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Hope the boys can cheer him up. And, I'm really, really hoping he goes off script!

... or aspirations beyond the roles of their sex, ... or age lines.

I'm sure OB meant "discriminatory against the popularly pitied class du jour."

I've suggested in the past the design of clothes with electronic ink. A boy's sash could have a digital subscription to scout-net, and when the troop recieves a blue card, the SM snaps a picture of it, which is wirelessly uploaded, and an image of the medallion would appear on the sash ... saving time, toil, and textile. Same for shirt pockets. It would be cool as a boy comes out of a BoR to watch an oval "float" from the right front pocket to the back of the sash, and the new oval reappear. Youth-led wonks could ad voice recognition processes so the the whole visual transformation would only occur on the SPL's declaration.

I think this is the point where numbers begin to really matter. Not numbers physically (or even virtually) present, but what those numbers represent. The fewer percentage of American boys BSA holds as members, the easier a POTUS can brush them off. Not necessarily because he/she would want to, but because he/she would need to find other avenues in addition to BSA to reach out to that demographic. @@ALongWalk, sorry to hear that. It's really hard to figure out how to help scouts stand up against the "not my president" rhetoric. I don't want them going around blugeoning suspected anarchists, but I do want them to enforce that we're all in this together under the same constitution.

Yeh, because of the banning of independent patrol overnights!

My most recent lesson from the last little trek: If you lose that piece of gear your wife bought you for Christmas, Buy its replacement before she finds out! True story: this group of boys were surprisingly up and at 'em and ready to hit the trail each morning. I am usually last to pull out of camp. Finishing coffee, pulling together loaned gear, site check ... Gives me some peace and quiet on the trail. Anyway, last day, I get to the extraction and realize my sandals aren't clipped in. So when we get home, I post a notice on a page for folks who hike the area. Next weekend, there's a post from a guy with a picture of my sandals AND MY HEADLAMP that were left neatly on the rock that served as my cooking table ... ready to be packed. Shure enough, that wasn't in the expect pocket of my pack either. The fella said he left them at the trailhead. Evidently he'd never learned about finders-keepers. Clearly he'd missed my post when planning his trip. Turns out, had he brought them home he would have been just on the other side of town. Instead of a good Sunday dinner with a complete stranger, I wasted a trip to Sportsman's Warehouse looking for a model they did not have. The kids all witnessed this online dialogue, but the Mrs. didn't. I figured I was in the clear until the next sports store visit. So, the other night when we were trying to fish a moth out of Son #1's ear (!) Mrs. Q hollers for me to get my headlamp on account of all of our heads blocking the light above the man's head on the kitchen table. With no small amount of snickers, Daughter-in-law says, "He left it on the Sods." Let's just say the fan and vicinity required cleaning.

Well written. Oh, for the love of laurel thickets who teach so brutally that your GPS maps are a lie! Welcome to the forums!

Welcome to the forums. And, by the way you know to browse the G2A, thanks for all you do for the boys. You answered your own question. Troops may set policies regarding when awards are presented. My troop growing up did about the same as in your example. We all grew up strong and good. My sons were in he same troop under different SMs who preferred to operate differently. One would have he SPL distribute awards at the end of the very next meeting, the other two preferred to take one big order to the scout shop and distribute them at a CoH two or three times a year. Both boys are now strong and good young men. Even their sister says so. Awards cost money (plus shipping, if you aren't near a scout shop). The troop either fundraises or collects dues to pay for them. Having observed all that, I don't advise our latest SM one way or the other. I do tell him to make sure the scout's portion of the MB application (blue card) stays with the scout at all times. I think he's settled on giving awards at fairly frequent CoH's. That's fine. The boys are growing up strong and good as far as we can tell.

"Baggage" at this age could be the grind of advancement, crossover helicopter parents, splitting into groups of eight when your posse is 15 strong, wanting to master something your troop has no interest in, Uniforming like a third world general, patches for practically sneezing, ...

Every camp I attended always had one or more international scouts.

The coffee pot. My barista's miscela blend, ground for espresso.

For our district, it's not sports. It's theater. And a couple of grads are indeed making it big. Sometimes the combination of the two. Although the district hasn't fielded many pro athletes, That last phrase is tremendous. Any form of separate-but-equal is a non-starter. It demands a doubling of personnel when membership might only increase slightly, depending on location. When daughter became venturer, Mrs. Q became committee on paper. But she made it quite clear that I was the one who "did scouts." The reasons for this involved gifts and talents, as well as personality clashes ... but more importantly, there is a lot of work to be done for a household with three kids and as many pets. We had to divide and conquer. I don't forsee the next generation of scout parents being any different.

Welcome, and thanks for all you do for the boys!

It's doublespeak. I'm rankled by it. I can't imagine it sitting well in the heartland. That's so Greater LA can filter out us ne're-do-wells from parts east. Actually, it may indeed be a national survey. But I can understand the interest in knowing which opinions are from which stakeholders and special interests.

'Skip crews often pushed the boundaries by a year or so in age to include a devoted younger sibling or best friend. I nicknamed these lot "Venturers in Training." Many do wind up taking a turn as officers, where youth recruited at an older age are slightly more likely to sit on their hands. One desire of the developers of the venturing program was to have them involved with existing BSA and GS/USA troops and packs, thereby creating a conduit from existing programs to Venturing. It never materialized. There are some troops and crews that have gone maverick on this, and provided co-ed program, setting aside advancement, for 11-14 year olds. Their challenge, however, is insurance coverage, which they must acquire outside of BSA. and personnel who have to make up rules as they go along.

When is a belt not a belt? When it's a sash-rack! In the "red-beret" days, we would often fold it and stick it under an epaulet. I would not be displeased at all if a troop invested in stock 'biners or parachord, and made something for boys to hang their hats to their belts when indoors. What's the point of a hat if not to show how courteous you are?

I'm not sure my PL would call the house. Mom would talk his ear off! He would knock at my door and catch up with me in school. I don't recall any attendance problems with my patrol. Perhaps they were all new scouts, and I was working with them through their Jr. High years, before they would consider doing anything besides attending troop meetings and activities. Do any of your troops do roll-call by patrol for your opening ceremony? We do at summer camp, but not at meetings. I'm trying to get that to change.

Why I'm not an SM: He'll get it as soon as he learns . . . . . . to axe nicely.

Our scenario: merged troop of boys with preferences for two different camps on the same week. 2/3rds went east, 1/3rd went west. Divisions were not along patrol lines. I forget which contingent got the SPL/ASPL. Anyway, whatever problems it caused, the boys were expected to sort it out for themselves.

@@ianwilkins, the litigious nature of our populace (foisted upon us by the criminal behavior of a few) is indeed crippling.

Technically, at our camp, each area director signs blue cards. The sum of every MB in that area should be the director's "competency."

I was curious if @@Bingo's scout got his act together. Before I put my 9th Ed. BSHB on the shelf, I thought here would be a good place to outline Green Bar Bill's definition of scout participation. He called it "Three A's": Attendance "... there on the dot for all meetings hikes and events. When sickness or some other reason prevents ... you tell your PL in advance. Then he can announce 'All present or accounted for.' " Appearance "... Always show up in your scout uniform ... You can hardly be taken for a scout unless you look like one." Attitude "... Shows in everything you do ... Your SM gives his time and effort ... Back him up in what he's trying to do for the good of all of you."

Never settle! Our camp director asked us how we felt about him dropping cooking from the course schedule after the requirements changed. We nearly give the guy a standing ovation.

No worries. If it confused you, it likely did others. So, clarifying will hopefully help.