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It should be temporary. ALL such anniversary patches are intended to be worn only during the anniversary year. However, I have not seen anything in writting that says this. I doubt we'll see anything from National telling people to stop wearing them after Dec 31, 2010.

"Could not we have a ("approved", by whom?) District strip right below, chockablock the Council patch? Seems to me that would be an appropriate spot... " Well, one council in my state did that for several years. Each district had a strip that went below the CSP (probably about half the hight of a unit number. they stopped doing that several years back. National says no district insignia. I personally can see the reason for it. Districts come & go in some areas. Too often I see some scouters get more attached to their district then to their council, to the detriment of the council (won't support the council, etc). So I can see the reasoning not to over emphasis the districts.

"Are we done yet, or are we willing to settle on no patches on the left pocket?" I don't anyone was disputing that. the Powder Horn medal is a device that hangs from the button, not a patch.

The knot is for everyday wear. The medal is for formal wear. Sewing the knot on the uniform is what you do. For formal occasions, go ahead and wear the medal with the knot. No one will say 'boo' about it. Keep in mind that "formal occasions" is VERY seldom: Blue & Gold Banquet, District/Council Awards Banquet, Troop Court of Honor, etc. The issue is that some people (usually kids) seem to want to wear the medal outside formal use. I was at a Merit Badge College event this past weekend and saw a few boys wearing their Eagle Medals. Not appropriate.

"One thing that is intersting is that the IG say's it's a Venturing Leader, when it was opened up to BS leaders as well a few years back." Actually, PH has been open to BS leaders from day one. When I took PH in 2002, we had several BS leaders. Was never an issue having them.

Have to agree with Crazy Crow. Been using them for years, as have many of my friends. Another popular supplier is Buffalo Chips. They usually run the trading post at NOAC.

"5) Mentoring: - A new course on Mentoring is under development - This Mentoring course is required for the new Leadership Society Award, which is open to Boy Scouts and Venturers" AFAIK, the course was completed a year ago and been held up in 'development'. How does this affect the pin that came out. Will we still get the shirt strip that was originally intended? What the heck is this "Leadership Society Award"? How is this tied in with the National Leadership Honor Society???

"My son was awarded the American Legion Americanism Medal. He was told by his last troop that he could wear it on special Scout occasions. What is your thought on this?" If he was presented it as a Boy Scout, then wearing it at special occasions would be ok. Not all medals we wear come from the BSA. This includes the religous medals & community organization awards (given by other groups & approved by the BSA) and trail medals.

"Don't forget about the Venturing Advisor who wears venturing loops and insignia on a tan shirt. I know he knows better." Maybe. Maybe not. Some Venturing leaders don't understand that the forest green loops are not to worn on the tan uniform. They assume they can still wear their old tan uniform as Venturing leader. As to service stars. I used to wear several (to show my cub scout, boy scout, explorer, and adult service), and wanted them in proper line. So I used a sheet of thin, clear plastic (which was used to hold the collars of dress shirts up that you bought at the stores. I used this to properly space the stars, and I left an edge below them to give me the proper spacing above my knot. As I got more knots, I pretty much stopped wearing them.

Actually, up until the 50s or so, adults were allowed to earn merit badges. By the 50s it was being discouraged (read a few articles in Scouting from that time period that frowned on it). Later, National changed the rules to stop adults earning merit badges. Also, since earning Star, Life, and Eagle just required earning merit badges until the 60s, this mean adults could earn Eagle. The 3rd Eagle Scout was a scoutmasters, who at the time had earned the most merit badges.

"I find it interesting that the red and white unit numerals originated with the Boy Scouts, and now everybody BUT Boy Scouts wears them. So much for tradition..." HA!!! I totally forgot that! Kind of wish some crew would create brown on green number to wear (like the old pre-1955 numbers Explorers wore).

"OK - what color of unit numerals should those in Venturing wear?" Red and white. which some seem to forget (or overlook). Big surprise. Also, we wear the red/gold trained strip, NOT the green/tan one. But I get arguments on that one too. (like in my council. excuse me, I'm the venturing sme around here, not you.)

Got it here in Florida a couple of weeks back.

"Funy about the associate position though...That one sounds like you can pay your dues, but never show up, except at re charter to pay your dues." Not funny, but fairly standard. Most orgs have different membership classes. Two common ones are "active" and "associate". Active members to maintain this status must be coming to meetings/activities of the org (usually a set minimum). Associate members are those who, for whatever reason, aren't able to met the active requirements. They still must pay dues and come when they can. Being active usually gives you more rights/privileges (hold office, etc). For some reason, the BSA can't seem to follow this. I guess the sticking point for them is that for any group that has these 2 classes, THEY and not the parent org, set the standard for active. And I guess the BSA isn't willing to allow troops to do this.

Years ago I tried using a similiar material called 'stich witchery'. It came in strips and had to be steamed on to 'work'. Problem with patches was the plastic backing prevented it from fully working, so I'd have to remove that if possible. Then washing/drying too often caused the patches to come off, etc. so I'd have to reapply the patches... And when the patches did come off, it left the material behind. It could be sort of scrapped off, but still was a mess. Just wasn't worth it. I sew all my patches on. For OA flaps, I use velcro. This is because of a combination of having several shirts and lodges in my area change their flap every couple of years, with the usually 'rule' they want members to wear the current flap. So its easier to switch to the current one by just sewing velcro on a single flap, and I'm good for all my uniforms.

"I guess this means I completed the course" You should know if you completed your course, as you should be in contact with your coach/counselor (whatever the term is being used now). Once you have completed your ticket, you should have let him/her know, who contacts the PTB. Its your c/c who works out with you your beading ceremony.

Huh??? You should have received a proper ceremony. Usually when you work with your troop guide, and he knows you've completed your ticket and reported it to the proper people, he/she will work out when your beading ceremony will be. (they need to line up some people to do it, etc). At the ceremony, they will usually remove your trainee neckerchief, and put on the WB neckerchief and woggle, and bead, explaining to the audience what its all about and the importance of it. Dropping this all off in your lap isn't the way to do it. Did you p*ss someone off?? Is this typical in your council of not doing beading ceremonies??

"Again, "Dates of service used to earn this award cannot be used to earn another key or award" seems pretty clear. Can anyone provide written documentation backing up an exception?" There is a documented exception to that for Scoutmasters who can earn both the Scouter's Training Award and Scouter's Key concurrently. Basically, they can earn the STA while they work to earn the SK. In fact, earning the STA is one of the requirements for the SK. STA is done in 2 years, SK in 3 (in a 5 year period). Sadly, they don't have this documented for Venturing Advisors, which should be the same for them.

First off, why is the scout's mother sewing the patch on? It should be the scout's responsibility. I've been doing that for a long time. They can't hang off any pocket. A solution might be to put tan/khaki velcro on the sleeve pocket to change the POR.

Horizon- you kind of answered your own question. If they are there just as members of the troop, then no. If they are there as representatives of the Lodge (as Arrowmen), then yes. That's kind of the guideline. For instance, if I attend a Scout Show (or council banquet or event), do I wear my sash? Am I there specifically as an Arrowmen, doing service in that capacity? Then yes. If I am there as yet another scouter who just happens to also be an Arrowmen, then no.

"I did not realize GBB had a hand in Aids to Scoutmastership; I always thought that was a British pub, directly from BP." "Aids to Scoutmastership" DID come directly from BP. It was his book for scoutmasters. What happened was in the post-war years, Hillcourt (with the permission of Lady BP) edited both "Scouting for Boys" and "Aids to Scoutmastership" to create the "World Brotherhood" editions of these 2 books. I think it was basically to bring the language up to current use, and remove the 'britishism' of the original works. The BSA and other scout associations (I know Scouts Canada did) published these to be used around the world to restart scouting. You can get paperback edition of these fairly easily (and cheaply) off eBay. the wikipedia article on Hillcourt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_hillcourt lists all his major works, and lists several non BSA works he did.

"I am not as familiar with Hilcourt as I should be. Did he have any out of BSA publications worth pursuing?" Depends on what you mean by 'out of BSA pubs'. In addition to the various BSA handbooks and such he did, he also did: * A bio of B-P ("Two Lives of a Hero") * edited editions (World Brotherhood edition) of B-P Scouting for Boys & Aids to Scoutmastership * Golden Anniversary of Scouting book I believe a couple of books from Golden Books on Camping and such.

"I have a lot of problems with the selective religious affiliations that the Scouts have as well. It's a tough nut for me to crack as well. I am a Christian, but I disagree with the Scouts having such a close affiliation with the Catholic Church and the LDS." Keep in mind that this close affiliation is due to what the Catholic Church & LDS do. While I probably have similiar issue with the LDS association, their association could be done by any other chartered org. People need to keep in mind that scouts just have to have a 'religious belief'. There is no requirement to belong to a church/religious org. There is no list of 'approved religions' or the like. If a scout is comfortable doing his 'duty to God' ("God" being what HE defines) and his is 'Reverant', there should be no issue.

"I feel it is never too soon to take Woodbadge." Nope. I'll explain later. "I feel Woodbadge should be the first step in Scout Leadership Training because it teaches a leader to become a team player. The same way a scout leader teaches a scout to become a team player." Nope. WB is NOT the first step. The first step would be Fast Start. With training, the best thing to keep in mind is to take some training, put it into practice, take some more training, put it into practice and repeat. I think that waiting until about a year before taking WB is best. 9 months at the earliest. Ideally, taking Fast Start once you've taken on a role (hey, its on-line so you can take it now). Also, take care of other on-line courses, like This is Scouting, etc. Hopefully within a couple of months of taking your role, you can take Basic training. Now put that into practice. And then, in 9-12 months think about taking WB. Never think you're done with training, even with WB. You should be attending Roundtable (if a unit leader). take supplemental training, either local (University of Scouting or the like in your council) or national (Philmont Training Center, etc).

ditto on not following what you see others do. This past weekend I saw a Tiger Cub leader who had his Tiger Cub Leader Knot on his right sleeve and his trained strip on his left pocket flap. The 'wear temporary patch above the right pocket' ONLY applies to FEMALE Cub Scout leaders. I thought it ONLY applied if they wore a blouse, not sure if it applies if they wear the standard tan shirt. Using plastic patch holders is great for easily swapping out temporary patches. Some patches come with a button loop. My view is that if a patch comes with a button loop, one should NOT sew it down. But that's me.