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I had something similar happen to me with a Columbia jacket last year. Pocket just blew out, and was fortunate to catch the lightweight GPS sliding out the bottom after just coming in from the snow! I'm starting to echo my elder's "They don't make 'em like they used to ..."

Like I said. Seen it before. It's a fine line between control and entitlement. The best you can do is be honest about your opinion and hope he'll take it to heart. This is for two reasons. First, you need to say your peace, and typing it to us is not gonna do that for you. Second, this fella is going to a troop, and for their sake, you want to try to win the guy's heart before he gets on the bad side of a bunch of ASMs.

I think my District Advancement Chair would side with scoutnut. He said HQ checks "funny" things with blue cards (e.g. lot's of different MBs with the same signature, too many MBs where boy's and councilor's last name match). It's not too far fetched that a registrar could check a signature that he/she didn't recognize to see, just for kicks, if the counselor ever registered with the BSA. I'm not saying it would happen (certainly not as overtaxed as many council staff are), but it could. However, I'd like to think that the boy who actually worked to do the badge would not loose credit bec

I'm sorry. That happened between Son#1's and Son#2's den and it wasn't until after the fact that I realized how the pack had to dig itself out of a hole as a result. It made for a some resentment. It's not entirely clear that how your accounts settled out. Was the surplus a result of specifically fundraising for the BnG. (E.g., were W2's the bulk of the popcorn sellers -- specifically so the pack could have a blowout party?) Did costs actually exceed fundraising? The best you can do is try not to breed resentment. Let the CC know in no uncertain, but courteous, terms that you think h

Also, some places are designated for youth to collect things. For example, a local bike trail passes by an outcrop of fossils (the usual shellfish etc ...). The placement of the trail was very intentional so that young people could engage in fitness and science at the same time! Point is: get to know the areas where this activity is approved of (and safe to do!). Make sure what you are getting is distinct from what you've already had. Collect the minimum sample. Record where/when you got it. Private property? Asking permission. (Note: there are some places where leaf and seed gat

Giving feedback is not making waves. But, perdi's brother could wind up finding himself being the next NYLT instructor! Fact is, the adults who can tell me they don't like what I'm doing are the ones who've help me the most. Even if I disagree with them, I learn to communicate better.

I think Eagledad makes a great point. We aren't just trying to teach the scouts technical skills, but we are also modeling behavior. Take for example the (very bad in my opinion) practice that some troops have of making a scout sing to get lost property back. What behavior is it modeling? If a scout is out in the street and sees the man in front of him drop his wallet, which should he say: "Excuse me sir, you dropped your wallet." or "Hey mister, I got your wallet. Sing a song and I'll give it back to you.". If the second is not acceptable to a stranger, how is it acceptable to a fellow s

Way to go BD! That'll keep her engaged and possibly on the trajectory to becoming a great advancement coordinator or maybe even crew advisor. As a soccer parent who has never played the sport, I always ask other parents and coaches (besides my kid's coach) about things that I didn't understand. Even though every coach my kids have had has an "open door" policy, I don't want the guy bombarded with 100 questions, or with an idea that's not gonna fly. And I want to be sure that I encourage the kid to talk to the coach when he/she needed to talk to the coach (about playing time, personal gro

Yep there's a lot of painting with broad brushes, but these keyboards ain't made of camel hair. Not sure that 'MyBoy' specified being the Mom or Dad, and the SM may not have all that big of an ego. He is clearly bothered by a boy who has no time for camping asking for an Eagle SMC ... just like you're bothered by an fella coming out of the woodwork after a couple years. The parent is clearly bothered that service to others is not equivalent to camping in this SM's mind. I'm personally bothered that the boys troop/patrol can't slap together a camp-out in March. Last month we had

How old was the troop? It may have started because it admired the bold counter-cultural stance of BSA's membership standards. The seeming erosion of those standards makes it look like any other group. Well if they are like any other group, then value is lost. Asking more money for something of less value ... that's not a recipe for growth. Hopefully CO's of some 50,000 youth will find value in the BSA where they hadn't before, but I suspect it will take a few years to find them.

My sheath knife has a compass in the hilt! (And, I recently discovered, it screws off to expose a chamber with matches.) It's part of one of my smaller tackle boxes. A younger relative gave it to me.

Hope your boys have fun and are quick on the uptake! That way they can whittle their pinewood derby cars!

Both are dumb. Humans are capable if empathy if if you telling them something is an act. One could say "today we will model some poor leadership. At the end of the day you will be asked to identify where we fell short." Or "let's pretend we're making a training video. We'll film each patrol. At the end you all will screen the videos and talk about which group did well enough for their video turns be used to train other scouts." You want boys to be involved in every aspect of their adventure, that includes criticism and judging.

I think we should fess up that Eagles have to earn 23 meritbadges, including the required Project Design and Project Management. Then all of those Eagle advisors could be MBCs for either/both badges.

Not one for clubbing beavers. Ruins the pelt. Venturing is the "Un-Cola!", but as I try to point out to my youth, being contrary only gets you so far. My first generation of venturers avoided the VOA, even though they were very helpful to me personally. As that group went off to college I made it clear to the next round that real presidents confer with other presidents. That's helped our group stabilize (in spite of cost increases). But units that were just there for the sake of their own little clique quickly realized that they don't need any of the BSA trappings to be their own little

Some boys don't even want an ECoH. I hope that if your son earns his award, he will still want to have one. But be understanding if he's jaded on the whole process by the end of this. It really is up to him, and generally senior scouters in a district will do their best to help mend fences with no hard feelings.

Tempting for all of us who are a little ice-weary.

I don't think there's a "scoutmaster or designee" line on the MB application.

For those who insist on keeping score, the gold level Journey to Excellence advancement benchmark is 75% (http://www.scouting.org/filestore/mission/pdf/2014_JTE_Pack_score.pdf). This allows for an excellent pack to have 1 in 4 scouts not make rank each year.

BP - I agree with you on one level. If it's not the youth's idea, National is wasting our time. I'm not saying that they should have the same requirements as BS. And Heaven knows, there's not a crew advisor alive that wants a merit badge program! My one crew member who got into the awards program did it precisely because it was not a "patch for every little thing" like her girl scout troop was doing. But it was a set of real goals with real accomplishments that meant something in the real world. I suspect the same light bulb went on for a larger portion of your crew. What I am saying is:

Must be something in the water. A relative called with similar issues about his pack. Boys are a little discouraged. Not everyone made rank by the B&G. I'm here in snow and ice telling a Floridian, "Don't worry. Be happy." Common folks, it's okay to not advance! Advancement is not a checklist. You don't have to freak out if you can't track it. It's a tool for the boys to use to look at their book and discover a cool thing that they may not have done yet! Bobby didn't get Wolf? Have the boys go through what Bobby needs and see if there's something they want to do that will help him get a

True. And stamping can be a gateway drug for letterboxing: http://www.letterboxing.org/

Well, at least it's not an DAM underhanded knot.

Baggss, I'm not pullin' this stuff out of thin air. See my links to the guide to advancement. A signature vs. THE FACTS. Guess which one I want everyone here to go to the mat for? Our boys are counting on you all -- not to add to the requirements -- but to help them be sure that there is nothing bogus about the badges they earn.