SSScout

Check in with your District. Your experience would be very welcomed in several areas, I am sure. Some Ideas: ** Eagle Coordinator. EBoR organizer and fact checker. Very appreciated fellow. ** Training. IOLS, NYLT, BALOO... many possibilities for your years of Being There, and Doing It.... ** Commissioner. Different types, as a Commisher, you can do almost anything you think needs to be done. ** Program Committee. These folks organize the Camporees and Webelos Weekends and such. You could even invent something new, like one of my new Scouter friends. He developed a "Scouteree" as a recruiting event. Invite the public, let'm tie knots, climb walls, fold flags, etc. ** First Assistant Everything Else.... You name it, they will probably let you do it... See you on the trail ?

I share the experience as a single father. My daughter wanted , at first, to join GS, so I found the local GSTroop was led by the PTA president. I was not welcomed and it was just as well, because daughter then told me she didn't want to join the "cookies and fashion" troop. Later, when I was a Cub master for my Scoutson's Pack, we thought, let's do a joint recruiting, rent out the school gym with the local GSTroop. Brownies and Cubs, natural. The local GSTroop leader was the PTA president (!) and when we asked, she said (quote) "oh no, we have enough Girl Scouts, we don't want any more." I thought that was bizarre, but found out it was not so strange to hear that the GS LIMITED their membership !

For some reason, I forget why, perhaps it was a "remembrance "day of some sort, in my junior year high school English class, the topic of the Holocaust came up. After some back and forth in the class, one of my classmates spoke up and said "you know, all that stuff is made up, don't you? It's just a fable made up by Zionists." (what he said!). I had a feeling he was trumpeting what he heard from his dad... Our teacher, Mr. Emlich, got very quiet, sat down on the edge of his desk and starting telling the story of how he in his army unit had entered Buchenwald. What he saw, what his unit did. The rest of the hour was Mr. Emlich quietly keeping his composure, talking. He mentioned (I remember this, after all these years, ) how some folks have a need to explain things so the "facts" better match what their "opinions" are, regardless. The kid that made the comment was not quite as well respected after that. I was never in his crowd, anyway.

Many camps as a young boy..... . My folks were all in favor of my independence (until I went off to college, then mom cried). Mast Cove Camp, outside of Portland Maine. Stanwood Cobb was the owner/director. Salt water sails and swims. Gimp craft work. The Nature Camp, outside of somewhere in southern Virginia, I think GW Forest, perhaps. 4am bird walks. Fern ID. Formal theatrics. Camp Theodore Roosevelt , BSA, off Calvert Cliffs, the Chesapeake Bay. Sea Nettles. Astronomy.... "The Property" (named Camp Freedom), summer camp organized by my Troop parents on somebody's uncle's cousin's "property", Germantown MD. Long dead American Chestnut for fire wood cooking. Spring water. Camp Wilson, BSA, Fairfax County VA (I think) . Pine woods , sandy and hot. Broad Creek, BSA, north of Baltimore MD. Hemlock dark woods. Very few bad times.....

THERE ! You SEE !!!

Please refer to my previous entry. The Scout's Troop must be the source of most, if not all the Scout's Scouting, else why have a Troop? National sets requirements, standards of operations, but the Troop, it's Scouts and adult leaders are where the Scout grows up, where he (now she ?) must learn How To Be A Scout. Who does the Scout look to for guidance and "passing of rank"? Not some strange (tho friendly and gracious ?) people he may never meet again. The last thing before being awarded any rank is normally the Troop's BoR. How is this different? Same for Eagle. The Troop's BoR is important and a natural thing to expect. Eagle is a special thing, unique, a final threshold to pass. The District/Council Eagle BoR is perhaps the last formal requirement and the last thing a Scout will ever have to pass/endure/learn from. For many Scouts, it is an "age out" event. The Scout will probably not do anything like it again, before they apply to college, or trade school, or that BIG job.... A practice BoR? Every BoR preceeding should have been a "practice" BoR.

" "Twas in the restaurant where they first met.... Romeo and Juliette. Twas where they first went into debt, for Rome owed, what Juli et ! ""

Not "required" but " expected". That's how they get folks to staff the boards....😉

So I guess it isn't time... Oh well, on to other things...

HAA ! "It's not like.... Signing away years of your life..." Only one hour a week.... Ha. If Scouting gets ya, it gets ya. Wood Badge not withstanding.

There have been several threads of late that have wandered off into the murky area of religion and belief and faith. Again, I would like to ask, invite discussion, about establishing a separate Forum on "Faith and Chaplaincy". There are facebook pages on such, I feel this is a good area to include here, thus allowing for diversions of topic from fundraising, difficult leaders, etc. What say ye, member Scouters and Moderator Folks ?

"Patience is defined as tieing the hammock leads to a pair of Palms and waiting for them to "grow up". " Or ignorance.....

Oh good. I like it when we have entries in the "Faith and Chaplaincy" forum. Oh, wait....

All the world’s a trail, And all the boys and girls merely hikers; They have their exits and their entrances, And one Scout in their time plays many parts, Their acts being seven ages. At first, the Tenderfoot, Huffing and aching in the Patrol Leader’s gaze. Then the willing Second Class, with his backpack And shining new boots, creeping like snail Willingly to camp. And then the First Class, Working like journeyman, with a woeful ballad Made to his buddy’s ’ cookset. Then a Star Scout, Full of fun tales and dirty like the worker, Jealous in honor, sudden and quick to help, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the campfire’s smoke. And then the Life Scout, In fair proud and downlooking to the Tenderfoot, With eyes severe and mien of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the sage and sought after , With spectacles on nose and pouch on side; His youthful face, well shaved, a world too wide For his Eagle earned, and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is Scout Leader, signed and devoted he, Sans time, sans money, sans gear, sans everything but Scouts to inspire.

Oldscout and Latinscot: Points well taken. It has been a while since the last BoR , either Troop or District Ebor I sat in on. My home Troop always held that the Troop had the right to pass their judgment on the Scout's progress before passing on to the District BoR. Might save some more serious embarrassment/trouble later. In any event , the Troop Adv Chair always helped review the Scout's records before Council was asked to vet them. Our Troop always sat the Scout down with the Troop Committee to ask about their Project Proposal. Being a small Troop, the Committee were the defacto advisors and old timers. Seemed to work. Same idea with the Troop BoR. It was not meant as a "practice" District EBoR, only our own congratulatory review.

The trouble is finding the campcraft experts, the folks that have "been there and done that", that are willing to share their craft and experience. The comparison of the 1950's era Fieldbook with the more recent ones is instructional. Pictures and instruction in chopping down trees and building fire pits/ditches/ and even off the ground fire tables for camp cooking from the older GBB book, compare to the modern Management style book. Of course, a lot of the changes can be blamed on the need to NOT cut down so many trees (one per Tenderfoot?) and not burn up every stick to cook over (Leave Less Trace), but still... The modern boy /girl may seek some adventure, but not without a good WiFi connection back in the parking lot. Once upon a time, a Scout might just add some gear and take off to Philmont. Nowadays, signing up for Philmont includes buying new gear (my old Troop made their own tarp tents), several "shake down" camp trips, and "conditioning hikes". Yes, the world has changed. Not every home has a practical fireplace, where a fire may be laid when the snow is 3 feet deep across the road and the power is out for a week. If you send your Scouts to NYLT, and your adults to Back Country Camping and Wood Badge, would they each and every be ready to take off on a "surprise hike" with an hour's notice, as one old Scouter bragged about of late?

Yep. And then merged into the BSA as an opportunity for boys that might not live close enough to a regular Scout Pack or Troop. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lone_Scouts_of_America for a good history. "Lone Scout" is not usually promoted in urban areas, but can be pursued if you insist on it.

In our very active, urban District, we hold EBoR twice a month in two sites. Our District has at least (last time I checked) three or four long time serving Eagle Coordinators, who organize and check these EBoRs . Each Eagle Candidate is expected to schedule their EBoR (after his Troop's BoR) with one of the EBCoordinators, on one of the evenings. Sometimes, if there are truly extenuating circumstances, I have heard of the EBoR being scheduled another night, but not often. Each Eagle candidate is expected to be accompanied by his parent/guardian(s), his SM (or designee) and anyone else interested. His records have already been checked and vetted by the Council and all the pertinent records are available there and then. There are always more than one Eagle Candidate at the evening event, therefore the EBoR(s) are easily made up. The EBoR for each Eagle Candidate is made up on the spot with the Eagle Coordinators, the "other " Scoutmasters and available parents. On the evening of my son's EBoR, I sat in on three other EBoRs. There is usually a short intro for folks who are new at this, before they are assigned to a Board. There is always at least one experienced Eagle Coordinator on each Board. There are printed guidelines for the board members and check sheets for each candidate. The adult Board members review the Candidates paperwork and read thru his recommendation letters. As the EBoRs for the evening are assigned their rooms, the Eagle Candidates sit and fidget in the hallway . The appropriate SM leads the ECandidate into the EBoR room, introduces the Candidate to the EBoR (most if not all of whom the Scout has never met) and then leaves. The Candidate the evening I served is asked to repeat the Scout Promise and Law, then sit down and a conversation ensues about the Scouts life, history in Scouting and memories and perhaps his life goals and desires. It is not as tough (so my son reported) as he expected, and was even enjoyable. I hope my Boards did the same for our Scouts. One of my Boards that evening had one glitch with one Merit Badge whose date we noticed did not exactly tally with the Scout's other dates (dang Council !) . We decided it was a mere penmanship problem , it was not a "required" MB, and so could not affect his candidacy. "Passed" . The adults excuse the Scout, he waits in the hall, we hem and haw a bit, sign his paperwork, call him into the room again, congratulate him (?Scout left hand handshake?) and on to the next Scout....

Greetings, Ournextadventure. As has been said, "Lone Scouts" was originally designed/intended for kids that lived too far from a regular Cub Pack/Scout Troop to easily participate in the group. I suppose your family's dynamic and desire might lead you to want to help your boy be involved in Scouting "alone", but understand that a lot of the activities involve multiple boy (!) involvement. As a past "home schooler", I know how it might go. Our "child" (now a strapping successful 24 year old) went thru Scouting to his definite benefit. As he benefited by his experience, so did his parents and those around us in our Scouting trek. I feel sure, with Scouting's desire to be accepting and inclusive, you can find a Scout Unit (Cub Pack and Den in your age group) that your boy might find a Scout home in. Perhaps there are other families in your area that share your desire to have their children experience Scouting but also share your sensitivities for their children ? Perhaps there is a possibility for you to found your own Scout Unit? It has been done that way, I have seen it happen. Scouting is a good thing, ultimately, and you , as parents, can adapt it for your child's benefit. Please use Scouting dot com for your questions and let us benefit from your adventure ! See you on the trail...

Yes, it is a start. Very good to hear.

"It depends" I occasionally sponsor a contest to my home troop, I invite the Scouts to make a slide/woggle and submit it to a contest. Held after a Court of Honor in February usually, I invite one of the local school art teachers to come in and judge the entries, as to artistic merit, practicality, etc. Prizes? I elicit free coupons from the local McDonalds and ice cream shops, seems to be popular that way. Some years I get some very interesting entries some years small rolls of duct tape.... Included , I do an exhibit of the neckers and woggle/slides I have collected thru the years. Woodcarving MB used to be a source of woggle creation. You could buy a wood blank at the camp store and carve it out during the summer camp week. Does anyone else see that happening lately? Sic Gloria Necker....

So how did it go? Fun for all? Push back because you were "Scouts"? "Inquiring minds want to know....."

Yes, the BSA good ol' boys network sometimes is an embarrassment. I am reminded of some past events. Do we remember Owasippe? This Scout Reservation in Michigan became the unwarranted center of discussion some years back. Chicago Council started selling off camps and other property , a Scouter raised flags, garnered support, National got into the fray and lots of bad PR erupted. Somebody wanted the money somewhere.... We have lots of back and forth here on Scouter dot com, you can research it. Then we have the recent New England, Cape Cod Camp brou haha. Same issue. Let's sell off the Scout camp (money for the Council? Any commissions there? ) And on a personal level, I served as a Chaplain (approved by my faith committee) at the Nat Jam in 2005, when I applied again in 2010, (one has to be approved as "Staff" by your local Council and National and in my case by the Faith Committee), I was denied Staff status. When I inquired, it took multiple phone calls and emails to reach a sympathetic Irving person who revealed to me that my local Council had denied my application. Why? he couldn't say. Council person said "it's a confidential matter" . But I am the topic of this confidentiality? Doesn't matter, we can't /won't discuss it. When I asked the National Person again, he read off the vetting record from Council and said, "It looks like you made a enemy in your Council. " I elicited and National and Council received over 20 letters of recommendation from Scout and employer and faith folks, attesting to my personal qualities, but National and the Council contacts both said they could not (would not ) rescind the judgement. Come 2013 Jambo, I again applied (approved by my faith committee, included many letters of recommendation) and discovered the vetting process had been changed. No problem this time. Why the difference? No one would say. Personal opinion and "good ol' Scouter" network? Possible money involvement? Who can say. The light of day is important in many of these cases. No Scouter who follows the Scout Promise and Law should have to operate in fear of his or her good name being besmirched for only an opinion. Seek out the facts. Shine light on the event. See you on the trail.

13 pages of discussion and ideas. I am duly impressed. An important topic, methinks.

The idea of "jeans" is not for ease of the Scout, but ease of the parent. If the Cub is encouraged to take pride in the way he looks and acts, where does he/she get that from? Many kids will do one of two things: Please their parent or "test" things to see what they can get away with. When I was a Cub master, we had a boy who would come to meetings with his Cub shirt over his tshirt, but not buttoned or tucked in his pants (which were not Cub uniform , another issue). His parent ,who was a single mom and a professional counselor by trade, came every meeting. I asked her about the Cub's uniform, and she said he didn't want to button his shirt, it made him "uncomfortable". Did he like being a Cub? Yes , indeed. One evening, I knelt down and asked the Cub about his shirt. I said I knew he would look really good if he had his shirt buttoned up like the other Cubs and I proceeded to button up his shirt, with his mom looking on. I finished, all the time praising his "Cubness", and adjusted his neckerchief, the Cub didn't protest. After that, he attended every meeting, shirt buttoned, necker neat, and participated easily. How did I affect things? Who knows.