SSScout

My favorite story about Religious awards: I was at a more 'formal' Scout event. I came across a Boy Scout who had a pocketflap full of dangles.. On closer examination, he wore the "God And Country", "Ad Altere Dei" and the"Ner Tamid". When I asked him about this overt display of Diversity, he told me his Troop was sponsored by a Methodist Church, his dad was Catholic and his mom Jewish. He said he liked doing the comparisons. I suppose when he becomes an adult Scouter, he could wear 3 blue and silver knots. YiS&C

BSA is, by definition and example, a discriminatory organization. As are many others. The Scout Unit sponsoring organization has ultimate say as to who can belong to their unit.. This is why some Houses of Faith declare that only boys of their faith may join their Scout Unit (see corresponding thread). This is ultimately why Public Schools may not sponsor Scout Units. If the Public School said that they would allow declared athiests to belong, that would be counter to the BSA definition, hence the sponsoring PS would be in violation of BSA requirements. However, as with any well be

As it happened, the facilitator of our class, an otherwise wonderful person, had no inkling as to the "correct" answer to this conundrum (asked by a participant, evidently from experience). ((NB: correct vs legal?)) We talked about it longer than any other question. The group consensus seemed to be more on the lines of "that's terrible, how can they do that, the boy/parents should be able to join any Troop they want, etc." Bob Whites answer was suggested by one, but not many liked that. I mentioned the mono-faith Troops I had met at the Jamboree. In our 'diverse desire' soaked group, it

? Goldwings have hub caps? ;>)

The Scene: Commissioner College Class on Diversity. The Situation posited: A boy applies to join a Scout Troop because some of his school buddies are members and have invited him. The Troop is sponsored ("chartered") by religious organization "A", a fairly major faith in the community. Troop leadership tells the boy and his parents that they will not accept him because he, the Scout Applicant, is not of their faith. They think he would be better served to join the Troop sonsored by Religious Organization "B". Turns out Scout is of faith "C" , which is not represented in the local Scout Char

wmjivey: I am of the opinion that the Den meeting should be for Scout stuff. If the boys in the Den (and their parents) agree to work on their Religious Awards together, that's great, but it should not be in the context of a Scout meeting. To do so would discriminate against any Cubs not of that faith, and frankly, I do not see how multiple faiths can work on their own awards together. I have been told that Scouting is "religious" but not a "religion". The multiplicity of religious representation in the average Pack or Troop is certainly an advantage to my mind. If the Den in question is t

Den Zero has my vote. Areeely small pack might operate as one Den, and go every where as a bunch, but you, Base, have got at least two Dens. Take the Tigers and their partners and "Go See It". Don't talk disparagingly of the other folks in the Pack, just set a good example. And when you come back to the Pack meeting and talk about the fun ya'll had, see if things don't change a little.

Thank you,jschlich, for your steadfastness. It has been asked before, but I will ask again: Is there anything an "outsider" can do to help? Amicus Curiae letter, that sort of thing? A small check? (!) a large check? YiS

Since it is generally agreed among Pinewoodies that the critical part of the racer is/are the wheels and axles, make sure that one of the Pack/District rules is that "only official BSA PWkit Wheels and Axles are allowed". This can be easily attested to by close inspection. The axles can be polished and trued and the wheels smoothed to a certain extent, but other wheels and axles should be verboten. Who does the polishing and trueing would be hard to prove, so "Scouts Honor", the car was made by Cub and Parent hands...

Recipe from my Turkish college housemate, Raffi Karahisar, wherever he is (mousaka to be willing to wait for): In a pot sufficiently large: (experience reveals allow for about twice the volume): How many cups do you want to make? That number of cups of cold water plus one. That number of heaping table spoons of coarse ground coffee (Maxwell House will do) plus one. That number of tablespoons of sugar, plus one. Stir once. Put on stove/fire and bring to a rolling boil. Boil for one more minute. Immediately pour into cups. Let sit for one minute. Drink hot, (but not the last

Wow. Thank you. Carry on, Anneinmpls. GSUSA indeed. I enjoy being educated, actually, then I can speak intelligently about something, rather than merely pretending. "ignorance is only skin deep but stupidity goes right down to the bone".

Is there a GSA "Irving"? Do they have any say in this? I'm not complaining, I think it's great, I just havta play What If... And if a BSA Troop decided to use the 'traditional' GSA model, what WOULD Irving say? Or do? Or are there BSA Troops that already DO use the 'traditional GSA model, and maybe don't realize it? Ummmm?

Well, there you go. Mars vs Venus. Get 'er done vs work thru a story. Larn how it works vs play thru a theme. Anne, sounds like a fun day (fire, sharp stuff, and dirt and plants. Nothingwrong with them.) Search the forums for "Whitlin' Chip" (the Cub Scout knife safety badge) and "Totin' Chip" (the Boy Scout knife, axe and saw safety badge) and you'll see the collected experience of many people. Which brings up another point: Why limit it to pocket knives? If the girls are old enough, (age 6 to 15? quite a range, but neat for the big sisters to help the younger ones), can you bring in s

*sigh* "Alright, ya'll have a safe trip home. Eagles, you're putting the tables away tonite,right? Oh Tommy, can I see you a minute?" "Yes, Mr. Smith?" "How'd you think the meeting went tonite?" "Well .. ((insert stuff))" "Okay. We'll have to talk about that at the PLC next time, huh?" "Yeah, guess so. Can I go now, my dads waiting." "Sure, good job tonite, Tommy. Pete, you got a better than average Scout there." "Oh,yeah, sometimes I even think so, Ken. G'nite." "G'nite." ((sound of lock turning)) And the problem is...?

Well, there's art and there's ART... I always thought a master carpenter or mason created art... I think Req. #1 means to think about materials and tools: Clay, paint, marble, paper, pencils, charcoal, glue, magazine pictures (think collage), cloth, crayons, chalk, speedball pen nibs, brushes, tile, dirt...etc. etc. usw.... are there any limits? Anything that cannot be used? Think Christo... And I second Lisabob. Go to the library and find some books of pictures by the masters, Durer, DaVinci, Heinrich Kley,even Rockwell. Look for the "Golden Rectangle" and other shapes in

I remember seeing such a patch in our Scout Shop (NCAC) maybe a few months ago. You might ask your shop to call some of the others, they might have the phone numbers in the back office Well, I called and the NCAC Scout Shop says they have 2 types. Call'em, they can arrange to mail'em, they said. 301.564.1091 Good Scouting to you.

I've seen really impressive candle use in Cub Scout ceremonies.Utilize the older Webeloes in the ceremony. Bare Bones:: Turn the lights off.... One boy reads the Cub Scout promise slowly, LOUDLY, as three candles (blue?) are lit by the (white?)"Scout Spirit" candle: 1)I promise to do my best 2) to do my duty to God and my Country 3) And to obey the Law of the Pack. Then four candles are lit (red?), again by the "Scout Spirit" candle, as a Cub reads, slowly , LOUDLY, the Law of the Pack: 1)A Cub Scout follows Akela 2) A Cub Scout makes the Pack go 3) The

Hear hear... Make sure you have "Classes" for racing, such as: *Cub made *Siblings *Adult Unlimited *Experimental All should be well defined as to Formula Limitations (dimensions, weight, axle and wheel origin and treatment, etc. ). Check the instructions in the box and/or check with District so the boys can qualify in your Pack and in District. Also,make sure you have "extra" awards (not just fast, faster, fastest) and judges thereby, such as: *most colorful *Most Scouty *Realistic *Funny etc. , the goal being that every boy can come away with a prize,

After serving as an Archery RO and Shooting Sports "Consultant", I agree with Oak Tree. But that is only like a "posted speed limit", the guidelines are "ideal" situation limits. Further, if you can, you want a bank of dirt or hillside behind the targets, put and aim your range AWAY from the main traffic routes and areas, and rope/caution tape off the area with TWO warning tapes about 10 or more feet apart.If you can arrange it. And keep your range workers alert to "tourists" who 1)resent being told they can't walk/run wherever they want or 2)want to get closer to "see the action" or 3)want

There once was an Hindu Holy man. He was famous for his mastery of yoga and other esoteric spiritual practices. However, as with all flesh, he had a few, shall we say, weaknesses. For one, he loved Italian food. Especially garlic stuff. The garlic was never strong enough for him. Also, he found marathon running to be an excellent mental discipline. He could peel off 20 or 30 kilometers every day without a problem. Wore out many pairs of shoes. Developed prodigeous blisters. Of course, he had no problem "carbo" loading. Just more garlicy Italian food. But as is true with many such Yogis, his hy

Anyone remember when a Cub Scout was asked to promise to "be square"?...and THEN obey the Law of the Pack?

Good googamooka... Look at the latest "Scouter" The middle has a program help about Lashing Contests. And creating a DRAW BRIDGE!! suspension bridges... Cable stay bridges... Dymaxion tensegrity structures... Buckminster the Cable Guy, we need you...

OOps... I meant Kelty, not Kelly. Surprised no one caught me on that. Then we can talk about pack boards, diamond hitches, commando packs, Alis packs, Haversacks, rucksacks, blackdiamond packs, pack baskets of the Adirondacks, Yuccapacks, aluminum, bamboo, internal, external, yadda yadda yadda.

I will assume your pack frame has a 'Hip Belt'. Get that fitted to your boy first. It should sit on his hip bones, not around his stomach. NOTHING should be on the boys pants belt. Not cell phone or money pouch or knife loop. Find a place in a pack pocket for them. The frame belt should have nothing between it and the boy's hip and not be sinched so tight as to make it hard to breath, either. The hinges that attach the belt to the frame should ideally be at the boys side, adjacent to but not on the hip bones. The belt sits on the hip bones, not the frame. When everything is fitted right,

The County Recreation Dept. uses both 'uniform' t-shirts AND neckerchiefs for their groups. If you sign up for one of their summer camp activities, for your fee you get a colorful T-shirt and a large bandana. The child is expected to wear both when the camp travels on it's field trips to the museums, etc. Makes the groups very distinctive. If I had it to do over again, I would declare my Cub Pack would only wear the yellow necker and ignore the rank appropriate ones. Save $$$. Wear the yellow one with your tshirt or sweater, be distinctive, be a Cub Scout on a trip.