Proud Eagle

According to the Directer of the Southern Region, Camp Roy C. Manchester is supposed to be one of the top three camps in the nation. I have no idea how he came up with this assertion. It may be based on camp inspection, or on out of council attendance, or just his personal opinion, I have no idea. But he, and others from the region office, have made this same assertion more than once.

Actually, a Venturing Crew attending a Boy Scout resident camp is supposed to use the same standards as a Boy Scout troop while at that camp. The reason for this, I would assume, is two fold. The first is so there can be one consistent standard for the entire camp. The second is that very few camps have the seperate shower facilities that would also be required by splitting everyone into three age groups.

what in the world are you talking about? I was there in 2001 and never saw or heard of this thing with a baseball bat. No one that I knew that went in 97, or 93, or ever for that matter has mentioned such a thing. Everyone talks about trash compacting, but no one ever mentioned a baseball bat. The trash compaction is really just a practical matter. You won't have very much room in you pack unless you do, because when you unpack the food the trash seems to expand. Also, they can only handle a limited volume of trash at those far flung staff camps. Don't forget trash is a bear bag item. Also, the smaller it is, the less likely it will fall apart and end up getting tuna juice all over the inside of your pack, turning it into a bear bag item... Singing was in use in 2001. If you wanted seconds you had to sing. It was usually something very short, well known, and mildly amusing. (Such as "I'me a little tea pot".) I seem to remember everyone that wanted seconds sang it as a group. Then if more people got up later, they had to sing at that time. Though I seem to remember waiting until the very end of the meal and getting seconds without singing.(This message has been edited by Proud Eagle)

We have done week, even two week long summer trips. However, we never stay in the same place for the entire week. If we want to do that we go to summer camp. Instead we take great long touring type trips. For example, we might go to Colorado to Rocky Mountain National Park. We might spend four days camping and hiking in the park, then drive to some other nearby attractions and do more camping and hiking. Then squeeze in a evening trail ride at another location, spend another day whitewater rafting, and of coarse there are the various stops between Kentucky and Colorado that must be made on the way there and back. I could provide you with itenararies for trips to Colorado, Canada, Florida, DC/Jambo, and possibly Wisconsin, Wyoming, and some other places that we have done in recent memory. I do know of troops that refuse to go to real summer camps and instead put on a miniature troop summer camp, it lasts a week or more, and they essentially do the same stuff that a regular summer camp does. Whatever floats your boat works with me. (Reminds me of something I would like to try some summer... begins planning long distance Huk Finn like river trip... 1. buy, borrow, steal, rent, or otherwise procure a houseboat... 2. procure gas... 3. prcure food 4. drinks 5. ice 6. people 7. realises I only want to go one way so now I need to find a one way boat rental service...)

I think the rule for hugging is that only symbolic, non-hazing hugging is allowed.

Question about changes in tour permits- (and a guide to safe scouting rant later on) You have to submit a tour permit 2 weeks before an event. Lets say you list the SM and the ASM as the leader and assistant leader. Lets say they both come down with a viral infection the night before and cant go. Now lets say you have extra adults, that would have fit nicely into those same slots, and would have allowed you to file a correct permit with their names on it, had you known 2 weeks in advance that someone would get a viral infection. What is the procedure (or is there one?) for last minute or emergency changes to a tour permit? I assume there is some way to account for last minute changes, such as the assistant leader becoming the leader and some other qualified adult becoming the assistant leader. While we are on the subject, has anyone else noticed the slightly confusing language used in the Guide to Safe Scouting under aquatic activities. If you read under "BSA Lifeguard" it almost makes it sound like a certified BSA Lifeguard is required for the qualified supervision for aquatic activities. Yet under the qualified supervision portions of the safe swim defense and safety afloat rules it seems to clearly indicate that a certified Lifeguard is not required. In fact, it appears there is a distinct difference between a "lifeguard" and a "BSA Lifeguard". Also, now that I look at it more closely, it would seem that we violated the rules for surf swimming last time my troop was at the beach. There were no anchored marker buoys for the swimming area, since it was a public beach. However, I really have to wonder how you can set up a decent buoy system in a surf zone. The seas are simply too turbulent for affective anchoring. Personally I felt safer, in retrospect, having two people supervise the group who had grown up on that beach or lived there for decades, than I would have felt if we had anchored buoys. Also, the way the surf swimming rules are written, it makes it sound like these flags and buoys and such are part of all surf swimming areas. Additionally, there is no guidance about how to position your standing lifeguards. Further, how do you make someone be still and quite while swimming in a surf zone while you do a buddy check? And now that I read that section for like the 3rd time, it appears there is a distinction between a beach and a surf zone. So what exactly is the difference? I suppose we were probably swimming at a beach, not in a surf zone, so the surf zone rules didn't apply, though that is somewhat difficult to determine. There were no strong currents or undertowes, or things of that nature, nor was anyone (such as people who had lived at that spot for literaly decades) aware of there being such dangers at that particular location during that season. Though there was a danger from stingrays and other marine life. This danger was mitigated somewhat by requiring everyone to wear water shoes.

I would not approve (if I was on my lodge's adult selection committee [a group that consists of the adviser, staff adviser, and SE in our case]) an adult that will only be able to set an example. They should already set an example of what I Scout should be. They should already encourage troop members to be active in Scouting events, including OA. Now if they can help drive kids to one OA event each year, then that is a real contribution. If they can teach people how to to Indian beadwork one Monday night each month, then that is a real contribution. Adults should only be brought into the OA if doing so will benefit the Scouting community in some way. If all they are going to do is what they are already doing, then that is of no advantage. Youth are a completely seperate issue, so I won't address that here. The same also holds for adults that were inducted as youth. Now for the Vigil Honor... If someone is actively seeking it, that is reason enough, by itself, to withold it in my opinion. If they actively seek it, then later mature to the point of having a better understanding of the spirit of cheerful service, then they may be ready. The Vigil should not be given purely as a reward or award. It should certainly not be given to some old fart who no longer can contribute simply because he needs another life time achievement award. (I was on a selection committee that did this. I was too young at the time to really appreciate what we were doing, and our chairman didn't bother to explain it very well.) This year I ensured the mistakes of the past weren't repeated. The Vigil Honor must be given based at least as much upon what you expect someone to do in the future as what they have already done. If all they are doing is seeking a new title, you have no reason to think they will continue in service after they recieve it. The problem is getting the youth members of the committee to understand these things. Though this can be done if the adviser works with the chairman in advance and the chairman then sets an appropriate tone and clearly states the purpose of the Vigil Honor and the criteria to be used for selection.

whoa! Major problem. The Boy Scouts of America and the various local BSA councils are seperate corporate entities. The BSA does not own or operate the local councils. The BSA is a nationally chartered non-profit corporation. The local councils are non-profit corporations incorporated in the state in which they concduct their primary business (wherever the office or headquarters is located, generally speaking). The Shawnee Trails Council INC. is a Kentucky non-profit corporation. It recently hired the Boy Scouts of America as a subcontractor. Now the BSA grants a charter to each local council. This charter is sort of like a license agreement. It gives the council the authority to run the Scouting program within its boundaries. It also comes with some other rights, privilidges, responsibilities, and duties. The local units are not independent legal entities (barring some unusual state laws that may be out their some place). Rather, they are part of their chartering organization. The local council grants a charter to these organizations to operate a BSA unit of a given type. Again, this is sort of like a license agreement for a piece of software. However, the council isn't granting the license to use something it owns, rather, the councils have been granted the right to grant individual unit charters as part of the council's agreement with the BSA. The BSA retains ownership of the program, the various trademarked and copyrighted materials, etc, and mearly grants permission for others to use them. In the case of councils it grants them one set of privlidges. One of those privlidges is to essentially act as the local distributor of charters to the individual organizations that actually own the units. It is a rather complex but not too difficult to understand arrangement. Its primary purposes are to ease the process of managing the program (thereby allowing the program to be delivered more affectively), and in the modern world to protect say the Scouts in New York from some stupid mistake made by a troop in say Florida. Incidently, it is quite possible that the rules and regulations of the BSA and the laws of an individual state may in fact conflict if there were a dispute over some council. (It is quite possible for example, that if the BSA revoked the charter of the Shawnee Trails Council, it would be able to continue as a corporation under Kentucky law, retaining its current board members and officers, no matter what the BSA tries to do about it. However, this is now a moot point due to one of the provisions of a recently signed contract between the BSA and Shawnee Trails Council INC, that requires Shawnee Trails Council to wind up its affairs and dissolve itself in a timely fashion, should BSA request it. The new contract also gives the BSA the right to ask for a new executive board to be elected. However, until this contract was signed, it was quite likely that BSA had no such authority, though ultimately it would have had to have been fought out in court by lawyers, and for a time that was a real possibility.) As nearly as I can tell, the council's stock is held in equal shares by each of the charter organization. The Charter Organization Representatives excersise all the various shareholder powers on behalf of the organizations. Essentially, this amouns to electing the executive board and officers at the annual business meeting. (See what I get for reading the corporate by-laws of my council and going to a couple of meetings and reading a proposal from the BSA?)(This message has been edited by Proud Eagle)

Best advice- Find another troop if possible. Warn others not to join this troop. If that isn't possible talk to charter organization representative, institutional head, District Executive, Unit Commisionar, and any others you can find. You may be able to win on appeal, but it is not possible to have an enjoyable Scouting experience in a perpetually adversarial environment. Therefore, you either need to move to a new environement, or change the one you are in.

At our camp they do this. At evening flags the camp director asks "what time is it?" the staff replies "its suzie time" and then the suzie song is sung. Then everyone checks their pockets for suzie (a fake buddie tage colored with various florescent markers such as orange, pink, and green). If someone has suzie, they are asked to step forward. They then play some rather unusual game against a staff member of their choosing. Sometimes the camper will trade with another member of their troop. (games include drinking a glass of water while being held upside down by some other person, racing around the flap pole with a spoon stuck to your nose, racing with a ping pong ball in a spoon, crap walk race, or wheelbarrow race) If the staff member is winning other staff members will run into the assembly area and sabotage their efforts until the camper wins, in fact, we usually do this even if the camper is winning. The camper gets a free slushie, the staff member gets nothing. Now there is one thing that may be hazing (but is more likely a just punishment) that is used as a punishement. If someone leaves a buddy tag in the swimming area, once they are discovered, they must wear a PFD during the next meal. Obviously the problem with a lost buddy tag in the swimming area is that it could trigger a camp wide lost bather drill, requiring the entire camp to assemble at flags and the life guards to search the bottum of the lake in order to account for the swimmer. This happened one time this year. Fortunately it was at almost the same time as the weekly practice drill, so it all worked out. Several other individuals left tags, but they were immediately located in their scheduled merit badge class, so no sirens were sounded, no camp wide assembly was required, and the life guards were spaired the ordeal of diving to the bottom of the lake repeatedly.

Sorry for the long delay in replying. Just now settling back into the regular routine after returning from camp. (I still think the entire universe revolves around camp.) No, the camp isn't Crooked Creek. It is Roy C. Manchester. I don't know the camp director very well, and since his last day working for our council as a DE was 2 days after camp ended, some other group of Scouts and Scouters will soon get to know him (probably in Lexington). The Program Director and Camp Commisioner are both recent camp school graduates and both attempted to look things up in the national camp standards. Neither could locate a requirement for three seperate age divisions in housing. Interestingly, neither could the camp director, but since he thought he remembered reading it, he went with it anyway. In fact, at least in theory, there were 6 sets of accomadations for staff, and four catagories for campers. male staff under 18 18 or over, but not yet 21 21 and over female staff (same age groups as above) male campers under 18 18 and over female campers under 18 18 and over Apperently the staff required special treatment for some reason, yet the various campers, including co-ed venturing crews and sea scout ships, and even a co-ed troop from the Czech Republic did not. This was particularly awkward since we do not have that many sets of shower facilities. I was told that for using the staff shower facility we would need to post a schedule for the under 18 and over 18 times, and the over 21s would just use the campers adult shower. I ended up just using the adult showers for the campers, because it made life easier for everyone. On the pay issue, I don't think I qualify as a volunteer since 1. I was being paid on an hourly basis 2. both state and federal payroll taxes and social security taxes were being paid (or at least deducted from my paycheck) as to weather they were paid or not... well that another issue all together... The theory is that once the value of housing and food is added to the pay, we make above minimum wage. However, the value of these things is no where specified, so there is no way to know for certain. It would be better to do like Philmont - increase everyone's base pay, but then actually deduct the cost of room and board from the pay check, so everything is all clearly spelled out. Oh, speaking of national standards, no one ever showed up to inspect the COPE coarse at our camp. The inspection was scheduled and confirmed, and on the appointed day... no inspection team. So the program director (also certified as a COPE director) just double checked the COPE directors work to make certain everything was up to standards, and everyone just went on with life like normal. There are many other strange, amusing, frightening, sickening, baffeling, and amazing stories I could tell, but I will save a few for another day.

I am currently working at a Boy Scout resident camp. Normally 18 is the dividing line for Boy Scout activities and facilities. However, the staff at the camp is part of a Venturing crew chartered to the camp. (All staff members are required to join this crew when applying for employment. And yes, it is actually chartered to the camp, I have seen the actual charter.) Now the Camp Director (one of our DEs) says that because we are a crew at a Boy Scout camp, the camp must have 3 sets of accomodations for those under 18, those over 18 but under 21, and for those over 21. Now the camp commisioner and the program director both think he is wrong. The only reference any of us could find indicated that a crew at a Boy Scout resident camp should follow Boy Scout guidelines for use of facilities. The camp ranger was also asked about this, and he said he wasn't certain but that the health and safety manual was the only place he could think of that such a rule may be written. When questioned about this the camp director simply replied that national made the rule and that if anyone had a problem with it they should take it up with them. So, can anyone tell me if there is such a rule? If so where can it be found? Also, if such a rule exists, how are people to know that it supercedes the rules found in other manuals? Since we are talking camp issues, there are a few others. The main staff housing area contains youth and no adults. The nearest adult staff are at least a quarter mile away, is this a problem? The camp staff were required to waive the right to collect unemployment insurance, is the allowed? Also, my pay check says I am paid for 40 hours per week of work. Yet if that is true, my hourly rate is well below the current minimum wage. The cost of room and board is considered part of our compensation, yet in no place is the value of this compensation specified. It appears to me that could be a violation of minimum wage laws. Further, employees were given blank contracts to sign and not given a copy of the contract to keep. The contract also required following the Staff Guide and Leaders Guide, documents not given to all staff members. Finally, does anyone know where to find the requirements for a range officer for a BSA archery range? There is no mention of archery any place in the guide to safe scouting.

Tuesday, June 22nd I attended a Council Executive Board meeting for the first time (as an observer only). Let me just say I have come face to face with the dark side of Scouting now. Keep your ears open for news on the Shawnee Trails Council. It sounds like we could be in for a rough ride. Just as a hint of how bad things are, the Council President wants our council to become the first to file for bankruptcy protection. I certainly never thought I would witness a council president and a region director yelling at each other during a public meeting, but such is the state of things. I really wish I had ready access to this site, there are some legal, financial, and technical issues I would like to get some feedback about, but I am currently on camp staff, so that just isn't possible very often. Maybe something will turn for the better at the next meeting this Tuesday.

I suppose we would also need official BSA pistol belts and sombreros to complete that outfit. The frightening thing is I have seen pictures from people's Eagle ceremonies with them dressed in a manner only a bit different from that. Usually they are also wearing the official BSA blue jeans. The place I have seen the most of these is in the Elks magazine, when they depict Scouts that have won awards or scholarships from the Elks.

So, let me get this straight. This mother was worried about the safety of a trust fall? Does she even know what she is talking about? Now if the kid has some sort of back or neck problem, I could understand that. Otherwise, that is just crazy.

Generally those attending a COH should not wear a sash. This is because a COH is not an OA event, nor are they representing the Order. Now the OA Troop Representative would have an argument for wearing the sash, though I would advise against it unless he is performing some special function. Also, if someone is speaking about the candidate's OA experience, or speaking on behalf of the chapter, lodge, or in some other capacity representing the OA, it would be appropriate to wear the sash. Generally, it is my experience that it is the least experienced (which often translates to least committed, though not always) Arrowmen who will be found wearing a their OA sash during a Court of Honor. Let me give some examples to illustrate my point: The last Eagle Court of Honor I attended was held for the current chief of section SR-6N. The event was also attended by the immediate prior section chief. Further, there were several Vigil Honor members, former Lodge Chiefs, and several current lodge and chapter officers and advisers in attendance. Yet, the only person wearing an OA sash was the current Lodge Adviser. The reason he was wearing his sash - he was going to be speaking about the candidate's OA experiences. During my own Eagle Court of Honor, I was serving as Lodge Chief. However, not a single person (that includes me) was wearing a OA sash. I sincerely hope the reason so many feel the need to wear an OA sash during a COH is because they don't fully understand the appropriate times for wearing a sash. However, another part of me is a bit cynical, and thinks it is because they have a less than impressive merit badge sash, and so they decided the OA sash looks more impressive. Oh, I am a bit suprised there is a 2003 version of the handbook. I guess that just goes to show I don't know everything.(This message has been edited by Proud Eagle)

No, I won't be a Camp Crooked Creek. I had spoken with the camp director there several months ago during a visit to the council office, and I had the opportunity to take a staff position, however I did not do so. The position I am taking is at Camp Roy C. Manchester, on Kentucky Lake. Perhaps our paths will cross at some future juncture, but it will not be at CCC this summer. Extra socks? Makes sense I suppose, though I don't think I would have thought of it. Thanks for the tip.(This message has been edited by Proud Eagle)

Earlier today the program director from my council's camp called my house and left a message to the affect that they needed an archery instructor, because the current one had something come up and was going to leave, and that he would appreciate it if I called back. So this afternoon I called the camp office and spoke with the Camp Director. He offered to let me think about it for a couple days, but I told him I would have an answer this evening. So, I just got off the phone with the program director. I start work as soon as I can wrap up some loose ends in Lousiville and get to RCM. This will be both my first experience as an archery instructor, and my first experience on camp staff. I will likely be leaving in a couple days, so I am afraid I will miss this place until at least the latter part of July, or perhaps even until August. In the mean time, if anyone has any tips, suggestions, advice, etc, I would greatly appreciate it. I hope everyone has a great summer. I know I certainly plan to.

The universal arrow ribbon and the lodge flap serve different, but similar purposes. One shows you are an Arrowman, the other shows what Lodge you are a member of. It is sort of like the relationship between the "Boy Scouts of America" strip and the Council strip. On the other hand, the ribbon is very much redundant if the sash is being worn. However, to my knowledge there is nothing that prohibits the ribbon and sash and flap from all being worn at the same time. The sash is to be worn OA functions (generally any time the field uniform is worn during an OA function). It can also be worn with work clothing by Elangomats during Ordeals. The sash may also be worn when representing the Order in some official capacity. Finally, there are a few select special occasions where wearing the sash is appropriate. You really need to read a current edition of the OA Handbook to find out the rules for wearing a sash. (Current version is 2002, however, if history is any guide, a 2004 version will be out by the end of summer.)

I am not going to follow my normal procedure with OA questions and quote pages and pages of official materials. Instead I am going to tell you what I know to be the truth to the best of my ability. The Universal Arrow Ribon is a symbol that a person is an Arrowman. It does not indicate that a person is a member of any particular lodge. Rather, it, like the sash, is a common sign of membership within the greater Order. All members may wear the Univeral Arrow Ribon. Also, if memory serves, all new members are to be issued one on completing the Ordeal. (Note, I consider it redundant to wear both the sash and ribon, but to my knowledge there is no rule to prevent it.) The silver arrow pin is for civilian wear. Any member of the Order may wear the pin on civilian attire at such times as may seem appropriate. It is never to be worn on the BSA field uniform. (I would also assume it is not to be worn on the dress uniform, though I wouldn't swear to it one way or the other.) The lodge flap "belongs" to the lodge that created it. Only active members of that lodge are entitled to wear the flap. The individual lodges have the power to define what determines active for the purposes of wearing their flap. Lodges may create flaps with various membership levels, or for other purposes. However, the OA does not recommend creating restricted flaps, as these seem to go against the concept of brotherhood. Ultimately, it is the lodge that determines all policy concerning the lodge flap. If a lodge wishes to only issue flaps to new members when they come back for their second event, or some other such limitations, that is their decision to make. Policy dictates (if memory serves) that all new Arrowmen must be given the Univeral Arrow Ribon, the Ordeal Sash, the OA Handbook, and a membership card upon completion of the Ordeal. (The cost of these items is built into the Ordeal fee.) Issuing the lodge flap, or any other lodge insignia or recognition, is the lodge's option.

It is often true that you can save money and get more out of employees by having better trained, better educated, more capable, and better compensated employees. Or at leas that is what I have read in some papers about business and economics. After all, if the professors wrote that it is so, it must be so. In this case I think it may actually be so. Incidentally this is one of the reasons why increasing the minimum wage actually hurts low skill level workers. It becomes more likely to be economical to replace several minimum output minimum wage workers with a smaller number of high output higher paid workers. Or in other fields it becomes more economical to replace minimum wage workers with computers, robots, machines, or other productivity enhancing equipment. Now the potential flip side is this may lead to a more effecient economy, and perhaps cause some low skill workers to seek ways to improve their skill levels, and create a greater number of higher than minimum wage jobs. Oh, I almost forgot, buying more productivity enhancing equipment may increase the demand for workers in businesses related to the creation of such equipment, and therefore offset some of the job losses, or then again it may not, since that really depends on some other conditions that we don't really know. Isn't that just the trouble with economics? In science you have to hold all variables equal to test the outcome of changing one variable. Yet the dynamic nature of economics means that changing almost any one variable will create a change in other variables. That is unless you create some sort of artificial controls, but those usually lead to long term instability and are not normally sustainable. Messing with the free market seems more and more to be like playing God the more I learn about economics. My apologies for turning this into Economics 101. I just can't seem to help myself these days.(This message has been edited by Proud Eagle)

I should also note that I greatly appreciated the chance to have some input in my COH. There were many things I liked about the traditional troop way, but there were other things I did not like, and there were some things I did like that the troop hadn't traditionaly done. This allowed the very nature of the COH to reflect on me, rather than just the specific content of certain parts of the presentation. I should note, however, that often local tradition is the best place to start. It allows the Eagle and family to have a nice, easy, ready to go format if they choose not to make changes. It also keeps some continuity between ceremonies, while allowing for customization. Using a stock ceremonoy and not allowing any deviation would produce very impersonal ceremonies, in my opinion. This would be particularly true if a troop used the same ceremony for every Eagle, and even more of a problem if it held Eagle COHs relatively frequently. It would suck the special and unique nature of the Eagle COH right out of the thing if every one in the troop sat through the exact same ceremony every other month. Now as to the role of the PLC in planning the COH, I think it would be appropriate to work with the PLC to plan the event. For example, if a color guard is needed, it would be a good idea to ask the PLC if it could provide one. Things such as this should be left to the PLC when possible. (Note, the Eagle and family should not demand anything of the PLC, but rather make polite requests. The PLC should also be allowed to give some feedback about things.) For planning for decorations, invitations, programs, and the reception, it would be best if the troop established a permanent policy on who is to pay for what in these catagories. It may be best to have the family handle the invitations, while the troop may do decorations. It may also be a good idea for each family in the troop to bring some food or drink item for the reception, with either the family or troop supplying the cake, or some other such breakdown. (In the past, my troop had the family of the Eagle handle invitations and programs, while the troop would provide decorations and meat for the reception dinner, each family in the troop would provide a side dish, and the Eagle's family would provide the cake.) Another option would be to provide a fixed budget for each COH, and let those planning it determine how to use the funds. Finally, I must say I like the idea of the local NESA chapter providing assistance in planning and carrying out the COH. While control should remain with the Eagle and his family, I am sure many would appreciate the assistance. This is especially true if a troop has not recently had an Eagle COH, and therefore does not know all the ins and outs of planning one. Ultimately, the Eagle Court of Honor must incorporate the wishes of the Eagle and his family, with the guidance of experienced Scouters, the assistance of the Troop, and remain within the limits of what the troop is willing to provide. If the Eagle says he wants to let the troop PLC, supported by the troop committee, and with the guidance of the Scoutmasters, plan his COH, then that is perfectly acceptable to me. If on the other hand the Eagle has some idea, complete with script with i's dotted and t's crossed, for a COH unlike any other, and is willing to make the effort needed to have it happen, then that is fine with me as well.

I called the national OA office in Texas today. I was able to find out that their are still some openings for Trail Crew and Wilderness Voyage. I was told all remaining Voyage sessions still contain openings. Trail Crew has openings for sessions 3, 4, and 6. If anyone is interested in participating in these programs you must: download and fill out the forms from www.oa-bsa.org obtain parental permission if under 18 obtain Lodge Adviser approval obtain Scout executive approval mail completed application and $25 non-refundable deposit to the OA office in TX Keep in mind that half of these two week programs is spent doing trail or portage work. The other half is spent doing canoing or backpacking. All participants must be physically prepared. Oh, and just so I don't get anyone's hopes up, these programs are only for Arrowmen who are at least 16, but not yet 21 years of age. Also, very important, you must arrange your own transportation either to the high adventure base, or to one of the designated pick up points, by the specified times and dates. If you are unable to participate this year, consider applying for next year's program. The 2005 applications will be available by NOAC (there is usually a booth at NOAC promoting these programs and handing out applications), if not sooner. It is my understanding that those selected are not notified until May, but since the selection process is competitive, it certainly doesn't hurt to get the applications in early. Also, for college age Scouters, I believe the Philbreak program (more or less a shortened Trail Crew during spring break) will be offered again in 2005. This is a rare opportunity to go to Philmont in the spring time off season, rather than the summer.

Usually most Eagle COH are planned by the Eagle and his family. Of coarse it is expected that they will coordinate and consult with the unit leaders. However, the purpose of the COH is to recognize the Eagle and his accomplishments. As such, it is fitting that the recognition take the form he chooses. I would suggest that if a unit has some traditional way of conducting a COH, it would be good to inform the Eagle of those traditions and provide materials such as examples of previous scripts and such to use as a guide, if he chooses to do so. There is also a good book with sample Eagle COHs in it available through supply division. I would highly recommend every unit have a copy to loan out to those families planning such events. Oh, I would also note that I did a good deal of the decision making about the content of my COH. I even chose the individuals that would do each part of the ceremony. I took elements from a couple of the standard ceremonies in the book, and added in some of the traditional troop things, and even a few things I thought of myself. In my opinion (biased as it may be) it was one of the best COH I have seen. Now I left most of the details, such as getting the programs printed, and food for the reception, and things of that nature to others. (Actually my mother handled most of that.) I should also offer a piece of advice. A good way to "force" the other members of a unit and their families to attend is to ask the family of each scout to do something, like bring drinks, or help decorate, or bring a side dish if a full dinner is planned.(This message has been edited by Proud Eagle)

Reagan was one of the great men of modern times. I for one prefer not to mourn, but rather to celebrate his life and his accomplishments. I also can't help but think he is now finally at peace after walking a long, hard road.