eisely

A one man show is not the way to go. Is there anyone at the district level such as your unit commissioner, district commissioner, district chair, or even district executive, who can talk to this person?

We have not made a big deal of LNT camping in our troop. It is just part of the way that we do business. Many of the designated wilderness areas available to us in California have tough requirements regarding sanitation. It will be interesting to see how our scouts take to that. I agree with Bob White about the tent colors and clothing colors. Frankly I want bright colors to make it easier for others to find us if there ever should be a need.

I don't want to give the impression that I was trying to be offensive. When the expression "single elimination" was used, I took that to mean a single heat per car. It has been four years since I was involved in a Pinewood Derby. As I recall, we usually had a three lane track. We would run three heats for the same three cars, ensuring that each car ran in each lane. This was an attempt to allow for differences in the lanes themselves.

Depending on how many tracks, space, and boys you have, I think some kind of double elimination is fairer and more appropriate. When we did Pinewood Derby, that was all we did for that Pack meeting. No awards or anything else. You also need to award prizes for creativity of design, paint jobs, and anything else you can think of.

In most circumstances, ten feet should be the minimum, and further is better. In my mind, there is one exception to this general rule. Occasionally it may be necessary to stay put in a camp site because of adverse weather. I once built a very small fire under cover of a tarp in a downpour to provide some heat for drying clothes. As long as it is raining, there is little risk of a spark starting an unwanted fire. Obviously, real judgment has to be used as to the feasibility, desirability, and necessity of a fire under these conditions.

How's that for a rhyme? As many scouters and parents are aware, local United Way organizations are coming down hard on local BSA councils for excluding out of the closet homosexuals from the organization. While one can still specify one's payroll deduction be paid to a BSA council, BSA in many areas no longer has access to the general pool of funds that is allocated to all United Way beneficiaries. Apparently the national United Way does not want to kick the scouts out of United Way in general since the national BSA was one of the founding charities of United Way as we know it after Wor

Since you are buying a stove for your son, you need to consider the quality of the supervision in the troop he will be participating in. Liquid fuels are not prohibited and are more versatile. I have used both liquid and butane stoves. Without a high level of training and supervision, non liquid fuel stoves are in my mind safer for most scouts. If you are going to be doing a lot of winter camping, then liquid fuel is probably the way to go.

After I posted this originally on January 11, I discussed it briefly with our unit committee chair at our committee evening that evening. He is an active member of reform jewish synagogue and was very well aware of the controversy. He told me that he was very upset with his local rabbi, who took it upon himself to write letters to all the youth in the synagogue whom he knew to be eagle scouts, telling the youth that they should renounce their eagle awards. Needless to say, our chair, whose son received one of these letters, is not a happy camper. Now I ask you: Who is being intolerant and

I found the following on the internet today: Jewish Group Splits With Scouts Over Gay Ban Thursday, January 11, 2001 By Adrienne Mand Jewish groups across the country find themselves torn over new guidelines in the Reform movement calling on synagogues and parents to break their ties with the Boy Scouts of the America because of the group's ban on gay leaders. AP/Wide World Reform Jewish leaders are speaking out against a Boy Scout ban on gay leaders. In a letter to Reform movement congregations, the Joint Commission on Social Action says the Scouts' policy

Canoe float trips are one of the neater things that scouts do. Normally there is not a great deal of risk attached and it is less demanding than backpacking, so younger scouts and less fit or older adults can easily participate. In April of 1999 I had an interesting experience that is worth sharing. We made a 25 mile trip on the Colorado River, going in below Hoover Dam. From Hoover Dam to the Gulf of California the Colorado is now a series of lakes. There is no whitewater in April, but there can be high winds. Three out of the four days we were paddling into headwinds of up to thiry

As the one who posed the question, I would like to make a positive suggestion. Among those participating in this dialogue there is a clear consensus that agnostics should not, and are not as a matter of policy, excluded from belonging to BSA. In posing the question I forgot about the Eagle requirement for a letter from the scout's "religious leader." My original concern in posing the question was what I perceived to be a steady drumbeat of negative media coverage about scouts concerning the policy on homosexuality that so often would throw in a statement about scouts' alledged exclusion of

It must really rain a LOT where Mike Long is backpacking. His suggestions are very sound for canoeing and/or whitewater rafting trips. We also advise scouts to pack individual items of clothing in Ziplocks inside their packs. However, living and packpacking West of the Rockies, where it is more arid, I have found a commercially produced pack cover to be quite sufficient. The rainfall we get during backpacking season is less frequent, less drenching, and shorter in duration.

The amount of time consumed just handing out awards in a large pack meeting can be a drag from the perspective of young boys. Even adults can get bored with it. One thing we did when our sons were in a large pack to expedite this process somewhat was to hand out individual awards only for major rank advancements such as the Wolf, Bear, Webelos, and Arrow of Light badges. Arrow points and individual Webelos activity badges were placed in an envelope. The boys were called forward, their accomplishments read off, and the envelope handed to the den leader. This provided the public recognition

Having been to Philmont only once, in 1995, I may not be the best person to answer this question. The "bull" patch has been around for as long as I can remember, even as a scout. It probably has been around longer than the Philmont arrowhead patch. The troop I was with in Southern California propagated a similar piece of folklore about the bull, and as folklore it is not bad. As far as I know, there is no special significance atttached to the bull patch officially. The bulls were freely availble for purchase in the Philmont trading post. The arrowheads were handed out only at the closing

Many districts put on a camporee type event for Webelos under various names. The boys camp and participate in competitive events that are age and skill appropriate.

I agree with you Old Greyeagle. An atheist denies the existence of god. An agnostic accepts the existence of god, but believes that god is unknowable, and therefore would logically reject organized religion generally. Does this automatically mean that an agnostic is incapable of performing a "duty to god?" Hopefully others will share some of their experiences and insights to this subject.

Now that the subject of BSA policy towards homosexuals has been thoroughly aired, I thought I would bring up the "Duty to God" question. Most stories in the general news media never fail to mention the BSA also excludes agnostics whenever they do a story on the BSA policy on out-of-the-closet homosexuals. The context in which this information is presented in those news stories is uniformaly negative, in order to present a picture of BSA as a horribly prejudiced organization. So what is the BSA policy on agnostics? I personally am aware of only one instance several years ago in Oran

The Scouter Web Site also has a rather complete listing of all scout camps everywhere in the US, by state. Look under "places to go"

One further suggestion. We found that den leadership at the Webelos level is something that can be effectively shared. When no parent was able or willing to assume full responsibility for den leadership, we met as a group of parents and planned a year program around the activity badges. Each set of parents assumed responsibility for a month's program. With a nine month school year this worked out quite effectively. We still had to have a designated leader and that person agreed to attend Pack committee meetings and Roundtables. But that person did not assume the full obligation for all m

Our unit is being charged $225.00 per participant for a 10 day trek at Philmont the summer of 2001. This of course excludes the cost of getting there. We are anticipating a total cost per participant of up to $1,000.

One of the most difficult words for dedicated volunteers to get out of their mouths is "no." Funny that we have no problem saying no to our own kids, but when it comes to our own lives we have difficulty with it. By staying on until all the positions are filled you are inadverdently enabling the other parents to get a free ride. There comes a time when one has to move on. I suggest that you notify your unit commissioner, chartered organization representative, committee chair, and possibly the district executive of your intention to resign from all positions in the pack on a date certain, a

Running competitions among patrols is an effective way to build patrol spirit. I am not aware of any written materials on the subject. I would suggest keeping the competitions simple, frequent, and short term with immediate payoffs. There should be enough opportunity for every patrol to come out on top and get some immediate gratification to keep everybody in the game. Let me tell you about something I did once that yielded surprising results. The troops I have worked with, like many units, stage "pre camporee" events to practice the skills needed for the camporee competitions. One y

I too noted that scouts in uniform were often strategically placed to be visible in Bush rallies during the campaign, and I too am somewhat troubled by this. While one can expect Bush as a president to be friendlier to the scouting movement, I still question the appropriateness of scouts appearing in uniform at political rallies. National should render some advice on this.

I am always amused at pictures in Scouter magazine showing members hiking through the woods or doing other things in full Class A uniforms. Clearly posed. I think the uniform question may be unsolvable. Having a single uniform suitable for all occasions is clearly impossible. The scouts may find it feasible to come out with satsifactory outdoor products, but there are so many options in the marketplace for outdoor wear, I doubt that the scouts could compete on price. Be all that as it may, there are two less expensive uniform items I still don't think the scouts have right: socks

One should also add that this man is now irrelevant.