Herms

I have recently seen several adults (including a couple District people) wearing spoof patches like a Klingon interpeter strip, another had an Over-Trained shoulder patch and still another had a white Vigil OA knot. Now for all of the Uniform Police (UP) out there, I have my own opinion about what it tells the other adults and boys but what say you?

I always disliked my stupid beret (I still have it for sentimental reasons), although at the time it was better than the narrow cap. Thank God they came out with the ball cap! lol

Hey Schleining, when are you going to buy the Dark Green Crew shirt. The UP says we're not suppose to where the tan shirts with green loops when with the crew. lol

I attended the 81' Jambo and still wear my patch. I wear it for ME as it reminds me of one of the best expierences in my life.

All real good posts and ideas. It is always a challenge to get the leaders to attend training (especially new ones). Just like the kids the adults are motivated by different things. I personally like the hat idea and my try it myself. As others have said, some leaders like the trained patch, while others will attend just to earn the knot. Another cheap alternative we've used over the years is a leather fob that we stamp out that they can hang from their pocket. We give leaders beads to hang from it for doing various things like attend Roundtables, Pow-Wow, Chair an pack event

Sorry Seattle Pioneer but as adults we must teach our kids to Leave No Trace! Bottom line is get the dishes clean. If you are in an area that allows grey water, use the soap, use the bleach or boiling water to get the dishes clean. As you start backpacking the back country (ie Grand Canyon, Philmont) you will learn to sanitize with just hot water. AS WELL AS LEARNING HOW TO **** SWILL **** lol

Mom, I suggest you sew it on the three sides as the others suggested. If you sew it across just the top they have a tendency to get ripped off. As far as the pins, I have my boys (twins) put them over the "Boy Scouts of America" You may also consider a patch vest. As your boy earns more stuff there is not room on the uniform, so you can put it on the vest. The nice part of this is you don't have to keep taking all of the pins and medals on and off to wash the shirt!

Yeah, I agree leave it up to the boys. It won't help the patrol if the boys are fighting all the time. You might check with the parents also, as they may not want to be driving the boys to two different patrol meetings.

We were allowing our PL's to sign-off advancement (they had to be 1st Class) but found that they were doing a real poor job of test/working with the boys to make sure that they had the material down. Sooo we temporarily suspended the sign-off privilege pending a training session.

ScoutNut is correct the new version of the Bear book allows you to use, unused achievements for arrow points. From what I've heard they will be doing this for Wolf also, but as of now it has not changed. The newest version of Packmaster software has the new change incorporated so that if a Bear completes extra achievements they are automatically credited. Gotta love technology!

To be honest with you, I love the song. It reminds me (Cubmaster) and our leaders, to KEEP THE FOCUS OF THE PACK MEETING ON THE BOYS AND FUN, rather than making them information meeting for parents. I have a great time with the boys as they try to trick me in to saying the "A word" so that they can sing the song. (And I'll give in about every other pack meeting.) Here is how our boys sing it: Announcements, announcements, announcements! What a horrible way to die, what a horrible way to die, To be bored to death, what a horrible way to die. Have you ever seen a wi

A lot of real good posts. Where most people get cold is not from the top, but from their back. The down or foam or whatever you have in your bag gets compressed as you lay down. For real cold weather put your down bag inside a foam bag. The thermal air layer around you body is what will keep you warm. Can the air mattress, and put a couple layers of 1 inch foam down. FOAM IS A WINTER CAMPERS BEST FRIEND! During our winter camps we always have the boys wear oversized pants (not cotton) and put the foam inside. We do this with oversized boots and they are always amazed at ho

CA, Our thoughts and prayer go out to you, your troop and his family. Take comfort in the fact that you made a difference in his short life. You started him out on the trail to Eagle, and he is in now on a higher path.

Eamonn you cracked me up with the "At our house Her That Must Be Obeyed and myself have this on going stupid conversation ... What you say is very true. A common theme among our youth today is one of apathy. CA_Scouter, another suggestion is give them a theme for the month that they can use to generate ideas.

And Double H is a nice alternative. The program is not as well organized as Philmont, but the Gila Wilderness area has some spectacular country.

Yeah, Philmont is in HIGH demand not only by U.S. scouts but world wide! We see scouts come through every weekend. Ways to get to Philmont: - Troop - Get your unit in the lottery and hope your selected (it used to be first come first server, but no more!) - Council Contingent - Each council gets a certain number each year. - OA - There are several treks available to OA members. - Religious groups - Different religions can request a trek. One example is the St. George trek for Catholic scouts. - Trail Staff - They always need help maintaining the trails. A little wo

Ok, for all you uniform police out there what about velcro so that you can take them on and off? I'm a Den Leader, Asst. Cubmaster, Asst. Scoutmaster, OA Chapter Advisor, Crew Advisor and Round Table staffer (4 kids in all three programs). Man I need to get a life! LOL I'm not buying 6 different shirts! I put velcro on the sleeve and patches, and change the shoulder epilates and patches to fit the activity.

Cubs is pretty straight forward, if the Akela signs the boy off, I'm not going to question it. But as an ASM signing off advancement, a Merit Badge councilor, or Crew Advisor where do we draw the line?

You better not use sticks or poles for lashing or People for the Ethical Treatment of Plants (PETP) will come down on you. So much for the Pioneering MB also! LOL

Lisa, Older boys are a real asset to any troop. Keep the focus on the young guys. There is mixed feelings about, this but I will bring it up as a suggestion anyway as it has worked well for our troop; purpose that a "New Scout Patrols" , "Baden Powell Patrols", "Eaglebound Patrols" or whatever you want to call them, be formed with the new Webelos crossing over. An ASM should be assigned specifically to them, as well as an "older scout" Patrol Advisor. These patrols should focus on teaching the basic skills (T-1st which the older boys get bored with) as well as getting them used to

No The uniform is one of the symbols, identifying that a boy has committed himself to living by the ideals of the Scout Oath and Laws. I tell my boys all the time that if they want they can buy an Eagle patch or merit badges and wear them, but what do they really mean? Its just a piece of cloth. If they truly earn it, it becomes a symbol of achievement, and pride representing all of the new skills and knowledge they have acquired. I view the uniform the same way. The world is full of uniforms, military personnel, Walmart vests and Target shirts, policeman, mechanics etc even

Been at Scouts a long time, and I have seen this question come up time and again at all levels from Cub Scouts, through Boy Scouts and now in Ventures. I have heard kids ( but mostly parents) when looking at requirements for a particular award say "Oh, he did that last summer" or "He did that with his church group" or "I did that in school last year". What is the feeling out there about allowing a scout to use stuff he has done in the past for the advancement he is working on now???(This message has been edited by Herms)

Don't know about other parents/councilors, but the one time I was MB councilor for my own son (only one in the district for this particular MB) I was probably harder on my own son than I was with the others.

Yup, same problem and with 40 boys at camp this year it was a NIGHTMARE. The Scribe, Advancement Chair and I (I was the campmaster for this event) are just now getting a handle on it, and we checked several times during camp! The problem is that the reports/blue cards are put off until the end of the week when the councilors are just ready to get away for the weekend. Additionally, I dont particularly care to see the boys get the required's at camp like Environmental Science which takes experiments, Communications which requires a lot of writing, Emergency Prep which requires some home

Our Raingutter Regatta is on of our Summertime Activities. We do a BBQ and the boys cycle through racing. Not a lot of emphasize on who wins. The boys like to challenge each other and we don't have to break our budget by buying a lot of awards. At our Pinewood Derby we make sure EVERY boy wins. Last year I had to come up with 60 categories! Everything from Most Original Design, to Tallest Car, to Greenest Car. Each boy got a participation medal at the time they got there certificate so that they felt like they won something. (Let me know in a separate email if you would like the list