SSScout

Well let'ssee now... No, I think I'll start a new thread. I will name it, "Who can be a Scout?" No, maybe, "Who should be a Scout?" Ummm, no, maybe "Who do we want to be a Scout?" Maybe we need to agree on what IS a Scout? How us ole' timers try to pass on a little of our lore and learning?

"Have you read the Merit Badge Pamphlet?" "No. Were we supposed to?" "Did you read thru the prerequisites? They were on the website when you registered." "They were where? Our {insert Scout Adult Leader here) signed us up." " Well, after the class, I can give you a partial, and we can schedule another session to check you out." "But I have this worksheet I filled out. I got it online! At the (insert website here), isn't that how you do it?" " No, it isn't. It is a way for YOU to study the subject, but look at this (hold out the MB pamphlet, open to the requirements), and here (open the BSA requirement book), and you tell me if you have fulfilled the requirements to (mention the hands on , do stuff, perform a skill) ? " Well. let's talk about (insert MB topic here). "

I know we argue about Sports versus Scouting. I ran across this on another Scout Facebook page. It is long, but worthy of your reading. I attribute it to the name at the top. 'Nuf said... Brock Moore October 23 at 9:26 AM I promised myself years ago, every time I saw this I would re-post. Happens about twice a year. Rings true EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.... Here goes!!! Most people won't take the time to read this all the way to the end. I hope that you will. 17 INCHES" - you will not regret reading this An excellent article to read from beginning to end. Twenty years ago, in Nashville, Tennessee, during the first week of January, 1996, more than 4,000 baseball coaches descended upon the Opryland Hotel for the 52nd annual ABCA's convention. While I waited in line to register with the hotel staff, I heard other more veteran coaches rumbling about the lineup of speakers scheduled to present during the weekend. One name kept resurfacing, always with the same sentiment — “John Scolinos is here? Oh, man, worth every penny of my airfare.” Who is John Scolinos, I wondered. No matter; I was just happy to be there. In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching career that began in 1948. He shuffled to the stage to an impressive standing ovation, wearing dark polyester pants, a light blue shirt, and a string around his neck from which home plate hung — a full-sized, stark-white home plate. Seriously, I wondered, who is this guy? After speaking for twenty-five minutes, not once mentioning the prop hanging around his neck, Coach Scolinos appeared to notice the snickering among some of the coaches. Even those who knew Coach Scolinos had to wonder exactly where he was going with this, or if he had simply forgotten about home plate since he’d gotten on stage. Then, finally … “You’re probably all wondering why I’m wearing home plate around my neck,” he said, his voice growing irascible. I laughed along with the others, acknowledging the possibility. “I may be old, but I’m not crazy. The reason I stand before you today is to share with you baseball people what I’ve learned in my life, what I’ve learned about home plate in my 78 years.” Several hands went up when Scolinos asked how many Little League coaches were in the room. “Do you know how wide home plate is in Little League?” After a pause, someone offered, “Seventeen inches?”, more of a question than answer. “That’s right,” he said. “How about in Babe Ruth’s day? Any Babe Ruth coaches in the house?” Another long pause. “Seventeen inches?” a guess from another reluctant coach. “That’s right,” said Scolinos. “Now, how many high school coaches do we have in the room?” Hundreds of hands shot up, as the pattern began to appear. “How wide is home plate in high school baseball?” “Seventeen inches,” they said, sounding more confident. “You’re right!” Scolinos barked. “And you college coaches, how wide is home plate in college?” “Seventeen inches!” we said, in unison. “Any Minor League coaches here? How wide is home plate in pro ball?”............“Seventeen inches!” “RIGHT! And in the Major Leagues, how wide home plate is in the Major Leagues? “Seventeen inches!” “SEV-EN-TEEN INCHES!” he confirmed, his voice bellowing off the walls. “And what do they do with a Big League pitcher who can’t throw the ball over seventeen inches?” Pause. “They send him to Pocatello !” he hollered, drawing raucous laughter. “What they don’t do is this: they don’t say, ‘Ah, that’s okay, Jimmy. If you can’t hit a seventeen-inch target? We’ll make it eighteen inches or nineteen inches. We’ll make it twenty inches so you have a better chance of hitting it. If you can’t hit that, let us know so we can make it wider still, say twenty-five inches.'” Pause. “Coaches… what do we do when your best player shows up late to practice? or when our team rules forbid facial hair and a guy shows up unshaven? What if he gets caught drinking? Do we hold him accountable? Or do we change the rules to fit him? Do we widen home plate? " The chuckles gradually faded as four thousand coaches grew quiet, the fog lifting as the old coach’s message began to unfold. He turned the plate toward himself and, using a Sharpie, began to draw something. When he turned it toward the crowd, point up, a house was revealed, complete with a freshly drawn door and two windows. “This is the problem in our homes today. With our marriages, with the way we parent our kids. With our discipline. We don’t teach accountability to our kids, and there is no consequence for failing to meet standards. We just widen the plate!” Pause. Then, to the point at the top of the house he added a small American flag. “This is the problem in our schools today. The quality of our education is going downhill fast and teachers have been stripped of the tools they need to be successful, and to educate and discipline our young people. We are allowing others to widen home plate! Where is that getting us?” Silence. He replaced the flag with a Cross. “And this is the problem in the Church, where powerful people in positions of authority have taken advantage of young children, only to have such an atrocity swept under the rug for years. Our church leaders are widening home plate for themselves! And we allow it.” “And the same is true with our government. Our so-called representatives make rules for us that don’t apply to themselves. They take bribes from lobbyists and foreign countries. They no longer serve us. And we allow them to widen home plate! We see our country falling into a dark abyss while we just watch.” I was amazed. At a baseball convention where I expected to learn something about curve balls and bunting and how to run better practices, I had learned something far more valuable. From an old man with home plate strung around his neck, I had learned something about life, about myself, about my own weaknesses and about my responsibilities as a leader. I had to hold myself and others accountable to that which I knew to be right, lest our families, our faith, and our society continue down an undesirable path. “If I am lucky,” Coach Scolinos concluded, “you will remember one thing from this old coach today. It is this: "If we fail to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a standard of what we know to be right; if we fail to hold our spouses and our children to the same standards, if we are unwilling or unable to provide a consequence when they do not meet the standard; and if our schools & churches & our government fail to hold themselves accountable to those they serve, there is but one thing to look forward to …” With that, he held home plate in front of his chest, turned it around, and revealed its dark black backside, “…We have dark days ahead!.” Note: Coach Scolinos died in 2009 at the age of 91, but not before touching the lives of hundreds of players and coaches, including mine. Meeting him at my first ABCA convention kept me returning year after year, looking for similar wisdom and inspiration from other coaches. He is the best clinic speaker the ABCA has ever known because he was so much more than a baseball coach. His message was clear: “Coaches, keep your players—no matter how good they are—your own children, your churches, your government, and most of all, keep yourself at seventeen inches." And this my friends is what our country has become and what is wrong with it today, and now go out there and fix it! "Don't widen the plate."

They forget one possibility: Asking the Scout "Do YOU think you have fulfilled the requirements?"

Yep. NCAC< Camp Snyder, we know Stephanie Messenger. Scout Salute indeed. I always liked how Camp Snyder got established, the property was originally intended as a Disney attraction, the county thought better of that, a worthy area developer worked some water rights, wet lands swaps and voila, Camp William B. Snyder.... Note the full name, and the initials.... C double U B S...…. we have lots of events there...… y'all come by some time.

"Aye, it be more like a guide than rules...." Counsel the Scout, help him find a way to show his pride in accomplishment. Back ofMB sash? Red Jacshirt? Many Cub Scouts of my time had the same trouble showing off all the Arrow Points we earned. They were supposed to be sewn (!!) below the Wolf/Bear/Lion diamond, as appropriate, but that downline could go right down into a young Cubs pants.... We had a Scout in our Troop that sewed his own patches, was very proud of learning how . He earned a dozen Merit Badges, and sewed them on his sash, but did so as to hang them upside down over his RIGHT shoulder. He had some ADHD issues, and the rest of his uni was okay, so no one ever corrected him. His parents counseled not to correct him, so we didn't. He made Star before he dropped.

Well let's see now.... Plan ahead and prepare. yep. Who does what when. Gain agreement for desired result. Spread the load. But what if someone doesn't like the idea of carrying batteries? Travel and camp on durable surfaces. Yep. Seems okay here. Dispose of waste properly. yep. Carry out what they carried in, I'm sure. Leave what you find. Yep. Not an issue here. Not mentioned. Minimize campfire impacts (be careful with fire). Too small a space to have a campfire? The presumption is that they are cooking on backpacking stoves. Fire wood collection might be a consideration. But there is space enough to set up a theater ? Respect wildlife. Won't have any wildlife nearby with theater quality speakers at 100% volume, uh huh. Maybe if they show Over the Hedge? Be considerate of other visitors. Charge admission for the theater? Look for other campfires in the neighborhood.? Gray area to me.....

I have much respect and appreciation for the experience and history represented hereon. Packs, Troops, Ships, Crews, Posts.... When the young future citizen joins your local Scout Unit, they (parents?) pay the fees and dues, and they receive.... what? Necker, book, decal for the car , cap, hearty handshake, WHAT exactly does the new recruit receive from your Unit initially?

What, no "Pioneering" ? Lash, knot, poles, and voila ?

Christian radio? Did they have that crazy guy on that claimed the folks without sin should be throwing the stones? I guess everybody needs a hobby. There is a Lutheran synod that instructs it's member churches to not charter BSA units because BSA is not purely Christian. The LDS church is forming their own "Scout like" youth organization so the mother church can have full control worldwide of it's activities. When B-P founded ("discovered") Scouting, the Church of England tried to adopt Scouting as a youth ministry. Tried. B-P successfully resisted that. Maybe the Catholic church should be "disbanded" because of the unfortunate actions (and inactions) of many of their priesthood and leadership. Maybe the Southern Baptist church should disband for the same reason. Public school athletic coaches? Disband the school? Waaaay back when, the same thing could be said about any of these other organizations. Sue the bastards. There are some old white guys who seem to think kids can become adults without passing thru adolecency (is that a word?) Adolesence ? Ah, you know what I'm trying to say. Without a certain amount of getting dirty, learning how to work together, learning what to do about that other sex, becoming independently confident, how to succeed to a goal, no young human gets to be adult. isn't that what Scouting is supposed to be about? And every so often, we come up with a pseudo-adult who has had their own young psyche injured and doesn't know how to deal with life except to hurt the next bunch of young folks that come along. I think I like the BSA's response as I understand it. Unlimited help for folks that have been hurt. Tighten up the controls and protections. Admit to mistakes. Make sure they can't happen again. Surely, that spirit of evil abroad in the world will find some more chinks in the armor, other cracks in the dam to allow such poor people to wreak their havoc. We just need to be that much more aware and diligent. "It's for the kids".

Scoutson earned his 4H Diamond badge with Rabbit raising. Won some ribbons, county fair, state fair, mom and he went to a national convention and brought back some awards. He did, for sure, had some "rabbit connections" . On a Scout Skills weekend with his Troop, he offered, and his buds said yes, to bring some freshly butchered rabbit. They further cut 'em up, roasted them over the fire, and had a grand time. Sorry, the skins were already removed, but still, an education. Scoutmaster said "great". Rabbit is not a commercially raised meat in most parts of the country, FDA inspections being required for such, but if you know who to ask....

Winter camping. Oh, to Scout in Finland or Sweden. Build a sauna (!!) out of natural materials, use it and jump in the lake after....AND climb out and get dry and dress....

Hard Merit Badges… led me to remember when certain skills were REQUIRED for rank (First Class in this case) that are now "merely" a Merit Badge, to think about those "old timey" skills (knife and axe? Fire building/safety? ropes and knots? Cooking? ) Once upon a time, SIGNALING was required in First class. Morse Code, semaphore, wig wag (Morse again), sun mirrors, Here ya go, which is faster, cleaner, more accurate? ::: www.rfcafe.com/miscellany/cool-videos/jay-leno-tonight-show-morse-code-text-message-sms-contest.htm I remember being at the beach with friends, and suddenly realizing that the lifeguards were using semaphore to TALK to each other! Subjects were varied, but ultimately predictable. Dumb tourists, break times, hottie chicks/bikinis (or lack of), wave patterns, is that a shark or dolphin??, beer appointments, lalala…. Knowledge is power, usage leads to facility.

Here is one for your story teller. Do not forget the "gestures".... https://www.dropbox.com/s/payrxfpcrx3khqo/skitoldchief.docx?dl=0

Calion, your point is well taken. What might be sought is a good story teller. A Scout Aesop, or Chief Longinthetooth (as he was known back when). Or even Mr. Scouter. Many the time, we heard a story recited from a Native American background, or the Campfire Ash Tradition, told from a history/ecology/memory perspective. Ernest Thompson Seton recorded many "stories with a moral" that are written long, but can be shortened by a talented story teller. Anansi the trickster of west Africa makes a good moral lesson story. Look to your library for these. A Scouter walking before a campfire, telling a story well, pointing and challenging the Scouts, can be the cap to a otherwise "just another funny campfire". Robert Service wrote poem/stories for just this purpose.

"It depends". Popcorn, campcards are already "approved" by the BSA and your Council. You sell them, you (and the Council) make money. The Fund Raising Approval Form is intended to make sure you are not stepping on any legal toes. It does not depend on BSA branding per se, but on other possibilities. Your Unit can do what they think best , but by doing the FRA form, you can get the official imprimatur that your idea is good to go. The back of the form lists some good things to check: No gambling, no raffles, value gained for money given, no soliciting donations, that sort of thing. "A Scout is thrifty. He earns his way...." Another consideration is always that , when your unit does a "private" fund raiser, the Council makes no money. This is a consideration, this is why Council works with the big corps for their charity, helps prevent camps being sold, etc. So, car wash, pancake breakfast, mulch sale, Holiday décor sale, yard raking, flag installation and retrieval, spaghetti super, what will it be ?

Yep. Accuracy in reporting.... "First lady Melania Trump went rafting with Scouts, forth Graders who were not Scouts, several Secret Service agents, numerous media types, a few river guides and various incredulous tourists....."

Ahhh the vagaries of human perception. Once upon a time, this Scouter in his pre Scouter time, was a freshman Marching Band member in Purdue University . In 19 and 66, Purdue had the privilege of attending the Rose Bowl football classic by dint of Ohio State having come in 1st in the Big Ten for the second year in a row, so the second place Boilermakers got the invite. Long story short, The Marching Band had a World Class half timeshow to plan and provide. So we did. After visiting home(s) for Christmas, we gathered in the Chicago Train Station to board the last of the UP Super Chiefs ( a chartered train !) , we left Chicago the 26th of December with 2 feet of snow on the ground (at least!) and 15 degrees F. Pretty normal, we thought, for Chicago in December. We arrived in California, set up camp in the USC dorms, and fell out to the field to practice our tunes . We wore t-shirts and shorts, and were surprised to see our audience wearing heavy coats, gloves and scarves. They were experiencing a "cold snap" according to the radio. 60 degrees. A cold snap. Ah me.

Well, of course the modern kid needs instruction in Schmartphone operation. Right. What is needed is the simple adventure of the old Greenbar Bill stuff. When the nascent First Class can't tie a good bowline, but still wants to go camping (with no signal?) , one can grow melancholy about the old Boys' Life mags that showed how to make a tent stake or even sew a home made tent. Last time I camped with my old Troop, it was cold at 6am, and nobody but me was out priming the stove for boiling some water. Us adults had a warm oatmeal and egg breakfast while the Scouts tried to remember who signed up (or was assigned?) to get breakfast ready. "Mr. SSScout, how did you get breakfast ready so fast?" Well, I was the Breakfast fellow. Who had your duty?

There was a local Troop, worked for the County Fair. I do not know all of the financial arrangements, but for the week of the fair, they directed parking lot traffic, collected tickets, delivered ice, watched the intersections (they had Fair radios) . Last year (this past summer) they were told they could not do this any more, and so that was the last Scout sponsored activity at the fair. Another situation, which I have mentioned here before, a local Troop (LDS, actually) made arrangements with a local Museum that holds a LARGE annual festival fund raising for the Museum. They directed cars in the Parking lot, and put out abucket with attached sign asking (!) for donations in return for their directing... When I mentioned this to the SM as perhaps against BSA policy about fundraising, he basically hemmed and hawed. I mentioned it to the DE, who also hemmed and hawed. When I mentioned this to the Museum, perhaps the Museum would pay the Troop directly for their efforts, thus they would "earn" the funds rather than asking for "donations", I was reminded this was a fund raiser. On the other hand, they were paying the local Council a fee for use of the Mobile Climbing Wall that other Scouts were staffing for free (and SSL hours). It gets complicated, don't it?

Many kids avoid reading . Many, not all by any means, assume things. I watched a young lady who was working in our Meeting kitchen during a PotLuck. She wanted to plug in an appliance and could not get it to work. There was a sign , very clearly stuck over the outlet reading "Broken, Not Working". An adult pointed this out to her, she looked at it for maybe five seconds and said "oh", pulled the plug and used a different outlet. Another time, when I was a sub teacher, I think 7th grade English, I printed the instructions on the White Board in 6 inch letters, and told the class, "Here is what your regular teacher left for you to do. If you have any questions, raise your hand, I'll come by and help." One of the kids actually asked, "what are we supposed to do?" Not wanting to overly insult anyone, I went to him and asked what he didn't understand. He said, "Miss Smith always tells us what to do, we never have to read it". So I read it to them. I do not think it was a vision problem. Scouts: MeritBadge Book? Nope. Give me the Worksheet. HandBook? Show me, I shouldn't HAVE to read about it and figure it out myself. Sic semper Gloria.

Interesting. A location that still has a "deposit" on bottles. Our county has universal recycling, so all bottles, cans, etc. get picked up at the curb. Back in pre history, back in the days of "Paper Drives" and no official recycling I was "the dad with the pick up truck" for my daughter's school. They collected aluminum cans for recycling at the metal yard. I remember packing crushed AL cans into big plastic trash bags for week or two, and then packing them into my truck (which had a cap top) and sometimes I would have as much as two tons of cans ! Down on the springs! Might bring back $30 or $40. depending on the market..... On to the teacher's fund....

Oh. I like that definition. I will use that.

Waaay back when. I was a Scout. The Troop was very active, and concerned mostly with outdoor adventure. Our Necker had a big patch on it that read "Always On The Go". The older Scouts went to Philmont every year with tarp tents that they made themselves ! The Patrols were mixed age, encouraged to go on hikes and do things as a Patrol. The Troop went campouting once a month regardless of expected weather. That was my introduction to Scouting. I made a plastic tarp tent, and learned from the older Scouts and Scout adults and The Handbook For Boys how to keep body and soul together on hikes and campouts. The Troop even held their own Summer Camp several years on a private property, built a log cabin three sided shelter for the Quartermaster…. The difference was, on hindsight, the fathers many of whom were war veterans of Korea and WW2 even. They wanted their kids to be self sufficient. Even the Scouts from more urban areas I met were more into (onto?) outdoor going places doing things. "Things have changed". Then a new kid joined the Troop. He announced (!) that he would be an Eagle Scout in less than 3 years, he had "done the math" (back then, you were required to BE in a rank for a certain time before advancing). WELL... us older Scouts (by then I was an "older Scout") suddenly realized, THAT might mean this new kid could be the first Eagle in the Troop! (Troop at that point was only 8 years old ! ) So we talked and conspired. How do you earn Merit Badges? Counselor? We had only earned such things at Summer Camp. Okay, the Council had the Merit Badge Counselor list. Phone calls. Parents taking Scouts to visit men we didn't know. I visited a retired NACA engineer, he was one of only two Aviation MBCs, in Virginia to earn the Aviation MB. So. The "new kid" came to be a pretty good Scout, but he was, ultimately, the THIRD Eagle Scout in our Troop. Point being, that , back then, A Scout had to WANT the Merit Badge. There were no "Merit Badge Days", no MBColleges. The MBCounselors were few and far between. If " A Scout Is Trustworthy", and the requirements for the MB are held to the standard, I have no problem with that. The previous story about the Leather Working MB is, I fear, typical. In like manner, the MBCounselor has to WANT the Scout to meet the requirements. It is, I think, a good thing that Life Saving MB cannot be done at the usual MBCollege. The idea of "Participation" awards are typical. Many kids nowadays (and their parents ?) expect to "show up and get the patch". Once, when I staffed the Cub Scout Day Camp Scout Skills pavilion, the Camp Director said, "and of course the Cubs will learn these eight knots and pass their rank...." I replied certainly not. In a 50minute session, they will be lucky to learn rope safety, handling and MAYBE 4 knots, learn them and be able to tie them when needed! The CSDC Director was AGHAST ! Not pass all the requirements? I said "it depends".... and we left it at that. When she passed me the "activities done and requirements passed " sheet at the end of camp, I again had to say, no, they did NOT learn these knots, don't say they did. "but the parents expect... ? " Doesn't matter, here is what actually happened.... The activity sheet was corrected at least for my station. That year. To be a part of the system, one must insist that the standards be met. There's that bothersome idea again, is a First Class Scout from fifty years ago the same as a First Class Scout of today? Yes and no. My First Class badge included Morse Code , Scoutson (Eagle 2010) and I discussed this. Other things have changed. But part of Scouting has to be the ability to "be prepared" to do things the OLD way when the MODERN way doesn't work. Gas stoves? Wood fires? Wig Wag ? Dead battery cell phone? Walk or ride? Sew on patches? Glue on Velcro? Soap and water? Alcohol sanitizer? Sunscreen? Long sleeve shirts? "it depends"..... See you on the trail.

Now, let's not say no yet. A HOA can be very interesting. Let's assume the Scout's home is in this association. It is a "public" meeting, altho a limited public, I should think. Things need to be decided, bills paid, problems solved, neighbors need to work together.... Might not be as large as a County Council meeting, but hey, this is what democracy is about. HOA I would hope includes all the HO invited, not just the (?) trustees or commissioners or what ever you might call the leadership. Ask the Scout about what he saw/heard. How were things run, decided.... Did he notice any "tendencies"? How did it compare with how his family makes decisions? His Troop? Does the PLC operate similarly? My Scoutson attended the local neighboring Town Council Meeting. Three Commissioners and a dozen citizens. I remember he reported some hearty back and forth, but civil discussion about a new by-pass being planned by the state. Next, the Scout might want to view some videos about the Nuremburg trials.....