SSScout

(horrors) You mean the aim of Scouting is NOT to point the pointy part of the tent UP ?

Mike Rowe ?

Tatung42: I find agreement in much you say, the present WB course, even as compared by Older Timers (!) with the previous versions still has much to recommend it. As in many other things, it depends largely on who is doing the training, not just on what is intended to be taught. I also felt challenged by my time in WB to be a better Scouter. And, as you express, if you have successfully worked in the fields, so to speak, it can be hard to allow others to "do the easy tickets" that one has been "doing as routine stuff", but that is the usual thing... to encourage the easy things so that they can do the harder things later, yes? One personal complaint: The metaphor often used, "drinking the kool aid" is, I find , a very poor one. Many folks use it without realizing the history it stems from, which is extremely sad and unfortunate. Here, are we to consider WB a sad, unfortunate opportunity? Is there a better way to express ones decision to join in , to enlist, to be baptized in the spirit of WB? Just askin' .

Funds to the Troop? Need "Fund Raising Approval Form" from Council.. Speak to the District Executive. Dittos the Merit Badge Counselor comments.

"A Scout is Trustworthy". What Qwarzse said. After the deed is done, you can't undo the Tapout , but you could bring the "other" Scout to the next tapout. Did this happen in North Carolina? Just askin'.....

"First, tell the audience what you are going to tell them, then tell them what you told them you would tell them, then tell them what you did tell them you would tell them ." Then go home.

Onslow? Is that "Bookay" or "Bucket"? 😎

I had a roommate in college who was from Istanbul. Here was his "coffee Maker": Small sauce pan, maybe a quart capacity. Put in ONE tablespoon ground coffee per cup desired, plus one. Add one large cup of water per serving desired, in the pot, plus one. Add sugar (or not) as you like. Bring it to a rolling boil for ONE minute. Choice: If Turkish (!) pour immediately into cups and let grounds settle out. If American (!), pour thru paper towel in strainer into cups....

LEGO blocks. A small flashlight. A small plastic box turned into a First Aid kit. A souvenir coin. A spring clip clothes pin, disassembled and adjusted into a PWD car or a Antelope, or a Elf, or ….

Or this: From "The Sacrament of Fire" by John Oxenham (1852-1941) Kneel always when you light a fire! Kneel reverently, and thankful be For God’s unfailing charity; And on ascending flame inspire A little prayer, which shall upbear The incense of your thankfulness For this sweet grace of warmth and light; For here again is sacrifice For your delight. Oak, Elm, and Chestnut, Beech and Red Pine Bole ; -- God shrined HIS sunshine and enwombed For you these stores of light and heat, Your Life- Joys complete. These all have died that you might live: Yours now the high prerogative To loose their long captivities, And through these new activities A wider life to give. Kneel always when you light a fire! Kneel reverently, And grateful be For God’s unfailing charity.

I might refer folks to a previous hashing of the nomenclature a few months ago: What's in a name? The same issue arises.... what to call the middle age group.... Cubs, Webelos, (???), Venturers, Explorers, Seascouts,,,,,,,, We can call them all SCOUTS without fear of remorse. OR... we could just DROP the last name in the other sections, and use... Cubs, Webelos, SCOUTS, Venturers, Explorers, Seas,,,,,,,

Coffee's getting cold....

Howdy, KLB. Thank you for seeing the problem and being able to define it so well. Here is the idea: "The Work Is Done By Whoever Shows Up" and sometime in the past, your COR /CO showed up when few (if anyone ) else showed up. Good Scouting is a cooperative effort, not a dictatorial effort. Experience and tradition count large amounts, but when only one "allows" themselves to be "everyone" ("because no one else knows how to best do it !!!"), eventually the Scouts lose. Now, if you would save your unit from bleeding Scouts( a poor metaphor , to be sure, but I think you know what I mean), you must gather your other parents and go to your IH and arrange to meet with him/her and the COR/CO and confront the reality with them. Deal with ONLY the facts and actual activities. Call no names, avoid emotionality, The COR/CO will do one of two things: 1) See the need to step back and allow others to HELP, or, 2) claim "you ungrateful wretches" have ruined everything and leave.... ( pity the poor Troop she is associated with). In the mean time, smile and wave as you go by

Aside from my son's own (another time), the best/most memorable ECoH was done thusly: Two brothers, each earned and passed the EBoR separately, but the earlier waited for his brother. The Troop had camped on the back acreage of these Scouts' grandparents farm. They had their ECoH back there. Folks had to park and walk in about 500 yards, bring their own camp chair. The Patrol/Troop cooked camp food, and served it up back there after the "official" ceremony and pinning the Eagle and speeches etc. , all done out in the woods next to a campfire. When the festivities were done, the crowd departed, the Scouts , nascent Eagles and buds, stayed and camped one last time..... ItsBrian, don't forget the cole slaw with your BBQ....

Ach du lieber…. apologies for too many ppppps...

Activities? Volunteering at the County Park Archeology site? Helping at the Animal Shelter? Acolyte at the Cathedral? Candy Stripper(do we still have that?) ? Key Club? Circle R? Lions? Food Pantry? Scouts? What defines an "activity". I would argue that video games of ANY type are not an "activity".

Fred8033 says it best... As a MBCounselor (Bugling mostly), I always list the correctly completed elements, and note the "Incomplete" areas. The Scouts that can't even make a noise on their horn often are chagrined but nod in acknowledgement at this. I give them my cards and contact info and SOMETIMES they call back to complete it with me. Once they leave my company, I have no control over what they do about the incompleteness of that card. Could someone else sign off on the rest of the requirements? Absolutely. "A Scout is Trustworthy". A MBC should be also.... "" Needs #4"" to me means the Scout has fulfilled everything else, he needs #4. If the Scout came to me, I would certainly review the other requirements, but he needs #4.

Fire stories.... OA is in charge of the Camporee campfire and program.... The campfire site is a nice one, open field, slight hillside for folks to sit on... The OA Scouts decide that this will be a "memorable " event, and manage to collect enough cargo pallets (seasoned oak) to amass and pile up two (2) pyres, each about twelve (12) feet tall and twelve feet across, 50 feet apart. The intention is the "stage" for the skits will be WELL LIT between the two fires. ( if not well baked). When I walk by about 3pm, I see this and smell the evocative aroma of JP4... and note NO water buckets or tools present. I have an "AH NO ! " moment and go to seek the Camporee SM. When he views the scene, he nods and says to me, " I was expecting this." He knew the OA Chapter Chief. By 6pm, one pile is torn completely down and hauled away to the parking lot. The other pile is brought down to about 5 feet tall and only one pallet wide... Each Troop at the Camporee is required to provide one 5 gallon water supply, cooler jug or otherwise, so we end up with twenty or so jugs/buckets behind the campfire.... It was a nice campfire....

Back when I was working on my Stegasaurus Husbandry Merit Badge.... Our Troop made our own light weight tarps. The older Scouts took'em to Philmont and they made an impression there. On of our dads had access to some really heavy duty Milspec duck tape. That, and some 6 or 8 mil black plastic sheet (10 feet wide) and a grommet setting kit and voila, on the rec room floor of Mr. Coomb's house we made our own tarps. Much lighter than the BSA canvas ones. You had to be careful not to drag them across the ground or step on them (yes, they could easily be "holed"), but they were very serviceable for one or two seasons, after which they became ground clothes for another season or two, after which they were recycled (garden drags, tractor covers, weed preventors, brick walk base, etc. ). We didn't know the word "recycle". only re-use.... !0 x 10, duck tape around the edges, one strip on each side (double thick), grommets on the corners, two feet apart on the edge, maybe one in a reinforced area in the middle if you wanted an "Explorer" style tent. Now, back then, you dealt with mosquitoes and bugs by "OFF" and "6-12" and burrowing into your sleeping bag at night, I knew no one with the luxury of "squito netting. We might (might!) bring some collapsible aluminum poles, but more likely find/cut poles at the campsite. The problem being, the older Scouts had to instruct the younger ones to NOT cut up the nice straight poles they found leaning up against the tree for fire wood ("but they're just the right size!") because SOMEONE had thoughtfully left those poles there for tent/fly setting.

"Dog bites man, B section local 3rd page... Man bites dog, Food/Cuisine section, first page above the fold … " My mom was a reporter for the old Chicago Tribune and Boston Globe. A woman reporter? Yep, until she married.... Check it before it goes to the compositor. Not any more, just get it out and fill the band width....

Well, another entry for the Faith and Chaplaincy sub quasi forum.... a discussion of the religious implications of the recitation of the PoA… Maybe not here in Scouts? Maybe so? As the token Quaker Chaplain here, I can certainly speak to that issue, but do we want that here?

I favor the "other" MAGA ::: Make America Grate Again... Support the Parmigiana Initiative … Bon giorno ... Seriously, the original episode has much to discuss. Scouts leading a city council opening ceremony, good. Poorly uniformed, not so good. "Taking a knee" to protest something, very American in my opinion. But was the venue appropriate for this? Maybe not. Maybe speak to the CCouncil about their (lack of or need for or present) policies to combat racism or prejudice? better.

Independence.... Every kid goes thru some homesickness, to one degree or another, sometime. It may not be at camp, the grown adult may not remember it or acknowledge it, but it was there. Your Scout needs understanding and folks to acknowledge and accept his feelings, his reticence. He needs to join with and get to know the Scouts in his Troop and to be reassured that, yeah, he is feeling low and lonely and misses … mom? Dad? but it will get better. Sometimes all it takes is another kid to say "yeah, I felt like that, but it does get better." Dealing with separation anxiety is tough. Your boy must eventually learn and accept that 1) you and his home will be there when he gets back from wherever he goes. You WILL be there. 2) The divorce was NOT his fault, regardless of anything else he may have heard or decided. 3) Metaphorically, the world is his, he can take it in as slow or as fast as he wishes. Fire burns, ice chills, the world reacts accordingly, it doesn't care who one is or where one comes from. And Mom (Dad?) will be there when he gets back.... As he gains in life skills (doing his own laundry, cooking, putting stuff away so it will be there when he wants it the next time...) and Scouting will definitely help in this, he will come to realize he needs mom for other stuff, and the tent he set up and slept in is just temporary fun, another experience to experience and have fun with. Should you become a Scout Leader? Absolutely, and help the other Scouts over their humps, just as the other Scouters will (I hope and expect!) help your boy over his. Repeat after me: "Why don't you go ask your Patrol Leader?" Find a book by Eric Sloane, "Diary of an Early American Boy". If your young Scout is a reader, I think he would enjoy it. If he likes doing with his hands, find "A Reverence for Wood" by Mr. Sloane. Your boy may well become a Troop Instructor. See you on the trail.

""Aye, they be more like guidelines than rules....' And we have had those guidelines for more than 100 years.... I favor consensus, which depends firstly on good, continuous communication (do we need the cinematic reference for that?) Consensus depends on respect, overall knowledge, being open to suggestions from others, and a willingness to accept help (not just insistence on doing things alone). The BSA Scouting program is fairly flexible as to how it can be carried out. Rank requirements? Stuff like that? Adapting, yes. Changing, no. Where do we always camp ? The spring canoe trip? The winter ski trip? Personal relations are another thing. I always refer back to the Scout Promise and Law. After that, maybe the Sermon on the Mount. No, I guess that should come first, THEN the Scout Promise and Law. Maybe the "Golden Rule" should be third.... Tradition? A good place to start. Mr. Stabler ALWAYS planted his acre of sweet corn for the Hospital Supper a certain number of days before the supper, so the corn could be picked just in time for eatin'. Sorry, Mr. Stabler passed on about fifteen years ago, so much for THAT tradition, now they have to go to the Eastern Shore for good sweet corn. But the Lions Club still collects it and shucks it at 6am so it can be boiled at 10am....... Give the Scouts tradition. Let them move on from that.

I like the idea of the sew on embroidered strip. Scoutshop is on the ball there. I had not heard of that fix.