scoutldr

Perhaps new Sea Scouts should be sent below to find the bivalve and make sure it's closed before shoving off!

I agree, less is more. My pet peeve is flag ceremonies at camp, where the colors detail has every movement preceeded by an order barked out by a staff member with a megaphone. A simple "Color guard, post the colors" followed by silence would suffice. We don't need, "Color guard, forward march", "Color guard, halt", "Color guard, inward face", etc etc. Agree with the less squirming comment. Scouts should be taught to stand silently and render the proper salute when appropriate. Then there's the odd troop from out of council, all identically dressed, who will come marching down the trail with guidon and SPL calling cadence. Sheesh.

"If you are not able, which is ok, then the Council is asking for whatever you see fit. They would accept $10 per child or even $2. The are asking us to help however we can." That pretty much describes the current FOS program, doesn't it? The FOS presenter comes in and says "it takes $126 a year per boy to provide scouting" and then accepts whatever is written on the pledge cards....a lot of parents throw in a 5 or 10 dollar bill and their conscience is clear, regardless of their ability to pay.

What scoutnut said is right on. What you have described are all full time jobs in their own right. Remember, SCouting is supposed to be fun for you, too. With the exception of ACM, the other positions should be covered by pack committee members. The CM, ACM and den leaders are not technically members of the pack committee, but their job is to carry out the program. The pack committee plans and funds the program, and handles the "business" stuff.

My dad was a WWII submarine veteran, retiring in 1964. Coincidentally, I spent last week on business at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, where he entered boot camp in 1942. On Thursday, we awoke to find all the flags on the base at half-staff. No one knew why, until I reminded tham that it was Pearl Harbor Day. I have visited Pearl Harbor Naval Station three times over the years. I am always in awe, seeing the very barracks where my dad, a 17 year old farm boy, spent the early days of the war, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel where the submarine crews were housed between war patrols, the USS Arizona memorial and museum, and looking out over the very mountain ranges from where Japanese Zeroes rained down their terror. We remember because our parents and grandparents saved the world from terror and domination by tyrants. Some served in the military, while others served on the home front working in shipyards and factories or even by merely collecting newspapers and scrap metal for the war effort (Scouts collected millions of tons). I like to believe that that the current crop of brave men and women serving in the military will be remembered in the same light, and that we did our part here at home for the effort.

While such a policy from National wouldn't surprise me, I doubt that it's true. Looking at the link that scotteng posted, most of the logos and badges have the little "registered trademark" symbol. The exception is the "Scout" badge, which is just a generic FDL. Since the plain FDL is in common use, it probably is not trademarkable. Usually, in these cases, it is acceptable to use trademarks exactly as they are provided to us, without alteration. There are many examples of unauthorized use, one of which being the red nylon jacket that my friend ordered from eBay. It has the full color embroidered FDL with eagle (close but not identical to the official one), and our names and troop #. Someone is selling these as a business (though I doubt they make much profit), but since it doesn't come from the BSA catalog, is probably illegal. So my interpretation is for local use, use the trademarks exactly as designed, include the RT mark, and don't make a profit from its use. If they're still not happy with that, they can have my sincere apology attached to my resignation. PS: I'm not a lawyer...just a "reasonable man" acting in good faith.

The "book answer" is that the funds can be spent any way the Chartered Organization allows you to spend them, since they "own" the funds. The unit committee should plan the year's budget needs, then plan the fundraisers to cover those expenses, or else pass the expense on to the parents. If the committee decides that paying for unifoms is a unit expense (which is not very common), then plan the fundraisers accordingly. What the leaders' guide is talking about is that you shouldn't plan fundraisers just to see how huge the pack treasury can get, without a clear plan for using the money. Raise only the funds you need. Back in the day, the program taught that scouts should pay for their uniforms, camp fees, etc, by earning the money (mowing lawns, babysitting, etc). A modern compromise is that fundraising proceeds are placed into individual "scout bucks" accounts, proportional to the scout's participation in fundraising. The committee can decide how the scout accounts can be used...some limit it only to camp fees, and others allow it to be used for uniforms, books, or "anything from the scout shop."

This was in today's paper: http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=115417&ran=77678 The neighboring council, Tidewater, held a weekend popcorn sale with all proceeds going to the families of Troop 17. Over $20,000 was raised and presented to the families from their extended scouting family.

As unit level scouters, your voice and vote is your COR. How many of your CORs attend monthly District Committee and Council Executive Board meetings?

Fuzzy, for the sin of committing a run-on sentence, I absolve thee and direct thee to do penance by saying three "On my honors" a day for 30 days and repeat English 101.

And there's the dichotomy. I sat an EBOR last year where the 17 yo scout was an unwed father, and "living in sin" with the girl under her parents' roof. One of the BOR members (a troop committeeman who until then was unaware of the situation) strongly objected (on "morally straight" grounds), and the Eagle was denied. The scout appealed to Council, a new district level EBOR was held and the Eagle was granted. Apparently some sins are more "immoral" than others. In some cases, "boys will be boys" and in others it's "off with his head". No wonder today's kids are confused.

How can a convicted criminal be considered "morally straight"? If we can say that homosexual behavior is automtically disqualifying, I think that automatically disqualifying criminal behavior is reasonable. If you want to be an Eagle, then don't be a criminal. I don't think that's too hard a concept to grasp.

I am an Eagle Scout, class of '70. I will freely admit I had no other interests as a youth, but was very active in my Troop, Explorer Post and OA. Neither of my sons (now 28 and 24) made Eagle (Star and Life, respectively). It was their choice, not mine. They both went on to get their degrees and are successful adults. The older one played Varsity baseball every year, and the younger was in Thespians, student government (Sr class Pres), and German club. They may regret their choices later in life, but I don't think any less of them. I would have liked to have a family portrait of the three of us in uniform with Eagle medals on our chests, but that's just my ego and it's not important in the overall scheme of things. I tell the parents of our troop, that we will provide the opportunity to advance, but the Scout has to decide to do the work. We will not beg, cajole, or otherwise plead with them. They can either pick up the ball and run, ... or not. It's their choice.

If you want to come a little further North, try Wintergreen or Massanutten in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. We have been to Ski Roundtop, near Gettysburg, PA.

We've had a problem in our District with units holding on to applications for up to 6 months (I guess they wait for recharter time, for some unknown reason). This was uncovered when the new scouts started earning ranks and the registrar could not find them in the computer. New applications should be turned in to Council within a week, at a minimum. That way the scout or scouter is registered and covered by insurance for all activities. There's no excuse for not doing this. I remember the day when you had to show a valid membership card at JC Penney in order to buy any official scout items such as uniform parts. Maybe we should go back to that.

As I have said, the Eagle Award has been cheapened. I can't believe we are discussing awarding Scouting's highest honor to a convicted felon, but are willing to turn our backs without question on kids who are undecided about their sexual orientation or faith in God. Every rank has a requirement to "show Scout Spirit" in your daily life. How can anyone reconcile committing a felony with successfully meeting that requirement? One more reason why I believe that allowing units to conduct their own EBOR is a mistake.

When I was CM, we just told the parents that reregistration was 20 bucks, which covered national registration, BL, insurance and a little left over for the Pack treasury. No one ever complained or questioned it. We were 100%BL every year.

"I can see the difference in a venture crew member smoking though and just wondered what to do with him." There is only one option...you tell him that according to BSA policy, he is considered a Youth member, and tobacco use by youth is not permitted at any BSA function, whether visible or not.

Here's another hypothetical...you identify a good adult (over 21) who would make a good leader for your unit. But, he says, "I'm an alcoholic, and too addicted to quit. I'll need to sneak off into the woods every 2 hours or so for a beer to calm my nerves. It's legal, so I hope you don't mind."

I'm not disagreeing, fb. Character is not a partisan issue.

Unfortunately the title, "Eagle Scout" does not mean what it used to. It has been cheapened. I was confronted at work by a parent who said, "it's all BS...there is a kid in my son's troop whose dad and grandfather built a park bench while he was away at summer camp in order to beat the 18 year old limit. Everyone knew about it, but the EBOR gave it to him anyway." Today's teens and their parents have the mindset of "get it any way you can." Cheating in school is rampant, and they think nothing of breaking the rules. They only regret it when they get caught. Of course we have excellent role models like Kennedy, Murtha, Clinton, Foley, etc. What's happened to our standards, when the ranks are spoon-fed through mass meritbadge mills and parents doing the work for them? In my opinion, if a scout is convicted of a felony, he has forfeited his right to the Eagle rank. Sorry for the rant...

A little confused here. We are in a military town. Our flag would need about 16 blue stars, since most of our parents and leaders are active duty, as would every other unit in the council. On the other hand, we have had several scouts "age out" and join the military...one is now in the Army in Afghanistan. Should we have a star for him, since he's no longer registered with the troop? I pray that we never have to wonder about gold star protocol.

I was faced with a similar situation, when we convened a EBOR and facts were revealed in the Letters of recommendation. One of the EBOR members said, "if we proceed with this, I am voting NO." I recessed the Board, and called the DAC. The eventual ruling from the SE was that the Board should proceed, and a vote taken. Vote to approve MUST be unanimous. Then, if the Eagle is denied, the scout has a right to appeal. If all requirements have been completed, the Scout has a right to a Board. Then let the chips fall where they may. If the unit refuses to convene a Board, then the District will probably convene one and take it out of the hands of the unit committee.

Interesting about Eugene Fluckey. My dad served under his command on USS BARB, a submarine in the Pacific war.

Use a little reverse logic...if I were a registered Boy Scout, but liked the Sea Scout uniform better, would it be appropriate for me to buy one and wear it for OA purposes? Seems to me if he's not a registered Boy Scout, then he's not entitled to wear the uniform of that program. OTOH, I'd rather spend the money on that than some of the other things he COULD be asking for!