Oldscout448

I cornered the guy who told us about the new ceremonies, and demanded sources, he said he had it on a disc from someone? at the lodge. btw owr lodge has 4,500 members and about 20 chapters. So not much hope of tracking that down. The scout who heads the team said " Since we don't have it, we aren't gonna worry about it. We do it the way we have been." That settles the matter for the time being. I wonder if this disc is just a copy of the proposed ceremony from last year, and is the source of all the rumors that keep floating around and morphing into different forms, shapes and sizes.

If I can get there, it's snowing like a Jack London novel. Right about now I would be happy with a little global warming

Sounds like you are much closer to the " powers that be " than I am, Chief. I have been out of the loop for the last 8 years or so. I was told they could print it out for me, I hope to see something tomorrow, could be is just staging changes ( I hope) I'll let you know.

I assumed that acatao had some function in the callout. If not you are of course correct kjmillig

Update; at the chapter meeting last Tuesday I was informer that the Ordeal and Pre have been updated in some "minor" ways. The brotherhood is totally changed. The kicker is they want the team to learn them by the spring Ordeal. That is 10 weeks away guys, and as of right now no one on the ceremonies team has a copy. Well we have our first meeting tomorrow, should be fun!

looks like they couldn't afford flak vests

How about wearing your merit badge sash as you get your eagle pinned on, then switching to the OA sash for the call out?

Almost all the scouters I've worked with have worn their Eagle medal at special occasions if they had one, until now. We attended a Coh at my sons new troop last week, I dug my medal out of a box, pinned it on and off we went. I tend to keep my uniform simple; an eagle knot, OA flap ( yes, I have paid my dues this year ) and sometimes a temp patch. I only wear the medal at Coh. Not to brag but to honor the eagle scouts in the troop, and to perhaps say without words to the younger scouts that an eagle is something you can wear even when you are are old and grey. Got some funny looks and I

This thread makes me remember stuff I would like to forget, I Quit scouting after 10 months in a troop where newbies were kicked, punched, tripped, etc. at every meeting and campout, by a nasty trio of 13 year old "scouts". The SM and SPL told me to grow up and deal with it. Never thought about going to another troop figured all troops were the same. I went back after a year, after hearing the ringleader was gone. (never found out if he quit or was thrown out) One of the remaining bullies came up to me with the clear intention of picking up where he left off, I looked him in the eye and sa

Shag, I lived through the 60's so drug use does not shock me much. But if you are at a place where you cannot go one weekend without a few hits, snorts, or whatever. Then I'm with 'ol Qwazse, scouting punishments are the least of your worries

Looks like fun! How cold was it?

True, but a lot of us don't make it to Conclaves. We just focus on serving the local bunch of scouts. I'll never forget the surprised look on the faces of chapter team in 1982 when someone from the lodge team showed up at the spring Ordeal, for the first time in 12 years. Or the shocked look when he told them they had been doing an obsolete Pre ordeal ceremony for the last 4 years

So it seems that the Pre is not to be changed, I'm glad, it works well much better than it was in the old days. Tokala, can you say how much the Brotherhood well change? 20%? 50%? I am planning with working with the team over the summer. It would be nice to know if there is any point in spending time on the Brotherhood?

I like the " stake your claim" station. take one football sized rock painted gold, scouts have 10 minutes to place four stakes in a 25 ft square with the rock in the center, each corner to be N,S.E,W. Move the rock from time to time so one patrol cannot use previous holes as a guide

I found it hard to believe too, until I bumped into a "patrol" of 7 scouts with 3 PLs, 1ASPL, and led by a JASM. They said that a number of troops did this the year before, I can only surmise that the remainder of the troop being stripped of their leaders, fared quite poorly

Well the snow in on the ground, and its nearly time for the Klondike Derby! Last time our troop did this there was some grumbling about some larger troops 'stacking" their patrols. Seems they formed patrols just for this campout made up of their oldest and fastest. They took first place in nearly every event. The normal patrols had very little chance. Now I understand wanting to win, but where is the glory in a bunch of 15-17 year olds beating a bunch of 11-14 year olds? Some say we should set up some sort of age or rank based handicap system. That sounds overly complex to me, perhaps

Black Powder shooting and fire building?

Home repairs and First aid. Could we get Tim Allen as a teacher?

Most useful would be my swiss army knife, the little saw is much handier than I thought it would be. The thing I would hate to loose the most is my scout sheath knife, been carrying it since '73. on pretty much every campout or hile I take

Can you share how the fire "magically" lit? Sounds like a impressive thing to do at a tap out. urr call out

Kudos to your SPL, may his tribe increase

Hmm, a printed ballot you say..... I like it. Just found out the JASM of sons new troop is the chairman of elections in our local chapter, I'll see if that's an idea he can run with Oldscout

I was told that son's old SM has appointed an adult (ASM I guess) to work with each patrol /patrol leader. I"m just sitting here mulling this over. This seems to me to be major revamping of a troop leadership chart. All of the PL are star or higher and about 14 So if the dads are training the PLs what is the SPLs job? If the dads are running the Patrols what is the PLs job? If the dads/ASM calling the shots why would a scout go to his PL with a problem / question? Anyone see a positive side to this? I'm not coming up with anything.

Resqman, I do believe you have hit the nail squarely on the head here. Well said!

I guess I wasn't clear, sorry. I was not trying to bash Eagle as a thing well worth earning, or being proud of. On the rare occasions I wear mine, an Eagle Coh for example, it still gives me a thrill to pin it on. I was trying to fathom why most people I meet seem to think that earning the Eagle rank is the only important thing in scouting