eolesen

1) agree on the premise that no form, no ride from the troop. That leaves it in the parents' court to fix

2) make copies.... Our troop med form coordinator lost both my part C and my son's, and I was the one leading camp this year, which meant I was the one saying "no for, no ride" for the previous three months

3) it doesn't look like the binder with out forms was ever opened by the camp staff....

The last two forms were handed in at our gear shakeout for new Scouts. There's no reason the have them any sooned than that in my book.

We took this approach.... Cherokee is local. To him.

It just doesn't get any more local than your own DNA.

SM and MBC both bought the argument, and signed off on his work.(This message has been edited by Eolesen)

My first year Scout is leaving for summer camp and taking the Indian Lore MB. The camp requires that item #1 be done prior to arrival, which is to "learn about a tribe that lives/lived near you."

My son is part Cherokee thru my wife's family, and really knows nothing significant about the culture yet.

If you as a MBC were presented with the option, would you consider allowing the latitude on researching that side of his own heritage for the requirement?

Thanks for the inputs so far, even those who continued to argue in favor of plastic name tags, although I'd said in my original posting it's not an option I want to consider. Some arguments for and against are in http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=271603

blw2, adding the FDL would be nice. It might be an option, and I'll let you know if it is.

Looking at samples, I'm leaning towards the green on tan. Higher contrast and probably going to hide dirt better than the red will.

On edit... here are some actual photos of my current shirt and a mockup of the different color options.(This message has been edited by eolesen)

I've seen a lot of petitions start and fail at Change.Org, but this one is trending pretty strongly... this one has 255,000 signatures in just 12 days.

It is running #2 for the week, beat only by "Repeal Floridas reckless shoot first law that shields Trayvons killer" (which to me appears to be a misguided attempt as more and more un-edited facts come out...).

7 is the area that Cape Fear falls into within Southern Region

I may have been editing that as you were typing your reply...

And congratulation, by the way. Signing up is sometimes the hardest part. It's a huge commitment, but certainly doable if I could finish... (This message has been edited by eolesen)

I've edited this message a couple times... sorry for anyone who was reading it..

Each region and area has some slight variations on the same theme.

S refers to Southern Region... beyond that, the numbers are an encoding of the region, council number, and occasionally, the sequence number of the course for the year.

Just guessing:

7 = Area 7

425 = Cape Fear Council

That's more or less based on cross referencing some of the info in your signature...

My course was WE4-10-2-07, which was Western Area 4, Council 10, Course 2, 2007.(This message has been edited by eolesen)

Why wear my name? At camp, I often forget my own name by the third or fourth day. If I collapse in a heap somewhere due to snakebite or heat exhaustion, they know whose body they've found.

Lots of other practical reasons, the least of which is so other people knowing who they're talking to. With a namestrip, I don't have to re-introduce myself to the new parent who has obviously been drinking from a firehose and can't possibly remember everyone they've been introduced to, or someone who might not recognize me if I haven't shaved for two weeks (or if they've only been introduced to me when I hadn't shaved for two weeks).

As for my son... he's known for misplacing things, so having his name on the outside leaves little doubt that he has his shirt, and someone else doesn't. Putting a name on the inside keeps the honest boys honest, and makes moms happy. It's a little more involved to remove a cloth strip with 10 stitches to the inch.

http://perretstapes.com/images/DESERT.jpg(This message has been edited by eolesen)

I'm looking to order some new name tapes for my uniform and also for my son...

With the "old" uniform, I have a standard military desert tan with brown letters and it doesn't look out of place.

On the new uniform, since I'm ordering new, would it be more appropriate to have

1) green on tan to match the number strips,

2) red on tan to match the BSA and interpreter strips?....

3) stick with the brown on tan and claim I'm color blind

And no, plastic name tags aren't an option, so please don't bring up that discussion... Those things are great for indoor Scouters, but we do too much backpacking and high adventure to consider something that's going to poke holes in my chest or a magnet that's going to fall off whenever I adjust my pack straps...

And yes, I'm aware of the "no military clothing" edicts. This isn't military clothing or insignia. It is my name on a piece of webbing. It's no more military than the flag on my shoulder...

Thanks in advance...(This message has been edited by eolesen)

That said, eagle rays with 15 foot tails don't just rise up in front of you out of the deep in the boundary waters.

True about the rays, but I have seen a 15 foot tall moose rising up out of the waters if that counts for anything... You can't watch eagles nesting in a pine go diving for fish in the Bahamas, or get carried off by mosquitoes as you're trying to tie up your bear bag for the night...

(This message has been edited by eolesen)

Dear God, I truly fear for future generations, for we have now succeeded in bubble-wrapping our children to the point of ridiculousness...

I've seen troops of Man Scouts who also show up with a few boys, and all the men are wearing their taupe & woggle with campaign hats...

Me? Depends on the event. I'm not into bling, especially because most of the adults in our unit are too busy working with the boys to be signing up for WB...

Standard issue for me is beads and a bolo with the FDL on it.

For events I'm at as a unit scouter, it's beads with the troop necker.

The woggle and taupe only come out for a CoH, or a beading if I know in advance.

Before I got my beads.... the Troop 1 necker came out when I was working on my ticket, be it at a district or unit level.

Otherwise, see above...(This message has been edited by eolesen)

I took a crew up to NT last summer, and over five days I think we saw seven or eight other parties on the water, and half of those were at portages once we got off the large lakes. We did the Bear Loop, which is by no means the most remote, nor is it in Quetico.

When I've gone into Quetico, I have gone for days without seeing another party.

All that said, I've never been to Philmont. I can't say how remote the two are in comparison. I will say that NT is probably the easiest to get truly lost in...

Makes sense... all Scouting is supposed to be local, no?

If you don't have physical bodies to serve in one role or the other, double up within reason.

If you can't find another parent willing to step up, politely remind those who don't volunteer that if it's worth investing your time in their son, certainly it is worth a few hours of their time in return... Scouting leaders aren't in it to be uniformed babysitters. And if you're wearing too many hats, you'll wind up missing out on time with your son that can't be replaced. I see that weekly with some leaders who are more interested in being Man Scouts than dads...(This message has been edited by eolesen)

Would BP consider it punishment to have to sing?...

Hazing is all about humiliation.

Singing? Might be slightly embarrassing, but as mentioned, if you ask someone else to do something you would do along side them in front of the troop and allow to be photographed & posted on the internet, it's not hazing.

If embarrassment is considered hazing, then I guess we may as well get rid of the public speaking portion of various merit badges, because it might make a boy uncomfortable to speak in front of his peers.

And let's get rid of boards of review while we're at it, because those might be stressful, intimidating and embarrassing as well....

A troop in my area is considering building a storage shed on the CO's property. Funds and labor for construction are being provided by the unit, and of course, permission has been received from the CO. Until now, troop gear has been stored inside the building.

Since it is not a permanent structure, the question came up on whether or not it would be something covered by the CO's current property insurance, or whether or not the troop should/needs to obtain its own coverage on the structure and contents.

Just curious to get a few opinions.. most of the troops I've been associated haven't had a shed, so the issue has never come up for me before.

"Always wonder what the old timers do when the Gilwell songs come up. Was the song around back then? Were you just dropped from the song? Kindof sad that you can go to a Woodbadge reunion & not be recognized. "

We had staffers at my WB who were Ravens, Crows and Wolves. They tagged onto the end after the Antelopes. I'm assuming the same should happen at a reunion or beading...(This message has been edited by eolesen)

Sorry, didn't see this thread. I just explained our way of doing it in the parent thread...

We do the full year as opposed to six months -- ASPL is elected, and then promoted to SPL after six months, giving them a full year to learn and grow.

It works for us, and has given us some fairly effective SPLs, since the ASPL sees firsthand what happens when you choose your friends to be the PLC vs. the guy willing to do the job.

It's been a few years since I mentioned our way of doing things, but here goes...

Our boys don't elect the SPL -- they elect the ASPL. After six months as ASPL, he becomes the SPL, assuming he's done his job correctly and hasn't stepped down. As a one year commitment, it turns into less of a popularity contest.

It took me a while to warm up to that, but I have to admit I prefer this over the every six months free-for-all that some of you have experienced...

The other side benefit is that by the time the SPL gets around to naming "his" PLC, he has experienced the good, the bad, and the lazy. He knows he has to be able to rely on the guys he nominates, and so far, it's worked out pretty well.

I'm in agreement with evillerams. Ron Paul has some good ideas, and he has a few which are really too extreme, particularly on foreign policy. Isolationism as a policy simply won't sell amongst the moderate independents, and that's who ultimately decides any election.

That's why I do not see him ever getting enough support, even within the Republican/Tea Parties. I also think that rightly or wrongly, him being 76 is going to make a few people think twice. He's got great ideas, but I'm not sure he's exactly a leader as much as he is a thinker.

Cain, Santorum, Huntsman will probably fall out quickly. They might as well save their money and get out now.

I see this quickly coming down to Perry and Romney, perhaps with Bachmann as a VP pick.

Romney is clearly an establishment favorite, but the baggage of Romney-care may not help things. I lived in TX during Perry's early years, and really can't say that I had an opinon either way. The state's economy clearly hasn't suffered to the extent that the rest of the country has. I was able to sell my house there without taking a loss in 2006 as the market was slowing down, and it's held its value (I've been watching on Realtor.com).

Perry is more in the media's gunsights now than Romney, thanks in part to Karl Rove (who knows that if Perry does wind up as the nominee, it will be another 4-8 years where Rove is on the sidelines and won't get any work). Keeping Karl Rove sidelined may be seen as a good thing.

What I'd really like to see... a RNC showdown between Mitt and Rick. I don't like having races decided eight months before the election. Let's get back to deciding this at the convention and not a handful of state primaries.(This message has been edited by eolesen)

I'd say overhyped by some, undervalued by others...

I have had to move three times in the past six years, so I rightly or wrongly, showing up to roundtable or a council event with beads has afforded me a little more credibility with the various cliques that exist within a council whenever I volunteered for something or spoke up on an issue.

And yes, I found some of the curriculum to be absolute tripe, but it gave me a much different view on Scouting (good and bad) as well as helped me forge some relationships which might have taken a lot longer to forge absent connections from my WB course and ticket work.

I was being sarcastic. Aside from bleach and soap, chemicals have no place on a campout.

Next thing you know we'll be packing chemical toilets on Philmont treks.(This message has been edited by eolesen)

I've been pretty satisfied with the Katadyn Vario. It's a hand pump (similar to the MSR Sweetwater), fits over a Nalgene or other widemouth bottle.

Used them up at Northern Tier last summer, where we were surrounded by what looks like clean water, but in reality has lots of floating algae thanks to a giant wind storm years ago which sent a lot of trees into the water across a pretty large swath of the BWCA.

Boys all got to take turns pumping water for the patrol. Only care & feeding necessary was the ceramic disk needed a little scrubdown with a green pad every other day thanks to all the floating stuff. For cooking, we boiled.

I kept scans of my son's blue cards as well as his signed handbook pages.

Came in really handy when we moved twice... and now I have them as a permanent record to embarrass him with later.