scoutldr

>>Puts his language and uniform police hats on at the same time

You need to understand that District and Council professionals (and volunteers) are trained not to take "no" for an answer. The reply, "OK, then you can just be the District Membership chair" is akin to the "It's only one hour a week" lie. (If I understood your post correctly).

"I'm in the process of trying to get the School calenders, the District and Council calenders, the OA calender, the list of what the HS Band is doing, a regular calender, the Flotillas calender,any plans that Her Who Must Be Obeyed has.Dates of local events." What you are missing is enough weekends. After you factor in all of the above, there won't be any left! Been there, done that.

Yeah, and we have speed limits, and throwing your butts out the window is against the law, and getting a suntan is bad for you. Am I responsible for pointing this out to every violator I see? What's that bible verse about worrying about the log in your own eye first? The only obligation I have is to try to serve as a good example. Let the UP who is without fault write the first ticket. Sometimes we take this scouting stuff way too seriously.

"I know a Crew that is a Scouting youth program home for an OA Lodge's LEC." Does anyone else see a problem with that?

If we substitute any other adjective for the word "Jewish", such as "Methodist", "Catholic", "Baptist" or even "American", would the article be any less accurate?

As Miss Manners would say, "criticizing how a fellow volunteer dresses can neither be constructive nor discreet. It's just rude."

One of my mentors once told me, "When you're not sure what to do, just figure out what the right thing is and just do that." Most of the time, your first intuition will be correct.

1966 here. Had shelter halves purchased at the Army-Navy store for around $20 for a complete tent. OD Green canvas with buttons and two piece wooden poles. When it rained, we had to trench around the tent to keep the water from running in under the tent...no floor. They were heavy to carry and hot in the summer...11 year olds have to have them buttoned up tight to keep the bears and other woods monsters out! My buddy and I almost died (literally) when we emptied a can of RAID in the tent to kill the skeeters. We were up all night with vomiting and diarrhea, which almost turned me off to camping forever.

I think what you are experiencing is the current method of "writing a report" for school. Go to the internet, Google your subject, cut and paste some paragraphs, print it and turn it in and get an "A". They are not actually required to "learn" anything. I agree, you are doing the right thing. If the requirement is to "discuss", they should be able to carry on a conversation on the topic without notes. Also, my understanding of the MB process, is that they are supposed to actually meet with the MBC before beginning any work on the badge. In that meeting, you would go over the requirements and explain your expectations.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

Echoing what nldscout said. We have a SN troop in our council (MR and Down's) and the guys are still working on advancement and MB well into their 30's and 40's. I look forward to working with them at summer camp every year. I have great admiration for the "adult" leaders who work with them every week. These "scouts" are grown men in every physical respect and I imagine they can be a handful.

Just a reminder that BSA policy is that any parent or legal guardian may attend and OBSERVE any BSA function or activity. That includes OA and summer camp. It's up to the trained, registered leaders to ensure that YP guidelines are strictly adhered to. At our summer camp, any parent is welcome to show up and walk around, but they must check in with the Camp Director, show picture ID and get a hospital-like ID bracelet. As far as I know, the unit does not have the authority to exclude them.

In some councils, reservations would be granted in order of popcorn sales figures. The top-selling troop gets first choice.

I think it's not so much the rules, as it is the presentation. Every year at summer camp, we have to endure the Sunday afternoon "orientation". The scouts are herded around the camp, where they are lectured on the "rules" for each area, most of which don't change from year to year. There is one particular female staff member we refer to as the "smile police". If someone is having fun, it seems to be her job to stop it. The way she comes across as a Drill Instructor addressing a squad of recruits doesn't make the message any easier to swallow.

I would start with a Unit Budget Plan, which the PLC can help with. I have seen units maintain 5 figure bank accounts, which is really unnecessary in my opinion. Lisa is correct...each activity, as part of the planning process, should include a budget and a plan for how to raise the money. Handouts from mom and dad and donated gas/equipment from leaders should be a last resort. The troop committee's input should include the operating expenses: registration, training fees, camperships, awards, etc. The troop Quartermaster should plan for equipment replacement and maintenance. Ideally, your yearly budget should have a zero balance...income equals expenses...with a small contingency factor of say, 10-15%. This teaches the boys to "pay as you go"...and that there's no free lunch.

Well done, Fuzzy. Let us not forget, as we get all wrapped up in uniform rules, G2SS, and unit/council politics...we are also in the business of creating memories that will last a lifetime. In some cases, they may be the only pleasant memories a boy has.

Once you're IN the OA, you can be elected to office up to the age of 21 as long as you're still a "youth Venturer"...right? Our Lodge chief is a college student.

Problem with the beret is that it looked dorky with the shoulder-length hair (and huge afros) of the 70's...and it looks like that hair style is back in vogue again. Everyone looked like French motorcycle gangs. Convince your troop to get "high and tight" haircuts, then they'll look sharp under a properly worn beret. I need at least a size 8 hat, so I can't wear BSA headgear of ANY style. "One size fits all" is a lie. I'd love to find a vintage campaign hat, but most that I've seen on eBay are in the 7 - 7 1/4 range.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

I don't know about other lodges, but I suspect they are similar...if OA were limited to Boy Scouts, most of our Lodge and Chapter Executive committees would change dramatically, as most of them now wear dark green shirts! The average age of an elected officer would probably drop from the 16-18 that it is now (my perception - no data to back it up) to 13-15. Overall, I think that would begin the demise of the OA.

I had poteen in my sporran once...took 10 days of antibiotics to clear it up!

Sleeping in a heated building is called a "sleepover", not "camping". At least in MY book. And fscouter is correct...Cub Scouts are only approved for "family camping". I define that as a group of families all camping at the same location. They just happen to all be members of the same Pack.

From Wikipedia (so it MUST be true!): Common-law marriage (or common law marriage), sometimes called informal marriage or marriage by habit and repute is, historically, a form of interpersonal status in which a man and a woman are legally married. The term is often mistakenly understood to indicate an interpersonal relationship that is not recognised in law. In fact, a common law marriage is just as legally binding as a statutory or ceremonial marriage - it's just formed differently. I can hear the BSA lawyers now..."don't these guys have better things to do than worry about this?"

This sounds like a mother-son issue that I would not want to be in the middle of. If she is a registered leader, I don't see how the crew can "vote" to make her stay home, while allowing others to go. A tactful, friendly conversation with another adult may help, but if she insists on going and is willing to pull her own weight, I don't see a way out.

I dread parents' night. We had a scout whose parents were very unreliable. Starting about 3 pm, he started watching for them. Other parents started arriving...dinner got underway...went to campfire...still no mom and dad. They just "forgot". He was devastated and cried himself to sleep. It was really pitiful. Last summer, they moved "family night" to Friday...needless to say, most of the scouts went home that night...after all, the MB work was done, and they missed their Playstations. If the parents wanted to take them home to avoid coming back 75 miles the next morning, who am I to object? One of the best decisions was to remove the pay phone from the trading post, where the boys lined up to call home collect every evening. Of course, they all have cell phones now, so it's a moot point.

Mail from home is great...if you're the recipient. It was heartbreaking last summer to watch one scout get 4-5 letters/cards/packages a day from various family members (including the dog!), while the others just looked on forlornly.