Gold Winger

One place where I might turn a blind eye is at a Eagle COH for an 18 year old eagle. Let him wear his patch for his day of glory and then put the knot on. Yeah, it's not the rules but . . . dat's life.

BeeDub, maybe the problem is that you underestimate kids' capacity to have fun. Maybe it's our job to drag them away from their video games and let them experience simple things. Very few of the video game generation will say, "hey let's go ride out bikes instead of playing Doom 17!" but once out there, they'll usually enjoy themselves. BTW, I still feel sorry for you.

When I was Cub Scout aged we rode for the joy of riding. If you didn't do that, I really feel sorry for you and maybe that explains much about you today.

" if the only purpose is to ride a bike, then can't the scouts stay at home and ride bikes?" What about just the joy of riding? Hike for a purpose? I just go hiking to get outside and breathe the clean air. I ride for the same reason. If you really need a purpose, have a picnic waiting at the end of the trail. 17 miles isn't that far on the flat. My kids did a 15 miler on flatland when they were 10 and 8. No problems. They'd zip ahead, fall back, race me, race my wive. Maintaining 10 mph isn't that hard. My biggest concern would be about the bikes. Do the bikes fit the kids and do the kids fit the bikes? General condition of the bikes? Condition of tires? Brakes? Do the kids understand how to select the right gear for the situation?

" BobWhite should teach a kid how to teach a kid to tie a knot" Why? Shouldn't it be a Scout teaching a kid how to tie a knot?

Kids may read J.K. Rowling and a few other popular things but people in general don't read like they used to. People will say, "Oh he read all of the Harry Potter series" Sure but what else has he read? That's what? Seven books? What about Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour, Mickey Spillane, the Hardy Boys, Kipling, A.C. Doyle, Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, Robert E. Howard? For some reason my son has read all of the Harry Potter books many times but he won't read anything else. I get four or five books a week from the library. A co-worker noticed that I had a different book to read during lunch about every other day. He asked if I actually read them front to back or if I just read the middle.

"FScout: Ive not seen Scouts wearing both at the same time either. While I have seen plenty of Scouts wearing their sash with their MB sash on their belt. That seems ok with the uniform police." Only because the uniform police were not doing their job.

BeeDub, I seriously doubt that because BSA is mum on the subject.

10% expecially if I didn't care for the design of the new uniform.

Thank you BeeDub, you said exactly what I expected you to say.

I have a co-worker whose son just crossed over into Boy Scouts. The boy didn't go into the troop associated with his pack but went to another troop. Dad recently was telling me about the new troop. "Parental involvement! Boy do they have the parents involved. They make sure that everyone gets their merit badges done. They make sure that everyone advances on time. That other troop was so disorganized. They let the boys plan events. Nobody is pushing them to advance." I know the Scoutmaster from his new troop. The fellow is the classic, "this is my troop and this is how it is going to work" type of guy. He fired the SPL in the middle of a campout a couple years back. Another thread had a question about a rope to show how little time we have with our kids. So? Boy Scouts isn't about spending time with your kids, it's about letting your kids grow in a good environment.

" Perhaps they could provide training for the non-tech savy adults and help to get every unit online. " Why? My son's troop is pretty tech-savvy but the troop web-site is largely ignored. It's up to date, slick, cool, and all that but no one goes there for information.

The ranks, meaning the aggregate membership. Evidently, the minorities are protesting because they aren't represented enough in the organization. So what do they do? They don't join.

" It's no longer the "Honor Campers Society" it's "Scouting's National Honor Society". ;-)" That goes along with the idea that kids no longer go outside.

BeeDub, please learn to read the words that are printed.

Those weren't gaiters, those were leggings and I have a set. Minor difference but important. Also, one doesn't wear leggings with boots, one wears them with shoes because one doesn't have boots. If you're wearing low cut shoes in the outdoors with long pants, leggings make sense.

"Ye, 16 year-olds don't want to hang out with 11 year-olds very often." That's because of the way that we seperate kids by age for everything else. I've said this before but I'll say it again. In olden days (1960s), when parents weren't involved in every aspect of their children's activities, the older kids in the neighborhood acted as mentors and teachers for the younger kids. We didn't have football coaches at age seven back then, it was the older kids who taught us how to play. If we got out of line, the older kids would explain proper behavior. We looked up to the older kids. We wanted to be like them. Sure they didn't want us around all the time but that was part of the learning process too. There are some things for young kids and there are others for older kids. We also learned that there are times and places for everything. For example, if there were some older guys talking and you walked up and generated some especially noxious gas, that was okay. You might get chased away but it was a guy thing. Now if those same guys were chatting with some young ladies, you learned quickly that gas passing was appropriate. Now what do we have? Everthing split out by age. Kids don't play together outside. Older kids leave it up to the parents to be the mentors.

"What is proscribed in the SSM is the 'national sea scout uniform' which is MANDATED at any National sea scout event (like the Koch Cup and the Sea Scout exhibit at National Jamboree, etc), and MAYBE mandated at some regional events. " Typical BSA, first they denounce the uniform and then they insist that you wear it. Does the confusion ever end.

All together now . . . we are the world, we are the children .. ..

I quoted the 1965 version of the OA handbook. So sometime after that they said, "Go ahead wear the sash for special occasions" and later changed their minds. I wait with bated breath for the official word from national.

"OK, let me be clearer: the old uniform has sizing for men's pants and shorts and women's pants and shorts. Different sizing for men and women. " Not just different sizing, different cuts as well. " told us that the 'relaxed' fit had more room in the hip area and was supposed to be more suitable for women while the 'classic' was more for men because it had more room in the waist." Look at the silly size conversion chart. A size 30 converts to a size 8? Depending on the standards for that size 8, there going to be a few extra inches around the waist. Maybe BSA is trying to drive women out of the program with uniforms that are not only not flattering but don't fit either.

' I don't wear my Boy Scout uniform to non-Scouting events.' You should, I do.

I'm sure that you friend would love $50 per patch. Heck for that much money, I'd give up my day job and sew patches.

I'd go with a buck fifty a patch, minimum five bucks.

The word have changed but the meaning is the same. Wear the sash at OA functions and anytime you are representing the OA. Courts of Honor don't qualify unless you are there to present something on behalf of the OA.