Gold Winger

" I'm guessing $2200 to $2400 this time. Of course, if you cut out the DC touring, the price drops drastically." I was told that if you just want to vist for a day, the price is over $100. Evidently nothing about the Jamboree is cheap.

You have to do what works for you. We held the awards till the end to keep people there. But that didn't always work. Too many kids have too many things going on. Soccer try-outs. Baseball games. Etc.. All that interferes with Scouting activities because it's all "more important."

When I ran the derby for my pack, we ran rank races (Tigers, Wolves, etc.). Then we ran a pack rack. Finally, we ran the adult/sibling race. All races were double elimination. Awards were given after all racing was over. Top five finishers in the pack race went to the district race. No complaints. Usually.

Found this on the IRS web site Deductible As Charitable Contributions Money or property you give to: Churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, and other religious organizations Federal, state, and local governments, if your contribution is solely for public purposes (for example, a gift to reduce the public debt) Nonprofit schools and hospitals Public parks and recreation facilities Salvation Army, Red Cross, CARE, Goodwill Industries, United Way, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, etc. War veterans' groups Charitable organizations listed in Publication 78 Expenses paid for a student living with you, sponsored by a qualified organization Out-of-pocket expenses when you serve a qualified organization as a volunteer

I concur with John.

There are no rules about the position of the tail however, conflicting sources say that if you climbed Baldy or ToT (depending on the source) that you may wear the tail over your shoulder. This is tradition/folklore just like wearing the Bobcat upside down until the first good deed. However, it is fun folklore. Since I climbed both Baldy and ToT and I'm quite proud of having survived, when I get around to sewing my bull onto my jacket, the tail will go over the shoulder.

E, isn't your charter org (the large service club) a 501©(3)?

It's actually fairly easy to form a non-profit organization (501©(7)), it just take a few papers and boom, you're done. Shooting clubs, cycling clubs, even golf clubs :-) do it all the time. Howevever, it take a bit more to establish yourself as a charitable non-profit which is what allows folks to give you donations that are tax deductable. Since Scout units cannot solicit donations of cash, that shouldn't make a difference.

Usually, the troop is considered a part of the charter organization is and tax paperwork is taken care of by the charter org. At least that's my experience.

Like many things, we'll wind up buying the Chinese made stuff because American made is no longer available.

Like many organizations, BSA prefers to operate by keeping members in the dark. Fees raised? You have to know someone on the inside to know why. Someone removed from office? Same thing. Over the years, I've observed that the people at the top of many organizations treat the membership as a necessary evil. They need us to have a position of power but they really don't like us or trust us.

Funny thing about OA insignia. A father in my son's troop told me that he wasn't allowed to buy a new OA flap for his son at the Scout Shop since he didn't have an OA card. Even before I was in OA, I had bought dozens of OA flaps for my collection without question. LOL! Maybe it is just a matter of being known vs. not-known.

BSA advancement is ticket punching, just like the the training "awards" that are given to adults. Fill in the boxes, stand in the right place and you get the badge. Does it matter if you are a good Scout? Does it matter if you know your stuff? Not in the least. At one time BSA recommended that the SM contact the boy's teachers and pastor to get another view of his behvior outside of the troop. Not any longer. Why does BSA want to pass everyone on to the next rank? The $12 registration fee and the enrollment numbers. If Johnny Malattitude gets passed over for promotion, it is very likely that Mr. Malattitude won't say, "Hey Johnny, you need to straighten up and fly right." No, he'll yell and scream about fairness, threaten a lawsuit and then pull Johnny out of the troop.

" You are given a choice American made pads and rotors or the 1/3 the price chinese version." I won't buy Chinese made brakes or tires. For oil filters I don't have options. "Another question is there a Boy Scout program in China? " Nope. There was one in Hong Kong and Taiwan has one.

It is all part of the pschizo way that we treat young adults in this world. Sometimes you're a kid and other times you're not.

In my council the rank patches are readily available, it is the rank cards which are kept behind the counter. They give you one for each advancement that you submit (unless you're a good customer and then you can get a few as backups in case you mess up a card. Wink, wink.)

"The Sad fact is the "Scout" rank is no longer considered a rank at all it is a joining badge!" I believe that it has always been the "Joining Badge" to show that you met the requirements to join. I've heard of other councils not selling patches without an advancement form, as an option you could present your rank card and buy a patch. The idea is to prevent parents from buying the patches and just sewing them on the uniform. Wouldn't happen?

The "lower cost" thing has long been a ruse in the manufacturing world. Sure, it is lower cost for the manufacturer but they rarely pass that lower cost on to the consumer unless they are attempting to penetrate a specific market. Case in point. Masterlock Combo locks are made in the US and China. on hooks at the store are two locks, one silver and one that is colored to appeal to kids. Otherwise they are identical locks. The silver one is $2.99. The colored one is $3.20. One would expect to pay a small premium for the more attractive lock. Right? Now look at the packages. The more expensive one comes from China. If they can make a profit selling an American made lock for $2.99, how much more profit are they making on the Chinese made one for $3.20? We used to be told that one of the reasons for the high prices of BSA uniforms was that they are made in the USA by union workers. I guess that was another corporate lie. As for the question "when?" I believe that it was within the last year because last summer I was checking out shirts at my local Scout shop and they were made in the Good Ol' US of A.

Maybe the volunteer who isn't willing to give up the time get trained so that he knows how to do his job isn't the volunteer that we want. We're not talking about the parents who by the paper plates for the annual dinner, we're talking about the people who are responsible for running the program. I'm not a soccer coach but as a sports official I can only wish that I could have gotten away with just 37 hours of training but if I had, I wouldn't have been able to do my job. Well, that's not quite true, I could have blundered about making calls that weren't backed up by the rules and were based entirely on myths. Hmmmmmm . . . sounds like some Scouters that I've run across.

I don't recall which loops have to be 're-earned' but I think that BSA would add some consistency and credibilty to the A&S program if they simply said "loops and pin can only be earned once. Loops for X, Y, and Z cannot be earned until the Cub Scout is a Webelos Scout."

A smart machine takes a new volunteer and puts him to work as a cog in a system that is already working. After the event is over, every sits around and does a post mortem on the event and decides what worked, what didn't work and what might work next year. This is where the new eyes and minds help. As rkfrance said, a broken machine says at the first planning meeting, "we need new ideas" but when the new volunteer pipes up either with a brand new idea or something that he saw somewhere else, he is publicly humiliated and told that that his ideas stink. It may be sad but the broken machine may have to be destroyed before it can be fixed.

There are many myths and legends in the world of ranks and awards. A common one is that a Scout only has one year to complete a merit badge. Packs or troops do not have the authority to set their own time limits for any award.

"GW...afraid that I haven't. I'm sure that it happens." Consider yourself lucky.

"oly frekin crap! People can actually do that! I don't know anyone who can do that not even my lifeguard friends (no wonder the BSA has their own lifeguards) Thats completely and utterly it, I want to swim like that!" If I ever ran across a lifeguard who couldn't swim 100 yards without stopping, I'd avoid his area. I'm a horrible swimmer but I can still pass the BSA test. I'd like to do a mile.

I, for one, was always baffled by how you could earn a belt loop twice. Usually, the boy had already done the requirements and most don't really lend themselves to being repeated. Let's look at basketball . . . 1. Explain the rules of basketball to your leader or adult partner. 2. Spend at least 30 minutes practicing basketball skills. 3. Participate in a basketball game. So the den leader says, "let's work on the Basketball loop" but Johnny has already earned the loop. So he says, "Hey DL! I explained the rules to you last year. Remember? I practiced and played basketball last year. Right? So I don't have to do it over again. Right? But I still get the loop." One might argue that he has to do it all over again but that's not specified in the requirements, is it? And we all know that we cannot add to the requirements.