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Even though all of the Tenderfoot/Second Class/First Class requirements can be worked on simultaneously, I think it is pretty clear that the intent is for the Scout to complete the "next" rank (as of 1/1/2010) under the current requirements, and then all of the remaining ranks would require completion under the new requirements.

On page 443 of the new Handbook (under the Eagle Palm Rank Requirements) it says: "The rank requirements in this book are official as of January 1, 2010. If a Scout has started work toward a rank before that date using requirements that were current before January 1, 2010, he may complete that rank only using the old requirements. Any progress toward a rank that is begun after January 1, 2010, must use the requirements as they are presented in this Handbook or in the Boy Scout Requirements book."

I've used http://www.smugmug.com for a number of years for my own personal photos. They are NOT FREE. There is a yearly fee, but that means there is no limit to the number of pics, you don't have to worry about whether they'll be there in the future, there are no adds anywhere, you get great security - from hiding the site to passwords, and now, with their premium service, you can even upload videos. If you want I can give you a code that takes some amount of money off the first year's service, but it also gives me a small amount off my year's service. I'm not including it here because I

Which Life or Eagle requirements involve the need to "hold this kid's feet to the fire"? That is the kind of nonsense that drives me crazy. Let me spell out the Life requirements: 1. Be active in your troop and patrol for at least 6 months as a Star Scout. From the Advancement Committee Policies & Procedures: "A Scout will be considered active in his unit if he is (1) Registered in his unit (registration fees are current) (2) Not dismissed from his unit for disciplinary reasons (3) Engaged by his unit leadership on a regular basis (informed of unit a

I suspect that the BOR members are adding requirements for the Life rank - which would be a violation of policy. What requirement did the boy not complete? The Scoutmaster already signed off on the POR, right? I don't believe that the BOR has the right to undo that signoff. If he didn't complete the POR then the SM shouldn't have signed off. Now that he did - that is too late - it should not be the boy who pays the price of that misunderstanding between the SM and the Committee members. I feel sorry for the Scout and would most likely advise him to find a new troop. Yea

Budget and plans for new/replacement equipment Fundraising plants Long-range plans for next year based upon feedback from PLC & others

You may be thinking of the Cub Scout knife made by the U.S. company Camillus, who went belly up in 2007 due to the cost competition from Asian manufacturers. They also made the Boy Scout knife and a really nice line of tough knifes under the name Becker Knife & Tool (BK&T). Luckily, the BK&T line was purchased by Kabar. Sadly the same can't be said for the Scout knives. BTW, a cool piece of trivia ... Ethan Becker - designer of the BK&T knives was a co-author of the classic cookbook "The Joy of Cooking".

I know I'll upset some of you, so I'll apologize up front. My son completed his Eagle Scout rank in early September of this year. His ECOH is in November. I've read this forum for many years, so I'm pretty well versed in the somewhat inflated expectations that many of the folks on this forum have for Eagle Scouts. I'm pretty sure you'd say my son does not deserve his rank. He's not the finest leader in the troop. Heck, he'll probably never be elected as SPL. The older boys are much more cool and popular than he is, and by the time they age-out the younger boys will be consider

My son had to work with it the "old" way - no wrapping. He pasted one line at a time from Word. If it helps, for the more complicated sections - where you might want to add tables or pictures, my son just entered "See Next Page" on the form, and then hand-inserted the pages with the tables/pictures/etc... He put this all into a 3-ring binder with the pages in those plastic sleeve page protectors. Looked very nice. BTW, my son has Asperger's Syndrome. If you knew him you'd know how far he's come. Scouts and Taekwando, both with fantastic adult leaders/mentors, have done amazing t

The best that I can offer is that excessive (to be defined by the listener) swearing gives the impression of ignorance or stupidity. I don't care whether its a football player in the NFL, an admiral in the navy, or a the President of the United States of America. Do YOU want to sound stupid?

Some thoughts to add ... Don't put a space blanket or survival blanket OVER your sleeping bag. They are plastic bags and will trap moisture (some use "vapor barriers", but that is a special thing beyond Scouts). Go to your local Home Depot or similar, buy a sheet of that pink rigid foam insulation, cut it to a length & width that suites you and your tent (keep it big!!), then cut that into three or four pieces with VERY straight lines that will allow you to fold the pad to a transportable size. Then use duct tape to tape those three or four pieces back together ... make sure you

"Yah, this is why I've never cared for da notion of an 11-year-old Patrol Leader for a NSP, eh? Not only are yeh putting a kid who does not have the necessary skills into a role which demands those skills, you're settin' him up for failure on da social side. Eleven year olds aren't ready to "stand out" from da group, and even if they are, their peers aren't ready for it and will undermine it. " Beavah, do you prefer to have a wider mix if ages in patrols (as opposed to the NSP) so the older Scouts can mentor & lead the younger Scouts? We've been trying to run with a "Venture pa

My family took the train (Amtrak) from Milwaukee to Glacier a few years back. It was a delightful experience. We had a family room in a sleeper car. I'm assuming your troop will be using the regular passenger cars. While I suspect your trip will be a lot shorter than our's, I did notice that the bathrooms in the passenger cars got fairly dirty after some time with so many using them over a fairly long time (not like a plane ride). You might want to bring along some basic gear (gloves, disinfecting wipes, plastic shopping bags for trash) to clean things up a bit if needed. Those aren't a b

I am just echoing this thought from an earlier reply to a different topic that was a big Ah-Ha experience for me as an ASM .... Nothing changes behavior quite so much as another youth - especially an older well-respected youth - telling a boy that what they did was uncool and not acceptable. You, an adult, can lecture them 'till you're blue in the face and they don't really care what YOU think. They DO care what the older boys think of them. Instead of guiding the patrol leader on how to deal with it, instead guide the SPL, ASPL, and Troop Guides on how to deal with it. I'll bet

Put me in the group that thinks a SM assigning responsibilities to the ASMs is the RIGHT thing to do, so long as there is good communication there and the roles/responsibilities are well understood. I know if I was a SM trying to do everything I'd burn out in short time, but that's just me. BTW, my son's SM is currently trying to do too much on his own - at least I think he is and I've voiced my concern to him. He needs to improve the communication with ASMs and get their help. It makes the ASMs feel needed too. He is taking the troop in the right direction and doing GREAT work, but I fea

BuffaloSkipper, I couldn't agree with you more, and, as an advancement coordinator, I WISH I knew more about the counselors outside my son's troop ... but for the most part I don't. If a Scout says he wants to earn the Railroading MB, I won't call around and interview the Railroading MB counselors. I just won't do it. I don't have the time to do it. The reality is that unless the troop has some prior experience with a particular counselor (and since that is usually an activity that happens with only the Scout(s) and the counselor (and maybe a sibling or parent attending for you

In my view its all about the Scouts learning and experiencing (not only the MB, but the experience of meeting and getting to know the MB counselor - a person he may not have met before), and it shouldn't turn into any kind of power trip or similar. I hope the SM doesn't use that blue card sign-off as a way to control whether or not the boy can try to earn the MB. I hope the SM would offer the boy (and likely his parents) the names of several potential MB counselors (if available). Just choosing a counselor may be an experience or lesson-learned in itself. I am the advancement coordi

Being a Scout leader will only take one hour per week. (while true during some weeks, on average it is false ... very false) Scouts must use THE "blue card" to get credit for completion of a merit badge. (false - though the process calls for a "Merit Badge Application", troops can use other versions of the application)

Also remember to have eye protection for Scouts who wear glasses. I think objects hanging are just as fun, and don't need resetting as you'd need for cans on a stump. In my activities with Girl Scouting I've not found a document similar to Boy Scout's GTSS. I'm hoping it exists. Make sure you ask if such an activity is allowed, and under what controls. It sounds like the girls will have LOTS of fun!!

PLEASE don't take these rights for granted!! Not to get political on anyone, but did you know that the U.S. Congress was recently considering a law that would outlaw ownership of knives that could be opened one-handed??? Yup. Those who see knife ownership as important have formed a civil rights protection organization (something like the NRA). Please consider joining. http://www.kniferights.org

I'd agree that an untrained parent is hard on the program. They usually simply don't understand how it supposed to work. They find it very hard not to interfere. Some also tend to irritate the adult leaders since the adult leaders' attention should be on the youth, and not on wrangling the parents. If the untrained/unregistered parents NEED to come to campouts - like others have said - your ultimate goal is to segregate them from the youth. The easiest way to do that is to give them some pre-trip training of the rules, put them into the adult patrol, have them do patrol duties, place the

Can you give any advice/experience regarding what a troop can do to keep older Scouts (high school age) interested in the troop meetings? We've put them into a Venture patrol, which they seem to like. We're finding that they are tiring of always teaching younger Scouts the Tenderfoot to First Class skills. I think they want to learn too. Should we focus on teaching them more advanced skills? If so, any suggestions on skills we might teach? Should we offer them some of the more unusual/fun merit badges to broaden their experience? Its my understanding that its considered "bad fo

My son's troop does the same thing with most merit badges earned throughout the year - either I sign the right bits or I have the SM sign them (if he's nearby), and then hand the Scout's portion back to him ... ... but those earned at summer camp come in larger quantities ... and at the camp they don't - in general - use blue cards. So, I create blue cards for the Scouts so they have the record of the merit badges earned based upon camp records given to the troop by the camp staff.

So, as the advancement coordinator for my son's troop I have to ask ... After they earn a handful of MBs at summer camp I need to distribute the respective blue cards (I write out blue cards, sign them, and enter the camp name as counselor). Do I give the blue cards to the Scouts along with the actual MB patches at a regular troop meeting? ... where especially the younger scouts have a higher chance of misplacing or loosing them, or ... Do I wait until the Court of Honor when the Scouts are more likely to hand them to a parent for safe-keeping? I know the Scouts are supp

Ask a kid my father was the Scoutmaster and most of the Scouts called him "Mr. K" (as you might guess our last name starts with a 'K'). I myself called him Dad. It felt weird to call him that while everyone else called him "Mr. K", so I tried calling him Mr. K. That was weird too.