Gold Winger

I'm sure that many have been re-instated, we just don't know about them. I've been told that when Johnny cries out, "Mr. Smith looked at my wee-wee!" the first reaction of BSA is to revoke membership. They then investigate and keep the results secret. So it turns out that the bathroom door wasn't locked, Mr. Smith walked in and found Johnny on the can. He said, "oops, sorry!" and left but Johnny was traumatized and told his mother. The problem that I've heard of in situations like this is that BSA's lightning fast reaction puts the mark of Cain on an innocent person and because of "privacy issues" the complaintant can never find out the results so she doesn't know what to think when Mr. Smith is re-instated.

"embroidered with trademark Boy Scout logos (which is also illegal, since they were not a trademark licensee or paying royalties for use of the logo)" Don't know about that. If that was the case, every troop that has troop shirts or neckerchiefs made up is violating the law. I'm pretty sure that BSA differs from GSUSA in that members of BSA may use the logos the use is for legimate scouting purposes. Back to the story. If her knees don't bend, how does she sit in a wheel chair? I didn't have access to a shower during my ordeal. There had to be other adults. Don't you need three committee members to charter a unit. The whole thing is still fishy. She says that all she wants is her membership back but her membership wasn't revoked until she filed her suit so why'd she file suit? I know! She wanted fame and fortune and was surprised when the organization that she was suing kicked her out.

Well, she said "wantfull" or maybe it was her accent. I thought of wanton but that's not what it sound like. Let's see . . .the willfull act is going whitewater rafting with CubScouts, that's also pretty wanton. Don't see that I need to take your word for anything. (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

The cook says, "This weekend cost us $15 (or whatever) each" and we hand her a check or greenbacks. I don't recall any weekend costing more than $15 and that's two breakfasts, two dinners, and a lunch. $3 a meal is very reasonable and doable.

Maybe Socrates was right. Look where the Greeks are today.

Egads! This is just too confusing. There's WOSM. There's the WSC. There's the WSB. And apparently there's "World Scout Scientific Congress" as well. I don't give a rat's behind for the UN and WOSM makes no nevermind in my life either except that, like the UN, we seem to give it a bunch of money and get little in return. I'd rather see BSA directly support nascent Scouting organizations rather than giving to some umbrella (ella, ella, eh, eh, eh)group which siphons off a goodly portion of the funds.

When I ran advancement for my son's troop, I required that anyone who sat on a BOR had to have completed at least Fast Start and gave preference to those who had taken advance training. We may have been usual but after I took over BORs were staffed mostly by people who had gone to SMF. Why'd I set the bar that high? How can you judge the program if you don't know what the program is supposed to be. That's like asking a parent from the stands to umpire a baseball game. He thinks he knows the rules because he's a fan but he really only has half a clue. I never had a problem getting the boys to open up. FWIW, if you had been the SM in my son's troop, you wouldn't have been allowed in the room.

Not wanting to take Beaver's or Viki's word, I went to the source. I called Irving Texas and spoke with the mayor. Just kidding, I spoke with BSA's Office of Risk Management. The lady that I spoke with said that the wording in BSA's policy says that "willfull and wantfull misconduct" will not be covered and that could be deliberate disregard of the G2SS. She went on to say that if the courts decide that you were criminally negligent, you are own your own as well. EOD.(This message has been edited by Gold Winger)

If someone isn't willing to follow the program in the first place, a friendly chat usually won't do any good. "Bob, do you remember how BP talked about the boy lead concept?" "So?" "Well, you need to encourage the boys to step up and take charge." "It's my troop and I'm not going to let a bunch of kids mess it up."

Uuuuummmmmm. . . .that was someone else using my name. Yeah, that's the ticket. . . someone stole my computer, typed that entry and then returned my computer. :-)

To me lock-ins are just another form of a parent led activity that is usually sedentary and I don't care for them. For Scout recruiting, I'd rather see outdoors stuff like shooting, fishing, archery directed as much as possible by youth. Of course, the shooting instructor would have to be 18 but that doesn't preclude having assistants from the local high school rifle team on hand to help. Other fun activities could be relay races doing a two-man carry. Setting up a pup tent. Tug of war.

"Chastise the SM?" Maybe admonish first and then chastise. One of the purposes of the BOR is to do "a checkup" on the health of the troop. That is an indication of whether the SM is doing his job. If he isn't doing his job, the CC needs to have a chat with him and say, "Hey Bucko, if you don't fix this." If he refuses, he need to be shown the door. If you were a baskeball coach and had a player who refused to pass the ball, you'd say, "Jones, you need to pass the ball." but Jones tells you, "Nah. I'm too good, I'll play the way that I want." What do you do?

"Why are the older Scouts leaving?" Wow, that's complicated. In general, I think that it is because our suburban, middle-class society is failing our kids by doing everything for them. No need for pick-up games because there are organized leagues. In organized leagues, the youth don't need to decide anything because the captain is only a figurehead and calls everything from the sideline. Don't get your college app filled out in time, Dad will take a day off work to fill it out and then pay the FedEx charges to get it there on time. Don't put laundry in the hamper, mom will find it and wash it anyway. Don't mow the lawn, no problem dad will get it. I've had the joy of working (as in employed) with many teens and early 20's over the past decade. Few understand that even if the pay is horrible that they have a responsibility to do the job they signed on to do. Show up for work on time? Sometimes. I'll admit that I'm not one who gets to work 20 minutes early but I'm not chronicly 20 minutes late. Why is this? Quite often the parents have never made them do anything to completition and on top of that, tell them that the job doesn't matter because it doesn't pay well. How does this relate to Scouting? In my son's troop and other troops that I work with, I see that Scouts don't want to take on responsibility. They want the job to get the patch so the can get rank and that's what their parents want. To actually do the job, nah. So why do they drop out? Because there is nothing to do. They don't want to lead. They don't want to teach. Since they want to do neither of the above, they really don't want to go on campout with squirrely little guys. In my tiny mind, the progression of a Scout should be 1) Learn to be a Scout for a couple of years, while holding patrol level positions like Patrol Scribe or Patrol QM in the latter years. Patrol Leader around 13 1/2 or 14 after he's learned what needs to happen with a patrol and is old enough to command the respect of the younger boys. Around 15 move up to a senior position like Troop Guide, Instructor, Troop Scribe. At 16, become an ASPL or even run for SPL. Instead of this, what do we have? 12 year old PLs who cannot guide their patrol or plan anything because they don't even have to pack their own pack to go to school. 12 year old Instructors because no one else wants the job. The SPL is 14. The older boys just hang out marking time and waiting for Eagle to be handed to them. Hey, the older boys can do high adventure stuff. Right? Yeah, sure but only if some adult arranges everything. I've sat in on meetings with older scouts where an ASM said, "What would you guys like to do?" and the response was "I dunno." Okay, take a week and think about it and come up with ideas and we'll talk about them no matter how outlandish they seem. A week later, it was still "I dunno." Not, "we'd like to go rafting" or "bungee jumping" or even "see exotic dancers." Just "I dunno." Is it any wonder that they drop out after they get their eagle?

" is immediately perceived as America bashing." Because it is. If the Scouts of Freedonia or Scouts de Momboobia had taken such an action, the world would have rallied around them, crying out "We need to support our underprivledged brothers!"

"At the T-1st class level, scouts are not expected to master skills for the purpose of advancement." Where do you get that? Mastering a knot or building a fire isn't like mastering particle physics. After a week of practice, a Scout should be able to tie a square know, bowline, and a clove hitch with his eyes closed. Of course that would require that the scout practice outside of the troop meeting and we know that isn't going to happen becuaue it will slow down advancement. The SM conference isn't pass/fail but the Board of Review is. If the BOR believes that the Scout never learned his stuff, they have an obligation to fail him and then chastise the SM for letting the Scout get that far.

I stand corrected. I was told by a SM who had sent a crew to HH that you carried your entire week's food with you for the entire trek. I've been to Philmont, I'd like to give HH a shot before I get too old.

A local college does the Chemistry Merit Badge in on Saturday session. First Aid is done locally in one day and the requirement to construct your own first aid kit is usually ignored. A better First Aid MB would only have one requirement "Earn Red Cross First Aid Certification, including CPR". The problem is that too many Scouters treat Scouts as T-ball instead of American Legion. T-ball is barely baseball, infinite strikes, rules don't really matter. Am Legion is real baseball and the rules are the same for everyone. That's what Scouting should be.

As I understand it, Double HH is the Philmont experience on steroids. No resupply camps so you carry everything including water. It is you and the wilderness for the entire time.

Alas, Schrade is no longer extant.

" When workin' with your lodge, wear tan." If he's only registered as a Venturer, that's not appropriate, proper or correct.

I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that Venturers do not have to be registered with a troop to remain in OA. Troop/Team membership is only required for election. Continued membership only requires BSA memebership.

Hey! Whaddyaknow, ignore user works.

Well Viki, long ago I learned that when in doubt go with the published word of those who make the rules, not rumor and "general wisdom." Since Beaver apparently doesn't work for the BSA insurance office, he falls into the latter category. Other gems from people who give "good info," often people with special beads, include "Eagle projects must include at least 40 hours of labor," "sheath knives are prohibited," "a knife with a blade longer than 3 inches (or 2 or 3.5 or. . . ) are prohibited," "Scouters may not consume alcoholic beverages while in uniform," and "Scouts must travel in uniform" all of which are untrue. Beware the "knowledgeable" person who has nothing in writing to back up his claims.(This message has been edited by Gold Winger)

Yep. CVG stands for Covington. I remember when they never mentioned Kentucky in the name of the Airport.

Only two knives are needed or so they say. My knife was in constant demand by the daily cooks. A knife is a piece of personal emergency gear just like a whistle and should be carried by everyone. My hiking knife only weighs 1.5 ozs, that's less than a bag of GORP.