Pack18Alex

I'm contemplating giving the new Wolf Den, Arrow Heads for their Tiger Beads, to show it off, and then again with the wolf ones this year. It's technically not in the rules, but people have said that "back in the day" of Wolf/Bear/Lion, you had arrow heads for Lions... We wouldn't be technically in uniform, but it might make an impression on the incoming Scouts and get them to want them. I also got my son and I Red Vests to put all the "event" badges that we got on last year, in the hopes that it motivates more participation in our Unit. The Patch Glue solves the sewing issue, even if

I remember as a kid learning tennis that we'd go to a place with a wall and hit the ball against the wall. There was a drawn line for where the net would be. Perhaps that would be how you do them separate? If it's you and your son, just do your best and look on you tube for drills. I managed to drill kids through volleyball pin at Day Camp... definitely a paper pin, pretty sure none of them can play, but they earned the pin. I practiced some different leadership models at day camp, and pencil whipping was efficient, the boys will look like war heros covered in metal, but I'm not sure

When I was a boy, you earned your rank and 1 to 3 arrow heads that you proudly wore on your uniform. The book hasn't changed, but I never see them in the real world. I see belts full of loops, and Packs that meet more or less together and do more loops and less specific electives. I've also ssince a plastic "badge holder" holding everyone's rank badges in plastic instead of on the uniform. With my Tiger Den, I got everyone through 18 electives, my son got active at home and earned 4 beads, the rest earned 1 (and I learned for our Pack and how the Jewish Calendar affects us, we're going

I think people just like to complain. If you're not having fun, get out. Too much focus on adult issues, but this forum is a place for Scouters to vent. OTOH, I've gotten great ideas here I bring to my unit.

I'm sure that there are lots of focus groups and research projects on what integration would do. Hashed out elsewhere, most think cubs would be easy to integrate, troop level would be a disaster. Gender integration, in my opinion could be done right, with single-sex Dens integrated Packs for cubs since it's such a long (especially with Lions added) program and families would likely have overlap, which would help on the leadership front. Separate Troops by gender or at least single sex patrols, migrating into venturing. BSA's programming as such a high adult:youth ratio for this sort of p

Well, how do you think Council would respond if they saw me at a public event, in Class A Uniform, smoking a cigar and drinking a bourbon? They would throw me out for engaging in conduct not becoming of BSA while representing BSA. If I'm in civilian attire, go into a bar, and smoke and drink, nobody from BSA will care, because I'm not representing BSA. We have made it pretty clear that we are happy to be active and involved in our District/Council, making a "Do Your Best" level of effort for participation, and they have been great at involving us in stuff, including scheduling around Je

The REASON that Council can even lose things is the primitive paper process. We turn all paper to council in electronically via PDF and keep a copy on our system. I see zero reason to be storing carbonless paper for BSA. An online system would be even better. They can have an offsite backup. We could archive a PDF of everyone in the Unit annually. Paper to sit on someone's desk at Council for months on end it stupid.

So my daughter in the Girl Scouts has a Vest back covered with Patches earned from joining her brother at the Campouts and other big activities. GSUSA guidelines use the pack for "extra" patches. So my wife and mother in law are sewing up a nice cotton "Red Vest" for him to put the rest on, and making one for me. Why? We're trying to encourage participation. We used to give out the event Patches at the event when people left, this year we gave them out for one event at the next Pack Meeting, and the boys that didn't go were jealous and wanted to know how to get one. We're hoping that

I think that part of this is that the old timers at BSA national came up in a world where they were Scouts in a local Troop was sponsored and met at their school, but everyone was some form of Protestant in their group, but maybe 2 or 3. In their mind, we're all still like that, so someone to coordinate the Religious Medals for the 2 to 3 Protestant Churches in town makes logical sense... And maybe deal with the occasional Jew/Catholic in their midst. At the Cub Level, the Den Meeting is appropriate. At the troop level, wouldn't 1-on-1 like a Merit Badge Councilor make sense, so in that

I think it depends on the culture of your unit. For Basementdweller's unit, it's pointless. For my unit, we have been attempting to fill liaison positions to groups we work with so not everything falls on the same few people. For Jewish Scout units, our unique nature (the Jewish Committee on Scouting, NOT our religious organizations) is responsible for the program, this is potentially useful. For blw2, this is also useful. His example of his wife is very telling, she "works for" the Church as the REligious Medals Coordinator, and lacks a BSA position. As BSA would like all adults tha

Alex's unit is an independent unit (not chartered to a synagogue) operated under Jewish auspices (Sabbath-observant, Kosher). He needs a liaison to the council Jewish Committee on Scouting. Thanks for clarifying that. KDD, the Jewish medallions are issued by the Jewish Committee on Scouting, which is non-denominational, while all Jewish organizations are affiliated with a major Jewish denomination. As a result, the JCoS plans events for ALL Scouts, most of whom are NOT Sabbath-observant or Kosher, and has historically made accommodations for Kosher Scouts. With the growth or our Jew

I think it's a great idea if you make it a committee role and make it easier to share a committee between units in a CO. Honestly, we've been trying to fill a liaison role to our religious committee, this (with a patch) makes sense.

As a Jew, I really do not like Jewish efforts to fight public displays of religion, I think that they fostered anti-semitism and were obnoxious. I also think that Holocaust memorials are bad for American Jews, but that's another topic... institutional American Judaism clearly disagrees with me. But short of a significant sum of money that would be "establishment" I find it best to ignore these things. OTOH, I take advantage of public parks more than most, we all have government programs that we benefit from more than others.

I mean, the government spends money and gives land to lots of things I don't care for or agree with, and some things that I care about and agree with. Historically, that was seen as legislative prerogative, if you don't like how to government squanders funds, vote the rascals out. Making everything litigable is rather sad.

Many Jewish friends that considered themselves atheist/agnostic. Many wore a Star of David necklace (particularly when going out). Never saw one where the A/Atomic symbol on a necklace. In fact, the Chai (meaning life) necklaces were more popular amongst the more affiliated Jews, the Star of David was more popular amongst the non-affiliated Jews.

The oldest Jewish Religious symbol, the Menorah (7 branch from the Temple, not the familiar 9 branch Chanukiah that comes out Chanukah Time) is a symbol of the Temple. A Torah Scroll would be a good one, usually depicted as an Ashkenzai Scroll unwound (see scrollk.org who uses this as their logo) works. A mezuzah cover would be a religious symbol of sorts. The Shield of David is a national symbol, not a religious one. The Shield of David represents Jews from the Ultra-Orthodox to the atheist/agnostic Jew. It doesn't represent ANYTHING in the religion.

The six pointed Star of David may be colloquially called a "Jewish Star" but it is NOT a religious symbol in any way shape or form. It is the symbol that is traditionally dated back to David's Reign (and presumably Solomon's as well), basically an ancient Israelite Heraldry symbol. Judaism, the religion of the Jewish People, dates make to the Kingdom of Judah, after the Unified Kingdom split into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah. All recordings of the Second Temple period, etc., are from the Kingdom of Judah. The Star of David is a recognized symbol of Jewi

Sign up as a Den Leader, add a third Den to the mix. 6/den is a much better number, I had 5 Tigers with no ADL and went crazy. The boys that started in the 12 person Den a few years back all dropped out. More Dens = more Fun, you can do field trips together, you can plan "big" projects together, but you can do inter-Den competitions, show off Den Flags, etc. I'd love to start splitting Dens instead of Tiger Den, Wolf Den, Bear Den, Webelos Den, requries recruiting.

Should Trayvon Martin survived being shot and been on trial for Assault and Battery and Attempted Murder, he would have a SYG defense for being followed and fearing for his life. The PROBLEM with the TM SYG claim is the testimony of his friend, who told the court that he told her he was "safe" and "steps away" from his home. The fight took place near GZ's vehicle, NOT near the home. So if GZ gets out of the vehicle, TM is right there and clocks him, I think TM has a SYG defense (which, by my understanding in Florida, doesn't remove GZ's unless GZ broke the law in creating the situation, w

It would be nice if you could create multiple designated meeting places that don't require tour plans. However, how about a push to create PDF Fill-in Forms for all the forms available as PDF? I have a Mac program, PDF Signer, that lets me type anywhere, but it's a pain in the butt. None of us have type-writers. Florida we have standardized medical forms (blue and yellow forms) that all youth programs use, except BSA. So I show up to camp orientation with B&Y forms and was told to come back with the BSA forms... The awful Charter/Advancement web software that rather than being

When I looked into it a few years ago, I was actually somewhat shocked that Florida wasn't an open carry state... Florida tends to like to preempt gun regulations at the state level, and we have a VERY diverse state. We have a couple of enclaves with tons of transplants from the Northeast or Midwest, a chunk of the state that is part of the deep south, and the Miami area which is as cosmopolitan as it comes. I'm pretty sure people in the greater Orlando area and north would be happy with an open carry situation, while Miami is terrified of it. Legal citizens with concealed weapons make l

SYG only applies to legal firearms. If you have an illegal gun, or a gun in an area you are not legally permitted to, SYG does not apply. In Florida, open carry is prohibited. If you purchase a firearm and are transporting it home without a CCW, there are rules for transporting and storing it. Once inside your home, you do not need a CCW. So why SYG makes no reference to a CCW, in states like Florida without open carry, it's defacto CCW. Within your home it's Castle Doctrine, NOT SYG, and Castle Doctrine is dramatically stronger... In the case of Castle Doctrine, you're presumed to ha

I see SYG it as a response to the government by tort we were suffering with... where a perfectly legal action becomes a nightmare because of the legal system making it possible for a well funded opponent to run up a 6 figure legal bill on your behalf to defend yourself. Almost none of the gun crime we have is related to licensed concealed weapons, and SYG only applies if the weapon on legal, therefore a CCW permit holder. If you carry a CCW, you are registered and finger printed, in a way the general public is not. It may seem like a license to kill, but it also lets those get the benefit

Came into a Camping with Friends Cub Scout Pack... where doing Rank Advancement was "doing Book Stuff." To make it worse, at the Cub level, the physical work is all on the leaders, which made this grueling. With Cubs, our group turns over quickly, the older leader was on board being more "book stuff." The younger Dens are by the Book, the older Dens are less formal. I don't worry about them, they'll do what they do then cross over... I'd put the older 8-10 Scouts in their own patrol, let them do what they want. Over time, they'll be irrelevant. And if the other Scouts are off having

Plenty of Drop Off from Cubs to Troop as well. BSA leadership doesn't care and still focuses on the Troop. The only division growing is Venturing, and they still are focused entirely on the troop. That's a BSA cultural issue. GSUSA is focusing Younger and Younger, Daisy starts in Kindergarten (and you can start in Pre-K once you hit 5), and they are working on a Pre-K/4 year old program. At Juniors+ (about the same age as the BSA Troop) you can use the Patrol method for organizing, or something called a Town Hall Method. Prior to that, they use the Girls Decide Troop method, which look