Be_Prepared

Woodruff Scout Reservation, in North Georgia, offers:

COPE - one week course

Climbing Merit Badge

One week trek on Appalachian Trail

One week trek on the scout reservation

One week multi: caving, kayak, hike, whitewater

All available as option with your troop, or indiviudal in provisional troop

Website: http://www.atlantabsa.org/SummerCamp.htm

Up until the program change in the early 70's, the published guidelines were:

"...bottom of the sleeve, starting 3 inches above the edge, you may wear up to six merit badges. If you have more that six, sew them on a sash.."

"Scouts may wear up to six badges on the right sleeve of the long sleeved shirt, in rows of two, the bottom row parallel to the cuff and 3 inches from the end of the sleeve"

Many interpreted this to mean that you HAD to wear them on your sleeve - instead, it was an option, if you only had a few, and did not have a sash yet. Even then, you could wear just one merit badge on your sash if you wanted to. As other posters have indicated, this is true today.

Tonight, on the NBC Nightly News, the "Fleecing of America" section will be about the Boy Scouts - the situation in Alabama, and the recent report in Atlanta about ghost troops and phantom scouts regarding inflated numbers of inner-city scouts.

This Thursday night, the local FOX channel affiliate in Atlanta is running an investigative report on "Ghost Boy Scouts and Phantom Troops" during the news hour

Don't know whether this is about the Alabama situation or the reports of the inflated minority scout numbers in Atlanta - I'll just have to tune in on Thursday ( 6 and 11 )

On a local level, the Atlanta Area Council has been running an ad for the past year showing scouts, the Atlanta Braves and scenes shot at the local scout camp: Woodruff Scout Reservation. The ads run during late afternoon and early evening hours.

Meant to say key of "G" on my earlier post - this is the standard key for bugles.

If you're buying on ebay - stay away from the British/India/Civil War models - the short ones.

The Rexcraft model ( makers of the scout bugle ) is a great choice. They go for more with the scout logo on them. I've not seen one for as low as $15, unless, as was indicated, it had some dents. Most go for $40 or so.

The non-logoed Rexcraft is a good choice, as is standard army issue. Try to get one keyed in "C"

To add more to the topicsegregation was law in the South, and the BSA was a part of the times. During the mid 20s there were around 250 black troops around the country, with a total membership of a little less than 5000 scouts. Several organizers ( including Stanley Harris ) set up the BSA Inter-Racial Service, which was an experimental program to encourage local councils to start black troops.

In some states, there were separate districts set up for black troops, with parallel operations, including camps, commissioners, etc. By the mid 1930s about 2 percent of scout age black youth were involved with scouting. The Inter-Racial Service also promoted scouting in Indian schools and reservations, among Mexican youth along the Rio Grande and among Japanese boys on the West Coast.

Each council sets its own requirements for the International Activity Patch. These can range from attending international events, earning the interpreters strips, visiting scouts in another country, etc. Some councils require more than others, but most allow chosing from a variety of options.

Very nice. You may want to switch to another anology other than liberal/conservative - there's no telling what answers you'll get: libertarian, green party, etc. Besides, aren't we all supposed to be comming together now? - or so the President says.

Boy, that non-scout basketball player gets around. Back in December he was a minister at an Eagle Court of Honor whose brothers played at Michigan State. The plot thickens......

Many of the older scout handbooks have the following:

The knot at the bottom of the badge - a simple overhand knot - is a reminder that a Scout does a good turn to someone daily

or similiar language referencing the overhand knot.

What is the solution then, other than tenting alone, to the following scenario ?

23 scouts attend summer camp. The camp provides two-man BSA canvas wall tents on fixed wooden platforms with cots.

The troop I work with has never intepreted the buddy system to apply to tenting, either. Many of the older scouts tent in small backpacking tents, which only hold one. In addition, some of the scouts use hammocks - either open, with a tarp overhead, or the enclosed kind.

If they are in hammocks they are within a few feet of each other or near a tent.

I did not see the report, but it was about Even Hunsberger. His Eagle project was coordinating a reprint of the "Strength for Service" devotional book given to soldiers during WWII. I received a copy of this book 2 years ago. Following is exert from an earlier press release.

****************************

Strength for Service is a revision of a book carried 60 years ago by Eugene Hunsberger during World War II. Hunsberger was given the book while serving in the Navy, and he continued to read from it for the rest of his life.

Four years ago, Hunsberger's 16-year-old grandson, Evan, asked his grandfather about the book and why it was so meaningful to him. Listening to his

grandfather tell how the book had helped him through difficult experiences, the younger Hunsberger had an inspiration.

Evan needed to complete a special project in order to earn the rank of Eagle, the highest level in Boy Scouts. He asked his grandfather if republishing the book as a spiritual aid for U.S. service personnel today would be a good

Eagle Scout project. "Not good," whispered Eugene, whose stroke had made speech difficult. "Great!"

After receiving permission from the United Methodist Publishing House to republish the book, Evan and 45 volunteers spent 2,500 hours scanning and correcting copy from the book into computers.

************

The Commission on United Methodist Men supported

Even in the development and fundraising for the project. They gave Even, a Roman Catholic, its Good Samaritan Award for his exceptional work on the initiative. So far, over 120,000 have been distributed.

Below is a link that shows a picture of a Coke ad from 1961 using two of the scout field signals.

http://www.jipemania.com/coke/1960/photos/photo_24.html

In the 1940's a series of 14 Boy Scout Field Signals was published. They were silent signals used to get into various formations, and used when a troop or patrol formed for assembles, games or parades. A 2nd Class req was added that you had to demonstrate at least 6 of them. Some of them were open column, closed column, parallel file, troop circle, etc.

The signal for 'attention' was the scout sign with the right arm completely raised. Many of the signals were made over the head, so all could see. This requirement was dropped, but some of the signals continued to be used.

As to your question about the true origin, I don't know if this is it or not. I just figured scouts gradually dropped their arms from the complete extension to the right angle to match the scout sign.

There are over 400 species of oak worldwide, with over 50 in the US alone. There are many parks and wilderness areas that have 8, 9 or more species of oak - a few:

Gila Watershed complex in New Mexico Apache Box

Bear Valley Ranch Central California

Black Mountain Sierra Nevada Foothills

National Park Service Turkey Run Ranch, Virginia

Several Ranches in the Pacific Forest Trust

Devonwood Conservation Area- Canada

Chicago Wilderness Area - Illinois

(continued ) It differs slightly from the old BSA handclasp

The OA decided to retain the interlink handshake in 1975

1911 to 1914: No Handclasp

1915 to 1926: Right Handed-Three Fingered

1927 to 1971: Left Handed-Three Fingered ( USA only, rest of world scouting uses left hand - normal

1972 to present: Left Handed - normal. USA drops the three fingered clasp to match rest of world. All scouts in world use left handed clasp.

The 2004 BSA Climbing/Rappelling National Standards are very clear and very detailed in this area, and cover a tremendous amount of material. Absolutely no personal gear at all. Equipment logs on rope, helmets, webbing, carabiners, etc must be maintained in regards to use, weather conditions, other environmental factors, date of manufacture, etc - and kept for 15 years.

All equipment, even if not used at all (and still in the box), must be destroyed based on manufactures' recommendation. For example - helments are destroyed on manf. recommendation or 7 years, whichever comes first. Ropes are destroyed after 4 years, regardless of use by cutting into 10 foot sections.

The reasons are twofold: safety and liability.

As a note on one of the options - rappel. You would have no gear at all during the actual rappel. You would have some personal gear ( water, raingear, etc. ) at the site. This is designed as a side trip - even completed during summer camp.

The troop I work with uses bugle calls at every campout, in addition to summer camp. There is a scouter bugler that works with the troop buglers. The calls used on a regular basis are: Reveille ( wake up ); Assembly ( fall in ); To The Colors ( they usually only play the first 8 measures, unless we've got a tall flagpole ); First Call ( used at summer camp - played 5 minutes before Assembly to signal that scouts need to get into uniform for the evening assembly); Tattoo ( evening, used to signal to put out fires and get ready for bed; Taps; and Church.

Bugles are also used for any areawide games, such as Capture the Flag to signal start and stop.

Neither of the summer camps we go to has had a bugler in the past, so one of our guys does 'To The Colors' and 'Retreat' during the week for the campwide flags.

I agree that it is a dying art. At distric camporees, the troop is the only one that uses bugles so we usually supply one for flags, etc.

Man, y'all got some fancy watches. Mine doesn't tell me anything. I have to look at it.