ManyIrons

Dsteele, Like nldscout, and no doubt many other active/retired military members here, Ive done my share of moving. Ive had 9 assignments in 20 years. During my first 4 years I averaged less than 18 months at any one assignment. After my first ten years I had an average time on station of about 2 years. Of the nine assignments only 3 were the typical 3-year length. None of this is remarkable by military standards. Moving is part of the equation and considered necessary to develop the proper breadth of experience and to take on increasingly challenging jobs. I suspect the same is

I have a hardcover Budworth book titled "The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Knots & Ropework". I really like it. It has similar features/format to the one you mentioned. Not sure of the price (it was a Father's Day gift). I also have "The Handbook of Knots" by Des Pawson (softcover, under $20). I like it too, but the Budworth book is more thorough. I'm really interested in seeing the Ashley book. I can't find a copy in any of the local bookstores so I'm currently searching the libraries. I'd be willing to lay out the money if I like the book, but not unless I really like it. Than

dsteele you're right about the anxiety level of the Scouts who show up to do a presentation. Some of the boys look down right petrified. Fortunately, the chairman is a very affable fellow (the other members of the committee are too) and works on putting the Scout at ease before they begin their presentation. Of course the other boys waiting their turn see this and it has a calming effect. By the time the 5th or 6th Scout comes up, they seem fairly relaxed. But it's definitely because the committee works at creating a friendly, mentoring atmosphere. To piggyback on your suggestion to

OGE, I highly recommend it. Our council has both. In addition to accepting written proposals, they also have an open time for Eagle project presentations on the same night/location as Roundtable. I don't know what percentage of the boys choose the oral presentation, but we seem to average 4-6 per month. The advantages are exactly what you stated. I've been fortunate to sit in on a few of the presentations and for some of the proposed projects, the feedback process would possibly have added 1 to 2 months onto the Scout's timeline. With the oral presentation, everything was resolved o

Wow living and learning! Pamaha: A belated welcome from a fellow newbie. Glad to hear your CO has a solution to the problem. I hope its all resolved soon and positively. Bob White: With regard to the training comments we agree. I noted the lack of a training requirement as potential problem with my initial sign em up reaction. I was very surprised to find out that the training isnt required and was attempting to point out that that type of solution probably wouldnt be much help in pamahas case. Apologies if I didnt articulate it adequately. How can committee members su

Interesting dilemma. Not sure what grounds could be used to deny a parent to join the committee. Without question, the troop is "owned" by the chartering organization, but the Troop Committee Guidebook states "there is no maximum limit to the number of troop committee members". I agree with Scoutldr, in fact my first reaction was "Good. Sign 'em up and get 'em trained". Depending on what your troop's program is, you just might have a whole flock of converts. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut I can't find anything in the guide that says committee members must be trained. It states that t

Gang, here's a pretty good resource for knotting images: http://www.adtdl.army.mil/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/5-125/fm5-125.htm It's an US Army field manual titled "FM 5-125, Rigging Techniques, Procedures and Applications". You only need chapter 2. Cheers

Let's see, today's is Nov 15th, so carry the "1" and drop the "0" . . . I'm 45. Actually I usually just say that I'm old enough to vote, but too young for social security, so my current age doesn't really matter. When my boys were still very young I taught them to always answer "29" if anyone ever asked the question "How old is your mother?". My wife has never felt the need to hide her age, but I take every opportunity I get to bank brownie points

KA6BSA: Good points to remember. I've always felt I was pretty good at spatial conceptualization. My Dad never worked in any of the fields you mentioned, but he did attend a vocational high school back in the 1940s and apparently had to deal with (and draw) many "exploded" diagrams. He never characterized it as something he enjoyed, but perhaps subconciously he was attracted to the challenge. He's also always been fascinated by gadgets and figuring out puzzles of all kinds. Blade: You're already where I'm headed. I haven't decided on the exact knots for each level yet. I'm reviewi

Thanks to all who have provided suggestions. I really like them and will work them into my version of the program. For those of you who wanted more information about the program as it was given to me (Red Feather, Blade 1158, and JoePro), Im listing the details below. However, as I said in my previous post, there are problems with the program: 1. There was no effort to associate specific knots to specific levels (e.g. the Hitch Knotter level only contains 2 hitches while the Knowledgeable Knotter level has 5 hitches). Remember, the original author put this together as a way to in

Eamonn: Sorry if I gave the impression that it was 50 knots in a day -- definitely not the plan! I'd be the one folks were calling "tetched" if I even contemplated such an undertaking. Technically the program wouldn't allow 50 knots in a day. The copy I have stipulates a minimum of 30 days between each level, other than that the participant can take as much time as they want. Red Feather: I can send you a copy of the program, but to be honest there are problems with it. First and foremost, there is no "grand design" to the program. The knots were selected somewhat at random and the n

Greetings all, permission to join your virtual campfire. I'm looking for advice, lessons learned, best practices, etc., for teaching knots to adult leaders as part of a council-wide program. I've volunteered to promote the "Master Knotter" program at our annual University of Scouting this upcoming January and I really want to set this up for success. For those of you unfamiliar with the program, it was created several years ago by a Scouter in the Gamehaven Council (Minnesota) as a fun way to generate interest in knotting among the adult leaders. Without going into too much detai