frankpalazzi

Inappropriate? Depends on your audience really. I've seen the times change enough where "prudishness" is certainly on the rise. My guideline, and I use this for food too: "When in doubt, toss it out!" You'll never go wrong with food OR skits! -Frank

I have to agree with Jblake here. Why hold it against the boy if you can't round up 3 committee members? Remember, the advancement report the Troop turns in requires 3 signatures for a BOR, and nowhere on the form does it say that those signatures have to be those of BOR members, or even REGISTERED members for that matter. (Only one signature requires a "title."). Of course it's always preferable to use MCs, and I never have a shortage of 'em, lucky me! But the BOR is merely a formality to double check the completion of the requirements. The boy has actually already "passed" upon completi

The American Legion offers an "American Legion Scout/Scouter" patch which AL sponsored troops can wear. Quite sharp, too.

For the past several years our pack comes up with an award for every car! Every car is given a "most-something" award. If it doesn't fit into any traditional categories, we think of a special one for it. Sure, it takes some extra paper and ink for the certificates, but the boys love it, the parents appreciate it, and there are never any disappointments! Also eliminates the "ego-dad" syndrome too!

Ask your council office!! In ours, no tour permit is required for any outing within town limits. Beyond that, we file.

Our Troop and Pack is sponsored by an American Legion Post. We always participate in the Memorial Day parade, and Veterans Day observances (a gathering, not a parade.) We also do a "spring cleanup" of the Legion grounds after helping place geraniums on Vets' graves the Saturday before Memorial Day. The cleanup takes 2 hours max, and the Legion provides burgers, dogs, chips, and soda for lunch. They are perfectly happy with all this and rarely ask for anything more.

HEY! My Scoutmaster in the 70's had long hair AND a pierced ear! (Hi Tom!) He smoked and drank endless cups of coffee too! Look at what happened--I've been in the troop since 1973, I'm the CC, and have no criminal record...amazing. Now if I can just kick the evil COFFEE HABIT!

In the past few years, I've shown the troop & adults the benefits of white gas. One is that it's economical; and two, it works in the cold New England winter where propane runs slow or sometimes not at all!

I just wonder what they'll go after next? I know! COFFEE DRINKERS! That EVIL DRUG, Caffeine! Give it time, it'll happen! Forward to the year 2020: Hear that? It's the sound of a Troop not meeting!

Thanks Meglamatic! Yes, I was using firefox and experienced exactly what you described! Maybe I'll try it again sometime.

I really like this series. Thanks for posting! I'm going to share it with our SM, ASMs, and committee members!

I recently tried filing a tour permit via myscouting.org, and I gave up after about 45 minutes. I find the process difficult (impossible!) to navigate, and I do consider myself to be a fairly computer-savvy type. The local council agreed with me that it's a mess, and it's best to just keep "kickin' it old-school" (fax or in-person). Anyone else sharing my frustration? I finally filed a tour permit entitled "THIS IS FRUSTRATING, FIX IT PLEASE!" in hopes that someone notices.

Sure, anyone who wants to come to one of my committee meetings is welcome to do so! However, as a proper committee, we operate to SUPPORT the troop program, not micro-manage it. If a parent wants to come to the meeting to start a B&M rant about little Johnny, I tell 'em they need to take it up with the SM,it's troop business; it's not committee business. They learn "how it works" after attending one meeting. They either want to join and help, or are bored silly.

Found out tonight what the problem was! Option "A". Although the team had the phone numbers of the SM and SPL, they claimed they didn't know where we were meeting. (they were told). SM says he's in no hurry to reschedule.

I ask the SPL to come to the first committee meeting of the year (August or September) for one and only one reason: to present the initial yearly program to the committee along with the SM. This way the SPL gets to see the adults interacting and discussing the boys' ideas, and even has something to take back to the troop meeting. ("They really liked our idea about a day hike to the top of Mt. Whosiwhatis!!..but they said our November trip needs a little more planning, let's get going on that!"). Helps get the SPL motivated at the beginning of the Scout year. He is not required to attend an

Beardad-- We use the disposable aluminum pizza tins, one pizza at a time, and charcoals above and below to get the inside of the oven about 425. (Preheating the oven on a wood fire is a must!) Having more than one oven going at a time is a plus of course. Tin can rest against the edge of the oven if a little too big for it, but should NOT touch the bottom..it'll burn to a crisp! Some flat rocks or an inverted pie plate will keep it off the bottom. Hope that helps! There might be a little trial and error involved to get it just right, but you'll figure out your formula based on y

Pizza!! Just get the ready made pizza dough (keep it cold until ready to use!) Have the boys roll it out and go nuts with whatever ingredients they want! It's ok if the edges of the pizza tin rest against the wall of the oven (if your oven isn't big enough)--takes about 12 minutes per pie, and our boys LOVE it! Quick, and economical, there won't be a morsel left.

Our camp breaks the boys up into groups, each with a Staff Guide, to conduct the tour. The tours are started in different places in different order, so each group gets to Waterfront at a different time. While there may be some back up, it's not that bad. Camp does not accept pre-camp swim checks, but we check our boys anyway. Granted, a pool is NOT the same as a lake, but we can gauge a boy's ability pretty well by duplicating the test in a pool or other lake which is probably not the same as the Camp lake. With some knowledge of swimming ability beforehand, we can easily help a boy who i

xlpanel said: "People in the OA do many other things in life, and may not have time to fit you in." I'm surprised to hear that....wait, no I'm not. Through 30 years and seven scoutmasters, I have seen the local OA do this kind of thing many, many times. Not the dance team, but the Election and Camp Promotion teams! Example: This week's troop meeting. The OA Election team was supposed to show up to do an election. Two new First Class scouts are very disappointed. (The team had CONFIRMED with us 4 days before.) I just looked at the Scoutmaster and shrugged as if to say "yu

Shop around your local sporting goods supply stores! I use a local shop here, All Sports Heroes, in Lowell, MA. There was a one time setup fee of $25 for the logo, and 6.50 per shirt (sometimes as low as 5.00! Prices change almost daily among vendors). The only downside to doing it this way is that if you want to change or add anything to the shirt, it's an additional setup charge, but they keep my original logo on file, and you have to order in lots of 12, but you can mix sizes. Not a problem, since the shirts are never "outdated".

Yes Phips, I started with the same unit as a Cub Scout on their startup day in 1970, and crossed to the troop in 1973! I just never left! Thanks all for the welcome!

OMG Oldwildernesstrail...yer killin' me!!!! And now, ladies and gentlemen, for your consideration: Beverage to have with pie: Coffee vs. Hot Chocolate vs. Milk vs. Soda vs. Anything-I-Haven't-Mentioned. Discuss! Personally, I prefer coffee with pie. (perked, not drip, milk & 2 sugars.)

Thought I'd chime in on this one, as a school bus driver, and member of a troop that has owned 2 buses over the last 40 year period: 1) Where is the best place to obtain a bus (which also begs the question new or used)? What kind of costs am I looking at to obtain one? We got ours through private schools that have their own fleets, usually they have a few that are not "schoolworthy" (too old), but just fine for private use. New full size school buses can cost $50,000 + (WITHOUT A/C and stereo!), so I think we know to go USED! ) 2) What are annual maintenance costs associated w

Nope. Nowhere. Wasn't quoting the G2SS, only stating my interpretation. Do something contrary to G2SS, file a claim or get sued, and see what happens! Seen it before; been around a long time!

You got it Scoutfish!!! The whole "pointing and shooting" thing was just a theory, but plausible huh? I remember at our summer camp an "Action Archery" course where the targets were pictures of deer and other small game that you would "bow hunt" as you traversed the course. One year, all the targets were changed to bulls-eye targets! When I asked why, I got the expected answer, "BSA doesn't allow shooting at pictures of living things" (same rule implemented at the rifle range too, same year.) Political correctness run amock? Yes! Someday perhaps someone will come to their senses and reali