Aquila calva

You have a lot of good experience as a leader already. Now you are in a position to lead and inspire others to be great leaders, too.

Putting together a troop calendar is a group effort. The more the Scouts can do on their own the better. If the SM can work with the SPL and PLC to do the whole thing from scratch that will be great. If the secretary (Scribe) of the PLC can keep the calendar updated, and bring copies to every PLC meeting, and then update it after the meeting, fantastic! The same calendar needs to be reviewed at the troop committee meeting so appropriate adult leadership can be planned, funding can be reviewed, etc.

Another thing I found to be really helpful when working with the troop committee is to always type up an agenda for every meeting, listing all the adult committee positions. Everyone who has accepted a position on the committee comes to every meeting knowing they will be acknowledged for their respective agenda item. They can report or not, but the members will have a chance to report to the rest of the committee. Everyone will quickly discover who the workers are.

Work by consensus as much as possible. We only vote on things if it involves spending a significant amount of the troop's money. It works well.

A 40-member troop will have five or six patrols. This is getting to be a large troop. Our normal summer camp campsites usually have tents and cots for 32 Scouts and leaders. Forty Scouts, plus adults, is getting large. Your troop will need a lot of active well-trained adults and well-trained Scouts.(This message has been edited by aquila calva)(This message has been edited by aquila calva)

Hello Bronco,

You already have a lot of good advice above.

Recruit as much adult leader help as you possibly can. See the Troop Committee Guidebook for the necessary committee positions. Since you were a Pack CC you may already be familiar with these positions.

In addition to getting on the same page with your Scoutmaster (who will handle the program with the PLC) and your Chartered Organization Rep. (who is the representative of the owner of the troop) your next best friend on the troop committee will need to be the treasurer. Make sure the troops financial management is in order. Check signers should be you and the treasurer. (Some troops also include the Scoutmaster, but I think this is not a good idea in most medium to large troops. It may be necessary in small troops.) Make sure the bank accounts are all set up properly according to policies of your Chartered Organization. When reviewing the bank accounts take off any check-signers who are no longer active in the troop. Sometimes, it could be best to close the old accounts and open new checking/savings accounts to be sure there are no old blank checks floating around (yes this happened to me years ago and the banker said lets close the old accounts and open new accounts for your group). Make sure the treasurer provides a detailed financial report to the committee every month. At the beginning of your tenure as CC, you should at least audit the books yourself so you feel comfortable with the existing accounts. Be prepared to recruit a new treasurer, if necessary.

Put together a troop calendar for the next year (the troop secretary can help with this). Put on this calendar the troop meeting dates, Roundtable dates, school holidays, all the District and Council activities your troop may participate in, the dates for next summers long-term camp, and any high adventure trip dates that have already been planned. Add the dates for any money-earning projects your troop does such as popcorn and/or wreath sales. Include all the Council Order of the Arrow activities your Scouts and leaders my want to participate in. Talk with the SM about this calendar to be sure he is comfortable with it. Then give this to the SM, who will take it to the PLC. These program leaders should choose the dates for the monthly campouts and other troop activities such as lock-ins. Add all these camping dates to the calendar. Specific camps and activities can be added during upcoming meetings of the PLC. It is important for Scout families to at least know the dates well in advance. (There are a lot of school and sports activities to consider, too, in our all-to-busy lives.) It is the committees responsibility to be sure all the troop activities (campouts, lock-ins, etc) have the necessary adult leadership. These adult leaders need all the necessary training to help conduct the program activities (follow two-deep leadership, transportation requirements, etc.)

All the committee members should be trained with Troop Committee Challenge and all the adult program leaders (SM and ASMs) MUST be trained in Youth Protection (now required in order to register as an adult leader).

Over the next couple of years get as much Scout training as you possibly can. Sign up for Wood Badge as soon as you can.

Have fun with your sons (and Venturing daughters) in Scouting. They are the reasons for your work.

Best wishes for the New Year!!

I can see it both ways, but I think the new Eagle is a boy who would eagerly share the light. His parents feel it should be all about him.

Sounds like everyone needs resources. Email the scout and parents with this link and say have a great time planning the ECOH. Let me know the date and time, if you would like me to speak, and let me know if I can bring a salad.

http://www.eaglescout.org/finale/coh/coh.html

Go ahead with the date YOUR TROOP has selected for the troop court of honor and let the new Eagle and his parents decide on another date and time for the ECOH.

Some things need to go away. The pinky handshake was one of them. When I was a youth in Scouting in the 60s I thought it was weird. Good riddance. Would anyone like some good Dutch apple crisp? I grew the apples myself.

Have fun scouting.

(This thread made me laugh!)

Our troops seven weekend campouts average $21 per scout. This includes $11 for food and $10 camping fee. Our Council camps charge a $5 per person weekend fee (youth and adult), plus the price of the campsite or cabin and these fees can range from $0 to $150 for a weekend. Sometimes any deficit is paid from the troop account and sometimes there is a surplus contribution to the troop account. The biggest variable is the number of scouts attending each weekend event. It averages out over the year. We like to get the scouts a patch for the weekend campout and these can cost $2 each. It is tight budgeting. We can adjust the cost per scout each month if we know there will be a substantial variation from the normal $21.

11/8/2009

This is an interesting exercise. Following is what it will cost an active 14-year-old to be in Scouting in our troop this year:

$ 80.00 Annual dues (includes registration, Boys Life, T-shirt, annual picnic, troop equipment, training, patches)

$ 226.00 Summer camp 2010

$ 147.00 Seven weekend troop campouts at $21 each

$ 82.00 Winter camping weekend including transportation

$ 25.00 Lock-in

$ 600.00 Northern Tier summer 2010, including transportation

$ 100.00 Extra gear for high adventure

$ 15.00 Order of the Arrow Lodge dues

$ 25.00 OA Fall Conclave

$ 18.00 Four (average?) merit badge books at $4.50 (rest from troop library)

_________

$1318.00 Total

If the Scout has outgrown his old uniform and gets the new one:

$ 34.99 Supplex Nylon Shirt, short sleeve

$ 49.99 New Switchbacks pants

$ 10.99 Boy Scout Cotton belt

_________

$1413.97 Total with uniform (plus patches and socks)

Our Council and our troop offer camperships, but they are rarely used.

Adult leaders pay their own annual registration fee and food expenses on campouts. Adults who drive to campouts usually pay their own gas expense. When a scout joins our troop they are given a neckerchief and slide. The Cub Pack they come from usually gives them a scout handbook. If not, the family buys it.

Our troop has an active money earning program and it uses the Scout account system. The 27 scouts have plenty of opportunity to earn their way in Scouting. And the scouts are advancing and having fun.

Troop 1.

Scoutmasters name is Fred.

Scouts names are Andy, Bob, Erik, Greg, and Larry.

Each Scout earns $100 in the fundraiser. Total $500.

All goes into general fund. Committee decides to use the money to help pay for the Scoutmasters trip to the Philmont training center.

Troop 2.

Scoutmasters name is Lisa.

Scouts names are Ajay, Evon, Fung, Lieng, and Yung.

Each Scout earns $100 in the fundraiser. Total $500.

All goes into Scout accounts. Committee decides to use the money to pay $100 towards each Scouts summer camp.

Which committee are you on?

The subject of fundraising was featured in Scouting Magazine in November-December 2007. Here is the link:

http://www.scoutingmagazine.org/issues/0711/a-projects.html#sbar2

See especially the section headed:

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

The first example includes the line:

These Scout bucks can pay for uniforms, equipment, and activity fees.

Here is the full text of this section of the article, but read the whole thing:

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

Units often make a portion of the funds from money-earning projects available to individual members by covering summer-camp fees or depositing money in special accounts for Scouting use. Doing so encourages higher participation and rewards those members who work harder. The details vary widely, however. Here are a few examples:

- Pack 391, in Albany, Ore., gives Scout bucks to boys who participate in its can and bottle drives. These Scout bucks can pay for uniforms, equipment, and activity fees.

- Proceeds from Troop 994s mulch sale go to the troop, and some level of participation is required from each family. Scouts who later help spread mulch split all the profits based on the hours they work.

- Troop 474 reserves 15 percent of the profits from its flag project for its general fund. The other 85 percent goes into Scout accounts.

- Profits from Pack 33s wreath sale all go into the packs general fund, which keeps dues low and allows for special purchases such as model-rocket kits for all the Scouts.

- Troop 3 in Brookwood, Ala., manages three parking lots during University of Alabama football games. If a Scout (or his parent) works all eight games, his summer camp and an additional weeklong summer trip are paid for.

Have fun Scouting!

It is hard to believe the moon walk was 40 years ago today. I was 18 years old and working in one of the trading posts selling cameras and film. I must have gotten off duty just in time to go to a nearby staff tent that had a small black and white TV set showing the astronauts on the moon. There I was in the middle of a huge field, surrounded by mountains, and I was watching someone walk on the moon. As I recall, the theme of the jamboree was Frontiers of Tomorrow. (Edit: I just looked it up. The Theme was "Building to Serve.") One of the stage shows featured the Up With People singing group. There were a couple of astronauts there, too. I also remember that Mrs. Baden-Powell attended this jamboree. Somewhere in my house I have a box full of souvenirs including many of the daily newspapers. It was a wonderful event!(This message has been edited by aquila calva)

In 2007 there were over 51,000 Scouts who earned Eagle. Could they be 51,000 trust fund kids? In Legacy of Honor one of the Eagle Scouts interviewed was current Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. Hank has an additional 350 BILLION dollars in his back pocket to dole out. But he better get busy, he only has a few days left.

Paying day laborers to complete an Eagle project could be good practice for the Eagles future.

Then, again, how exactly has Hank demonstrated leadership in the current crisis? Maybe it will become apparent when he (and George) are long gone. (I hope so.)

America (and Scouting) will figure it out.

Back to the topic.

This is a Star Scout who thought he had become a Life Scout last July, nine or ten months before his 18th birthday. He may well have thought he had all the time he needed to earn Eagle. It seems clear that this troop has adult leadership challenges, and the scout needs some help with paying attention and planning ahead. This troop wasnt helping much with that effort.

If the scout really wants to give it a try, he can take his story to the District Advancement Chair and perhaps to the District Chair. Make his case and see where it leads. He needs a one or two month extension on his POR requirement. This is not impossible, is it? He may need to find another troop, with a different SM, to help him get it all figured out. There are lots of ifs in this story that only someone close to the situation will be able to figure out.

Let us know what happens.

Hal,

See Scout Handbook requirements for Star and Life ranks, requirement 5. It is in parentheses.

"(or carry out a Scoutmaster-assigned leadership project to help the troop)"

From the original post.

-The scout will be 18 in April

-He passed his scoutmaster conference last July for his Star rank

Even if the scout had past his BOR the same day as his Scoutmaster conference in July, he still wouldn't have enough time as a Boy Scout to get to Eagle rank.

Six months as a Star Scout to become Life plus six months as a Life Scout to earn Eagle. That time would put him into June or July of 2009. (This is repeating what Beavah wrote in his first post in this thread.)

Unfortunate situation!

BW said: He [the Scoutmaster] could easily have given him a leadership project to do over the next few months that could have resulted in a successful BOR in October and allowing the scout enough time to complete his Eagle requirements.

He needed 12 months from the date of his Star BOR, not six months. Right? He didnt have enough time to finish Life and Eagle.

To put it another way, a Scout needs to pass his Star BOR before (or possibly on) his 17th birthday. He needs at least 12 months as a Scout to earn Eagle.

Hi again.

Here is the link to the Code of Conduct for the 2010 National Jamboree. Make copies of this for all your parents. You don't have to re-invent the wheel.

http://www.bsajamboree.org/code-of-conduct.html

Code of Conduct in a Boy Scout Troop....before you start typing, or before you start copying and pasting from unknown internet sources....

Start with everyone in your troop, Scouts and Adults, knowing by memory, the Scout Oath, Scout Law, Scout Motto, Scout Slogan and the Outdoor Code. But don't stop there.

All adults associated with the troop need to read the Boy Scout Handbook from cover to cover, including, but not limited to, the Parent Guide that is inserted at the front of every handbook. ALL ADULTS NEED TO READ THIS, SEVERAL TIMES IF NECESSARY, UNTIL THEY UNDERSTAND IT.

Then all adults need to read, from cover to cover, the Troop Committee handbook, Scoutmasters handbook and the Guide to Safe Scouting. All adults need to go to the training sessions provided by their District and Council, including Fast Start, Basic Leader Training, Youth Protection, Troop Committee Challenge, Outdoor Training, Safe Swim Defense, and Safety Afloat. (If they are registered adults in Scouting they can do some of this training over the internet.)

Then go to the internet and check out the sites for Philmont, Northern Tier, Sea Base, and the National Jamboree. These sites provide information about Codes of Conduct for these national programs.

Here is a link to the Philmont website where they give information about Code of Conduct. Be sure to click on the policies and procedures link for more information.

http://www.scouting.org/highadventure/philmont/hikers/a%20word%20about%20conduct.aspx

When you make application to Philmont, Sea Base or the National Jamboree (for example), you are sent a packet of information that includes a Code of Conduct. Each participant needs to read and sign this Code of Conduct in order to participate in the program. Get copies of these nationally recognized Codes of Conduct and give a copy to each member of your committee and all your parents. Your eyes, and their eyers, will be opened.

No need to write your own Code of Conduct. It has already been written.

_____________________________________________________

Now a word to those of you who keep repeating this age-old saying that a troop needs only the Scout Oath and Scout Law as their Code of Conduct. If this were actually true, then why does the national BSA program department (or whoever it is) type up, print up and distribute these Codes of Conduct sheets that must be signed by every participant in these National programs? Also, as indicated in the above link to Philmont, it is an expectation that each crew develop their own Code of Conduct, and then, just to be sure, Philmont sends out a Code of Conduct that every participant is expected to sign and return.

It is no wonder that new adults coming into the Scouting program, keep asking about Codes of Conduct.

National staff needs to wrap their brains around this question and get the solution out to all units, so each unit does not need to go through the difficult and often divisive process of writing their own Code of Conduct. Some units are split in pieces over this issue. And it is completely unnecessary.

Scouting Codes of Conduct are already written, but figuring out where to find them can be a challenge.

Yes, start with the Scout Oath and Law, but don't stop there, National BSA doesn't, they have written lots more Codes of Conduct.

Democrats = Tax and Spend

Republicans = Deficit, Debt, and Bailout

Republicans win 3 to 2.

Bailout is Word of the Year

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,457624,00.html

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Bush bankrupted America!

Obama had nothing to do with it. Now he has to figure out a way to deal with the aftermath of the Bush-Cheney disaster.

It is a world-wide disgrace of epic proportions.

From page 2 of the NY Times article:

While the Mahdi Scouts fall under the umbrella of the Lebanese union, they have no direct affiliation with the international scouting body based in Switzerland. Because of the Scouts reputation as a feeder for Hezbollahs armed force, the party has become extremely protective and rarely grants outsiders access to them.

Are they really members of WOSM?

So the dissertation begins.

The rich would get richer, the poor would get poorer, and the middle class would disappear.

Sort of like the last eight years, but in faster motion.

"Lets keep the focus of the 700 million on keeping the banks liquid"

Shouldn't that read "700 BILLION?" A little difference!

The legacy will be ..... "Bush bankrupted America."

Hang in there folks. It's going to be a rough ride.

Below is a good article some of you may like to read. See the link at the bottom to see some pictures, too.

___________________________________

10 share Scouting, and its top honor

Service, skill-building came with adventures

By Emma L. Carew

ecarew@pioneerpress.com

Article Last Updated: 10/27/2008 09:27:47 AM CDT

To some, the Eagle Scout award may seem like just another badge for camping and Scouting do-goodery, but for the 10 Scouts in Roseville Troop 297 who received their awards together this year, the ranking is a culmination of seven years of pranking each other, growing up together and eating a lot of camp food.

Of every 100 boys who join Boy Scouting as sixth-graders, only four to six continue to the Eagle rank, the highest award a Scout can earn, said Mary Degel, registrar for the Northern Star Council, Boy Scouts of America. So, it's unusual that 10 Scouts in Troop 297 who started together have continued all the way through. To qualify for the Eagle Scout award, a boy must plan, organize and complete a service project and earn at least 21 merit badges, Degel said.

"It's something that stays with them the rest of their life," she said. "When someone sees they're an Eagle Scout, that's very important."

Three of the Troop 297 scouts were recognized in an Eagle Scout ceremony Sunday at Roseville Lutheran Church, the last of the 10. Four from the troop were awarded American flags that were flown over the U.S. Capitol, for having started as Tiger Scouts, the youngest rank of Scouting.

2008-09 ROSEVILLE TROOP 297 EAGLE SCOUTS

Jeffrey Sayler, 18

Son of Kenyon and Lisa Sayler

Project: Laid grass seed at a church camp in Wisconsin

Why Scouting? I was in Cub Scouts and enjoyed it. My dad was a lot of it, he was in Boy Scouts when he was a kid.

Most vivid memory of Scouting? We have a rocket launch every year, and my rockets haven't tended to do well. One time, my rocket fell over and was shooting fire out the end; it was on the ground wiggling around.

How do you think Scouting will help you in the future? Certainly a lot of the skills that I've had to demonstrate, like first aid. There's also a lot of connotations attached to the Eagle Scout Award. People will say, "Oh, he must have done something good."

Ben Kendall, 18

Son of John and Victoria Kendall

Project: Remove an invasive species, purple loosestrife, from a wetland

Why Scouting? There was a kid on my block who was in Cub Scouts, back in first grade. What made me stick with it was that I loved it. We're all good kids that have a strong base of morals through Scouting, but we screw around a lot. You put a bunch of kids in the woods with pocketknives and matches ... we have a good time.

Grossest thing that ever happened? Knife or axe injuries, you cut wood and everyone wiggles they always cut something off. You're all like, I'm going to carve a stick into a spear ... and you take a chunk of your finger.

How do you take care of your badges? I keep my uniform, my merit badge sash and my order of the arrow sash all hung up on the far left side of my closet; that's my little area. I've sewed a couple of them; my mom at the point of sixth grade told me I was on my own so I got some of that glue patch stuff.

What part of Scouting do you think is most impressive to girls? My first Scoutmaster told us why every boy should get Eagle, so when you meet your girlfriend's parents for the first time, you'd fiddle through your wallet and drop your Eagle card on the floor. Some girls, especially at the high school level, might view Scouting as nerdy, but some girls might think it's cool.

Joe Mein, 17

Son of Chris and Lori Mein

Project: Helped organize and rebuild Falcon Heights Elementary School's new playground

Why Scouting? My cousin got his Eagle Scout, and I thought that was cool, so I joined Cub Scouts and just stuck with it.

Funniest Scouting memory? In the Boundary Waters, I thought the water was only about a foot deep, and I jumped out of the canoe, and the water was, like, 6, 7 feet. ... I was very surprised.

What part of Scouting would be most impressive to girls? Can't really use stuff from Scouting as a pickup line, but you can tell them that you whittled a lot of stuff, like, "I've got a big knife."

Joseph Mueller, 18

Son of David and Lori Mueller

Project: Built 15 transport boxes for the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center

Why Scouting? I just wanted to be just like my dad, and my friends joined it, and it looked like fun. My dad's an Eagle Scout. I always wanted to beat my dad in the number of merit badges that I earned, besides Eagle. (He earned 59 badges, beating his dad's number.)

The patch you saw and knew you had to have? Rifle shooting and small-boat sailing, those two I definitely had to have. Saw them probably when I was in sixth grade.

Grossest memory from Scouting? I've been on a few trips where it rained every single day, 24/7, until the very last day when we were paddling into base, so it was all muddy and wet, and not a very good experience you feel kind of miserable.

Tyler Stuart, 18

Son of Jim and Ann Stuart

Why Scouting? Well, it wasn't exactly my choice; it was more of my dad's. But after that ... I evolved into it; it grew on me.

Project: Improvements in Reservoir Woods Park in Roseville

Most quirky or unique badge? There is basketry, you think of it as a Girl Scout thing. It's not very manly, is it? And fingerprinting, had to do with identifying fingerprints.

Grossest Scouting memory? I know most other people wouldn't agree with me, but I don't like buffalo burger they're kind of gross. It was a special occasion that one of our camps was at a buffalo ranch there.

Conor Holt, 17

Son of Mike and Mary Holt

Project: Beautification of the exit ramp from Minnesota 36 onto Cleveland Avenue

Why Scouting? I'd been in Cub Scouts as a younger kid. I enjoyed camping, I enjoyed being in a group like this.

Grossest thing eaten as a Scout? At northern tier canoe trip, we'd always drop food on the ground, and it would get covered in dirt, but we just kept eating it. We'd call them flavor sprinkles.

Most unique badge you've ever seen? Looking back at the old merit badges from the beginning of Scouts, there was a rabbit-raising merit badge, farm animals. The rifle merit badge previously was to fire a gun and hit half your targets, and basically an NRA membership.

Nathaniel Rowekamp, 17

Son of Paul and Kim Sackett-Rowekamp

Why Scouting? I had some older friends that were in Boy Scouts and loved it. They said, "You should try this." There were elder scouts at the time that were getting Eagle.

Project: Refurbished some of the benches at Harriet Alexander Nature Center and installed a new bench on the boardwalk

Grossest thing you've ever done as a scout? At Philmont, in New Mexico, we had to do "human sumping," where you take the pot you cooked in, mix water in it and then drink it, to avoid spreading the food throughout the campsite.

Funniest? One of my first few campouts, we had a gas grill, and we were making some burgers, and it was a windy day. We touched the top of the grill, and it wasn't hot, and (we) thought it wasn't on, so one kid hit the igniter, and the cover blew up in the air.

What part of Scouting do you think would impress girls? The fact you can go out in the wilderness and survive without electricity or necessarily a hard roof over your head.

Steven McCann, 18

Son of John and Debby McCann

Project: Built recreational items three carpet ball tables and three sets of horseshoe beds at Camp Wapo in Amery, Wis.

Why Scouting? A lot of my friends were (Scouts). It just seemed like a fun idea to go do stuff like you don't normally do, like camping. I got to go the Boundary Waters, Florida Keys, New Mexico, a lot of places I wouldn't get to go otherwise.

Grossest Scouting memory? When I got my eyelid cut open. I had been running through the woods, there was brown rope between two trees at eye level, I didn't see it. It just sort of healed on its own. (Stitches) might have been a good idea, but we were at camp, and you tough it out.

What part of Scouts might help pick up girls? You've got the whole cool-uniform thing going, you could show off some of the knowledge and strength you get from Scouting, and just go "URGH!" (while flexing).

Andrew Albing, 17

Son of Carl and Cindy Albing

Project: Landscaping outside a nonprofit building near the University of Minnesota campus

Why Scouts? I joined in Cub Scouts; my brothers were both in Cub Scouts already. My dad doesn't do a lot of camping, so it was good to do a lot of this stuff.

Grossest thing that ever happened during Scouts? My first year at our annual summer camp, I was taking the fishing merit badge, and we had to catch a fish, clean it and cook it. I had it on the table and started to cut, and it just started jumping and flailing. It was like, oh gosh, the fish is supposed to be dead!

Weirdest thing to eat at Scout camp? We were doing this cooking campout, and our troop was running it. We had people doing blind taste tests; we gave them things like Crisco, chili powder and other random cooking items. I did try the Crisco. That was pretty interesting.

Matthew Wolhowe, 17

Son of Erik Wolhowe

Project: Water pipeline in Ox Lake Bible Camp in Amery, Wis.

Why Scouts? My dad's in (Scouts). It was fun, and I liked it, especially all the challenging stuff.

Funniest memory of Scouts? Probably sinking a canoe when we were at (camp). We were, like, 13.

Weirdest thing eaten? We had deer once. It was a campout called wild game dinner, and everyone had to bring in some food.

Favorite badge? The triple crown award, for canoeing, hiking and scuba diving. Probably one of the hardest ones you can get.

Most surprising badge? Electricity, doing different types of circuits and stuff.

Emma L. Carew can be reached at 651-265-2492.

http://www.twincities.com/ci_10827088?nclick_check=1

We have a troop of about 25 scouts now. Annual dues are $75 per scout and most scouts earn this by doing fundraising. Otherwise it is paid by the family. Our chartering organization gives the troop about $600 per year. Campouts are pay-as-you-go. Registered adults pay their own $10 registration fee each year. Boys Life is a benefit of being a member of our troop. All the scout families get a subscription. Dues amount is the same for each scout. Troop offers several fundraising opportunities each year and about 98% of the profit from these goes to the individual scout accounts. We have all the equipment we need and replace it as necessary. We have been given some monetary gifts occasionally that go into the equipment fund. When a scout leaves scouting, any credit in the scout accounts goes to the equipment fund. This happens once or twice a year. This works well for us.(This message has been edited by aquila calva)

The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections. Lord Acton (1834-1902) [remember the year 2000!]

He is the same historian who wrote famously

Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

That pretty well sums up eight years of Bush/Cheney and now we are living with the consequences of their abuse of power.

"from sea to shining sea" plus Hawaii and Alaska.

____________________________

O beautiful, for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America! God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.

O beautiful, for pilgrim feet

Whose stern, impassioned stress

A thoroughfare for freedom beat

Across the wilderness!

America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw;

Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law!

O beautiful, for heroes proved

In liberating strife,

Who more than self their country loved

And mercy more than life!

America! America! May God thy gold refine,

'Til all success be nobleness, and ev'ry gain divine!

O beautiful, for patriot dream

That sees beyond the years,

Thine alabaster cities gleam

Undimmed by human tears!

America! America! God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea!

Katharine Lee Bates (1895)

Last night, on the feast day of the Guardian Angels, my son passed his Eagle Board of Review. I am a very proud and happy dad. I wish his mother could have lived to see his accomplishment.

I remember the day, in the spring of 1997, I came home from work a little late and this bright-eyed six-year-old met me at the dinner table and excitedly announced we had to go back to school for a scout meeting. What? Ya, the Cub Scout Pack was having a Tiger Roundup. So we rushed back to school, sat at a table with eight other boys and parents who became our den, saw the join-scouting movie, filled out the form and signed on the bottom line. There were 46 boys who signed up for Tigers that night at my sons school. They are close to 18 years old by now. Of those 46 maybe six or seven have earned Eagle, but many joined different troops or dropped out so I lost track. But it is better than average. I resolved on that night that I would do what I could to help those boys enjoy their scouting journey. Some other adults, 40 years ago, had done the same for me. Thanks Dr. C and Mr. T, Mr. C. and plenty of others.

The trail continues.