SSScout

*sigh*. The Scout Uniform is preferred, yes. The kid's nakedness should be covered (I guess). Time was, the Scout's uniform needed to be "used". It is called the "FIELD " Uniform for a reason. It was designed (used to be) to be worn "In The Field".,. If you wanted a clean uniform, you got more than one . I know many a OA denizen who will tell you there is more respect garnered by a dirty , calloused sash than from a bright shiny one. The character ingrained is to be respected. Service projects? Field uniform in my day. The public visibility was desired and utilized. The senior Scouts in my Troop had no problem in wearing a pair of Scout pants that obviously had been thru some "history". If you watch "Follow Me Boys", see if you can find a whole complete uniform amongst the Troop. Here are some Scouts, from Malawi . . . . Their uniform is first and foremost the neckerchief. The Cape Maclear Scout Facebook page is wonderful. Uniform? My favorite story is of the young newly minted Cub Scout who was told the family was going to his cousin's wedding, and they would be wearing their best clothes. That Saturday, after breakfast, he showed up in his Cub Uniform. They let him wear that to the wedding. Scouting is supposed to be about SCOUTING not clothing.

Sounds like a Venture Crew or Explorer Post to me.... Make it happen ! Even by ZOOM....

*sigh*. I guess the days of worrying about one's good word and reputation as being as good as a handshake are over ? There is a local story about a US soldier in London during the Blitz needing some cash, so he wrote a "check" on a local US bank on a scrap of paper (the legend says a cigarette pack wrapper) and the London bank cashed it on sight owing to the reputation of the bank in question. My dad trusted the cash in his pocket, but used the banks , and they knew him. His reputation is what got me my first car loan. Same bank..... Then too, one might worry about forgetting where one buried that Mason jar full of Grants or Franklins and Clevelands......

Over the past few years, I have been surprised/pleased and honored when folks learn my name and say' "yeah, I knew your (Mom (or) Dad). He/she were good people. I remember when...." It is said that no one really dies until no one else remembers their name. Write up the stories for your kids to remember gdad by. I hope after the tears, you can easily smile. See you on the trail.

Time is relative and judgement and behavior can be changed.... That is what we need to encourage ...

As that old Belgium Scouter Hercule would say, "Zee leetle graay cells , they are vibrating, n'est pas ? " I like the idea of a nation wide, virtual, eJambo. Tent in your own back yard, Social distance your Scouts. How many customers in a ZOOM ? There is a wonderful ZOOM choral concert that was built up https://ericwhitacre.com/the-virtual-choir MAYBE Irving can think to put their staff to work organizing such.

History of child abuse? The BSA has no more "history" than many churches or schools. Canada is going thru some soul searching about the Original Nations' forced schooling. Is the Scout program at fault in general ? Father ? Lord ? Shepherd ? Too many jokes? What jokes? The "snide comments" say more about the speaker than their topic. of so-called "humor". An abuser is an abuser, no matter what their title or official position or gender. Or organization. The title is not the problem. Should we not call a Police Officer a Police Officer because a few choose to use their "POR" in less than admirable ways? It is not the title that is faulty, but the person who claims it that needs attention.

Perhaps it is the usage of the word that gives one pause. If a title is needed to refer to a particular person, the context of that person's position and history in that position might need to be considered. Slaves were incorrectly, unfortunately considered property, true, and the "master" of the plantation was who gave them orders, if not the "Foreman" or "Overseer" . Us Quakers are reconsidering our use of the term "Overseer" in our hierarchy of responsible people in out Meetings. More on that later. Is "captain" a title that should be reconsidered because of it's association with less than "ideal" captains? Captain Queeg? Captain Bligh? The term Master implies authority, if not control. Jesus was referred as "master". So was Buddha. School master? Master of Arms? I find no problem with the term "Scoutmaster" The context of the title needs to be always considered. It is not gender specific. It implies knowledge, authority, concern, counsel. In loco parentis. I do not know of any Scout Organization that calls their adult leaders anything other than "Scoutmaster" (or the language equivalent) We are going to have Scoutmasters that encourage the Patrol/Youth led method and those that insist on Marine DI method. The title has no reason for change. Only the context needs attention. See you on the (ZOOM) trail....

God ain't making any more land. When a camp is sold, it is sold and lost to Scouts. And to the future. The lack of forward looking management is always a shame. Such properties can be utilized and pay their own way if imaginative people work at it. Nature, ecological education programs. Public and private school programs. Agricultural education (organic? ) Demonstration gardens. Church , weddings, office "retreats", Isaac Walton utilization, Audubon Societies, even selective harvesting of timber. Publicity , even among Scout groups (limit to BOY Scouts? Why not offer to GIRL ScoutsUSA even?) , LDS has their own program now, can they use a few extra camp grounds ? The State might PAY for the opportunity to plant new trees (experimental American Chestnut?) . The NEED for our ("our") professional Scouters to be so often parochial ("it's got to be SCOUT stuff") is very sad. Want to know WHY Chicago Council wanted to sell all four of their camps? "Follow the money...."

Still...…. It's annoying in the extreme.

If the BSA is a non-political, non-partisan organization, and this wonderful website supports and agrees with (most of) BSA's policy and activities, HOW COME we see so many openly political advertising here? I don't mind the shoe and fashion and food and cleaning and vacation spa ads, but is there any way to limit the directly political content? It's annoying.

. . . .or at least TRY to do . . .

Five mile hike for Second Class?

Ought to be the best kind of camp. No mosquitos or Poison Ivy.

Camp Armstrong.

Might just go back to B-P's book. The first one. Add on the Youth Safety Training requirements. Scout Promise, Scout Law. Encourage the Scouts to speak up if they see/hear something that does not agree with these. Speak up to who ? The Scout/Cubmaster, their parents, the Unit Commissioner, who should be visible and known.

BSA bankruptcy. Bad publicity. Councils triple fees. Folks say they cannot afford Scouting. Can they afford soccer teams? Law suits to bring responsibility to consciousness. Camps sold for development. Past transgressions compared to present realizations. Mask vs social distance vs school vs religious services. Removal of historic figures. Job loss. Economy tanks. Inevitable death vs premature death. Cause vs effect . Loss of homes. Loss of trust. International finger pointing. Hunger. Help offered and needed. Future hurricanes and tornadoes expected. Global climate change. Rising ocean levels (islands in the Chesapeake soon covered). Organizational behavior standards betrayed by personal behavior. Hypocrisy rampant. Children's smiles. Contagion science understood. 1918 remembered and learned from. Disease prevented. Peach cobbler. Old friends remembered, found and memories shared . Children who want to learn family history. New work defined and pursued. Hands virtually shook, smiles exchanged. New possible Scout Unit sponsors found. Less traffic, less pollution. Scout Promise and Law remembered and taught. Sharp, accurate tools appreciated. Farms planted , food grown. Grandson will be visited, eventually. Facebook does have advantages. Home grown tomatoes. Birds and squirrels and chipmunks appreciate feed, but the groundhogs and opossums will be re-located. I need to take a hike in the woods.

Check with my wife.....she said she likes the omelets I make....

Wilderness Survival . . . First thing to do.... take inventory of what you have after the "Accident" that resulted in one's worry about surviving. Anyone read "Hatchet" lately? My first Jamboree at Da Summit , we were issued ID necklaces with cards attached for different purposes: Admission to the campsite, meal tickets, personal ID , and a small (maybe 3" square) brown plastic thingy. This thingy, we were told, was "IN CASE" we got lost in the woods. It was , they said, an infra-red reflector, meant to make it easy for rescue copters to find us . "What if we are injured, fell down a ravine (there were such things at Da Summit) ? " No problem, just wave the brown plastic thingy and they will find you.... Infra-red reflector? The State Police use Infra-red detectors to zero in on human body heat..... The thingy is in my Jamboree souvenir book, ready to save me. I have never seen or heard of anything similar since. Flares? Road fusee? If you got'em, smoke, er, use'em at the proper time. A short instruction on their use would not be out of order. Decap, locate the two strikers, strike the long end on the short end so the striking goes AWAY from yourself. The thousand degree flame will melt metal, be careful where you point it. Flare gun? Sure, same thing. Hand phaser to heat a rock to radiative glow? Absolutely, go for it...... Tramp10 feet high "SOS " in the sand/dirt, how droll.

Last time I was at Heritage, it was all but automatic. Yeah, we're not in it for the cloth bling....

Heritage up in PA has a Scouter Service Patch earned by helping in a Scout activity among other things. One of our neighboring Districts asked me to do WoodTools at their IOLS, which I did to good effect. The IOLS leadership said, "and of course, everyone will earn the Totin' Chip" and were surprised when I reminded them that Totin' Chip is a Scout award, not an adult award. I said folks would know how it is done, and have a chance to "practice" but there would be no TC patch awarded.... I have not been asked to help again.....

Good question. Doting all t's and crossing all i's is always important. Yes, project plan and proposal must be approved before fundraising commences. Fundraising plan should, of course, be a part of the approved project plan, yes? One Scout was renovating a charity's closet/bathroom/office space. Plans included the plumber supervising donating materials and time. Some lumber to buy, sold donuts at a city fair. Sonofagun, Plumbing Merit Badge came into play , too. Another Scout was rehabbing a barn at the County Fair. Barn Super helped with plans , Fair Office provided materials. Four H folks helped with incidentals. No extra funds necessary. County Parks Okayed the building of a bridge across a creek on a well traveled park trail. Materials vouchered from Park surplus yard, Scout arranged funds from the Park Foundation (privately supported), donations publicly encouraged to the foundation. There are ways to finance any worthy project.

There are 10 types of people, those that understand binary

BSA Scout Districts. An artificial construct meant to facilitate inter unit activities and relegate official stuff (Eagle Board of Review, Merit Badge Counselor lists, ) to willing volunteer Scouters. I have lived in the same house going on 30 years now, and the first 20 lived in six (6) BSA Districts, When I was a Scout, the County served as "the District", if there was such a thing. When Scoutson joined and I came back to Scouting and lovely wife became a Scout Leader (much to her surprise), I discovered that the COunty was divvied into 3 Districts. Just after I became comfortable and knowledgeable with how the BSA was now organized, "they" announced the County would be re-organized into 6(six ) smaller Districts , allowing "more intimate and closer service by the DEs." Made sense, less units per DE, better connection. The older Scouters shook their heads. New names, new connections, Then, "They" announced, owing to the paucity of suitable DE candidates, the County would be our "service area" under a Regional Director, with four "service areas", (DEs). Then, "they" announced the County would have three (3) "Service Areas" under the Senior Regional Director and three Assistant RDs. Guess what the Service Areas looked like? THEN, "they " announced that in order to "improve communication and facilitate service to the Units" , the County would be organized into three (3) Districts. Guess what the Scouters did? Exactly what they had been doing, running Camporees, Eagle Boards, Merit Badge Counselor Lists....,,,,, These 3 Districts have survived and thrived for the last ten or so years without further "reorganization".

“Underneath, We’re All the Same” “He prayed -- It wasn’t my religion. He ate -- It wasn’t what I ate. He spoke -- It wasn’t my language. He dressed -- It wasn’t what I wore. He took my hand -- It wasn’t the color of mine. But when he laughed -- it was how I laughed, And when he cried -- it was how I cried.” = Amy Maddox, age 16, Franklin Community High School, Bargerville IN =