scoutldr

Assuming that the scout is a registered member of the BSA, and that the Eagle Scout award is granted by the BSA, I would say this is a no-brainer. If he were being awarded the top award of the Asociacin de Guias y Scouts de Costa Rica, then he would wear that uniform.

I have also seen this tactic at a local concert venue. No one wears a scout uniform, but there is a sign posted behind the counter that says "Friends of Troop XXX". It gets the message across without using the words "Scout" or "BSA". Come to think of it, there is a precedent for selling a product at 6 times it's fair value. ($6 for a beer!)(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

A prerequisite for wearing a kilt should be that you know the proper spelling of "Scot". And as Scotty said, "Scotch is what a Scotsman drinks to wet his whistle!"

But isn't it fun?

The council in which I serve routinely asks for volunteer help to input registration records every year after the new member rush. I have no idea who these volunteers are or what their motivations may be for volunteering. I'm sure that 99.9% of them are people like me who are just interested in helping with no other evil intent...aren't they? I guess I am just more sensitive since I am a govt employee who has to take annual security training which includes the Privacy Act.

packsaddle, yes we are thinking the same, albeit you wax much more eloquent. Perhaps this thread illustrates why we now have to do a "Diversity" ticket for Wood Badge. Too bad she's not also gay...that would make things a lot "cleaner."

If the woman is not indecently exposed (according to the law) then it's nobody's business. I'm presuming that she is not otherwise acting in a lewd or provocative manner. Do you propose to check everyone to make sure they're wearing appropriate undergarments? The boys will see more on TV or at the pool/beach, unless they live in a cocoon. Everyone has a right to be unattractive (thank God!). Is it any worse than those Commissioners with a 52 inch belly hanging unfettered over their 38 inch belts?

I would tell the lad that he has a choice. He can either be in uniform, or not. If in uniform, it will be complete and proper. If he opts to wear a kilt, it may not be mixed with uniform parts. Of course, the same rule should be in place for the rest of the troop at all activities, to be fair. I recently attended an Eagle COH where the troop did not enforce proper uniforming. There was a mixture of blue jeans, shorts, orange tennis shoes, no socks, sandals, no neckerchiefs, bolos, etc., combined with scout shirts that looked like they had been stored in a knot under the bed since the last troop meeting. It looked horrible. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when the SPL had no idea how to do a proper opening flag ceremony, either.

We're still talking about popcorn. We are discussing alternatives to sending little boys and their parents out to beg for money in exchange for an overpriced product that few people really want. We are discussing alternatives to selling off scout camps to meet payrolls. We are talking about ways to reduce administrative overhead (how many staff hours and other resources are devoted to Popcorn sales?). I think the discussion is valuable. I only hope there's some lurkers out there taking notes who are in a position to effect change.

It really is amusing watching guys argue about things they know nothing about. A profit sharing plan is not the same as a 401K. They are different. A 401K is a retirement plan into which the employee contributes and the employer may or may not match some percentage. A profit sharing plan is entirely at the discretion of the company. If the company has a good year, some defined percentage of the profits are distributed back to the employees (hence the term "profit sharing"). When I worked in industry, we ALL got 8 shares of stock one year. As profits changed, the amount changed. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

We recently had to apply for a zoning variance to build a room on the back of our house. Even though I have been a resident of this city all my life, and have paid property taxes and sales taxes for the privilege of living here, I still had to pay a $200 non-refundable application fee just to request the variance. They never asked my income...everyone pays the same fee if they want the service. If you want to go to college, you have to pay an application fee for someone to process the application, even if you're accepted and pay $20,000 a year for tuition. If you want a parking sticker, that's another hundred bucks, and another $35 for a "student health fee". If you want to graduate, that's another fee. I just put two boys through college, and it seems like I was always writing checks for some "fee" or another in addition to tuition. If you want headphones on an airplane, it's another $4 even if you paid $1200 for a ticket. Fees are all around us and people are used to paying them. Bob, probably no one has to pay for room rental for roundtables. But we could use the Council "Service Center" (oxymoron) if every conference room, corridor and broom closet weren't stacked to the ceiling with popcorn. FOS and Corporate donations would continue. If units do not want to pass on the user fees to the parents, they can have their own fund raisers as they see fit. Just no more Council pressure to sell popcorn.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

The fall schedule has been announced: http://www.downandderby.com/fall_markets.html The website says if 1500 people register on the web site, a showing will be scheduled in that area. Proceeds benefit local scouting.

To answer the discussion, we would have to know #units sold per scout nationwide over the past few years. Who among us has that data? Only then will we know if popcorn is declining. In the unit which I serve, the forms are passed out and the scouts are told that their share will be credited to their account to offset camp fees, etc. That's not much motivation, since if they don't sell anything, their parents will pay for summer camp anyway. Prizes? Why bother. They get anything they want anyway. A modest proposal...can the popcorn. Make up the difference by charging user fees for Council services. $10 to process a Tour Permit. $15 to record an advancement form. $50 for an Eagle Application. 25% surcharge on all Scout Shop sales. $100 to rent a meeting room for training. You get the idea. It works for banks! Obviously, this is a non-starter. But the point is, there is no free lunch. If units opt out of popcorn, Council has to get the money somewhere. Selling that camp looks real good ...

The old adage says, "if you want something done, give it to a busy person to do." A lot of my co-workers do absolutely nothing other than go to work and go home. THey see no reason to contribute to the community with volunteer work, or charitable donations, scouts, Lions, Kiwanis, etc. Some of them have never seen the inside of a church, much less help make it run with their time, talent or dollars. They see nothing wrong with having other people carry the load when they drop their kids off at scouts and then go shopping for an hour. I don't get it...but then I was raised a Scout. Do we allow thespians in the BSA?

Keep in mind that, with 3-5 board members, there will be time for only 2-4 questions per person, depending on how talkative the candidate is. Often, questions will arise as follow-ons to other questions as you keep probing for answers. Ask "open-ended" questions that can't be answered with "yeah" or "naw" or a grunt. Start the questions with "tell us about", "what are your views on", or "how would you handle"...etc. There are no right or wrong answers. Another favorite: If you could have dinner with one person of your choosing, from the present or past, who would it be and why?

The BSA web site lists the G2ss as BSA Supply #34416E. http://www.scouting.org/pubs/gss/ rkfrance, are you sure 34416R is the new revision?

A friend of mine came back from Jambo with a "BSA Publications Catalog", which lists ALL BSA pubs, films, videos, training materials and forms, and their current catalog number and price. He said he knew of only one other copy at the COuncil office, that you could look at if you knew to request it. Again, WHY does the BSA not publish such things on the web site for download and printing???

I think this thread has been valuable. Thanks, Rick for sharing. Now let us all remember this at the next troop meeting or camping trip. The little scout that is being a pain in the patoot, or the kid who shows up wearing the wrong color socks, or the kid who is gigged on "scout spirit" at his BOR because he only came to 74% of the activities (probably through no fault of his own)...just may be dealing with HUGE issues that you and I have no clue about. For some youngsters, scouting is the only "safe haven" and source of friends they have. Let's not make it overly burdensome or complicated.

Once "called out", a Scout(er) has one year to complete an ordeal. It can even be done in a neighboring council, if that's feasible. After the year expires, he must be re-elected.

Actually, your Troop OA Representative is the one who should be bird-dogging this at the unit level. It is a Position of Responsibility, and they should be responsible for it.

THey will sue everyone. The judge will sort out the liability, but usually before it gets to that point, the insurance companies will settle. It's usually a lot cheaper than litigation. My financial planner just told me I need a MINIMUM of $2 million in an umbrella liability policy, in addition to homeowners and auto insurance.

Same here, Eamonn. No matter how many people I trained, the official training printouts never showed more than 30-35%...and that's what the SE used to beat up the DE with...and it flowed downhill. If anyone's familiar with the "Red Bead Exercise" from TQM/Deming days, this was a classic example. I finally had enough.

In this area, the Leaders are notified at Roundtable and Chapter meetings by the Lodge Election team, and they are urged to "sign up" for an election date. If they choose not to, they don't get an election. The Election team will usually bend over backwards to ensure that the unit gets it done.

If their parents are going to be present, THEY are responsible for their childrens' behavior.

In my experience, the Council could never tell me who's trained and who's not with any degree of accuracy.