Greying Beaver

PWD - it's an obsession with some parents. That it is an annual event makes it compulsive for these same parents. Swell! Cub scouting has its own obsessive-compulsive disease . Is there a 12-step recovery program for it ? I made a suggestion at the last PC meeting: a scale-model competition. The entry must be a model of an open-cockpit race car, with photographs of the original car submitted with the model. The only restrictions were the wheels, axels, size, clearance, and weight because they are going to be raced, and a driver figure, detail painted, of course. Shoulda seen all of

Ceremonies do not need to be formal or drawn out. A short prayer, the Pledge if you have an American flag, and the CS promise. Three minutes max. A closing ceremony, the same - short prayer and the Scoutmaster's Benediction. That you have a ceremony is the important part. The same is true at pack meetings. Make sure that you have food and make the meeting enjoyable. In scouting, if you don't have food and you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong.

I thought that bolos were for adults, not scouts. Yes, there are plenty of commemorative neckerchiefs available to scouters. Philmont has several different ones. I'm willing to bet that the other high-adventure bases have the same. And. . . a Wood Badger not wear his WB neckerchief on occassion . . . .?

Hi,Kenk. I guess a little background might shed some light on this situation that happened about four +/- years ago. At the time we had 60+ boys registered, but only around 25-35 active. We use the NSP method, so the boys are also grouped by age. The three patrols were the 15-, 14-, and 13-year old patrols. Those are also the ages when boys seem to leave the program in largest numbers. And that was exactly what happened. The PL's involved were from the 15- and 14-year old patrols. The PL from the 15's was closing in on Eagle; from the 14's, Life. They were using the PL position as the

Hi, ManyIrons. Yeah, I figured as much. What are brothers for, right? Hi,Eagle_man. Try this: Find a youth member who's in a ceremony team. He will know the admonition. It's part of the ceremonies. The admonition is not written.

Let me continue with what EagleinKY said about shopping troops. Thumb through the SM's Handbook about troop organzation and mechanics. Your scout shop will have one on the shelf. Find a troop that best follows the program and put them at the top of the list. Then follow your heart and your gut feelings. One that follows the program most closely will probably have the fewest problems.

Is there anything wrong with having the boy work on both Webelos I and II requirements at the same time? The AoL is the only CS award that goes on the BS uniform. Is the boy in question interested in continuing on into a troop? Hey, . . .git 'r done, right?

Yeah, . . . we've had to use the "virtual patrol" on campouts, too. Then it got to be a little too often. The troop solved the problem in a very practical way. We ask that each boy provide $10.00 for food for 2-night campouts to cover the four meals. After combining patrols for cooking and eating purposes off and on for over a year, we told the troop that patrols would no longer be combined for cooking, eating, and clean-up purposes. If two boys in a patrol sign up for the campout, they have $20.00 to work with. If one boy from a patrol signs up, he has $10.00 to work with for all four m

Hi, ManyIrons. My postings always come out double. OGE is aware of it. If it is an echo, our admonition cannot be echoed enough or to enough people.

What is this with the kilt all of a sudden?! The Eagle Court of Honor is a boy scout ceremony where a boy scout award is being presented. The kilt is not a part of the BSA uniform, period. Really want to present a reason against wearing the kilt? Ask the boy if he wants to wear a kilt at his CoH, is he willing to wear it properly and in a traditional manner . Betcha he'll reach for those uniform trousers in a heartbeat! Anybody: "So, what's Scotsman wear under his kilt?" Scotty: "You mean you don't know?" Anybody: "C'mon, what's a Scotsman wear under his kilt?" S

Oh, pul-eeeze! It is a gentle reminder that we could all use every now and again . . . and again . . . and again.

". . . most potent cookie-selling machine . . . ." I'll bet GSUSA National leaders (no namecalling here . . . for now) have big dollar-signs in their eyes tonight. Ya know, Keelber "Grasshoppers" taste just like Thinmints and are a much better value.

By the time that you read this, Welcome, my brother.

Arrived home 3.30 p.m. Saturday. Power on. Trees up. Cats out(left them in the house for safekeeping). Only three hours to get back to Houston after taking side roads. No gasoline. No grocery stores open (They are now.). Beaumont, Port Authur, and Cameron LA hardest hit with flooding. Knider LA (big casino there) also flooded. On the bright side, Gran'ma and I had all four grandchildren together under one roof. The kid is off school until Wednesday. Cutest BobWhite and I are back to work tomorrow. Cousin who lives outside of Ruston LA has a great idea: Reform New Orleans into

I am also from Sam Houston Area Council. Lat night we left Houston at midnight headed for College Station, normally a 90-minute trip. Just under four hours(!) later we pulled into C.S. We waited for the traffic to clear out along the evacuation routes. A four-lane divided highway does not an evacuation route make. The governor ordered gasoline tank trucks loaded with gasoline to give - yes, give(!) motorists who has run out of gas 10 gallons of gasoline to get them going again instead of being stranded on the side of the road. My son quit counting cars thaqt had pulled over at just over

I concur that a 2-hour BoR is out of line, way out of line. Let me throw in that At AC, I have found that using the Life BoR as a "dress rehersal" for the Eagle BoR has several advantages. Chief of which is that the youngster knows what is expected at his Eagle BoR which has an encourageing aspect to it. I also sit on Eagle BoR's for our troop (save for my son's which took almost 2 hours because he wouldn't shut up!) whcich run around 45 minutes to just under an hour.

No such beast as "good hazing". That being said, back in the good ol' days our SM patiently watched a few of the other guys in the troop prepare the "initiation concotion" for a new guy in the troop. Mustard, hot sauce, vinegar, you know the drill. After the bleach(!) was added, the SM asked those budding chemists who was going to test it for "potency", it needed to have the desired effect, you know. There being no volunteers, he took charge of the stuff, diluted it with a gallon of water, and poured it into the fire. At the campfire that night, the SM presented the new guy with the tro

Hi, Jens3sons. The Citizenships are World, Nation, and Community. Family Life kinda-sorta belongs in the group. Everybody seems to be heading in the right direction. The requirements give what is asked, not how to go about it. I have said it many times before, "In scouting if you're not having fun and you don't have food, you're doing it wrong." A complex sentence structure with a simple meaning.

It is a matter of timing to be sure. The boys in our troop begin their AAD or PPXII work when school starts to have it finished in time for the mass on Scout Sunday. The boys have their medal presented to them by the Archbishop during the mass. It's a bit of an assembly-line proceedure because all of the boys in the district are presented their AAD and PPXII decorations at that mass. A narrow ribbon about 18"-20" long has its ends tied to the opposite ends of the pinning device on the reverse of the ribbon, forming a big loop. One of the priests is holding the medals, hands one in turn to

My ticket was aimed at getting greater participation from the parents. We had (at that time) a great core of parents who were very acitve. We also had some parents who needed a little encouragement. They were from Ghana, the Philippines, and Tiawan. The moms in these families could cook(!). They were shy about joining in for a bunch of reasons, language barriers or very thick accents, mostly. I invited them, in two cases, driving them, to a troop campout where they prepared traditional evening meals for the guys and adults. That everyone experienced international cuisine is an und

Re: American Heritage Girls (AHG) - Good on them! I have had a look at their website and liked everything that I saw except that the latest additions were in autumn, 2004, almost a year ago. One of the photos is of an Venturing advisor with her arm around an AHG girl. Hmmmmmm . . . . Seems that AHG is flying straight into the face of the ACLU("All Crying Loudly in Unison") with their "I promise to love God" as the first line of their promise. Theses girls aren't fooling around. Five words. It takes us boy scouts 19 words to mention God. Given recent history, that is a display of re

They are for real. We have not a few VietNamese troops in our area where French and VietNamese are spoken in the homes. When you read the requirements for an Interpreter's strip, no, it is not a joke. Those youngesters wear them with pride. One the other hand . . . Our TCC is constantly in England on business. With George Benard Shaw remarking that the British and the Americans are two people separated by a common language, . . . He was presented his English Interpreter Strip and wears is proudly.

I have come down with arthritis in every joint from my hips south. Yes, I am on medication to "control" the pain and reduce swelling. Ha! There are those mornings when my becoming vertical is very much in doubt. Sitting down is more of a controlled crash. As a result of my inability to move about, I have put on a lot of weight regardless of what I eat or don't eat. Thank goodness for my cane! My size has never been questioned by anyone in the troop, district of O.A. chapter. And I make troop campouts, too. My cane made it possible for me to complete the classroom and camping portio

for Stlscouter: Being able to have call-out/tap-out at camporee is a matter of timing. Our election season runs from November through February. We are in a huge Lodge and Chapter. Our election teams are kept pretty busy with unit elections. Troops meet every night of the week. The election team members usually juniors or seniors in high school and they want to focus on their studies for the rest of the school year. We made February 28 as the drop dead date for unit elections and got the District Executive and Lodge Advisor to back us up. Boy, did we have some steamed SM's, TCC's, and no

First Problem here. Elections are handled by the local chapter. "Chapter"'s have the same geographic boundries as the District. The Chapter Advisor should be listed as part of the District leadership. If not, call the Lodge (The Council will have contact information for the Lodge Advisor.) Ask the Chapter Advisor for the dates of election season and have several dates available that fall into the season. HALF OF THE REGISTERED BOYS PLUS ONE MUST BE PRESENT AT THE ELECTION FOR A VALID ELECTION !!! If that number is not present, no election. Advertise the date at the troop meetings sta