mk9750

I hadn't seen all of the examples listed here, but I did notice that the host of the "Trading Spaces - Kids" show had on a Cub Scout shirt in one episode. Really supprised me! Mark

Bob, Don't be so hard on yourself! That ONE was funny! Cincinati Chilli? UGHH! Sliders? YABADABADO! Chowder? New England, NOT Manahattan. Best food yet? The first meal a new Scout cooks on his own! Mark

As I have done a few times in the past, I'd like to steal a line form one of our fellow posters: I love this Scouting stuff! Contratualtions to you and to your new Life Scout! Mark

gjensentroop301, I may have been a bit more biting in my statment than I meant to be, but I did mean it. Although I accept that many of us will have different methods to get to the same result, I believe that it is more likely a Scout will benefit from thinking of these issues on his own WITHOUT prior input from me than if I told him how he should think by doing a presentation. After the boy has presented his ideas to me, we spend some time talking about them. This conversation has rarely lasted less than 45 minutes for the first two requirments. I find it both amazing, and spiritua

I had a similiar experience to Maine's. When my son crossed, the Troop went from 9 to 20. At that size, the SM spoke about having the critical mass needed to make things happen. We've been as high as 48, and are at 35 now. My personal observations from my experience: 1) I'd have a hard time imagining how we could maintain the program in our Troop without having at least 20 25 members. 2) For every 10 Scouts added, I really believe the Troop goes through a radical change. Every SPL we have had in place when the Troop grew significantly had a very hard time keeping a handle on thi

My dad's from PA... Just outside of Uniontown, Brownsville. I'm only aware of one brother, who lives down in Dayton. And he's not the kind of guy who would be involved in Scouting. I doubt OGE is him. But, you'll never hear me complain if I get called OGE's long lost brother! Mark

Sorry Bob. I missed it in an earlier post, but it caught my eye in yours. I hope no offense was taken. I do understand what you're saying, I just think that you're off base. As you say, words have meanings, and I for one am constantly preaching this. But "my" in this case has two legitimate, reasonable interpretations. the majority of posters here seem to be able to make the distinction between the two, and mean the more positive one when they say "my". Certainly, a few can't (or at least can't convince others that) they do understand). I disagree with them a vehemently as do you. But for

TwoCub, What a terrific timeline explaination for most of these threads! It is so accurate, I disturbed someone else laughing while I read it! If I can try to rephrase Eagle74's post so that my pea brain can understand it: The style of leadership imployed depends on the circumstance. If the person to be lead has no need to be taught, coached or convinced that the leader should be the leader, or that that task must be done, directing can be an expediant way of accomplishing the task. If the person to be led doesn't know how to complete a task, doesn't want to do it, doesn't

Can't wait to see it! Congratulations to your Troop! And I think you seem rightfully proud of your son for making the decision he did. Congratulations to him, and to you for being such an influence to him. Young Spiked Eagle? If you'll allow me some personal opinion, you need to influence him just a shade more (LOL!) Mark

Bob, I've got to tell you I think you missed this one. Not that you're wrong, but that you're not seeing the issue from all sides. As has been pointed out by many, speaking of a Troop (or any number of other examples used) COULD mean that the speaker believes he owns the Troop (or any number...). but he legitimately could be indicating simple association with that Troop. Surely, saying "my Troop" is not as clear as "the Troop with which I am associated", but it isn't incorrect, and it is much shorter. You have said a few times that I am one of the people on this forum that "get

Bob, Do you have any details as to the when or where? We have been trying to bring this to our Troop (the Troop that I serve), but the closest we can find it is 175 miles away. Any help anyone can provide will be VERY apreciated! Mark

gjensentroop301, Are you a Scout working on Family Life, or a MB Counselor? As a Counselor, I'm having a hard time figuring out why a Counselor would need to do a presentation. And I also am having a tough time seeing why a Scout would need resources like you describe. And any resources you may find would defeat one of the values of doing these two requirements: Contemplating what a family is and how you fit into it. No canned information can lead a Scout to those answers for his family. If I am misunderstanding, let me know. Mark

OGE, I presume your question is directed at those who continually refer to the Troop with which they are affiliated as "my Troop". If so, I'd like to make two comments. "My" when used like this, can denote ownership, or affiliation. "My company" could be spoken by the person who owns the business, or by the employees who have a sense of belonging to the company. Both are very appropriate. Also, typing "my" is easier than typing "the Troop with which I am affiliated". I think that even for the most objectionalble people in this forum, most use "my" without trying to infer t

Pack, I agree that hazing should not be permitted. My difficulty is in how we define hazing. Sending a kid on a snipe hunt is not hazing. Making him stay all night without shelter is hazing. A joke or two at his expense might not be hazing. Making him feel worthless is hazing. Sending his undies up a flagpole is not hazing. Leaving them there all day and making him go without is hazing. Reminding a boy to be responsible by singing is not hazing. Embarassing the boy to the point of losing self esteem is hazing. Obviously, in my scenerio, there is a major flaw: Where is the line?

Victim defined harassment is one of those slippery slope issues, to me. I agree that to some degree, perception is reality. If the victim feels they were harassed, they were harassed. But this has led to a number of very negative changes in our world, including going too far with the right of victims to claim harassment for things that were really meant to be harmless. I'm not saying that where we have gone is wrong, but I think we may have just gone a little too far. On the other hand, we do need to consider what value some of these things have for Scouts. I have been witness to, even co

Not only that, but if the Scouts structure things properly, I would consider giving them credit for the appropriate rank advancements for cooking. Good luck. We've tried a couple of times to do cooperative campouts with Girl Scout Troops, and can't seem to make it happen. Everyone talks like they want to try, but when it comes to planning, our guys keep coming back complaining that the girls don't want to do anything they find fun. We've offered to climb and rapel, kayak, or backpack, and all they want to do is sit around the campsite (this is the report we get back from the planning comm

Mines not all that creative. MK are my initials, 9750 is my street address. In someplaces on the web, I am golfermark76, the 76 being my low 18 hole score. If I buy anything from you on ebay, please give me a discount! Mark

Andrew, Boy, am I embarassed! As many times as I have repeated and reflected on the Scout Law, for me to miss that was silly. Thank you for pointing it out. NJ, I wholehaertedly agree. Assuming we are close in age, back when we were kids, a boy like this would have either been removed, or "the boys would have taken care of the problem themselves", meaning the kid would have been ridculed or worse into either leaving or conforming. I think we all would agree that that isn't the best way to handle it, although even I sometimes wish... I certainly did not mean to suggest that

I want to talk only about my situation, because I'm not sure how relevant it may be to others. But I am the Adv. Chair in our Troop. Five years ago, if you were to rate my effectiveness on a scale from 1 to 100, it would have been 96. Everything was perfect, save for those very rare times when I, or someone else acted human. Today, if you rated my effectiveness, it would be like 60. What's the difference? Our Service Center moved from directly between my home and work, to about 45 miles away. I was used to the convenience I had to drop stuff off, and if there were any descr

NJ, I did feel a little rumble in my seat when I read your post. Oh, I'm sorry, that was gas...(lol) Mark

I think that, of course, having the boys make that decision is the best choice. However, I think it needs to be preceeded by the oppurtunity to teach all of the guys in the Patrol a life lesson. My dad had a cliche' for everything, and the one that fits here is "It takes all kinds to make a world". Somewhere along the path to manhood, these guys are going to have to learn that finding a way to getting along with everyone is an important life skill. It would be beautiful if they could learn to like this guy, and I'll bet eventually they will. But it isn't vital. They just have to be shown

I think I have recounted this before, but one of the top three or four memories I will take from my Scouting career is the the scene where one of our Scouts, with Down's Syndrome, finally kind of broke away from dad for a while at summer camp to sit around the campfire with just the guys (no adults). they were doing a type of "whose like is it anyway" thing, and this kid was having a blast, and the other guys were really having fun with him (positively). Dad wandered over when he realized his son wasn't in his tent, only to have the boy tell dad to "go away, I'm having too much fun!" After he

Hey, HEy, HEY! Keep it down about COs being able to limit membership to their own group! Our IH has complained loudly for three or four years that only 35% of our Troop are members of our Parish. If he knew he could limit our membership to only Parishoners, we'd get almost no one to cross over, as we have been horrendously unsuccesful recruiting boys from within the Parish Cub Program. We have tried and tried to help them, but the Parish School kids just will not leave Scouts in their school alone without picking on them unmercifully. In my 8 years with this Troop, 3 kids who went to the

We also have such a meeting. In our Troop, it's called a tavern meeting, becuase we sit around our SM's nicley appointed rec room bar when we do this. We have the SM, the ASMs, me (advancement chair), and often the SPL ans ASPL. It is at this meeting that the Scoutmaster corps and the youth leadership determine what issues they need to bring to the adult committee. Thanks for your kind words. Mark

Ah, personal crusades! Mine is men wearing hats indoors. In our Troop, I am the hat nazi, without any doubt. It obviously isn't an important manner any longer, but that doesn't matter to me. I have been calling Scout's name as they come in the door and pointing to their head for 8 years now. I'm starting to get through, but every new class of Scouts need the same reminder for about a year before it's habit. The most difficult time I have with this is two ASMs who are folicly challenged, and refuse to set a good example. But I keep trying! you'll never go wrong teaching manners a