RememberSchiff

I would be delighted to hear that I am wrong, that a patrol (or crew) can go on a Philmont adventure without adults. Here at my council, Philmont is managed through Council with a near constant adult presence. As to my council, no adultless patrol camping at camporees or summer camp. At least two adults must be present. This info is in the camporee flyers and summer camp adult leader handbook. Sorry no links, I prefer to remain anonymous. If other councils are different, I'd like to hear about that too.

Agreed patrols can go camping with SM approval, but in practice that applies only to non-BSA properties and non BSA activities which seems somewhat odd to me. Some examples: 1. A patrol cannot go to Philmont without adults. Yes, adults should handle transportation to and from ranch. When I did Philmont in the 60's, only one adult was required then and frankly we would have done fine without him on the trail. 2. A patrol cannot go to camporees in my council w/o adults. (Our troop was not going to the camporee but one older patrol was interested but still needed two adults).

Didn't say it was. In fact, I don't think the current policy even requires blue cards. http://www.scouting.org/BoyScouts/GuideforMeritBadgeCounselors.aspx "Most local councils (including summer camps) use the Application for Merit Badge, or blue card, although it is not required." Too bad, I think the perceived "convenience" short-changes scouts on some valuable lessons that my generation learned. My opinion.

When I was a scout (60's), scouts were expected to keep their own advancement records, that's why one third of the blue card is the scout's copy. Most of us bundled our blue cards together with a rubber band and stored with our baseball cards (Cookie Rojas, Johnny Callison,...) - our prized possessions all stored in a shoe box. At Star, Life, and Eagle, we had to show proof of our merit badge work with our completed blue cards and not the white award cards, camp worksheet, or sash. Lose your blue card and you made a trip back to the counselor who hopefully kept his third or at least reme

Nice work. You obviously put allot of time and thought into this. Very few websites put in the online help, FAQ, and support contact information. I offer some feedback. 1. Compliance not an issue First, there are NO BSA website rules that a UNIT MUST be in compliance. http://www.scouting.org/webmasters/faq/guidelines.aspx#uws states "There are no national guidelines or policies regarding Unit Web sites because units are "owned" by their chartered organizations. Therefore, any unit Web site belongs to the chartered organization or the individual who operates the site, not the B

I would have scouts walk and pull a wagon - safer, environmental friendly, and cheap. If you are set on a vehicular float, start with the GSS as others suggested BUT stay away from flatbed trailers with outrigger wheels. You also want a railing to keep scouts from falling off. These links are about the death of a Cub Scout on a Christmas float in 2006. http://archive.seacoastonline.com/news/12042006/nhnews-ph-por-scout.death.html http://mail.nhliberty.org/pipermail/bill_reviewers_nhliberty.org/Week-of-Mon-20070129/000017.html

I have read that our military budget (not counting Dept of Homeland Security or Veterans services) is larger than the budget of the next 15 nations combined. Unlike other nations, we have a military presence on foreign soils outside of UN actions. But maybe we spend more than all nations combined http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/spending.htm http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/ArmsTrade/Spending.asp#InContextUSMilitarySpendingVersusRestoftheWorld http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures Compare us to those with a higher standard of

Relax. Let your scouts do their good turns and learn to feel good about helping others without expectation of reward. Don't worry about tracking hours, quantifying projects, maximizing awards for time spent, make-work paperwork...enjoy with your scouts giving help to others. My $0.02

I thought this thread was about DRP?

In "Rovering for Success", Baden Powell symbolically talks about the rocks that a boy must be wary during a Voyage of Life canoe trip one rock being irreligion. He detested that adult atheists were forcing their irreligion on boys. He felt that a boy cannot fully develop without a religious belief and that in Scouting by showing boys the wonders of Nature was a step towards believing in God. He did not necessarily mean an established religion and he realized that not all boys would fully develop as scouts. In my reading, I found that for boys, there was no religion precondition to j

There has been local option before to include boys previously excluded. "(James) West also dealt with those who protested against the inclusion of African Americans. West held that they should be included, but that local communities should follow the same policies that they followed in the school systems. Thus, much of the American south as well as many major northern communities had segregated programs with "colored troops" until the late 1940s. Since the BSA had early and enduring ties with the YMCA, a firmly Protestant organization, the Catholic church forbade their boys to join. West

Yeah, I could easily be wrong as this my recollection of a talk long ago. I'm hoping some forum members come forward, better informed than I. Here's some references http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_F._Smith Says Joseph F. Smith was Church President until he died of pneumonia in 1918. Scouting became the the official youth program of his Church in 1913. http://www.mormonwiki.com/Stability_and_Growth "...He (President Joseph F. Smith) was a huge advocate for education and in 1912, the seminary program began in Salt Lake City. The program provided weekday religious education

My understanding is a year after the BSA started, our Scout Law diverged from the 8-point British Scout Law to reflect the American values of 1911. Also at this time, the LDS or the Mormon Church under Joseph Smith began to study Scouting program for their youth membership. One of the points added to the Scout Law was "reverent". All scouts are required to follow the Scout Law and since atheists were considered not reverent, they would be ineligible for membership. The Scout Law has remained unchanged and some would say we are not in sync with the American values of today. America is now

PACK15NISSAN, my opinion. Sounds like you have a full plate. Webelos only lasts for a year and a half or so. Spend that time getting your Webelos ready for Boy Scouts. Get them interested in Boy Scouts. Take your den and visit troop meetings, join in on their outings, definitely get them outside - camping, hiking, Klondike, etc., make some connections - find Boy Scout leaders and Boy Scout who can help out here and there with your Webelos activities, challenge a Boy Scout troop to a pasta bridge building contest. Have fun. Crossing as many Webs to Scouts as possible is how you

Yes. Time involved, depends on the merit badge and what you and scouts bring to it but usually 3 to 5 one hour meetings. Also some councils/districts allow you to limit what troops you serve which greatly reduces demands. You control your availability. Some counselors can only hold one or two merit badge courses a year due to their life schedule or seasonal constraints. You do not have to drop everything and hold a merit badge course and you can tell scouts 'Sorry but I cannot work on the merit badge this month, please call me back later or contact another counselor'.

Philly is just using this issue as a way to collect more revenue. Yeah it annoys me when a perceived informed source is giving misinformation (I was thinking of a policeman giving me directions to the Reading terminal, not to anyone in this forum ) So I'm not sure there is a freedom of speech issue here. File the application, pass the test (buy the answers in advance from the dose guys in Joisee), and continue on with "Yeah da Liberty Bell was made down da Philly naval yard. Nows National Treasure was filmed over der. Nicholas Cage ate a hoagie right where we are sitting" ... whatever y

Nope. The Eagle Candidate identifies himself as a scout when he first meets the benefiting organization. He is a representative of the BSA and hopefully one of our best representatives, but more importantly he is also representing himself - it is his neck on the line and not the BSA. He may decide to wear his uniform during parts of his project not involving fund raising. He does not represent the benefiting organization, he is performing HIS scout service project for them. One part of the Guide to Safe Scouting that applies to his scout service project is Youth Member Behavior Guid

Easy mistake to make, after all, the Sportsman title page (p455 in the Webelos Handbook) has a photo of a scout drawing a bow! You would think Archery would be included.

When in Cubs, first try borrowing outdoor gear from a Scout troop (along with a couple of their scouts to erect flies). Maybe you could borrow some E-Z Up or similar canopies from Pack families? Buying gear obviously costs $$$, then there is the storage and upkeep.

Yes Ed good memory, one recent thread discussed this for 11 pages before being locked. Uniforms - "Eagle Candidates wearing uniform at ELSP" http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=191183 Dustoff, I suggest you ask these questions to your District Eagle Board.

Some differences 1. I presume Bob did not have to identify himself as a Scouter before considering that activity as an Eagle candidate would. 2. His appearance was not to fulfill a Scout rank requirement. 3. His appearance did not require that he previously meet with Scoutmaster with a written plan which was then reviewed and approved by Scoutmaster. 4. Same as 2 but reviewed and approved by Troop Committee 5. Same as 3 but reviewed and approved by District Eagle Board. While there are stated places and activities that wearing a scout uniform is inappropriate, an Eagle Scout ser

Pretty vague requirements. We looked at the Interpreter requirements long ago, rolled our eyes, and all wondered if our scouts could even qualify for the "English" strip? I think more specifics should be added to reflect likely conversations among scouts from different countries at a Jamboree - "Do you want to trade patches?", "Where is the nearest latrine?", "Is that miles or kilometers?", "Do you have girls in your unit?" ... Today, I suspect our scouts could earn ,if it exists, "TEXT MESSAGE" or is that "WU?" (What's up?). I wonder if there were "igPay atinLay" or "Kookie Talk"

Don't know about Little League, Cal Ripken, Pop Warner, soccer, etc., but Boy & Girls and 4-H are larger and growing. 2007 - Boy's & Girls Club 4.6 million youth, coed, 2007 - 4H, 6.5 million members, coed

Thank you for working through this with the scout. I hope he and his family thanks you at some point. What would I have done? I would have added to the drama, spelled out the situation, and had scout plan his next steps during BOR. Maybe you did this. Hold the BOR in a room where the wall clock has been set 10-15 minutes ahead. Start later or run the meeting longer (that was a Friday night) and ask scout to develop HIS plan to be a leader in troop and work towards Eagle in the next 6 months (I would provide calendar and other reference material). This would be reviewed by an openly s

Hmmm size, I have been curious about the number of employees in councils, especially as I read that councils now have spokespersons, marketing specialists, media liaisons,... I remember when far fewer "employees" served a greater number of scouts. My old council office staff (two) back then was part-time and handled all the badges (Scout stores did not exist yet, families shopped at local dept stores for uniforms and other scout stuff.)