SSScout

Does Johnny Scout want to earn the badge or do YOU, Mr. ScoutDad want to earn the badge? I will speak to which ever of the two wants to earn the badge... Does the Scout have a disability that needs to be addressed by the Council Disability Committee to consider an "accommodation" in the requirements? Busy people need to schedule and take notes and keep a calendar and prioritize... All skills learned by successful Scouts.

Who is the BSA "Client?" What is our "Product" ? What is the "inefficiency" this lends itself to correcting? How is any of this going to get the kids out in the woods?

He should realize and be proud enough to keep his uniform "up to date". He can learn to sew on the requisite patches. Rear of MB sash is NOT the place for out of date ranks and such. Jamboree patches, yes. A shoebox under the bed is the "traditional" place for out of date , collected patches. I kept all the patches I earned and places I visited. Source of conversation with Scoutson many years later. A patch blanket is a good thing, but counsel Scout not to let it be the goal. It is a record, but not the goal. See him (and you !) on the trail.....

Eagle project? Counseling services? At risk teen identification? http://usscouts.org/profbvr/suicide/ https://www.fredericksburg.com/features/stafford-boy-scout-tackles-painful-and-personal-subject-of-suicide/article_5f2c17df-6ec9-58d2-8a62-36a7db430bc7.html

A GSUSA Troop that lasts longer than the school terms of the girls (first thru twelveth grade ?) is a rare beast. Such a thing depends on the Troop leaders and is , as has been noted, discouraged STRONGLY by the GSUSA. In my experience, such Troops exist longer than 12 years because of two things: one, the lady leaders (again, men are discouraged from helping, but the Dads do in these GSTroops) really believe in Scouting and take the girls OUTSIDE often. They have seen the benefit, have had the experience themselves. There is an effort to hike, climb, backpack etc. and two, the lady leaders have some Boy Scout experience and model their organization after the Troop/Patrol idea. They insist , give their girls leadership positions. There is protest from GS leaders that , yes, we do outdoorsy things, but it is incumbent on the Troop leaders, more than on any official trained, encouraged program. My "aha" moment came when, on offering to share a recruiting opportunity with the Brownie Troop in my Scoutson's school, the GS leader told me "oh no, we have enough girls, we do not want any more." And, of course, we have heard of the Senior GS 's that double register as a Venture Crew. NOW, they can earn the Eagle AND the Gold award... Double dipping, indeed.

""It is easier to go down a hill than up it, but the view is much better at the top."" = Henry Ward Beecher =

Mich08212: Any News? Check your messages.

Choices. I favor only the first verse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7NjLAi5Alw

Once upon a time, I took my Scoutmaster IOLS training (but did not become a Scoutmaster. The home Troop already had a good one. I became a ASM) with a wonderful set of trainers. I came to believe (and still do), that if anyone were to ask me to define "Scoutmaster", I would point to one of these men. With the experience and skill I already had, I asked if I could help with the IOLS training, and so for the last 10 years I have averaged at least two IOLS courses a year. . The course leader (except for some surgical leave !) has been a gentleman I will name "J". At the end of each course, J provides his ""Eight Simple Rules.... that will make Baden-Powell proud"": ( and I dare say some out there may recognize this) 1. It's a boy lead program (Note, he said "lead" not "led". I see a difference there.) 2. NEVER do anything a boy can do. 3. The Troop leader is the Senior Patrol Leader. 4. The Patrol Method works ! 5. It's a Game with a Purpose. 6. Fail to plan and you plan to fail. 7. A Scout is taught, tested, reviewed and recognized. 8. The Trail to Eagle is a journey not a destination. As each point is named, a SHORT discussion ensues. The list is left for the participants to digest as we present them with their "dangles" ( a hank of rope on a small carabiner). as symbol of their completion. (is that just a local thing?) I have not yet spoken to J about this issue, but I feel he will be concerned. Patrol freedom? Patrol mentored? Patrol adult led? In as much as "All Scouting is local", and "the work is done by whoever shows up". I think this issue will find "adjustment" from the grassroots, eh?

Free range children: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2015/05/26/what-exactly-is-this-whole-free-range-kid-thing/?utm_term=.0a19743e74ab And an old movie, kids run around til dinner time: Our Vines Have Tender Grapes . . .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4k5-Aqobnk

Very nice. One must remember that such artwork was hand drawn, inked and then offset printed. Such a job might be several days in production. My father was a "show card artist" way before he met mom. He's the fellow who would letter. ink, illustrate the advertisements in the store windows, or proof for the theatrical posters. I have some of his original art and lettering style books, also his stylos (pens ) nibs and brushes..... Fancy calligraphy? More's the pity , mere printing legibly is hard to come by these days.....

He has the rep. I'd loan him money.

It sounds like your Pack and Den are active, involved, "For the Cubs". That is as it should be. But the Cub Den should be the "Gang" the kid (be they boy or girl) wants to hang out with. Camping is great, gets the kid ready for Boy Scouts, but there should be other stuff for the Cub too. Go to the zoo, go to the museum, the Police Station, the dad's work site, that model Railroad, camp out on a ship (Baltimore Harbor has this), visit a County Maintenance Garage, the State Environmental Protection Agency Lab, a newspaper printing plant, the Bus Transit Garage, anywhere that is DIFFERENT than school. Organize a softball league among the area Cub Packs, go to a minor league game, pro soccer game (call for "Scout Discounts"), University Astronomy Observatory or planetarium. The Pleides meteor shower came by this past weekend, given a dark clear sky, look for those opportunities to lay on the ground and just WATCH. MiF, KiS…..

The purpose of goals is to provide an encouragement, a shove to learn and achieve and do. Back in my Scout days, I joined a Troop that went places and hiked and camped and did Scout things. The older Scouts (all boys back then, of course) did the planning and dreaming of going places they had heard of or took the suggestions of the adult leaders, who had "been there and done that" themselves to look at the calendar and meet together to decide things. We had parents and grandparents who would take the time to drive us places, sometimes LEAVE us there (!) to come back in few hours or a day or two (!!). We seemed happy to go along, and we earned rank I guess automatically, as we cooked over fires and played with map and compass, getting lost and then "found". Then a young boy joined, whose dad was career Navy, an officer. This dad came to meetings in dress whites. The Scout announced (announced!) that he would be Eagle in so many years. He had done the math (so many months in each rank). WELL.... Us older Scouts ( I counted myself such by then) realized that might make him the first Eagle in the Troop! We decided we couldn't let that happen, nice as he was. So we got together and worked together. Merit Badges. Time in Leadership. I became my Troop's first Eagle, my buddy Don the second, our young challenger was third, late (by his original schedule) about a year. Calendars are important.

The Troop and Scoutmaster mentioned need to have their fallacies put before them. The adult leaders are "selling the Scouts a bill of goods". I rather imagine the story about the swim test must hold true for fire safety, cooking, first aid and navigation. We hear of these things at summer camp, where a young Scout may be put in charge of a Skill Station or MB class, but not from a Scoutmaster? . . The false sense of accomplishment will come back to haunt them. Both the Scouts and their Scouters. Trustworthy? What does that really mean? The Troop of my Yooooth took us to a local hotel (1960's) with an indoor pool in the winter. Spring and summer, fall we were ushered to local "rich " folk that let the Scouts swim in their pools. We also had Red Cross lessons in a local Country Club pool, when we were not at Scout Camp. Looking back, I see now it took a fair amount of asking and organizing and scheduling on our parents' part. I guess they thought it was important, being comfortable and safe around the water. Thank you, mom and dad.

*sigh* "The work is done by whoever shows up." If the Pack/Troop/Crew is small, folks involved will wear many hats. If the Pack/Troop/ is large, you MAY have enough folks to parcel out the duties and needs, or you may not. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves for WHOM the committee works. The adults? Or.... If decisions need to be made, one must trust the folks that "show up" to make good decisions or else WE have to show up to help with those decisions. Voting? Consensus? Command hierarchy? Communication? We are blessed (some might say....) with email, cellphones, facebook, schmarty phones, how can we not keep in touch if we are out of town? Are there "Assistants" to take over if the "official" is not available? How often on these pages have we heard it said that the SPL needs to assign an ASPL if he can't be there? If the meetings are IMPORTANT, people will come. If they are seen as NOT IMPORTANT, why come? Who decides if it is important? In my experience, it is the "head", the Chair, in Quaker parlance, the Clerk. Their attitude is all important. If that person does not treat the meeting as important, what MUST happen? A good chair makes sure things are "covered". If he/she can't be there, don't cancel the meeting, Lord knows it's hard enough to keep a modern schedule, ask an "assistant" chair to chair the meeting. Make the decisions, Hear the reports. If you are really formal, write the minutes, approve them and "publish" them. Record who is /isn't present. Or not. It's for the Scouts. Will ANY Tenderfoot care who was at the meeting? No. He will only care that there were enough parents to drive him and his buds to the campsite. Make sure the donuts are fresh and the coffee and tea (herb? Decaff?) is hot. Make the decisions. Drive the Scouts. See you on the trail.

Our Friends Meeting (that's Quaker parlance) just opened our newly renovated Community House. The Building Care Committee , for "outside users", settled on the fee of $100. per event if you use the new kitchen, and (I have no idea how they came up with this number), $37.50 per hour for the "big room" and a "sliding scale" for the smaller rooms. We have of late had several renters, all word of mouth, for baby showers, graduation parties, birthday parties, etc. It does sound like they are treating your Troop as an "outside user".

A very nice remembrance. As we grow older, we tend to remember those that held us in their hearts, if only for a moment. Concerning that last remark, " Scouts get out of it what they put in to it. So put your whole self in and imagine the SELF that's going to come out. " , I have a t-shirt given me by my mom, it reads ""What if the Hokey Pokey is really what it is all about?"" There you go, put "your whole self in and shake it all about...."

""Character is what one does when one thinks no one is watching.""

Our CSDC theme this year was CSI, seems a little extreme....

There are still folks around here that will plant and care for a grove of Black Walnut, "for the grandchildren".... Neighbor planted a grove of Princess Paulownia with the same intention.

""In the movie "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) starring Errol Flynn and Olivia De Haviland, list and name any and all archery safety rules disobeyed."

Well, what seems like unnecessary NOW becomes "why didn't we think of this before" . It is always so unfortunate when an avoidable death or injury proves the necessity of safety equipment. Bright yellow vests? Rope and belts on window cleaners and roofers? Anti kickback handles on chainsaws? Safety goggle in shop? PFDs? Training? Last week I had a good conversation with a Sea Scout leader friend who also teaches Coast Guard Auxiliary classes. He can tell you stories.... I recently watched an old movie on TCM. "The Solitaire Man " . It concerns a jewel thief and crooked Scotland Yard officer. The final events in the movie occur aboard an early airliner (it's a Handley Page Type 42 !) on route from France to England. The passenger compartment has light switches, windows that can be opened FULLY for ventilation (throw evidence out), cushy plush seats with NO SEAT BELTS, , NO ATTENDANT (only the two pilots), parachutes for the passengers (just in case), the pilot's compartment is unlocked (part of the conflict revolves around the passengers demanding to be taken back to France, and the pilots insisting "that's against regulations"), AND . . a door to the outside that has a simple latch handle so one of the passengers can jump out ("Excuse me, but one of the passengers just committed suicide" says a passenger to the pilot). I think prop guards are certainly appropriate for training, beginners, Scouts. While we're about it, let's close the airplane's windows, triple latch the doors, secure the pilot compartment, keep the lights on, and give the passenger compartment some attendants to help keep track of things. And peanuts. Give out peanuts.

Teach'em the proper word for an "archery lover" :: TOXOPHILITE all Cubs love a fancy word to use. I always had that on the entrance to the Archery Range: "TOXOPHILITES ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT" Be Safe, learn the techniques, have fun, take pride in your skill.

I do not favor throwing them. I would much rather the hatchet remain in the user's hand . That being said, sharp edges do stick better than dull ones. And similarly to Archery Ranges, a WIDE , ALL AROUND safety area is desired. Those tomahawks can bounce off the target stubs and travel a fur piece. "Be careful out there".