Scoutfish

If you bwant to restore it for restoring sake....and do not plan on wearing it as a current uniform for a current position..then leave the quality unit patch year as is, leave the quartermaster patch as is and leave the star patch as is. Our DE brings an old uniform he wore as a cub scout to roundups. It is in the exact same set up it was when he wore it last to show what he had earned At That Time If you think you may wear it just for a show and tell or look what I did way back when kinda thing...then again, do not change it. But if you are planning on wearing it as a current uniform, then you have to remove the Star rank, the Quartermaster , and of course the troop number since : A) You are not in that troop ....and B) it no longer exists ......and C) THose ranks are for youth and not adult So if you are looking to have a current wearable uniform - when you get done restoring it - it will look no different than buying a brand new one other than color or style of cut. Me? I'd restore it back to the shape and conditiuon it was in on last day you wore it way back when.

I had about 30 patches that a 65 year old "used to be a scout" gave me. All from late 60's to early 70's. 1st class Star , bugler, and some with red stars. I have no idea what they were to be honest. Thought the pack might like them. WEll, since they were not mine, nor did I earn them...they didn't have any meaning to me. I tried to use them as instant awards for our cub scouts...Nobody wanted them. I trid to see if any of our leaders aor neighboring leaders wanted them..no takers. I offered them up at RT to anybody who collects them. I think one guy took one patch. In the end, I sent about 12 or 13 of them to the ASM of Troop 246 of Cradle of Liberty Council . He is a member of this site.

Oh..NO! UH-UH! Not me! I am not going to do it! Just saying it could be done...and legit too.

Been with my pack little over 3 years now. I was an active parent who bec ame a ADL who trained to be a DL, but was asked to takeover as CM. A little history: The pack has always been a great pack. Had great leaders, great parents and great scouts. But not enough leaders or active parents. Some people wore two and three hats...which means the program was unintentionally somewhat neglected. Den meetings were too many scouts for not enough leaders. 95% of stuff was done inside at a table. Pack meetings were sorta dullish, pack meetings were long drawn out announcement sessions with some awards handed out in between clapping. Summer fun days? Ummm...slip and slide and a water hose. Everybody line op and wait your turn to slide down and then run back and wait again. I was told that hardly anybody showed up for some summer funs days and NOBODY showed up to others! So after I became CM last June, I decided to step up the fun factor. First summer fun day, we went fishing. Second, we went to a National Park where a major event happened that helped lead us to the Revolutionary War. Had a guide dress in period costume and "enroll" the scouts in the king's army. Third, we went to a WWII battleship ( USS North Carolina BB-55). I dressed up as a pirate and talked like one too for the entire pack meeting to promote our pirate themed pack campout - where I also dressed like and talked like a pirate. ( almost coughed up a lung doing it too!) Next to last pack meeting, I dressed up as a ballerina ( pink unitard and tutu with my scout hat, necker, BSA socks, and boots.) because I lost a bet to the scouts. They laughed and giggled and had a blast......... And most are pretty much done with therapy now too! WE been singing , hollering and yelling more and jumping around and running around more at pack meetings. WE just went to a ball game last night as our first summer day this year and led the opening ceremony at a baseball game. I am thinking of doing the same thing and having a second summer fun day for this month as well! Anyways, not trying to toot my horn, but just showing that I have worked to step things up and get the boys excited about pack meetings and fun days...which is working great so far. Here's the problem: Singing and hollering gets old after a while. You can only dres up so much before Social services investigates ( just kidding okay?) So I'd like to do somethinmg the pack has never done before: Have games for the cub scouts during pack meetings. No, not a ton of games or have games all night long, but just something to break the pattern. I just have NO IDEA WHAT! I have looked at a long list of games on boy scout trail, but most are either outdoorsy or for older kids. Something short and sweet , but fun. The thing to remember is we have pack meetings in the sanctuary of a church. Okay, lay you proven and time tested ideas all over me. I appreciate all your help and ideas!(This message has been edited by scoutfish)

I don't think the guy should wear all the knots on one uniform if they should be on different uniforms... IE: If he earns the CM knot for pack 123 and the Tiger and Cub Scout Leader for pack 456 , then the knots should be only on the uiniform for which pack it was earned at. As far as tenure goes..you hafta figure that an average scout year - as it applies to the tenure - consists of about one night a week. So If I go to pack 123 on Mondays, pack 456 on Tuesdays, pack 135 on Thursdays, and pack 987 of Saturadays...and the psycho ward on FRiadys Then In would actually have earned full tenure for each knot within the one year ( 1 of 2 for CM knot) time for each uinit without crossing or sharing the tenure. Know what I mean> If I am able to say...have over the required amount of boys advance to the next rank from each den I am a leader of...then I have earned it. If I get training for each rank within that year...it is still not sharedtenure or requirements if each rank is a different rank or training level. Now, if I was a Tiger Den Leader in all my different packs, I see that thebtraining would be shared or quadriple dipping. In any event, I would say each case would have to be individually gone over. But I still think each not should be regulated to the shirt that has the unit numbers of the unit it was earned at. and not one shirt with the whole collective of knots together.

Yeah, doing the requirement math, it can be done. But the point I was trying to make is that a paerson can be a member of more than one pack also. For example, I almost joined another pack that is brand new to help out as a den leader. I didn't , due to too much on my plate as it is aside from family time...know what I mean? But had I went ahead and joined, I could earn...for example Tiger Den Leader in that pack while also earning WEbelos Den Leader in my current pack. Or , as I am the CM of my pack, I could work on the first half of my CM knot year, but also earn a Tiger knot from this year at the second pack and the Wolf knot next year at the other pack while working on my second year ofr the CM knot at my pack. Then at the end of a 2 year period, I have earned 4 years worth of knots. Now lets pretned I was just crazy and became the Pack trainer at a 3rd pack. At the end of a 2 year calendar period, I could earn 6 years of knots in that 2 year time. And, you know, that wouldn't be too crazy for some people. I am the CM of my pack, but also the Cub Scout camp promotions for my district , as well as a MB counselor for our sister troop. And I do help out a brand new pack around the corner from my house in an unoffical position ( part time and not on paper).

You say he transfered from another pack? How long was he with that pack? He can earn an award as a Tiger lkeader, each year as a den leader, and as a Webelos Den Leader. Was he an ADL or on committee at some point when not being a DL? He could have earned the award at that time., Also, was he in more than one pack or unit? He could be a Tiger DL in one pack, and a ADL or committee member in another. Some knots look similar too. Maybe he was somehow erronously given a wrong knot or paper work could have been crossed and he was double awarded a knot? It's also possible his former CM turned in the paperwork for a DL position while the CC turned in paperwork for Scouter Award.

Now, if you camp on the den level as Webelos...and everybody in the den is very familiar with and freindly with eiter the DL's dog through holding den meetings at the DL's house or any other way in which all members of the den are very familiar to the dog...I do not see a problem with it. ESpecially if the dog is like a den mascot. My only issue is that one kid who will somehow unwittingly discove one of the dogs annoyances or somethinmg the dog just hates ...and then continues doing that ...even if they are unaware of it irritating the dog. Myself, I also have a male weiner dog that just doesn't like men besides myself. Not sure why. He loves women but not men. WEll, you always have that one person who thinks they are the next dog whispere and that all animal love him/her just because they like anim,als. Sorry, you may be great with animals and you may have a great attitude. But the problem is, MY DOG has a crappy attitude towards men..... REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU FEEL OR THINK! So , even my basset/blue tick mix...who has never met a stranger so far...could possibly meet that one person who rubs him wrong..and something bad happens. It might not even be the dog's or anybody elses fault, but something still could hyappen. If that ain't a damper while camping..I don't know what is!

I am willing to bet they do not mean to imply any type of threat or sexual harassment at all...just showing bad taste in the manner that they are picking on the new guy. They just chose a name they thought was funny. And realize, what they think is funny and what we think are two entirely different thuings! Yes, it needs to be stopped imediately. It needs to be explained to them the full ramifications of how it can be taken as a vieled threat of reape, harrassment, or even hazing. At the very least, they are guilty of plain bad chgoice of nicknames.

"While I feel sure that they would never hurt or harm anyone, I don't know what would happen if a group of kids were to tease them." Yeah, that's a great point. My dog is very friendly...never met a stranger so far. But some kids don't know the difference between petting, pounding and abuse. My dog might love all the attention, but get real tired of the boy that is just in his face too much. 3 or 4 pokes and a pulled tail later... I have no idea what he might do. Let him get caught in the middle when two or three scouts try to play tug o war over who gets to play with him and he just might decide people are not all that cool afterall. That's not even considering the late nigh cry of "EWWWWWW!" if somebody steps in a dog "cookie" while alking to the bathroom!

"Wait, what's wrong with a cookie making contest? As long as nobody has a problem with people eating dough while they make cookies, it's a really fun activity -- everyone loves raw cookie dough, right? I agree! First it's cookies, then we move up to pizza, then you start messing with burgers and fries. One day it will be bacon wrapped filet mingon and an awesome beef roast with potatoes and carrots. Maybe you become a barbeque baby back ribs connoisseur. One thing I can say is this: If my wife ever gets tired of putting up with me, I will not go hungry...nor will I have a diry house or dirty laundry! And besides...who doesn't like cookies every now and then? (This message has been edited by scoutfish)

When my son was 5, he asked my (then) 40 year old brother in law what other countried did for the Forth of July. WEll, they had a long discussion about diferent cultures eating different foods, different festivities, dancing, signing, etc.. I get my son not connecting July Fourh as an American Holiday, but my 40 year old Brother in law....who was also a former Coastie and USCG reserve? WOW!

From what I have read from this site, there is another reason also: Packs where nobody will offer to lift a single finger to help out, but the leader cares about the program enought to just suck it up and do whatever it takes to keep the pack running for the boy's sake. They will do anything in order to not have to cancel an event or dissapoint the boys. Of course, it's a nasty cycle: as long as the leader keeps doing it, the parents see no reason to volunteer. As long as no parents volunteer..the leader will keep being the one man show.

Ooops! Forgot the "What can you do for me?" parents. You see them all te time: They show up and stand there, sit amongst their own little groupo, and do not talk to anybody except when something isn't going the way they personally think it should...meaning for them. They will point out anything that is lacking - but only if it affects their own child. But can they help? Can they voluntyeer to make it better or more enjoyable? Oh hell no! They didn't join for that! Basically, they are selfish celf centered "ME, me, me " people!

NUMBERS! NUMBERS! NUMBERS! Who cares if the pack is sub par and 90% of the chartered members are in name only? It looks good on paper for the council and the DE. Luckily, our current DE took the place of a " NUMBERS!" DE Ad for the spin off..I used to have problems too. The biggest problemn is you have to pick a forum ..even though you spun off an existing foirum. And do not use punctuatin marks in the title or it will give you an error and kick back!

I have a basset/ blue tick mix. He was a stray that we adopted. He is the most loving dog ever who has never met a strabnger in his life. EVERYBODY is his friend from the very first second he sees them. But he likes to show how friendly he is by barking, howling, and whining while jumping all over you...and so far, he doesn't do the excited peeing thing yet. So, 40 scouts who think dogs are great, a dog who thinks everybody is great and always wants to play, scouts who always want to play..and barking and howling. Nah, not my idea of a good camping trip. That,s not even considering how the dog would never go to sleep, want to sniff everybody's tent...hopefully not "mark" everybody's tent.. scouts who are terrified of dogs who like to jump and put his front paws on you ( my fault, I rub his head and ears this way) or his barking at any strange noise at night. A great lovable "people dog" isn't even a good idea. And yeah, service or terapy dogs are an entirely differnt matter.

There is a hiking activity...who's name suddenly and totally escapes me for some reason...that will keep them interested and wanting to hike as much as they can. Give all the scouts a small notepad and a pencil or pen. List 4 or 5 random colors and ask the scouts to write down everything they see while hiking that is that color. For example: Red : Newt, lizard, salamander, Japanese Maple tree leaf, holly tree berries, wild flower, etc... Yellow: Wasp, Honeysuckle flower, Finch Blue: Wildflower, Bluejay, ...and so on. Or write the alphabet vertically, and they write down things they see that start with the same letter. For example: A: Apple tree B: beetle C: Cicadia D: dragonfly E: Earthworm and so on. Give a ribbon to the scout who finds the most or weirdest stuff It's like an academic scavenger hunt...but I cannot remember what it is called right now to save my life!

Baden, " You are perfectly free to believe anything you want, but when you attack how some others might believe with no support/evidence for your claims and in a very caustic and derrogatory manner you have to expect some will be offended and lash back." Yeah, here's the problem though: I did not attack anybody for what they believe. Not one time. I did explain why I MYSELF am not into the " whole" organized religion thing. I explain my reasons why I do not follow the entire organized religion ideal. I did not question anybody elses reasons and repeatedly said in this particular thread ( as well as others before this one) that I respect others rights as well as defend their rights to their beliefs even if I did not share those beliefs myself. Matter of fact, I have argues in support of people having their own beliefs and have argued for people who were predjudicedly vilified due to different beliefs. I do not think any person on this site has shown more tolerance of individual beliefs than I have. Not saying nobody else does, just that I am right there in the crowd with everybody else who are tolerable to indiviuality and diversity of beliefs, religions and lifestyles. I did not call any one person to task to explain or justify their beliefs or veiws. I did not say anybody offended me by having different views. I did not say that they should give evidence and that I would shoot it full of holes before I even knew what it was going to be. It was demanded of me to provide evidence as to why I felt the way I did..which I provided knowing full well that somebody who doesn't respect my beliefs will brush aside anything I say without so much as milliseconds thought. Matter of fact, they already knew before I even gave the evidence - that they were going to blow it off and shoot holes in any thing I might possibly say. But, that didn't change that I gave light to what I consider evidence. I have my evidence as to why I feel the way I do..but did not demand that anybody else change thier views based on my evidence. All I did was say I did not need somebody to reconcile my views any more than they needed me to reconcile theirs. I also responded to somebody's personal suggestion of staying out of the forums if I could not accept their veiws and beliefs. Really? If I can't change my views to suit them I should leave? Kinda arrogant or selfish don't you think? I then responded that since I did not share that other persons beliefs, I could easily say the same thing to that person - who showed to have issues with different beliefs and takes offense to others having different beliefs than their own. But then I said that I wasn't going to make that suggestion since I do not work that way. So, what I am hearing is that since I have no issue with others having their own beliefs, and since I support their right to have those beliefs.... but not sharing those beliefs myself...I am caustic and offensive............. But people can post about what is the one and only correct way to think or believe AND will not accept anyone else having their own beliefs without offering to re-educate them and insultingly point out their failings ...isn't being caustic and offensive? Surely you must be kidding! I did not push my beliefs over anybody elses, nor did I ask them to change their views, accept my reconciling of their thinking or demanding they provide evidence to me in order suit me or meet my approval about what they believe. I'm sorry, but if treating others with respect and tolerance towards their beliefs and expecting them to treat me the same way is wrong...Then I will just be wrong!

Our Tigers had a combination nature trail hike / fishing event combination event at a local municiple park. They built 3 bird houses and mounted them to 4 X 4 posts at a previous den meeting and on the day of the park outing, they took turns with post hole diggers and a level and tamping dirt back in. All they did before hand was contact the park supervisor and explain what they wanted to do, and the morning of the event, the park supervisor went out and pick 3 spots scattered around the park and put a neon orange X on the ground to show where to put the birdhouses. So, it was [pretty much a full day event with hiking, fishing, lessons in ecology, community service project as well as a woodcraft project all built into one. They also cooked cheseburgers and hot dogs. THis was just the Tiger dens, but it could easily be adapted for all ranks of the pack.

HAWKROD, I have heard of cutting a flag into strips before burning instead of just burning the bwhole flag in a pile or folded since cutting i strips allows the flag to burn better instead of smoldering. Not sure if this is the same thing you are talking about, but if so, I can see doing it to impliment better burning.

We usualy charge $15 per scout and $10 per parents, sibling, guest, etc. The scout is more to cover beltloops and such . We try to break even or at least not go in the hole. WE are not looking at profit though. When it comes to council camps, we might group together as a pack, but each family pays directly to council. We hold our pack campouts before or after council camps so that the choice to attend either or both is available.

We do, but we don't follow any specific protocol. I mean, we always look at any way we can improve any part of what we do, but what is an improvementy is arguable and up to personal interpretation. We had our fall campout at the CO last year since our usual spot was being revamped. Turns out that meant there was no cost other than food. Hey, that ended up beinga great way to get MORE new parents camping as compared to what usually happens. By this, I mean: Parents just spent a ton of money on back to school supplies, fees, clothes, registrations...pictures, school shirts, sports, uniforms, band equipment and such. Then the school wants the kids to raise money for something or another and then 3 weeks later, we have roundup where mom and dad hand over more money for insurance and BSA registration and Boy's Life. Now we are asking them to sell popcorn and pack dues. SO hey mom and dad..you want to hand over more $$$ to go camping? So something as simple as saving $20.00 makes a big difference. Fundraising: WE can try to plan a budget at out annual planning meeting - which is a week and a half , by the way. But we have no idea how many new scouits are going to join, if some will quit, or what camp fees may raise up to. WE can plan, but we know that we may have to adapt several times over. The biggest thing is that each year, we reflect on what happened the year before. We look at what used to work, whayt still works, and what is starting to get old or dull. What was cool last year may just suck next year. The biggest thing I can say is we remember to allow ourselves to be flexible.

Anyways, back to the origginal question. I have taken spagfhetti to a family reunion ( 3 states away) before and cooked it 4 days ahead of time.. I drained the noodles( do not rinse) and dumped them into big ziplock bags . I cheated and used ragu sauce. I brown regular ground hamburger to a ratio of one pound of hamburger to 1 large bottle of ragu. I think I usd 8 of the regular sized noodle packs. Anyways , I pour about 4 spoonfull of canola oil ( any kind works) into a big cook pot ful of water . I bring it to a boil and basically I am just reheating the noodles. The oil keeps the starch from becoming glue. I dump the sauce into a cookpot and just reheat it too but added about 3 spoons of sugar to to ccut back on the acidity of the tomatoes. It's not gonna be award winning spaghetti, but it's not dumpster fare either! It's pretty good...depending on your tastes. You can do it , but it means more cleanup, thats all.

Yeah, in my neck of the woods, you can buy steak on either Weds or Thurs and get a great deal because the next batchj of anything comes in the next day. Grocery store discount it a bunch to get rid of it. Let them know it's for scouts and they chop the price a bunch more. But truth be told...I lean towards bratwursts and smoked sausage dogs when camping. They are just like campfires on chilly nights...it just feels right!

Oh yeah, used to be a hot dog stand around here years ago called Alpha Dogs. Name was aptly applied too: Those dogs were great, but would tear you a new one a few hours later !