BartHumphries

If you can't tell the difference is there a difference?

So when is it correct to wear a suit? I thought our "class A's" were our "field uniform", but I see the Council Executive and other office people wearing their class A's all the time, in the office, at award banquets. What happened to that blue blazer suit? Is it ever appropriate to wear a "civilian" suit to a Scout function if one is an adult Scouter?

For Christmas, one grandma would usually give me another year's subscription to Boy's Life. For my birthday, that same grandma would usually get me something from the Scout Shop. She was an accountant for the Council in Ventura, so employee discount in the scout shop, you know -- my family shops smart.

My troop has a once-a-year 4th of July pancake breakfast -- I think this is our 20-year anniversary mark this July, I'll have to make a note to check that out for certain. Anyway, that's our major fundraiser for the year -- we make more doing that than I think we could by selling popcorn unless we sold a literal metric ton of popcorn, which isn't too likely.

The boys buy their own uniform, their own pack, sleeping bag. We have some troop tents and a troop stove. We usually use the fundraiser money for camps and trips, but if a person has a real financial problem then we would help them beg/borrow/buy a pack/sleeping bag. They're always on their own for at least the uniform shirt, though -- when people buy that themselves (especially when they have trouble buying it themselves) it miraculously tends to avoid rips and stains much better, or so it seems.

"They have attacked a walk way to the rail road bridge." Really? Incredible. These people are do destructive.

SeattlePioneer, I think taking your troop on *any* 2,000+ mile long hike would get you on the cover of the magazine.

You might be able to buy some from scoutstuff.org -- they still sell the jacket there. Nothing came up in a search for "buttons" though except blazer buttons (wow, really expensive) and Sea Scout buttons and all the centennial clothing items.

So don't make them yourself -- don't make them in your shop and don't do anything as a volunteer. Find a general contractor in your area and place an order for "screened #10 smudge pots" -- cost should be from $1 to $3 each (depending on materials, where you live, etc.). These are thus no longer homemade items as they were purchased from a board certified, licensed and bonded general contractor who created this innovative item in full compliance with all relevant laws, including the fire safety codes for the state of California, which is either on par or stricter than the other states of the union.

If you don't have a general contractor in your area who is familiar with fire safety codes, feel free to contact my father, Kevin Humphries, at (909)255-1432 -- he'll be happy to give you his general contractor's number, his bond information, etc. I expect the price, excluding shipping and handling, would be around $3 each,* since I know he doesn't have any extra #10 cans on hand, the screens are hinged and cut to closely fit the can top with the sharp edges filed away (although you'd have to talk with him for an exact price quote). For an extra $1 your name or the name of your troop or OA council can be engraved on the side of these remarkably thrifty, shining stainless steel smudge pots.

*Kerosene and toilet paper not included.

Why would you have to stop using the #10 cans with a roll of toilet paper and kerosene? Just put a "spark arrestor" on top and suddenly, bam, you meet the fire code. The pots you're looking at cost $30 each, right? So, for the price of four of them, you can buy a single sheet of metal which you can cut up to make almost 130 spark arrestor screens that'll work with the #10 cans that you already have:

http://www.mcnichols.com/ecommerce/eos/itemDetail?itemNumber=4600122048&navCode=cc:std

That 1/2" hole size meets the standards for every US state (most are 3/4" standard, but CA for instance is more stringent and requires 1/2" size). It's also 80% open, so it won't really affect what's burning inside. True, you'd have to tack one corner down on the can, bend the square piece over, then punch a nail through the can or something to hold the opposite corner down, but it'll end up being a lot more stable (wider base), you can half bury it for extra stability, it'll survive being accidentally kicked, you'll never have to adjust the wick, etc.

I too was a cross country runner and would have actively disdained "walking like an old grandpa-man" even though it's a good valid strategy. Then again, our troop does live up above 5k feet in the mountains, so we're already somewhat acclimated to height as well (not 9k, that would hit us too, but at least it wouldn't hit us quite as hard as people who live down in the flatlands). I think a troop works better when it splits up into two groups. Those who are actively involved in sports go out at a good pace and those who don't get as much exercise hang back and walk at a slow pace that won't tax them too much. Once you get to camp, the faster group starts setting up and starts a meal cooking, then goes back to help carry backpacks for the slower group.

I think a large part of the problems that novice hikers face is 1) their backpack's weight is placed more on their shoulders instead of on their hips where it belongs and 2) the backpack is just too darn heavy. You kind of need to have a scale in the parking lot when kids are being dropped off for the trip, so you can weigh backpacks and toss out the "extra last minute" stuff that really isn't necessary and is just adding extra weight. When you're working with young kids, even 10 pounds can be more than 1/10 of their body mass. For instance, hiking boots are unnecessary -- good tennis shoes have more padding and are half the weight.

I always thought "Pollack" was a last name. Until today, I never knew that anyone thought it was derogatory, or that anyone would use it as a generic term to describe Polish people.(This message has been edited by BartHumphries)

No training program of any type is 100% effective. What you want to look at is whether a given program tends to increase, decrease, or leave alone the rate of success in a person's life. I think we can show that those who truly live the Scout Oath/Law generally have a better quality of life than those who actively disdain the Scouth Oath/Law. It doesn't matter who you are, but being trustworthy, etc., is only good. Being an Eagle isn't a guarantee that a person embodies those concepts in their life, but it does show that a person at least did (in most cases) a lot of work in that vein.

That the paper mentions that he's an Eagle Scout is only a sign of how much esteem the average person has for Eagle -- other people recognize that the BSA program generally raises the bar for youth and encourages a life better lived than it perhaps might otherwise have been lived, in my opinion.

That's a good idea, but make it really obvious, even more obvious than a tape recorder -- bring in a video camera (to record the boys of course). Then burn a DVD for each boy so they have a permanent record of the activity. You can buy a pack of 100 DVD's for only $25-$30 or so. Maybe give one of the separatists the job of videoing the group, so that they're too busy to chat much.

It's a colloquial phrase meant to imply that he has a lot of "friends in high places". You can assign other stereotypical attitudes to the comment as well if you'd like. I'm just going to take it at face value.

So the two women are "obviously" making comments about someone. That's disappointing, but just move on -- acknowledge that the two women are jerks and realize that you don't do scouting for "you", you do it for you son. As long as he's happy, the multiple non-Polish speakers can band together comfortable in the fact that they, at least, do not act like jerks and everyone can be frigidly hostile to each other, engendering further bad feelings.

Or you can just go up and talk to the two women in question. Apologize for the earlier comments and tell them that some of the other women are uncomfortable because it seems that Polish is only used to gossip and hide bad feelings. Apologize for those women and suggest an activity that needs a lot of help, asking the Polish speakers if they would please help, because a lot of work needs to be done. Then go talk to the non-Polish speakers, apologize, ask them to help too. Perhaps, in working together, they'll learn to work together. Either that or they'll learn that they can get the job done without actually working together. Either way, "you win" and you can turn your attention back to the boys, where the focus should be anyway.

It doesn't take a language barrier for a clique to form and for someone to be snide, you know. It also happens in groups of men -- it's not unique to women. I've found that getting people to work together and/or enabling people to show off a "special skill" really helps settle bad feelings, usually.

Those will put out smoke to keep the bugs away, but they won't help if what you really want is light. For that, you want something with a glass chimney. turn the wick down until it's almost not there anymore, just blue flame -- that way, there won't be any smoke and you won't have to clean the chimney. I see lanterns in "period" films all the time and they always have it turned way up so you can see a big yellow flame in it. When you get it down so that there's no smoke, it'll be a lot brighter too (as well as smokeless for less cleaning). The wicks are usually belts and if you trim the corners a bit before you light it, it'll be a little easier to get it so there's no smoke.

If you are ok with the boys you work with wearing non-official stuff in support of the things they like, then go for it. Otherwise it becomes a value judgement thing and a possible "the things I support are ok, but the things you support are rubbish" conflict, you know. But if you don't think that'll happen or know you'll be ok handling it when it does, then go for it.

"One scouter while I was talking to him to me to wait a second he needed to change roles. Ripped off his Cubmaster patch and put on a Den Leader patch. Stupid if you ask me. was he trying to be funny, don't know, but I was really put off by it."

I've done things like that before in jobs other than Scouting. Sometimes you literally wear two hats and just to emphasize that I am moving over to the "other position", I'll literally put my other hat on.

Anyway, this sounds like a great idea. I think National should roll this out immediately, based on the testimonials in this thread. Of course, it also lets boys know that they "could" be wearing a patch there. As such, I fully expect to see things like Boys shirts and Adults shirts (same sized). The Boys shirts would have a velcro spot for a patrol patch, a velcro spot for a Quality Unit patch, a velcro spot for a rank patch, and of course a velcro Position of Responsibility arm patch. The adult shirt would have a velcro Position of Responsibility arm patch and a velcro spot for a Trained patch. The adult version wouldn't have patrol or rank spots, but it would have a Quality Unit spot.

Then people would be asking, "Hey, what's supposed to go here?" With the knowledge that something "can" go there, they'll be more motivated to do everything they're supposed to do so that something "should" go there, in my opinion.

"..there's a pig wearing a 'class A' uniform someplace? ...I'm trying to picture this...They DON'T have functional sweat glands, you know...."

http://www.shopzeus.com/product.php?sku=zeusd1-KIMR-896012 ?(This message has been edited by BartHumphries)

'he requested that the Scouts not "walk around camp with big honking sheath knives dangling from theor belts." No problem.'

See, that's where all these problems are coming from -- you should wear your knife on your back, possibly upside down in the small of your back, not on your belt where it can get caught on branches that you walk past and where everyone can see you reach for it.

Not that I'm actually advocating that people take a bowie knife to Scout camp, I just think those clips are hilarious.

What's the difference between two parents who only like to chat with each other and go off to the side to talk and two parents who only like to chat with each other and do so right there in Polish? Either way, the two parents don't really like to mix with the other parents. While disappointing, it doesn't really sound like a problem to me, although I'm not there so your situation might be different from the imaginary situation that only exists in my head.

Possibly the, "Can you stop speaking your ethnic language when you're around me because I don't understand it and I find it offensive" offended the two parents in question. Have the other parents tried learning even a modicum of Polish? I've found found that even learning just enough to say, "Hello! How are you?" and "I'm fine, thanks." in another language really helps start a friendship and shows that you at least care somewhat. English, Norwegian, Spanish, French, German, Armenian, Russian, I'm definitely not fluent in all those languages, but I can at least greet people warmly and ask them how they are. I've also learned how to say, "I'm sorry, but I don't really understand your language, I only speak English."

Anyway, if you have two parents that don't like mixing with the other parents, so what? As long as they do what they're "supposed" to (get their boys to activities on time, when all the parents are supposed to participate in some activity they do so, etc.), what's the big problem? So they're not great friends with the other parents, that's ok, not everyone can be friends with everyone else and while it is a bit disappointing it's not really cause to be ejecting people from the den/troop/crew/whatever, in my opinion. That being said, again, I'm not there, so your situation might be different from what I'm imagining.

Like SR540Beaver and Scoutfish said, an undershirt is the cat's meow, if I can use that colloquial expression. Always wear one, never wear just the bare shirt no matter how hot it gets and you'll be just fine. The trouble is finding undershirts that're lighter than t-shirts. You want something that wicks away the moisture. I have these amazing ones that're made out of an amazing fabric, but they're only for LDS people. Several years ago http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hanes-Men-s-Crew-Tee-Shirts-5-Pack/9208772 worked pretty well for me.

So, unit numbers -- now that the centennial is over, it's back to red numbers for scout troops and green numbers for varsity crews?

"Finally, according to the National OA site, "Scout Alumnus" is still a registration category.

http://www.oa-bsa.org/resources/lodge/bestpractices/registrationoptions.pdf " That page says, "Of course, these registration options are available only for current Arrowmen." So I guess you have to be a member of the Order of the Arrow to register as a Scout Alumnus.

Well, you said that you're Assistant Scoutmaster. Since you're "just" an Assistant Scoutmaster, it's really not your place to "call them to repentance" or otherwise tell them what a bad job you're doing -- you'd want to get together with someone who actually does have that job. Otherwise, you're that guy who (no matter how helpful you've been in the past) who just doesn't "get" how the program works.

So, chat with the Scoutmaster. Presuming that he feels the same way, you two can then go possibly have a chat with the Charter Organization rep (if you're a religious group, that would likely be your Bishop/Pastor). Then, have a "Training Night" where the Committee Members all get together and someone takes a projector, hooks it up to a laptop and you all sit through the Committee Member Fast Start training (or whatever it's called for Committee Members).

At this point, you can all chat about what it means to be a Committee Member and the CM's themselves should hopefully volunteer/realize that the program shouldn't be run like this. During the chat about what it means to be a CM, if nobody brings up this election after about 20 minutes or so, ask a question about it. "Hey, in that training, should we keep doing things like this?" Then the Scoutmaster and the CO rep can weigh in with their opinions, backed up by the training class that everyone just sat through.

This way everyone saves face, nobody is called out publicly, everyone gets to be "right". You're all learning as you go and you're all learning "new" things together. The important thing, though, is to allow people to save face. This isn't dishonest in any way, you're just building consensus then approaching the problem obliquely instead of head on.

Duplicate post. I'd delete it if I could.(This message has been edited by BartHumphries)

"My son will plot on a trail map my progress week by week and I'm doing an online journal so they will be able to follow my adventure." Let us know when there's a link up so we can follow along with you.

Those spoof language patches are amazing. If I'm going to be working at a Camp this summer, then I'm going to get a couple to wear on Saturdays or something.