scoutldr

If I voluntarily provide my own health information to the Camp Medical staff, that's not illegal. If I give the information about my Scouts to the camp staff, that may be illegal, unless I have a consent form from the parent. Then the Council must safeguard the information to insure it is not released to a third party for purposes which I did not authorize (like to non-medical camp staff). I think if the medical forms are locked in a file cabinet in the Health Lodge, with only the Medical staff having access, that would suffice. Perhaps a change to the Health and Medical forms to include consent to disclose would be in order. I'm not a lawyer...each Council needs to consult their Counsel for guidance. I work in a medical setting, and we were trained that anything that can identify an individual's health status is considered protected information, and there are stiff penalties for advertant or inadvertant disclosure without specific consent from the individual. The good news is that the hospital candy-striper can no longer look in the computer to see why her neighbor's REALLY in the hospital (been there).

The state (I mean "Commonwealth") flower is the Flowering Dogwood, so how about the Dogwood Council. No, wait...that will offend the cats. How about resurrecting "Old Dominion Council"? That council merged with the Peninsula Council (whose Kecoughtan Lodge flap contained not one, but two Conf Battle Flags) to form the Colonial Virginia Council. Wanna bet how many Scouts and SCouters refuse to give up their REL CSPs in favor of the new ones? Civil Disobedience...a fine patriotic custom.

Why not "honor" these old timers with the title of "Emeritus"? Let them keep their Commissioner patches, but add an Emeritus strip (like the Trained strip) under the patch. Meanwhile, find new, energetic Commissioners and assign them units to work.

As an adopted Virginian, I have recently learned that my wife and sons have Confederate veterans in their ancestry. While I believe slavery was wrong and immoral, it was an accepted practice of the time. In fact, in Africa, people of color also owned and sold slaves. Those confederate soldiers fought and died for a cause they believed in and for a state they loved. How many today are willing to voluntarily die for their beliefs? Will history be any kinder to those who fought and died in the Vietnam war, or the Gulf war or the war of "Iraqi Freedom". Today's geat patriotic cause is tomorrow's immoral atrocity. I'll suggest a more PC alternative..."Powhatan Council". Named after the great Native American chieftain who was the first to introduce regional governments and regional chiefs who were loyal to him(one of whom was "Pipisco" after which the scout reservation is named)...his daughter was Pocahontas, known as Matoaka, who as a teenaged girl did more diplomatically to foster relations between the Colonial invaders at Jamestown and the Native Americans than the UN will ever do.

Peanut soup is a delicacy in SE Virginia. DOn't knock it till you've tried it. Visit the Virginia Diner on Rt 460 in Wakefield and wash it down with a couple of Smithfield ham biscuits and sweet tea. Peanut pie (like pecan pie) for dessert. My grandfather in Pa used to try to feed me fried scrapple...yecccchh. My most admirable leader?...my Explorer advisor in 1970 when the Post became co-ed. What a brave man.

Since Richmond is the site of the White House of the Confederacy , how about: "Jefferson Davis Council"

I always heard it was Tuberculosis, but that may have been the 4th grade Virginia conservative history book version. The idea intrigues me, but from a practical standpoint, after almost 400 years, will there be anything left to bring home? Also, from a Native American standpoint, what are the religious ramifications of disturbing a grave, albeit in England?

A quick Google search revealed that this organization is a pro-hunting/fishing/trapping organization. SInce not all families participate in nor agree with killing animals for sport, I would have to know more about their planned activities.

That one person who signs your charter on behalf of the Chartered Organization (CO) had better know what the liabilities of a CO are, especially if he IS the CO...including being responsible for the proper use of funds and the proper selection and background checking of leaders. That's one reason most PTAs in the country have refused to charter units...too much liability (their perception, whether true or not). If something goes wrong, the Unit is not a legal entity and cannot be sued nor arrested...the CO is, or should be, along with the individual leaders. Under the BSA charter, the unit belongs to the CO...not the committee, the leaders, the parents or the scouts. These are my personal opinions...I am not a lawyer.

Make sure and double check the spelling of names...I found a couple of typos in that list.

"The mark of the Elite in Scouting"??? I don't think of myself as one of the Elite, I'm just a lowly (insert position title here) so I guess I'm not worthy of being "invited" to attend and I won't even ask about it. (Do you get my point, guys?...how does this sound to a new Scouter who knows nothing about the program? Think this sounds inviting and inclusionary enough for someone to want to plunk down 200 bucks and a week of vacation time? I think all this "mystery" and hyperbole is excluding a lot of otherwise willing participants.)

Any site full of scouts learning, teaching and having fun. No adults visible. And they Leave No Trace.

How do you reconcile with the curfew laws if there is no adult supervision? Also, with the 2-deep question, I think we are confusing 2-Deep Leadership with Youth Protection. A Merit Badge counsellor is not a "leader", therefore only the YP rules apply...no one-on-one contact. If a scout takes a buddy and the three of them meet, the rule is met. "2 Deep" is more of a safety issue for troop outings than it is a YP issue.

Go back to the main Forum topics page (green bar at the top...click on "FORUMS" Go to the "SCOUTER Announcements" topic Go all the way to the bottom and click on "CONTACT US"

dsteele, if you need about 50 lbs, I'll be glad to send them to ya! At 5'6, I'm not overweight...I'm just undertall! We have a few "friends of" units too, and have considered doing it for my own units (Pack and Troop). Sure would make recharter a lot easier...rather than trying to track down a CR that doesn't know we exist.

OA Chapter names MUST be the same as the District names, regardless of what the boys voted on. (From our SE). A quick check of other councils' web sites tells me that's a myth.

Excuse me, Red...did you say you have youths conducting Boards of Review???? THAT should spark a firestorm on this thread!

OK, Scouters, don't we have better ways to spend our time than to sit around casting aspersions on the honesty of a young Eagle Scout, Scouters and a District Advancement Committee that we don't even know and have never met? Is that very Christian, Jewish, Islamic or Scout-like? To the young Eagle, I say, Good Luck, God Bless and welcome to our ranks! You took an oath on your honor to "do your best" and to be "Trustworthy". I have no doubt that you did exactly that. Now let's focus on keeping our own back yards a little cleaner.

eBay is an on-line auction house. If you have an item to sell, you post it, maybe with a minimum bid or reserve price specified. IF you want to buy, you register and then bid away! Just search on "scout" and you will get almost 300 pages of items for sale, ranging from the common to the extremely rare (like a 1935 National Jamboree patch or a COMPLETE uniform and all accoutrements from a 1925 Eagle Scout). I enjoy just browsing and learning about Scouting history, and have spent more than I want my wife to know...a few bucks at a time. One of the saddest things I saw was an old Scouter who was "downsizing" ... he said he chose eBay because his kids would not appreciate what his collection of patches and awards meant to him and they would just get rid of it at a garage sale. He would rather share them with other scouters where he knew they would be cared for. Granted, there are dealers selling just to make a buck, but the majority of participants are scouts, scouters, and former scouts just wanting to share what they have and increase their collections. THere may be a few offenders, but this is another example of the scout law in action...at least in the Scout arena, I buy and sell with complete confidence that I won't be defrauded or stiffed. And in 3 years, I have never had a bad transaction.

Would be nice if the CS trainers could get advance copies, so we can develop FAQ sheets and incorporate the new changes into the training curricula.

Jeff, thanks for your first aid service to scouting. My best days in Scouting were as a member of a Fire and Rescue Explorer Post chartered to a Vol Fire Dept and Rescue Squad, and we provided advanced first aid/ambulance support to all District and OA activities (our Advisor and those over 18 were state certified and licensed to drive the ambulance). Just a comment on your Health Lodge experience...an 11 year old is a minor and does not get to decide what emergency medical treatment he will receive nor from whom. That is specified on the Health and Medical form signed by his parents, authorizing whatever appropriate medical care is deemed necessary. As a parent, if I knew that medical decisions were being made based on my minor son's desires or modesty, I would be outraged. Just follow the Youth Protection rules and your training and you should be OK. And keep good written records of all treatment.

OK, that's it! "The Navy is not part of the military"??????? According to MY dictionary, "military" used as a noun means "armed forces". Period. So, even the Coast Guard is an "armed force", even though they are not in the Department of Defense. "The Navy is not part of the military?" Come to Norfolk and say that to the crew of a submarine full of Harpoon cruise missiles coming home from a year-long deployment! I guess the President was mis=informed when he flew out to the aircraft carrier last week. I'll admit, I don't know what our Congressional Charter says. But I do believe there are laws against impersonating a member of the military, as well as doctors, police officers, clergy, etc. So while wearing a pair of BDUs may not be "illegal", trying to convince others by fraud that you are a SEAL or Airborne Ranger or even a Yeoman is. I also don't believe that an 11 year old running around the woods in a scout shirt and BDUs, camo or otherwise, rises to the level of "impersonation", or even the capital crime of "mimicry". Now if anyone is issuing their scouts rifles and fake military ID cards, and painting their canoes and F150s OD green with white stars on the doors, I'll sit up and take notice! But in an otherwise good Troop program, is what they wear really important? The most grievous offense they are guilty of is not being in complete Scout uniform...it doesnt' matter if they are BDU's, blue jeans, sweat pants or pajama bottoms. The choice is to either be "in uniform"...or not.

Maybe I missed it, but nowhere in your posts do I see a mention of a Chartered Organization. They are the ones who "own" the unit...not the parents, leaders, boys, district or council, and they are the ones to address your concerns when the COmmittee won't. THey are the ones who have the fiduciary responsibility to ensure that finances are handled properly, with the proper checks and balances of authority and proper audits. If they are a non=profit organization, under IRS rules (which may or may not apply in Okinawa???), there are laws that govern this, since the unit is an extension of the organization. If, as I suspect, the unit is chartered to a military organization, the Commanding Officer of the base has the legal responsibility to ensure that everything on his base is conducted according to the rules (i.e., no embezzlement). This applies to the Wives' Clubs, the Recreation facilities, the Coffee Mess, and even the scout units under his cognizance, and there is (or should be) some Junior Officer who has the collateral duty of auditing those accounts. If you have evidence or suspicion of illegal activity (such as embezzlement), a call to the base criminal investigative office may be in order. Find a local JAG officer and have an informal chat over coffee. As to the CM using camping equipment, the Pack does not own the equipment, OR the money...the Chartered Organization does, and only they can authorize use of their property for purposes other than for which they were procured. IF the pack and troop are chartered to the same org, then the matter seems a moot point whether the equipment is used on a Pack outing or a Troop outing. As to awards, if I had waited for someone to "put me in" for awards, I wouldn't have any, either. Your Pack Trainer (NOT Advancement Chair who has nothing to do with adult training awards) should be making sure every leader has the application form for the knot suitable to their position, but then it's up to the leader to follow through and get the required signatures. A lot of the leaders I know don't bother because it's not important to them to have a decorated uniform. A lot of the leaders I know just wear their Eagle knot, if they earned it, even though they are eligible for 3-4 rows of knots. It's a personal choice depending on how much sewing you want to do (my wife refuses to do it for me!). Just a few ideas from a non-lawyer.

Let the boys lead...be honest and explain the situation to them. Tell them you need 3 more of their friends to form a Troop and challenge them to make it happen. Then help THEM find a leader. It could be the most challenging and rewarding thing you will do...and this is where the rubber meets the road.

We used to have Position Description pocket cards (an entire sheet covered all the positions in a Pack or Troop), available for purchase. Are these still available?