian church charters a Troop,Two Methodist churches charter Troops, the local Elks charters a Ship and the VFW charters a Troop. I feel sure if there was a LDS Church in town they would also have a charter. Troops are seen as the youth program of the organization of that charters them. While many Scouter's think that there are too many Troops in some areas there is never going to come a day when any Council or National is ever going to say that is so. One of the requirements for Quality District is to end the year with at least one more unit than the District had at the start of the year. So if two units fold you need to start three!! This can at times be a real problem. For a while many Councils and Districts "Started Venturing Crews" as a way to kinda get around the requirement. Of course this in time came back to bite everyone in the tail. Some of my good friends really do think that the reason why the BSA is so keen to have more and more units is because they know that over time weak units become strong and even strong units do have a habit of one day just not being there anymore. I'm not sure about that?? As volunteers we need to look at what we are doing and view it as a kind of stewardship. The units we serve are never our units they belong to the CO but we build them and take care of them for the youth who will one day join. The Scouts we serve today will in time be gone and if the unit is to survive we need to ensure that we have a strong foundation are welcoming new blood and are open to new ideas and change. I have seen a good number of really great Troops fall apart and fold when a SM has for some reason had to leave. The sad truth is that "One Man Bands" can do a great job, but in time we all go and when these guys go all too often so does the unit. I have to admit if I were the District Chairman in your area, I'd be pushing the Membership Committee to tart at least five or six more Troops. Eamonn.

The Council I serve has term limits on some positions. Council Presidents and District Chairmen serve a 3 year term. Council Vice Presidents serve from year to year. While I think that maybe a five year term might work better, I'm OK with the three year term. One position that doesn't have a limit is Commissioner. Our Council Commissioner is a very nice fellow, who over the years has donated a lot of money to the Council. He has been Council Commissioner for at least 12 or more years. There have been times in the past when it has seemed that he has been a little too close to the SE. When it was very clear that the SE was not doing a good job. Do other Councils have term limits and do these apply to the Council Commissioner? Ea.

This really is something that the Scout and the MBC need to deal with. If I were the SM I'd be more than happy to pass the buck. As for the "Life Lesson"? HWMBO does have a habit of moving things to where she thinks they need to be (Normally out of sight!). At times she forgets where she has put them. One could of course argue that I'm to blame for not keeping them out of sight in the first place? Or that knowing she is going to move them have a designated place that she she put this stuff. I'm wondering how many blue cards have ended up as a blue glob after going through the laundry? Eamonn.

I was /am?? A member of the WB Cuckoo Patrol. I attended a Scout Course back at Gilwell in the early 1970's. Ea,

I really haven't read that much about what the BSA did or how it did things back in the days of the great depression. In fact I have to own up to not having read anything! I attended a meeting for work about the budget cuts and way s we could save money. It does seem that that the further anyone is away from the money (Paying the bills, costing materials and trying to work within a budget.) The more they seem to think that money is just there and will always be there and it really has nothing to do with them. Very often it isn't until something bad happens, like job cuts that they find out that funding and cash is never limitless. Back when I was Scouting in the UK, volunteers did a lot of the things that professionals do here in the USA and there were very few professional Scouter's. While there are still a lot less than here, even the UK has felt the need to hire more and more. While at the same time the National Scout Association has sold off a lot of property that it once owned and operated. Most of this was sold to Districts and Counties who still use it for Scouting. Here in SW PA we still have a lot of smaller Councils. Back when I first sat on our Council Executive Board, the board consisted of mainly local small town business men. Someone would say that the Scouts needed a something or other and a board member would tell the Scout Exec. That he had one and to come and pick it up or a board member would offer to write a check in order to get one. Todays board is full of people who are there because the company they work for feels that they need to do something in order to support the companies Corporate Responsibility. Sure these guys are willing to donate a few extra dollars and will play in the golf outings, eat dinner at the fund raising dinners, but they don't have the resources or the authority to really help the Council. Of course as these companies cut back or move to India or China these guys are gone. Along with them goes the cash they did donate. The Board once seen by these people as a place for networking is no longer as attractive as it once was. The days when we could do things locally are long gone. Donations to charities are no longer just donations, they are seen as part of th overall company image. A very good friend of mine is the CEO of a mid-sized department store chain. A super nice fellow. I have tried to get him and his company involved with Scouts and Scouting. He tells me that he has thousands of requests each year from people like me. The company sells mainly to women who buy high end fashion type stuff?? So the company supports Breast Cancer research, mainly because it fits in with the company profile. Our next door neighbor is a is metro-council. Up till now it seems that they have been lucky. With so many big companies headquartered in their area money has not been a big problem, however in the light of todays economic crisis many of these companies are cutting back and some are moving away. Maybe a big Council is a bit top heavy with professionals who are not doing very much? There is no way the small Council I serve can cut the Finance Director, the Field Director, The Senior DE's or the Assistant Scout Executive -We don't have them to cut! We have six professionals and a small office staff. There is talk about merging Districts and maybe cutting one of the Pros. Bringing the staff down to three. The short term savings would be substantial, but I don't know about the long term effects. Who is going to plan the big fund raising events? The DE who now spends half their time on the road getting from one end of the super-sized district to the other? The SE who is buried in a mound of paperwork which might result in bringing more much needed cash into the Council? My Mother-In-Law lived through the great depression. While I wasn't around it does seem that the expectations that people had back in those days are not the same as the people today. Hopefully we are a long way from "Will Work For Food". But to be honest I just don't see anyone today being willing to do this. I'm sure that Scouting will still be around for a very long time. I just worry what it will look like after it has suffered the cuts that might have to be made. I'm all for having volunteers becoming more involved and more active. I'm just not sure that we have the manpower to do this? Eamonn.

The unemployment numbers for the USA came out today. The news as we all know isn't good. I thought we (My family) were safe from just about everything. Then on the local news it said that a local hospital (Not the hospital that employees Her That Must Be Obeyed) had cut 12 staff and were not replacing any of the outgoing staff. From what the news said these 12 were jobs that mid-management type jobs and I'm guessing paid fairly well. The State has made several cuts and have a hiring freeze on. While so far I haven't heard of anyone being let go. The budget is very tight and things are hard. Many of us lost a fair amount of money last year. Of course no one was happy about it. The good news?? If there is any! Is that the money I lost I wasn't planning on using for a while. However talking with some of the guys who help look after the Councils money they say that the funding that the Council receives from the interest from the endowment fund (They have a very complicated formula about how much of the interest can be moved from the endowment fund to the general fund it's based on a percentage.) Just wasn't there. The end result being that cuts are going to have to be made. I kinda think that FOS is really going to be a hard sell this year. Some parents who have signed their Son's up for the Jamboree are now unsure if they will still be able to afford it. I was hoping that the Council would announce a new lesser price tag now that the cost of gas has gone down and the cost of travel isn't going to be as high. Sadly, so far the companies that they are dealing with have not said that they are cutting the cost. Why? I'm not sure! We are lucky that the Jamboree site isn't that far, but I do feel sorry for Troops that are traveling cross country and have very large price tags. I have to admit that I missed the world jamboree because I couldn't see spending over $10,000 for OJ and myself to attend and that was when things didn't look as bad as they do now! Maybe I have just been reading too much about how bad things are? But I do worry what our Councils are going to look like after all this doom and gloom is finally over? I do worry if we might lose more youth members because families are unable to afford what we are offering? Eamonn

Sadly to say back when I was a Key 3 member I did sit through a few of these very long and at times very boring B&G. I really do think that the people who are in charge of these events forget that the event is for the Cub Scouts not about putting the person in charge in the spotlight. The idea of a B&G is that it is a Birthday Celebration. I don't see any real reason why all advancement needs to be done and in the bag by Feb? Most packs try to have it done just before the end of the school year. Tiger Den meetings are hard to hold during the holidays. But with the right planning and good communication many of the events that most families have can still be done as a Den. I'm thinking that in our area most of the small towns have a Christmas Parade, we have a few places that have wonderful spectacular displays of Christmas lights. Even the local Mall invites Cub Scouts to walk in their parade. It might be an idea to put together a list o these kind of things in your area and pass it on to next years Tiger Den Leader. Ea.

Baden Powell House in London still puts out a very good breakfast. OJ wasn't so sure about having stewed tomatoes for breakfast! Ea.

I know this isn't very Scout like. But I was invited to attend a meeting to discuss what the Council I serve is doing. It was on a Monday night. I found out who was in charge of our celebrations, someone I just can't stand! So I stayed home and watched the Antiques Roadshow on PBS!! I'm sure that this guy doesn't think much of me so I'll bet he was happy that I wasn't there. Sad thing is that the Antiques Roadshow was a re-run of one I'd already seen. I wonder if someone up there was sending me a message? Ea

In our area May and October seem to be the months with the most Council and District activity. Having been a District Chairman I know how hard it is to avoid over-booking. We start with the 52 weekends in a year. Lose about five for Holidays. (Easter, Mothers Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year) - 47 We have cut back on the length of summer camp from eight weeks down to only six, but have a week set up and a week for tear down. - 39 The OA has 4 weekends. -35 Wood Badge takes two more -33 Scouting for Food one more -32 Training weekends 4 more - -28 NYLT -2 more -26 The council doesn't have anything going on during the School summer break except summer camp . School is out by the end of May and returns about the start of September 20 more less the 8 for summer camp making it 12 leaving 14 free. The District has four sometimes five Camporees - 9 free. District First Aid Competition - 8 District Pinewood Derby -7. District Day Camp -6 District Cub Scout Olympics -5 Council Religious Retreat -4 Troops doing one outdoor activity a month = - 8 Sad thing is that very often the same people seem to get tied up and involved in many of these activities (I know, been there, did that and incurred the wrath of HWMBO!) No one seems to want to do anything in December, January. I was always busy in February, rushing from one B&G Banquet to the next also this was when we did the Community FOS kick off. Everyone is busy in September with recruitment and restarting full activities after the school break. Most Executive Boards and in our Council the past few Council Presidents have no idea what is going on at the program end of things. Overbooking is just something that is a fact of life. Even though we try to avoid it. No one is expected to be at every event and really doesn't need to be at all of them. Just as I'd never tell anyone how they ought to spent their hard earned cash, I'd never tell them how to use their free time. Each of us has to choose what we want to do. Some events are just good fun and I'd rarely miss them! I used to try and get to as many as I could. Now I try and avoid as many as I can! Eamonn.

Wondering what other Councils have planned to mark the celebration of 100 years of Scouting here in the USA? Ea.

We had one little fellow who didn't seem to have any problem eating just about anything that was there was available. His parents came to visit us at one weekend. There he was having a full breakfast: Eggs,Bacon Baked Beans, Fried Bread. His mum nearly passed out. She said "He doesn't eat any of that at home! I think there were a few changes to the menu when he got home! Ea

Wow!! I have been an adult leader for over 30 years. Done some really dumb things. Never had a Scout or parent accuse me of anything and never felt the need to rush out and buy any kind of an umbrella policy. Maybe I'm just relying on the luck of the Irish? Eamonn.

As ever at this time of the year I spent some time thinking about what I'm going to do in the coming year (Maybe I'll post that a little later.) And looking back at the past. When I do look back, I'm really happy that I was involved in Scouting (Still am!) and I look back with great love, affection and feel truly honored that so many kids have spent their youth with me. I really have no idea how many Scouts I have been privileged to serve. However, when I pull the old photo albums or crank up the old movies I can still name each and everyone of them. Many were just run of the mill everyday Scouts. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Some stand out for making me laugh more than others. Great kids who really enjoyed being kids and took life by the scruff of the neck shaking out every enjoyable moment. Some Scouts seemed to have a knack of not only always getting into hot water but also somehow managed to get caught! These were not bad kids or bad Scouts, just Lads who suffered from a little "Judgment Impairment". Of course at the time I gave my best stern talk and at times threatened them within an inch of their life. While all the time remembering when I'd done very much the same sort of thing. Kinda strange how many of these Lads became policemen! There are some faces that are of Scouts who no matter what seemed to always get hurt. Little John Ofen takes the prize for this. No Scout in the history of Scouting ever got hurt as much as John. If he as cooking he somehow manged to get burned, if he was using a sharp tool he got cut. If we were on a hike he was the Lad that always got stung. One year the Troop had two patrols place first and second in our District Campcraft Competition. They went on to participate in the Central London Windjammer Competition, organized by the residents of Roland House. The year that John participated the competition entailed traveling all around London. John ran out in front of a car and suffered a broken leg. The other Patrol went on to win the competition. The prize for winning was having custody of an enormous plaque which would have the Troop name added to it. The plaque had for some reason a big Windjammer made out of bronze on it. The winning Patrol took the plaque to john who was in the hospital, they placed it over his hospital bed. It of course fell hitting John on the head knocking him out and cutting his head. He needed six stitches. A good friend of mine Jeff Biddle who was from Juanita Valley Council, used to have me in stitches telling stories about a Scout named Pletcher. I never really knew if there ever was a Scout named Pletcher? But he was another Lad who was one of them Kids!! While of course none of us likes to see any child hurt or harmed in any way, some stories are worth retelling. Eamonn.

While I know at times I have jumped in with both feet, wagging the finger when someone has posted some activity that I thought was unsafe or in my view just plain stupid. Sometimes, I might even have been right!! I do however feel that we (Many of us, me included.) Are at times a little too quick to find fault in others. A few years back I attended a week long conference at Philmont Training Center, looking at the delivery of Commissioner Service. One female Council Commissioner seemed to want to make everything about youth protection! Each and every role playing situation she somehow seemed to make into a situation that somehow violated the YP Guidelines. By the end of the week she had almost send me to the nut-house.I was really happy that I didn't serve the same Council that she did. While of course some activities are not allowed and some should be held back until the Scouts reach the right age. It does at times seem that we are in a rush to beat people over the head with some sort of rule book. Often when no rule has been broken or when no rule is even there. When it becomes clear that there is no such rule, rather than just saying "Hey I'm sorry, I was wrong". The fall back is to blame the insurance or lack of coverage. Again most times this is based on a whole lot of balderdash and not based on fact. For about 12 years I served as a Member of our District Key 3. I seen a lot of units do activities that I knew I wouldn't be involved with. At times I questioned the wisdom in them participating in these events. None were violating any BSA,State, or as far as I know federal laws. Just things that I was not happy with. When this sort of thing came along. I made the choice to trust in the judgments of the adult leadership in the unit. Like it or not the CO had deemed that these people were the people they choose to be in charge. Then of course there are parents. I know as a parent I want to know what my kid is going to be doing and know that he will be safe doing it. If he isn't I don't have a problem telling him and the adults in charge that he isn't going to participate in whatever the activity was. As a parent I don't need any rules or guideline for this, I'm happy to go with my guy feeling. Then of course there are the Scouts, while as we all know at times they lack good judgment and many seem to think that they are never ever going to get hurt or harmed. I know a lot of kids who will look at something and say "No way!" With so many Scouts, so many adults, so many activities there is no way the BSA can have guidelines on everything. So the CO needs to ensure that they have the right people doing the job and doing things that they are OK with. The adult leadership has to be people that we can trust. If we can't trust them? Then they need to be removed. Parents need to know what their children will be doing and if need be be willing to not give permission. Districts and Councils need to train the adults and provide the resources as to where the real guidelines can be found and provide kindly people who can explain what the rules are and why they are in place. There is of course still going to be a few twits who can't be trusted. That's just the way things are! But rushing to beat good people over the head with rules and regulations that very often just are not there is a disservice to everyone. Eamonn

All of us know and are aware that change is inevitable. How we manage it? Seems to be a very personal thing. I hate seeing winter come along. I dislike the cold. I do ensure that I'm ready for it. Making sure I have the furnace checked and a good supply of heating oil. I dress for the cold. But the fact remains that I don't like it. HWMBO loves winter and has a totally different outlook on this winter season than I have, but she still makes much the same provisions that I do. Some adults in Scouting seem to want to somehow safeguard what they see as being Scouting. At times when I chat with these people the organization (whatever that means??) seems to come first and the boy/youth come a little later. Many of these guys are great guys and wonderful Scouter's. But they just like things as they are and see any change as a step on some sort of downward path. Then there are some who seem to want to change everything! Sadly many of these people seem to focus on one or two things that they don't like and are willing to throw the baby out with the bath-water. I'm not exactly sure where I fit into these groups! To be very honest, I really don't find that the "Organization" gets in my way! I'm free to do do just about anything I want to get the job done (The job being meeting the vision and mission.) I like to think that I'm open minded enough to still be able to see the world through the eyes of the youth that I'm trying to serve. I'm happy to allow people to learn from their mistakes, even if at times it does upset them. I'm happy that I have a sound foundation of the "Old" traditional skills, but am willing to learn the new skills that are out there and the youth are using. I'm 100% sure if I wanted to make an all out effort to recruit any group the local Council would do nothing to prevent me doing so. I bumped into a old time Scouter from our District the other day. A super nice fellow and a great asset to our District. He was having a moan and groan that since the Council newsletter became only available via email that he doesn't know what is going on. I offered him one of my older laptops. He refused saying that he wanted no part in this new stuff. Sad as it might be there is just way that we can help people who don't want to be helped and are unwilling to change. I really don't think that the sky is falling. I do think that we are going to see some changes. But for most of us we will continue to do what we do trying to deliver the best possible program to as many kids as we can. Sure the uniform might change, we might recharter on line, we might receive more training on line, the YP guidelines might become a little more stringent. But for me it's all about relationships. I enjoy the company of the adults in Scouting I really enjoy the youth we serve I think it's a gift to be able to watch them mature and grow. Maybe I re-invent myself everyday? Or maybe I'm heading the way of the Dodo bird? As of right now I'm happy and no one is pestering me. So life is good. Eamonn.