Trevorum

Laurie, since we're chatting I hope you'll let me point out that maybe you do misunderstand the DRP. BSA does not define what constitutes belief in God, reserving that to the Scout and his family. Paganism is an ancient and very honorable religion which shares many, many ethical principles with Christianity. Pagans just have a different interpretation of God. Just as do Hindus or Zoroastrians, both of which we all know have perfectly fine religions.

shoot. and I thought it looked spiffy.

I'm not certain what the right term is, but I'm positive it isn't "Retreated"! During the module on flag etiquette at SM Fundamentals, I still remember my SPL drilling into us, The U.S. colors never "retreat"!

I remember at summer camp several years ago we were bivouaced in BSA canvas wall tents. We slept on cots. One night there was a terrific wind storm. The guy lines were creaking and debris was crashing into the tents all night long. Next morning, our sleepyhead was still asleep on his cot, with the entire canvas tent collapsed on top of him! He never even woke up.

Rooster, (are you ready for this?) I agree with you! Kristi, de nada.

Kristi, I don't agree with you. My faith does not call for me to bow my head during prayer as do Christians. Neither do I prostrate myself as do Muslims. I am nonetheless highly reverent. I am respectful of those who do bow ther heads and have never made it an issue (because it isn't). Please don't expect everyone to share your particular rituals.

We just sacrifice the pockets and sew straight on through... I usta sew on his Cub patches, but when he earned his T'foot I showed my son how to sew. He really got into it and asked, "Dad, is there a sewing merit badge?" Now, he's wised up and avoids needle and thread as much as possible.

Fred, don't count on it. The local councils depend heavily on uniform sales for revenue and they wouldn't want to lose this to online shopping. I believe that National respects this.

Personally, I like to be up before then, but at a group camp 0700 is a reasonable hour. But I'd also like to ask, how do you get that one last sleepyhead out of his tent? After the PL has tried and the SPL has tried, what do you do?

I don't think he really wanted an "explanation" after all. We gave him several. I think he just wanted an argument.

Our troop meetings are held in a classroom and after we're done, we have to put away all the troop stuff and get the room ready for the next day. We always close our meetings with a SM minute and the the SPL asks everyone to join him in reciting the Scout Oath or Scout Law. He then reminds everyone to "Stack your Chairs!" Inevitably, in our troop the 13th point is ... you guessed it!

We've got several fellows who play trumpet in band, but no one wants to be troop bugler. (I think it's because everyone gets mad at whoever blows Reveille!)

LOL!! One of my favorite answers was Persistent. The scout had learned about Abraham Lincoln in his US History class and he proceeded to tell me how many time ol' Abe had been a total failure, in school, in business, in politics, until he was elected President. Sharp kid.

Why 4 o'clock?

Thank you! I didn't know that about Keystone and Juniata. I will put that merger on my radar. Yes, HoV is a name change only. But to a patch collector, it's a whole new CSP!

Southern California has a new council for 2005 - San Diego Imperial Council. Are there any more council mergers or new council names that are planned for 2005? In 2004 we saw the new Heart of Virgina Council. Were there any others last year?

ooohh! Semper, this is one of my favorite questions in a SM conference!! I can't wait to see y'alls answers!

Anyone know how many Angels can sit on the point of a multi-tool?

ahh... hidden agendas! It sounds like you handled it well. Good answer. And congratulations on not letting them intimidate you. Sometimes I think the 13th point should be Perserverance.

Cheffy is looking for a bugle. A bugle! I wish our troop could find someone to blow the darn thing! How many troops these days actually have a bugler who does calls morning, noon, and night while on campouts? (I usta be a bugler)

ehcalum, I'm curious. Why did you think #3 was not appropriate? I ask this at every SM conference for Star, Life and Eagle (along with "What does mentally awake mean?, and "What does Physically strong mean? There are no right or wrong answers, but it gets the scouts to think.

My son's favorite slide is still one he made as a cub. It is simply a leather round with two parallel slits, some simple tooling, and stain. It's light, unbreakable, and NEVER falls off, even in the roughest game.

Great thread. I really enjoy learning how other units handle the same issues. I suspect we are constantly re-inventing the wheel, but Terry's forum is a great step in cross-unit communication! Q: How many other units have ASMs chosen by the SM? In our troop, we encourage all new parents to register and then ask them if they want to be an ASM or on the committee. As a result, we have about 20 or 30 ASMs (with 5-10 on any given campout).

I believe that BSA is encouraging the spiritual development of young people, which is always a good thing. However, by using the western word/concept of "God" they appear to be more exclusionary than they need to be. Some people encourage this exclusionary interpretation. We know that Buddhists, who do not worship a god, are welcome. The same with Hindus, who revere many gods. The same with those whose concept of God is truly baffling to their fundamental Christian friends.

Yes, it is confusing! And, it could very easily be clarified. But I strongly suspect that National does not want to fix it. They're famous for writing policies that have all this wiggle room. (eg., "laser" tag). With their high paid lawyers, don't you think they know exactly what they are doing?