sctmom

OGE, I thought the same thing when I saw that! (great minds think a like). Another article in there showed boys in troop t-shirts, some didn't even have on the official BSA pants. I can't imagine wearing the uniform shirt and neckerchief while cleaning up the water way. I'm glad the boys could be identified as Boy Scouts by anyone who passed by but the full uniform didn't seem approriate.

"Sorry but that dog don't hunt. Using your logic, a Cub Scout couldn't carry his knife when he visits a Camporee, and a Boy Scout can't carry his knife when he visits a Cub Scout bike rodeo. " I can let my child carry a pocketknife around the neighborhood even if he is not in Cubs. The Cub Scout Whittlin' Chip gives them permission to carry it at Cub Scout events. No, he can't carry it at a Camporee. At least not in the District/Council. Also in the Council, the girl scouts of the same age cannot carry a knife at the family campouts. Each year our council has a family campout that includes pumpkin carving. The only ones allowed to actually carve a pumpking are Cub Scouts with a whittlin' chip. The siblings and other children must draw on their pumpkin, they can't even use a kitchen knife for the pumpkin carving. How often does a Cub Scout need to be walking around with a knife? Same with the boys on their way to summer camp. Do they really need to carry their knife? If so, cover the Totin' Chip before you leave. I have seen and agreed with the Cub leader who took away a knife at the Pinewood Derby. The child did not need it there, it was handed to his mom. Life isn't fair, sorry. You may get to carry your knife at home but we follow the rules of Scouting when we are at a Scouting event. Dan I strongly suggest you cover the Totin' Chip as soon as possible. If your boys all had Whittlin' Chips then the knife safety part will not take long at all. A lot of things for the first year in Boy Scouts are a repeat of Webelos skills, but as I told my son "Done it before? Great, you should have no problem showing your skill once again. And it gives you some extra practice."

The logic we used was that only a Cub Scout can have a Whittlin' chip. The boys are no longer Cub Scouts. Same as a sister who can carry a pocketknife in Girl Scouts, cannot carry that same pocketknife at a Cub Scout event.

Whittlin' chip is a Cub Scout thing only. My son's troop held classes for the Totin' Chip at the first campout for the new scouts a few months ago. The boys pay close attention to this because they are VERY interested in earning that Totin' Chip.

We had a troop meeting last night. A professional counselor came and talked to the boys for about an hour. Some of the boys who were not there were also shook up. Someone else in the community has set up a trust fund for the boy. We found out that we have to be very careful in what we do so that we do not appear to be saying BSA is responsible in anyway. Some shoppers in the parking lot at the time of the accident are trying to sue Wal-Mart for the stress they endured. It's a shame such things have to be discussed. The troop is doing something for the family and trying to keep a low profile. We are very sensitive about respecting the family's privacy and understanding they may not want to hear from us. We have contact with a family spokesperson. Please continue to keep the boy's family in your prayers.

GSUSA belongs to WAGGGS. BSA belongs to WOSM. Two different world organizations from what I understand.

I am not in GSUSA and have not seen their membership form. What I have read is that it does not state the same thing the BSA membership form does -- "to be the best citizen you need to believe in God." GSUSA does not require a belief in God for membership. A girl can leave out the word "God". There are no rank requirements that say "explain duty to God". The BSA membership says you must believe in BSA's religious principles. Throughout Cub Scouts boys must meet certain requirements about understanding their religious faith.

UPDATE: June 17, 2002 -- The lawyer for a man charged with stealing a tour bus and ramming it into a Wal-Mart sign, killing a little boy, said today that the suspect was controlled by "demonic forces." Defense attorney Phillip Ruppert the man, Terry McCreary, has previously been diagnosed as a parnoid schizophrenic. Ruppert said McCreary is unsure how he got onto the bus. "He feels he was possessed by demonic forces," said Ruppert. McCreary is charged on 11 counts, including felony murder. Jordan Curtis suffered severe head injuries when a signpost, knocked over by the bus, fell on him. The child died at Scottish rite hospital shortly before 8 p.m. last night. This is a crime that even police are having a hard time understanding "It is very peculiar," said Henry County Lt. Michael Gaddis. Police say McCreary stole the tour bus near Six flags Over Georgia and led them on a 30 mile chase on Saturday before crashing into the Wal-Mart sign. The impact caused the sign to topple onto Curtis. Despite the tragedy some believe it could have been worse if the sign didn't block the bus. Now there is a makeshift memorial for Jordan in the parking lot.

Our troop committee is meeting Tuesday night to discuss what we can do for the boy's family. Then at the troop meeting a professional counselor will talk to the Scouts and parents. In our troop we have a scout who lost a younger brother to head injuries by being hit by a car just 2 1/2 years ago. He was not there on Saturday but is very upset about this. They still don't know why the man stole the bus. He had his first hearing this morning, no bond has been set. He is being charged with felony murder among other things.

You can often find good deals at Ebay, watch for how much shipping will cost. I've heard some people say they make contacts at local thrift shops to be notified of any scout shirts that arrive.

An article and picture of the bus. The sign had been up at the top of the grassy area behind the bus. http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/0602/17bus.html

The child hurt in by the falling sign died Sunday evening around 8:00. Please keep the family in your prayers. He was not a Boy Scout but still someone's child. And could have been one of our children. We are all very distraught.

I see under the Headlines there is a story about a boy being hurt at a Boy Scout yard sale on Saturday. That was my son's troop. We were there. The yard sale is THE fundraiser of the year for this troop. Normally it is held in May and at another location. For various reasons it we happened to be in that parking lot on this particular Saturday. We had done a lot of business Friday evening as we unloaded the trucks full of donated items. The parking lot is at an intersection shaped like a "T". A very busy intersection only about a mile from the interstate. The bus was stolen from an area about 30 miles from our town. The man did not know to release the brakes, which cause the bus to catch fire. Most people heard the bus hit the sign, looked up to see a flaming bus heading toward us, coming down a small embankment. Luckily it came at the edge of our area and the sign made it stop. It was already being followed by a fire truck and helicopter. The driver jumped out and ran. Some of the men saw that and continued to follow him across the busy parking lot, causing him to be caught by security guards. We are all very upset about the young boy who was hurt. As of about 11:00 Saturday night, he was out of surgery and in serious condition. He was a 7 year old shopping with his mother, in his baseball uniform. One of our scouts was hit with flying debris. One of our fathers hurt (I think broke) his hand. One scout scraped up his knee pretty bad when he fell while running. The 7 year old was life lifted to the nearest children's hospital. We are a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, so it didn't take long for the helicopter to get him there. He had head injuries and a broken leg. Customers who had items in their hand, came back to pay. Some people showed up later after seeing it on the news and gave us money. Word got to our Council and District, representatives from both showed up to help in the clean up later that day. A neighboring troop showed up to help clean up. Some of those boys had just returned from Summer Camp that morning. We had about 14 boys there when it happened. They all showed great courage and behaved wonderfully. They stayed out of the way, were concerned about each other and their parents. Many of these boys are only 11 years old. Most knew immediately they needed to call their mothers or whoever was at home to tell them before the news hit the TV's and radios. Many dads were there and a few of us moms. We took the boys into the Walmart to eat. They all were wonderfully patient as we tried to get food for 20 people. Some could not eat because of the stress. Since our whole yard sale became the police scene, many of us went home to rest and came back later. Some of the boys stayed at home. We were already tired before this happened. The boys knew to be very thankful it was not worse than it was. I did not hear ANY disrespectful remarks from these young men. Some had to wait to see their dads, who were over near the rescue units. The managers of Walmart were personally concerned about us and about the mother of the hurt boy. They immediately brought ice water out to everyone in the area. Thanks for reading such a long post. Please keep our boys and the injuried child in your thoughts. A grief counselor is being contacted to attend our next troop meeting and be available for the boys and adults. We are very fortunate no one was trapped under the bus or directly hit. True Scout spirit showed as the boys stuck together through the afternoon and the men assisted the police and rescue teams. Also, when the other Scouts and Scouters showed up to help with the clean up and give emotional support.

Cubsrgr, I'll be the first to step up to the plate. I do not agree with the BSA non-gay policy. I was aghast to read bigstrohl's comment. This proves the point of being heterosexual does not make one a "good rolemodel". Like you, I wondered does he worry about aids and other disease's? What about his attitude toward women? Sure some women sleep around, but that is no excuse to think it is okay to sleep around. A Scout is clean -- in body and thoughts. A Scout is trustworthy -- does Bigstrohl tell these "partners" he sleeps around? Bigstrohl seems to think this is "the norm" and perfectly okay. I stongly believe what a person does in their personal live is their own business but it this man's flippant attitude really bothers me. How many of his dates think he has been "courteous"? How far does this flippant attitude toward sex and women go? How does he act around the scouts when a woman walks by or he catches them talking about somebody's sister? As my son begins to find out about people who sleep around, I plan to explain to him the danger they put themselves in -- physically and emotionally. Yes, it is their choice, but a choice that cannot be made as a teenager and a serious choice as an adult. I have good friends who sleep around with the opposite gender. I don't agree with their choice and I tell them so. I trust them around my kid but not to tell him about relationships. It is my belief and understanding that people who sleep around have some serious personal issues -- about love, being needed, personal satisfaction, etc.

Thanks for the website. I hope that those families get this settled to their advantage. Yes, GSUSA accepts atheists. Girl Scouts do not have religious requirements such as the ones that exists in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. From what I understand, they have very strict rules about even saying "grace" at meals. I'm sure there are the cases of people who make up a reason why an atheist or a disabled person or a homosexual can not be in Girl Scouts, but officially they have no policy banning it. I have also heard stories of kids and adults who had bogus accusations made about them to keep them out of Boy Scouts because of disabilities or disagreements with others, reasons that had no bearing on them being BSA members. I've personally seen the "we don't like the way Mr. X runs his den so we will discreetly push him out." Mr. X was running his den according to BSA rules, but had a personality conflict with other adults. The other adults convinced everyone to put their kid in another den and not include Mr. X or his kid in anything. Not discrimination, just part of human nature that is not so pretty.

First of all, Girl Scouts aren't "chartered" by an organization. Also, Girl Scouts have a complete non-discrimination policy that BSA doesn't. Yet that will make no difference to the boys. I also hate to see the boys suffer. Cub Scouting is a lot of fun and good for the whole family. Our pack had sisters that were as active as most of the boys.

Did you find someone else to charter this pack and another place to meet? Don't let these boys lose out.

OGE, I'm impressed with the number of adults you have. Wow! I think you have more official adults than our troop does scouts! A few months ago I got to walk in a marsh near the Atlantic Ocean. You don't go where it is deep, but sounds like the muck walk. Most shoes had to be thrown away. The camp had a big shoe rack where you could donate your shoes or pick up a pair that was already dirty. We had one boy that wore expensive boots into the marsh and then wanted to throw them away. I MADE him take them home. I had bought my own son a pair of boots for $7.00, took them home and threw them in the washer. They came out looking fine. The big thing to do at this marsh for the kids is to put the mud on your face --- the boys like the look of it, the girls like the "smooth skin facial" part of it. Guess what? That stuff doesn't just rinse off! One girl had it in her hair and had to SCRUB to get it off. One boy brought back some in a bag for his teacher (how sweet).

The Cub Scout pack my son was in was chartered by the public school NOT the PTO/PTA. The principal of the school signed the charter papers. The pack used the school name on T-shirts that said "Cub Scout, Pack xx; Local School Name".

Answers one and four seem like the same answer to me. Also, to many people answer #4 is contradicting itself. They would not agree with "Role models have nothing to do with sexuality" but they would agree with "one's character completely controls their ability to be a good role model". Most people believe sexual actions IS part of character and part of determining if someone is a good role model or not. Also, as some others have pointed out the first question in the original post seems slanted, i.e. the word "preferences". Also, asking if most adults/parents can look past it is not the same as asking "can a gay adult also be a good role model".

Thank you! You provide such a great service, I would be willingly to personally donate money if that would help with expenses and keeping annoying ads away.

Does your pack have a schedule for the next year? If so, review it, making a list of "jobs" you need people to fill to make that calendar happen. If not, get with your den leaders and other parents as quickly as possible and make a calendar. Start thinking now about roundup -- to get boys AND adults. If you are needing to recruit adult volunteers have specific jobs for them to sign up for. As the others said -- attend training and roundtable. Contact your district people to introduce yourself and see how they can help you. If you already know them, let them know you are becomeing the cubmaster. The top 2 things to remember: 1) It's for the boys 2) Have fun!

Suzdvm, How is small is your small town? How many kids are in the local schools? Sounds like you have a lot more problems than just what to do with these kids who want to be Boy Scouts.

There are many theories about Blue & Gold. The pack my son was in kept it simple. We had it on a Saturday night, starting around 6:00. Pack provided main course (chicken) and each den had families bring their own drinks and side dishes. Eat first. Then sing a few songs or have skits. Have a brief guest speaker. We then had entertainment --- magicians are good or science magicians (The do real science but make it look cool. One franchise is called Mad Scientist.) We started around 6:00. Were done by 9:00. We were not formal about it. The pack kept it fun! Remember it is about the kids. For desert we had "fellas cake". The boys were to make a cake with no female help. Everyone got a ribbon. Sometimes each cake was given a title "most chocolate, most yellow, most blue, etc.". The boys and adults get a kick out of that. We never did advancements during the B&G like some packs do. Hope this helps.

It has been my experience that some will NEVER quit talking. Do you have the parents involved in the pack meetings? Our pack always had the parents playing the silly games and singing along.