Greying Beaver

Aloha, Kahuna. Losing the LDS'ers would not be as big a hit as you imagine. True, they sponsor 30% of the units, but LDS membership is between 10 and 11% of the total membership in BSA. The Varsity program might disappear, though. LDS'ers make up the vast majority of Varsity teams across the country. Check with your District Executive. He can give you the nubers based on recharters. That being said, I am happy with the BSA programs as they are now and would rather that they stay that way. Within weeks of my grandson joining Tigers, my son made Eagle. It's like I've signed up for a

Our troop has a set of by-laws tht we keep filed away " . . . just in case.". In eight years now I've see a copy of them only at the meeting after we joined and at the annual parents' meeting for summer camp. The meat of these by-laws is the troop's right to put a boy on a bus home if he is a constant discipline problem going to, at, or on the way home from summer camp. An in those same eight years, the troop has had to enforce them one time. It's a "cads and puoltroon" sort of thing. They work because the boys know that they do exist and have been enforced in the now-fading pas

We went through this problem several years ago. The adult patrol chuck box has a box of little packets of everything that can come in little packets: ketchup, mayonaise, mustard, sweet relish, instant coffee, sugar, boullion powder from ramen packages, salt, pepper, you name it. We know that the stuff is there, and our grupmaster for the upcoming campout will usually take a peek at what is there and use it to supplement. Once when I was grubmaster, I made a big pot of soup and used all of the ketchup for "tomato paste and assorted spices" It worked. Well, what is in ketchup? Gett

Everything done in all of the O.A. ceremonies and the induction proceedure are alagorical. What is seen and done has a greater meaning that is directly related to the scout Oath and Law. Those members who are serving on the staff of the induction process are trained and further instructed on what to watch out for during the induction process. The candidates are safe and being watched (sometimes from a distance) for their safety. Have a set of parents who, when their son was elected, came to me (Associate Chapter Advisor) expressing their concerns based on what they had heard about the

The ACLU does a lot of good things that are in the public interest. The majority may rule but the rights of the minority must be protected. When a minority feels that it/they are being shoved around too much, they give the ACLU a call. They are a watchdog group, and watchdog groups are a necessity. It's when they attack where a person "lives", such as those parts of BSA's Oath and Law that they go too far. BSA has been declared a private club with all of the privilages - and restrictions ( like no events on military facilities) - of a private club. BSA has requirements about a be

I would suggest the two patrols of 4 or 5 boys each. Given the camp duties of cooking, clean-up, fire, etc., it will be a more efficient division of labor. Even if duties have to be doubled up, such as fire with cooking and water with clean-up, you have a patrol using the patrol method. buying for a small group is easier than bying for two. There is less waste unless your boys are a very hungry bunch. Two patrols troops are a lot more common than you would think.

You ain't seen nothin' yet! Congratulations on completing you ticket. You will soon learn that now is when you start earning those beads. Use the knowledge learned. And again, congratulations. -G.B.

"Make periscope depth, please. Up periscope. (look around once) Down periscope. Dive the boat. Let's get outta here." Geeeeze!

Something else to consider: a fundraiser as soon as possible. Talk to the local WalMart. They have monies budgeted for youth groups to do carwashes on the WalMart parking lot. You will need to provide your own hoses, buckets, soap, towels, etc. The WalMarts in our part of the swamp have a $1,000.00 limit. By thatI mean that they will donate the difference between what you take in and $1k giving your group a thousand dollars. You make $800.00; they donate $200.00. Ta-Da! The fundraisers that are advertized in BL and Scouter are great, but the lag time in getting the materials is t

Waddle on down to the local cinema to see "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe". There be the cutest pair of our favorite critters playing a supporting role in the story. Makes one proud to be a beaver. Oh, yeah; the rest of the movie is great, too. If you see similarities between "Narnia" and the "Rings" triology, keep in mind that C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkein were very good friends and corresponded and commented on each other's works for the duration of their productive lives.

A dollar well spent.

Yes, congratulations. It will feel so good when you realize that you are using the things taught at WB. And it will come so naturally.

YEEEE-HAAAAAA!!!! Another beaver in the pond! Come on in; the water's fine. Lotsa room in the lodge, too. Pick up a twig and have a chaw. You will bee surprised at how soon and how often you use your WB learnin' in your life in and out of scouting. -Greying Beaver.

Hey, John! My TG is a Fox, too! So here goes: She used to be a fox, and a good old Fox, too, But now she's finished Foxing, she don't(sic)know what to do. She's growing old and feeble and she can Fox no more, So she's going to work her ticket if she can! Back to Gilwell . . . . God, bless her real good, too. The whole human race needs more like her. Amen. - Greying Beaver (standing by!)

Adults can wear medals for "dress occasions", but it is either the medal or the knot on the uniform, not both.

J-in-K.C.: Agreed about the size of the LDS contingent at PTC. Have a look at the PTC training calendar. The LDS'ers have a whole week all to themselves ( I think.) Please understand, we are not knocking the LDS'ers or their way of presenting the boy scout program. They just do things so differently from those of us not "in the community".

John-in-KC: Yes, the LDS'ers have one-week adult training sessions at PLS. There was one going on at the same time Cutest BobWhite and I took Venture Leader Training a couple of summers ago at PSR. Man, they formed their "community" in a New York Minute! They did not associate with anyone else the whole time. Part of the training for us was about the LDS church, how it is organized at the local level, and how to approach them, including the terminology and phraseology needed not to put them off (I kid you not!). My son-in-law verified everything that was presented. Talk about protoca

I work with a couple of openly homosexual men. They know of my emvolvelment is scouting and this topic has be the catalyst for a number fo interesting discussions. They are aware of the many benefits of our society afforded by the BSA concerning ethics, moral behavior and citizenship preparation as seen on the wider canvas of our society. The homosexual community's awarenes of the the dichomity between homosexual behavior and lifestyle and heterosexual behavior and lifestyle when examined through the filter of the teachings of the three major religions of the Occident (Judisiam, Christianity

We, my family, are not LDS, but my son-in-law is LDS and an Eagle scout. When I became aware of the differences in how the LDS'ers run their scouting programs, I asked him about his scouting experiences. The best way to sum up what he said would be to say that the pressure on the youngsters to make Eagle - and make it early - is tremendous. LDS troops do not go to Philmont because to carry all of your gear from one camp to another on a Sunday would be "laboring on the Sabbath" which is forbidden. And, trek iteneraries are so tighly scheduled that crews cannot "lay-over" on a Sunday without

Why not take the unniforms and the potential wearers to a tailor shop and have the blouses and truosers altered/tailored to fit? It is not that expensive and the members of your ship will look great.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Over on ebay, topic: "wood badge", somebody is selling little critter charms on black cord tied like the WoodBadge beads. Every critter is there. The hook to this is that WB'ers cannot wear their beads on activity uniforms. Well, now your favorite critter is available to be worn with your activity uniform. My son, the Philmont Staffer, got me a single critter on a cord (Never guess which one!) at the Cimmaron Art Gallery for my birthday last year, and it has been known to poke its nose out from between the rolls on my WB neckerchief from time to tim

To start, go have a look at the first Boy Scout Handbook. The scout shops sell them. Drawings of scouts in their uniforms will show what the origial uniform looked like. It was a cut-down version of the U.S.Army uniform, campaign hat included. Don't argue - go look! Short trousers and shor-sleeve shirts were next. It wasn't until after WWII that the unifrom began to evolve. The color changed toa lighter green, the front pockets had a red piping and were folded down and held in place witha button on the side of the side. There was also a button just under the belt loop that was almost n

And if your district isn't having CM Specific Training, call your council training person, tell him/her that you need CMS, and is there another district that has scheduled CMS in the near future and can you sign up for it (Watch them say "No" and refuse any monies for the course!). Last resort is to call the next council over and speak totheir council training person and ask the same thing. Somebody is having the CMS course in the near furture. And don't let the training person in the next council over give you a hard time; We are all in the same organization, ya know! Good Luck and Have

DO IT !! A.S.A.P. JUST DO IT !!

I had almost the exact same conversation with a colleague at work several years ago. He wanted his son, 6yrs old at the time, to " . . . go the sports route . . . ." instead of scouting. He said that cub scouts is fun, but sports develops character. I brought up a few "characters" like Charles Barkley, Pete Rose, who, whether they want it or not, are youngsters' role models. I told him that sports reveals character; scouting develops it. Then I asked him if sports teaches about duty to God and country, or duty to others, etc, being trustworthy, friendly, courteous, kind, etc. Not rea