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mk9750

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Everything posted by mk9750

  1. We are struggling with the same issues. We've had a couple of boys at the higher ranks (Star and Life) who could have been the subject of this conversation. Our Scoutmaster has reserved for himself the right to be the sole signer for Scout Spirit. When issues like this come up, he verifies that a boy has had at least 4 or 6 months at his current rank. If he has, that one gets signed off. But if he has been AWOL, he has let his Troop and Patrol mates down. He also has either done a poor job prioritizing what is important to him, or he doesn't consider Scouting important. If it is the latt
  2. Well, I finally got it done! Beading ceremony is scheduled for 3/4/06! I'm sure few will remember me, but I was a frequent poster until about a year ago, when bickering between a few folks turned me off. I have checked back occasionally though. And I have even keep in contact with hopscout when I can, as we have a friend in common. I'm sure this won't make much of a difference to most of you, but I believe I promised to let everyone know when I finished. If anyone else from C-28-04 reads this, congratualtions if you've finished, or get going if you haven't. One last push over
  3. Hunt, I agree with you 100%%, and I'm sorry if my attempt at being succinct caused my message to be misunderstood. I spent my hight school years in a Catholic seminary, where the old style catechism was still taught. I still remember word for word the definition of sorry: "A firm purpose of amendment". The example that was drilled into us was "you wish you hadn't done it, and will endeavor never to do it again". If in the situation I was involved with, had the Scout been able to convince me he was sorry under the definition of sorrow I use, I could have voted to award the young man E
  4. Wes, I feel your pain! I've been in almost exactly the same situation. A Scout transfered to our Troop a few months ahead of his 18th birthday. He worked his tail off to finish the last few MBs and his project, but just before his B.O.R., but after his birthday, we found out he had lied about why he transfered to us. Turns out he had been kicked out of his Troop for leaving camp (more than once) and bring both pot and wine back to the camp, where he shared it with some of his buddies. The SM, the District Advancement Chair and I (Troop Adv. Chair) all believed that although a yo
  5. CA, Congratulations! You have the opportunity now to experience some fantastic things about people and the Scouting Program. "Mike" joined our Troop right along with his Den buddies when he was 12. His arrival caused quite a bit of consternation among our leaders too, as we knew almost nothing about the affliction, and even less about how to deal with a Down Syndrome boy. "Mike" was unbelievably enthusiatic about Scouting, although his parents were quick to advise us about the parts of the program they felt were too difficult for him to handle. But "Mike" (along with his dad) we
  6. This is such a sad situation. We had a boy in our Troop with very similiar circumstances. To try to make a long story short, at about 17, he left a campout with two other Scouts and brought back wine and pot and enticed a younger Scout to try the pot. He belonged to a different Troop at the time. The legal system did it's thing, including time at a boot camp type insitution. The Troop kicked all three boys out. This one remained out of Scouting until about 3 1/2 months before turning 18, when he approached our Troop looking to transfer. We never were comfortable with his or his father's
  7. I've been refraining from posting in recent months for two very basic reasons: First, I began to fell as if my input was getting less and less valuable (What used to be a strong Troop with which I am associated has been struggling recently), and second, I tired of the bickering. But I still monitor some of the threads, and this one has brought me back, at least temporarily. When I first started working as the Advancement Chair for my Troop, I was probably very close to what Bob criticizes most here - I knew of First Class Emphasis (and I did confuse it with FCFY), but did not understand i
  8. My oldest son asked us about this when he was 10. I remember my wife with tears in her eyes as we drove down the freeway and I explained it almost exactly as eisley has. My youngest son is almost 16 now. He STILL has yet to ask about Santa or admit he thinks anything other than Santa is a real person. It's quite humorous actually. Our entire family walks and talks as if this big secret has yet to be unveiled, even though we all know it is just a rouse because my son has never OFFICIALLY asked if Santa was real. Although it's never been discussed by any of us, I think that this is th
  9. John D, I have to respectfully but vehemently disagree with part of your premise. First, I agree that Bob's style made it difficult for some to see his intent. I have said publicly before, and privately to Bob, that his written style causes him to come off as very arrogant. Sometimes it became so arrogant that some folks here, even some who otherwise are level - headed, wanted to take Bob behind the woodshed. Bob would do well, in my opinion, to work hard at sounding more benevolent should he begin posting again, which I hope he does. Second, no one can know what truly is in Bob
  10. OGE, I love the idea. I think a voluntary effort to meet a certain standard that a Troop could use as a badge of honor is great. I think you suffer from the same malady I do. I often get good ideas, and then bog them down with so much detail they break under the weight of all the elements. Eamonn pointed out an example of the same problem. Someone takes a good idea, makes it so hard to implement and / or administer, and it fails. It is the reason I quite often get tagged with the label of someone who "has great ideas that never work". I think scaling back the criteria would gi
  11. The other day, the mother of one of the Scouts in my son's Cub Scout Den was over our house. I was going to be picking her son up from Penn State, and, along with my son, we were going to the Army Navy game in Philadelphia. She was over to drop off a sleeping bag, and some other stuff for the trip. She, my wife and I were chatting in the living room when a song came on the radio that the mom (Karen) had to comment about. "You know, every time I hear this song, I think of you" (talking to me). "A couple of months ago, I asked Kevin (her son from Penn State) to burn me a copy of the CD tha
  12. My approach would be exactly like EagleinKY. I am not perfect, and I tend to prove that every time I open my mouth. At gatherings such as Courts of Honor and such, where recognitions are often handled, I prefer to speak from the cuff rather than read a speech. Doing so leaves me at the mercy of a failing memory, and I tend to do things like list the 22 people who helped with a project, but forget the project leader. When I do, and someone points it out to me. I try to make a beeline straight for the person I neglected and speak to them directly, and I try to find a way to fix it, either right
  13. KS, My son's best friend (He's a good friend of mine now too) is a Cadet at West Point. In a year and a half, I've already come to understand that what happens to one of you happens to all of you. So directly to you, and every person selfless enough to do what you do, my sympathy. I will certainly keep him and his family in my prayers. Mark
  14. In our Troop, the Troop Guide acts as the head cook at the new Scout campout for snack Friday night, and Breakfast Saturday morning. For lunch, each buy makes a foil pack. For dinner, they all act as assistants to the Troop Guide. After their first campout, duty rosters are developed by the Patrol Leader for each campout with the input of his Patrol members. The Scout who wants to cook next is the next head cook, and someone is assigned (or volunteers) as his asistant. They cooks for the entire weekend. For the next campout, the Patrol Leader develops a new duty roster. Usually, the
  15. A son who dragged his feet to Eagle until almost 18. Another son who is doing the same. Pretending to be a Committee Chair because the real CC won't run a meeting or deal with people. Beuracratic B.S. at the Council office. A Scout who is more likely to appeal to national concerning his Eagle application than not. Being 13 - 18 hours over my "one hour a week" Struggling to get people to cooperate on a timely basis for my ticket. A wife who can't understand why I do this. I'd give it a 4. _______________________________________________ Having made bet
  16. I can think of a number of ways I'd consider handling this: 1) In our Troop, we have PLENTY of parents available to drive. There's no way this guy would be permitted to drive any boy other than his own son. 2) If the committee determined, for some reason, that this person driving was necesary, the permission slip for the boys who could potentially end up in his car (the "friends of the family") would have an extra note indicating they understand their son was going to be driven by a driver with a record of speeding. I suspect that parental instinct would take it from there. 3) I
  17. As a Personal Management MBC, here's how I've hadled this question. In the old requirments, with which I am more familiar at this point, requirment 3 gave Scouts the option to prepare a personal budget for three months -or- prepare a list of the costs associated with living on ones own. Both are valuable requirments, and frankly, I'd applaud if the MB required both. But they were an either / or proposition, and I feel so strongly that learning how to plan a budget is an important life skill, I would emphasis this requirement as I was speaking with the Scout the first time. My spiel would
  18. At recharter time, we collect the following from each Scout: Registration fee Boys Life (optional) $20.00 activity fee Adults pay only the registration fee. The $20.00 activity fee is intended to cover awards, program supplies, and incidentals. Events are run to break even. If a Patrol budgets $15.00 per Scout for a campout, we collect $15.00 from each attendee and disburse needed funds to the quartermaster and / or Patrol Cook for the event. If a large amount is needed, like to go to Tinnerman or such, the Patrol is responsible for developing a plan to pay for it (asking mom
  19. This is the first chance I've had to look at this thread. I was hoping someone had made the point I want to make, but alas, no one did (although KoreaScouter came close!), so, you've got to put up with me saying it. As have been pointed out before, these are Positions of Responsiblity, not leadership. Some POR entail leadership, some do not, and some do at some times and not others. I'd be willing to wager that in most Troops, the breakdown of who holds certain positions is similiar to ours. In our Troop, positions like Librarian, Historian and Chaplain aide generally are filled by younge
  20. Be Prepared, In our Troop, this isn't likely to be a problem, although I can see how it might be in other Troops. We have a large number of very politically active teenagers, and the reference will be understood in our group. But yes, I think this might be one question that could go astray in some settings. Dan, Great point. Maybe I'd ask for the opposite of "wrong" to avoid that problem. On the other hand, "Right ~ Left ~ Ambidextrous" could still work. How about the other? "Write ~ Draw ~ Compute?" Thanks much for the feedback! Mark
  21. I'm flattered that anyone would want to borrow it. Absolutely, feel free. Thanks fopr your very kind words. Mark
  22. I've been working on this one on my own, and wanted to run it by some folks before I tried it in public. As we circle up, the SM asks "What is the opposite of black?" Any scout answers "White". SM: "And what is in between black and white?" Any Scout: "Gray". SM: "And what is the opposite of Liberal?" A.S.: "Conservative." SM: "And in between Liberal and Conservative?" A.S.: "Moderate." SM: "How about the opposite of Hot?" A.S.: "Cold." SM: "And in the middle of Hot and Cold?" A.S.: "Warm." SM: "So, as you can see, nature and huma
  23. Eisely, That sounds like a great idea to me! If I can figure out how to create a seperate space to do this, I might try to incororate the idea into our program. I think your last comment is really valid. I get people asking me questions all the time, and I'm sure my answer comes off with a tone like "Come on! Doesn't everyone know that?". I don't mean to, but I know it happens, and I heard others do it too. Maybe an effort to provide info to those who are interested might be received well. Thanks for the great idea. Mark
  24. How's this for a coincidence? The Greater Western Reserve Council in North eastern Ohio just recently sold their Camp Chickagami. When I saw the thread title, I thought someone had mispelled our camp's name. I don't know all the details for sure, so for anyone who is using this as correct information, confirm before you react. But as I understand, a local park district bought it. It will take a few years for it to be paid, and, until then, the Council has first rights to use it. After that, the Scouts will be able to use it, but on a first come first serve basis. The big problem is t
  25. Eamonn, I typed, erased, retyped, then erased again a response along the same line as yours. None of mine were as close to saying what I wanted to say as was yours. I too agree that Bob is practically always right. sometimes, I don't like his answers - Sometimes I wish his answer was wrong, because it isn't what I want to hear. But he's almost always right. Always being right leads all but the most humble of people to being arrogant sometimes. I don't know if Bob is really arrogant or not. I don't know him personally. But often the tone that comes through in his typed word seems arro
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