T2Eagle

Here are the (partial) quotes from BSA. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/boyscouts/pdf/Troop_Leadership_Positions.pdf "All members of a troop vote by secret ballot to choose their senior patrol leader. Rank and age requirements to be a senior patrol leader are determined by each troop, as is the schedule of elections." "The senior patrol leader appoints the assistant senior patrol leader with the approval of the Scoutmaster. He serves in place of the senior patrol leader at meetings and events when the senior patrol leader must be absent." So for summer camp, or any

I found a 2009 version online, it didn't shed any light on the subject. Someday someone will explain to me why BSA makes documents harder than they need to be to get, either through cost or lack of convenience, but that day hasn't arrived yet.

I've never had an issue, and so haven't seen a need to provide guidelines, but one dead dog letter would probably have me add that advice to put his name on everything including underwear. Today, I figure most kids are, for better or worse, in some level of electronic communication with home. I have reached the conclusion that there is no one size fits all solution to handling homesickness and more serious separation anxiety problems. For some scouts more contact is better for some its worse. I try to get to know both parent and scout before camp and talk frankly, especially with the

What gaps were there/are there that would have helped? Have they been filled since then? It is a flaw in our system that we don't publish after-action reports that show where and how something went wrong so that we're aware, and can avoid, mistakes others have made.

Also, if any of the moderators could fix my typo in the title I would appreciate it. Thanks,

We have a water sports weekend coming up, and one question we have is whether one of our scouts can drive the boat while another scout is skiing. It looks to me like he can. He is 16, has a boating license from the state where we're boating, is a competent and experienced driver and will have a qualified adult in the boat with him. Safety Afloat seems to say this is OK, but never specifically addresses a scout driving while another scout skies. Anyone know a definitive, sourced answer?

I knew as a kid it wasn't true but it was enforced anyway, at least as long as we were pre-teens. I always figured it was a way for adults to ensure themselves time after a meal to relax and socialize around the table before they had to act as lifeguards. I'm dubious of it as a Boy Scout founded myth, that's just an easy data point for someone to find

It used to be in the GTSA, then it moved to the Tour and Activity Plan. Not sure where it is now. The essence of it is that if you are trying to stay in one position in relation to one or several other vehicles you will drive in a way that is not that expected or predicted by other drivers, and that is the surest way to end up in or causing an accident.

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/CubScout_Insignia.pdf Here is the official insignia page. I would have the bear overlap the pocket, and I would sew right through the pocket and give up any pretense that he's ever going to actually put anything in that pocket.

Good videos. I agree with Schiff that price is an important fact to be included and that the two burner griddle, or at least two pans side by side would serve a better purpose than illustrating things with single pots of water. You can include boiling time as a fact rather than showing it.

That's what I'm coming up with also. On the summer solstice (when I'll be at camp) the sun rises at its furthest northeastern point and sets at its furthest northwestern point. It travels in an arc that is then south of directly overhead. So I think east-west is the best orientation. https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://solar.physics.montana.edu/ypop/Classroom/Lessons/Sundials/Images/SummerSol.gif&imgrefurl=http://solar.physics.montana.edu/ypop/Classroom/Lessons/Sundials/summer.html&h=233&w=470&tbnid=UCBoF6d5XLDC_M:&tbnh=104&tbnw=210&usg=__LhM3jKmQViBL6a

I should have clarified: big lunky summer camp and Jamboree dining flies, roughly 10x16 or maybe 10x18.

So I've puzzled about this for years, and I don't think I have the information necessary to arrive at the right answer. When setting up a dining fly to provide shade this time of year, would you set it north-south or east-west? As a second consideration, if you have two rectangular flies (flys?) would you run them perpendicular, parallel, or serially?

"agencies across the nation brace for a particularly high-population tick season" I can attest to this, in Northern Michigan last week I hit double digits ticks on me --- and I was wearing long pants.

Obama never threatened to not sign certificates. Here's the Snopes report on that. There are plenty of other similar debunking references. Production of new Eagle Scout certificates bearing President Obama’s signature (in addition to the signatures of the National President of the Boy Scouts of America, the BSA’s National Commissioner, and the Chief Scout Executive) got underway in late 2009 for distribution to Scouts who obtained Eagle rank in Spring 2010. As many Eagle Scout award recipients (and their families) have noted, some Scouts received unsigned certificates if they earne

I can't view the videos on this computer --- I will later, but I can make some initial comments. One thing I think you should be very cognizant of is making sure that any tip or trick you give follows every BSA guideline, like those found in YPT, the Guide to Safe Scouting, and the Guide to Advancement. Equally important is that you be sure not to perpetuate any urban legends, myths, etc. that may be floating around your own unit, council, or district. The reason it's important that you be so careful and cognizant is that materials like yours tend to become the reference that other folks

Here's the rule from the GTA. 701.4 "The National Council does not place a limit on the number of merit badges a youth may earn from one counselor. However, in situations where a Scout is earning a large number of badges from just one counselor, the unit leader is permitted to place a limit on the number of merit badges that may be earned from one counselor, as long as the same limit applies to all Scouts in the unit. Approved counselors may work with and pass any member, including their own son, ward, or relative. Nevertheless, we often teach young people the importance of broadening horizon

I am as disinterested in the Eagle or Scouting brand as it is possible to be. It is not one of my goals to strengthen any brand, nor is it one of my goals to weaken it. I don't care what impression people have about what it means to be an Eagle Scout. I also don't care whether any, all, or none of my scouts do or do not make Eagle, and I am vocal about that at every opportunity I can be, with parents, and more importantly one on one with scouts. If you join our troop and come camping with us you will have all the opportunity you need to advance, if that's what you want to do. You are just

One of the things I think we're missing in our analysis is the sheer size of the marketplace we're now competing in. Youth today have a much wider array of choices of ways to entertain and occupy their time, and as a society we are dedicating a tremendously larger share of our resources: time, money, attention, etc. to those activities. When i was kid there were the big three sports with one defined, non overlapping season each, and anything else was a small niche that had very few participants. Today, those big three sports have an ever increasing time --- and money --- requirement th

Before you relax, you, or your son, should probably have a discussion with someone in the troop about this. As NJ mentioned, Eagle Boards can sometimes be full of people who have a very narrow and specific idea about how boards should be run, and that may not be in conformity with what the guidelines indicate. If this is going to pose a headache for your son it would be better to find out and lay the groundwork for dealing with it now rather than a year or two from now when your son may be pushing up against his 18th birthday.

The problem with Boy Scouts is that we let people run it who aren't BOYS. Stand for the whole BOR is a new one on me. If you asked me what the ideal setting for a BOR was I would say some folks sitting around a campfire having a good discussion with a boy about his scouting experience. My troop rarely achieves that, but it seems the further away from that we are the less well we're doing it.

I agree with the spirit of Skeptic's post that knee jerk reactions are unwise. But I'm beginning to think that the reaction for this particular product is warranted. Last night a parent showed me the packing list for Jamboree, it specifically indicated each camper should pack Zanfel, the mother was asking me if I knew what that was, and because of this thread I did have some idea. Note the packing list didn't say pack a poison ivy scrub, it specified this one. This morning I went looking for more information about it. I cannot find any scientific basis to the claim that this scrub w

Just remembered, the best advice for summer camp is to make sure he understands that it is CRITICAL that he put on clean socks and clean underwear every day.

One caution I would give is that in your initial post you talk about the collective wisdom here being against an over emphasis of taking a lot of merit badges at camp. I think you're reading our sentiments correctly, but those sentiments may reflect how we wish things worked much more than they would translate into practical advice. Whatever we may wish, most camps these days do run on a merit badge based program, and so there may be very few other program areas open during the day. If you're not in a merit badge class you will likely be in a minority and you will likely be hanging aroun