SSScout

Neckerchief slide woggles. Many opportunities for leather kits, burn in the date, event... Very traditional. Troop had a canoe trip that was "memorable" in the wrong way. I went to the Scoutshop, found a leather Scout symbol (fleur de lis?) and realized with some judicious snipping, and hanging it up side down it could be a canoe and paddle! A little pen lettering and a hole punch, Presto! A pocket patch for them that survived! If you have a large enough Staff, and you want a "professional" job (uhh?), there are companies out there that will do the necker or woggle for a price. I remember receiving a "Smokey Bear" hat woggle for a Camporee (must be in my shoe boxes somewhere) that I wore with pride....

If you have all this saved in a "Picture" or "Doc" file, it can be loaded to a Dropbox account, and the access code is published to whomever you want, thus: Here's my story about Light Weight Camping , ""Courageous Cookery"" https://www.dropbox.com/s/je3wh2ao0u2fd4v/CourageousCookery.docx?dl=0 Go here to establish your account: https://www.dropbox.com/h Let us know. Scan used to be a KD furniture outlet.... pre IKEA

One vision. Here's another, with Orson Welle's voice over. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBB06RLmCcU you can buy the DVD: https://shop.tcm.com/to-build-a-fire/089859822629 Klondike Derby preparations, anyone?

I believe the first picture is from the first World Jamboree, where B-P was declared Chief Scout of the World.

Your parents are obviously very proud of you, but don't count your Eagles until their pinned on your uni. "And this years nominees for best supporting cameraman's assistant cable puller are.... "

Well, the requirements say "Play", not necessarily from memory. If they can read the chart, and do it well, they will eventually learn it by heart. Bugle only has five (or six, if youre really good), and most Scouts seem to learn it by listening. Buy the CD, if you will. In my experience, just PLAYING a bugle or other instrument is a chore. It never ceases to surprise me that the Scout will come to the MB session without a horn, and without even the ability to "buzz".

Well, Bugler is a PoR in everything save Eagle, I think that's right. Ask him , if he would serve. Bugling Merit Badge is fairly simple for a brass player. One more roundel on the sash, eh?

This all has to do with the "Ideal". BSA has all but eliminated the Jungle Book Rudyard Kipling "Ideals" referenced in Cub Scouting (what is an Akela again??). To eliminate the "Ideal" referenced in the OA ceremonial Native American stories is the same thing, IMHO. How do you talk about ideals to youth if not with story and metaphor? Yes, Cubs should be fun, but how to introduce the Ideals? By "education"? by "talking AT them" ? No, you make it "important". You make it a memorable "ritual". If you can do this with a generic, idealized Indian ceremony, then be careful and respectful, but make it worth seeing and remembering. Cherokee? Seminole? Cree? Specialize if you can. Patuxent? Lenni Lanape? Mohawk? Make that connection if you can. ((** What stories do you read to your kids/grandkids for bedtime? "Star Wars"?? or Treasure Island and Jungle Book and even Rocket Boys?? )) Anyone remember the Straight Arrow Injun-uity Cards in the Nabisco Shredded Wheat? Wish I had all of them.... Really Scouty stuff. Was that insulting to the Nations? Straight Arrow was if nothing else, "generic" https://www.pinterest.com/pin/45458277459038282/ Our Native American nations were certainly given a raw deal in the past (I had one friend explain it to me by noting the Europeans were not here as "new Neighbors" but as "conquerors" ). The Canadians are still trying to correct their mistakes in the boarding school issues. I might like to think that our adopting the use of the Aboriginal Nations' "Ideals" as our own as a true compliment . Perhaps we need to add some further understanding of our mistreatment in our borrowing. Any time you are in the neighborhood of Cherokee, North Carolina , south of the Great Smokies (camp, hike, etc.), please visit the Museum http://www.cherokeemuseum.org/exhibits and learn the history from the other side.

Tahawk, Bless your scanning heart. Would it be possible to put this , say, in a dropbox account for us mere mortals to access and ,dare I hope, even print out?

Perhaps this: The Bridge Builder By Will Allen Dromgoole An old man going a lone highway, Came, at the evening cold and gray, To a chasm vast and deep and wide. Through which was flowing a sullen tide The old man crossed in the twilight dim, The sullen stream had no fear for him; But he turned when safe on the other side And built a bridge to span the tide. “Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near, “You are wasting your strength with building here; Your journey will end with the ending day, You never again will pass this way; You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide, Why build this bridge at evening tide?” The builder lifted his old gray head; “Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said, “There followed after me to-day A youth whose feet must pass this way. This chasm that has been as naught to me To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be; He, too, must cross in the twilight dim; Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!”

Oh, there are lots of opportunities here ! I hope the room (auditorium?) is large enough to allow the full beauty of a well played bugle.... When folks are settling in to their seats, play "First Call" to gain their attention (SPL puts up the Sign). As Bugleson may note, if he plays the Call to the Colors up to the Coda, that is the "Short Version", and would be appropriate for an indoor ceremony. I would suggest as the Color Guard is ordered "Advance" , play CttC as the Color Guard advances up the aisle. If it is a long aisle , play the whole piece. If you do the PoA, then that would come after the Posting of the colors. When the Scoutmaster (or SPL??) comes forward to make his opening remarks, "Ruffles and Flourishes". When the Ranks are to be awarded, play "Attention" (dah DIT dah DAH !) . At the end of the evening, everyone is eager for the punch and cookies (or ribs and coleslaw?). If the ceremony closes with the flags in place, say your benediction or closing remarks, and wish folks well. If the flags will be "retrieved" , so with "Please retrieve the colors", play "Retreat" as they march down the aisle. At the end of the piece, dismiss the CG and crowd to the refreshments. Yum. (No, I would not add "Mess Call" here...) Taps? I do not see Taps as appropriate in an indoor ceremony, unless there is another ceremonial reason. But that's just me. Outdoor ceremony? Wait until folks are about finished with the meal, Let Bugleson get back in the woods a ways and play long and low from there. Let it echo. Congratulations to all your Scouts !

Oil change? What's that? I visited a garage once, the mechanic. had a bench covered with engine parts, a Pontiac Sunbird was parked nearby with it's hood leaning against the wall. I asked about this "display". He said the young woman had brought the car in because it was "making noise" . She had bought it new , three years before, put 24,000 or so miles on it and had NEVER changed the oil......

On my Camino de Santiago trek three years ago, we sojourned in an alberge (hostel) which, like most, did not segregate the genders (!) . My buddy Rick bedded down in a lower bunk, I had to take a different "stack" upper. As always, the room was full. Rick sometimes (not always) gave forth with rafter rattling snoring when on his back. He was aware of this. Sometime in the night, I awoke to his music. I over heard some Deutscher volk (there was a bicycle club in with us) outloud mention bodily harm to the "volcano one". I jumped down, went over and woke up RIck, who awoke with a start, but willingly turned on his side and went back to sleep. No more snores. "Danke, freunde." I hope the other Scouter was apprised of his problem...

As in many things, "it depends". I have known kids whose first question when asked about work-for-pay is "who, me?" Youngest Scoutson made the acquaintance of a local farmer thru our family, and the farmer hired him on the spot (age twelve) for "gofer" duty. When he couldn't work during the schoolyear, farmer said "when you turn 16, you've got a full time job if you want it." Scoutson helped at CSDC, Camporees as staff, at Meeting, following dad around, and when he turned 16, we helped him get his drivers license, his Class B license (provisional), and the farmer was good to his word. Ever since, Scoutson has been driving trucks, tractors, combines, harvesters, and learning all about commercial farming. He has convinced the farmer ("custom farming". He leases six times as much land as he owns outright.) to diversify and try a section of certified "organic" crops. Daughter , on her own, asked about and got a job in the local public library as a "Page" at age fourteen. She both loved it (independence, paycheck of her own, time to read see new books) and hated it (telling me what to do all the time, same old same old, dusty and moving all the time). It was a learning experience. When she graduated HS, she decided against college, got married, with her husband started a cleaning service. cleaning restaurants, crime scenes, and large houses. She went on to be a manager at a auto parts store. She 's happy. Other two sons had no jobs to speak of until they graduated HS , went to various places. One joined the army immediately, later went to college and was in the right place at the right time, is now doing very well as a Media Specialist for the county government. The other has been in and out of work for awhile. C'est la vie. Kids just need to keep making contacts, try new things, look to the stuff you like, not just what is "normal" for you. Hiking? Camping? Check in as a volunteer with your local Parks. Find out what might be done for pay. Ya never can tell.

When I was a sub teacher, the assistant principal called me in and asked if I would like to be a "special tutor". I asked, what was that, he said it was a position he just created to help with some "problem" students. I would have one or two students (7, 8 graders) each period for a particular subject. I said sure, I'll try it. I had fun and some success over the span of a semester. Some just needed help understanding the math, or write a grammatically correct essay, some needed some one on one to allow them to vent alittle about family dynamics. One girl had definite behavior problems. Call her "Annie". Annie was sorely distracted. Even with me sitting with her at a table, she could not bring herself to attack a lesson. It was a challenge session. "You can't make me" was the unconscious comment. SO we talked . About life and family. I spoke with the Asst. P. and he and I developed a plan. He called in the parents and ALL of Annie's teachers (and me) to a conference. In it, he detailed how Annie's behavior problems were seen in all of her classes, including the "new" special tutor (me), thus indicating it was not just a "personality conflict" with one or two teachers. After gaining agreement with parents (both mom and dad were there, Annie was back in class) that Annie's school progress was most important (an only child), the Asst.. P. gave the DAD (!) a homework assignment: He was to spend 20 minutes with Annie doing homework EVERY NIGHT, without fail. No excuses. Not naps, not "have to take a shower", not "I'm tired from work". Every night, 20 minutes. It didn't matter if he understood the assignment or not, he was to be with her and help, if he could , for 20 minutes. He agreed, in front of his wife and seven teachers and the Asst. P. Six weeks later, Annie is a steady "B" student. I had no more trouble with her, she had written good essays in English (my tutoring class). Is there a lesson to be here learned? Our young people have many more distractions (buy this! Listen to this!) then you or I ever had. Thru our examples and love and attention, they must learn how to "PAY ATTENTION" to that which is truly important. Limit Social Media time ? Certainly. Insist on picking up the books? Absolutely (book? Que Book?). But do not neglect the "MORE important stuff" Be ready and able to give good reasons for your desire and instruction, not just "because I say so!". Every Midschooler in my experience has heard that and it slides off their back like oil off a roustabout in Texas. Why is that website inappropriate? Can they really ignore the stupid stuff on Snapchat? Fiction or real life? They are looking to us parents and Scouters (!!) for that role model.... What's that C&W song about "I been watching you , dad...." ?

Once again we prove the adage that ""The work is done by whoever shows up"" You can elect, you can appoint, but the boys will see who does what. And they will ultimately decide what they will do. Either by jumping in or by dragging feet. If the ADULTS decide, the boys will never have to. If the BOYS decide, they will find out how it feels to succeed at something they decided on. No matter who decides, if no one shows up, nothing gets done.

Faster than Light speed is too slow.... Prepare for ... LUDICROUS SPEED

Everything noted above is correct to my knowledge , but please note that Council or the COrg or BSA cannot act unless someone makes the problem, legal issues known.

What was that Cub Scout motto again? Oh, yeah... "Do Your Best". Remind naranza65 son about this. Like Scouting, Midschool is a time for the kid to start living his own life, and allow his parents to start "letting go". Some things I had to learn when our kids got there (one Scout, three non-Scouts) . Coach, remind, allow failure on occasion. Congratulate and reward success, no matter how seemingly small, but don't "punish" non-success. And note: There is a difference between failure and non-success.... The first is sad, the second is what learning is about. You will never succeed if you never try, and you will never learn (and succeed) if you never ask/listen/practice/memorize/make that skill your own. It is said that if one is to become a wise old man, one must be a dumb teenager first. Scoutson didn't learn to read or do algebra by my reminding and hounding and beating him round the jowls. He learned by my sitting down with him and pointing my finger and listening to him and asking him and spending time with him AND by getting him a friend to do the same when I ran out of "smarts". Once when Scoutson and I were sitting doing History homework, he said , "dad, back in your day, you had it easier than I do in school now.. You had a lot less history to remember !" Consider the wisdom in THAT ! Another thing, which midschoolers have a hard time accepting, is not everyone is good at everything. I think it was Harry Truman who counseled that one should find out what your child likes and is good at and then encourage them to do that. See you on the trail...

Anyone old enough to remember canoeing in a aluminum Grumman boat under a gigawatt powerline and feeling the buzz in the boat that your ears were hearing ? Michael Faraday..... And we should remember the tragedy at the 2005 Jamboree. The question there was why set up a tall pole under a power line? Expectations....

"To be or not to be , an Eagle, that is the question. Whether tis nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of hiking, camping, cooking out doors, mosquitos, blisters, broken GPS units or to join a boy led Troop and by ignoring the adults have fun. To Scout, perchance be a Patrol Leader, ah, there's the rub.... for in that chance to plan and learn cooperation and citizenship must give us pause. For to bear the whips and scorn of those who would value the souvenir more than the journey, pity that man. Soft you now, the fair Ophelia doth now join my Troop...." ((Tongue hereby removed from cheek))

" ... soon i'll be a Jed eye...." Thanks be to Yankovick for making all clear >>

Yes, let's hear it for Three Jedi Knight.... """Celibate, Celibate, dance to the music......"

As a parent/sub teacher/Scout Leader/MBCounselor/First Day Teacher/Work Leader I have always known that if someone is given a standard to meet, they will either try to meet that standard or go to someone whose standard is lower, less stringent. Why does anyone complain that they did not "get" the award? Is it the "bling" or the skill and pride of ownership of that skill? Do we really want to fly to our vacation on a plane that is maintained by a mechanic that does "gudnuf" work? "Oh, just sign the card." How many Astronomy Belt loop Cubs have at least been brought outside on a clear night and urged to look up? We (we, the Scouters)need to set that standard and just watch the Scouts meet it. Every Scout whose Bugling Merit badge card that I sign has played the calls. They may not be Maynard Ferguson, but they have at least played the calls.

Well. Scouting will soon be all-inclusive, open to any adventure seeking youth, male or female, regardless of gender, faith, or skin tone. It s about time. But wait.... What to call our organization? To what will we belong? Any new name should recognize the all encompassing quality now inherent. Horrors, does that mean we must give up all the historic monograms? Re-sew our shirts? New buttons? BS of A? What to insert in the "B" slot??? Merely erase the "B" ? Oh, say not so..... Brave, Bountiful, Bi-Gender, Beautiful, Beleaguered, Bygolly, Benign, Binary, Bairn, Bambino, ,,, Scouts America... What ever happened to Vespucciland?