John-in-KC

As far as traditional binding goes, not even a professional bindery (and I have an area one which has rebound my Bible twice) can make that happen with single pages. You need doubled sheets (4 pages) to create signatures...

qwazse, Troop Webmaster came into the mix several years ago as a formal POR.

Stosh: Boy Scout troop. That's what it says. It does not say Patrol. I've been trained as a District Guest Eagle BOR rep. Rest assured, if in an EBOR, the Scout tells me he's served only in a Patrol position of responsibility at First Class, Star, or Life, I am going to: - Adjourn the BOR, to be re-opened at a later time... - Contact the COR. Inform him the Scout's EBOR is on hold due to no fault on his part. Ask him to timely get the Unit Key 3 together with their Commissioner. - Contact the District Commissioner. Inform him of the issue in the Advancement Method, and let him provide Commissioner support to the unit. - Contact the District Advancement Chairman. Report what I've done, and recommend he continue this EBOR at the proper time. - Contact the DE. Ditto. - Contact the Council Advancement (Professional Service) Adviser, unless the DE offers to do that for me. Ditto. If I am chairing a District level EBOR, all of the above, although I suspect several of the above-mentioned folk will be very near to hand. BSA invests a tremendous amount into the Eagle Scout brand. The boy is not responsible for what has happened. The District Advancement Chairs I know will, at the proper moment, continue the board ... although they may well move it to all District level board. The adults who fail to correctly employ the BSA Program (remember, that is what the Charter authorizes the partner to do ... use the program correctly) will get some retraining, and that unit will most likely get some Council overwatch.

The requirements, per some stuff we saw from the National Advancement Team, are posted first now on scouting.org. Then, they are incorporated annually into BSA requirements #33015. Guide to Advancement is the adult book for how to implement the method, nationwide. Requirements is the adult and youth book which lays out what has to be done, rank by rank, merit badge by merit badge, across the programs of Scouting.

As I recall, WOSM regulates Wood Badge: Go to this website at the World Organization of Scouting Movements, WOSM's Wood Badge Framework. Then, read this, also from WOSM. Note that it is not a curriculum, it is a guide to pedagogy for course developers in the National Scout Organizations. EDIT TO ADD: I've attached the pdf, but I had to strip the cover to keep it in the 2MB per file limit of scouter.com.2Wood Badge Framwork.pdf

I will ask a couple professionals whom I know wrt bsahandbook.org.

Stosh, Does your District/Council use Eagle Guest to unit EBOR, District EBOR, or Council EBOR?

There's an easy way to deal with the matter of the one patrol troop. The PL is the leader. The Troop Scribe, Troop QM, and so on work for the patrol (troop).

Clickand read.

Let's be honest: Philmont is tremendously popular. It'd be over-run (it already is production wilderness) if more units and youth were out on the trail. In addition, even base camp is above 6500 feet, and available oxygen is 75% of that at sea level due to air pressure http://www.higherpeak.com/altitudechart.html On the other hand, my old Council (San Fernando Valley, now the Western Los Angeles Council) runs the Silver Knapsack Trail in the low Sierra. 36.2 miles, a week of hiking, 6000-8000 feet altitude, and age 11 and up. I hiked it for the first time as a 12 year old. http://www.wlacchat.org/silverknapsackaward.htm https://goldentroutwilderness.wordpress.com/sequoia-nf-trips/up-to-7-days/silver-knapsack-trail/ Find the trails in your part of the country, and take them. Is using a BSA National resource a must-do? No.

This is why I prefer cook in camp summer camps over dining hall summer camps. 21 meals to prepare!

Well, both the USDA and the CDC have been doing some really stupid stuff recently, but discussion of that belongs in a different forum...

I was at a different church yesterday. The Pastor started by asking those currently involved to rise, then he asked all ever involved to rise. Clearly, the majority of men in this church had been involved in Scouting in some way in their lives. To me, National is missing a grand marketing opportunity, tying in with Super Bowl week. Scouting for Food used to be the BSA National Service Project. Now, it's council by council, and rest assured, not all councils do it. If I were Secretary Gates... - Bring Scouting for Food back. - Form a partnership with the NFL. - Deploy the bags on Pro Bowl Sunday. - Pick up on Super Sunday. If we ask the Nation to add a box of mac and cheese, or add a can of tuna, or a jar of peanut butter to their Super Week shopping, and we multiply by tens of millions of homes, we get one huge advantage to the food pantries of America. If we pre-print the bags with just five needed high value food items as suggestions...

Now, granted, I did Cooking MB back in 1968-71 or so. I can't remember exactly when. I do know I learned to broil/ pan broil meat, make stews and soups, prepare fruit, salads, and veggies, and make some form of breadstuff. Today, I ... - Broil steaks, chicken and fish ... on gas and charcoal. - Make mac and cheese, chili, chicken noodle soup, pot roast, vegetable beef soup, and other casserole dishes - Bake biscuits and quick-breads. We'll talk about yeast breads another day. - Make a pretty decent cheese enchildada. - Open ice cream containers for dessert ;-) - Make an array of sandwiches with lunch meats and peanut butter Is my food restaurant worthy? Nahhh. Is it good? Much of it. If you know me at all, and have been around here a few days, you know I was one of the people who really thought Cooking should be back on the Eagle Required list. Young men need to know how to make a dinner ... it's a courtship technique ;-), it's a bachelor survival skill, it helps married life, and for those of us for whom it's happened, it's a post-divorce survival skill. If there is only one MB I'm glad I earned, it's cooking!

I have to agree with the others. If Troop meetings are being cancelled for the benefit of the adults, your Troop needs to reorder its priorities. I also think the ASM asking for Scoutmaster Conferences is dead wrong. It should be the boys asking. It seems to me we have an issue of an "adult leadership method" troop here. I like the idea of the Committee being available on a campout to provide BORs, just as you could be available to do SMCs. Amazing what happens when you sit back in a camp chair and watch the world go by, while you help the kid make a S'more on your little campfire

Quick note to all, If you duplicate a post ... or if you notice a duplicate post in a thread, hit the report key and let the moderators know. We have tools which can remove the dupe, unlike the old days. Fellow mods, I've pinned this in Open Discussion, Program for a couple days. Next week, I'll move it to another forum. Thanks!

From Bryan Wendell's blog... Download and read this pdf. It is the Cooking requirements as of 1 January. Of note, from the blog:

Barry, if you: - Limit the SPL's time to rendering the program report and getting feedback from the committee... - Move his report to the very front end of the meeting so he can be in, out, and done ... Then it can be of value. See above.

When I was a CC, the SM and I decided the SPL could attend the meeting to give the program report, under the supervision of the SM. It worked fairly well. The youth said they wanted to take a high adventure, but not Philmont or Northern Tier. We told them, through the SPL, to research the options and come back to us with where they wanted to go and why. Worked really well. Your mileage may vary.

Moderator's Note: Moved to Advancement Forum. Shadow topic left in Open Discussion: Program.

Nearly twenty years ago, Every Council, Nationwide, on two weekends did Scouting for Food. Weekend 1: Distribute the Bags. Weekend 2: Pick them up. It got publicity. Network news, local news, all over the place coverage. Councils still do it, and are successful at it, yes. It's a local project. You may/may not get publicity in your market. BSA is not getting nationwide publicity. That's my point.

While the GTA mandates blue cards as the only acceptable form of MB card, I've never seen a card get turned in. Advancement report is what covers the matter.

And, we abandoned the National Project of "Scouting for Food" in favor of "Good Turn for America" That comes under the top 10 stupid loss of brand decisions ever made...

Scoutmasters, Advancement Coordinators, District and Council Advancement Committee Members, and Others: Very much worth your read. Key points: "Updating requirements means merit badge pamphlets and the Boy Scout Requirements book need to be updated as well. In the past, this process slowed down the update cycle, at times causing delays of a year or more. Not anymore, Berger says. "“As soon as we have new, updated merit badge requirements, we’re going to immediately get them on Scouting.org, as well as in our new interactive digital merit badge pamphlets and on Scoutbook,†he says. “We’re not waiting for reprinted pamphlets or requirements books. This should help to get the very best information and resources into the hands of Scouts as quickly as possible.â€" WHAT THAT MEANS: Scoutsource is now the source of record for requirements, not the annual hardcopy of BSA requirements. Counselors and advancement folk will need to check to be sure they are using the latest requirements set.

Moderator's Note: Moved to camping and high adventure, shadow topic remains in Open Discussion, Program.