wyomingi

John D, Congratulations on your effort to help. A thousand small gestures can make a big difference. Nldscout, A scout is generous, friendly, kind, helpful

The BSA is a private organization and, as such, can discriminate. It cant both discriminate and accept government assistance. This has been pointed out above and in many other threads. I think NWScouter has explained it well. Troops can still meet in public facilities, camp on public land and have adult members employed by government agencies. They can not be sponsored directly by the government. Ed, K9, Gungho can you accept this? Merlin, if the BSA were to tell all troo

One morning, after a long spell of rainy weather, all the patrols were struggling to get fires started for breakfast. My patrol leader snuck over to the adults patrol and "borrowed" their can of white gas. We splashed a little on our fire and then returned the can. Later an ASM told us how proud he was of us for getting our fire started so quickly. It was very hard not to laugh.

SemperParatus advice on searching for sample questions is good. Some I have asked are: What merit badge are you most proud of? If you could change one thing in scouts what would it be? How as being a boy scout made you a better person? When you joined scouts what boys did you look up to? What boys do you think look up to you now? When did you first know you wanted to be an eagle scout? There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. Remember it's about what is in his heart not what is in his head.

Teens often need 10 hours of sleep. Intructions are at www.sleepfoundation.org/PressArchives/teens2.cfm

Thank you all for the replies. I found the discussion helpful. Unfortunately the boy's parents don't come to meetings. He walks to the meeting and gets a ride home. Apparently they are not very involved in any aspect of his life. I think discussing the fact with the boy and presenting the options to him is the best course. He is the one that will earn the award. I will also try to contact his minister to inform him or her.

Its Trail Day asks "If the 1st Amendment was amended to "...establish 'a' religion". What would the result be? Would it make things better or worse?" At the risk of getting jumped all over I will play Devil's advocate. If the BSA changes the rules to allow atheists scouts. What would the result be? Would it make things better or worse?

It's tough to pick a favorite. The Lost Patrol was good. They had a compass on their flag with east and west switched. The Rubber Chicken Patrol carried a rubber chicken mascot on all hikes and campouts. The Generic Patrol had a white flag with FLAG in bold black letters on it. Guess what their patrol yell was. I hope all troops are letting the boys have fun with the patrol names, flags and yells.

We have a new scout in the troop who is very enthusiastic. He has been with us only a few weeks but has been to every meeting and earned his scout badge. When he asked me about religious awards I was delighted until I asked him what church he attended and he said Unitarian. Unitarian is not a BSA approved religion. The Religion in Life award cannot be worn on a uniform. I am uncertain as how to proceed. Should I tell him to get another religious award, let him get the Religion in Life award and tell him not wear it or let him wear it anyway? A

My boss wants me to go to a leadership training class. I told him to send me to Wood Badge. It costs about one fourth of the classes he has found. Unfortunatly he thinks that I am joking. Does anyone know of good independent references such as magazine articials or web sites that I can show him?