jackmessick

Once inducted into the Order of the Arrow, you are a member for life. However, you must join the lodge associated with your local council. This is done by providing some sort of evidence that you were in Order of the Arrow (old membership card, or perhaps your old council can verify your membership for you). If you completed the Vigil Honor, you should have a certficate to that effect. On the uniform, only active (i.e. dues-paying) members of Order of the Arrow may wear the ribbon and the lodge flap.

If you can find a nearby log home construction company, or someone who makes rustic log furniture, they might give you a lead as to where to find such poles. Look in the yellow pages. Out here in Idaho, we actually have a couple of retail stores that sell poles for the hobbyist as well. But then, we have a lot more forest out here. jack

I think that part of LNT was a reaction to the early 70s, when it seemed tents were made in only one color -- international orange. I remember my troop having huge four man tents with flys, all of it made of the "new" ripstop nylon, in international orange. Each patrol had one of these, plus the international orange tarps. You couldn't NOT notice us from a distance. (Of course, the noise of teenage boys would have given us away anyway!) That "fluorescent" orange material was even used for backpacks (take a look at the official BSA "Rayado" pack of the 1970s) by just about every campin

"We did not attend summer camp for the last two years, because we didn't have the boys to attend. Our only boy who is Eligible for OA, has attended NYLT (out of council, since ours didn't get enough boys registered) and Jambo." Wow. If our council operated this way, most troops could never go to summer camp. Troops sponsored by the Latter Day Saints are typically not much bigger than 6 scouts (they use Scouting for their male youth group program). Why are small troops penalized this way? Is it just a matter that because you have less than 10 boys, the adults can not go for free or

I am a Scoutmaster, so don't know a lot about Cub Scouts. However, a co-worker of mine mentioned that his two boys are entering Tigers. At the first Pack night, the parents were informed that there was an annual fee, including registration, of $40.00 per boy, plus they would have to buy uniforms, and finally, the boys were given Popcorn ordering sheets to raise even more money. So, maybe not the best time to fling that at people brand new to Cub Scouts (all they do is raise money?). But the $40.00 fee per boy seems like an awful lot. There is no guarantee that this will be the e

The application for the USA contingent has been posted online. You (the Adult) must get approval from you local council prior to sending the application on to National HQ. You must also provide a check for $500.00. There should be a council World Jamboree chairman. You can get the application, in PDF format, from this web site: http://www.scouting.org/jamboree/world/ go to the bottom of this page for the link to both applications. I didn't read what boys need to do. The above rules apply only to adults, as far as I know. jack

I went to the Jamboree in 1977. I recall bringing two shirts that had the sleeves altered to reflect the Jamboree troop (that is, I changed everything on the sleeves and left the pockets alone, although I sewed the jamboree patch above the right pocket). I think that would be a pretty good rule. Frankly, I would think the jamboree OA flap is optional. But I also brought one uniform from my "real" troop. No one kicked me out of the jamboree or sent me home early. No arrests from the uniform police. However, he MUST hold on to the jamboree ID card and carry it with him whereve

You didn't mention where in the country the camp is. Here in Idaho, you will need long pants in the morning, and then can wear shorts during the afternoon. When it comes to the shirt, we have the boys buy one short sleeve shirt. In the mornings in summer camp, or during cool weather in the autumn or spring, the boys wear a long-sleeve t-shirt underneath (usually a red long sleeve T with our troop logo) the uniform shirt; the boys stay warm and still have the uniform appearance. If the camp is only 7 days, I would bring a pair of shorts, a pair of long pants, and a short sleeve shir

The same thing happened in the 1960s; there were 5 years between the 1964 and 1969 Jamboree. The reason for this was that America hosted the World Jamboree in 1967, and the BSA needed two years between events. Earlier posts have mentioned the 2007 World Jamboree, which is certainly a consideration. It will be held during the 100th anniversary of Baden-Powell's Brownsea Island experiment, in late July and early August. To sign up for more information, here is the web-site: http://www.scouting2007.org/english/register.php I would assume that, within the next 6 months, the B

This is why the mothers in our troop have modified the sashes. They add a buttonhole, or a piece of cloth with a buttonhole on the inside of the sash, so that the sash can be buttoned to the epaulette on the right shoulder. jack

try http://www.meritbadge.com whoever keeps this site going does a great job. jack

Reference ScoutNerd's question about "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". The group Jefferson Smith (James Stewart) leads is called the "Boy Rangers," an allusion to Boy Scouts.

The concept of the "Weather Burro" probably is a spoof of the word "Weather Bureau", which is what the federal National Weather Service used to be known as prior to 1970. So it is kind of a joke that doesn't work except with older generations. The weather rock was what I saw a lot as a Camper and on Staff at Scout Camp. It is a lot simpler than a complicated burro. Just lash up a stout tripod and hang the biggest rock you can get from the top of the tripod for the best effect. At my Youth Leader Training (called TLD in those days), they used a "Weather Brick", which was a lot easi

Some troops have bands of a dozen or more. I don't think the Musician badges are worn much by anybody. Parades used to be a form of entertainment in small towns during my "good old days" (1960s and 1970s); nowadays you just don't see them. I think they were also used for boy-run marching bands at National Jamborees. Your three musicians would probably be better served by awarding them bugler office badges.

I don't think it has changed, but I believe your son should, at least to regular troop meetings or parades in which the troop participates, wear the hat decided on by the troop (hopefully the boys got to vote on it). If he is attending other things by himself (such as Junior Leader Training, Order of the Arrow lodge/chapter functions), he could probably wear the campaign hat. Perhaps the troop has not decided on headgear; in which case he is probably OK as well. jack

Actually, the BSA adopted the latest U.S. Army headgear in the Campaign Hat. Most Anglo-armies had such hats shortly after the turn of the century. B-P's hat was different in color and slightly different in shape from the BSA's headgear. After WWII, the Overseas Cap was adopted by the BSA after it was adopted during WWII by the U.S. Army. In the 1970's, after the military started having some elite units wear a beret, it came into use in the BSA (until confusion of the bright red beret with youth gang colors and associations such as the Guardian Angels ended it sometime in the mid- to late

The Venture Patrol structure is discussed in the latest Scoutmaster Handbook. The requirements are the same as for the leadership corps of the 70s: 14 years old or older, First Class Rank. There is a tan and red "VENTURE" strip they can wear above the "BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA" strip. Venture Patrols still wear red "fruit loops" on their shoulders. Green are only for Venture Crews. The Scoutmaster Handbook recommends an Assistant Scoutmaster be made the chief adult adviser to the Venture Patrol. Venture Patrols cannot be co-ed; only separately charterd Venture Crews can be

I tried this once with some council strips. What happens is you get this semi-translucent white coating on the patch, and it looks terrible. Plus it still has puckering if the patch has been washed and there is any twill exposed (that is, the patch is not 100% embroidered).

OGE: I used to think that the recidivism rate was nearly 100%, as you did, but the newspaper article I mentioned gave a recidivism rate of 3.5%. And some psychiatrists say there are 4 types of pedophiles. Others disagree. So what the Sam Hill are us laymen to do!!?

The channel 6 news story does not fully capture what went on. The in-depth reporting was done by the Idaho Falls Post-Register. http://postregister.com/scouts_honor/part1.php I will say this, the Scouts were told a number of times that Mr. Stowell was "cured" of his pedophilia by Mr. Stowell's counselors. Sadly, the people who knew about his previous problems didn't even give the subsequent new camp director any idea of this. The newspaper article also indicates that there are still psychiatrists who say that pedophiles can be rehabilitated. However, I think it wise to not

Just a follow up with everybody. I hate to say it, but Mike F. was right. We emphasized, twice, that if you don't know everybody, you should abstain, and that there was nothing wrong with that. But I think these boys were excited about being able to vote for something, and they all voted for boys they knew from school. I wasn't sure of the school affiliation (I'm just an ASM), but our Scoutmaster was, and he figured it out from the results later that night. His desire is to void this election, since the earliest Ordeal is still months away, and let the boys get to know each

There is the honor Patrol award, described in the Patrol Leader Handbook. The requirements occur over a 3 month period, I believe. And the patrol is competing against a standard, rather than each other. For individual games, you might want to hand build a simple trophy that gets passed to the patrol who wins the game at the troop meeting or at the camp. Perhaps the winning patrol has to add something to it. Any contests that last over 3 months get tiresome, and usually one patrol is way ahead of the others, and the other patrols are inclined give up.

We will be having Order of Arrow elections in a couple of weeks, the first one ever for the troop (currently I am an adult leader and the only one in the troop that is an active member of O.A.). But just last week we added 8 new Scouts from a local Webelos den. So I should think that they wouldn't feel comfortable voting for people they barely know. But if they vote for nobody, then it makes it tougher for the candidates to get elected. OR, can the new boys abstain and have the vote neither count for or against? I don't have a Lodge Officer and Adviser's guide, so I am not sure what the a

I would like to speak up for that Purell stuff, and stuff like it. In my work, I have been sent to camps for forest fires at a wildfire incident. They basically operate a dining hall facility, and for the last 6 years or so, they have made washing stations filled with Purell mandatory in the camp area. Usually it is the first part of the serving line for meals. Even the portable latrines must have a small version of the wash station with this Purell anti-bacterial stuff. The end result: the usual "camp crud" virus that appeared 4 to 6 days into the incident no longer happened. That

I would like to speak up for that Purell stuff, and stuff like it. In my work, I have been sent to camps for forest fires at a wildfire incident. They basically operate a dining hall facility, and for the last 6 years or so, they have made washing stations filled with Purell mandatory in the camp area. Usually it is the first part of the serving line for meals. Even the portable latrines must have a small version of the wash station with this Purell anti-bacterial stuff. The end result: the usual "camp crud" virus that appeared 4 to 6 days into the incident no longer happened. That