John-in-KC

So here we are, 2 1/3 months into the Centennial year, and I do not see requirements for the 4 merit badges on National's website. Gotta love timeliness and attention to detail from the National Council. Oh, wait. We're talking about National, the same folks who still have the Double H ranch program on the Philmont website... Sigh.

Be careful of what you ask for. You just might get it. Folks asked for a program definition of active. National provided it. Folks said "Not good enough." National enhanced it. Folks are now saying "It doesn't crosswalk to the rules and regulations." Who here cares to bet that sooner or later National will change the R&R to conform to the new definition? Sometimes, not talking about it, and keeping the issue below the visible horizon, really is the best course of action.

Mike, I think a SMC is in order when a youth is about to take on a POR. Expectations form both adult and youth should be addressed. I think parents should be contacted as a youth prepares to take a POR. If the parents are not supportive, the youth may be set up for a hard failure. This is all the more true if there is a separated/blended family, where Mommy and/or Daddy is not playing nice with the other. I think a SM should keep an eagle eye over his troop officers, cheerleading them as needed, and encouraging them when necessary. I think the SM should have an older youth member or adult who has the needed skills to provide an advisor for the youth. This is all the more true in a POR such as Musician (bugler), where not all of us can read music. Finally, EagleSon, as a camp staffer, plays bugle calls on his sousaphone. His professor would kill him if he screwed up his embouchure by taking on a small mouthpiece.

Here's my read, based on my Council's operating practices for Council camps: - Cubs to Bear level ... parents participate. - Webelos and Boy Scouts ... parents have to be registered as Scouters to camp. - Venturers ... they don't want their parents around! I think as far as unit campouts go, parents should be invited, to help encourage them to take the next step and become Scouters. A good SM can keep his adults isolated (since Kudu is here, 300' sounds good ) from the youth.

E61, Your logic trail forgets the fact that PEOPLE, who do not always follow logic trails, are the volunteers who charter units for their institutions, and who staff units. Your logic trail also forgets the fact that the BSA recognizes the Hindu religion. The last time I checked, Hindu was essentially polytheistic. In the meantime, we have a 7 year old, who might benefit from learning about faith. He's got two years before the first encounter in the advancement system with a matter of faith. AFAICS, it's the parent's call, for all the reasons Beavah and Lisa say.

My two cents: This is an epic of pole vaulting over mouse turds. Assuming the adults are cooking for themselves, assuming there is only enough to actually do the cooking, move along, nothing to see here. With that ... I know a lady who has a major allergic reaction (akin to severe shock) if she ingests alcohol. She even passes on an individual cup of "not wine" at our Communion at church. If you have someone like her, it's worth asking questions before you decide to take cooking alcohol to the field.

Already discussed earlier in the thread Stosh. Someone did the math, and vanilla extract may actually leave more (.08xx oz/serving vice .07xx oz/serving) than the wine

Scoutfish.... We are all Scouters. There is no Cub Scouter or Cubber. We are adults, mostly volunteers, committed to supporting the programs of the Boy Scouts of America. You're a Scouter affiliated with a Pack. I'm a Scouter affiliated with a Crew. Make sense?

Bear Rank might be a problem. There are two Achievements in the Bear curriculum that are faith based. I grabbed them from USScouts.org: WAYS WE WORSHIP (Page 26) Complete both requirements. 1. Complete the Character Connection for Faith * Know. Name some people in history who have shown great faith. Discuss with an adult how faith has been important at a particular point in his or her life. * Commit. Discuss with an adult how having faith and hope will help you in your life, and also discuss some ways that you can strengthen your faith. * Practice. Practice your faith as you are taught in your home, church, synagogue, mosque, or religious fellowship. 2. Make a list of things you can do this week to practice your religion as you are taught in your home, church, synagogue, mosque, or other religious community. Check them off your list as you complete them. EMBLEMS OF FAITH (Page 30) Complete the requirement. Earn the religious emblem of your faith. One of the two must be earned for a Cub to earn Bear. Akela (leader) can be lots of people. One option for you here is to let your parents (his grands) or one of his aunts/uncles/cousins/friends work with him on the requirement. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'd ask you to re-read both Gunny's and Lisa's posts. Look at who charters the Pack. If it's a church, know your boy will get a healthy dose, even in just table graces before meals. If a VFW or Legion, he probably will get less. Look at yourself. Are you truly saying "God does not exist?" If so, you might encounter dilemmas as your boy grows up, and he challenges you on matters of faith. That's a matter for your conscience, not mine. Assuming he's still in Scouting at 16 or so, and is a candidate for Eagle, it will be time for some frank talk. You can expect an Eagle Board of Review to ask about faith matters. If he's joined you on the trail of there is no God, what Gunny said applies. For now, though, I'd say let him enjoy the trail. I wish you well.

I'm with Lisa. Pull no punches. A Scout is Trustworthy. That's the first point in the Scout Law, part of the Ideals Method, and part of the Character Aim. The matter of integrity goes straight as an arrow to Scout Spirit.

Who in this unit assigns the MB Counselor? Let me give you a hint for Ed's question: It should be the Scoutmaster! See the current edition of Requirements. It's part of his ongoing mentorship responsibilities to the youth members.

Everything in balance is something Beavah says often. If this was very small Troop (8-10 kids), I'd say operate it as a single patrol, and do some direct democracy. It isn't. 20 is big enough for 2 patrols of 8, an SPL, a Quartermaster, a Scribe or Webmaster, and an OATR. If this were EagleSon's troop, and this was on the table, I'd be talking to him about do we think he could get full fun and challenge of Scouting, and moving units. I'm glad he's approaching 21.

codger, It's not just involving them with the process ... it starts at presenting the program idea such that the youth will own it from the idea stage onward. If they think it's their idea, they'll have a desire to do it. If it's an adult's idea, half the wind is immediately gone from the sail.

First, I hope your Lodge program is both fun and challenging! It needs to have a mix of service to the Council, membership development (read Ordeal/Brotherhood weekends) and FUN (fall fellowship, COPE days, range days, a great winter banquet). If those are in place, then layer activities your Chapter can do onto the calendar. Rome wasn't built in a day, and it's easier to maintain excellence than to develop it. What you desire will not happen on your watch. Work with your Adviser and the Lodge Chief to develop continuity across the officer-years. Wish I had better words for you

E, Advancement Coordinator is the Troop Committee person who does the scut work of advancement management, including the hardcopy or ScoutNet reports. I endorse what Lisa said. I like what Eammon said! Push the youth outside the adults they know in the Troop, push them to District people! It means the SM has to get out and meet people outside his unit!

Pint has the right of this, in his example from Scouts UK. Three people, and only three, should be commenting to the leadership of WOSM: They are the CSE, the President of BSA, and the National Commissioner. Everyone else is doing human hydraulic relief pressure tests facing into the storm.

Have him keep his shoes and socks in first-class condition! For what he's doing now, adding raw weight to his ruck will help. Unfortunately, the one thing you cannot do is acclimatize him to higher altitudes, short of moving someplace like Reno, Wyoming, or Denver...

But the two others in my small group spent little effort on their presentations and it showed. Both were out of their comfort zones, too. Great observation, Guy! If a trainer is not passionate about his subject... If a trainer has not prepared her training... If a trainer has not rehearsed the instructional block... The trainees probably will not receive good training. Caring about the content and caring about sharing the content with others are two of the most valuable elements a trainer should have. With those, the how of training will come together quickly. Without those, be prepared for a resounding flop.

Cast iron is cast iron. How Troop Quartermasters store it is what matters. As I said earlier, mine had been at best ridden hard and put away wet. Frankly, they were well rusted. Granted, Flyover Country USA is humid, but not as much as the South. If the youth take care of their DOs, they should, as Calico said, very rarely require re-seasoning. The ones I borrowed were dregs when I got them, and returned in better condition than I found them.

Cast iron is cast iron. How Troop Quartermasters store it is what matters. As I said earlier, mine had been at best ridden hard and put away wet. Frankly, they were well rusted. Granted, Flyover Country USA is humid, but not as much as the South. If the youth take care of their DOs, they should, as Calico said, very rarely require re-seasoning. The ones I borrowed were dregs when I got them, and returned in better condition than I found them.

Aside from the SM/SPL working through how the PLC will handle standard setting (items 5 & 6 of his post), I think what Eagle732 described is the correct process. Since the SPL is SM's son, that part should be fairly easy. I understand that the gendarmerie may not be able to do anything about this incident. They might, though, be interested in keeping tabs on a dealer. I think SM/SPL should talk to law enforcement. I also think CC and SM, having each others backs, need to have a talk with Scout A's parents. Themes are: This is line crossing, it's serious, he'll be gone from the unit if it happens again, period. They're the ones raising him; we are part of their support mechanism.

There are a host of resources for your reading and review at http://www.scouting.org/sitecore/content/Home/CubScouts.aspx One very good resource page within that part of the site is: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/resources.aspx It's not a substitute for training, but you can never have enough tools in the toolbox

I was getting ready for a District event, and had borrowed about five DO's from various units. Gad, they were rustbuckets ... had not been stored properly. Thank heaven it was early fall. Over about two weeks leading up to the event, on night one, I put the Dutch and its lid in my household oven, heated the thing to 550F, maintained temp for 90 minutes on the clock, then let it cool overnight to stone cold. Day 2, steel-wooled both parts, then on went canola oil. back in the oven it went, set the thing to 450F and maintained temp for a clock hour. I got good solid coatings. I tried one oven at 350F. Oil was still tacky after an hour in curing. Lodge is generally right, but know how the heat you are applying actually works in the wild.

For Stosh... Considering the time of year, I'm not thrilled about any element of the uniform in the field. The Centennial uniform is designed, from what I see, for a warm, dry or warm, wet set of climate regimes. It's not designed for either cold, dry or cold, wet. I'd be far happier if the beads were awarded for being able to discuss layering, thermal protection, and vapor barriers and pass-throughs. I'm not thrilled about your usage of Scout Spirit. I interpreted it as "cheerleading of Scouting," not "Live the Scout Oath and Law in your daily life." If anything, the kid who could explain why he was layered up deserved the gold beads, because he was being prepared. Both of OGE's posts really make sense to me ... the one about do we want to abandon the concept of a society in miniature, for the model of HS/college athletic teams, as well as the one about the uniform being the resume. To conclude, what bloody fool would want anyone to wear BSA Supply sox in a snowy environment? They'd have trench foot and/or frostbite all too quickly...

emb's answer is correct by the insignia guide. That said, I have seen a District Commissioner and a Council Commissioner use a plastic patch dangle for their position patches. I suspect either the shirts or the position were new, and they hadn't had time to deal with the sewing. It's not a perfect idea. Do your youth want good now or perfect later? At the end of the day, this kind of decision should be pushed down to the SPL and the PLC. Make them think it through...