Narraticong

"Don't these people know they're setting their children up for failure once they turn 18 and have no experience making decisions on their own and dealing with the consequences?" - This is the whole prgram in one sentence! Absolutely beautiful! That in itself made my day. Then Stosh invokes the ghost of Greenbar Bill. All this two days before my troop goes to summer camp. Perfect timing. When Mr. Hillcourt was back at BSA trying to straighten out the 1970's mess, he lived upstairs from one of the boys in my patrol. We sometimes had meetings at Jeff's apartment and a few times Mr

I think I'd like an Eagle to be able to wear his badge until he is 21. There are some of us who earned it just as we turned 18 and never got to wear that beautiful badge. It would likely mean a lot to those young men who work hard and just beat the deadline. Now, all these years later I don't have a need to wear it. I used to break it out for Eagle COH's, etc. But not any more. As I age, my Scouting game becomes more and more about the boys than about me. Ken

Please all accept my apology for my earlier ranting explosion. To explain myself, I will just remind everyone that Scouting is supposed to be a game for boys. No more, no less. Sure we try to instill some values and the original concept was to do so through taking the boys outdoors. It's really a very simple process. Boys naturally gravitate toward "gangs" and will develop and follow their own leadership. The goal of the adults should be to let the boys develop and learn on their own as much as possible. If we do so within a well run outdoor program, we will be successful. BP had t

Greenbar Bill must once again be rolling in his grave... The only 360 degrees that belong in Scouting are found on a compass! If Woodbadge would spend more time on making Scouters better outdoors leaders and focus less on "corporate America", we might actually be better able to recruit boys! I wonder if tickets would make good tinder? It might be a more effective use.. Ken

Sorry Teamsanders, I am not grumpy at all! I am actually a rather jovial old curmudgeon. And I do hope now that you have found us you will stick around long enough to find the folks here are the most dedicated Scouters you will ever meet. Would it be good manners to come into someones home as a guest and then proceed to make a sales pitch? I wold be disappointed if a guest did that the first time he came into my house. I might wonder whether he really liked me or just saw me as a potential source of income. On another tanget, I can remember the day when we traded patches as a hob

Doesn't sound like the boys are raising the funds. Sounds like the adults are doing it for them. Ken

emb021 is correct. People WILL ask questions about your uniform. It is reasonable to expect them to, since unless they are friends, they won't know why you have added the unusual pieces. So, as we expect others to be polite, we might also expect you to be polite and offer at least a quick explantion. Maybe, "In honor of my Mom and younger brother who recently passed away." I think you will find nearly all folks will be understanding. Those who complain need a refresher on the Scout Law. Personally I think it is a fitting idea. In fact the other mmbers of your crew might also want to we

I am not by any means a "techie" guy. I don't own an Ipod and generally have difficulty programming my watch, much less dealing with all the stuff on my cell phone. But that is me... We have to remember that this "game" belongs to the boys and not us. Their generation has grown up with electronics, and I am pretty sure they are not going away. One sure way to chase boys away from Scouting is to give the impression we are "old fashioned" and "boring". Restricting or disallowing electronics will without a doubt send that message. It makes sense that we older adults need to learn t

No local option in this case. We stand for the same ideals we did 100 years ago. Local option opens the door to vast changes in our organization. If you don't like what we stand for, work to change the national rules, or go start your own group. One way or another, we must be heard as one voice. Ken

Outstanding! Maybe the boys were running across the graves. Maybe they were acting as adults would find inappropriate. But unlike 95% of other boys their age, they were there doing a service to their community. My troop did very similar serverce during the tail end of the Vietnam war. And I know I didn't always act the way I now know I should have. But those memories stayed with me and now I have great respect for those who have served. With age and maturity, we can be pretty certain those boys in Scouts will become good citizens. The same can not be said of those boys who on that same

Beavah hits the nail squarely on the head. "Just be a Scoutmaster to the kid". The wisest words I have seen on this topic. I believe homosexuality is a sin. I have no doubt about it. It is my right to believe it. I also know that I have a whole pocket full of my own sins and where I would be headed were it not for the Grace of God. So I surely won't be the one to browbeat this particular Scout or any other. In the "old" Scoutmaster Handbooks, Greenbar Bill quotes BP as saying the Scoutmaster should lead by example. What simple, straightforward advice that is. It might be in

I don't remember about the Honor atrol ribbon. I guess I was never in an Honor Patrol! But I do remember getting ribbons for Camporees, etc. It really made your troop and patrol flags look like you had accomplished something. Other than Quality UNit, our Council does not seem to use them. I wish we would go back to them. Ken

Our troop has not been big on ceremony, nor especially on singing. We camped this past weekend and the boys had a nice campfire. No real program, just a time of brotherhood. As it came time for all to turn in, our 14 year old SPL announced he was starting a "new" troop tradition. With that, he had us all sing "Scout Vespers". As we sang, the smoke must have shifted into my face, because my eyes watered a bit. Some times, you just know we are doing what we do for all the right reasons... Ken

What a cool, and caring, idea! Scouting is really more about the fun, adventure, and brotherhood of these young men than it is about the elusive Eagle. Think of all the boys who have had their character influenced by Scouting. Who gained a lifteime love for the outdoors. Who have gone on to become upstanding citizens who participate in their government. All without ever wearing an Eagle. As one who does wear the Eagle, I think it's a great idea to have a ceremony at the end of each year for those aging out. Ken

I agree with mn_scout 100%. I don't own an ipod and can barely work my cell phone. But I am 52 years old and Scouts is no longer "my" game. Encourage the boys to come up with workable policies of their own design. As I have said before, if we provide an interesting, exciting program, the ipods will stay in the tents all on their own. Ken

These "commemerative" rifles all look nice, but how many of them hold their value? Years after issue you can find them at well under the advertised price. I suppose if you are OK with paying the steep cost for the gun, and you don't intend to ever sell it, then have at it. Ken

While the Constitution itself does not mention God directly, the founding documents leading up to it most certainly leave a clear trail. There is no doubt the founders believed the Christian God was the source of our rights. In turn, the state constitutions nearly all directly mention God. The fact that the US Constituion does not mention God does not mean the founders were at all without Faith. It means only that they intended for religion and government to remain at arms length.

BSA,s position on "Duty to God", is a difficult one for many of us on several levels. For many of us more conservative Christians, there is only one God. We do not accept that all deities are the same. I am one of those Christians who believe that all other gods are false gods. On the other hand, as an American, I believe every citizen has a right to believe in any god, or no god, whatsoever. Without a doubt, the Constituion makes it one of our God given rights (figure that one out). As a Scout, I believe every Scout or Scouter is required to believe in some higher power as God.

I'll be 54 ish when NOAC comes back to my Alma Mater MSU (GO GREEN). Should I go? I'm afraid of possible flashbacks from the '70s if I sleep in a dorm room. Can they still try to collect on overdue librabry books? Ken

So, it has now been several weeks since my original post. Still no response from either the Scout Executive or our DE to my very reasonable email request regarding why there has been no public response to why our Chairman was removed. We see here that it is debatable whether the district volunteers are owed the courtesy of an explanation. But for the SE and DE to not even respond to my email is at best impolite. I believe I will forward the previous request to them and suggest that perhaps due to their very busy schedules, this matter may have been overlooked? Yes, I am a lowly v

At our ScoutShop this morning I noticed a new insignia. It was a red bar with the word FOUNDER in silver. About the same size as the veteran unit bar and also apprently to go between troop number and CSP. Clerk said they were for those who belong to a unit founded during the Centennial Year. Nice idea. But it would be nicer if the boys in our troop who founded it three years ago could have the same privilege. Has anyone else seen these yet? Ken

I tried to find a website or some sort of contact for Scouts of Haiti, with no success. I imagine it might be some time before they have much contact with the outside world. But I thought it might be a worthwhile service and friendship project for our Scouts to make contact with them. Perhaps there is some way we can help their Scouts get re-established. Any ideas? Ken

From my experience, it mostly amounts to kids being goofy. Remember when we put fingers behind another kids head? Devils horns? Rabbits ears? Relax and just accept that they are kids who, amazingly, will act like kids. Remember, BP considered the original patrols to be gangs! Ken

The Chairman of our district was dismissed from his position earlier this week. The actual dismissal was done by the Council President. The reason for the dismissal has not been made publice by the Coucnil. However, it has been suggested by the "grapevine" that he was often in conflict with the professional staff. As I have mentioned in other threads, I am a strong believer that the professional staff should serve at the will of the volunteers and parents, rather than the other way around. Since we pay the bills, we should be the boss. But in too many cases the volunteers have allowe

Our troop will be celebrating our first Eagle COH Wednesday evening. This Eagle also barely made it in time. An incredibly bright boy, he just had other interests in addition to Scouting. This was my first Eagle SMC. I tend to take a more relaxed view of things. I did not make a big production of the SMC. I invited the Scout over to my home to review his project and make sure everything was complete for his application. As we sat at my kitchen table, the conversation started as a review of his project, then went into what he might expect during his Board of Review. We were two men h