Greying Beaver

Hi, Vicki and Sirjimmyg. To answer both of your questions. Vicki - About the arrows used in the AoL ceremony: The parents are told to print - in large letters - the boy's name in black ink on a piece of white paper 2" wide and long enough to wrap around the shaft and be scotch-taped to form around the shaft. It cannot be seen more than five feet away in the low-light of a bonfire. The Medicine Man holds the arrows, including three "unworthy" arrows. He hands the arrows to the chief one at a time. When the Chief is handed an arrow by the Medicine Man, the former examines the arrow to

Program will be a greater influence than anything else in having a successful unit, period. BSA National did some numbercrunching a few years ago that, among other things, led to the First Class Emphasis program. He did relate some other findings, but I think that I'll keep those close to the vest for now. Semper Paritus is right. Another pack starts up down the street with a activity-filled, fun program, and you would hear that loud sucking sound. IT's Me, either you are part of the solution or you are part of the problem. Get other parents who have the time, and as a group go

Oh, this is a boy-run troop alright, but not according to the definition we understand. There are those times when the adult leaders can stand back and let the boys run the program. And there are those times when the adults need to be more active in the planning and running of the troop . . . until the program "gets back on track" and running like its supposed to be. Your situation sounds like it's time for the latter. Ask yourself and the Troop Committee some hard questions like Who is and is not advancing?, When was the last Court of Honor and what ranks were given to which boys?, How d

Re: Adult postion patches not being handed out until after position-appropriate training(s) completed. This would solve a bunch of problems with troops regardless of age. New troops, absolutely. A spin-off troop starting with adults who have been active in the troop as either committee members or supporting the unit by tranporting scouts to and from weekend campouts (bless 'em!) but not trained as SM's could cause some problems in the short run for the unit. A lot can be learned by osmosis, but the leader-specific training should still be required before SM, ASM, or TCC patches are giv

First - Knots. What puts me into a low simmer for a short time is cub scout leaders with their two rows of tiger and cub scout leader knots. I wear my ribbons and WB beads with pride, but when the parent of a boy just entering the troop after bridging shows up with all those ribbons, yes, I see a dedicated scouter - in need of a lot more training. Guess who doesn't want to go to any boy scout-level training? Bingo. And guess who wants to know what those beads around my neck are for? Bingo. Speaking of Beads and Such. Put "cimarron art gallery" in your search engine and you are goin

Our troop tries to keep it simple: Full Dress Uniform - all bells and whistles, no OA sashes because it's not an OA function. Dress Uniform - shirt with all patches and insignia in the proper place (that's another problem), uniform shorts or trousers "Class B" - any scout t-shirt (I'm a scouter; I have a closet-full of those!), uniform shorts. Knee-high socks preferred. "Campin' clothes" - NOT your uniform (Get that stained or worse and Mamma ain't gonna be happy. And when Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.).

Semper Paritus - This is the beginning of a good idea that done correctly, might work. The only problem that I see is the money that parents have sunk into the existing troop - butane stoves, portable canopies, tents, not to mention trailers to haul it all to camp. They do not want that gear split up with another new troop. It would, however, give boys in larger troops who are ready and waiting for leadership positions a ready-made leadership position in the new troop. At the same time, the parents of those boys who are the "levening" for the new troop would go along and to the same thing

Here's a rule of thumb: When you see some confusion, a bit of dirt up in the air, etc., that is GOOD. A BOY is in charge of the activity. When you see order, calm, and real progress being made, that is BAD. An ADULT is in charge of the activity. Remember: BOY-lead program. What really has me see lots of red flags go up is a mom of a Webelo coming into the troop asking (I kid you not), "Which other boys are going to be in my son's patrol and which other boys are in the troop?" I give her a current troop roster and let her decide for herself. Eight out of ten times the boy wants to s

Most of the boys - and some of the adults - in our troop wear U.S.Army BDU (camo) trousers because they are comfortable and durable (What a concept!). A bright jacket, shirt, or poncho is almost a must in the woods.

if you earned it as a scout or a scouter, you can wear it. I have a scout circus patch from 1965 that has turned into a collector's item. I wear it from time to time. I have been offered cash money on the spot for it. Nope. Mine. Not for sale. Had too much fun earning it.

I sit on our troop's Eagle BoR's and always tell the new Eagle, "As of now, you are an Eagle Scout. The only time you 'Was an Eagle'is after you are dead. To a "Bullet-proof adolescent (just ask one.)" that really gets to him.

In our house, the first week of the month is the "Week from Hell". This is for my wife, my son, and me. Monday night - troop meeting; Tuesday night - crew meeting; Wednesday night - troop committee meeting; Thursday night - District boy scout and venturing RoundTable and OA chapter meeting, all three in the same building at the same time; Friday night - leave for troop campout (and get into camp no earlier than 9:30p.m.); Saturday - in camp (nap times for adults are part of the duty roster); Sunday - drive home and supper at an eatery. Man, I can't wait to get back to work on Monday so that

Our OA chapter has a cross-over ceremony that leaves a real impression on the cubs crossing over and their family members. The seript is one sheet of paper, front and back. There is a lot of stage direction involved, but the different characters can learn their parts on a very short time. The best part of the ceremony is when the Chief is handed the first of the Arrows of Light, and after examining it, declares it "Unworthy!", breaks it, and throws it into the fire. That makes 'em sit up. That "unworthy" arrow is a dummy arrow that the den leader makes for the ceremony. It's one of three t

NEWS FLASH !! The manager of the local scout shop said that a new uniform is in the works at National. No details yet, but that de la Renta fella is not in on the design committee.

Don'cha just love those old drawings and photographs, carefully posed and everybody in complete uniform? Our troop has a simple policy: When in Rome, do as the Romans do. If the Romans are silent on this question, if indoors or out and you are in complete uniform, give the hand salute. If you are not in complete ("field") uniform, i.e., activity uniform, place your hand over your heart.

Re: "advanced in rank but not as a person." That is the core of the definition of an "Eagle Machine". The FCE program makes no mention of separating the first-year guys from the rest of the troop. They need the closer attention that can be given by TG's. And you are correct that TG's need to be trained how to teach . . . and make sure that they know the skills required for T'foot - 1st Class. Our new guys come into the troop from the feeder pack in April. They are off to summer camp between 2 and 3 months after joining. We have a good idea of the number of boys coming into the troop

The First Class Emphasis program is supposed to help ease the new boys into the boy scout program and get them to 1st Class within 12 months of joining the troop. It brings together proven retention techniques. BSA National did some numbercrunching a few years ago. Boiled down, a boy tends to stay in scouting if 1.)He attends the first summer camp after he joins, 2.)He attends troop meeetings on a regular basis, 3.) He stays with his fellow Webelo den members for at least the first year, 4.)A Troop Guide and "new guy" patrol ASM are assigned to this "new guy" patrol to teach and counsel the

Indy_Owl - 1.)Your husband's TG: Call your course SPL and let him know whats going on. Be specific. My wife's TG was a complete nightmare. The SPL was out of the country on business most of the time this was going on, so it ended up in the course SM's lap. Follow the chain of command! She emailed her ticket work to the SM. The next day we got an email from him, "Congratulations on completing you ticket work!" Let the staff know. It's one of the reasons that they are there. 2.) Your not wanting to have a beading ceremony? Your choice, period.

I concur. The staff will make arrangements for those with physical disabilities - or should. Our patrol had one fellow confined to a motorized wheelchair. And I am arthritic in all joints from the hips south. And boy, was I in pain during the two weekends of the course. But the staff helped in every way that they could. You should have no problems. Just in case, give your Wood Badge SM a telephone call and give him a heads-up. I used to be a beaver . . . .

Four youngsters who pushed each other all the way to Eagle? I saw it happen in our troop about three years ago. Six of the seven boys in their patrol made Eagle. They had been together since Tigers. Want to keep these boys active in the troop? Try this: whisper in their ears about Eagle Palms. Five more MB's and they pin a bronze palm device onto their Eagle medal. Check in the back of the Handbook. Then stand back and watch the feathers fly. Oh, yeah, five more MB's and the gold palm is awarded; five more and the silver palm is awarded; five more after that, a bronze palm is added to t

I am Troop Advancement Chair, which means I chair Eagle BoR's for our troop. "How do you honor the 12th scout law?" is an excellent way to phrase that question. In a discussion at my Wood Badge course we were told that "A scout is reverent" has two parts; that the youngster follow the tenants of his faith and respect the religious practices of others. BP and the others who started the scouting movement were very careful to require that a scout be reverent, not Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Jewish, et al. By the way - Our troop is having an Eagle BoR tomorrow night. A very timely r

Our troop has reached a good middle ground. Yes, we have a neckerchief. The only times when it is required is for courts of honor, boards of review, and other special occasions. What rates as a special occasion? Leave that up to the SPL. Also, the neckerchief used to be much larger and was a square piece of cloth. It was folded to form a triangle then rolled. It was large enough to be a bandage, a signalling flag (I have my dad's handbook when he was a scout, the 1922 ed.(?). It has those wonderful drawings of the neckerchief being used for a variety of things.. BSA Suppl

I recieved my beads a year ago this past April. I find myself using the lessons of the course all the time, especially at troop committee meetings. An agenda topic will be under discussion, and I hear that little voice in my head start saying, "Wood Badge stuff! Wood Badge stuff!". I put in my WB 2cents-worth in. "October Sky" and "Remember the Titans" were excellent "funnels" to see the management concepts being applied in real-world situations. The Money Game was a great lesson on "seeing the big picture". The water bottle rocket exercise forced leadership and management skills a

I concur. I have never heard of it, don't know if our council uses it or not ( I will find out.), and sounds like the solution to a bunch of problems in the Venturing program. It is different from O.A., but Venturing is different from Boy Scouts. It is right in line with the Venturing idea of ". . . here is what you can and cannot do; go, venture out - have fun with it . . . ". Make the ceremony fit the crew (What a concept!). The whole thing parallels O.A. but on that Venturing level that separates it from the boy scout program.

Hi, John-in-KC. If it ain't in the uniform part of the catalogue, it ain't official. The MacClaren tartan neckerchiefs are part of a restricted inventory of BSA National Supply Division stuff. You won't find the beads, neckerchief, or woggle in the catalogue, either; nevertheless, all Wood Badge uniform items are official uniform. Same thing for Order of the Arrow sashes. It comes down to who has the authority to order the items. I'll tell you this: If the kilt becomes part of the BDS boy scout uniform, I'll have mine before you have yours, and have worn it to a troop meeing, too