MissingArrow

I haven't really heard of Council's using the Jamboree as a fundraiser. I suppose the exception to that would be keeping the purchased equipment for the Council Camps. The National Fee per leader or Scout is $795. Additional Expenses: Transportation, Equipment, shake down outings, touring (transportation, lodging, admission fees, chaperons for hotel, tour guide), gateway construction, baggage, day packs, patches, t-shirts, etc. My old Council used to buy new equipment (tents, stoves, etc.) and the Jambo Committee would try to sell it to Troops and Individuals prior to the contingent leaving to recoup some of the costs. Then whatever was unsold would be given to the Council Camps. I would hope that Councils would take into consideration the economic situation and work on adding fundraisers and limiting the additional expenses. While the touring is a great opportunity for some kids who may never go to the Nation's Capital, it can be limited to save money. I'd also say cut out the things like a day at an amusement park or whitewater rafting. I think some Councils turn it into a grand trip and forget the real reason Scouts sign up to go to the Jamboree. If you feel the fee is out of line, I'd encourage you to talk to your Jamboree Committee and ask for a breakdown- they should have a budget. Ask them about what they are doing to limit expenses and help Scouts raise funds. I've heard of Councils getting the gateways donated by local companies for some press exposure, fundraising shoulder patches, additional incentives for popcorn sale, Council Camperships, and Unit Camperships.

I would prefer the Eagle Scout ring by http://www.eaglehonor.com/ Its a bit pricier but it isn't as obnoxious. As for Wood Badge Rings, I probably wouldn't stop laughing if I saw someone wearing one. I know there are a lot of WB fanatics however that is overboard, stick with your stuffed animals... Dan "Used to be a Buffalo"

Order of the Arrow National Officer election results are coming out of the National Planning Meeting down in Dallas, Texas. Jack O'Neill was elected the 2009 National Order of the Arrow Chief. Dan Higham was elected the 2009 National Order of the Arrow Vice-Chief. Has anyone worked with them before? What can we expect out of them? They have a fairly busy term ahead of them; they will be running the 2009 National Order of the Arrow Conference and planning the Order of the Arrow's involvement in the 2010 National Scout Jamboree. All of the National/Regional OA election results are available at: http://www.scoutingnews.org/2008/12/28/2009-national-order-of-the-arrow-officers-elected/ -or- the National OA Website should be updated with the rest of the results shortly.

According to the Southern Region Website, Mark Norris has just been elected as the 2009 Southern Region Chief at the National Planning Meeting in Dallas, Texas. Mark is an Eagle Scout, Vigil Honor Member, and Founder's Award Recipient from Woa Cholena Lodge of the Mobile Area Council. He is the past Section SR-1B Chief. He has served as past Section SR-4N Chief, Lodge Chief, Two Term Lodge Chief, Conclave Service Lodge Chairman, and S-4N Vice-Chief. Have you worked with Mark? What are his hobbies, focuses? What can we expect from him? All of the 2009 Order of the Arrow National / Regional election results are available at: http://www.scoutingnews.org/2008/12/28/2009-national-order-of-the-arrow-officers-elected/ -or- they should be added to the National OA website shortly...

According to the Western Region Website, David Harrell has just been elected as the 2009 Western Region Chief at the National Planning Meeting in Dallas, Texas. The Western Region website didn't have any information about him, however I was able to track down that David is a a member of Kola Lodge, Longs Peak Council. Is he an Eagle Scout, assuming a Vigil Honor member? What are his hobbies? anyone know? All of the 2009 Order of the Arrow National / Regional election results are available at: http://www.scoutingnews.org/2008/12/28/2009-national-order-of-the-arrow-officers-elected/ -or- they should be added to the National OA website shortly...

According to the Northeast Region Website, Ryan Hay has just been elected as the 2009 Northeast Region Chief at the National Planning Meeting in Dallas, Texas. Ryan is an Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor member of Witauchsoman Lodge #44, Minsi Trails Council. Ryan currently serves as the Section Chief of NE-5B and is the lead editor of the Regions newsletter, The Visionary. Anyone know anything more about Ryan? Have you worked with him before? All of the 2009 Order of the Arrow National / Regional election results are available at: http://www.scoutingnews.org/2008/12/28/2009-national-order-of-the-arrow-officers-elected/ -or- they should be added to the National OA website shortly...

According to the Central Region Website, Michael Beckman has just been elected as the 2009 Central Region Chief at the National Planning Meeting in Dallas, Texas. Michael is an Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor member from Cincinnati, OH. Michael is a member of the Kuh-Ni-Eh Lodge, Dan Beard Council and has recently served as Section C-4B Chief. Anyone know anything more about Michael? All of the 2009 Order of the Arrow election results are available at: http://www.scoutingnews.org/2008/12/28/2009-national-order-of-the-arrow-officers-elected/ -or- they should be added to the National OA website shortly...

As someone who has sat in the emergency room waiting with a Scout who needed a couple of stitches while the staff tracked down his parents to get his ssn and to verify his insurance information, I welcome the addition. (then again my ssn is everywhere thanks to uncle sam) Would they have treated him eventually - I'm sure they would have. Were they denying him emergency treatment, nope he was stable and the bleeding had stopped. He just needed to be checked and tied up. Would it have been nice to have the ssn and a copy of the insurance card so they would not have had to track down mom to get the info- yes. And before I get flamed- the insurance info was on the med form but they wanted a copy of the card. We couldn't get a hold of his parents (took the opportunity to go on vacation) but we had talked with his grandmother (the emergency contact) who did know the information.

Anyone who feels they may be compelled to do the right thing no matter what the consequences should look into an umbrella policy. Its a lot easier to act and get sued or judged then to live with the decision you made not to act...

The Boy Scouts of America has released a new Annual Health and Medical Record, a new one stop medical record for your use. This new form will replace the former Class 1, 2, and 3 forms, which will be phased out during 2009. The new form, No. 34605, will be required effective January 1, 2010, and for the 2010 National Scout Jamboree. You can read an overview on the new form at: http://www.scoutingnews.org/2008/12/19/annual-health-and-medical-record/ or you can find the new form on the bottom of the Scouting Safely section of the National Council website: http://www.scouting.org/HealthandSafety.aspx What do you think?

Well voting closed. I believe the Scouts were in the lead 28% to 27% when voting ended. I feel had. Instead of us voting for the winner, we were really voting for the top three. The winner will be selected by the editors of beliefnet. "Your top three picks are our most Inspiring finalists. As we do every year, the editors of Beliefnet will now make the final choice. Come back December 10 to see who won!" The Boy Scouts did make the top three along with, Randy Pausch and Steven Curtis Chapman. We will see...

The percentage is actually above the name, so the Scouts are actually tied right now for first place with 27%. (Darra Torres has the 1%) They have a real chance of winning!

I tried to fix the links, but nothing I could do would make them appear right. Just click on the second part of the link and it will open in a new window.

The Boy Scouts involved in the Little Sioux Scout Ranch tornado have been nominated for beliefnets "Most Inspiring Person of the Year" award. "After a tornado ripped through their camp near Blencoe, Iowa, last June, dozens of Boy Scouts, ages 13 to 18, performed bravely and selflessly. As their fellow scouts lay bleeding and emergency workers struggled to reach their remote camp, these teenagers dug survivors from the rubble, performed first aid, and comforted the injured. The Boy Scouts who survived the tornado and those who did not are nominated as Beliefnets Most Inspiring People of the Year for refusing to give in to self-pity, fear, or panic in the chaos of a great disaster." There are 10 nominees for this award, and the Scouts have a real chance to win. As I write this post, the Boy Scouts are in second place with 26% of the votes, the winner only has 27%. To vote for the Boy Scouts as the most inspiring, visit: http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/Most-Inspiring-2008/vote.aspx'>http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/Most-Inspiring-2008/vote.aspx Voting ends today December 4th! You must vote today! The winner of this award receives a donation to the charity of their choice. You can read a letter from the Chief Scout Executive about the Award Nomination: http://scouting.org/media/LittleSioux.aspx Please vote today! http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/Most-Inspiring-2008/vote.aspx

For those of you who couldn't catch the show on cable, Boy's Life is now selling season One of 'Scouting For Adventure' on DVD. Each DVD is $14.95, with discounts if you purchase 10 or more copies. http://www.scoutingnews.org/2008/12/01/season-one-of-scouting-for-adventure-on-dvd-now/

The best ideas for an Eagle Project come from the Candidate themselves! Don't provide ideas and don't hand out cookie cutter projects! Rather, sit down with your Life Scouts and see what else they are involved in? What are they passionate about? What is something they can do that they will be proud of for the rest of their lives? What is unique to their community? What is needed in their community? Help them brainstorm ideas and possibilities. Allow the Candidate to come up with a few ideas. Allow the Candidate to figure out who to contact to get approval for their project. Allow the Candidate to find people with the skills they need to complete their project. Allow the Candidate to face hurdles and overcome them. Allow the Candidate to show their leadership skills. I'm very passionate about this after having many chats with various Eagle Scouts. You can tell the ones that are proud of their projects and did all the work versus those that were told that the Park Commission had a couple of Eagle Projects they needed done. Challenge your Scouts to demonstrate the skills that Scouting has taught them!

Wouldn't be the first time. The Yellow Pages were hacked back in Feb of 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080212093007/http://www.scouter.com/compass/yellowPages.asp?id=209 They really need to update the code for the Compass...

I just wrote a brief article (http://www.scoutingnews.org/2008/11/09/bsa-innovation-engine/) about the BSA innovation Engine, one of the ideas on the site (suggested by a professional) was changes to the Eagle Scout Insignia Usage (http://ideas.scouting.org/akira/dtd/5511-2119). Basically they suggested that Eagle Scouts of all ages wear the Eagle Scout emblem. So far there have been 8 votes for and 60 votes against. My "survey" response: 1. No 2. Eagle '97

The majority of the adult Eagle Scouts that kept wearing the youth badge that I know didn't switch to the knot because they were too lazy to do all the sewing to switch a uniform around. I don't see the big deal. The Square Knot represents the accomplishment. The badge represents the accomplishment. Policy says wear the knot, that should be good enough. There is no real good reason to say you can wear the Eagle badge until you are 21. Either way, the cloth you wear shouldn't tell the world you are an Eagle Scout, your actions should.

Why at 21?

Using the Firefox pop up blocker I am not seeing the sprint ads...

Sorry, meant to post a link to the website... http://community.scouting.org

The BSA has its planned Social Network Site called "Scouting Community", up and running in BETA. You can see a screenshot and read more about the site at: http://www.scoutingnews.org/2008/10/29/bsa-social-network-site-a-reality/ The site still has some kinks but is currently functional.

I agree the staff is a huge part. You can have a great facility, top notch supplies, but if the staff doesn't care its worthless. I worked on a camp staff for four years, and we always tried our hardest to get the staff to click and challenge each other to step it up a notch. I'd say program outside of the merit badges. - What is available for the older scouts who don't really want to earn the normal "camp" merit badges? Are their outposts, or activities geared towards them. - Younger boy program. Every camp is required to have a "first class skills" type program however the amount of resources and organization put into it varies. - Evening programs? Sparklers? Things like races, patrol competitions, available trainings, etc. I do commend you for letting the boys pick. There seem to be quite a few Troops around here that go to different camps where the adults tell the boys where they are going.

Gold Winger Wrote: "The funny thing is that it's apparently okay for the rest of the world to mock us but not okay for us to mock them. Everyone else gets to give their opinion of how we run our country but tell us, "Damn Yankees, stay out of our business." " I personally didn't think the Scout Oath and Law left much room for mockery?