Gardyloo

Those RT reviews sound great; it truly demonstrates to the scouts that THEY are the important ones; not the adults who are sandbagging the applications.

Here's what's interesting: I contacted the council and they say the April 30 date is set in stone- BOR's must be completed by that date or the scout must resubmit. So that's the policy.

The DAC maintains that anyone whose application is stamped by council by April 30 won't be turned back, and he doesn't want any new applications (I guess not, since he has a huge backlog). I've asked him to please check with Council and he gave me the brushoff (probably because he couldn't possibly be wrong).

Our Charter Org is a figurehead, they aren't interested in this at all. The ones holding the short end of the stick here are the scouts. Um, aren't they the ones this is supposed to be about???

I understand that the new guidelines take effect May 1, but HOW do they take effect? I'm a troop Advancement Chair whose district is backed up three months on BoR. Our troop and others nearby, have scouts who turned their application and books into the district rep in January and still haven't had their BoR. If they haven't had their BoR by May 1, do the scouts have to reapply?

Regarding prospective Eagles, who is responsible to contact the Council to be sure all of the scouts merit badges are recorded and in order?

We have a Council Eagle Coordinator saying its the scouts responsibility, and the Districts Eagle Coordinator saying its the troop Advancement Chairs responsibility.

The scout has his contact with the District person, and following the districts advice, went to the troop Advancement Chair, only to be told it was the scouts responsibility. The scout went to the Committee Chairman who contacted the council himself. The Council said its the scouts responsibility, but we cant get that through to the district person who is rather insistent about his position.

We on the committee are completely confused. Is there anything in writing?

My daughter recently completed her Gold Award, and were planning a ceremony to honor her.

Its going to be along the lines of an Eagle ceremony, and were wondering if theres a Girl Scout equivalent of an Eagles Nest? We recently attended an Eagle ceremony and when the time came for the Eagles to stand together, she got to stand with them. Let me tell you, the guys had never met a Gold Award Scout and made a big deal of welcoming their sister.

At her ceremony, were going to invite them all to stand with her, and are wondering if Girl Scouts has a term for the equivalent of the Eagles Nest. There will be a few girls there too.

I'd like to add my name to your list please. Will be looking forward to hearing about sizing info.

Wishboat, can you point me to the worldwide blog you mentioned? I'd really like to read it.

I think you're right on the money (literally) on everything you've said; its clear you work with and really listen to the girls.

Just as Girl Scouts seemed to be making a real push to get the Gold Award recognized by the general public, they come up with this lame S2B plan a complete about-face of the intent of the Gold Award. If the Gold Award gets dumbed down, will the recipients lose the benefits they get? Currently they get recognition such as extra points when applying to a U.S. military academy and many colleges, a grade increase and extra money if they enlist in the military, and other tangible benefits, just like those given to Eagle Scouts.

Like Reeena is wondering, does anyone have ideas on how can we can get National to listen? They may be sort of listening, hence all the adjustments and tweaks to S2B. But I suspect National is seeing a lot of protests as just resistance to change. Resistance to change is normal, but how do we convince National that its not resistance; this program is really bad.

Great project! It benefitted the community and restored a piece of history. With so many people walking now for exercise, Ian really picked a super project. It was also good of the paper to write such an extensive story.

Well done!

Hi Anne, thanks for the tip on Campus Girl Scouts. I'll show her the website when she gets back. She works at a Boy Scout camp during the summer and is there right now having a great time.

Thanks for the tip, Bug. I'll definitely take a look.

We've seen the Eagle race in our troop, FOG. I think "the rule" was put in place because we recently had a kid whose parents were pushing him really hard to be an Eagle at 15. Reportedly at his Life BoR he said he was only doing his rank to get his parents off his back (my DH was there).

Our son is a little different. We suggested he wait and give himself some time before he moved from Star to Life, but he wanted that rank, and got it 6 months after Star. He's slowed down a bit now, and spent his summer as a camp CIT (loves it). I had to bite my cheek not to laugh when he told us about his frustration with the scouts who wanted him to check off a requirement they hadn't completed.

I could tell from his phone call last week that he's charged up and is ready to earn those last two Eagle MB's.

The backlash from this other kid's attitude and "the Rule", is some of the teen scouts age 13-15 are saying since the rule is in place, and they can't start their project, they'll wait awhile to work on their Eagle MB's.

I think boys start finding other activities more interesting at about age 16 (girls and cars to be specific); and waiting until then to start the MB's is a big mistake.

How does a troop deal with both the "pushy parent scout" and the "overachieving push himself scout"?

Being a Boy Scout is great for our son. It's helped him grow in so many ways.

My son's troop has an Eagle Counselor who has created a rule that a Boy must be 16 years old before he can start his Eagle Scout project. He's also the new Eagle Projects Coordinator for the District.

Is there such a rule? My son has seen 15 year old Eagles at camp.

Mrs Smith, tell us, has he been to camp yet? If so, how did he do?

There are sure some good points in this thread! I'm a former leader & a mom of a Senior Girl Scout (as she identifies herself). After some serious soul searching, she recently left the troop she was in since Brownies because the other members want to focus on fashion, spa treatments, and Studio 2B type activities.

Just before she left the old troop, she attended Senior Leader training, where they were briefly oriented on S2B. She came home very upset about Girl Scouts. She said "I don't want to be in Girl Scouts to learn how to be a Barbie Doll".

My daughter hunted around, found and joined a traditional troop which focuses on community service, camping, career exploration and adventure. They don't plan to do S2B activities because the girls don't want to. She loves her new troop and wishes she'd found it sooner.

She's finishing up her Gold Award project, and she feels she'll be done with Girl Scouts before they completely lose their identity because of the S2B focus. She was originally planning on continuing while she was in college as an Adult Girl Scout. But she has no interest in S2B, which she calls "Girl Scouts Lite", and if she continues in scouts, it'll probably be in a Venture Crew.

Bob and Frank,

Thanks so much for your suggestions for troop scribe. My son is one, and there seems to be nothing to do for the job in his troop. He wants to learn more leadership, and I do too, so his "leadership position" will have some meaning and lessons learned.

He and his dad thought about putting together a quality roster and e-mail addresses, which is currently not done; I suggested he could do a monthly e-mail newsletter. The Scoutmaster, SPL, ASPL (all the same family) brushed him off when he wanted to talk about it.

Should he just do this on his own? He's 13 and just became Star; and is somewhat intimidated by the older leadership. I can see the child maturing into a man through some of the things he's learned in BSA, and it makes me very happy. He went to BSA camp over the summer for two weeks and came back with a revitalized attitude, towards life and BSA.

There are some very wise minds on this board (not wiseguys ), so comments or suggestions are welcome.

Hear, Hear on the REI Gear!

The counselors and staff at the BSA summer camp where my kids go/ work all wear REI zip-off pants, even with their class A's. For the Venture scouts, REI has a charcoal color that's a perfect match. They hold up wonderfully - eight weeks of daily wear working camp and they still wash up like new. My daughter is planning to use hers for a third year next summer.

REI sells a pant line which looks like cotton, it'd be nice if BSA contacted them to design a working uniform. Both my kids really dislike the official uniform pants and shorts. They do wear well, but fit poorly and are unattractive. There are so many outstanding modern fabcrics these days for outdoor wear, I wish BSA would take notice.

ASM7, you're right about GSUSA, I was typing too fast. Hey, at least I didn't refer to the Boy Scouts as the BS

I like Dave Steele's interpretation, it makes sense. Although after listening to him last night, I suspect my son is going to want plain red swim trunks with the patch sewn on. Then he can look like the cool Waterfront Guys at camp. (He'll also be ultra-legal).

He wants to go after BSA Lifeguard next summer and even agreed to swimming lessons so he could be a better swimmer.

I mentioned the white loops to two Venture Scouts I saw last night. Their answer was a resounding "YES!!!"

They really dislike the green loops now because they can't be seen. One of them said, "I wonder what color blind person designed this uniform ".

One also suggested for recognition, instead of embroidery, sell stars with plastic colored backgounds like GSA uses for their year/level recognitions. Different colored background could indicate the level of award/recognition. They said a star on the shoulder also looks kind of cool.

Great ideas Yak!!

Ah, this helps answer something else I've been wondering about - what can go on the back of the sash. GSA allows the back of the vest or sash to be used to display earned patches that aren't part of the uniform -things that only go on the front of the vest. Is that the case with BSA? Who "actually" would need to decide if it could go on the back of the sash?

I think wearing it on the swim trunks would be ok if he used the red ones worn at summer camp by the waterfront crew. He wants to be a CIT next year and work at waterfront, so he hustled to earn what they told him he needed. However, the patch will fade when exposed to sun & chlorine, so it'd have to be replaced every year.

I don't know FOG, most of the boys I know are very fashion aware. My son is much more so than my daughter (both teens). One pair of his swim trunks has flames coming up the sides and around the rear, the other pair has a swirling green and black gecko pattern on it. The patch would look pretty weird on those trunks.

And the hair, the boys have to style it just so. Maybe it's just the boys in this area...

I think I'd better find a copy of the insignia guide.

Where does the BSA Snorkeling Award patch go on the uniform? We had a scout with our troop at camp who earned it this time around. No other scouts in our troop have ever earned it, so it's pretty exiting for us.

Thanks!

I've been lurking here awhile, but this is my first post.

I'm an ex-Pony Clubber, current GS leader, and Boy & Venture Scout Mom, so my view on this topic is from all angles.

It's a neat idea, this joint award, but to the best of my knowledge, it'd be an absolute first. Although they have the same origin, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have very different philosophies. Two big examples are their differing views of homosexuality, and the involvement of church in each organization.

I surely do like the idea of a joint award, but think it should be for something less obscure than horsemanship. How about Patriotism? To me, thats a slam-dunk, who could argue not honoring Patriotism?

Rudd, just a comment, most of the requirements described for the award, except length of cross-country ride, are standard for a D-2 Pony Clubber, definitely not what Id label an expert (yet). However to evaluate properly, the level of expertise of the MB counselor would have to be very high.

I agree with AnneinMpls, this sounds like a great project for a Venture Crew. Or just an informal acknowledgement that this individual has a high degree of skill in several areas. My daughter is involved in GS, a Venture Crew, a Boy Scout Camp Instructor, and is a Congressional Award honoree. She wishes the Merit Badges shes earned at Boy Scout camp would count for something, but GS doesnt award for many of the things shes done. Funny thing is, the male BSA camp counselors have an informal non-award ceremony they do for the female counselors. Shes earned more BSA MBs than our Star ranked son. Yeah, Im done bragging.

The idea of a combined award is great! Do you think the two organizations could get past their basic differences?