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 the "donations to the pack's bank account after the meeting.

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 their leadership position requirement for their ranks. They stopped coming to meetings (school work, school atheletics, etc.) and stopped going on campouts. We are talking about a total of 25+ boys spread between these three patrols. When the troop stopped using the "virtual patrol method" for campouts, only six of the 25 were still active (1 from the 15's, two from the 14's and three from the 13's).

For the 15-year old boy, it would mean another 6 months minimum before he would be eligible for his Eagle BoR. Trouble was, he was the one whose inactivity started all of this. The other boys in the patrol were complaining. The APL was another one who was missing meetings and campouts. The 15's were on a slippery slope; one by one they left for various reasons, mostly school-related. They were all "Stalled-in-Star" and "Lingering-in-Life". Telephone calls by the SPL to these boys to see what was going on and were they going to get active again were ineffective.

Anyway, the six remaining boys had been "virtually patrolling" for most of this time anyway. Amalgamating them into a patrol and disbanding the other three patrols was an example of attrition and evolution in the troop. It happens. Yes, we lost around 50+/-% of our active boys, but it was a stronger troop for it.

The SM, through the TC, offered these boys who wanted to become active again other leadership positions, like Instructor and Troop Guides, with the stipulation that they go on campouts to do what INS's and TG's do on campouts. The two boys who had been PL's wanted not only to be PL's again, but also receive credit for the time that they had been PL's even during their "period of inactivity". The parents were the driving force behind this. The younger patrols' PL's were doing a good job. The older boys in the new patrol did not want these boys in their patrol, sorry, full up. Nobody could blame them. The active boys had been active; the inactive boys had been inactive. They say that they are coming on a campout; the patrol buys food for them, then neither these boys nor their money show up Friday evening and the difference in the money has to come from somewhere. The reverse was also true. They say that they are not coming on a campout and the patrol is short on food. This was in the good old days when the troop would pick campout locations three hours' drive away and not get into camp until very late. Going shopping on the way to camp was a disaster. Budgets got blown, way too much food was brought back or wasted not eaten. Ask these boys (and/or their parents) to pay for their share of the food when they didn't go on the campout? Ha! Ask them to bring their food money to the troop meeting before the campout? Ha!

"The feathers started flying" when all of this came to a head. They didn't accept the offer of INS and TG's. It would also mean coming to meetings and going on campouts regularly. That was the problem in the first place. The boys had been inactive long enough for the troop to evolve without them. They wanted back into a situation that no longer existed. That was expained to these boys and their families. The troop has a list of boys who remained registered but were inactive until they "heard the Eagle clock start ticking". Those boys came back with one question: "Can I still get my Eagle?" A little looking through records and a caladar gave them the answer. If the answer is "No. It's less than six months until your 18th birthday.", we tell them and they understand. If the answer is "Yes.", our Life-to-Eagle Coordinator outlines a plan for them. Cutest BobWhite (my wife) is a merit badge counselor for a bunch of MB's, including a handful of Eagle required. One of those boys was talking to my wife more that I did for almost two years. The SM found leadership positions and projects for him to do for those requirements. And I sat in on his BoR's. He asked no quarter and received none, either. And by golly, he did it. He made Eagle. He's now a "Hornet Fixer" on an aircraft carrier in the Navy. Still registered as an ASM, too.

The boy in the above paragraph was working his program when the problem with these other boys came to a head. The TC used him as an example of how we were willing to work with a boy to finish his Eagle work. They did not take our offer. It was their decision. Nasty situation every way you turned.

The end result of all of this is a troop with a higher percentage of active boys. Yes, we still have natural attrition, but no more "virtual" patrols.

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 meals. We held our ground. You shoulda seen the feathers fly on that one! Parents of the inactive boys were not happy about that. Some tried to throw their weight around about their sons not getting credit for the leadership positions to which they were elected (Two were PL's.) but did not actively serve (Yeah! Really!). Unfortunately those boys disappeared off the radar screen.

The bottom line with the boys who did go camping was their merging into one patrol. They came from three patrols. They were happy. No problem.

Oh, yeah, . . . All of them made Eagle.

"Patrol Method". Works, don't it?

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?"

Scotty: "What business is it of yours?"

Etc.

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 the Venice of the Swamp; Piroques instead of gondolas; "Jole' Blon" instead of Italian arias. Maybe . . . .

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 300 - about half-way between Houston and C.S. It rememded me of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath".

This just in . . . . The New Orleans levies have broken again . . . . . this reported feels very fortunate indeed.

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 troop's neckerchief. That became the new-guy recognition. I'm willing to bet that froum members who were boy scouts have a boat-load of stories about the adults in their troops who handled problems and potential problems with such smoothness, grace and diplomacy that we carry them with us to this day. The Wisdom of the Scoutmaster. Title of a book?

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 the Archbishop who puts the medal over the boy's head, turns him around, shakes his hand while a photographer takes their picture. ("Congratulations, son; turn around; shake; Good!; Next?" He has it down to an art.) Six presentations a minute; seven when he's smokin'.

The Supply Division has little pin-on devices for CS, Webelos, BS, VS, and Venturing that you can use. There are th etiny little devices that are also used on adult leader training award knots. Ask the clerks at the scout store. They will know what I'm talkng about. They can be presented at any time.

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 understatement. All of the adults and a lot of the guys asked for the receipes! Oh! these moms could cook!!

Who says that ticket items have to be "work'?

"Diversity" means 'out of the ordinary for the unit'. Get creative!

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 real strength of character! And wanting schools and churches to serve as chartering organizations (Where have I heard that term before???). Wow!

This is an outfit that bears watching.

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 portion of my WB class. Ol' Mr. Cane deserves a set of beads as well.

This has given me a new perspective on "Do Your Best".

G.B.

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 not a few parents that year. Funny thing: Guess which troops aren't represented at Roundtable?

Anyway, our district camporee is held in mid- March which gives the chapter advisor time to get the election forms to the Lodge and hold the call-out at camporee. The only problem is that the adults nominated are not approved until April, so they cannot be recognized at call-out. They need to be recognized as well.

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 starting about a month before. The election team will come to your troop meeting wearing their sashes. Turn the troop meeting over to them for the election. Here's a big suggestion: Have enought copies of the final ballot (All boys with enough nights of camping and 1stClass and above that the SM edits for only those who live up to the Scout Oath and Law in their daily livesonly on the ballot. SM has final say.)for all registered scouts to vote twice. If no boys are elected on the first ballot, the Election Team will take a second ballot. If no one is elected after the second ballot, the election ends.

Yes, it is a matter of timing. I would start calling now. Seems election seasons vary from Council.

Holaka's qusetion: Arangements can be made for those recovering from injuries. They are given tasks that the restrictions of their healing will not interfere with. I've seen boys confined to wheelchairs go through Ordeal. Something will be found for them to do. I do not know of a candidate yet who wanted to pospone his Ordeal for any reason. Go for it!

W.W.W.

Greying Beaver