SSScout

Well, that was refreshing. We get to complain about nothing, rather than something....

Boy Led: When the Troop plans an activity, theSPL tells the PLs at the planning meeting when, what and why. The PLs tell their Scouts to tell their parents that they (the Scouts) need cars & drivers for the activity. The PLs come back to the SPL and say, hey, our Patrol can't go because we have parents that can't drive (need gas money, gotta work, car broken, too small, etc.). SM and ASM helps SPL find help with other Patrols. I think this is what is called "Boy Led". If the boys want to climb Old Rag, get them involved in planning the 4 hour drive there, and back....

But it IS a sitting service. I woiuld welcome any boy into the Troop. Teach him what it means to be a Scout, despite his parents. The boy will figure it out.

Belt loops going away? The arrow points are neat, but try to sew'em on the shirt. The belt loops only need to be bandoleer'ed on the belt. I knew some Cubs that had'em over their shoulder, they had so many. It is a neat way to show off your skill and experience. What is happening to our Scout program? Cubs now need no knowledge of indian lore, Kipling, or Baden Powell. Just do .... what? Is there a reason for the Scout Promise? I only hope the new Cub Leader can help the young'uns to understand the nuances of the bigger Scout Promise and Law..... I remember (yes, I can) figuring out that the Cub promise (" ...and be square".) set me apart from the other boys in my school. What is going to happen now? Can a 8 year old be expected to take the same attitude toward "duty to..." as a 16 year old? It is a start, I guess.....

Oooooo.... I guess I forgot the ;-) But still, it would be good to know the Scout is serious about his efforts. If you can find it, I recommend a cable TV show named "Taste of History" . It features Chef Walter Staib, of Philadelphia. He owns the "City Tavern" there. He specializes in historic cooking, demonstrating how a cook might create a meal in Thomas Jefferson's kitchen, or a pioneer family's hearth . High class, open fire, camp cooking. Gourmet, but very interesting.

I have heard complaints about Scouts earning EVERY Merit Badge (how is that possible? Can't earn them for real. etc.), that some MBs are "too hard" to earn realistically, that some are "automatics" and too easy, that there are too many choices, that some of the classic, old MBs have been canceled as being "out of date"..... I'd like to suggest some of these complaints (valid or no, another discussion) could be addressed by COMBINING some Merit Badges to good effect... "Consider the possibilities" : Veterinary Science and Cooking..... Aviation and Emergency Preparedness..... Golf and Game Design ( gotta be a better way)...... Coin Collecting and Salesmanship.... Crime Prevention and Fingerprinting....

Wish we could "spin off" a related thread, like before....

The Estwing one piece hatchet my dad gave me. Still use it, use it in IOLS Woods tool training. Scoutson just gave me a NEW Estwing hatchet for Christmas! Boy, the comparison... a half inch shorter blade from all those years of sharpening...

Thank you FJ. It is an "Eagle Scout Project". If the Scout did not raise enough funds to complete the project before the deadline (!), and the parents fronted the extra cash, then it is up to the Scout and his parents to determine if he (the Scout) needs some more personal (underline) fundraising. If I was ASKED to donate to a post hoc project, I'd certainly like to see the bookkeeping and want to know the rep of the folks doing the asking. And, then,too, we don't know the whole situation. When I bought my first house, I was very proud of myself, spoke to all the agents and lawyers and banks involved in the days before closing, had my budget lined up neat. I invited my dad to closing and he and I were going out to lunch to celebrate. When the bottom line was presented, it was $3.000. more than had been predicted before. I was angry/mad/unbelieving, but no one could explain what had changed . I had a choice: walk away from the sale, or ask my dad for help. He took out his check book (how did he know to bring it?) and I was able to walk out a proud property owner. If I didn't pay him "back" in cash (which I think I did), I certainly paid it "forward" in other ways . Sometimes we have to let the parents help.

Where does it say that the Scout has to EAT what he cooked?

Don't know where you live, but around here, lots of places create model railroads for the holidays. They are called "train gardens" in the Baltimore area. Google it, granddads like to visit'em (if they didn't have a hand in their creation), and reminisce about their old Lionels or American Flyers.. Cubs would love to walk thru and marvel at the miniature stuff. Nice "go see'em" for Tigers, use the visit for one of the Web pins...

Thank you Z, Welcome to the forums. Read more closely, and you will see that this Scout is now perhaps 22 years old. I hope he stayed in Scouts too. And your comment about the Eproject is valid.

SR540, you have pummeled the capped iron rod on its topknot. I just read thru the thread and I can say that there is nothing inherently wrong with bringing along a younger sibling on a Scout activity, so long as (1) the Unit agrees to it, (2) the parent keeps control of the child and does NOT expect the child to be allowed to participate in everything the older boys do, (3) the parent is not disappointed when the child gets tired and says "I wanna go home/take a nap/not do this" three miles into the woods. I found the story of the plumbing damage telling. I hope the parents realized their responsibility and held the children accountable and paid up. The local unit is just that. BSA has standards and guidelines , but it is all the local folks that make it happen (or not). AHG, I dare say, if you look far enough afield, you might find some uncomfortable events there, too. I have heard the same for GSUSA, too. Some really exceptional units, some not so. It all depends on the Adult Leader Attitudes. Not only may your mileage vary, the shocks on the rear axle may need replacing.

Contact local Civil War re-enactors. Build Camporee around the stuff a CW soldier would need to know: Make a fire w/o matches, cook a raw potatoe, play "rounders", signal across a "river" with wig-wag or morse code (?was semophore invented yet?) , some close order drill, black powder rifle shooting , BBgun target practice, build a "signal" tower, first aid practice, made-up stretcher and a race with your "patient", bucket brigade to put out a "fire", encode and decode a message, etc. Don't forget the BUGLER!

Give her a "scholarship" to WoodBadge. And the week off. Then YOU support HER....

Welcome to the ecracker barrel. Glad to hear from the Northern Lights Council. Sounds like you are up north. Where are you located? Much snow yet? We have almost 6 inches of "little or no acccumulation" on my back deck here in MD.

All the WB bling is official BSA . Wear them when it seems appropriate. I keep my Troop one necker in my memory box (STS) and wear the beads with the Troop necker at CoH, wear the WB necker at more formal affairs. I know Scouters that eschew neckers totally, wear th beads only all the time. Suite the fashion statement to the occassion and your attitude. YiS

Now that I think about it, is there no more "PM" (personal message) function? At all?

When our our area was re-districted (for the fourth time in 6 years), the PTB asked local Scout Units to ask their Scouts for ideas as to a name. The newby tempo district committee took the five or six name nominations (from adult and youth) and chose one and then asked the units for picture ideas for a district "patch". That was pretty much chosen the same way. The Council had some slush fund money to use for the creation of neckers and award patches for commissioners and such, which were passed out at the last District award dinner for the "old" districts. We now have three Districts in a Region where there used to be one BIG District where before that we had 6(!) Districts where we had three where before we had 2 where before we had one... Camporees and Klondikes and such are an adhoc thing. Camporees and Webelos Weekends and such are scheduled months if not years in advance, and it is made known that a sponsoring Troop is needed. Sometimes a small Troop will take on the task and take on a partnership with another small Troop, sometimes a large experienced Troop takes it on. Sometimes a neighboring District will sponsor an event and make it available to the others in our Region. The big Troops in our District are mostly boy-led, and do a neat job of the events, eliciting help and participation from the other Troops and Crews. CADC is a seperate thing. Each District has a cadre of Cub Leaders and a CD that takes care of it. Seems to work. The folks that like doing it are the ones that cultivate the next bunch of CSDC organizers.

For the benefit of folks who are not familiar with this episode, I have been trying to access our history of this sad situation without success. Found this: lots of articles in ChiTrib: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-06-14/news/0706131277_1_scouts-plan-boy-scouts-board-members and http://flyingdingbats.wordpress.com/owasippe/ and http://ooec.org/news-info/

No, your Scoutson doesn't "need to go". He doesn't have to move out and get a job, he doesn't have to complete school, he doesn't have to explore the rest of the world outside the walls of his home, either. You, my scouter friend, DO have to go to camp and watch from a distance as your boy grows his wings longer and stronger. Go for a canoe paddle with him, do the Polar Bear swim with him, but let it be WITH him not FOR him. He'll see his dad as someone to come back to, not run away from. How do you like your coffee?

If the B&G is to be anything more than an excuse to eat, than the Crossover is a very good thing to do. Work things out with the Troop(s) involved. No reason why more than one Troop can't come to accept their boys. The AoL is their "Eagle" after all. They could earn more Elective points (oh, wait.... there are no epoints in Webelos!) but mebbe not.. Ask the local OA chapter to do the ceremony, this can be really impressive if done right. You are correct in thinking that the Cubs will want to get into Boy Scouting when they have run thru the Cub program. Other than as the Senior Scouts of their Pack (teach the younger Cubs how to do things? Demo flag ceremonies, etc.?) they have little to keep them. As for the CChair who doesn't want to "let go", I would ask her if she wants the Webs to stay for HER sake, THEIR sake, or the PACKS sake. There is no "official" reason. Once they are 10 1/2, going into the 6th grade, earned the AoL, they can be on their way and God speed. As Boy Scouts, there is no reason why they can't come back occassionally to visit, if they want and if you invite them. And in a year, after they have a rank or two and some Scout experience under their belts, the Pack can always use some Den Chiefs, right? "doing anything Cub Scout in the Spring" sounds like a mom who wishes her little boy would never get his size 11 hiking boots. They can still do "Cub Scout" stuff.... help out at the CSDC, help corral the Cubs at the next service project, be Den Walker Helpers until they are old enough to qualify as Scout Helpers at the camp. One has to realize , that to KEEP the boys in Scouting, one has to enlarge the corral they are running around in. Good Scouting to you, and thanks for your service to our boys.

is not April FIrst..... I still think the black board and chalk is superior to the Promethean Board in most occasions.

Oh the humanity. When I once tried to take a University of Scouting course, and presented the prerequisites, I was told I did not have them. Subsequent research and desk pounding discovered that (1) In the past, I had been registered (by Pack, Troop, Woodbadge, District) under three different variations of my name and (2) there were four other Scouters with the same first AND last name as myself in the NCACouncil. Took 3 hours with the Council registrar to sort things out. I now counsel folks to ALWAYS use the EXACT same name when they sign up for anything Scouty. Always "John J. Smith" , not "Johnny Smith " or "J. J. Smith" or "Smitty".....

"No one can pass through life, any more than he can pass through a bit of country, without leaving tracks behind, and those tracks may often be helpful to those coming after him in finding their way." =Sir Robert Baden-Powell = (1857 - 1941)