jmcquillan

Mike, You brought up a subject that just might make a great subject for a section in the Basic Scoutmastership Fundamentals cirriculum..."Acts of God, and How Many Scouts Can Come Up With..." I have heard some real great ones in my years in Scouting. Like the Scout who was running through camp, (as he was told not to), and tripped on t root and fell smack on a two man tent...ripping the fabric and ruining half of the poles. He claimed, of course, that the root was an Act of God. Believe it or not, his parents backed him up on this one and refused to pay for the tent repairs...or shou

I couldn't agree more. There's really nothing magic about the 100+ hours that candidates spend on projects in our area. Our experience has shown that a candidate working on all elements of a project usually takes at least this long to gather the information requried, get approvals, plan, perform, and report. Experience also shows that anything substantially less than the 100 or so hours results in a project that does not allow sufficient time for the candidate to show his planning and leadership skills. And THAT is what it's all about, isn't it? The whole purpose of the project is not to do wo

Nowhere, to my knowledge, in Scouting, is the number of hours for an Eagle Project specified. I will tell you, though, that the 30-40 hours you have both indicated is quite low by 'rule of thumb' for troops in our area. The 'average' number of hours around these parts is more like 100 hours for the total project. That includes the time that the candidate spends getting his approvals, getting the project done, and writing his report. It also includes the time spent by any volunteers who help him with his project. In our troop, most projects run 100-150 hours total, but I've been witness to larg

So...who's troop is it, anyway??? Adults should not be in the business of chasing down the Scouts for advancement review or signing off in the books or even reminding them to bring the books. We're trying to instill a little responsibility, right? And who's troop is it??? Use you PLC. We do. And it works. Adults hardly ever have to make any reminders of these things. At PLC meetings, the Scoutmaster and the SPL go over these items every meeting. The SPL is given the responsibility of coordinating announcements and reminders like this with his ASPL's and the Patrol Leaders. It's their

I don't believe that you'll find a 'good' two man tent anywhere for under $100. You may find an 'acceptable' tent, but not a 'good' one. I have seven tents myself, two 4 man, three 2 man, and 2 solo tents. Two of these tents were the cheaper models (I won't name brands...but). There is a definite variation in quality based on price. The cheaper models tend to have seams that leak, and the design often lends itself to rain coming in the doors and windows whenever opened. You really get what you pay for. On the other hand, one of my tents is one of the Northface VE series, quite expensive, but f

As has been stated above, what kind of tent you buy, and convincing the committee to make the purchase has everything to do with what your program will be (or is) and what you intend to do with the tents. In our troop, we started off years ago with the two man canvas Voyager tents. They weighed a ton. Only two poles were required, but they were hardly backpacking tents. In fact, we still have about a dozen of them stored away in the Scouthouse. Subsequent to that, we started making purchases of the two-man Eureka Timberline series self-supporting tents for our backpacking program. We were able

Check out the resources at www.macscouter.com for more information regarding the Patrol Star, requirements for earning it, and presentation ceremony suggestions.

This appears to be nothing new with these folks. I placed a couple of orders with them after the magazine first started, and got nothing but the run-around for the longest time. To this day I'm not sure whether I ever got everything I ordered...and PAID for. Good luck with you adventure here...

The Patrol Star is the emblem awarded to the Patrol when they achieve the Baden Powell Patrol Award. It is awarded to the Patrol, not the individual Scout.

If you go to this link, you'll find the words to the song. www.usscouts.org/usscouts/songs/omh.html

Now there's a very interesting point. The responsibility of parents to control what their children are exposed to... It's been quite a few years that I've held the belief that part of the problem with our society these days is the 'abdication of responsibility' on the part of many parents in bringing up Johnny and Jane. There seems to be quite an undercurrent in all that we see and hear on the news that points to a general feeling that many folks would rather have the schools and others (like Scouts...BSA...Babysitters of America) bring up their children. Of course we can't protect o

Mike, Having been around Scouting for about 16 years or so, I can't tell you how much shear enjoyment it's been watching boys learn through this process in Scouting. And when they finally earn their Eagle, and look you straight in the eye, and thank you for letting them find their own way in the Scouting world, it's at that moment that you know it was all worth the effort, and the darn program works!!! If only the adults would take the time to understand that the adult leader training offered in Scouting makes all the difference in the world. It's only after the training that one rea

This is a really neat idea. One I haven't heard before, but definitely worth trying. I've passed it on to the current Scoutmaster and Committee. Thanks

Bobwhite, Too bad the situation around you has disintegrated. In the end, it may all be for the best. As to the first of the two main concerns you shared in your posting, perhaps I can pass along something that might assist those who are still struggling with the situation. A few years ago, our troop was in need of a new Scoutmaster, and was having a devil of a time getting someone to step in. Having served for many years in that position, I was asked to come out of retirement and take over for a while. Upon getting back into the 'big' chair, I saw two things. First, there was a

I've taken all the training I think there is to take (except for the latest courses), and my understanding is that in order to participate 'on staff' for Scoutmaster Fundamentals or Woodbadge, one has to have taken Train the Trainer. I've done that, years ago, but even then found that the course had a good deal of irrelavancy with regard to training methods at that time. Unless BSA has updated the cirriculum, it is probably still a little behind the times, but all in all, worth the effort, if the course staff is good and 'up-to-date'.

Mike is pretty much right on the money, here. Having the ENTIRE committee attend Basic Leader Training (Scoutmaster Fundamentals) is very important. The entire group should understand the program elements on the same level. If you get to the unfortunate position of having to ask the CC to leave, or forcing him out, there's power in numbers. The CC should understand that it's not just one or two adults who find his direction unacceptable and not as the program should be, but it's ALL the other adults. That may help. And ALL of this should be handled by the Troop Committee. I've seen unfort

Cross-over's to two troops is really not difficult. My first question would be: Have you ever done a cross-over before? My second question would be: What month do you usually cross-over, and what month is your last meeting? If you've ever done a cross-over before, and your ceremony is good, then just stay with the same thing. The only difference is that at the far side of the bridge, there would be representatives from both troops waiting to accept their new scouts. Doing it with the light dimmed and a path the the bridge lined with Cubs and parents holding candles is a nice touch. The Cu

That's an interesting point regarding acknowledgement vs. full acceptance. And I suppose that one could make a case that BSA does just that. It probably harkens back to the religious roots of the environment during which Scouting was born. One can only hope that the written statement does not mean one vs. the other. As to 'jamessnow', I stand by my statement. Having served as a Scoutmaster for a good many years in an area of the country where variety of religions is something we deal with all the time, I've had Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddists, Agnositcs, and a few other lesser known

It is an unfortunate, but unavoidable, circumstance that we have no way to 'police' parents in scouting. It sounds like you're doing about all that you can by keeping the parents informed of what the boys need to be working on with them and the 'need' for the boy to 'actually' do the work. It's never too early to counsel the boys about that need to really 'do the work' and not just try to slip by with minimum or no effort. Once the boys reach Boy Scouts where Mom & Dad have little to do with advancement, the boys will begin to realize that they need to 'work' to advance. When I was a Cubma

You're right, there's no stipulation anywhere that an Atheist or Agnostic cna't participate in Scouting. If they say nothing, no one knows, and life goes on. The only place in Scouting where a Scout will get tripped up as an Atheist is the Eagle application process where a written statement from the Scouts religious leader is required (the alternate being a statement from the Scout and/or parents). If the written statement says that the Scout believes in nothing at all, well National will have a problem with that, and likely the Scout will go no further in that process. As to Agnost

Absolutely not!!! It is not the obligation of a Scouter, no matter how well intentioned, to introduce a Scout to God. That is the territory for Mom & Dad (or guardian), and Mom& Dad (or guardian) ONLY. Only parents or guardians have that obligation. And it's not really an obligation. If Mom & Dad choose not to make that introduction, so be it. We can not and should not attempt to change that. As Scouters, we have no obligation, right, or permission to introduce a Scout to God. No matter how religious I might or might not be, I know that I would not want a Troop Leader making t

The following story was published by NewsMax.com (which is in West Palm Beach, Florida), on Monday, Dec. 18, 2000: HEADLINE: Exclusive: 2002 Salt Lake Committee Bans Boy Scouts ------------------------------------------------------------- From Olympics ------------- By David M. Bresnahan The largest Boy Scout council in the country responded to the call for volunteers issued by the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee, but the welcome mat was rolled up and the door slammed in its face. Olympic spokesmen for the 2002 winter games say the exclusion has not

The 2000 WorldNetDaily.com published this story on Thursday, December 14, 2000: -------------------------------------------- School board delays Boy Scouts' eviction Officials still intend to punish organization for policies on homosexuality -------------------------------------------- By Jon E. Dougherty Officials with the Broward County, Fla., School Board have decided to delay a planned eviction of area Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts from all its public schools, following a lawsuit filed by the Boy Scouts of America. The Tuesday decision to delay the eviction

It saddens me more than anything in my 16 year association with the BSA, that those who are doing all the talking on this issue seem to have lost sight of the those we serve. Almost every day we see news items about another youth serving entity that has decided to cut ties with the BSA and boot out the troop or pack. And exactly 'who does that hurt'??? In my area of the country there seems to be a extraordinary number of churches and school systems that see fit to do exactly that. Their arguement is an adult issue, not a childs issue. Why do adults see fit to make the children bear the brunt o

In the 16 years I've been with my troop, we've tried many ways to tackle patrol makeup. We've followed the National guidelines. We had a New Scout Patrol long before National suggested it. We've allowed the Scouts to pick their own. Etc. What we have now seems to work well. With reference to patrol size, and specifically to the size suggested above, the National guideline for optimum size is 6-8 Scouts. We go for the high side, but never higher than 8 if we can help it. If we have to go to 9, so be it. With reference to age, rank, etc., we have mixed patrols now, except for the New S