scoutldr

Well said, LongHaul.

William T. Hornaday Unit Award A Hornaday unit certificate, No. 21-110, is awarded to a pack, troop, team, or crew of five or more Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts, or Venturers for a unique, substantial conservation project. At least 60 percent of registered unit members must participate. These units may be nominated, or they may apply to their BSA local council for recognition.

No, Ed. Kitchen duty is a necessary camp job. Making an 11 year old Tenderfoot wait until midnight to set up his tent while the older boys stand around harrassing and ridiculing him serves no purpose that I can see. How many points of the Scout Law does that support??? From the dictionary: Hazing: 1. To persecute or harass with meaningless, difficult, or humiliating tasks. 2. To initiate, as into a college fraternity, by exacting humiliating performances from or playing rough practical jokes upon. ETYMOLOGY: Perhaps from obsolete haze, to frighten, from obsolete French haser, to annoy, from Old French.

Whoa, there yourself. What Lisabob said was, "Consequently, the least experienced (who so far are also the youngest) boys always end up setting up their tents last, usually in the dark, often quite late at night. My son feels this is unfair because, he says, the boys who get done first then also heckle the boys at the end of the line to hurry up (but, he says, they don't actually offer to help) so that everybody can get to cracker barrel and then go to bed or whatever." Hazing is in the eyes of the recipient...if the young scout feels hazed, (or embarrassed or ashamed, etc) then it's hazing. And no one said it was adults doing the hazing, although they are apparently condoning it. If the shoe fits...

I recently saw the perfect cell phone for kids without jobs (that is, not paying their own bills). It has 3 buttons for dialing out...Mom, Dad and 911. It can also be programmed to receive calls from only certain numbers. That solves the dilemma for parents who insist that "they NEED a cell phone in case of emergencies", and then gripe about a $1500 bill because their kids are out of control. I carry a cell phone only because we have elderly parents who are home alone while we are at work. I make maybe 6 outgoing calls a month, usually to say I'm caught in traffic and will be late getting home. I hate phones. Unfortunately, my DE thinks that we should spend every evening trying to call unit leaders who won't respond to an e-mail. Don't get me started.

Yes, the BOR question is typical...we use it at every BOR. Your troop's camping "policy" is not. In fact, it borders on hazing, which has no place in a Scouting program. Your son's "proposal" is spot on, and in fact, is the way most troops operate, in my experience.

I'll bet they were "Quality Units", though.

At our District meetings we have one, maybe two CORs show up out of about 70 units. That's on a good month. No amount of training, cajoling, or inviting seems to change that. On a REALLY good month, the District Chairman shows up and actually presides over the meeting instead of the DE (even though the DE plans the agenda and prints it out for him). In my opinion, the answer is pretty simple. As I understand it, the professionals' jobs are to 1)get major donations from corporate and private sources (not the volunteers), 2)form new units, and 3) get more youth, in that order. If they are not producing and meeting goals set by the Council Executive Boards, they need to be replaced. Yes, the volunteers have a role...that is to deliver the program with the resources provided by the fruits of the professionals' labors. Too often, I see the pros getting down into the weeds with things like camporee planning, training, Roundtables, etc. As has been mentioned on this forum before, Executive Boards are hand picked by the SE, and they just rubber stamp what he wants, even if it includes selling off property to pay salaries or buy new office furniture. Perhaps Executive Boards should be nominated and elected by the Council membership at large, instead of just a majority vote of the few CORs who bother to show up for the annual meeting. My perceptions...yours may differ.

I always thought the BSA had a "made in USA" policy, which is the excuse I always hear for the poor quality and high prices of uniform items. At the last RT, we were given our Quality Unit 2006 patches...official "Scout Stuff" printed on the plastic back. Also on the back of EACH patch was a small gold sticker, proclaiming "MADE IN CHINA". I have a vision of some 10 year old cranking these things out in a sweat shop for 14 hours a day making 12 cents an hour. They are of acceptable quality, though I'm not sure I want to wear it on my uniform right under the American flag. Seems kinda hypocritical.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

I would tell him that maybe God has presented him with a perfect opportunity to "turn the other cheek" and to "forgive those who trespass against us."

My wish is for Scouters to rediscover the true meaning of Scouting. Let's renew our commitment to the principles of the Founders, who didn't give a whit about popcorn, FOS, committee squabbles, gays or atheists. Scouting is about developing character and confidence, fun in the outdoors, brotherhood, friendship, and service to others.

The original neckerchief design was the "full square". It was designed to be a tool, useful for many things, including bandaging, and carrying things, along with the scout stave. The stave has faded into history, and the neckerchief is a vestigial shadow of it's former self, if worn at all. I say, celebrate your Troop's long and rich history...go with the full square.

Whatever you did, it seems to have worked. Thanks!

It's not you. The forum has become extremely slow and non-responsive recently. Very frustrating. Moderators, wassup????

While I appreciate Terry's efforts as much as anyone, negotiating this site is becoming too hard. I used the "Today's Active Topics" link almost exclusively to sneak a peek during the day. If I can't do that, I won't be around much. Maybe some will say that's a good thing.

Am I the only one having trouble accessing this link? THe server times out with an "Internal Server Error" (both locations, so it's not my computers)

Why not ask your son what he wants and then do that? I am more concerned as to why the other 4 are choosing not to cross over.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

The art of "manners" is dying. Like the "RSVP", or simply returning borrowed items in a timely fashion without having to be asked for them...don't get me started. I wish there was a "Social Graces" MB...they probably wouldn't sell too many, though. It would be tough to find qualified counselors.

I'm not a lawyer...however... certain BSA symbols and logos are registered trademarks and/or copyrighted. I feel certain that you would not be able to use those in making up your own patches.

I would sit the Board. Not having a uniform on would certainly be fair game for discussion with the candidate, but it can't be a deal breaker. I would want to know the reasons that the Scout chose not to wear one. Remember, a BOR is supposed to be a learning experience on both sides. After seeing an Eagle board overturned on appeal to District after the Unit BOR felt there were serious character flaws and reason to deny the Eagle, I am convinced that any negative decision based on uniforming would be overturned without a second thought.

Absolutely not. And I hate "Mr. Mike"... what's THAT about...either show respect ... or not.

Took my troop up to the Blue Ridge mts last weekend...which happened to be the last weekend of deer season. Had to make them wear blaze orange the whole time because of all the "sportsmen" roaming the woods, desperate for a trophy. I was scared to death the whole time. Sunday morning, a hunting dog wandered into camp to visit with the boys. The dog was a sweet female beagle, maybe a year old. She enjoyed all the attention and the meal of leftover hot dogs that she devoured. She was freezing and emaciated...obviously neglected and abused. Every bone and rib was clearly visible, and the pleading look in her eyes was heartbreaking. I almost took her home with me, but I don't have a proper yard for a dog. On the way home, I passed many a pickup truck with a "dog box" in the back, doing 60 down the highway at 28 degrees...the wind chill on the poor dogs must have been 20 below zero. It should be illegal to hunt with dogs.

For a charter to expire unnoticed, a lot of people need to be asleep at the wheel. Usually, it is a top priority of the District Exec to keep a unit alive for another year. Sounds like, in a nutshell, if there was property/money involved, then it's simple theft. The CC stole from the CO. The CO needs to call the police and file charges. Or at least threaten to. I don't think Council will get involved...it's between the CO and the CC.

I tuned out the LNT instructor when he said that "human waste" (as if it's worse than "animal waste") had to be placed in a section of PVC pipe, capped off, and slung over your shoulder to be carried around with you. If that's not bidegradable, I don't know what is. If it's good enough for bears, it's good enough for me.

"...any campout longer than 4 days is considerd a long term camp. It then falls under the same regulations as council summer camps. They had to get a camp director and aquatics director certified through National Camp School." That would eliminate many 50 milers done at the unit level (I completed 3 as a scout). Since when is summer camp supposed to be a "money-making venture"? I thought if we covered expenses, that was doing extremely well.