ScoutDad2001

The offical Uniform Inspection sheet (34283) says in the "Left Sleeve" section: "Council shoulder emblem, unit numeral and veteran unit bar are worn as shown snug up and touching each other." If a unit has chosen to NOT wear a veteran bar, shouldn't the unit numeral then be touching the council patch, so that it adheres to the requirement to be "snug up and touching each other? Or should there be a space left between them? This is a grey area that is subject to interpretation in our quarters.

Just picked up 9 copies of new Scout Handbook at local Scout Shop. When I started to fill in the boys' names in the front of each, I discovered that in 5 of the books the "Protecting From Child Abuse" pamphlet had been glued in upside-down / backwards. Obviously these are going right back for an exchange. I was curious if anyone else had run into this? Seems an extremely high percentage of errors.

But in this situation, both the ceremony and the reception will be at the parents, with the reception immediately following the ceremony. I doubt that ANY of the leaders, will be willing to even go out to their cars to change, let alone go home, change and return. Plus, remember, scouts will be at the reception, and the mere presense of alcohol violates BSA policy. Unless.... Does the BSA consider that a Eagle Scout COH reception (where scouts would be present) held at a private home is NOT a BSA activity, and would not fall under the "no alcohol" policy?

Question raised to me regarding soon-to-be Eagle scout who is having his ceremony and reception at parent's home. Concern was likely presense of alcohol at reception. (As seems true in just about any community these days, adults expect booze at parties.) As scouts will be present, and leaders will be in uniform, how to best diplomatically remind Committee and parents that reception must be alcohol-free per BSA policy. Sticky point is that scout's parent is past CC & still influential member, and all the other CMs enjoy their adult beverages. As the SM is a known tee-totaler, she will be blamed and her head will be on a pike, if this issue is brought forward.

Have a new 11yr-old scout, whom I'll call John. Family adopted him from mainland China during the summer. John speaks a little English and reads hardly any English. His patrol leader and our troop guide have worked 1-on-1 with him quite often, but just can't get around the language issues. Once demonstrated, John does well with rank requirements that are "physical", ie, tying square knot, scout salute, handshake, etc. But he's not been able to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, describe the Scout badge, show understanding the Scout Oath, Law, etc. Our Guide pointed out that a Mandarin translation of the Handbook would be a big help. I have recently just given a "heads-up" to his parents (whom I don't believe speak much, if any, Mandarin themselves) about our dilemma. Short of hiring Mandarin/English translator, does anyone have any suggestions as to how to help John accomplish his remaining Scout rank requirements (to say nothing of higher ranks?) BSA seems to have developed a number of aids for Spanish-speaking members. (All the handbooks can be purchases in Spanish now.) What do other troop/packs do when faced with members for whom English (or Spanish) is not their primary language? Thanks, Greg

Have a new 11yr-old scout, whom I'll call John. Family adopted him from mainland China during the summer. John speaks a little English and reads hardly any English. His patrol leader and our troop guide have worked 1-on-1 with him quite often, but just can't get around the language issues. Once demonstrated, John does well with rank requirements that are "physical", ie, tying square knot, scout salute, handshake, etc. But he's not been able to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, describe the Scout badge, show understanding the Scout Oath, Law, etc. Our Guide pointed out that a Mandarin translation of the Handbook would be a big help. I have recently just given a "heads-up" to his parents (whom I don't believe speak much, if any, Mandarin themselves) about our dilemma. Short of hiring Mandarin/English translator, does anyone have any suggestions as to how to help John accomplish his remaining Scout rank requirements (to say nothing of higher ranks?) BSA seems to have developed a number of aids for Spanish-speaking members. (All the handbooks can be purchases in Spanish now.) What do other troop/packs do when faced with members for whom English (or Spanish) is not their primary language? Thanks, Greg

Which youth leader positions "earn" the "Trained" strip? I'm specifically interested in our OA Rep, Historian, Librarian, Scribe and Instructors. We held our Junior Leader Training recently. All were invited but only the SPL, APL, PLs, Guide and one Instructor attended. Is having the individual "Introduction" meeting with each of these appointed scouts sufficient? Or must they attend the Junior Leader Training session to earn the strip? And what about APLs? All the books say an APL should be trained by their PL. Does that mean an APL doesn't need to, or shouldn't attend JLT? Are they entitled to wear "Trained" if only trained by their PLs? Thanks (Couldn't find a specific forum to ask this. Sorry.)

Does anyone know if there is some sort of video put out by National (or anyone), for promoting the three BSA High Adventure locations (Philmont, SeaBase and Northern Tier)? We'd like to get our troop thinking ahead about their next High Adventure trip. (We did SeaBase 2 years ago.) We felt that showing a video (or videos) of Philmont and Northern Tier, at a troop meeting, would be a perfect introduction to those places. I've tried to navigate the National Council site to see if they have anything, but gad... that's an easy place to get lost in. Thanks, ScoutDad2001

My son returned from the National Jamboree with an "English" interpreter strip that he'd traded for. I'm pretty sure that these were intended as jokes, and that no such strip really exists (at least in the BSA). Right?

My son ruined one of his uniform shirts at the National Jamboree, by accidentally leaving the candle (from the memorial service) in his left pocket. The shirt was left the next day in his tent, and the intense heat melted the candle into soup, which resulted in an immense wax "stain" covering much of the upper left side of the shirt. Needless to say, the shirt could not be cleaned and can no longer be worn. I have removed all of his "personal" patches (ie, jambo patch, rank, AOL, patrol, counsel & troop numeral). My problem is that I am uncomfortable with simply tossing a Scout shirt (regardless of its ruined condition) into the trash. Are there any BSA guidelines regarding "acceptable procedure" for disposal of unwearable uniform parts? I was thinking that perhaps by removing the US flag patch, the "Boy Scouts of America" strip, the buttons and the collar label, I would end up with a "civilian" shirt which I could throw away and keep my concience clear. Comments?

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I had pretty much already determined that the "proper" way for me to resume wearing my OA sash, was to re-join the lodge. But just in case I couldn't arrange for that prior to the OA tap-out at summer camp, I wanted some guidance on what alternatives I had.

I became an Ordeal member at the age of 17. Now, 35 years later, I am an ASM of my son's troop, and, at this time, I have not re-registered with my local OA lodge. I have read the back topics in this group in an attempt to determine what of my old OA stuff I am still eligable to wear. This is what I have determined... OA sash and right-pocket arrow/ribbon - Yes. These are national OA insignia. The common comments regarding these seemed to be "Once elected to the OA, you are a member for life." Lodge flap - No. You must have your current dues paid up to the lodge in order to wear your lodge flap. Am I correct in my assessment?

Okaaaayyyeee...... enough theories about the award placement on the female uniforms.... But can anyone answer Daveeby's original question, about the origin and history of the award? My wife's late grandfather was a recipient, and she has always been curious about what is behind it.

Also... he would have been one of eight candidates, the others being older/experienced/mature, and I think it highly unlikely that he would have been elected anyway. So, I don't feel that I've denied him anything this time. And, yes, I could have asked the OA rep about this at the campsite, but I didn't begin to question my interpretation until long after camp was over.

As "Acting Scoutmaster" at this summer's camp, I may have erred when approving the list of scouts who were eligable for election to OA. According to the printed info I was passed out by the OA rep who came to our campsite, the potential candidates had to: * be a registered member of the BSA * hold the rank of at least First Class and (I'll quote this one exactly as written) * "After registration with a troop, team or post, have experienced 15 days and nights of camping, including 6 consecutive days and nights of resident camping, approved and under the auspices and standards of the Boy Scouts of America, within 2 years immediately prior to election to candidate status". I know that the 3rd part's =intention= is to address the scout's camping experience, but I also interpreted the phrases "After registration with a troop" and "within 2 years", as meaning that the candidate had to have been registered for at least the two prior years with a Boy Scout TROOP. One of our scouts had crossed over from a Cub pack 15 months earlier, had achieved First Class and had well over 15 days/nights of camping while with the troop. However, on the grounds that he had not been registered with the Troop for 2 years, I removed him from the candidates list. So... did I do this right, or did I misinterpret the requirements? (By the way, the scout is my own son.)