yarrow

I am always disappointed in the variety of meals the boys choose. Too processed. Too salty. Too predictable. Tell me your favorite and nutritious camp meal. Especially dutch oven meals.

Boy things are getting ugly in another local troop. A young boy, going to canoe base, still can not swim well enough. The parents are insisting on having other stronger swimmers be in the canoe with him. Or they have also suggested hiring a lifeguard to go in his canoe. How much teeth do the troops have to prevent a safety disaster like this one looks. He has been working with camp personal and doing private lessons for months. I believe he has the swimming badge although I don't know how.

Wow.........I had heard 2% on Eagles too.

I have 2 GSUSA troops, both my oldest daughters have finished their Gold Awards...

GSUSA has 1/2% go to Gold. The girls may not start Gold until they are about Juniors in High School so that accounts for a lot of the difference.

My boy 13 could probably pull off an Eagle though. Still he wouldn't look like one. I see these really little/young boys finishing up Eagle and wonder who it really belongs to..hmmmm

Wow.......talk about a real OA ordeal. My son went to his ordeal last weekend when we had an incredible storm come through. Rain, 30 degree temperature drop, snow, hail, lightening. At 2:00am they finally decided the boys had had enough and the lightening was intense so they hiked them 7 miles back in to the lodge. He said he was under a dead tree and the hail was knocking branches off on his head. 3" of hail/snow outside his tarp and below freezing weather. Now that's something to remember.

This just in..........Maybe Deanna Beecham can help............

Powhatan's Tribal Village Found

GLOUCESTER, Va., May 7, 2003

Randolph Turner, of Virginia's Dept. of Historic Resources' Office, points to a map as he discusses the location of Werowocomoco, the village of Indian chief Powhatan, who was Pocahontas' father. (AP)

"Every day I had time, I would go walking and see what I could find. I have collected old bottles, crocks, dishes, buckles, thimbles - just laying on the surface, believe it or not."

Lynn Ripley

Pottery shards are some of the thousands of artifacts that Lynn Ripley found on her property. (AP)

Lynn and Robert Ripley walk on their property overlooking Purton Bay on the York River near Gloucester, Va., Tuesday, May 6, 2003. (AP)

(AP) When Lynn Ripley walks around her farm overlooking the York River, she ignores the lush scenery and keeps her eyes to the ground.

Her passion for spotting and collecting pottery shards, arrowheads and other artifacts has led scientists to identify what they believe is the location of the village of the powerful American Indian chief Powhatan, father of Pocahontas.

Researchers said Tuesday that thousands of Indian and European artifacts found, along with historical descriptions, suggest the farm was the site of Werowocomoco, the central village of Powhatan's 17th-century rule over 15,000 people from the tribes of coastal Virginia.

English Capt. John Smith, leader of the Jamestown colony, would have met Powhatan on the 50-acre site. It also is where he claimed that Pocahontas begged her father to spare Smith's life, although historians question the veracity of Smith's tale.

"We believe we have sufficient evidence to confirm that the property is indeed the village of Werowocomoco," said Randolph Turner, director of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources' Portsmouth Regional Office.

He said others have proposed that the village was in the same area, but archaeological research had not been done. Early colonial documents, including Smith's 1612 map of Virginia, also gave hints of the settlement's whereabouts, he said.

The site was "a landscape of power," likely chosen to convey Powhatan's important status, said Martin Gallivan, an assistant professor of anthropology at the College of William and Mary.

This June, the college and the historic resources department will do more research on the farm.

"It's a place that may help us to add the native side of early colonial history," Gallivan said.

Soon after Lynn and her husband, Bob, bought the 300-acre, wood-covered farm in 1996, she began finding ceramic pieces, arrowheads and other items while taking walks.

"It was a ritual for me," she said. "Every day I had time, I would go walking and see what I could find. I have collected old bottles, crocks, dishes, buckles, thimbles - just laying on the surface, believe it or not."

She saved them, filling up shoeboxes and even gluing together some pieces of crockery and bottles. Today, she has thousands of artifacts, which she keeps locked in two large gun safes.

The Ripleys met two local archaeologists, David Brown and Thane Harpole, who were working on an unrelated project, and Bob Ripley mentioned his wife's collection.

"We were blown away," Brown said. "We thought, 'This has got to be the place."'

The men contacted Turner. They also did initial surveys, digging 603 test holes, 12 to 16 inches deep and 50 feet apart. They found thousands more artifacts, including a blue bead that may have been made in Europe for trading.

The two archaeologists are part of the Werowocomoco Research Group, a newly formed team that includes researchers from William and Mary and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, and a representative of the Virginia American Indian community.

The group presented preliminary findings to representatives of Virginia's eight state-recognized American Indian tribes and the Virginia Council of Indians, inviting the organizations to work with the group.

Virginia Indians were pleased to be consulted about a site that is of enormous historical significance to them, said Deanna Beacham, a member of the Nansemond tribe and outreach coordinator to the tribal and state councils.

"Frankly, usually we hear about it after something has been done," Beacham said.

Werowocomoco was about 15 miles from Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America, founded in 1607.

Smith claimed that in December 1607, Indians kidnapped him and that Powhatan was about to club him to death when Pocahontas threw her body over his to save him. Pocahontas was only 10 or 11 years old at the time, and some historians say Smith may have misunderstood what was an Indian adoption ritual. Smith didn't write about the event until 1624, after Pocahontas' death.

"The real story is Powhatan," who ruled one of the most complex political entities in eastern North America during the early 1600s, Turner said.

The Ripleys plan to keep the artifacts, perhaps loaning them to a museum or college. They also intend to continue living on the farm and to maintain as much privacy as possible while encouraging additional research.

"We just thought it would be a shame to deny this knowledge to the people of Virginia," Bob Ripley said.

ARe there any Powhatan indians left that could help with the project? Can any other indian organization that would have pull help?

Some areas or schools are large enough to support two or more packs.........hmmmm

I was under the impression that the neckerchief was a handy bit of cloth for first aid, for use as a head covering, to carry things in, a washcloth, etc. I see its function but it would be better in the pocket. IMHO

HOW MANY EAGLE PALMS?

What is the maximum number of possible Eagle Palms?

Here's a fun exercise.

Background information. There are a total of 119 merit badges currently offered by BSA. Each Eagle Palm requires five merit badges, three months active time, Scout Spirit requirement, a Scoutmaster conference, and successful completion of a BOR. Eagle Palms may be earned once a scout successfully completes his Eagle Board of Review.

Merit badges earned any time since becoming a boy scout may be used to meet this [Eagle Palms] requirement. (Boy Scout Requirements book; Eagle Palms requirements). There is no rule for how the applicant chooses which badges he selects for each palm; they do not have to be sequential (completion dates), but they must not be repeated.

To tally the Palms: First, count 21 merit badges required for Eagle Rank. Add five merit badges for the first (Bronze) palm (26 merit badges), five more for next (Gold) palm (31 merit badges), five more for first Silver Palm (36 merit badges). The palm sequence begins again so add five more merit badges for the second Bronze Palm (41 merit badges), 5 more for the second Gold Palm (46 merit badges), and five more for the second Silver Palm (51 merit badges). Repeat the sequence until you count out the maximum number of palms tallied from all merit badges which are offered in the Boy Scout program. If the current number of 119 is in place, this tally would be the award of Six Silver Palms, Six Gold Palms, and Seven Bronze palms for the total of 19 earned Eagle Palms.

How Palms are represented for wear on the uniform: "You may wear only the proper combination of palms for the number of merit badges you earned beyond the rank of Eagle. The Bronze represents five merit badges, the Gold 10 badges and the Silver 15 badges." This information is given in the Boy Scout handbook and the Boy Scout Requirements book (2000). For our Maximum Possible Palms example, you would place six Silver Palms and one Bronze Palm on the Eagle Medal to represent 96 merit badges earned (the Eagle Medal adds an additional 21 merit badges for the Eagle Award), this combination also represents 19 Eagle palms. There are three merit badges are left over which are not enough for a palm.

Time requirements: Okay, even if you earned all 119 merit badges, there is still the time requirement. For 19 palms, the absolute minimum of 57 months (4 yrs. 9 months) is required. Palms may be earned until a scout reaches 18, thus a scout must earn his Eagle rank while no older than 13 yrs. 3 months less 1 day to achieve this highest possible number of palms. All other conditions to play out this scenario have to be perfect (i.e. Scoutmaster conference and BOR both right on the 3-month anniversary day as well as the the active time and scout spirit requirements, and of course earn the merit badges.)

This is a fun problem, not one which involves opinion on age for attaining the Eagle rank, so let's not go there. It also does not take into account the reality of scheduling Scoutmaster Conferences nor BOR's which usually will not be exactly on the anniversary date of the previous palm.

Math

119 merit badges - 21 needed for Eagle = 98 merit badges left for palms tally.

98 divided by 5 merit badges per palm = 19 palms plus 3 merit badges left over.

19 palms divided by 3 types palms = 6 per each type plus one left over for, making it Six Silver, 6 Gold, and 7 Bronze. 19 palms x 3 month requirement for each = 57 months, or 4 years 9 months.

18 yr. (less one day) - 4 yrs. 9 months = 13 yrs., 3 months less 1 day.

How Eagle Palms are worn: Eagle Palms are worn on the Eagle Medal. (The Eagle Medal represents 21 badges.) The Bronze Palm represents one palm (5 badges). The Gold Palm represents two palms (10 badges), so you remove the Bronze one and replace it with the Gold. Silver represents three palms (15 badges), so you remove the Gold Palm and replace it with the Silver Palm. As each additional palm is earned, leave the Silver Palm in place and repeat the above sequence. This means that when Silver palms are already pinned on the medal, the Bronze Palm adds one to that already represented by each Silver Palm, and a Gold Palm adds two.

For the case of our 19 palms (representing 95 merit badges, setting aside the 21 represented by the Eagle Medal), you would do the math and figure 19 palms divided by 3 which equals 6 silver palms with one palm left over (one palm = bronze), so you would pin on six Silver Palms (representing 18 eagle palms) and a Bronze Palm (that's the extra 1 palm) to the Eagle Medal.

Now think about this one: a Bronze Palm and Gold Palm would never be worn together at the same time since 1 (Bronze) + 2 (Gold) equals 3, and three palms is represented by a Silver palm.

One additional note for the tally: We counted 116 merit badges (including the 21 for the Eagle award), and had three badges left over. If an additional two merit badges were introduced by BSA above the current 119 merit badges offered, and these two additional badges were earned for 121, it is possible that these five merit badges can be used for yet another palm. That additional palm is represented by a Gold palm worn with the six Silver Palms.

What has been accomplished in "real life?" Does anyone know what the record is and who it was who earned the highest number of palms? I think I remember seeing something in the Reader's Digest sometime in the late 80's, or maybe early 90's.

Submitted by Rosemary L. McCammond, Croatan Trails District

Question........I have seen some scouts use their sleeve as a flag when a flag is not present for pledging. The flag on the uniform is frequently missing a stripe and always has an incorrect number of stars. It seems to be representive of a flag but I would not say that it could be used for presentation, or pledge and I do not have a fit the "the flag is on the floor" when my son drops his uniform. He gets yelled at for not picking up, but it has nothing to do with the flag. Thoughts?

http://www.pocketflagproject.com/

The boys love this project.

The uniform is not that bad, but while I understand the concept of the tie I would suggest that few troops have the boys wear it. I think the boy find that part out of touch with current style. How about a larger handkerchief for the pocket with useful first aid information printed on it.

Of course if we elimitate the slide there would go a huge portion of the council's revenue as we have purchased at least 3 of each level over the years.

And there goes 90% of the Cub scout craft projects.........leather slide, woven slide, carved slide, pvc pipe slide, first aid slide, fun foam slide, wire slide, clay slide, metalwork slide, hose slide..............

Thanks for your input. Actually I do think the adults are a bit out-of-line, but all I have suggested to my son so far is that he bone up on the material. If he is up on the wiggit bits of the casting reel, how to set up a salmon rig, how to tie a reel spool knot, and the breeding cycle of a California yellow tail the ribbing should stop. At any rate he still is interested in fishing and has a pretty thick skin.

Our cubscout troop is doing a reallly neat project. They fold tiny flags and package them for shipment to the troops. They boys are loving it. Each one has a card in it saying that they were folded by such-and-such pack as a thank you.

Boy did my boy take a ribbing the other night and not all of it kindly done. Our troop does a MB college with in the troop every April and the badges offered this time were ones he had completed. He decided to work with the group doing fishing since he had started Fly fishing and thought he could later on, on a field trip, complete his Fly fishing badge. He did the fishing badge two years ago at summer camp with another dad and truely does not remember all he was taught. Well the adults decided to put him on the spot and ask questions every other 5 minutes. One suggesting he have his badge revoked. I suggested to my boy that he might bone up on the badge this week, but he didn't and they had at him again. I know he has done a number of badges and has learned something new with every one, but I would not call him proficient at any one. I doubt if he could recall all the names of the insects he collected but I know he enjoyed doing it and learned a little.

Why is it that boys are not embarassed to be seen in their football uniform if you need to take them elsewhere after a game, but wouldn't be caught dead in the grocery after a scout meeting in uniform? Where is the pride? Why does this country place sports above everything else? Have you checked out scholarships recently? 1000 to 1, sports to scouts.

Hey,,,, I looked this up. Still a little bit of a fudge on the part of DR. Pepper I think............Soda Cans-Truth!...Sort Of!

Summary of eRumor:

This message says that Dr Pepper is coming out with a set of soft drink cans with a patriotic theme. One of them is to have the Statue of Liberty on one side and the Pledge of Allegiance on the other. But, the phrase "under God" was not included in the pledge. Some versions of the eRumor include an 800 number for you to call Dr Pepper and complain. Others urge you to send a note of protest via their web site.

The Truth:

According to the Dr Pepper website at www.dpsu.com, there is a special patriotic edition Dr Pepper can. A statement by Dr Pepper/Seven Up says the cans are to "...show support for the patriotic fervor that has been sweeping America since the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, and to show the world that we are a united nation of people who place a high value upon freedom."

One side of the can includes the Statue of Liberty and on the other side are three words from the Pledge of Allegiance, not the entire 31 word Pledge. The words on the can are "One nation...indivisible." In the actual Pledge, that phrase is "One nation under God, indivisible."

Critics say that omitting the reference to God is an act of political correctness by the company and that those who believe in God should complain about it. The Dr Pepper/Seven Up folks say their purpose was to reflect the unity of the country, not to make an anti-religious statement and that 90 percent of the rest of the Pledge did not appear either.

Most of the questions to TruthOrFiction.com have been from people who thought the entire pledge had been quoted on the can but with the words "under God" left out. There is at least one version of the eRumor that claims that.

The protest arose when a 12-year-old girl wrote a letter to the American Family Association in Mississippi to complain about the partial quote from the Pledge of Allegiance She said there could be enough room to include the phrase "under God" and the American Family Association suggests that it was more a matter of choice to avoid reference to God rather than mere graphics.

Forty-one million of the cans have been distributed in more than a dozen states and have been discontinued as of February.

There is a virtually identical version of the eRumor that says it was Pepsi that took the words off the patriotic can. That one is false.

Thanks, guys........seemed like competition propaganda to me too.

I got this email.........is it true?

"Pepsi has a new patriotic can coming out with pictures of the Empire

State Bldg. and the Pledge of Allegiance on them. But Pepsi forgot two

little words on the pledge, " Under God." Pepsi said they did not want

to offend anyone. If this is true then we do not want to offend anyone

at the Pepsi corporate office. If we do not buy any Pepsi products then

they will not receive any of our monies. Our money, after all, does have

the words "Under God" on it."

Congratulate me.........my oldest just completed her Gold Award. She taught art to seniors and youth at the local library and completed a fabulous mural for the new library when it is done being built.

These are not pushed much for the girls in USGSA as they are in BSA. My two seniors recently earned their God in Life along with their brother. One girl wears the 3/4 " pin and the other liked the medallion better. Not as much work as the God and Country in my opinion.

One of our den leaders is signing off schoolwork for pin and arrowpoint activities. If they did color mixing in school or discussed rocks in school they are getting signed off. Does this work? Is it doubledipping? Do they need to do it twice? Once in school and repeat in the den or what? Thoughts.

My son was given an arrow carved by a friend while he was on OA ordeal. He treasures it.

OK, here's what happened. I have seen this skit and have even been the good natured victim. I got up sputterling (even though it was only an ounce or two of water) and shook my finger at the now laughing and running cubs. No big deal. I was, however, absent at the last pack meeting where this skit was performed recently. I never heard whether the victim was "in the know", but my guess was he wasn't. The Cub Master and Den Leader resigned over the skit and the irrate dressing down they received from the ever so slightly damp adult. Good Lord.

What about the "Two suckers on a Stick"

What about the "Deep under ground the Sap is still running"

Or "There's my sock"....in the soup skit.

The skit books are FULL of skits that are offensive in someway.

How about "The ugliest man in the world"

Seems like a tempest in a teacup. Years ago most of the ethnic slurs were dropped, thankfully... but other skits still offend some. The one I find most offensive is the one that makes fun of Girl Scouting, using a cookie selling Girl Scout. I am equally offended by several GS songs which demean BSA. I do not let my girls sing them.

What then shall we do? Several people have suggested the many tasteful skits. Show me the website.

Have you seen this one........... an "entertainer" tells the pack that he has brought back a rare animal that is very talented. He has the cubscouts (two of them under a blanket, the rear one has a cup with an ounce of water in it) count with their hoof, then do addition, then step over one scout. Can this amazing animal step over two. Indeed he can. Now for the real test. I need a voluteer. A good natured adult is picked, possibly the cubmaster.The front half steps over then the back half lifts it's leg, dog style, and pours the cup on the adult. The adult is not really very wet.......Offensive?? I've seen it before.

Thoughts???