anarchist

oldsm, I see nothing wrong with aquiring and holding on to the ribbons. We have troop ribbons from 1952 that I would never even think of removing from our flag! the ball of bibbons at the top of out flag is very large. they are hung from a circular ribbion bracket that fits between the pole and the finial (spear pointie thing on top). We made a flag shroud large enough to cover it all which makes tranport a breeze. If the size of the "display" causes a problem perhaps you might want to build a troop (and patrol version) coup stick (pole) to sit in a corner of your meeting hall...

Yeah, I guess we just need FScouter, OGE, Hunt and eagle pete need to set up the BSA prank police to clear the jokes...if it is funny we must STOP IT! I don't think any of us mentioned hammering on any one...and did not deserve the inference... So, I guess its pure science that we scar someones psyche by sending him for a left hand smoke shifter...(which is pure fluffernutter...)I sense a full circle here ... so I think we have beaten this old horse to death... Us bad people neanderthals will never please the more evolved empathethics...we are wrong and terrible they are right and virtu

prairie, yeh, snorin not only keeps the lions, tigers and bears away but we haven't seen any elephants, dragons or school teachers neither... We used to have an absolutely wonderful scouter who had all kinds of breathing snoring issues...Everyone would wait to see where he would pitch his tent and then try to park as far from him as possible...then at night most of us alternated between wondering when the "Kodiak bear fight" would end ....or during numerous silences wondering if he would take another breath....(breathe steve breathe!) and Beavah in many of the areas we camp h

OH boy...chartering on time... I guess how long the lapse is a consideration too...but for starters- First, if you are not "chartered" in our council...your paper work (like for Eagle Scouts or out of tour permits, Seabase, Philmont, etc. gets rejected at the desk...they just hand it back... Second, techincally you have no BSA insurance...you are not part of the insurable "pool". Then there can be esoteric ramifications that while having little or no real world impact like: "sadly, I am part of a troop ( a sound, active program) that was originally Chartered in the fal

a tenting I will go, a tenting I will go.... only policy on tenting I can recall is BSA (a long while ago) had a size policy for long temp camping...("x sq. ft. per boy) and THAT was probably to keep the guys from getting on each others nerves ... You are definitely "spot on" when dealing with 40/50 scouts wanting to tent alone and some (many? most?) camping sites simply not being big enough for that. We have been at many national park sites where the youth group camping sites are rated for 20-25 campers and if you can get ten tents set up you feel like your camping on top of each ot

Its not just about fear is about being "P.C"., in this case psychologically correct... so many little boys seem to have be emotionally scarred by what many used to call boys rights of passage that in the name of "P.C." we take all challenges away, we take all exposure to difficulties away, we take the chance to fail away...and then we wonder why little johnny can't handle the pressure in the real world... Its not about scouts hammering scouts or anyone else for that matter. Its about jokes and humor and because some of us can deal with embarrassment we stop the game...and make everyone g

A sadness ...we are afraid of our own shadow...so we reduce "fun" to the least possible negative outcome...or zero! Last true prank in our troop...about three years ago at summercamp...Acting SPL and Acting ASPL (both life scouts on their way to eagles) were having a difficult time with two of the older souts (both 14/15 Y.O. Stars on their way to life)...something about mouthing off and refusing to "join in the program". SPL and ASPL developed a plan and duct taped them in their sleeping bags to their cots...(nicely done while they were asleep...if I do say so myself)... took the boys ab

Gonzo1, ouch! hearing "dirt" from a "friend" knocking down the troop your boy choose had to start the negative juices flowing a bit...but please stop take a deep breath...and observe first. Keep in mind that It is not your place to tell the scouts anything...there is a chain of command that only gets "Adult trumped" in a truely "dangerous"or outrageous set of circumstances... As a new adult before you get down on folks you don't know give them a chance...perhaps there is a reason your son picked this group that is below your radar...maybe he thinks he will have fun and these boys hel

CNYScouter, On the project ...everyone is correct about district doing the approval...and project in the public domain happen all the time...helping the "public" is worth while though usually unappreciated. Major pit fall to consider...you note the plans may have to be "approved" by the County...Do that me some folks just saying "Looks ok to us" or are you taklking about county construction permits, code approved drawings and all that entails? I asked because two years ago I watched a boys Eagle project crash and burn because of County requirements and the "insinuation" of code req

gtscouter, Lots to do and if you don't have access to "on the water time" before your trip...one word...DON'T (period). Water skills must be mastered on the water. I second the motion on the American Canoe Association material( they're located on Alban Road in Springfield, Virginia)...they have several reasonably priced books on fundamental skills as well as TEACHING canoeing and they offer classes on the same topics held at various locations across the country. You do not want to be on the river with a young boy who scares the "juice" out of the leaders and himself and then ref

Head lights are great! Though, I still carry an old "AA" maglight on my belt...habits are hard to break. Currently use a tikka plus (with the red flip lens... for fishing), and I have a Cabellas single LED super lite that I drag along as a back up. I started with the eveready "twin white LEDs w/single red LED" and frankly it is a great light...was about $13- now down to $9.97 at WalMart and Eveready now has a 6 white two red LED version for $14.00. Some of my friends use really nice $50-$90 lights but for most scouts the small LEDs are perfect...and mom and dad don't break down an

Wow, this one should be interesting... First, how many? how long? many variables. We find the Adventure Fundimentals first Aid packs good for most of our needs...REI (I think) +/_ $100.00 each. These are fairly comprehensive in supplies, organized basically along jury type/needs and quite a bit more versatile than the drug store/Walmart kits we started with years ago (which, by the way are, IMHO, quite satisfactory for the average hike or campout). I think it (Adventure Fundamentals kit)is rated for up to eight people for 10-14 days...each of our patrols is issued one of these befo

oldsm, Lets see, 12-14 committee member who pay (jointly) $120-140 annually to BSA, don't cause any trouble and cost the unit zip, nil, nada? Math looks great to me! So, what's the real issue? Anarchist

AntelopeDud, First Kathleen Meyers book is worth the dollars or at least a trip to the library...some of it will be having you busting a gut...in a nice way, of course... As to why we should all be thinking "carry it out", besides it being the law in many parks and some states/counties, with many of the wilderness areas we visit we are not blazing 'new trails'... We are following hundreds sometimes thousands of visitors along the same ridges, passes or rivers each year. From experience I can tell you that thirty five years ago on certain river trips I could camp on any island or beach i

fgoodwin, I am gonna limit this to activity / event planning so if you want our annual planning (calendar) methodology let me know (PM?). A while back our SM started "requiring" each patrol to plan and organize "patrol only" activities consisting of one 2-hour patrol activity, one day long activity(six to eight hours) and one camping trip (Friday, Sat, Sunday) and the patrols are "challenged" to do this at least twice a year (Fall and Spring). Even the new scout patrol is expected to do these activitys (the troop sets aside weekends for "Patrol camps" so there are few conflicts.

pogy, poagie, pougie, poagy bait.... USMC if there was a grunt dictionary.... several definitions the best is probably not acceptable to post in this forum... best to say.... its candy and junk that attacts young people of all sorts (but not Grunts) probably derives from the catching of a small fish (poagies) with trash (scraps) and then using the poagie for bait for larger fish or other uses....fries with that? anarchist

Scoutmaster Ron, Rust is easy...light rust...wash in hot water with a stainless steel scrubbie...rinse set in oven at 250-300 until it looks dry take out and whipe with a lint free rag and oil, reheat again about 20 minutes and repeat the rub down, should be set for cooking... seasoning- use the Iron as a deep fryer, set it up on your propane stove and fry chicken, fish, potatoes, and a favorite with the scouts...biscuit donuts!.... Just "fill" that sucker with oil and heat to frying temperature and cook away! (just be carefull with all that very hot oil and the 'flames') Hea

Man o' man. Tin foil in Iron?!?...Generally speaking, an unwarranted waste of natural resources! (scout is thrifty..conservation minded)(parchement can have its place, though). Using "tin" is also a "Waste" of training objectives - teach'm right and food doesn't stick! Teach 'em planning and execution and time is not an issue. And most of all- teach the scouts that "clean-up" can be a great time to shoot the bull...build friendships, swap yarns...Goodness kitchen duty is not sweat shop labor! And if the QM inspects all D.O.s that night and then the next morning...poorly cleaned and

robvio, Good luck and thanks for what you are doing! How many boys? How many close together local schools for recruiting? What happened to kill the old program? Anarchist

robvio, Just looking at our roster, we have 48 registered scouts, 14 registered committee members (10 trained) and 12 assistant scoutmasters of whom, including last weeks district training-10 are now "trained". We assign one ASMs to each patrol (two when possible) They assist the PLs and are the "up front guys" when the patrols have Patrol activities; hikes, campouts, day trips. Many of our "committee members are actually crossed trained as ASMs and are as active camping as our ASMs(or more so!) EXTRA ASMs also keep the SM from going nutz and give him a break from needing to be at e

Baden, Sounds like a wonderful church and you did a great job supporting the boys who remained...and yes some religions (and/or families) discourage their parishoners from active participation in "other church's" rites. However, some boys may never have even seen a communion rite and you "did good" in giving them "cover" if that was the case. Some may have other reasons for not participating which in the long and short of it are none of our businesses...Keep up the good work... and Novice? What Super Bowl??? anarchist

Cooking, ahh, such a heart warming subject... In our troop, We have only done a real "all meals troop kitchen" once in 12 years...other than that, all troop activities are based on patrols...each patrol plans its meals...makes a shopping list, appoints a grub master as part of the activity duty roster, collects grub money and does its own shopping...Troop stays out of it. However, SPL (sometimes with gentle guidance from the SM) looks over each menu during the planning stage (Last meeting night prior to the event). This is to be sure it's not all sugar and chips...He also keeps a wea

Ah come on Eamonn, "deathbed" is just a tongue in cheek way of saying the boys get their Eagle just before aging out...Hopefully while staying at least somewhat active in the troop... Frankly, as I said in the distant past, I would rather have Life scouts active in our program and then "Eagle out" on the eve of their eighteenth birthday than have a 14 y.o. Eagle that we never see again -after his ECOH...The first scout must be having fun in our program; the latter is either just punching his resume ticket...or what?...( the same program failed him...hummm?) Interstingly enough

gwd-scouter, buck up! Just do your best...want some really bad news? as you wrote; "I read those posts and I wonder how you guys ever got there. It seems such a lofty goal for our little troop. Sometimes, especially after a particularly difficult or disappointing troop meeting, I'll read one of those posts and just think to myself..."there's just no way we'll ever get there." Friend, you may never get there...It seems around my 'neck of the woods', the average Scoutmaster may serve 4 or 5 or even 6 years, but rarely more. I have helped 4 scoutmasters during my tenure in Boy Sc

E-man, Since much of the "reader/poster distress" comes from the "Issues and Politics" threads" (go figure!) Perhaps, you and OGE could use your good graces to get Terry to change the explanative discription (under ther thread general heading) from- "In answer to many requests, we established a separate forum for these topics. Those not interested can skip this forum instead of spending time reading unwanted messages to identify content. " to something more clear...like- "ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE" after all...it seems to be closer to the mark... An