Gunny2862

GW , I may be wrong but I thought that was an agreement where the Red Cross would provide training at a reduced rate to Boy Scouts and Leaders (Good for us) in return they would be able to call on us for help in local disasters (Good for them and us). It was up to each Council to coordinate and participate in the program - ours hasn't.

I think it's great. My Scouts will all get the URL next Monday.

In so far as it applies to Boy Scouts. In the words of of my Committee Chair who was the previous Scoutmaster. "One of the biggest predictors of success of any one boy is having him as part of a group of "first years" who are already bonded and crossed over together from Cub Scouting." I personally don't know, but even if it meant rushing him a little bit(or holding him back), I would consider doing what was necessary to have him cross with his Webelos mates. My, still uninformed, opinion.

Practically, it means seeking them out. They aren't going to just magically come to you. When a new elementary school is established the local packs crowd the place trying to get a foot in the door with the new "populace". It's the same thing here in a way, if you aren't getting word of mouth advertising from your Boy Scouts or Cub Scouts then you probably aren't getting good recruiting going anyway. You've got to go find a youth of whatever population you want to serve and get him involved - any additional recruiting is either a redoubling of your efforts in the same vein or his word of mouth back into his community. I forget the actual numbers(below) but any Marine Recruiter could give you the correct ones.(Using what I remember, which could be fatally flawed) You make twenty phone calls to get five appointments, you set five appointments to get two interviews, you get two interviews to get one recruit. Numbers change based on demand but you can count on at least needing five recruits a month per recruiter to have a successful month. So, roughly one hundred phone calls per month for the initial contact(doesn't count subsequent calls to verify the appointment, speak to a concerned parent, find out why they missed the appointment, reset the appointment, etc.)And if you lose a prospective contract anywhere along the way thats twenty more initial contact phone calls. Are any of us doing anything near the comparable activity in getting our Scouts from our existing pool - much less in our outreach efforts? I'm not. Remember it's only an hour a week, - per boy.

Thanks DYB-Mike for catching the intended Spirit of my Jedi inspired remark. Sorry you missed it GW. Any of the ceremonies we do are for the boys and are intended to capture the mythic better part of any scenario we place it in. The facts are that any people can have a darker side if one looks deeply enough into the real historical truths about them. We as Scouters trying to inspire the youth are utilizing whatever tradition we place in front of our Scouts for the honorable traits of that tradition. And as such even if we avoid the darker images of any tradition we do well not to mock the tradition in question so that we don't weaken the lesson we want the boys to learn from their encounter with the scenario we draw from the tradition.

And, (sounding out in full and glorious geekdom)(Hear Samuel L. Jackson as Jedi Master Mace Windu) Why, would it be ridiculous to have a Jedi Crossover ceremony?!

21 years in the USMC working with either radios, radio support systems, other communications technologies as a repairman or technician ending up as a Ground Data/Communications Maintenance Technician(MOS 2862). Retired as a reservist so no checks until much later. Currently operating/monitoring/servicing Video-teleconferencing systems as part of a larger network for a University. Taking Psychology and Religion classes to widen my world a little bit - I could be very hard to talk to when I was all wrapped up in my super-geek electron warrior mode. Although my wife assures me the super-geek lives on.

Packsaddle, I concur. I am at a disadvantage without having had the full training package. And fully expect to get a lot more out of it the second time around. But experience also comes into play. Without ever having seen a Blue & Gold/ Crossover/ Arrow of Light Ceremony I suppose you could still do one but it probably won't look like people expect it to. Which is a problem when people want their children to have at least a similar experience to what they did as Scouts. And can lead to their Scouts going elsewhere when it doesn't look like they expect it to. I think that lifelong learning, or at least active reflection, on what has been taught and examining past activities in light of what is going on now must be a continual process.

Bob White, what are these Family presentations you are talking about? I've got a FoS presentation scheduled for April by one of our Council folks but haven't seen/been to one yet.

A chortle... and then a single tear... Here's, not to the BSA per se but, to the Scouts and a hopefully Common Senseical future. Train them well...

And on the subject of anuresis, it's amazing how the six months may have been the cure not the visits and payments to the treatment center.

For clarification, no one in our troop uses the hard storage container for anything but home use or summer camp. But raisemright is correct, unless you haul a large trailer the hard boxes are incredibly unwieldy.

Welcome also Burnside, While I identify as a Caucasian, I also have enough close enough ancestry to register as an American Indian. My brother sat on our Regional (not BSA) Council for a time. I think BSA has the right idea, they are trying to recognize the accomplishments of the American Indian and to promote its emulation, not to mock it as some other entities do. The elements of the ceremony do have meaning and short of bringing in tribal elders to help with the creation of authentic regalia and checking ancestry to decide which boys can participate in a ceremony - and possibly then excluding any boy who couldn't show an ancestry link and then also excluding non-natives from attending, carrying the argument to its logical conclusion. What we'd have is the Indian Scouts of America. I'm not having any issues with the Arrow of Light Ceremonies as long as they are carried off in a dignified fashion and not as a comedic sketch.

Pixiewife, while you are in the shopping mode,consider looking into a footlocker or lockable storage container. Be careful, you can easily get sticker shock. My son and I both use them to keep our Scout specific gear separate and organized during the year. It gives us a place to start looking when we can't find that "one" item we know we own and want to take on "this" outing. And even though a Scout is trustworthy, we still encourage lockable storage for gear at summer camp. We must have had some of the general populace walk through our camp one year. I think Beavah has it dead on with the headlight flashlight - look into a better LCD model. The money you spend on one will repay you quickly. I could have had a very expensive one instead of the several cheapos I tried to get by with - the cheapos just didn't hold up.

I have my first tear in my Switchbacks. Going to have to duct tape the corner of that table, and sharpen my knife because the table was sharper than the knife. It was easily mended with the iron on patch from underneath, couldn't match the color but figured the pocket was black and used black patching material. If you didn't know you can't see the fix. Other than that the one pair seems to be doing fine with 10 months of camping, a summer camp, several hikes and a couple of backpack trips and 1-2 times a week wearing them on average. Some pilling but it's minimal and not really an issue. I'm buying another pair for summer camp and to have a "better" pair - 'cause I'm still going to put them to hard use.

And yet again, mandatory, shmandatory. I've been pursuing training since the day I signed on as a no-position Scouter. In less than 11 months, became an ASM and then SM and have gone out of district and council trying to get training. And have people irritated that I'm alwas asking when the next (whatever I or any of my Scouters need) training opportunity is. You can't push mandatory training unless you can deliver it w/o making those who want it pull their hair out trying to get it. If Council doesn't move it again I may have had all of the minimium training at 13 months. By which time I'll already have repeated some of it that can be accomplished independantly.

Thanks Ed, but that's not at all what I'm saying. I'm saying that the Scouts need to be responsible for caring for themselves in these issues. We as Scouters do need to ensure that somethings we wouldn't normally do are done - like putting an ingredient list up at meals. But for me to place items on some Scouts plates and not on others seems wrong to me, a clear violation of boy led and various elements of Scout law and oath. We also do need to provide for emergency aid, too. There is no way to know when or whom anaphalyxis will strike or how hard it will do so. I had a sense of unease but no symptoms arond cats for years. And one night a cat walked past, the wind blew dander about 12 feet and I barely made it to the hospital. I "coded" three times that night- once after they had stabilized me and they brought the wife back. With dander still on her, I coded that time before she was within 5 feet of me. But it is my allergy and my responsibility to ensure that I have my self-care availible and that I monitor my exposure. It's not my place to ask everyone else to get rid of their cats so we have a Cat-free Troop. It does mean that when asked someone should let me know that there is a cat in their home so that I can take precautions.

Gee Ed, it's not necessarily the menu. It's not the shopping for us. I believe the issue, centers on boys actually eating what is brought. Which for us isn't an issue because we ensure they are hungry by meal time by keeping them busy and because, we - so far - have a tradition of very good meals.

As a Scouter with an allergy - cat dander. I think the responsibility has to ride with the person who has the allergy. I will let you know why I'm not coming into your home if you have felines kept in the house though - And if I pre-load with an antihistamine and upon returning home immediately do a load of laundry and take a shower I can usually spend an evening visiting. But, If I were to visit you without finding out whether or not you kept cats wouldn't it be my fault if I had a reaction, there's no way you could know. Others should know why you don't eat certain foods and why the ingredient list needs to be posted for each item prepared at or brought along on campouts but it is the Scout/Scouters responsibility to avoid those ingredients they react to. On that note, I have a Scout who is allergic to dairy products - and insists on eating them, sneaks them when ever possible. The issue is raised with his parents when it happens and fortunately it results in intestinal discomfort rather than anaphylaxis. But is an example of why the responsibility rests with the Scout/Scouter rather than with the Adult Leadership to prevent exposure. The only way I could control this Scouts intake would be to treat him like a Cub - which is what we are trying to get away from. On the other hand, we don't have any Troop epi-pens/adrenaline and I am now going to raise the issue with the CC.

Anyone but especially scotteng, have you ever gotten that egg in the paper bag thing to work? I was glad I tried it with one portion first instead of committing everyones meal to it. I couldn't get it to work at all. Wound up scramble/frying it to avoid throwing it away. It is a constant thing for us to encourage the salad/vegetable/fresh fruit serving, not so much a struggle but if it doesn't get pushed it gets left off the menu. However once bought they do get eaten. Lisabob, is it possible that you are seeing the reverse side of this they buy the required items but don't eat them because they aren't "encouraged" to do so?

I keep a cooler for condiments, we have a storage box that always has a stock of oatmeal and peanut butter. But other than that we rarely have more than a banana or an orange, maybe some leftover sandwhich bread - which goes home with our scholarshipped boys. We don't often see food waste, but we also work off a budget of $10 per person for Fri. night, Sat -All day, and Sun morning.

And is it possible that the family doesn't have access to adequate medical care? Not knowing or not being able to provide for a "unnecessary" trip to the doctor may provide the rationale for the denial. I at one time, had a person I was responsible for develop a "smell" issue and it turned out after I MADE them go to sick call that they had developed diabetes which was unusually causing the odor.

Pack, have you ever heard a can of beer called a canned porkchop? Reference to a similar number of calories, I believe.

I stand corrected on the wearing of the Army cover... AR670-1 states.... Soldiers will wear headgear with the Army uniform, except under the following circumstances: (1) Headgear is not required if it would interfere with the safe operation of military vehicles. The wear of military headgear is not required while in or on a privately owned vehicle (to include a motorcycle, bicycle, or convertible automobile), a commercial vehicle, or on public conveyance (such as a subway, train, plane, or bus). (2) Soldiers will not wear headgear indoors unless under arms in an official capacity, or when directed by the commander, such as for indoor ceremonial activities. (3) Male and female soldiers are not required to wear headgear to evening social events (after Retreat) when wearing the Army blue and white uniforms, the enlisted green dress uniform, the Army green maternity dress uniform (females only), or the mess and evening mess uniforms. (4) Soldiers will carry their headgear, when it is not worn, in their hands while wearing service, dress, and mess uniforms. Soldiers are authorized storage of the headgear, when it is not worn, in the BDU cargo pockets. Soldiers must fold the headgear neatly so as not to present a bulky appearance. Soldiers will not attach headgear to the uniform or hang it from the belt. However, I've seen the Army folks saluting indoors far too often to believe that it is also prohibited. The wearing of a cover indoors thing must have been a local option thing done by the Army commander.(This message has been edited by Gunny2862)

Ain't culture that stuff they put in the Cottage Cheese? or Yogurt? I h'ain't not never understood that stuff no-how. Piece out! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA