skeptic

While the museum is definitely worth the visit, it has many opportunities not really being met, in my opinion. And as far as historical research goes, it is nearly impossible to really get access. I finally gave up, as I simply do not have the right connections to get past the barriers. I would dearly love being able to research my area's pre-council records prior to 1921 when we were chartered. Local records indicate hundreds of scouts from 1910 on, but very little is known about the units, as they were all at large charters, the records of which are hopefully in a file someplace. I say

Ours this year is supposed to try and only focus on traditional scout skills, while leaving stuff you can do indoors alone. That is a better approach I think. They noted precamp that they are going to try and have boys do a dinner for second class; it would take the place of that evening's dining hall meal. We do not have in camp cooking, as the fire danger is usually too high and so no open fires or charcoal are allowed; though using camp stoves can be done with proper arrangements.

I have had a pen friend in England since 1965, and was fortunate to visit her family and her in 1967 while stationed in Germany with the AF. We have kept in touch all these years, and recently visited here in California. She is still in awe of the distances we take as common everyday drives. As Cambridgeskip noted, they simply really do not equate. Back in 1976 Sue's husband, a member of the elite British Parachute team, came to Yuma, Arizona for winter training. While there, they arranged a trip to Disneyland for them. He called me and wanted to know if I was close to Disneyland, as

Oh come now; we should expect a scout to actually pay attention and figure something out for himself? It is clearly too difficult to understand, as it says to submit proof; and it does not say how to do that. So, it is the fault of the instructor, camp and program director, his SM, his parents, and anybody else that has to hold his hand and make sure he understands.

According to the Museum Facebook link, they had one, but it has been rotated out. They have not yet indicated if we might see another one later, but they admit having recently removed one. Thought I had seen something there when I last visited a few years back. We will see.

Funny story regarding his signature. In 1985, at the jambo, I had him sign a handbook, but neglected to ask him to sign a neckerchief I was getting autographed by various people. I did land a CSE signature from Ben Love on the neckerchief. When they did not ask for my help in 1989 until too late for me to arrange, I did not go. One of our local adults did me a favor and took that 85 necker with him and got it signed. When he gave it back to me, there was the signature, bars and all, right on top of Ben Love's name. Now GBB was getting pretty old by then, but it has been suggested t

Pretty sure that actual on water trips, not just paddling around, have had that requirement for a long time. It has kept us from doing some activities due to not having one. They usually will accept a similarly certified person, such as YMCA or other such thing.

I find it somewhat ironic that BP says a National shop does not really check for proper paperwork, while our shop is a stickler. Maybe that is how an eBay seller in our area was able to obtain so many sets of things to sell on line last year, even Distinguished Eagle kits and Silver Beavers. We have a National shop in the valley. I know the individual tried to buy a number of the centennial rank patches in our store and was turned away. He made a killing early on with his items, as there were a lot of people willing to pay high prices to get them, at least initially. EBay apparently

When I was first divorced, I had a terrible personal guilt, as I am from the period when "divorce" was seen as a black mark on you personally, as well as a sin within most established churches. We were fortunate to have not had kids to enter into the issues. But, I was helped by my local minister who explained to me a slightly different take on "until death does us part". His view was that the death is of the love and commitment between the two people, not the physical death. God, who is love incarnate, would not expect two people who could not truly love each other, or even possibly r

oldisnew: Some of us are soooooooooo old that we predate Pinewood races. If I had been a cub, it would have not been a part, as I joined as an 11 year old in 1955; so the Pinewood Derby was just being developed. But I did have some toy cars of some sort, likely models of early 20th century cars; don't really remember when I started building them. And of course, surely I had some kind of basic toy car; but only remember mm dump truck, which was cool because it actually had the back tip if you wanted it to, using a lever on the side; and it was one of those larger metal ones.

Oilman; that must have been hot, literally in the summer. A black interior in Texas during the summer. Ouch.

Interesting the article says he studied kids in kindergarten in 2008 and followed them through fifth grade. His math does not add up, as they would only be in 3rd grade this year. Whatever, we cannot deny that divorce generally has a negative effect on kids, though some are worse than others. It helps a lot if the parents rise above most of the pettiness, and try to not disrupt the kids life too much. If they can keep them in one school, work to common goals for the children, and be civil to each other they will have far less issues with them. This article is very cursory, and ap

I would simply refuse to pay something like that. There is no way they could actually justify it; if you choose to use your own, then why would they care. The only even remote reason would be that they could have used any unused tent(s) in some other part of the camp. But that still would not be reason to try and charge you. Good luck collecting it.

Certainly, should girls be part of the traditional program, they would likely dominate leadership, if what I see in upper elementary and middle school student leadership in indicative. Wednesday I subbed in a school with grades k-8, and they had an assembly for 5th through 7th to allow speeches from students for next year's school council. There were 10 running for 4 fifth grade rep positions, and only 3 boys were on the list. In all the other positions, only girls were running. At that level, few boys seem to have the interest or willingness to step forward. Not sure about high school, b

Personal tents for summer camp can easily be large enough for comfort, as you do not have the weight restrictions backpacking brings. It may take an extra trip or two, if they do not allow dropping off, like most camps do. Just take a family style tent, as someone noted; or use one of the larger domes that have pretty high ceilings, though maybe not high enough to stand completely. I prefer the savings we have bringing our own; but it also allows for more boys to get practice setting tents up and arranging a longer term campsite. Too, you sometimes can choose a far better spot for your

Well pack, we "old farts" do appreciate the clever riposte here, sometimes even when it is directed towards us.

Having attended as a teen in 1960, as an ASM in 85, and this past year on staff, I would agree that the experience is worthwhile and can be a life memory. I also know that it is true, both from my personal experience, and observations as an adult, that those for whom there is no real "skin" tend to view it with far less exuberance, even negatively sometimes. When I told my parents that I wanted to attend in Colorado Springs, I was 14+, and it was late 58 or early 59. Cost from our area in San Bernardino County was $400, plus about $50 for uniforming, and spending money; so about $500

While it is true the content is important, especially when writing for a class outside of language arts or lit; but ultimately, the spelling and grammar are on the same level. JMHO

Yes F-Scouter; I like your list. When I was in grad school in '74, I had to choose between taking a writing and grammar course, or taking the skill test to avoid it. If you flunked the test, you still had to take the class; so I just took the class to avoid wasting the $50 fee for the test. This was a required class for anyone in the credential program, and all the 30 or so students were upper division of grad, so you would think they would have slightly better English skills. I was in a twice weekly hour and a half class; and we wrote every day, as well as having regular assignmen

And, after hearing back from the district advancement chair, they are still allowing the letters to be given out by the scout. The problems were occasionally arising when some did not come in on a timely basis, and the Eagle chair asked the boy to follow up. So, now if some do not come in, they are to go ahead with the board anyway after the district attempts to get the missing letter(s); but must happen in about a week after the attempt to get them. As far as BOR goes, we hold district reviews, and the scout usually only knows the troop rep that sits on the board, and occasionally one

The candidate should have contacted individuals listed as references before including their names on the application. "If desired by the council, the candidate may be asked to deliver a blank reference form and envelopes to the listed references." The candidates should not be involved personally in transmitting any correspondence between people listed as references and the council service center or advancement committee. The sentence with the quotes is where our problem appears to lie. If this is the current, most up to date reading, then I am even more confused as why this is sudden

So, while the scout themselves apparently should not be required to obtain letters, the council/district could arrange to have the troop send out the requests; or they could add additional burden to the actual board of review and ask them to do it, or call. I think National really needs to review this, and make sure that supporting references "are required in writing". If they feel that somehow this is overburdening the candidate, then they need to specify where the contacts should be made; but it seems to me they should be made by those closest to the candidate. Not sure why it is su

Very confusing info coming out of our roundtable this evening about the Eagle references, and the traditional letters. I am still trying to get the specific details on the council advancement decision regarding this, but if I understood the executive correctly, they have decided that the letters are no longer required to be requested by the candidate or his family. If the board wants letters, they themselves will need to contact the scout's references. Now this makes no sense to me, and seems to take another mode of showing responsibility and ability to communicate with adults away from

Matter of fact, most scout camping was more like car camping in the early days. Only they used horses or mules, along with carts or sleds. Equipment was bulky and heavy. Also, where they could go then had very few restrictions on cutting, fishing, and hunting, so they also did that. There were a lot of day hikes done back then, especially on weekends. Long term camp often had cabins, large group tents, lean-to's, or tarp shelters. When I was a scout and explorer, what the high adventure treks are today was very uncommon for troops; it was generally only done out of a summer camp or one o

Last Sunday I was honored to be invited by my grand-nephew, who is 15, and working on his Eagle project, to participate in a fund raising recital he developed. He has what I would say is an above average project, and he "is in charge". The recital included about ten numbers done by about a dozen of his friends, both boys and girls. He also let his little 8 year old sister and a friend do GOD BLESS AMERICA at the start. What was most impressive was the way he calmly (especially compared to his mom) took charge setting things up and adjusting. His parents made a huge effort to not take