Gags

Scoutfish - As "fate" would have it, I just read an interesting article as to the source of the "under God" addition to the Pledge. Seems it was taken from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: http://www.firstthings.com/article/2010/07/god-and-gettysburg YiS, Gags

"Personnally, I don't give a rat's ass if the service doesn't satisfy some Catholic, Shiite, Methodist or a Rabbinical Jew. So what? That is not the purpose - they need to get over it." Acco - There's nothing to "get over". My comment, which I believe you were responding to, was trying to correct the impression that was given that Catholicism "rejects" (Beavah's original term) using a Scouts Own (SO). By saying "they need to get over it", you imply that there's a group of believers somewhere lobbying against the use of a SO (well, maybe that _is_ what we're trying to do here?) b/c it do

This was already clarified, but wanted to add my two cents. When Beavah stated in the original post that "our generic services are rejected by Catholics, LDS, Muslims, and many protestant denominations", it's not that a Scouts Own goes against Catholic teaching, but just that a Scouts Own does not satisfy the obligation to attend Mass on a weekly basis. Another comment got me thinking - "He mixed OT, NT, Koran, Bhagavad-Gita (sp?), and assorted other sacred documents trying to claim that God is the same everywhere. It's just not so." Perhaps we need to stop thinking about Scouts Own as

Good afternoon, My troop will be going Camp Marriott @ Goshen Scout Reservation next week. This will be the first time they've done patrol style cooking at summer camp. I've done "heater stack" (prepared by staff, served in site) there, but never patrol cooking. Any tips as to what equipment they should bring? Since I'm not going, I haven't been that involved in the planning, but I don't believe a clear list has been issued by council listing actual cooking equipment (except for the request to bring empty egg cartons to transport the eggs back to the site). YiS, Gags

Sorry - couldn't resist, but: "That's why it is spherical...and a thermometer is mounted at the precise center of the interior of the sphere. They are usually painted black with a special paint that absorbs radiant energy very well. I saw one that had to be coated with carbon black." So if the thermometer is in the middle of a sphere painted black - how do you read the temperature? Or is this one of those philosophy / quantum physics tricks - theoretically it is both hot AND cold out? (IIRC, the actual "experiment" was that the cat was both alive AND dead inside a closed box). Is thi

Can you set up a pinewood derby track? That should definitely attract boys, and keep them occupied while parents get the "heavy sell".

PB - Is this a 360 review of yourself, your troop, or for you to conduct on others? That may help shape some of the answers. My company utilizes a 360 review for our annual assessments, and includes input from our clients as well. We have a set of "core values" and a additional skill-based competencies that are the same for everyone. What's different is the expectations to perfom at each level. Junior staff may need to show a "writing" competency by contributing research to a deliverable, while Sr. staff would be evaluated on their "writing" ability to be the main author for whole del

Prairie, I haven't heard of anything heading down that way from DC. Try calling the NCAC HQ (301-530-9360) - they may be organizing a bus trip, but I haven't heard anything about it if they have. I believe they have a "Fairfax Connector" bus that runs down to Woodbridge, but that may only run during rush hour, which would be the opposite direction you want, and still leave you at least an hour short of AP Hill. I would consider just renting a car at National Airport for the day, or look into joining the "Zip Car" program (car rentals for city folks - not sure what the cost is). If

Thanks JH. I guess what I'm trying to determine is if anyone is aware of CO's that account for donations to their troops on their own (CO's) books or respective tax returns. Subsequently, if the CO tracks it for receipt purposes, can it still be deposited into the Troop's account? YiS, Gags

Received an interesting question from our COR after I had made a request for our CO's EIN (employee ID #) for a grant application - if the CO "owns" the troop (I'm using that as an all encompassing term - I'm aware of the multiple threads reguarding who owns the equipment, etc.) how are donations accounted for? My intial explanation to try to explain why the troop doesn't have an EIN: "While Scouting owns the program material, its the CO that really owns the troop. Thus, contributions given directly to troops are actually considered to have been given to the CO." I phrased it this way

Also to clarify - I always understood this to be part of the "urban legends" category - youth protection training is basically about not having any one-on-one contact with youth. Two deep leadership is more of a G2SS (Guide to Safe Scouting) requirement. Related, yes, but understandable that it would not come up in a discussion of preventing child abuse. Is a good way to prevent abuse having 2 adults always present? Yes, but the 2 adult rule only applies to outings - you can still have a troop meeting with just one (or none!) adults present. -Gags

I think what you've laid out is good for areas where there is expected use by the public. IIRC, unless it's in bold type, the G2SS is a "guide", and not requirements. You seem to already have a good idea of what areas will be for which ability levels - you can always stick a cone or two along the shoreline in case one rock looks like another. But like Beavah mentioned - you know your kids best - I would think a non-swimmer would be afraid to go out much past waist deep water - but maybe you have that one daredevil who leaps before he thinks, and is likely to forget he's a buoyant as a stone

fairly common in most sporting goods stores are hiking shoes w/ waterproof/breathable liners. I havd a pair of Merrels (although they fell apart very quickly, it seems like they have a good return policy, and others I know have had no problems.) They're usually in the $60 (on sale) - $99 range.

Rumour has it that he had whittled the choices down to either a fleur-de-lis or frog legs. Yet another momentous decision point in the timeline of history that too often goes unnoticed by the ungrateful masses. :-)

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I think SSScout has convinced me to go with the 3 pole system - as the whole camporee will be a timed event, the less time spent doing a "reset" to get the tubes / tires in the right order, the better. I'm still considering the tires, may need to stop by a junk yard or tire place and check on availability - I'm thinking motorcycle tires may work best - actually drove by 3 that were on the curb, but didn't grab them as I was worried about how to keep everything uniform (why does the Panther patrol get to carry the training wheels while the Cobra patrol

Our Fall Camporee is an "Amazing Race" theme, and I came across the following "brain teaser" - ideal for a "Survivor" immunity challenge, but just as good for my purposes. It's called "The Tower of Hanoi", description here: http://www.shurdington.org/Downloads/TowerOfHanoiPuzzle.pdf Side note - take some time to look through their main downloads page - a wealth of good information (and good diagrams!) to be found - http://www.shurdington.org/downloads.htm. Anyway, I'm looking for some thoughts as to how to construct this on a larger scale for use during a camporee event. I was thi

Kudu - welcome back! (or maybe I just haven't been checking the boards enough recently?) Regarding the ppt slides - it wasn't readily apparent to me at first - but there are "speakers notes" at the bottom of each page - you may need to expand the area at the bottom of the page to see it all. They only add a little more information than just the bulleted slides, but they may be helpful to see (looks like the deck creator got tired of typing notes 1/2 way through - they only repeat the bullet points after a while). If you're not used to powerpoint, there is also an option to print just t

I think an area an FAQ would be most helpful in would be a listing of "Scouting Myths" or "Urban Legends". A thread on the topic has popped up every now and then, usually with the same general questions (sheath knives, patrol camping, "blue card" issuances, etc.) Another option is to create "sticky posts" that always show up at the top of dicussion lists, containing either information for new list members, or previously closed discussions that the moderators / members have found the most helpful.

Firescouter, Yes - Reqs 1A & B are often done together. Usually with scouting requirements, when it say "make a written plan" (love the fact that they thought it necessary to clarify "written"!), it is not necessary to carry out the plan, unless it says so specifically (using the plan you created in Req. X, hike at least x miles etc. etc.). If you are serious about converting coordinates to an actual location on a topographic map (I'm assuming you'll be using the standard USGS 1:24,000 scale map that's most common), it's fairly straight forward to find the GENERAL location of th

Dale, Here's what I remember from my experiences: Rules: 1. Each member of the patrol must pass through the web. 2. You may only use a "hole" one time. 3. If the web moves (or use a bell / chime tied to the middle)or if the bell "rings", everyone starts over. 4. Once you're on the other side, you can't go back around and help someone through. 5. If the holes aren't big enough - you may allow them to intentionally "stretch" the hole, provided it doesn't ring the bell. Set-up 1. Usually between two trees. Never seen this done indoors, so not sure how the tie-off

Water knot (I find it more secure than a square knot) and also the Sheepshank. Variation of the Sheepshank is the trumpet knot. Looks almost identical, but tied slightly different ways, and is not always mentioned in knot books. Other favorite is the thief knot - never had the need to use that one though - mostly replaced by the "masterlock" knot in locker rooms across the country. :-) Thought's on the shoe lace issue - for some reason, it wasn't until a few years ago that I thought of tying your shoes as being similar to the square knot. I now realize that this is also the problem w

Here's a joke I came across the other day (made "Scout" friendly). It shouldn't take much in the way of props or additional wording to make it an effective skit: Red Riding Hood was on her way to her grandmother's place when she saw a Big Bad Wolf crouched down behind a log [or behind the podium, behind the campfire, behind the bench, etc.]. "My what big eyes you have," said Red Riding Hood. The wolf runs away... A little further down the road Red Riding Hood sees the wolf crouched behind a tree. "My, what big ears you have," said Red Riding Hood. Again, the wolf runs away. Li

One of the first books I read at probably the same age was "Guadacanal Diary" - not sure if it was the original or a kids version - probably about 150-200 pages. As it's one of the more famous stories from the war, it should be in the local library, if not his school library. As an alternate topic, and depending on his reading level - Killer Angels (Gettysburg / Jeff [Mike?] Shaara)is a quick moving book that adds dialogue (sp?) to the storyline and can help bring a story to life for a young boy. What I would stay away from is the "WWII in HD" series that just came out. Much too gr

not worth spinning off into a new topic - Eamonn - does the award itself change with the monarch? Is it a different emblem for the Queen's Scout vs. a King's Scout award? (I think I have the terminology right). Cheers, Gags

From what little I've read, there was an article from a Grand Junction newspaper that mentioned an apparent "snafu" at the White House level that was going to be corrected immediately. Sites that linked to that article (or maybe was quoted in the original article - not sure) included a quote saying "the Preseident refused to add his signature". I have my doubts on the last part - as much as I'm against Pres. Obama and his policies, I doubt Mr. Community Organizer would be looking to alienate large swathes of the general public over something like a congratulatory certificate. I hate to