jmwalston

Kudu, Thanks for the outstanding link. Our DE coordinates with the various Troops in a school district to try and recruit members. Usually, the Scouters just show up in uniform and go through the motions. Your program has a definite agenda and lots of visual appeal. I have forwarded the link to the DE and the UC's I work with to set up similar recruitment drives in my District. YiS, John

Of the 4 holders in my District that I know beyond a professional manner, only 1 was a "heavy hitter" in the sense of holding the Silver Beaver and other awards. He is also the Secretary of his Lodge. The others were Masons who had been steadfast supporters and workers in their Troops and in their Lodges. They were all highly thought of by their Lodges and Troops.

It is open to any Mason, the GL of PA are the originators of the award. Petitions are forwarded to them, though I've gotten the impression that it is simply as they act as a clearing house and send them to the appriate Scout division for action. They only act on nominations within their jurisdiction. As for the part of Masons nominating Masons, I don't know how else a nominaton would be forwarded to a Lodge. It isn't any more different than the nominating process for any of the COA's.

I am yet to see an SUV rotting in the driveway in my neck of the woods. Regardless, the problem isn't why we don't build refineries, but where would we build refineries. They have to have access to oil, that generally means by tanker (Oil by pipeline is very limited and logistically more expensive to move). Today's oil tankers are too big to navigate far upriver, and refineries on the coast present enviromental problems such as storm damage and ecological impact. Plus the majority of prime locations are now developed. Also, you don't build these things overnight, they are MAJOR investm

It's really funny, most people believe we use our oil imports for gas, when in reality, oil (petroleum) is used mostly in production of plastics and polymers. Gotta love those long chain carbon molecules. It is even used in quite large quantities to run electric plants, being burned to fuel the steam turbine generators. Gas fuel supplies is not dictated by amount of oil imported but by amount of oil refined. The US has not built any new refineries in over 30 years. This is why a country like Iran can be swimming in oil and their gas prices are comparable to ours, they lack the refineries

I would view emb's assessment as correct. Some of the COA's specifically (in writing) encourage the Organization's members to further their connection and relationship with Scouting. The only one that doesn't is the DOD's Outstanding Volunteer Medal, as it is for services with all groups (and unfortunately may not be worn with the Scout uniform).

For District volunteers, I believe the decision lies with the District Key 3. However, since the individual in question is one of the Key 3, that would be a non-workable scenario. It would then,IMO, be a decision of the Council Executive Committee. Unless the problem is something that screams outright policy violation or YP problem, and you have a documentable case of it in several units (policy violation), then I doubt you will get the result you are looking for.

I believe it has to do with profits.

There is no quota, or really any prerequisites for the award, for that matter, other than membership in both. It is up to the discretion of the Master of the Lodge to consider and forward the petition. Other GLs may have committees or different procedures for vetting petitions, NC does not. But in that context, consider the organization. Masonry is very conservative in many respects. There are not a lot of awards in the Blue Lodge, at least not in my jurisdiction. The only one the GL of NC has is the Joseph Montford Medal (sort of a "Mason of the year" award) which is given solely at the

I have not heard or seen any info on it, it has been required in the past.(This message has been edited by jmwalston)

To use the term "warm body award" is very misleading. The applications I have seen ask for tenure and any recognitions that the nominee may have received (to the best of the nominating Lodge's knowledge). It is not often given, at least to my knowledge. A list of all receipiants can be found on the GL of Pennsylvania's website. Looking at the list, 9 Scouters in my Council have received it, none of them who have served less than 16 years in Scouting. My experience is that many lodges are actually unaware of the award. In comparison with the other Community Organization Awards, it probabl

Camp Herbert C. Bonner, Blounts Creek, NC (East Carolina Council) Camp Charles, Bailey, NC (East Carolina Council) Camp Raven Knob, Mt. Airy, NC (Old Hickory Council) Camp Grimes, Nebo, NC (Mecklenburg Council) Camp John C. Barnhardt, New London, NC (Central NC Council) Camp Charles is now used only for weekend camping, having been closed by the Council years ago. Located on a really nice lake, the old dining hall and canoe sheds are still standing. I remember it because it had adirondack shelters for camping instead of tents.

When I was a DL, the Denner and Assist. Denner were in charge of setting up the meeting area and making sure materials, etc., were put away at the end of the meeting. Never worked in practice, the boys would be late or something and it just didn't catch on. Personally, if I did it again, I would probably do something like when I was in Cubs. Back then, the Denners were like a Patrol Scribe, they wrote down a report or paragraph explaining what was done at each meeting. At the monthly pack meeting, the Denners would get up and read the reports to the Pack. Assist. Denners would get informat

I have met 4 holders of the James West Fellowship knot, none of whom made the contribution personally. One was my former Scoutmaster who is now long past Scoutmastering, but still active with my old Troop's Committee. All received it as an additional means of recognition long after they had received the Silver Beaver, apparently from contributions from appreciative friends and fellow Scouters. I have not personally met someone who "bought" the knot or more correctly, made the contribution so that they could have the knot. The new PTC knot sounds more like a "been there, done that (twice)"

Does anyone have an idea what the PTC knot looks like? This is the first I've heard of it.

I would presume that "Scout T-shirt" refers to one designed or approved by the Troop and incorporating the fleur-de-li and troop name, etc. Some camps have a stated policy on what is appropriate for wear, others are more open.

"By adding a bit more distinctiveness to the group, I hope to use that as encouragement to get them to plan more activities." Are you referring to chartering a Varsity Team or forming a patrol? I've worked with VS and there are more fundamental differences than what you've laid out. With a VS Team, the members take a program and assign a team member to 1 of 5 development areas of it for leadership. A typical program takes about 3-6 months. This is in addition to the basic Boy Scout program and the annual high adventure outing.

National should be able to help, and lately NESA has been calling Eagles to update their directory. I received a call though I am not a member of NESA.

The only scouting award I am aware of that has a distinction for multiple awards is not a knot. The Varsity Scout letter may be awarded multiple times and has bars attached to it to signify additional awards. The Great Salt Lake Council used to have a special knot for College of Commissioner Science that had special pins denoting the level of completion, but I believe they have discontinued it.

Don't understand the statement about changing the youth religious knot to adult religious knot when a scout turns 18, they are different awards. An adult who earned a religious award as a scout wears the youth religious knot as an adult. With any devices to denote the age group it was earned as. The training award and key are worn with the device(s) of group(s) earned with. Same with the SM Award of Merit.

Art, Crime Prevention, and Journalism were on the list of badges offered at the Camp our Troop went to last year. It was more of a MB gameshow than a Scout Camp.

Do the committee members take notes as ideas or decisions are made, or do you just brainstorm?

One of the troops I work with has the same problem. Only a dozen boys divided into 2 patrols. They have been struggling with Patrol Leaders who do not know how to run patrols, despite going through training. There is no SPL or ASPL, but they have a Scribe, Quartermaster, and Historian. I think the idea has been to get the scouts involved in learning the responsibility of a position, but without direct leadership roles other than PL or APL. I haven't seen much to show for it, except surprisingly enough, for the Historian. The SM wanted to elect SPL right after their summer camping, though I rec

Maybe you could design a special banner for the patrol to carry in addition to their patrol banner. Or some special totem to add to the top of their patrol banner's staff.

Also, originally, First Class was the highest rank; Star, Life, and Eagle were honors.