Lynda J

Keep a close eye at the resale shops. I got Kevin BS pants that were like new last week for $3.99 and a shirt for $1.99.

THere were some GS uniforms there also.

For Christmas I made our boys Patch Holders. It is a long strip of fabric the color of the shirt. I sewed buttons on the stip that they can hang the temp patches on. This way they aren't simply laying in the bottom of a drawer getting lost. I fixed them so they could hang the holder

in their closet or it can be hung on the wall. This way they can see what patches they have and if they want to wear a special one they can.

I went back and looked in my SM Handbook and in my New Leader Essentials and no where do either of them have any rank or age requirement. I didn't think they did since I just taught a NLE training Saturday and am SPL for the course.

Like I stated before one of the best SPL our troop has had since I have been there was 2nd class and 11. One of the worse was Life and 15. The boys actually voted to remove him after 3 months. But that was their decission not the adults.

One thing we have to do is not overwhelm them. And we don't say. Can up help. What we do is give them a certain task. Like, We need drivers to go to the Zoo on next Saturday. Would you like to join us and drive. One task one at a time.

My mother was a pro at this. If a parent ever told her that they "didn't have time" my little 4'9" 92lb mother would gently put her hand on their arm and with her most sympathic voice say

" I am so very sorry your don't have a couple of hours to spend with your child". 99% of the time she got all the help she needed. She worked her magic for over 50 years in scouting.

Our troop wears long sleeved red turtle necks under our short sleeved uniforms. They match our scarves.

We do want to be warm but we also want to look nice.

Kevin's was a Tap-Out and I am so glad. I have been at both and the Tap-out is much more impressive. The OA was dressed in full costume and several of the members were danced through the crowd. It had been worked out before that an adult would be sitting directly behind the person to be tapped with a certain cap on. As the leader called the name the OA member reached down and took the shoulder of the canidate and stated

"You Scout Come with me" At that point the OA member would guide the scout to the campfire. Much more impressive than simply reading the names and having them come up on their own.

It is much easier to do a Tap-out at a District event than at a council simply because there is a better chance that the boys will know each other.(This message has been edited by Lynda J)

On the night of the BOR the scouts name is announced to the troop for the rank he has just completed. At the next troop meeting he is presented the rank patch. At the COH he is presented the card for that rank. This way he is recongised 3 times. The only thing we do not present other than at COHs is badges.

There is a troop in our district that is like this troop. Big bucks in the bank. Well guess what. THis year between Christmas and New Years the entire troop is going on a ski trip. The cost to each boy and adult $0 personal spending money. They target an activity and raise the funds. Next summer they are going to Scotland. Cost per boy and adult $0. except for personal spending money. I don't think their boys have ever had to pay camp. I know the pack pickes up the cost of Day Camp for their Cubs.

The only requirement is that boys must take part in all fund raising activities. They receive a % of what the troop raises into their personal troop accounts. If they don't take part they don't get that % and must make up the difference.(This message has been edited by Lynda J)

Here we go again with adults making policies on scouting advancement they have no right to make.

There is no requirement that a scout be of a certain rank in order to be elected SPL. One of the best SPLs we have had in our troop was 2nd Class. He did a wonderful job. The boys in the troop are to elect the scout they think will do the best job. That is what the boys did. As adults we have to remember no where on the uniform or any scouting material does it state

"ADULT SCOUTS OF AMERICA". It says "BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA'.

As far as the error. An adult make that error by signing off. The scout should not be punished for that. He was elected SPL by his troop and that is the position he holds.

I hear many people say "I couldn't get help I had to do it all on my own." In my years of scouting I have discovered that when people get the impression that it is a "One Man Show". Why didn't your CO support you? If is their final decission as to who is the leadership of a unit.

I have been on the district committee 6 years and have only been involved in the removal of one leader. And she totally refused to abide by Safe Scouting Policies. The CO came to us about removing her. We had to go through lost of checks and balances before we removed her from the unit. We also worked with the CO to find new leadership. When I was working with Girl Scouts I was involved in the removal of one leader. She showed up at a troop meeting so drunk she couldn't standup. Then punched one parent when she was ask to leave.

I agree with Backpacker. There is another side to this.

There are 20 boys in my troop. All but two parents are registered and help. Those two have major criminal backgrounds and I don't want either on them anywhere near the boys. You can't do it all but if you present a front that that is how you want it parents won't come forward to help.

Kevin is Star almost Life and is a Den Chief. The DL is having him help the boys with their Readyman. He is teaching the first aid portion right now. I would highly recommend that they take Den Chief Training. Kevin is taking his in about 3 weeks.

By the way. He loves being a Den Chief.

At least she let you know. We have a boy that crossed over in March 04, His dad is an Eagle out of our troop several years ago. He has been to three meetings and one activity. We haven't heard anything from him since July. We have left several messages but none have been returned. When we turn in our recharter we are not going to register him. He has told several of the boys that he is so active with the Drama Club he doesn't have time for scouts.

What we do have to accept is that if a kid it having a hard time is school and struggling Scouting will be the first thing that falls by the way side.

One of the questions I always ask when I sit on an Eagle BOR is. "Now that you have earned the highest rank that is offered in scouting, how do you plan on giving back to your troop?" One of the best ways to get me upset is for a boy to respond " I am finished with scouting".

There is no reason that a boy shouldn't help his other troopmates advance in rank once he has earned Eagle.

I have a question. If had close to 50 boys, but you had no parent support there was something else wrong. It isn't the Councils fault that your get parent support. That is the Committee and the leadership of the Unit.

I have worked in scouting as an adult for close to 40 years. I have never expected the Council to get my parents involved. That is my responsibility.

I have been in councils where there was all but NO support, but it never kept ME from presenting a good program for my Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts. Back in the days of Lone Troops a council didn't exist. It was totally up to the leaders.

If my current council never gave me another helping hand it would not cause me to not have a program for my boys.

So I have a hard time seeing how a "active unit of almost 50 boys" folded because of lack of council support.

Did you get the Unit Number? If so I would contact your council and advise them of what you witnessed. My guess is this was a group whose leadership has taken very little training and certainly not YPT or Baloo. I know of a Cub Pack in our district that has never taken anything but New Leader Basic. They also camp all the time anywhere and no leader has any outdoor training.

And they NEVER file a Tour Permit. I informed our DE and he and the SE contacted the Cub Master and informed him that he was in direct violation of BSA Policies. They also contacted the CO.

THe CO informed the Pack that unless all leaders were properly trained and BSA camping policies were followed that they would remove the current leadership and find others to take the unit.

Units are "owned" by the CO. This is the reason that the CO's name is on bank accounts. If the CO decided that they want to drop the troop, all monies belong to the CO as does any equipment purchased with money earned or donated to the unit. Things actually got worked out and another SM took the troop. But is can happen.

This happened recently with a unit in our district. There were issues between the SM and the CO. At one point the CO notified the Council that they were pulling the charter. A freeze was placed on the bank account. The trailer and equipment that the unit had purchased with money from fundraisers was retained by the CO.

Though I do not forsee any problems with our CO (they have chartered the Pack and Troop for close to 50 years) some of the equipment our troop has actually belongs to adults. I "own" 6 lanterns and 2 camp stoves that the troop is allowed to use. This way it is protected in case something does change.

WHY TAPS ARE PLAYED

If any of you have ever been to a military funeral in which taps were played; this brings out a new meaning of it. Here is something EVERY AMERICAN should know. Until I read this, I didn't know, but I checked it out and it's true. We in the United States hall heard this haunting song.

"TAPS". It is the song that gives us that lump in our throats and usually tears in our eyes. But, do you know the story behind the song? If not, I think you will be interested to find out about its humble beginnings.

Reportedly, it all began in 1862 during the Civil War, when Union Army Captain Robert Ellicomb was with his men near Harrison's Landing in Virginia. The Confederate Army was on the other side of the narrow strip of land during the night. Captain Ellicombe heard the moans of a soldier who lay severely wounded on the field. Not knowing if it was a Union or Confederate soldier, the captain decided to risk his life and bring the stricken man back for medical attention. Crawling on his stomach through the gunfire, the captain reached the stricken soldier and began pulling him toward his encampment. When the captain finally reached his own lines he discovered it was actually a confederate soldier, but the soldier was dead.

The captain lit a lantern and suddenly caught his breath and went numb in shock. In the dim light, he saw the face of the soldier was his own son. The boy had been studying music in the South when the war broke out. Without telling his father the boy enlisted in the Confederate Army.

The following morning, heartbroken, the father asked permission of his superiors to give his son a full military burial, despite his enemy status. His request was only partially granted. The captain had asked if he could have a group of Army band members play a funeral dirge for his son at the funeral. The request was turned down since the soldier was a Confederate. But, out of respect for the father, they did say they could give him only one musician. The captain chose a bugler. He asked the bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of his dead son's uniform. This wish was granted. The haunting melody, we now know as "Taps" used at military funerals was born.

The words are...

Day is done...Gone the sun...From the lakes...From the hills...From the skies...All is well...Safely rest...God is nigh.

Fading light...Dims the sight...And a star...Gems the sky...Gleaming bright...From afar...Drawing nigh...Falls the night.

Thanks and praise...For our days...Neath the Sun...Neath the stars...Neath the Sky...As we go...This we know...God is nigh.

I, have felt the chill while listening to "Taps" but had forgotten all the words to the song until now. I never heard the story behind the song and I don't know if any of you had either so I thought I'd pass it along. I now have an even deeper respect for this song than I did before.

Please remember those lost and harmed while serving our country. And also those presently serving in the Armed Forces.

I think in many cases it is how well the DL and parents motivate the boys. When Kevin was a Web, I was the DL. We had 7 boys. All but one earned the Super Achiever Award. All but one of those are still in scouting. There is no reason that earning all the Pens can't be fun. We had a ball. And the boys were the ones that did most of the planning. We were really trying to get them geared up to be Boy Scouts.

We had to remove a boy from our troop a year ago.

Cussing, hitting, making threats. It got so bad that parents were telling us that if "D" went on an activity their son would not be there.

We put in writting what the problems were and informed him and his mother that he would be on a probation period and if any of the problems happend again he could not return to the troop. It wasn't a week before he told another leader to "Get F***ED" He was told to leave immediately.

Had a old time scouter ask me when this was going on. "How much better program could you offer the other boys if you were not dealing with the issues caused by this one boy?" I had to admit a lot better program.

It was strange after he left 99% of the tension in the troop was gone.

You have to look at the big picture and what is best for the entire group. Not just one boy.

He should earn a requirement for a rank when he is that rank. He can't do a requirement for Webelos when he is a Wolf. So he needs to earn a Bear Requirement as a Bear.

This parent will be in for a rude awakening when her son gets to Boy Scouts. Parents can't sign on on requirements.(This message has been edited by Lynda J)

I have taken and taught both as well as Introduction to Outdoor Skills. BALOO is much more paper work based. Where OWL is more skills based.

Both are good but I truly prefer OWL.

Another great training is the Outdoor Skills gives as part of Boy Scout LEader Training. We call it 4 Winds others have other names for it.

It is one week night with New LEader Basics. A full day on a Saturday for Leader Specific then a weekend for Introduction to Outdoor Skills.

One problem in our District is that they have the OA meeting at the same time that Round Table is going on. Most of the adults in OA need to be at RT. It has been brought up about changing the OA meeting but the response is that they can't get people there other nights. Well if the adults you want to attend are at another meeting they can't come that night anyway.

My first question is where in the heck are the teachers that should be supervising the lunchroom at school. I would have a BIG issue with that. Then I would be talking to both the other SM as well as the boys doing the bullying parents. Up front and in their faces.

I don't know about taking corners being a Council rule. There are people in our district that have come from councils all over the country and a couple from other countries. They all have a policy if a scout shown unsafe use of a cutting tool they take a corner. I was debating taking a corner from a young scouts card a couple of years ago when I was day camp director and he was a BS working. He had left several knives laying where the tot lot kids could have gotten them.

They very wise scouter told me that he had knows scouts that had gone from Tenderfoot to Eagle with one corner off their card. That having to stand there and watch that corner be torn off makes a big impression on them. I took the corner. The kid almost cried. But he later told me he hadn't realized how dangerous it was to leave the knives laying around.

The thing that gets me on this is that in the vending machines was Mountain Dew and Big Red.

Both of which have three times the amount of caffine that one cup of coffee.