Miami_Chief

We had a slightly similar issue in my Lodge about 4 years ago. Since around the 70's we had three different borders (Red=Ordeal, Blue=Brotherhood and Silver=Vigil) in 2006 we changed our lodge flap to a new design and a single gray border for all. There were several young Ordeal members who were confronted by uninformed adults because their flap had a gray border but they weren't Vigil. Pocket rockets became popular for a bit, but as they aren't official we stopped selling them once we ran out. The biggest complaint we got was that "I can't tell who's a (insert level here) member!" My

In my Lodge the Key 3 typically selects the recipients of the Founders Award. We are also looking to add an Awards Committee to handle this and a few other Lodge awards that we have, although since the Vigil Honor Selection Committee has some other specific requirements we're keeping it separate.

Johnny- Welcome to the forums! While our lodge hasn't had a lapse in selecting Vigils as far as I can remember, I can see two ways this could happen. Either: A. All active members are either already Vigil or not yet eligible (very active and worthy but still in 1st year of Brotherhood) or B. Members meet the time requirements but the selection committee doesn't believe they measure up to the high standard of the Vigil Honor. In case A there isn't really anything that can be done or is controversial, but I can see how case B could ruffle some feathers. This problem co

In my Lodge we first hold a Brotherhood class. Usually in the afternoon before the ceremony the candidates gather to review the basics of membership and the requirements of attaining Brotherhood membership. To help in the review we use a worksheet (most likely similar to the "Brotherhood Questionaire.") We also remind them what all needs to be in their letter if they have not yet written it. Around 8 that night we gather the candidates, collect any remaining letters and fees, and head out on the Nimat hike. At our first stop we discuss and reflect upon those who have influenced and

Scrapping the Troop's OA participation would simply deny those two boys (and no doubt many more in the future) the opportunity to be involved with a group that they look up to and value (judging by their disappointment). The Order is Scouting's honor society, but if every scout who met the camping and rank requirements was inducted then it would be reduced to little more than an extra patch/sash for those who were 1st class and earned their camping merit badge. Not to say these scouts in question aren't deserving- there are countless scouts outside the Order who are much more deserving than

Around 7 (ish) years ago I was elected as SPL in my Troop. I had attended RT before, tagging along with my Dad who was a Cubmaster at the time. My Troop's adult leaders rarely attended RT back then, and I began to go simply to relay the info to my Troop. A few other youth would regularly attend and in 2002 the District decided to have a completely youth-planned Camporee. It went very well and further increased my interest in going. That same year I was introduced to the Order of the Arrow by a presentation done by our Dist. Commissioner/Chapter Advisor. At that point our Chapter had

Better jump on the NOAC wagon while you can- the Order won't be seeing another one until 1212, and then another 3 years before the Centennial of the Order. I wish they were going back to a 2-year rotation after Jambo 2010 but it looks as though the 3-year cycle will stay for a little longer.

As an active OA member as well as a Venturer, I'm looking forward to the day when Crews are allowed to hold an OA election. It may not be in the near future, but I believe it's coming. I know several qualified Venturers (both male and female) who are very deserving of this honor. However, in order for them to become an OA member, the male Venturers must be elected by their Troop or Team (if they are even in one) and the females must wait until they are at least 21 and are registered as an adult leader in a Troop or Team. I understand that the OA is more of a Boy Scout honor society, and is

hikeoholic- I agree. I guess sometimes we are quick to judge based on past actions rather than looking to help remedy the situation.

As a new Eagle myself (2-28-06), I can understand reasons why a Scout would be denied by the BoR, but to revoke the rank after he has passed his BoR is wrong. I think we all know a few eagles who shouldn't be eagles, as well as a few who should be eagles who aren't, but to undo what the Board has done will send a message saying "Opps, guess we messed up there." It will leave people wondering how many of these "mistakes" are made.

Our lodge is charging $370 per contingent member, with the extra money going towards a contingent shirt, patches, and transportation. (of course, we're only a couple hours away, so transportation isn't very costly.)

Kiskakon Lodge #75 (Anthony Wayne Area Council #157) Ordeal summer 2003 Brotherhood summer 2004 Chapter Chief (Miami) 2004-2005 Elected new Lodge Vice Chief of Program for 2005-2006 Ceremonies Teams Patch Designs

My District recently held another awesome spring camporee. The competition was divided into two areas: 1. For the morning activities, each patrol was challenged to come up with an inventive piece of camp furnature using only wood and lashings. (a chair, table, recliner, etc) The usefulness had to be then demonstrated by the Scoutmaster. (i.e. testing the not-so-steady-looking chair) 2. For the afternoon, the patrols were each given a roll of duct tape. They then had to make a useful gadget using only the duct tape, cardboard, and paper. The patrol also had to put together a presen

Thanks for the info! I shall double check our lodge's procedures regarding Vigil. We may unknowingly be in error.

Our lodge is considering doing something similar by creating flaps with the name of the office (lodge chief, chapter chief, ect.) located somewhere on the flap. Although I whould like to see an official patch for the position issued by national, this should work until then.

Once you are givin the oppurtunity to complete the Vigil Honor, the oppurtunity does not go away. Unlike the 1-year timeframe in which an elected scout or scouter must complete his Ordeal, the Vigil may be completed at any time with no loss of the right to do so. We recently had 11 members complete the Vigil, with about half of those being ones who were chosen the year before, but had been unable to attend that year's ceremony.

Sounds like a good plan of action. This week we are holding troop elections for SPL, and it looks like a good time to get our boy-led method energized with the newly elected youth leadership. I shall keep you posted on the outcome. By the way, we held our camporee this weekend and all the attending troops had a blast!

I have run into the same kind of problem. I am currently our Chapter Chief and very active in logde activities. There are several others in my troop who could really benefit from the leadership oppurnunities the OA offers, but our troop is not very supportive. We do hold elections every year and a number of deserving scouts are chosen to join, but very rarely complete their ordeal. I realize it is the scout's personal decision whether or not he wants to complete the ordeal, but the troop sometimes views it as an 'exclusive club.' Some believe it is only for 'super-scouts', and others thin

I recently obtained an old green explorer uniform. Am I able to wear this as a Class A in my Venture Crew? The only diferences are that it says "Explorer" instead of "Venturing, BSA", it does not have shoulder epaulets, and features the old Exploring logo in the left pocket. Is there a certain policy on this?

While I have brought the issue up with the adults ("We should try going to the camporees more often, they're a ton of fun." or "Let's go to spring camporee this year."), although I haven't directly confronted it ("Why don't we ever include the camporees in our planning?").

We have been attempting the patrol method for some time now. My troop POH is Troop Guide. There was a time when we had a PLC that met monthly to discuss the operations of the troop. The adult leaders leave it to teh SPL to set up the PLC. Our past few SPL's, however, have set up very few of these meetings. When they do occur, it is a struggle to get the patrol leaders to attend. The adult leaders do not push for these meetings to happen, but do allow the boys to make some decisions. One of the issues is that even if decisions are made by the youth, there is often not enough enforcement

We have been attempting the patrol method for some time now. My troop POH is Troop Guide. There was a time when we had a PLC that met monthly to discuss the operations of the troop. The adult leaders leave it to teh SPL to set up the PLC. Our past few SPL's, however, have set up very few of these meetings. When they do occur, it is a struggle to get the patrol leaders to attend. The adult leaders do not push for these meetings to happen, but do allow the boys to make some decisions. One of the issues is that even if decisions are made by the youth, there is often not enough enforcement

I think that about hits the nail on the head. What more can I do to get our adults to be a little more open-minded with these events? We did attend a fall camporee 3 years ago and all the scouts and adults who went had an awesome time.

From my experience as a Chapter Chief of a previously very inactive chapter, I am always searching for ways of getting more arrowmen involved in the program. The OA Troop Rep. is an awesome method of getting scouts to take a more active role. It helps the chapter and if done right can count for the POH requirements for their rank advancement. Our lodge is also offering a service award for troop reps that complete certain tasks. We are in the process of setting up a system in which the OA rep. would coordinate the unit election with his own troop. Although both the arrowmen and the scoutma

Most of the time they aren't doing anything on the camporee weekends. We do participate in the district klondike derby in the winter but the troop dosen't take the spring and fall camporees into consideration when planning the year. (this is done mainly by adult leaders with some input from scouts) At the camporees there is almost always some sort of competition between the troops. This spring's theme involves pioneering and building useful camp gadgets with knots and lashings. Lashings and pioneering are usually activities the troop does around this time anyway (to prepare for summercamp) alt