Oldscout448

I hear you, I struggle with the same thing here in Maryland. To the bean counters at national it is all about the numbers (read money) so the lodge is pushes to meet certain metrics that have nothing to do with leading the scouts in brotherhood cheerfulness or service. As others have noted the bar has been lowered to to point where is sometimes seems not to exist at all. I have seen troops with 80 percent wearing the arrow sash, not one of them seemed to understand what it stood for. Sad. I need to stop typing and get packing have a call out tonight for 30 Scouts. I go in the hope that f

Yea the white sash a red arrow was a hard won honor. I get funny looks when I tell people I am prouder of my OA sash than my eagle badge. Any scout can earn 24 merit badges and do a project if he is willing to work at it. But when your fellow scouts called you an example of what they thought a scout should be...

Ah yes leaders of big lodges,fun aren't they? A story... Back in c '73 the lodge bigwigs seeing that some ceremonial teams had no/ junky costumes decided in their vast wisdom, that all chapters should pool their gear so everyone could share equally. We had held scrap drives,parked cars at the county fair,sold donuts for the money to buy hides, beads and feathers then spen many an hour crafting our own regalia. So you can just imagine how well this went over with us! We said So sorry not happening. Then things got nasty the police showed op with a warrant at the advisors house looking f

well It's 2:00am and I just finished writing the call-out ceremony for the spring camporee, and its a good one if I do say so myself But it probably not be used you see it needs 7-8 people 4 speaking parts, two drummers, and two torchbearers. I'll be lucky if I can get 5 to show up and one of those is my son. This in a county with 250,000 people in it and over 40 troops. Is the Order shrinking across the nation or is it just my little district?

Dont know if this is the case or not but I have seem a few scouters sons act up in scouting much more that they do in other venues. Perhaps their thinking goes " you wont be too hard on me, Mr. Scoutmaster, my Dad is your buddy and your right hand man"

If I Recall Correctly In my troop the treasurer and the troop scribe met once a month. The treasurer showed the scribe how the accounts were set up ( a useful skill ) and the amounts in them so that the scribe could update his books and report to the plc. The big money like summer camp bypassed the scribe,but he was always the go-between guy for all the little amounts. The scribe was always one of the older scouts 15-17, and often the treasurers son. The QM had an adult "helper" as well. I try to let the scouts do everything they can, most of the time I am still surprised at

Like Eagle94 in my youth each patrol had such positions. Currently, I know of no troops that have them in my area. As noted before they were used to train the scouts in the needed skill sets in a small group setting before tossing them into the deep end as a troop level QM or Scribe. But the main reason was to force the entire patrol to pitch in and help. THe QM took care of the patrols tents, rope, cookware, etc. The scribe took attendance, collected dues, for buying said gear or just a fun patrol outing like pizza hut. IIRC it was 25 cents per week, thats about a dollar nowday

You are most welcome to our little group, some ( ok most ) of us have a few pet peeves, and a quirk or two, but that what makes it interesting.

The SM vs SPL to which I referred was about 15 years back. So the problem is not current. In a nutshell the SM was acting as the worlds oldest PL. he would come to the PLC meetings with copies of the next months meeting and camping schedules,and locations that he had decided on and hand them out. No input was asked or accepted from the scouts. He ran the troop meetings, forbid patrols to have meetings or activities on their own. The SPL was sacked because he kept insisting that running the troop was his job. wanna guess who the SM appointed as SPL?? Hint, they had the same last name. B

Krampus made a comment about an SPL who was so bad at his job the PLC wanted to remove him after a few months. This gives me to wonder; Can a patrol "un" elect a PL who is not doing his job? Can a troop / PLC do the same to a SPL? Can a SM remove any scout from his troop office ? When and why should this be allowed / disallowed? I know of only one new SM, a my way or the highway type guy, who did this to a SPL who dared stand up to him and was "fired" on the spot. About 15 out of 40 scouts walked out of that troop that year. Mostly the older scouts. Should we hol

D From the proverbs of Mr Long?

Well I must say this current thread is much more civil than the old part, no name calling, no OMG, you must need professional help. For what it is worth, I still have guns, still practice, and would carry if I thought (not felt ) there was a need to protect tbe scouts

Any one remember 'Follow the rugged road" ads in the late '60s? Not sure if they were a national ad program or just a local one. Nor do I know if they had much impact on membership numbers, but they sure made me (at nine or ten)want to grab a canoe, some beans and bacon, and head for the backcountry rivers

Rat, thats why I am still active, trying to keep the fire burning, sometimes it feels like shoveling water upstream, but gotta do what I can. Oldscout. ps. I don't bother with patches, if I have not earned it, I don't want it

I have been in the Order since '75. I must sadly agree that it's a shadow of what it was. Mostly the scouters seem to be preoccupied with new member numbers, brotherhood percentages, and other metrics national seems to think are so so important. The scouters of my era at least the ones I remember worked at teaching us the meaning of all the fine sounding words in the Obligation. and set the example at living it out. They taught us that there was honor in serving. It did not matter if we got a medal, or a patch, or even a word of thanks, God knew that we had served, and we knew and tha

With four boys, first aid came in handy on a weekly ( at least ) basis, but I am forced to go with rifle and shotgun shooting. When a rabid animal is near your pets and children.....

I talked this over with the wife last night, then stayed up till past midnight pondering, right now I just don't see how I can remain a part of Scouting past July 27. Not and look myself in the mirror every morning. If I think something is wrong how can I be part of a group that says it's right and still call my self an honest man? I suppose this means I will not be wearing a uniform at my youngest sons Eagle court in 4 weeks. Hell of a way to finish nearly a half century of scouting

A bit harsh there Eagle77? Not everyone has a 4' pool or easy access to one

Hmmmm I seem to remember having a one year old, putting an addition on the house on weekends, a job that required 45-55 hours a week, church on Sundays and Thursday nights, and being a den leader. Oh, we were also home schooling at the time. I could have done a better job with more time to prep, planned some den meetings on the drive home, but the cubs seemed to like it. So yes we non lds people also have crazy busy lives

Few Girl Scout troops go camping anymore. At least the ones in central Maryland. My mother was a GS leader for over 50 years, and the one thing that drove her to tears was the fact that the adult leaders flatly refused to " camp" anyplace that didn't have hot showers, beds, heat, and a/c. A number of girls went all the way through the program, earning their Gold Award (that's the gsa eagle) and aside from summer camps never spent one night under canvas. And uniforms?! I can take you to troop meetings of 20-30 girls, and no one is wearing what we would call a uniform. Including

I wasn't trying to tell a story as much as set forth a clear example of actions ( or lack thereof ) having consequences. But Mr. Bob, if you want... Scout Only Child was taken aback, but took the proffered gear and sullenly trudged off to a spot about 50 yards off. We were camping in an open field so we could all watch him. The PL told his patrol not to stare, just keep on doing what you were doing before. I think he was hoping Only Child would swallow his pride and come back. but it was hard not to sneak a quick peek from time to time. Only Child got his tent up in about an hour

Getting back to the OP, I can offer only a little advice, on the scout who wont listen to anyone but his parents, assuming said scout has no disability that would cause such a problem, this is someting that he is going to need to change. Has anyone talked to his parents? This would be the scouters job. Ask why, then ask when they plan to teach their son that sometimes he must listen to others? When he goes off to college? first job? first traffic ticket? Offer that scouts is a good place to learn such needed skills. Try to enlist their support rather than their opposition. A l

It was 40 years ago that I lost a fellow scout and friend to a lighting strike at Philmont. I was 16. Untill then death was something that only happened to old people, It was a cold slap in the face to find it could happen to anyone in the blink of an eye.. Prayers to his family, friends, and the ranger who was with them who is certain to be saying " If I had only...." over and over Oldscout

Well it seems the powers that be have dropped the charges stemming from one of the two times these children have been allowed to walk alone. the other one, where they were picked up about 150 yards from their house remains open. In an interview on WMAL the Mom said that they were tkinking of suing the city/county. And they ask me why I want to move to West Virginia! Oldscout

I havent been sent my card in the last three years. or is it four? and yes, I paid my dues on time. every time.