Scoutfish

We held our first ever "Parent-Son Cookoff" last year. In spirit, it's a father son thing, but we have a few scouts who's dads decides to opt out of fatherhood or who decided "family" just wasn't their thing. So it's open to the scout and a family friend, Uncle, neighbor, etc..but mom will have to do if nobody else is available. Remember, we can't punish the scouts for something beyond their control! Now, we hada few catagories: Most original, most creative, best tasting , and overal grand champion. Last year ( my first year in scouting) I decided that my son would do the maj

COME OUT....COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE! LOL! Sorry, just in one of those moods tonight. But I'll tell yah, being new to this, and finding out this is a great place to learn, I'd like to see the final word on this. The first weekend I ever slept with my son in a tent, it dropped to 39 degrees . It was a test run for him before the family pack campout. Even got us some real nice and comfy 20 degree sleeping bags which turned out to be toasters the following weekend at the campout when temps were a low of 74 degrees at night! He slept okay, but I peeled back the bag, then tosse

"It was odd for me to see women as leaders, and even stranger women in OA. I'm not suggesting I am right, but those are my honest feelings" I have no issue with that. The way I read it is the same as if I read "It was strange seening a new mall in my town because we just never had one" It's only a problem if you let that "strabgenes" get in the way of scouting , which pretty much is to teach boys to become proud, smart, honest and civil members of society. And they get tricked into that by having fun while doing it. I gues I look at it like this: I am going to be starting radiati

Our Cub Master is female and doing a very fine job of it. Here's how our pack looks at things: When it's time for somebody to be in a position of leadership, power, or authority...it is based on the individuals ability to do the job! PERIOD! Male, Female, Alien from Mars...whatever. If you are the best candidate for the job, we hope we are smart enough to have youi doing that joob!

When is too much? I think too much is getting a patch for paying attention, being quiet, listening to your Den Leader, following directions, or anything along those lines. I have no isuue with a "First time camping" patch or badge if such a thing exists. At our last family campout, you'd be surprised how many ( NEW )kids never ever even walked in the woods before, much less went hiking, camped in a tent anywhere, muchless camped in a tent IN THE BIG OLD DARK SPOOKY WOODS, ate in a campchair while sitting around a campfire or went night hiking. Some of these new kids (ranging from ti

Eagle 92.....Your post made more sense to me, because alot of the stuff you said did not make sense (to me that is). LOL! Basically, I understand ther is a set of standards that National put out that said "Definant Maybe" , or along the lines og " You always do this unless you don't on every day of the week that ends with "y". Maybe you only wear red and white on months that have 28 days LOL! I'm not into supporting or condoneing mutiny or what not, but maybe the councils shouls all send National a letter stating something to the fact of "We will act like the individual states of T

let me ask this: Wher did it say anywhere that the scout took away the union employees work? Was it their job to create that trail? Was the city going to pay them to do it before the scout came along? I do not see where Mr Balzano said that the city used the scout INSTEAD of paying the union guys. Matter of fact, the more I read and think about it. It looks like Mr Balzano is saying: If anything work needs to be done, then the city HAD BETTER pay us to do it. Sounds like if ANYTHING comes up, Mr. Balzano thinks the city OWES it to the workers to pay them. Now, If I was

Another thought: While not taking sides, nor saying anybody does not understand what they are talking about ( again, I'm new so I DON'T know)...I have noticed a theme all across these boards, blogs and posts: Wether it be advancement requirements, how to earn belt loops/ merit badges, or wether it pertains to shirst, patches and pants.... There always seems to be some griping about why this rule, that rule or requirement got changed, added , or dropped. This requirement no longer applies, that merit badge no longer exists, the shirts ( thats a big one!) are suddenlt a different style.

Okay, I wasn't very specific since the title thread was only about leaders. I just assumed everybody would get that I was refering to leaders. The local scout shop USED to be local, but went NATIONAL since I had bought my sons wolf stuff at the begining of last year ( well actually ... after the August round up). The phase out was only to apply to the leader's shirts/ centenial shirts. No, I don't know why. The girl at the scoutshop said that the old stuff would not be dropped for everybody in one time frame, but slowly phased out as your old shirts and stuff either wore out, got tore

I will agree with Scoutdad on one thing: In my "own, non associated with anybody else personal opinion"... I think the dad should stand no matter what his persona opinion or belief is. Is it really religeous? Then I have a hard time imagining that dad would take his son to particcipate in a group that "idolizes" something he is religeously against! If it's just a matter of citizenship..take him to a sporting event. NASCAR or Hockey for example: WHen playing teams from other countries, we always play the other teams anthem first as sign of respect. We are not saying we follow, believe

Ask that dad if he ever cooked a pig or turkey. You cook a pig at 350 degrees for around 6 or 7 hours. (assuming he's around the 80 to 120 pound range). Do it right, the pig will be cooked just right...not too much..not too little. Everybody enjoys the meal. This dad sounds like the type to say :" If it's 6 hours at 350 degrees, that means 3 hours at 700 degrees...which means 1 1/2 hours at 1400 degrees , right?" Except at 1400 degrees, the outside of the pig will be a charred husk , while the very inside will be a bloody raw mess. What could have been a vey fine pig , n

Nah...Pack was right. I mean, he was being completely sarcastic. Reminds me of the people we ran across when I was an active firefighter responding to car crashes: People would run up and say" I'm a witness! What happened?" LOL! Or hearing somebody ask the guide at the life science mueseum : "Where are the UNDISCOVERED species located?" "Indigenous people arriving daily"! LOL! I'll have to remember that one!

Pack 235 Father -Son Cookoff Grand Champion 2008 So how do you attach pics?(This message has been edited by scoutfish)

On another note though.... If the scout questions his responcibilty to stnd and recite the pledge, and tries to justify it under the "My dad doesn't do it" rule... I would tell the dad it's time for a little side meeting. Time to tell Jr that : hey, this is a club you voluntarily joined. You signed up to be a member. This club has rulesand requirements. If you refuse to comply with basic found principles of scouting , you need to drop out. Tell him you don;'t want that, and he doesn't either. But the choice will be theirs!(This message has been edited by scoutfish)

I see two very applical responces here: 1) Often the parents see themselves as observers, not participants and don't realize that they should stand up. 2)The dad might not be a citizen but even if he was I respect his right to not make the pledge. I think that as long as the dad does not become rude during the pledge and shows respect to other folks beliefs we should respect his beliefs. I see lots of parents who see all activities as "stuff the boys are doing" . They may see this as a case of it being for the boys, not the parents...in which case, no disrespect is intended

I am fairly new to scouting, so in the rare case, I might actually be able to help. I just bought my first leaders shirt 3 weeks ago. The very knowledgeable girl at the Scoutshop helped me pick the "NEW" correct colors. Tan and green. See, I'm not officaily a leader yet, but wanted to hurry up and buy a shirt at the 75% off advertised price. Turns out I couldn't. They didn't have my size. See, there are these new shirts that came out along with new designs. 75% off was a sale to get rid of the old shirts...whatever they were! Since the design was new, somebody decided to c

While trher is more to pride than the uniform, the uniform is a great sign of pride. I don't think a uniform will foster or inhibit pride. It is my beliefe that the uniform is a symbol of pride. If you are proud of what you do, and what group you belong to...you will wear that uniform! As a former asst fire/ water rescue chief of a beach town, we used to practice and hold training right next to, and on the beach. We luanched at public boat ramps and during toursit seasn, wre definantly in the public eye. We'd have Jr fire fighters from other counties, across the sate and as far as

This is a truely tough spot to be in: This is a case where everybody sure had better have had all the details written in the contracts. Yet, as is the case most of the time, unless you have a contract for a determined amout of time ( say like a month, year or particular weekend), it's pretty much impossible to plan ahead and foresee all potential issues that could arise. I live in a rural ditrict. No city limits. but i live a half mile from one town, and 3 miles from the other. Yep!Sandwiched right in the middle. ( Inerestingly enough, I have a Surf City fire/rescue/ building inspec

Abel, it's all good! Same thing happens here. Or I misunderstand what somebody commented on, and I bust them for agreeing with me..or worst case, I call out commenter "A" for something commenter "B: said! That's the best.then you have to back track, appologize and retract what you said to somebody who didn't say anything to start with! Let's not even talk about how one single misplaced or forgotten apostrophie can change the entire meaning of a word or comment!

Anyways, I had a blast arguing with ya. Gotta go, Pack meeting in 1 hour and we need to eat some dinner. Everybody have a great night!

Come on..I make moot points based on stuff that didn;'t happen? IE: "Just imagine if there was no union involved. ABC Trail Construction inc. had signed a contract with the city to build that trail. Then the local trail association volunteered to build it. So the city told ABC to take a hike. ABC would have the city in court so fast you heads would spin." That was me qouting somebody else. My argument was intended to be as moot as the original comments on purpose! The only thing I mention your name about was the agreement that there is not enough details. Know what I mean? I was ag

"...165-mile Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. He noticed there were a few missing connections to the trail in Kimmets Lock Park, which is on the Lehigh River near Dauphin Street" Now, this sounds like a National (read federal) Parks thing to me the more I think about it. This may be outside the city and unions area of authority. Abel, I agree that there is not enough info to make a sound and educated decision on. But truth be known, The scout might actually be the nephew of the union rep and was asked / offered the job in a ploy for the union guys to get attent

I'm not the "super picky, stuck on details " kinda guy, but....... "Just imagine IF there was no union involved. ABC Trail Construction inc. had signed a contract with the city to build that trail. Then the local trail association volunteered to build it. So the city told ABC to take a hike. ABC would have the city in court so fast you heads would spin." That's alot of "IF". Just imagine if the city had no plans whatsoever of building a trail. What if no contracts were signed, written or even thought of. Imagine if nobody was contacted, consulted or even had the job mentione

ABEL: "The question is this - It is the city's job to maintain and clear the trails?" Actually, that isn't the question. The question would be: "What trail?" The one the city already has, or the one that did not exist until the boy made it? Basically, The city can't routuinely maintain and handle upkeep on something that isn't there. The scout is not cleaning up or redefining a trail. He is in fact, creating from scratch, the trail in question!

The more I look at it, the more I see this path as a great idea 1)I suppose the City could pay the union guys to maintain it. Tah Dah! Instant paying work! 2) The pack/ Troop could maintain it. Maybe even tie into some sort of conservation, green Earth project? 3) A great excuse for a weekend scout outing. Everybody gets together, does community service,goes to the park for hot dogs afterward, and has fun in fellowship. 4) Maybe a good place to a PL to get some experience detting up a duty roster: Tom will rake, Billy pushes the wheelbarrow, Joey picks up bottle trash pap