scoutldr

I'll take a shot here...Aggie may be in one of those misguided Councils which is making training "mandatory" in order to be registered in a position. Therefore, you wear both patches, or none at all.

Bob White said: Youth of the UUA, youth of Wiccan covens, youth of the Episcopalian Church as well as the Methodist church are all welcome to join Scouting, as are the adult members of those same organizations. The only thing the BSA has said is that those organizations cannot charter a scout unit, because they have said they will break the rules. My unit is chartered by a UMC...should I be looking for a new CO?????

1 : relating to or manifesting faithful devotion to an acknowledged ultimate reality or deity the BSA requires this for membership by all youth and adults in Cubs, Boy Scouts, and Venturing. Sorry, but I don't read that in the Declaration of Religious Principles. In all of the court cases, BSA has maintained that they simply require the acknowledgement of belief that a "higher power" may exist, i.e., not be an "atheist". That's a far cry from "manifesting faithful devotion". Am I to deny membership to the young boy whose parents never took him to Sunday School, but yet allow the son of an Al Qaeda terrorist? They are, after all, "manifesting faithful devotion." I see a disturbing trend in the formation of sectarian scout units, in direct contradiction of the Declaration of RP...we have exclusively LDS units, a Black Muslim unit, and several units chartered by the Catholic Diocese. We have a unit whose neckerchief sports the Cross on the back and they spend their meeting times praying and working on their religious awards...which are not even awards of the BSA. I prefer to stick to the original model and run my unit to serve the needs of the neighborhood. We have blacks, Puerto Ricans, Catholics, Protestants, and some who have never stepped foot in a church. But if their parents signed the application agreeing to the DRP, I am not going to convene an inquisition to disprove them. I will not add to the requirements.

Everyone knows that "verbage" is the excessive use of verbs. And ending a sentence in a preposition is something up with which I will not put.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

That's good advice...we also advise that as soon as a scout makes Life, he take a copy of his Troopmaster record down to COuncil and make sure they match the official records. When a scout is 17 years, 11 months old is not the time for surprises.

There is also the law of supply and demand. As has been mentioned above, we are getting away from our ecology-minded conservation ways of the early 70's. The generation X and Y don't remember sitting in a line 3 blocks long to buy a 10 gallon limit of gas at 58.9 cents a gallon. And that's only if your license plate matched the odd or even day of the week. The answer is to put our high-tech intellects to work to develop alternate energy supplies so we can tell OPEC to stuff it. In the meantime, let gas go to 5 bucks a gallon. If the soccer mom next door can afford a Ford Excursion 4x4 to go grocery shopping in, so be it. Personally, I would like to see the driving age raised to 18 nationwide and the speed limits back to 55. A 33 passenger diesel school bus is more efficient than 25 souped up Honda Civics clogging the roads and school parking lots. Only then will I feel guilty about my 6 cyl Jeep Grand Cherokee that I use for scouting.

You made a difference in the life of a child. That means more than all the square knots the BSA can offer. As I write this, I am looking at an obituary of a young man who has been on camp staff for the last 4-5 years. I knew him as a "cheerful spirit" who worked well with the younger scouts and was respectful to us old geezers. He did not stand out. But he was always there, fulfilling his obligation. I didn't even know his name, but I instantly recognized the thumbnail photo. All the paper says is that he was an Eagle Scout and "died suddenly" at age 22. It has been on my desk at work since January. I look at it often and wonder why God would take him at so young an age. And I thank God that my two sons are still with me and healthy and I pray that He doesn't need them any time soon.

You can't be a "member" of the BSA or any of its units unless you fill out an application, pay the fee, and are approved by the COR and committee chairman. Otherwise you are just an interested parent helping out, but without the benefits and protections of membership.

Rather than ask more questions, I will try to be helpful and provide some answers. The Pack Committee are the "administrators" of the Pack and the things you mention are their job. There are also what we call "direct contact" leaders, i.e., the Den Leaders and Cubmaster(s) who deal directly with your sons, and who ideally are not also members of the committee. My advice is to decide which you want to do, as you are clearly not happy trying to be both. In any pack, there should be enough adults available to fill all the positions. All of this is explained in the Cub Scout Leader's Book and in the Cub Leader Specific Training.

Too bad there isn't a square knot for dead horse beating!

http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Falls/8826/explorers.html

Soccer? I thought you Brits played "Football"??? And what us yanks call football is really a form of Rugby?

It appeared to me there was no correlation between the stars and what people thought of the post or poster. Either people were not voting, or there was a flaw in the algorithm (that mathematical principle invented by Al Gore). I vote no. I don't miss them.

At our camp, Camping MB is offered. Those scouts are told in advance that they need to bring a tent, sleeping bag, backpack, etc...then they go off as a group and camp. Of course, if they are on staff, they are not taking merit badges, unless in their free time. They are there to do a job.

We are to set a good example for the scouts who are examining what we do. The matter was raised by a scout. So, as Dr Laura says..."go do the right thing." The guy deserves due process, without the benefit of all of our uninformed opinions. But be ready...when they come to examine your life with a magnifying glass in one hand and the oath and law in the other, how will you fare? PS: The correct spelling is "patoot". If we are going to insult each other, the least we can do is spell it correctly.

As I tell my troop's PLC..."You will only be as bored as you plan to be."

I was once assigned the honor of escorting the School PTA president (my wife) to the state conventions every year. Oddly the national organization does not advocate fundraising for basic needs that should be funded by the state. PTA local fundraising is done by misguided but well-meaning volunteers that don't know what else to do to advocate for the children.

I have seen CAW used before, but only in reference to the old Exploring logo which was worn on the right sleeve of the uniform and on the hat, I believe.

My point was that it was better to offer the program to those 4-5 whose troop was folding than it was to keep a "Unit" on the books which was NOT delivering the promise. Did I mention that we have no Commissioner staff to speak of. So the problem is systemic...

FOG, the answer to your question is obvious. The goal of the DE is more units, more boys, more money, not necessarily in that order. One of my scouts told me that his buddy's troop was about to fold, and I suggested to my DE that we just invite the 4-5 boys over to our troop, since they are in an adjacent neighborhood, and we were down to 8-9 actives. His response was "don't you dare...I don't want to lose a unit."

Mercury! I have two questions: how did the car pass the weigh-in and were the parents billed for the hazardous waste spill cleanup? Or is the mercury still in the school probably spread all over with the wet mops? This is a serious health hazard. Back to the original question...how about recruiting your affiliated BS Troop and/or Venture crew to do the judging? No better way to get Cubs excited about the programs to come!(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

Do you have it? Do you wear the knot? Why or why not? Did you make the donation, or was it presented in your honor? Among my circle of Scouter friends, this is a controversial subject. I'm curious as to what others think.

Like VentureSCout said, go to the national OA website, then click on the "JUMPSTART" box at the bottom. This is info for new members.

I am aware of the EO and of service-specific instructions as well. I pushed the issue up to the appropriate Pentagon office and was told "that policy does not apply to civilians." I am the only Scouter at my command that I am aware of, so I get no support locally. Funny, we are the ones who take the lads camping and keep the units alive when Dad or Mom are deployed...using our precious vacation time in the process. Just my little way of supporting the troops some of whom are my neighbors. I know they appreciate it, and I am happy to do it.

Correct, FOG. I am FLSA "Exempt"...no overtime. But like a good Scout, I consider it "duty to country" and "cheerful service". Even when I have to give up my weekend in airports and still have to be at work Mon morning. The travel regs say "time in travel status is not considered hours of work and is not compensated." So if they want me to go to WB or Philmont, summer camp gets cancelled. I have to choose what's more important to the boys. Cancel Christmas? Wait, I'll ask my wife.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)