SR540Beaver

Sorry, I've been gone to Wood Badge and have missed out on all the fun. Well, not sorry that I've been to Wood Badge, it's been great. Sorry, I missed the fun here while gone to Wood Badge. Although I had a blast at Wood Badge. Gee, trying to keep my words straight to please everyone is getting confusing! I hope everyone understood what I meant to say. A question......is it permissable for a scout to say "my patrol leader" or "my scout master" or "my leadership"? He owns none of them. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Are we going to correct the scout each time he refers to something as "my" that he actually does not own? Should he not refer to the SM as "he who serves me"?

Eamonn, Congrats on directing your course! I just returned this evening from part one of SR-540 at Camp George Thomas in Oklahoma. I can't decide if my head is spinning or if my tired has just caught up to me? A little of both I think. I should be in bed, I really need it. I'm looking forward to part 2 in a few weeks. I'm still working on my ticket, but it is coming together. I hope your staff is doing the bang up job our staff is doing. They are GREAT!!! And that is putting it mildly. I used to be a beaver......

Bob, So it would be OK for me and a few other scouters to wear our uniforms into a strip bar to celebrate getting our Wood Badge beads since we don't represent the BSA? My guess is your answer would be.....NO. I hope you understand that people are speaking of representing the BSA in the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law.

Clams? Ewwwwww, slimey! Make mine a chef salad for lunch.

njcub, You took the words out of my mouth, so I'll just leave my reply as.......DITTO! crane, No one had heard of Michael Moore until he made "Roger & Me". The people Moore caught on film and made fools of were people who trusted him to be making a serious documentary. He edited the film with his added comments to tilt the whole thing to his agenda. Your asking us to bare our souls without divulging who "we" is or how this information would be used. Most folks here smell a big fat dead rat. Fess up and change your tactics and you "might" get better responses. What you'll find here is a trust factor. I've been around long enough that I could probably ask a leading question and get responses because folks around here know me. Same goes for folks like OGE, packsaddle, rooster, Bob White, dsteele, twocub, njcub, eagledad, etc. You bounce on here and all of a sudden ask questionable questions and expect answers. It don't work that way!

This thread reminds me of our numerous andextensive discussions of scouters "needing" to know a scouts medical history. The bottom line being it is private informatin which the scouter is not entitled to. I see this in the same vein. Sure, you can ask the dad confidentially why he wants to tent with his son. You can also ask confidentially if the scout has any sort of medical condition. BSA says the medical condition is private and none of your business unless you choose to disclose it. I think asking the dad why he and his son should tent together borders on the same restriction. The BSA allows a boy to tent with his parent, leave it at that. If it is just a boogey man factor, it will pass with time.

Just for kicks, go to www.coleman.com and you can find a link to their Europe and Australia sites. some of the tents are very similar to their US tents, but many the Australia tents are like nothing you'll find in the US. Many of them have tent door flaps held up with additional poles and guy lines for shade. Ozemu, any idea why they are so different down under? Actually the links are not that easy to find, so I'll make it easy and provide them. http://www.coleman-eur.com/ http://www.colemanaustralia.com.au/(This message has been edited by kwc57)

Mine is pretty simple. KWC are my initials and 57 is my birth year. Might I add, I got to meet (Barry) Eagledad this week when I took my Webelos 2 son to visit his troop. I even got to see the car with the eagledad tag on it. Barry and his fellow scouters have a great boy led troop. His troop is too far away for us to consider joining, but I wanted my son to see what the "real deal" looked like to help him know the difference between a good program and a not so good program. Thanks for the hospitality Barry!

fscout, I don't know, I don't pay that much attention to which forum it is in, I go by the thread titles that interest me.

twocub, LOL Most of the scouting events I've gone to the scouts have all looked like gypsies....and they were in uniform....well, parts of it anyway.

"It is my understanding, having spoken with the priest who is the Chaplain for Catholic Scouting and sits on the National Council for Catholic Scouting that every Roman Catholic diocese in the U.S. is now required to finger print every adult working directly with youth in the Church. I have worked with several troops in Roman Catholic churches in more than a few dioceses and every one was required to comply with this directive, as well as the youth protection." Bob, I understand this and don't have a problem with it. However, parents attending a pack meeting are doing just that...attending. They are not "working" with the youth. The leadership does that and are required to have a background check by the BSA. Background checks of attendees is overkill.

purce, I opened my e-mail this evening and their was an e-mail from backpacker.com. One of the featured articles is on one pot meals. You may want to check it out at: http://www.backpacker.com/technique/article/0,1026,6185,00.html The author of the article has a book on one pot meals.

Rooster, The letter and the spirit thing can cut both ways. Would you want someone to follow the "spirit" of the law and say, "I'm not positive this guy killed someone, but he's a bad apple anyway so let's find him guilty and send him tho the chair"? We may not always like the results, but I'd prefer the courts to stick to the letter of the law and apply it evenly to everyone. That is the only way justice can even begin to approach being fair. I'll save the spirit of the law for my personal dealings with other people.

I know that some people frown on having multiple family members in positions of responsibility within an organization. Let's keep in mind that Scouting is a family oriented organization and many units struggle to get enough volunteers to cover all of the bases. Many scouters take on multiple roles or have more than one family member in positions of responsibility out of necessity, not by choice. You'd think that with all of those parents out there, you could easily fill every position.......but we all know the reality of it, don't we?

"What if they offered you a 3'x5.7' flag to replace it?" I'd thank them for the offer and ask that they give it to someone who does not have a flag flying in their yard. I have one already and like it just fine. It is fed, watered and cared for properly each day. It comes down in inclimate weather and even has it's own light sensored floodlight to illuminate it nightly.

The Flag Police (a division of the Uniform Police) can have my 3x5 flag from my frontyard flagpole when they pry my cold dead fingers from it.

Dave, Thank you for posting this. While my "problems" as an insulin dependent diabetic are not physically manifested, I can appreciate what you have had to do to learn to cope with your illness. Your story brought to mind something I experienced this past spring at Camporee. Our Webelos den was camping with a local troop. The SM and his Eagle Scout son are both big in OA. At campfire one night, they did a calling out ceremony for OA. His son was the one doing the call out. I had never been around this boy before, so I had no idea of his problems. He started out speaking with a clear booming voice when all of a sudden his words would occasionally come out strange. A word such as "worthy" would turn into wor-uh-uh-uh-uh-th-th-thy. He didn't go back and try to repeat the word but just continued without skipping a beat like nothing happened. It caught me off guard and I waited for snikering from all assembled. I never heard any. I was amazed by two things. One was that the scouts conducted themselves well and didn't laugh or make fun of this "weird" kid and the other is that the young man had the courage to stand in front of a huge crowd and speak publically. The more I listened to him the prouder I was of him. I've seen him since then and noticed that he has an occasional tick as well. This boy could have easily withdrawn into a shell. I feel certain that he is as outgoing and confident because of two things, supportive parents and his scouting experience. Good for him and good for you! Keep up the good work my friend!!

FOG, The question regarding the blue field leading on each sleeve has been answered a number of times in other threads if you want to do a search.

ASM7, That would be Dubya. He is referred to by many as II just like a King or the Pope. I guess you could call him Bush 2.0 in today's world.

Bob, Well darn! I have family in Muskogee too! Just an hour and half drive for me. Would have loved to meet you. I know, I know, you were on vacation and had greater priorities! You should have tubed the Brazos or Comal while in New Braufels. They are both great lazy floats. One out in the woods and the other floating past people's backyards thru the heart of town. Speaking of recruiting cubs, school starts tomorrow and open house is this afternoon. I'm leaving work early in about 30 minutes to head to my son's school and do a little recruiting myself.

I had glucose tablets.....in camp. Like I said, my bad. I've been diabetic for 25 years. I knew what to do, just didn't do it.

Ed, yeah but......it is the Troops who complain about getting or retaining Cubs at crossover. Which makes it largely a troop problem. The Cub leaders can do everything in their power to interest the boys in moving up, but if there isn't an equal interest or momentum from the troop side, half the battle is lost. It needs to be seamless between the pack and the troop and requires more effort than just information.

Ed, yeah but......it is the Troops who complain about getting or retaining Cubs at crossover. Which makes it largely a troop problem. The Cub leaders can do everything in their power to interest the boys in moving up, but if there isn't an equal interest or momentum from the troop side, half the battle is lost. It needs to be seamless between the pack and the troop and requires more effort than just information.

twocub, Unfortunately there are charter organizations that don't have a clue what is going on in the unit they sponsor and rubber stamp whatever comes across their desk.

The thread on how to choose Scouters for Philmont prompted me to start this thread. Are any of you Scouters insulin dependent diabetics and what are the challenges and limitations you have experienced? My son and I went on vacation last week and tent camped at a popular lake in our state. I wear an insulin pump and manage my diabetes well. In camp, we had our food of course and it was no problem to check my blood sugar with my glucose monitor and eat accordingly. I didn't follow the motto of "be prepared" however when we took our small fishing boat out to check our trotline. The trotline is about a mile across the water from camp. When we were ready to return to camp, the engine would not start. There was not another boat in sight to tow us. We had to start rowing. Thank the good Lord that my brother had come down for the night and was with us to share the chore. We rowed about a quarter mile to a cove with some boat houses where we could see some cars. We beached the boat and found someone to give us a ride back to camp. When we got there, I checked my blood sugar and it was a very low 55. If we had to row further, I would have ended up in serious trouble. My bad. My stupid. I knew better. It was a short boat ride back and forth and I didn't see the need of packing a glucose monitor and food for a 30 minute trip. Live and learn. That was what I experienced last week and it got me to wondering and worrying about participating in some future scouting events. Anyone with diabetes and scouting experience wish to weigh in?