Troop24

allangr1024 you are really showing your age. . . the 1070's! Sorry, couldn't resist. I do think that resqman does have a point about the "driven" quality of some of the modern day scouts. If they are going to involved in the program they might as well concentrate all their efforts on the ultimate goal. Only two of my scouts (out of 18) are involved in sports. The rest have only scouting as their extracurricular activity. But not all of them are Eagle bound. I have three life scouts that have been just sitting out the project for the last 18 months or so. I figure they know what they

My troop uses Troopmaster. We have assigned the primary updating to one person and then we all share the data among the adult leaders mostly using thumb drives. However, if I want to share the data with someone who was absent from the meeting I simply use Google Docs to transfer the files for free. All you need is a Google account (a gmail account is not required to use this service, any email account will work to establish a Google account.)

Trevorum and Emb021 said: "Emb021 said, "What was limited was the wearing of Jambo Shoulder patches & troop numbers. These were to be worn 6 months before & after the event. While I don't mind JSP worn longer, I do get sick and tired of people wearing the jambo troop number once the Jamboree is over." In truth, any council shoulder patch (CSP) that has been legitimately issued by a council may be worn by any member who is currently registered in that council. That includes old versions of standard CSPs as well as CSPs issued for special events and activities, including Natio

@ Scoutbox, "After a Scout has completed all requirements for Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, and Life ranks, or an Eagle Palm, he appears before a board of review. This board of review is made up of at least three and not more than six members of the troop committee. One member serves as chairman, usually the committee member responsible for advancement." as stated in 2008 Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures which is the latest version I can find online.

These outstanding young men have shown what can be accomplished when an individual decides to set and attain a goal. They should be applauded for the collective efforts at achieving their aim. However, the tone of the post seems to be that the goal was reached in a rather short amount of time. If a scout is in a pretty active troop that does an outdoor activity once a month and summer camp each year he can work through the advancement stages in as little as 17 months. There is a one month requirement for Tenderfoot related solely to the 30 day physical fitness test/show improvement re

Personally I think it would be great if there was an enforceable ban on pocket rockets. I have always been under the impression for the 30 or so years that I have been involved with the OA that was to be no distinction between levels as we are all brothers in the order. I have had a few boys in the troop I serve decide not to follow through with their election to the OA because they felt it was a cliche that they would rather not be involved with. I am pleased that you may have been recognized by your peers for your service to the order and selected to become a vigil member; but I do not fe

@Eagle92: the camp we are attending this summer Camp Rainey Mountain states in their camp rules, "NO fixed-blade sheath knives allowed." (http://xrl.in/6rd5) So there are local "bans" in place throughout the scouting world on fixed blade or sheath knives.

Wikipedia says there are 2,912,039 youth members and 1,137,971 adults in 124,425 units all levels of the Boy Scouts of America; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Scouts_of_America . The Center for Education Reform indicates there are 55,203,000 K-12 students and 3,178,142 teachers in 132,656 K-12 schools; http://www.edreform.com/Fast_Facts/K12_Facts/ . That sure seems to point me to think that there is a much great chance to run into a bad apple in the education system simply based on the numbers than on anything else. But there is no indication of the gender break down of the teacher numbers

Barthumphries after your more eloquent explanation of the link to culottes as an example of modest clothing and an attempt as an sniping comment on maleness I humbly apologize to you. I find the man-centered thought process that tries to mask all ills with testosterone and I think it is perhaps the root cause of so many suicides in the military of late. If you can't see an injury you are not hurt, "man up" and get back on the line there's work to do. That was the vein in which I took your comment.

@BartHumphries from the few people I have talked to that have mentioned what they wear under a kilt I think that would create a violation of YP should the wearer slip and fall on a wet dining hall floor, not too mention being perhaps a little embarrassing. Yet you suggest that if someone were to temper their wardrobe slightly to prevent such a problem that makes them somehow less manly. These kind of statements are the kind of things that I find among the most bothersome on both this forum and around the campfire. I have to wonder if you feel the same way about female Venturers, too.

Our school districts are still fortunate enough to be providing DARE instruction to our Elementary school age kids. I did a Google search and found this: http://www.thirteen.org/closetohome/pdf/CTHelementary.pdf could be a good source for a troop based program.

I personally think there will be a final end of the year (or end of era) push on these badges by the boys themselves and by some adults for the boys. I know our council is sponsoring a winter heritage camp from December 26 - 30 to provide the Scouts one last chance to earn them. Then national will see the total numbers required and produce the required badges to fill the back order.

The Washington Post says the show had about 5 million viewers which is around 3.6 million more than they average on a Sunday night in that time slot ( http://xrl.in/6ns3 ). Not sure what that says for the future of the show, though. I did not tune in, so I have no opinion.

Thanks Gunny for the edit.

In another thread it was suggested that legislator's like to create 3000 page bills to support a massive agency along with their proposed changes to something and then there is a decade of litigation before anything can happen. That made think of this thread. If people could simply follow the rules without looking for their personal loophole or hiring a lawyer to find one for them I think a lot of things would run a whole lot simpler!

John is right, of course, every inhabited building in this country has a roof. Put solar panels on them. The cost will have to be reflected lower by mass consumption, right? Sure the look of solar panels now on a residential roof is a little off-putting but if everyone had one they would be more architecturally designed and become more pleasing to the eye. In regards to the tragic loss of birds and bats to the spinning turbines of wind mills I stumbled across something a little while ago. It may not be the absolute answer but it shows people are thinking about it: http://xrl.in/6jx3.

"And if the rules, themselves, are just plain wrong?" Who exactly gets to decide what rule is just plain wrong? What makes that person's decision more or less questionable than the original rule? I mentioned this before approach those that establish the rules and petition them for change with a reasoned appeal and perhaps change will occur. Otherwise, I think we should do our best to live within the established guidelines as provided by the Oath and Laws.

Scoutfish, BartHumphries said this: " "I am assuming that the BSA does not have a problem with scouts running around waving flashlights at each other." That's what I'm saying. As long as you're not "shooting guns at each other", then laser tag should be ok, right? Besides boxy lasers, "pen" ones like http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Pet-LED-Light-Laser-Pointer-Toy-Cat-Dog-Puppy-Kitten-/360314546543?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e46ba96f would seem to be ok too -- they can hardly be called "firearms". Yes, you can do laser tag with "a square flashlight-type box that couldn't p

[begin rant] I think the point of this thread from the very beginning has been an attempt to justify weaseling out of the rules by saying "Rules, What Rules?" Instead of following the guidelines as set forth in the G2SS there has been a lot of wind expended legitimizing the use of laser type objects other than professionally operated laser tag equipment to play tag. People have have used unnecessary vitriol to make their claims instead of simply following the rules. Where along the way does that follow the lines of the Scout Law and the Scout Oath that we all supposedly voluntarily

BartHumphries says: "Firearms may not be pointed at another person, even if those firearms are "fake" and "shoot" completely harmless "stuff", such as paintball guns, laser guns, etc. But there's nothing wrong with lasers in and of themselves . . ." I wonder how the pilot in this story or the FBI feels about that: http://www2.wsav.com/news/2010/sep/29/fbi-investigates-laser-aimed-savannah-plane-ar-896625/ Nothing to worry about when you take a dollar store laser emitting item as it appears many here are referring to and placing it in the hands of teenage boys and allowing them to play ta

I am with Stosh on this one. It clearly says show improvement! If one the first attempt the Scout can only pull himself up a quarter of an inch and then on the second attempt 30 days later he pulls himself up a half inch that is an improvement! I have always hated pull ups. That was the least favorite exercise routine I had to face during my 12 years in the Army. I would do my best until I was allowed to fall off the bar then I would go do something else. Not everyone can do every exercise as well as everyone else. Hopefully these Scouts have been doing all the other advancement and

"Ummm... Troop24, you said that there are three licenses available, then only posted two. " I was showing there was a sliding scale available that is why I left out the middle price but it is $59.95 for a two year license. The link I provided would have given you the same information, unlike the link xiaoxian provided for the cheap jeans!

This forum offers a link to some Scouting related software at: http://www.scouter.com/compass/Leaders_Resource/Software/Unit_Management/ or http://xrl.in/6izx (easier to copy and paste!) Our troop uses Troopmaster and we find it to be a very manageable tool. There are three licenses available from $45 for one year to $70 for three years. This license allows for unlimited users and PCs. They also offer an additional service that allows data transfer over the web for a fee. However, we have found that you can use other web services like Google Docs to do that for free once you get eve

When our Scouts earn First Class they are presented with a custom troop necker. This necker has a replica of our CO church and other local memorabilia represented on it. It is presented to the First Class Scout as a rite of passage. All of our Scouts wear our troop t-shirts that have the same custom troop design on the back and a custom design on the front pocket area that identifies the CO by name and location (as does the large decal on the troop trailer). That is just recognition for their efforts in chartering our troop. I do not think there needs to be any further patch or doo-dad on t

Beavah, I took your advise and dropped a line to BSA legal. . . but I am confused about your comment that it is not my business to inquire about it. (edited to remove foot from mouth)(This message has been edited by Troop24)