Reasonable Rascal

The news clip I saw said they were at the park on a 'church' camping event. If that is/was the case perhaps the Scouts were occupied elsewhere, or someone from the TV station equated church group with Scouts.

RR

I think Bob Hope was at the '73 jambo.

RR

The place to get him recognized would be the Danish American Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa. Bill was after all a Danish immigrant. National would have zero say in the matter.

RR

The ceremony is one of the password protected pages. No dice.

I'd like to know also. My troop has as our AC a Vigil member who has asked the troop to be a part of his final honors. He suffered a significant fall and head injury last year and now he is planning ahead. I would hate to disappoint his memory when the time does come.

RR

Israel had a problem with terrorist attacks on schools once upon a time. So they armed the teachers and the problem basically went away. Guess what, the teachers haven't been shooting up the schools either.

RR

I was able to assist a non-Scout group of English boys secure 2 nights lodging at Kirtland AFB in Albuqueque. They have a troop that meets there and they interacted with the English lads, even provided a local to act as tour guide for visits to are points of interest. They stayed there early this week, touring Route 66 from Chicago to LA.

The same group is pending two nights with my troop this week as well. We are taking them camping over in CA on Friday.

I should also add that we have never camped on an Army base, but we have found that AF bases tend to be accommodating. usually a gym or some such place to spread your bags.

RR(This message has been edited by Reasonable Rascal)

I have begged, pleaded and downright (almost) threatened and in the past 4 years have received precisely 1 (one) letter from home for a Scout. This year I have 4 boys staffing at 2 different camps - that is to say 2 boys each of two camps. Since I know how parents are I am the one sending letters and packages.

One camp - Levi Levi, by Kingman, AZ - has limited if any mail service, so I was proactive and wrote letters to be left with the camp director to be handed out on Saturday, Monday, Wed. and Fri. Also sent a package to be delivered on Wed. The 2 boys are CITs for the first time so I did what I could to make them feel appreciated. The letters and package were handed over when the boys arrived so I know they were delivered to the camp any way.

I try every year to get boys to write home as well, with limited results. If I have 10 kids I might get 6 letters by Thursday.

Last year I had my old Scoutmaster (Dad), my Den Mother (Mom) and Scout dad (Brother) send letters to the boys at camp, addressed to the troop in general. That was the only mail any received all week, and they actually fought over who got to read them next.

They did write a letter in return.

RR

No where do the requirements say anything about "the water conditions he will face." That would be akin to saying if a troop is going white water rafting the participants must do their swim test in a Class 4 rapids because they will pass through one or more during the course of the trip.

The Scout was right to be upset: you added to the requirements. Unless the swim test was long enough ago that his physical conditioning or medical status may have changed for the worse than it should be valid, assuming it was done this year.

"Not a strong swimmer" doesn't say passed by the skin of his teeth, and a little leeway on the part of the instructor, or a lap and a half behind the other kids.

RR

Yes!

RR

One part of Mid-Iowa's problems was Eli Brewer, the Council Exec. There was a trust originating from Mahaska County that was stipulated for the support of local (calling Mahaska County 'home') scout programs. He chose to interpret that as providing a DE and other support services as "support" and thus to allow the Council to claim the annual funds to the general coffers.

Long story short it was only after losing every single appeal to the original lawsuit that he finally informed the Executive Committee what had been going on. I wish i had even a clue how much money was spent on defending against the original suit and the various appeals but it had to be considerable. It was finally settled less than 10 years ago in any case.

RR

The decision has been made to treat the signed BC's as indications of beginning the MB's. After that each one is going to be examined to see where the shortcomings are and to correct them rather than trash the efforts or scream fraud.

Future MB clinics are going to be treated with a very jaundiced eye as well. If they offer more than 1 MB for a 4-6 hour session that will seen as an indication that they are not up to par.

I expect boys to come back from summer camp with the occasional incomplete even after a week of sessions. As such I do not expect a boy to be able to honorably and truly complete a MB such as chess, along with another couple/three in a 2-1/2 hour time period with no prerequisite work done ahead of time, much less never cracking the MB book.

RR

You could do a members-only regalia building workshop. Assuming your lodge or chapter hasn't chosen an esoteric tribe to base their regalia on - they do the White Mountain Apache here which is difficult because their wore loin clothes and body paint only - tips and hints and helps at constructing headdresses and the like could put some life into your ceremonial team.

RR

We use Scoutlander and love it. We have both a public site and a password-protected members-only area.

The public area is used for recruiting purposes, and the private area for specific info such as what to pack for summer camp, OA info for affected members, the membership lists, etc. We also keep a private photo album there vs. the smaller public photo area. The calendar feature is also nice. Auto-emailings can be limited so as not to be annoying in volume.

We haven't made a donation for the site yet but the Committee has agreed to it.

RR

BMD, between meetings so no action yet. Have to get past 4 nights in a row of 12+ hour shifts before the next meeting.

RR

I remember green Acres but not the generator reference.

RR

I purposely did not provide details in order to stimulate a variety of responses, basically to see if there were valid reasons (i.e. more than one), and if so what they might be in general, rather than focused on one instance. I was deliberately vague for that reason only.

Here's the situation: local troop holds a MB clinic. They decided ahead of time what MB's to offer, and then tried to sign up counselors to fit their pre-determined offerings.

Scout comes to the clinic 45 minutes late, looks over the schedule of MB offerings and jumps in. No pre-signed BC's. I was there teaching first aid, which Scout already has, so I know exactly when he arrived and when he left.

2+ hours after the Scout arrives we break for lunch and after he has his pizza he shows me 4 (5?) signed off BC's. Woodworking, Communications, Chess and another one or two, and then departs. He then leaves.

The clinic finishes about 2:00 PM (he left between 12:15-12:30).

Here's the problem: his cards have been signed by the MB counselors, who were themselves basically fill-ins rather than registered for the MB's. His father, when approached at the weekly meeting, brags how his son essentially ended up teaching two of the MB's (Woodworking and Chess) because he purportedly knew more on the subject than the counselors. True or not I cannot say.

I did ask one of the counselors, who was the SM of the troop offering the clinic, if the signed cards meant the Scout had indeed completed the MB's, and his reply was it was up to the SM to make that determination.

I know for a fact the scout did not A. read the MB books (he had no way of knowing what was going to be offered, and he hadn't checked anything out from the MB library in any case), and B. did not get BC signed before starting the MB's, unlike the two other boys from my troop who were present from the start and stayed until the end.

The cards were signed but the completed requirements were not particularly noted, and the counselor section was still attached though completely filled in.

In response to M2C's statement: "No offense, but it seems like you have an opinion formed and you want someone (anyone!) to give you a reason. You don't provide details probably because you know that if we had the details, the answer won't be what you want." ..... Not so. But I will say I was disappointed to not see what to me is the key point: No one may add or subtract from the requirements. The Scout is asked to do no less, and may not be required to do more.

I await to see if any of the responses change, or not.

BTW< my MB session stretched the entire time from start to finish and I did not sign off the 2 boys who took it because they could not complete 2d, 6 and 7 at the clinic. but they were told how they could finish them and how to contact me to get their cards signed off when they did. I even provided materials to get them started on on requirement 2d.

RR

When do you - if ever - refuse to award a merit badge when the scout presents you with a signed blue card? I am being deliberately vague with the question so as not to limit the responses. I will say that this is a situation I am currently facing as a SM.

RR

Ummm, can anyone say April Fool's?

RR

I am in the process of getting one for Armenian for a new Scout. To get one in the language itself have someone familiar with it write it out. Thus I had the dad write out Armenian in the Cyrillic alphabet. This is sent in to national with the order and they send the strips custom-made.

The strips as mentioned run about $7 and come as a minimum of 2 per order. They are ordered through the local Scout Shop. There is actually an inventory number on the national database that covers custom-ordered Interpreter strips.

RR

Yes, remove the Webelos patch from the pocket itself. Boy Scouts (as opposed to Cubs/Webelos) may wear the Arrow of Light strip underneath their left breast pocket, assuming they earned it. If not then they do not wear any patches indicating that they were in Cubs. Rather they start on a whole new set.

RR

I am starting a new job next week that offers better pay than what I was getting last but also is without benefits. No paid vacation means that in order to keep my commitment to my Scouts I will be taking off a week without pay, and losing in excess of $1,200 in gross pay to do so.

It is not a precise calculation of what my time is worth but it is a starting point any way. I was told if I wanted to work all week-ends I could make an extra $6/hour. Tempting but as I told the new employer that would mean not taking my Scouts camping, so I'd need at least 1 week-end a month free. Another $1,800/year lost just in that one week-end.

RR

You good folks do realize I hope that we are allowing a dependency on technology here. Modern Scouts would not be able to survive without a fully functioning system in place. I am being serious. Try to imagine a boy sitting down and crying and giving up because his cell phone ran out of power, and he no longer has his GPS and is unable to text the Rescue Rangers, and you can see where things are heading.

Technology has its place but we as a world (especially in the US but a few other countries as well) have become so dependent on it being there all the time that we virtually cannot live without it.

I had an SPL 3 years ago who was so depressed because he couldn't talk to his GF after we reached camp he pretty much ceased to function by about mid-week. There is no cell reception at the camp we attended unless you climb to a very high point, or stand on a fencepost in the parade field and hold your tongue a certain way.

RR

Our council does the kit that includes a mentor pin as well, and it is sent at no charge to the troop (the kit that is). We've only had one boy earn Eagle in the past 7+ years and his mother tried to wave off any recognition (she dislikes the appearance of a fuss being made about her family in any way) and finally agreed to a modest Eagle CofH.

It might be that the local council has a sponsor for the Eagle kits. I really don't know. But I do know that local photographers in the Las Vegas area vie for Eagle portraits and offer then sans sitting fee and also provide the family with one copy free of charge. I'm sure they are hoping for multiple copy orders as a result. The Scout Shop has an Eagle wall where the latest Eagles are exhibited until bumped to make room for more.

We should have another boy earn his this year, and plan on a much more appropriate ceremony. I did, however, find out the last time that the Knights of Pythias apparently are not sending their congratulatory letters any more.

RR

I'll try to answer things as best I can; hope I hit everything asked.

The APL did very little leading. it does not come naturally to him and in any case his family and the SPl's have gotten to be friends, so I really wonder if he would say/do anything to step between the SPL and the others. Just my thinking any how.

The cooking went off or or less as planned. The Toten Chip class wasn't part of the plan. After I suggested it a couple of patrol members took the newer boys under wing and pretty much got them through fire lays, etc. This helped occupy time gainfully.

I have not had a chance to talk to the SPL yet other than to tell him at the campout we would be having a PLC meeting this week.

Need to elaborate a bit on that. Discovered a much-damaged (serious mildew on 3 ourside surfaces, 1-1/2 cup of wet sand inside the tent itself) new tent that had been used a grand total of one night by the boys prior to this. I was informed (more than once in fact) that the SPL had been pranking the other kids at the Dec. campout by digging holes in the sand under their tent floors. I guess we are lucky no one put a foot through a floor or twisted an ankle. I was not on that campout save to visit for a short time twice just to make sure they didn't need anything and knew what the service project was that they were to do in return for camping fee-free (county park). There were 4 other adults present, one of whom is SM trained.

ES2010, you are correct. The boys - especially the older ones who have been with the troop longer than the SPL by a couple of years - are resentful of his style, or lack of it, and his broken promises (made in order to be elected, apparently) and occasionally obvious attempts to curry favor with a few. The SPL has the age but not the skills.

He seems to see himself as super-achiever when in reality he skips and misses. He asked about possible Eagle projects at the park we were camping in (my ASM, present for this event, did his there) when he is a long time away from finishing his Eagle-required MB's including Personal Management and Fitness, Family Life and Communications. His downfall is record keeping - he doesn't but wants the Committee et al to believe he does.

One more point: we have an Instructor for Toten Chip and Knots. I think the SPL wants to be seen as the go-to guy for everything TTFC. Even if his own skills are anything but equal to the Instructor's.

RR(This message has been edited by Reasonable Rascal)

I believe that the problems with the current SPL have resulting in a very eye-opening experience for my boys. He is on his 2nd term in office (6 months each time), and we have implemented a policy as of last year that 2 terms in a particular POR is it, so as not to create a glass ceiling and hold boys back from advanced rank.

I expect that he will toss his hat into the ring for the PL position of his previous patrol, but also expect that he faces an uphill battle after his performance this past year.

In the past when membership was down we did away with the SPL for a time because of poor experience with it in the past. One SPL was shown the door for his long-term continuing behaviors and total leadership/Scout spirit failure. His predecessor assumed the position (ASPL before) when the SPL just quit coming, again because of a girl long since gone, and blew off his Eagle with 1 MB and his project to go and over a year to do it in. The ASPL cum SPL made Eagle and aged out and is now the ASM of record.

Even a 2-patrol troop can, IMHO, do without an SPL. Add a 3rd patrol and you really need to consider it, just make sure they live up to the position.

RR