SR540Beaver

Most of the Boy Scouts you read about getting lost while out camping........were car camping. Remember the boy in Utah who walked the trail from the lake where they were fishing back to the campsite and was never seen again? This was a short trip that just took a couple of minutes to walk and was almost a straight shot if I recall and there were people making the trip back and forth during the day. It's rare that you hear of an individual boy getting lost on a trek. One, you don't leave the group. Two, you are with a group that has maps and compasses. You might not know where you are tem

Twocub, No, we get it. However, some folks seem to think that even listing your title is too much too.

Well Beavah, your line of work still places a lot of importance on the use of paper, ink and postage. Mine went digital ages ago. I haven't sent or received a paper memo or letter at work in more than a decade. That being said, since my industry formally corresponds digitally, all of the same rules and ettiqutte still apply. When I send my brother a joke by email, do I include my title? No. Heck, I usually don't even put my name. If I'm emailing a client or a vendor, you betcha. It's the professional thing to do. And for those OA candidates or Packs wanting a Webelos crossover ceremon

Beavah: "Don't they already know you're the chapter adviser?" If they didn't, they do now. I also sign my work email with Senior Business Analyst, when most of the people I deal with already know that. It is customary as well as expected to include your title and contact information in your official correspondence. I'm guessing in your line of work you don't just sign everything Beavah do you?

I get a ton of email from scouters and I've never seen it personally. Being an OA Chapter Adviser, I do include that in my signature on emails I send out to the chapter.

TAHAWK, Bravo! Well said. You made my day. I keep reading all these naysayers talking about how scouting has turned into a parlor activity with kids sitting on their butts in classrooms. Where? I've been associated with my current troop since 2005 and while we meet weekly and do have skill sessions during meetings, we are a boy led, outdoor troop. We alternate between Philmont and Northern Tier from year to year and on the odd occasion that we didn't get a slot, we plan treks in places like the Pecos Wilderness. This past summer was the first time we took a crew to Seabase. Wh

I'd say as long as they do a good job and you can keep them. My years in scouting have shown me two things. Packs often have greater numbers than troops because it is easier to recruit the little guys. Troops operate more smoothly because leaders hang around longer and are not constantly reinventing the wheel. Packs do, because of Cub and parent turnover in short periods of time. There is less continuity in packs than in troops. Back around 2003, my son joined as a Webelos. Our Cubmaster was serving as a Troop Guide on a Wood Badge course and he recruited 4 of us to attend. That starte

Kudu, Here is a novel idea......attend a WB21C course so you can actually speak from experience instead of arguing with all the folks who did attend and enjoyed it. Opinions are great and all, but I'm guessing you know the old saying about how similar they are to a certain body part. Although self appointed, you aren't the arbiter of all things scouting.

Gosh Trev, Ron Paul has been around for ages and info about his positions are readily available. Well, if you research it on your own. The media and other politicians won't help you out because Paul threatens the good deal they all have going on. All one has to do is look at the state of politics today to see where many of our problems come from. Obama uses a lot of fancy empty rhetoric about hope, change and fair share while doing as little as possible. That's to be expected from someone who voted present more than yes or no duing their short time as a legislator. Then you have guys on

I disagree. Big surprise huh? Of course the boys in a troop know who is wealthy and who isn't. But within the troop, that really doesn't matter. At least it doesn't if you are doing it right. You have patrols with patrol leaders and an SPL and ASPL. Patrols share their work and everyone learns to do all the tasks a patrol needs to do while camping. Everyone serves as a grubmaster with a budget and a shopping list. When it's Timmy's turn, he doesn't get to buy steak and lobster just because his parents are well off. Everyone pays whatever the settled amount is and everyone has the same

desertrat77, if the world were our little labratory, I'd love to set up an experiment and see if it would make a difference. Personally, I don't think it would. Sports uniforms don't look cool, but athletes are idolized, so kids like to imitate them. Baseball pants......honestly, do those look good on anyone? Would you wear those in public to a movie or out to eat or only when you aren't at practice or a game. I don't see band kids running around in their big hats with feathers sticking up. Scouting has never been considered cool by the general public and kids succumb to the peer pressur

Beavah, you're over analyzing it. The point is that teams and organizations have uniforms that identify them and there are times when as a part of that team or organization, you are expected to wear the uniform, the whole uniform. Don't get hung up on whether it's practice or a game because that isn't the point. The point is there is a time when you are expected to wear it as part of the team and if you don't, you don't play. I've seen it happen in baseball. The kid who keeps showing up without his hat sat on the bench because he was out of uniform. As to the team owning the uniform and

Oak Tree, When the baseball team is playing a game or the marching band is marching on the field, yes they are all in matching uniforms. What they wear to bed, I do not know. When a fully uniformed troop is having a troop meeting, a COH, etc. I would expect to see them all looking uniform. When they are canoeing down a river, no. It really isn't different. Teams, bands, troops, armies, etc. all have uniforms and appropriate times to wear them. If the uniform isn't used, then what's the purpose and why bother?

To those who are anti-full uniform, I never can get them to answer this simple question. Does your basball coach allow you to play in jeans or a business suit? How about the marching band director? Imagine a marching band wearing just part of their uniform. The usual answer is, "well, that's different". No, no it isn't.(This message has been edited by sr540beaver)

I'll shorten and simplify the list. 1. Use the common sense that God gave you. 2. Do unto others as you'd have others do unto you. 3. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

I like my uniform pants. They are a vast improvement over the old uniform pants and in my experience, they wear like iron. Trust me, I'm in them a LOT!

Lisa, What your missing is that those candidates that Democrats felt had gravitas and were serious candidates in 2008, scared the bejesus out of the other half of the nation and their ideas were considered laughable......just like today with a Republican debate. I stand by my statement that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Think about it, Edwards was undone by sexual accusations just like Cain. Biden was/is a gaffe machine just like Perry. Kucinich is the liberal Paul. Obama was a guy with a paper thin resume and no worthy experience as evidenced by his administration. "Hop

@Lisa, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There were many folks in 2008 who held the Democrat candidates in the same low esteem as many now hold the Republican candidates. @Beavah, sensitive? No. I'm neither a Republican or Democrat, so I can call a spade a spade on the hypocrisy of both sides when it comes to criticizing the opposition. No one has the market cornered.

JM, Honestly, that is a rare occurence, but it has happened on occasion. We'll take any boy at any time and integrate them in with the NSP and work with them. We don't really try to catch them up as they all move at their own pace. What we do as a troop is present a program that covers all of the rank requirements in the hopes that they will take advantage of it. We don't teach them something and automatically sign off because they were present.

I'm constantly amazed at the liberals who find the 2012 Republican race so amusing. They seem to have short memories. It was just 4 short years ago that we had a Democratic field with 10, count them, 10 candidates with Obama, Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Gravel, Kucinich, Richardson, Bayh and Vilsack. There was a good amount of sniping and back stabbing and at the end of the day, look what the process produced, Obama. Folks shouldn't be so quick to laugh at others for their fly being unzipped when they have their own pants around their ankles.

EagleDad and I are in neighboring districts of the same council and I ditto what he said. Most troops want the crossovers to cross in February and kick off their new scout program in earnest the beginning of March. When I was ASM for our new scout program (15 to 20 new scouts per year), that is what we encouraged the packs to do so we could get some experience and comfort under their belts before summer camp and so we were not having to start new scouts in tiers over several months. As an OA Chapter Adviser, I like to see them cross in February as well because it fits well into our annual p

Yes, we are still very aware that you had an extremely rare and non-typical WB experience. Acceptance is the first step.

Basement, Each patrol gets two minutes IF they want it. With a full course of 8 patrols, that is 16 minutes out of a 75 minute session. MOST staffs are highly aware of the schedule. From the time the patrols get up in the morning until they go to bed at night is scheduled down to the minute. Much work goes into the facilities and logistics of how we are going to move these people from this venue to this venue and stay within our time frame. Let 3 or 4 sessions slip an extra 15 minutes and you are an hour behind at night with really tired and cranky people. The schedule and time manag

Right wrong or indifferent, the course syllabus allows 2 minutes per patrol at the closing luncheon to make presentations. Note, I didn't say gift, I said presentation. It is up to the individual patrol to do whatever they want with their alloted time. They can do nothing, they can speak on what the course has meant to them, they can simply say thanks to an individual, the whole staff or the other patrols or they can give a gift(s). Nothing is required, time is just set aside. I'd cut and paste the portion of the syllabus that includes the two minute presentation passage, but the PDF I ha

I've staffed four courses and was gifted at two. Nothing is required or expected. People staff to give back and staffing is its own reward. That being said, a bond is often developed between the TG and Patrol or the Patrols and SPL, etc. Something inexpensive and simple is best if you choose to give a gift. When I served as QM, one of the patrols gave me a paperback Dutch Oven cookbook.....because as the saying goes, "all good things come from the QM". But no one's feelings will be hurt if you don't give them anything. They will be humbled and honored if you do.