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TAMScout

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About TAMScout

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  1. I got a call Saturday Night (2 weeks after last ordeal of the year) from a scoutmaster asking for an election. I'm happy to set up and bring an election team. His troop hasn't had an arrowman in 5 years. 9 out of 10 troops in our District / chapter don't do enough camping to qualify candidates. If there is a candidate in this district we will be there. Now the SM failed to call Sunday to confirm date and failed to reply to my call Monday morning, So the Chief and I will be going to their Troop meeting this week to get paperwork started and set a date. Especially after reading this thr
  2. Maybe I'm stupid but I'm not putting a patch on my sash.
  3. There certainly is something rotten in the state of Denmark. I'm a Chapter adviser, An arrow man from youth. A veteran Scoutmaster and now working with the district committee. If a willing scout is not elected there is a problem. A few years back a certain scout was not elected in our district. After a chat with the scoutmaster the reason was apparent. The Scout in question had introduces a smoke bomb into a snow cave rendering it uninhabitable. Now my question is this: "is this a popularity issue? or just a sign that this is not a good scout?" Both could be acceptable answers.
  4. not sure that's all accurate
  5. I wanted to add some follow up. The last night under the stars was a limited success. The boys who slept out enjoyed it. But the tent was not cleaned and down on Friday. So we really didn't have any time savings. The more I think of it Friday is full of fun stuff to do and If they will go participate in it that is the better course. I was at another event where scouts were ordered to sleep without tents. They did not have pads or tarps . It was a bad decision on the part of the semi adult who decided. So if you want to try it plan for it. As to home sickness and wanting to leave earl
  6. OK now that I know I can post something. I have had two reactions to the patch thing lately. First have uniform inspections. Second do it for them. And the do it for them guy sews the pockets shut. In my Opinion, Velcro for ranks is ok you should be earning those sub star ranks pretty fast and you only have to do that tricky pocket sew once. Position patches. In most cases this one should be velcro because positions are temporary, and many of us adults need it just because we have so many hats. Council patches and order of the arrow pocket flap patches. If your council makes a lo
  7. I had never thought to attach sewing through the edging. I'll have to try that soon.
  8. I've also had scouts drop their names because they are too busy. I agree with that, when a scout makes a promise he should be prepared to keep it. One of my saddest experiences since returning to scouting was when a kid dropped off his ordeal sash to me when he turned 18. No emotional connection at all, just something to wear to courts of honor. My take as a scoutmaster is that if the kid doesn't have a serious problem, I'll sign them off. Most kids have good intentions. Most scouts try to live the scout law. I figure that the experience will help them be better.
  9. This topic caught my attention. After the new youth protection video showing cell phone camera abuse, I pretty much assumed that cell phones were out. Our council camps have had a long history of banning personal electronics so I didn't worry about developing a troop policy. So just today I reviewed the leader guides for this year. There is no cell phone rule. Only one camp retained the music machine ban. Cameras have always been OK. Now I have to rethink my policy. Two things are at odds. As a parent I was very upset when our local Junior High school refused to allow students ac
  10. I didn't say that. I checked. The key to learning tenderfoot, second class, and first class skills, is using those skills. I don't know how any scout learns knots when they don't have to use one to set up a tent.
  11. Actually commenting on Krampus' excellent answers. Our first year programs have actually been pretty week. Part of the problem is many of the troops in our council don't take 11 year olds to long term camp. Instead the districts provide much of that in smaller overnight camps. Still there are holes in the program. So #6 Document it! Most important from the scoutmasters point of view. The boys also hate it when thay have to do something over. #7 Fun! For some reason my boys always end up in a class that looked fun but the instructor is boring. I understood it when it was a n
  12. Not by popularity here. I'm interested in the idea of redoing the ordeal. I think that participation as an arrow man would be more appropriate. You are right if adults maintained their ties to the order then there would be adequate supervision. Fortunately for those adults who were not youth arrowmen there will be plenty of need for them as far as we can see into the future. Our Chapter Adviser is one ov those who was nominated as an adult. You won't find a finer Arrowman.
  13. If I could only get the adult leaders in my district who went through ordeal as youth to pay their lodge dues, there would be no need to elect / nominate adults. Of course then they would need to be faithful active arrowmen. The last time I thought I should nominate an adult, I found out he was a member.
  14. I think there is a wildly different experience when an arrowman experiences this as a youth, as opposed to completing it it as an adult. I'm a father son order of the arrow team. I was tapped out over 30 years ago. My son is approaching his 2 year anniversary. I did my ordeal, which I still see as a life changing event. Staffed at my Brother's ordeal. Went to a section conclave. Then, just as I was eligible for brotherhood (I think it was 2 years in the 80's) I faded out of scouting got heavily involved in sports and never finished anything. As a side note If I had dropped one sport a
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