GKlose

One more thing -- (sorry for all the traffic) The SM is sort of catching on...at the last planning session, there was a brief discussion where he mentioned that nobody was supposed to fail a BoR, and that in training it had been recommended to him that SM Conferences should not be sitting down, face to face, rather it should be an informal conversation while doing something else, say a walk or something like that. I haven't witnessed a conference, so I don't know how the conversation has been working out. I have heard, though, that since the SM was a last minute Eagle, he strongly en

Thanks, Nike -- that's kind of what I've already done. When an "examiner" immediately jumped in on "tell me the warning signs of a heart attack" I went another direction. I would say something like "you're supposed to have been on X number of outings, can you tell me which ones you enjoyed and which ones you didn't?" and then go down the path of asking what he'd liked the most, what he liked the least, what he might change, did he learn anything at a patrol-oriented camporee, etc. The Star candidate who was nervous -- I recall asking him which merit badges he'd already earned, what h

Thanks, Ed -- you pegged it about the adult-led versus scout-led. The SM acknowledged that they were trying to move in the direction of scout-led (and I'm not exactly sure when it strayed). Also, thanks Lisabob -- this district's training is only for CS leaders. I'm heading out of district for my training in a few weeks. I asked the reason for no in-district training, but it's a long story. Put simply, they're rebuilding the district. Re: six dads and six scouts camping. I've already started to ask, when I noticed the issue. For example, at the last planning meeting I made the commen

Sorry, BW...I'll correct the profile. I had assumed that I was being registered as an ASM, but when I got my card last week (finally!) it said I was a committee member. Sorry for being misleading -- I have no idea if the CC has taken the Troop Committee Challenge (I did it online), but I'm pretty sure he did the weekend training that everyone else did. It could possibly be they had a Troop Committee Challenge component (I'm training in a few weeks, and my session does break out that way with the leader specific part). But I understand your point -- I am posting assumptions here, when I do

Wow, thanks everybody. I think you're zeroing in on exactly what I think has been going on. Several additional points (I didn't want to bog down the original note): I am a committee member, not an ASM. To date, while my son has been growing into the troop, I've avoided going camping with the troop. So, the six dads, six scouts thing is sort of anecdotal. Yes, it seems to be the same core, and from what I hear from my son, the dads are very involved (cooking, tenting with their kids in some cases, etc). I'll know more about that once I start attending. So far, my primary focus ha

I'm spinning this off because I think it warrants a separate discussion. Any reader of this forum, or "Ask Andy" (BTW, does Andy read and contribute to this forum?) knows that one hot topic is the Board of Review being treated as an exam. My son joined a troop a few months ago, and I've joined as a committee member as well. The SM is an Eagle, but I think the rest of the troop committee and ASMs are relatively inexperienced. We have monthly boards, for whomever is ready for rank advancement. I've sat in on four or five so far, mostly second class and first class, and one Star board.

I liked the red beret too, but I think it was pretty idiotic looking when it wasn't worn the right way (and lots of scouts didn't wear it the right way).

If the trail bread was called "Hudson Bay Bread" then you can google all kinds of recipes. It is like a pressed, molded granola bar, cut into pieces. If it was something else, then I don't know.

Of course that's their desire -- 1M+ shirts/pants/accessories sold in less than a year. What would that come out to profit-wise, $50M? $100M? But I doubt it would happen.

I, too, saw the new uniform this last weekend at the local Scout shop...or at least as much of it that is stocked at the moment...they had no new switchbacks, or adult-sized supplex shirts (but plenty of 60/40 shirts, just not long-sleeved ones), or adult-sized belts. But -- I think the hats, belts and socks look nice. I can't recall it being mentioned yet, but to me the most disappointing part is the quality of the American flag on the sleeve. It looks cheap, and I think it is glued on. I could see it flapping up after a few washings. As almost everyone else has mentioned, I think t

How can you possibly find a "rule" that doesn't exist? Toss it back...ask for proof of "only allowed to go out once with a troop". I don't have the requirements in front of me, but I'm pretty sure that one of the options of Outdoorsman is to camp overnight with a troop, and then there is one overnight part of AoL (which must be distinct from the Outdoorsman overnight)...so that's two right there.

A little less than a year ago, my Webelos II kid was contemplating which of four troops in town to join...one was a hard-charging high adventure type, one was a laid-back ordinary "troop method" program, one was a small "family camping" sort (parents and siblings go on most trips) and one was a Webelos III type of troop. I visited another troop in an adjacent town, where the SM (who was letting his SPL and PLs run the meeting) talked with us parents, feeding us lines like "in Cub Scouts they're boys, but in Boy Scouts they're adolescents learning skills for adulthood" and "we ask that for

BW, it's also in the Scout Handbook (stating, "with approval of your Scoutmaster").

Actually, Steve, I'm rather impressed with the long-running "Laughs for Lunch" program that you run. It would seem like quite a breeding ground for learning how to ham it up a bit. Please refresh my memory -- is it something you do as a fundraiser? I recall a long time ago, maybe my first year in my troop, my rather young scoutmaster tried MCing a town-wide talent show (complete with bad jokes between acts) that went over pretty well. He only did it once, and I'm not sure why.

I wonder how far back it really goes -- we were doing this in the early 70s! BTW, my kids (ages 11 and 9) just saw the Melrose YouTube video of "The Pickpocket" and they think it's the funniest thing they've ever seen!

YPT and Fast Start took about 20 minutes each online. Honestly, I think they were really well done, and well worth the time. (you certainly get more than you pay for!) Guy

I don't know this for sure, but my guess is that national was so enamored of the belt loop idea that when they dropped BS skill awards they made sure the concept was used somewhere else. To my knowledge, the CS belt loops didn't exist in the '67-'71 era (which is when I went through cubs).

My old PL/SPL/Eagle/best-friend/college-roommate was taught how to sew (not tailor) by his mom as a kid. You'd think that might pay adult dividends some day, but in his case he found dividends in an unexpected place. When in college, while studying architecture, he joined a team building an inflatable fabric structure, and he became the primary "production" manager, sewing together very large strips of fabric with commercial sewing machines. He told me they were just like the old Singer sewing machines, just larger (and sturdier). He was able to repair several of them himself, without res

Depends on the condition of the car

My Webelos years would have been '70/71 or so, but I don't remember much about them. We didn't really concentrate on advancement (so I didn't earn AoL, although I remember quite a few activities that would have counted for AoL). One of the most memorable experiences was that our WDL took us to a meeting of every troop in town (there were about six troops back then). When I originally entered the meeting for one troop, I knew it was the one I wanted to join. One thing that helped was that I immediately saw kids I knew from school. The "troop meeting tour" was such a big thing for me, that

This is side commentary, but... One of the highlights of my troop when I was a scout was our annual caving trip. We lived in southern OH, and would leave one Friday afternoon in March, after school, to drive 4+ hours south to a state park in KY. Carter Caves, S.P. We'd arrive and setup camp, and then go on a night hike (once we even had a campfire in a cave). The next morning, we'd be up early and go out to explore one or more of the many caves in the park, and occasionally a cave on private property (one took ropes and harnesses to get down into). Some "commerical" caves (with a mar

My newly crossed-over son was working on memorizing his handbook, shortly after it was presented to him, and he pointed out that Arrow of Light recipients were to be automatically awarded the Scout badge (it's in the handbook). The SM had a different idea..."no, you have to go through a Board of Review...it's like a test" (since then, I've found out that yes, they treat BoRs as tests, with questions ranging from all previous ranks). I did manage to point out to the CC that only an SM conference was listed under joining requirements, not a BoR, so they didn't grill him. Unit leaders h

My oldest was at camp this last week, and one of the dads who spent the week with the troop is a reservist. A few years back he had been deployed in Iraq, in a hospital. I asked him, "so which would you choose, camp food or food while on deployment?" He didn't hesistate and said, "no contest -- camp food -- by far." He then went on to explain that he didn't really consider MREs to be food.

I just ordered, and received, a couple of old handbooks via amazon.com. One of them is the 1969 printing of the 7th edition. In it, Cooking is a required MB. I also know from personal experience that the 1972 8th edition had removed it. I also remember that Environmental Science was added, in favor of Soil and Water Conservation, and options were added for some required MBs (e.g., Lifesaving or Emergency Preparedness). Guy

I joined in May '71, and earned the bulk of 1/C by that fall. Honestly, I don't remember the cooking requirements (I've ordered, for the sake of nostalgia, an old handbook via amazon.com). By the time I was working on Star+, I was on the new handbook, dressed with my red beret I don't know when Cooking MB was taken off the Eagle-required list, but I think it was gone by the '72 requirements.