Hal_Crawford

Yeah, but not that uncommon in small troops where the CO is not particularly involved. If I recall I became CC at the SM's behest. The troop committee and I appointed my replacement and I think the two after that were appointed in similar fashion. All of us should have been appointed by the CO. Of course the IH signed the applications for all of us so he technically did approve the appointment but in most cases he did it without meeting the candidate. More often than not there is only one volunteer and he or she gets the job. Hal

That you already have a good relationship with the SM is good news. Hopefully the two of you can work together to help the scouts to make a good troop better. Hal

OMG. I think you guys are on to something. Apron Strings Eagle (ASE) would be awarded a lot in our area (one mom hired day laborers from in front of Home Depot to do her son's Eagle project). For Urban, Camping and ASE all merit badges would be on line. Hal

I am curious. If you don't know that much about how the troop runs, why did your son choose to join it? And how did it come to pass that you were appointed CC so far in advance of your son bridging? Did your son look at more than one troop? I agree with Eamonn that you do not belong at the PLC meetings. Your very presence could undermine the boy leadership. I say this from experience. When I was CC of our troop the SM asked me to attend the PLCs. The presence of more than one adult really changes the dynamic of the meeting. It creates a slippery slope to an adult lead troop. Ul

"Yeah, OP was a troll obviously..." The OP who started this thread in 2008 was probably a troll and I believe that is who XLPanel is referring to. OTOH, Shermanator505, who revived this thread appears (based on his contributions to other threads) to be an Eagle Scout expressing a legitimate opinion about the BSA membership policies. Perhaps in this case he stumbled upon a hibernating bear and decided to poke it with a stick. Not a smart move in the wild but (IMHO) perfectly acceptable in the Issues and Politics section of this forum. I am dismayed that on this one subject some a

"Compare today's high school textbooks with what we had in the 60's...more full color pictures and white space, very little text (too "boring")". Those text books may not be around much longer. School systems are beginning to use or are considering using digital media instead of expensive (not to mention heavy) text books.

"We already go on camp outs 11 other months each year where the boys use the patrol method." I think that practicing the patrol method for a week is a very different experience than a 1-2 night camp out. You can make anything work from Friday evening to Sunday morning but if Camp starts on Saturday the weaknesses will become apparent by Tuesday. On a weekend camp out the duty roster will often play to the strengths of the individual scouts but if there is a week long rotation then the weakest cook will have to step up, the laziest scout will have to carry his weight and the Patrol

Stosh: That sounds a lot like Camp Bowman at Goshen Scout Reservation. I am not sure that patrol sites are quite 200' apart but they are at least separate and distinct. Everything else is spot on. Hal

I just did a quick check of my desk and determined it would be a lot less cluttered if I discarded everything made in China. I doubt my employer would appreciate me discarding the brand new Cisco phone. Fortunately this keyboard is not made in China; is Thailand OK? They just turn their children into sex workers so the keyboard is alright? I have a hat here from Bayshore Scout Reservation. Yep! Made in China. Oh, crud! The monitor I'm looking at is made in China. Curse Dell! So are the Altec Lansing speakers. Altec Lansing? Say it ain't so. Can't easily reach the back of the CPU b

I would assume that the scout was elected PL of a New Scout Patrol where presumably no one could spell Tenderfoot. Maybe the boy thought that sticking around would be taking the quitter's way. (Sorry, I couldn't resist). Seriously, losing half the new scouts isn't that unusual. My son's W2 den had 11 boys. One chose not to bridge, six joined one troop and my son and three others joined our troop. Of those four, two disappeared in the first weeks and another in the first year. My son was active to his 18th birthday. Others who joined at the same time left or stayed, some (my son i

My heart goes out to the family, the loss of a child is grief beyond comprehension. I also feel for the other scouts and the scouters in the crew. Assuming that they stay on the trail, I can't imagine that they will get much joy out of the remainder of their trek. Losing a scout like that is every scouters worst nightmare.

National Capital Area Council offers a course called Back Country Outdoor Leaders' Skills that is sort of a graduate version of the SM/Venture Leader training. It is one day in a class room and an overnight. I don't think it reaches the level that you are envisioning but it is a good start. The following is pasted from the flyer for the course: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BACK COUNTRY OUTDOOR LEADER SKILLS -- 2008 This course is aimed at all adults working with older youth regardless of program (Ven

Since overnight camping is a requirement for Tenderfoot, is all further camping considered retesting? Hal

I'm not sure where you live but in the DC area a 30%-40% chance of Thundershowers is the default forecast for summer afternoons. That leaves a 60-70% chance that the weather will be just fine. Is there a place at the water park where the cubs can safely take shelter should a storm materialize? They should have a plan. Most thunderstorms pass quickly (at least in our area) so it might not be for all that long. What is the water parks emergency procedure in case of T-storms? Plan B might be to take shelter while the storm passes and then resume plan A. As long as there is a place to

I agree with Gern. We see the scat and the tracks but we rarely ever see the bear. And yes, bears do sh*t in the woods.

I took a Back Country Leaders course offered by our council last year and it was suggested that under LNT it is good practice for everyone to double up to reduce the number of tent bottoms on the ground and the overall size of the camp site. Not a requirement (though they suggested that as leaders we make it so for our units) but good practice. In a non-back country situation, the sites we get a district camporees fill to overflowing if everyone single tents. Hal

Barry: I guess that there is a world of difference between practices at Northern Tier and Philmont or where we are in the Mid-Atlantic. Most of our trekking is in the Spring and Summer and hypothermia is not a major concern when we are making camp. Last week was unseasonably cool in the mountains of Virginia but it was still warm/hot until well after sunset. The temperature tended to plummet at about 1amWe were generally making camp in the early afternoon. Though I have not yet had the pleasure of a Philmont trek I believe that the situation is similar, warm/hot by day and c

We start with the bear bag too. One reason is that it is often difficult to find a suitable tree limb (Strong enough, high enough but not too high to throw a line over) so the bear bag location often drives everything else. When we arrive at a site the patrol leader/crew chief decides bear bag location, cook area and latrine area. If it is raining or rain is threatening we will set up our fly first and put the packs under it. Scouts will then set up the bear bags. Other scouts may be detailed to filter water at this time. Once everything else is done the scouts are free to set up tents.

I'll start with a "How stupid could I be?" story. I was a new Cubmaster at Webelos' camp. They told us to bring seasonings for foil dinners and it did not occur to me that an unopened plastic jar of garlic salt was in fact food. In the middle of the night I heard a rustling sound and when I reached for my flashlight I got fur. I pulled back my hand and started kicking the foot bar on my cot which caused the critter (raccoon, I think) to skedaddle. On checking I discovered that even I could smell the garlic through the plastic. I was an idiot (opinions vary as to whether that has changed)

"Your life-lesson here should be: Don't work for a jerk!" Thank you Kudu for your stunning and insightful analysis. I am so happy that you have never found yourself working for a jerk and have never had to discuss such situations when interviewing for the next job. I doubt that I would enjoy working for, with or around you. I doubt that 300 feet would be far enough. But this is not really a referendum on parlor vs. outdoor scouting, BP, GBB or Woodbadge in the 21st century. The SMC and BOR are requirements for rank whether you like them or not. That said, my point is that th

I wonder about your status as to Life Scout. It might behoove you to complete the SMC and BOR before you move. This probably means your going to need to start being active in your troop again, at least for a couple of months. I realize this may cause you some discomfort but think of it as a character building exercise. It will be easier for your advancement to transfer as a Life scout than to arrive and immediately ask your new troop for an SMC and BOR. If I were on your BOR in the new troop I would probably ask about why you had not completed the SMC and BOR in your old troop and

"Well we have had girlfriends show up for eagle projects and courts of honor! " As an aside, let me share this cautionary tail. My son's high school sweetheart helped on his Eagle project and was there at his Court of Honor. In fact, she was in every single picture of him from the COH (except the group shots that didn't turn out too well). At the time they were joined at the hip and no crow bar could pry them apart. Six months later when this great love affair came to a crashing end none of the pictures could be displayed. So, take heed and get at least one good solo shot of th

Lisa is right that the Blue Card should also have the name of he Merit Badge on it. Don't know why it didn't occur to me earlier. Hal

"While the ACLU fights for acceptance for everyone's individual expressions, why are those of the BSA; uniforms , standards, and customs being critized by a vocal group both in and out of Scouting?" "When the ACLU begins to fight for gun rights as strongly as the right to call an image of a crucifix in a glass pitcher of urine "art"--they may have some street cred. " Used to Be: I think this might be a record. You hijacked your own thread in the first message. Objected to it in your second and then did it again. Perhaps the title of the thread should be ACLU and the BSA uniform.

There isn't a problem with that. The problem comes when the scout finds the counselor on his own without consulting the SM, works on the merit badge and the first time the SM hears about it is when the scout presents the SM with a completed blue card. At this point the SM can either accept it or tell the scout that it is invalid because he didn't follow procedure. To make matters worse it turns out that the counselor is not registered as a counselor or not approved for that badge. At this point you have a disappointed scout, angry parents ("you're just throwing roadblocks in front of our d