witch359

You all make good points. And my intention here is not to start a debate on what companies hold what views or which ones are right or wrong.

Also, I'm asking this question mostly for my education and knowledge as a scout leader. As far as I'm concerned, the issue is closed as far as my troop goes. But if a similar question ever arises again, I can respond in a more objective and knowledgeable way.

If it were Target instead of Chick-fil-a, would your troop committee have the same qualms?

That's the same question I asked myself (except I used the example of Planned Parenthood).

I'm not saying the point is invalid; I think they may be right, just for the wrong reasons. Again, I'm just irritated that they felt they had to weasel around and find some other rule in order to get what they wanted.

Which goes back to my original question: Is there a rule against this? And I think the answer is no.

The most critical takeaway on this is one I've learned the hard way: don't say yes to any request for this type of activity until you have the actual commitment from people to do it.  I get a number of requests like this both for businesses, non profits, and community organizations.  It is more distressing (and puts both unit and BSA in a bad light) to say yes and then back out, than to just say no or let me check as a first response.

Excellent advice.

Oh! Well, now that I have the whole picture, I think the objections are perfectly understandable.

Thanks everyone for the sanity check.

I say do the flag ceremony unless there is some morals issue you haven't disclosed.

Bingo!

It's a Chick-Fil-A. And, oh yeah, I'm in Massachusetts. Does this help fill in the blanks?

The initial argument I got was largely social/religious. Then it turned to it being a business. What really irks me is that many people are trying to make a social statement and don't really care what the rules say (or don't say).

So, now that you have the whole picture, what do you think?

Is the business a competitor to someone who complained about it?

No, I got a few complaints from different people.

Is this an outdoor flagpole that the restaurant has outside its building? If so it could be viewed as kind of a "public space" even though technically it is private property?

 

Does the restaurant serve alcohol? It wouldn't make a difference to me but it might to some people, particularly in certain areas.

 

I don't think there's a rule against it but it's kind of moot unless your troop committee changes its mind. Did anyone on the committee say it was against BSA rules when they were deciding not to do it?

It's an outdoor flag pole next to the restaurant.

I initially pitched it as an opportunity for service hours. The argument against it was as follows:

To be fair, I'm holding a little information back, but I wanted to present it the way I did in order to be as objective as possible. Let me get your perspective on the above and then I'll fill in the blanks.

Hi all,

I recently got a request from a local restaurant asking us to do a flag raising ceremony around Veteran's Day. I initially accepted and sent out an email to the troop asking for volunteers.

I was shocked by the negative response I got because it was going to be held at a business. Our troop committee determined that it's not appropriate because of the perception of scouts supporting the business. When I called the owner of the restaurant (with egg on my face) to explain the situation, he said that other troops have done it in the past.

So what's the deal? Is something like this prohibited under BSA rules?

Thank you for any insights.

Thanks, SSScout. Great ideas :-)

Hi all,

At this year's B&G dinner, we're planning some after dinner entertainment. However, there's a period of time when some scouts have finished eating (and some just arriving) and the official start of the evening event. We were thinking the adult leaders would do some light entertainment, skits, etc.

Can anyone recommend some good, clean, easy (and short) skits that the adults might want to put on? Some good resources?

Thanks,

Paul