Proud Eagle

Camp Roy C. Manchester, located on Kentucky Lake. I didn't used to be a big fan, but this past summer converted me. Special things at RCM: RCM has direct access to Kentucky Lake. This provides a massive area for motor boating, fishing, swimming, water skiing, small boat sailing, etc. Your troop can even bring its own boat and go out on the lake in your free time if you want. There is a high adventure sailing program on several approx. 21 foot sailboats. We have a good COPE coarse. We will be offering horsemanship and electricity. We will be having a new and improved p

I don't think you are going to find what you are looking for. I think about all that is really made available is which camps pass inspection.

Certainly there were those opposed, but there were also those in favor. I must say I would actually commend those priests for standing up for their convictions. However, the place to disagree with their Bishop isn't at the pulpit, or in the parish news letter. The place would be with other members of the clergy and religious community. Most particularly they should take the matter up with the Bishop. If any member of the clergy were to speak out in such a way after their Bishop had decided the issue, it would be walking dangerously close to the edge on the vow of obedience, and could brin

I would want to know why the Scout hasn't gone to the Ordeal. After I knew the answer to that, I would be able to decide if I should allow him to be elected again. It could be he doesn't want to be in OA. In that case, he may even want to be left off the ballot. On the other hand, he may want to do it, but have had other commitments the last couple of times. Perhaps he thought he had something more fun he could do those weekend. I decided to go to my Ordeal instead of attending the freshman dance at my junior high. Since it was a junior high, the freshman were t

Mr. Zeiger certainly has some weaknesses. For starters, he does seem to look at the world wide movement through the lens of the BSA. Though, that would be natural since he was (or is) a member of the BSA, and probably hasn't had a terrible lot of exposure to Scouting in other places. Also, the Oath and Law are not the same in each country, so what an American Scout thinks are core, bedrock parts of the ideals of Scouting, a Scout from another country could think of as completely alien ideas. Further, he is certainly a politically and socially conservative person, or so his wr

First, do we really want our religious leaders to start following public opinion poles in matters of public teaching on theology and morality? I certainly don't want them to. I would rather the religious leaders continue to follow the teachings of their religion and the guidance of the conscience in making such choices. I have to wonder about their 72% of Catholics number. Is that 72% of people who, when asked about their religion say they are Catholic? If so, a good number of those are probably people who don't really practice their faith. (There are people who were raised Catho

Camp Roy C. Manchester WILL BE OPEN FOR 2005. The 2005 camp season is going to include some major changes to the camp program. I personally think those changes will bring about a great improvement in the experience for the campers. Among the changes being worked on are block scheduling of merit badge classes. Instead of going to each class every day, you will go to half the classes on Monday and Tuesday, and the other half on Thursday and Friday. Wednesday will be a very different program from that of the past. It will be dedicated to camp wide games, patrol competitions, spe

Which version of the M16 will we be using? If it is the M16A2 or M16A4 we won't have full auto, only a three round burst. That would probably make the hitting the target a bit easier. Though really, you should hit the target on a BSA range even with a full auto weapon... at least on the first shot... Personally though, I am holding out for the "Field Artillery MB". Heck, that would be fun even with an old bronze, smooth-bore 12 lb. Napoleon.

Someone can correct me if I am wrong but... I believe councils have the option of organizing with a committee for each program. So there would be a Venturing Committee, a Boy Scout Committee, and a Cub Scout Committee. Most councils seem to have gone with a different organizational system, but I think some are organized in that fashion. Certainly OA publications seem to support this by saying the Lodge Adviser is a member of either the Council's Camping or Boy Scout Committee, depending on organizational system.

I think the article has one problem. The writer assumes Scouting won't work until after the problems are all solved. Scouting can't wait that long. For one, the wait would be years, perhaps decades, and those kids in Iraq need things like Scouting now. Another thing is, if some things like Scouting don't get under way with the process of uniting the Iraqi people at the ground level, and building the basic components of civil society, the problems faced by Iraq will never be solved. So it is imperative that Scouting, and other things like it, get moving as soon as possible.

You know, if I was running a public school and wanted to sponsor Scouts, I would simply issue an open invitation, publicly, for any students, or group for students, that wanted to form for atheists, homosexuals, etc, that if they wanted to be sponsored by the school, we were willing to sponsor them as long as they could find someone to be members. I think the way to get around the issues like the clan is by separating the issues of membership policies from issues like the activities of a group. For example, if a group's primary purpose is to engage in racism, then that is much different

I would imagine DOD says it never sponsored a unit... because it probably never did. While I am not an expert on military law, or military rules and regulations, I have a hunch about this one. In the BSA, the members of the BSA are not able to enter into agreements, or legal relationships, or contracts, on the BSA's behalf. Just because I am a member doesn't mean I can act for the BSA. The same is almost certainly true of the members of the military. Only certain authorized personnel can enter into contracts, and then only for certain authorized purposed. I would imagine th

I like Eamon's last post. The point is to show leadership. Now, does a project that someone else planned allow the Scout to show that leadership? I don't think it would in many cases, but there is perhaps some example where it would. Also, I think demonstrating leadership is an absolute requirement. We should have the same MINIMUM expectations for a 13 year old Eagle candidate as we have for a 17 year old. We must hold everyone to the same standard, or else we are not being just and fair. Now, we should expect more from a 17 year old with many other leadership experiences,

To fight for Nazis to march through a neighborhood of Holocaust survivors is an evil thing. The ACLU may in fact have been correct on the law. It certainly appears that way. However, human decency should have demanded that they not take that particular case. You can not justify doing an evil thing just because it is legal, or advances the rights within the constitution.

I knew a Unitarian who earned one of the protestant religous awards. It was part of the series of somewhat generic protestant awards, though I can't remember the name. I thought that was a bit of an odd thing to do, but I guess if they can satisfy the requirements, there is no reason they could not earn the award. So, if he wants on award that fits with the BSA program, he could try for one of those. I would, however, advise him that the Unitarian Universalist Association has its own award, but that BSA does not authorise its wear on the uniform. I wouldn't go into all the details abo

You have to be careful with this. If they have a completely planned project, with all materials ready to go, and all documentation prepared, then it wouldn't really make an Eagle project. It would make a fine community service project. On the other hand, you don't want you Eagles to be totally on their own when it comes to identifying, selecting, and planning projects. So, make certain you are diplomatic about this and clearly communicate that while ready made service projects are a great way for Scouts to help the community, Eagle candidates need a project that requires a bit more

I think that Computer example just shows why you need someone who has some knowledge of the field to help teach and guide the Scout through the MB. It is also a good argument for BSA continuing to update their MB books.

You should probably talk to the people at council about this, but I would think some sort of memorandum of understanding, or some such thing, signed by the old CO, the new CO, and the council, and spelling out all the important parts of this plan would cover everything. I wouldn't be surprised if the council has standard forms for this sort of thing. They will certainly have some experience dealing with moving units.

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. I wanted to skip the argument over how any particular group of Christians should be known as a church, sect, synod, denomination, etc. If we got into that argument, we would never get out of it. I have no problem with discussing various groups as they relate to this particular topic. Oh, the Unitarians do have some problems with BSA, though do to the many varied positions taken by unitarians on almost any issue, some will have problems, while others won't, but in this case the national association does. Essentially the unitarians are at

Just out of curiosity, when did he give the talk? Did he do it while working on the MB? The reason I ask is, there are some people that will only sign off on things done since starting the MB. Is this right? I don't really know, but if that is what they decide to do, there isn't any way to make them sign something they don't want to.

If I am a merit badge counselor for X MB, and requirement 2 A is something I am an expert in, while requirement 2 B is something I don't know the first thing about, I would feel obligated to tell the Scout that I am only able to sign off on 2 A, and if he wants to do 2 B instead, he will need to find a some other person to work with on MB X. That isn't adding to the requirement, or taking away from it, that is just letting the Scout know what the situation is, and letting him make a choice. If he chooses 2B, he needs to find a different counselor.

I think we should leave the argument over sects, synods, churches, congregations, and denominations well enough alone. Otherwise we will find ourselves in an intractible argument. Though by all means, continue the discussion on organizations that don't charter units.

I am not suggesting it would be a good idea to invite every youth to the district committee or executive board meetings. That would likely be a disaster. I can't see any benefit to either the Cub Scout or the meeting in having them attend either. I am sure there is some special case once in a blue moon that this would be a good idea, but generally I would say not. However, what I am talking about, is having perhaps one youth from the Venturing program and one youth from the Boy Scout program be invited to attend. The logical choice would be the Order of the Arrow chief (chapte

You know, this gives me an idea. I think perhaps adding the Outdoor Code or Wilderness Pledge to hikes and campout would be a good idea. I think the troop opening has enough stuff as is, but adding it to outdoor activities sounds like a good idea.

The BSA, through the region offices, keeps track of which professionals are eligible for which promotions. So, if there is an opening in a council for a new Scout Executive, the Executive Board (or perhaps the council president) will request a list of candidates who are eligible to take a Scout Executive position. The region office will produce such a list and send it to the council. The council will then choose which one of those people to hire. So, it is a blend of the professional service telling you who you can hire, and the council making the final decision to actually hire