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Extended weekends seem to be the best we can do. Summer's just heartbreaking with all of the vacation-schedule conflicts. (Yes, I know. Enjoy the ones who came. Stop fretting over the ones who didn't. Blah, blah, blah ... I'll put on a good face, but am still irked!) I've known other crews to have great success on winter break. I'd love to give it a try ... but it is categorically off the table in my hood.

While the moderators attempt to bill you for advertising, here are my answers ... 1. Yes. These old bones have been needing to stay off rocky ground more often. I enjoyed that aspect. However, the trees get in the way of stargazing. 2. A "K-mart" brand light rope double hammock is just perfect for the job. Price-point maybe $10 or less. Kevlar hanging straps, and biners maybe $25. Throw a 24" matrress pad in for stability and minimizing wear on the bag (which this old hid would do anyway) and we have ourselves a bed. Scouts have let me try their nylon models, but I've found them a bit stifling. Definitely not worth my expense. 3. Tent? Who said anything about a tent? Ever since that first Seabase trip ... I sleep topside -- deck, ground, picnic table, etc ... I've only got a few years left to count meteors. Lately, I've rigged an 8'x8' tarp on the diagonals. When with a hammock, that involves a double length or rope between hammock rings on a pulley system a la Venetian blinds.

How about after the ball-game, but before the dance? Bring the date so as to avoid 1-on-1 contact. Count on you asking her for verification of the "morally straight" clause.

Well, that depends on if you think all the chances to run those trials is a grant from the Beneficent or a result of some natural gyre of matter heeding no particular command.

Fortunately, Hebrew scholars have gone to great pains to document nuances for us ... So, for fits and giggles, I decided to pull down Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. (Took me a while as I had misplaced it beside Al Mawrid instead of Josephus). Anyway ... The commandment's "kill" does, in fact, mean kill. But, this is the first time that particular word choice (ratsach) is used in the Bible. This term seems to be chosen because it's removed from the method that death is brought about. E.g., in previous chapters of Genesis and Exodus the word-choice for what got translated as "kill" included a sense of hitting, attacking, or offering up for sacrifice. The word was later to describe honor killing (by "the avenger of blood") and accidental death, and not any specific means of doing so. Thus, some English translations use the word "murder" to capture the sense that here the writer is not merely discussing death by fisticuffs, but rather death by careful calculation and systematic scheming. Understanding the word makes the "don't even think about it" theme of Jesus seem a little less original, but then again he claimed he wasn't teach anything that wasn't already etched in stone.

If I could +50 @@MattR, I would. SPL should be a "coasting" position ... one that a boy would be thrilled to move into because it's easier than PL, but requires a notch more maturity ... and one certain boys will hold for consecutive terms, if their peers let them. But, the fact is that elections don't always get you that boy right out of the gate. It can take consecutive weeks of attempts, fails, dust-offs, after-action review, and resets. I don't know if other folks have seen this pattern, but SPLs seem to take the opposite tone of their predecessor. E.g., the drill-sergeant takes over from the chill-dude. So a lot of what gets done on the adult end is helping a boy to take charge as himself rather than the opposite of the previous guy.

@@Eagle94-A1, just a thought about your friend. Apply @@Stosh's modified Peter principle in his name. "Guys, we have this SM who is going to be tied down quite a lot. He'll be great for conferences and such, but you all are gonna need to kick in a little more muscle to get things done around here!" If your oldest patrol is 13-14, you have time to win them over. If someone in your district is fielding a solid venturing crew, you might wanna suggest that. They might be spending less time with the troop. But that's less time with them being a drag. And there's the odd chance they'll come back with an idea or two for the troop to try. If you like the O/A advisor and lodge chief, you might want to challenge the arrowmen to participate at a district or council level. Same principle as with venturing, with increased odds that they will have more boy-oriented ideas. For the ILST lock-in, let the older boys be your instructors. One or two of them each take a chapter. Don't mess with their climbing? Okay, up the ante`. Challenge them to call your local Explorers club or someone else with serious mountaineering/spelunking experience. Any Eagle projects in the pipeline? In other words, don't treat them as if they don't understand boy led. Don't treat them as if they might not buy in -- even though they may not. Treat them as if you expect them to succeed even though they may not.

Yep, my friends helped me sell some of Mamma's hard-tack candy so I could do Jambo (and some other things). Just to flip @@Stosh's argument around, you might have a boy who sees his expenses as an extra burden on the patrol, and works his job and personal life to pay for his junkets. One of our Eagles had an established lawn care business that payed for HA's, tech school, and employed a few other boys. Sometimes, I lent my (scout/non-scout) buddies a hand doing their jobs. I wasn't thinking of the "end game". They had a job to do, I had time. Still see it happening, although employment regulations make it a little less likely. If you want an iron-clad financial system that fairly accounts for these random acts of kindness, look elsewhere. A boy's sense of fairness hinges more on who you will or will not allow to have a scoutmaster conference.

While we're asking ... I always looked at all of the Palm requirements except BoR as SM sign-offs (usually at the SMC, but as in the case of a boy who didn't develop and demonstrate leadership ability since the last Eagle/Palm, maybe afterword). Does anybody out there (e.g., an SM whose troop is swarming with Eagle scouts) do it differently?

Yep, with older scouts, step away from the "we are a youth-led movement" lectures. It's more like: "Hey, any chance you all can cook something really awesome to show 'em how it's done?" Or spread the map out on the table and say "Okay, where can we take these guys that they'll enjoy?" And "That little guy was just talking big about <insert adventure here>. Any chance you can show him how it's done?"

I'm of a mixed opinion. The only person who I ever felt that a boy should talk to about scheduling an SMC is ... the SM. Advancement chairs, coordinators, etc ... don't have much say until BoR. Now, I don't recommend the boy ask for one the day after he accomplishes his previous rank. But, if he has a couple of things still to complete, that might be the ideal time to conference. Especially if scout, SM and an ASM or two happen to be on a trail that passes through a bed of pine-needles overlooking a ridge at sunset while the rest of the troop are out on a water run. Now, you may want the boy to follow-up after he's accomplished those requirements ... dotting i's and crossing t's before the BoR or whatever. Put that date in his book if you think you need to. You all know when the real conferences happen.

This may be tangential to @@griffsmom's original post, but the other noteworthy aspect of the requirement is that it does not specify "in your troop or crew". How many of you have your boys consider things a little beyond scouting. Like: Specific training like BSA guard, EMT certification, or Wilderness First Aid? Tutoring for academically challenged students. Joining or increasing responsibilities in clubs like Toastmasters, Athletes in Action, or Junior ROTC? Helping facilitate another organization's activities (e.g. a GSUSA camporee)? Studying up on what it takes to be an officer in one's place of worship? Serving as an officer? Attending town council meetings ... possibly in preparation for running for office when eligible. These are things that I've seen 15-17 year old scouts/venturers do. And if I understand correctly, the kinds of things that we're looking for in Palm SMCs and BoRs.

BD, such a drama queen. We are kinda stuck until National promotes hiking and camping independently with your mates as the pinnacle scouting experience. Well, whatever. If I never see your posts here, but we cross paths on the trail ... it will be a win!

Things usually aren't as bad as we make them out to be in our heads. Keep us posted as you work out the operations in your units.

Geesh! What happened to kids who would show up to an ECoH because their buddy's mom was making their favorite cookie? I judge the caliber of a troop by their worn-out boots and the smiles on the boys' faces.

@@fred johnson, I'm with you in wanting to remove the BS from the BS of A. But the interpretation of "should" vs "must" is very much a semantics game that you don't want to play unless the boy understands it might not fly in your district. Get your council advancement chair on the line, and start the paperwork for the extension. Worst case, national denies it, and you're back to parsing words. Best case, your scout can devote his remaining time to his project and his assigned PoR, knowing that nobody had to stretch the requirements to fit his circumstances. In the future, you can join me in pontificating about how 18th birthday deadline undermines good scouting.

That would be a terribly bad read of natural selection and game theory. Such a miscalculation led the Axis nations (and many subsequent modern tyrants) into folly. There are selective advantages to a species maintaining some individuals as menaces and only taking punitive or remedial action after a first strike.

A few people you should ask: Your patrol. If they were all planning on going to the district dinner anyway, the whole distance thing is moot. The organizer of winter camp. There might not be time on the schedule for beading. Your spouse. Your councilor.

You'll have to take that up with the previous writers of the Insignia Guide, which until this year read that neckerchiefs were not to be worn over anything but official uniform shirts. I figure National Supply wanted to make sure they were selling nearly as many shirts and slides as they were scarves. Scouts at World Jamboree broke that bronco, what with their friendship knots and piling on multiple neckers (representing their favorite exchanges) over activity shirts. I suspect some of our boys (maybe girls in crews too?) would gladly give up their ODL uniform shirt (known to be the world's most colorful) to have one of those scarves from another nation.

This may not be about getting "your" leaders up to speed. It may be about getting all of the leaders in the district up to speed. That frees everybody to do grow and learn ASAP.

Most of us who deal with "citified" or "suberbanized" parents get that. On top of it, some potentially really good leaders have disqualified themselves with DUI's, nasty divorces involving protection orders, etc ... they may eventually turn their lives around ... but not anytime soon. But, those aside ... That's really the most honest answer a parent can give you. And, sometimes those are the folks your CC has to try and crack. I get the impression that "back in the day" things worked differently. I think the SM of my youth got the position from my CO as a "retirement gift." There was no question about him holding it for decades until the Parkinson's got the better of him. Of my former scout-buddies who were fit for the job (or for COR or CC), most of us left town or were going through existential crises (e.g. going gay or godless ... not sure if any went girly) ... the only guy left with the heart to replace him didn't have the head for it. Actually there were some great women who remained and could have pulled a troop together ... had they been scouts. But there was no vision for that great a shift in personnel. But that's a different topic. Fortunately in my hometown there's a little industry, and another CO is taking up the Boy Scout mantle (and yet another is fielding a crew). But, there was a decade or more hiatus of mediocre program ...

Some days they make it so easy .... Well, I suspect there are a few dudes (due to divorce or orientation) out there looking for a good female role model for their boys!

Couldn't find anything official in a quick search. We've always considered the usual: hold a position of responsibility or organize a service project with the boys in the troop. But, at this level boys are branching out. So, service in a youth group or community organization may count, as might attending a youth leadership training course. Obviously, demonstrating leadership would include talking to one's scoutmaster about how one would like to fulfill this requirement for one's next Palm.

Tempest in a teapot, @@Stosh. We already have non-married male-female teams managing troops. Finding moms and older sisters who are competent SMs/ASMs is getting easier. That configuration will be increasingly popular as we move forward, be we co-ed or unisex youth. The G2SS is expanding quite readily without co-eds -- mostly as a function of tech gear and the availability of more extreme sport. I don't see the rate of that changing if troops remain unisex. If we remain unisex, i figure the "bubble-wrapping" of outdoor scouting experiences will continue.

@@Sentinel947 and @@baggss, under uniforming, did they mention the latest insignia guide revision which now allows the neckerchief to be worn without the field uniform? The official syllabus has not been revised, yet, but maybe your instructors were willing to go off script! Just curious ...