mk9750

As I posted elsewhere, we do a visit to the VA Hospital with gift bags of socks, t-shirts, toiletries and such. The only week of the year we do not have a meeting scheduled is between Christmas and New Year. However, we have traditionally done an "advancement marathon" on New Years Eve. We have the older guys available to meet with the young guys for rank advancement, then we make MB Councelors for the common MBs our guys do available. Plenty of pizza, pop, and other munchies all day long, from about 9:00 to 3:30 or so. We do this at the SM's house to make it more relaxed. My persona

SM406, My experience with my sons parallels yours. I remember being scheduled to do a school presentation to grade schoolers and suggested to my son that he could help by bringing his Pinewood Derby car in and wearing his uniform. He couldn't wait to show of his car, but would have quit Scouts rather than wear his uniform. Now, both of my sons have no problem making stops in public places with their uniform on. When confronted with a snide comment, both have developed a great canned speach about how wimpy anyone not in Scouts must be. "I'll bet you never rapelled off a 200 foot clif

We do a similiar project this time of year for our local VA Hospital. The boys stand in front of Wal MArt to solicit donations of socks, t-shirts, underwear, toiletries, pens, paper, etc. Most people just give money, and we buy these things for the vets. We usually also buy a small gym bag, or other kind of tote to put this stuff in. On the night of our Troop Christmas party, we divvy everything up and put it into the bags. The Friday before Christmas, we all go down to the VA hospital, play bingo with the Vets who can come to the rec room, and then have a Santa who passes out bags to all

I've typed this one out, because I think it's hilarious, but now that I see it in print, it's one of those "I guess you had to be there" kind of things. Or hear the original. It was on an album (the old vinyl things we used to put on record players) by Henry Gibson (of Laugh - In fame). If you get to hear his version, it's really funny, and the kids love it. Here's the words: Once I had a mule, And I called him Sylvester Found him on a Sunday, down on Seven Oaks Road Wasn't much to look at, He just looked like Sylvester Still, he was strong, and could carry my load. Then,

Laura, When I first got to these forums, I struggled balancing our troop's program with what I thought I was reading from proponents of 1st Class / 1st year. It seemed to me that Bob and others were saying that a Scout MUST make 1st class in 12 months or the program is a failure. While discussing this back and forth, and monitoring the topic in new threads as they've come up, I came to realize that providing the oppurtunity, and, perhaps, helping with some motivation, was the expectation of the FCFY plan. In our Troop, the boys create a program for 16 months out in May. This coincid

I agree with OGE. If a boy just decides he likes something more, and is more interested in committing his time there instead of Scouts, I think wishing him well and making sure he knows the door is always open is appropriate. The first question I ask is what the boy plans on doing with his time that used to be spent on Scouting. If he doesn't have an answer, or if it's video games or T.V., I push pretty hard to get down to an answer. I think we have to face facts that Scouting will not interest every boy. And a different Troop might be more interesting to a certain boy than mine. If we c

In our Troop, the SPL has always been elected from the Venture Patrol. This is where his friends are, so he and the ASPL have always maintained their relationship with their own Patrol. I see the point that Mike F is making: The SPL being "led" by a Patrol Leader. In our Troop, the venture Patrol actually could go without an elected leader and perform just as well. By the time a boy has been invited to be in the Venture Patrol, he seems to understand what is expected of him. At their Patrol meetings, they take 5 minutes (tops) agreeing who will do what for the next campout, or meeting, o

We have fought this same myth in our Troop also. It seems like all of the older guys jump on the younger guys when they feel proud enough of their accomplishments to buy and wear a sash. I have had to remind guys a number of times that sashes are permitted with any number of MBs. Mark

ProudEagle, congrats on such a great Troop! May your unit serve youth for another 25 and beyond! mj, For regular Eagle COHs, we send letters to local and national politicians, etc., soliciting proclamations congratulating the Scout's accomplishment. Perhaps your occasion would be one to consider this for, also. Mark

Since each Patrol in our Troop camps differently, I went through my calender to figure out my son's schedule this past year. January - 4 nights - tent February - 2 nights - cabin March - 4 nights - tent April - 6 nights - tent (although one was spent in the car because they arrived so late) May - 2 nights - tent June - 4 nights - tent July - 2 nights + 6 nights summer camp - all tent August - 8 nights - tent September - 2 nights, plus one Patrol campout that got cancelled for lack of interest October - 4 nights - tent November - 2 nights - tent December (planned) 2 n

I want to try to walk a very fine line here, because SPLT15 is not in my Troop. I'm not sure I am the right person to be giving him guidance. But if he were in my Troop, one of the questions I would ask is what other options has he considered. Rarely is it that a good Eagle Project is the product of the first effort. Either SPLT15 has considered other ideas, in which case I would want to discuss these with him also, or he has yet to put any effort into thinking of alternatives. If it is the latter, I would advise him he spend some time thinking about other possible projects. I would try t

At the camp we go to every other year, there has been a female water skiing instructor there. Being both young, and often in a bathing suit, she often had a similiar type problem. All of the guys tended to hang around her area during free time. She handled it with a great attitude, if you ask me. But, now that I think about it, every guy in our Troop 15 years and older has water skiing MB. HUMMM?!?!? The world will be so much a better place when unimportant aspects of a person - skin color, or their gender - are overlooked when deciding who should get what jobs. Sure, sometimes it's

Two of the funniests lines I ever heard that pertained to age, if applied to me, would go: 1) I'm 44. You're 36? Man, I haven't felt 36 since I was 28! 2) I'm 44, but saying I'm 39 feels SOOO good, I usually tell everyone I'm 29! Mark

Andrew, If you saw a picture of me, you might be sure that I am 53. 90% grey head of hair, more of a fat old guy than FOG is, and my kids say I'm grumpy. But alas, I'm 44. The 9750 is my street adress. OGE, I spent 3 years in Latin during my Seminary years, but other than The Our Father, the Hail Mary, and counting to ten, there isn't anything I could do right now. My oldest took two years of Latin just recently. I tried to help him his first week or so, but gave up. What was it? a, ae, ae, um, a, ae, orum, is, os, is? see, I told you I am clueless! Mark

Andrew, I'd be happy to tell you. But before I do, how about a little fun. How old do you think I am? Mark

I applaud what Judge Moore did. I think it was a tremendous effort at making a point that is important to him, and one I agree with. and regardless of how modern judges have interpretted the Constitution, he did no violate the Establishment Clasue, in my opinion. BUT - Placing the monument where he did was not within his right, whether it was of a religious nature, a pornographic nature, or a political nature. And his "bosses" ordered him to take it down. He refused. Probably knowing what the consequences would be. But refusing to obey your bosses is usually grounds for dismissal. They ha

Bob, I ask this seriously, to learn something, not sarcstically. What is the rationale behind the two extra Committee Members? Is it strictly to make a BOR available, or are there other reasons? Not an issue in my Troop, but I'm just curious. Mark

FOG, I'm right with you on this one. In our Troop, car rides include one of two things. Short trips to the Council camp inlcude conversation preparing for the campout and the trip back includes conversation critiquing it. No music at all (sometimes if there is an important sporting event, we might turn the radio on). On longer trips, each person in the car is encouraged to bring one or two of their favorite CDs. In order from highest rank to lowest rank, each guy gets to have his CD played in the car. then the adults get a shot. It's worth listening to "I hit my mom in the fore

I also wish my post was more timely, but I also offer a very sincere thank you to each of you veterans individually, and the entire US Armed Forces collectively. I count it as perhaps the biggest hole in my life that I did not serve. At the time, I thought I was too good to be in the service. Now I know I wasn't good enough. At our company's staff meeting yesterday, I added a thank you directed at each of the five veterans in the meeting. Everyone seemed shocked that someone made such a big deal out of it being Veteran's Day. But I could tell that each of the men who I thanked apprec

My son wanted to do this exact thing as an Eagle project. He ran into two problems. The first was the Scoutmaster, who although he is a great guy, has a thing about approving Eagle projects which are "soft": Without an edifice to point to at the end. Second, he couldn't get the school district's OK to permit kids to be out of school to play when needed. I would have gotten him to press the issue of the SM saying no if he could have overcome the school thing, but it didn't make sense to make an issue out of something he coudn't do the way he proposed it. My youngest wants to raise mo

boy, it doesn't take much to remind me how computer - dumb I really am. Mark

A few responses wrapped in one post: Neil, I agree 100% with your sentiment that we should not interfere with the operation of another's Troop / Crew from the comfortable confines of an internet forum. However, OGE's response, when taken in the context of how he says almost everything, is easy to understand as helpful insight, not critisism. Perhaps if he had added the line "You should talk to you Advisor", or something along those lines, it may have been more complete. But I think OGE did a great service to both SPLT15 and to other youth who might have stumbled upon us. Without the abili

I ask this question at every BOR - Tenderfoot through Eagle. It is very rewarding hearing both the thought that goes into a Scout's answer, and the growth he shows from Tenderfoot to Eagle. For me, I haven't figured out how to make an adjective out of the word, but I would say a Scout exhibits perserverence. Mark

When I was a boy, we crossed at the Pack meeting during the month of our 11th BD. My BD is in Feb., so I crossed 1 week before our Klondike campout. I had no skills and no equipment to camp in the winter in Ohio, but nothing was going to stop me from going. It was 8 below zero the first night, and 12 below the next. I came home with frostbite on my toes. Almost had to have them amputated. My mom would not let me go back to Scouts again. Said if the SM didn't have enough sense to bring us home in that kind of weather, I couldn't go. So I never even made Scout. My youth Scouting career lasted 11

I also agree ith KS. we have a number of boys who have phones. We've never discussed the issue, and it's never been an issue or distraction. I wonder what would hapen if we made a rule. I bet we'd have more problems than we do now. Mark