DuctTape

and don't allow them to join a troop at a younger age just because they have aol. 11 y/o or completed 5th grade.

The issue with summer camps changing program... I hope so. Most camp programs are merit badge factories with youths actung as mb counselors. The boys have lost out on a real camp experience long before the idea of having girls as members. Let's not pretend that all is perfect and the change to allow girls in the program will weaken it. The loss of the patrol method, mb factories, eagle mills are well entrenched in the current paradigm. We have had a far from perfect program for many years. It wasn't the gays, girls or godless that did that.

We do. The fact some scouts are home-schooled doesn't influence anything as a result. We have public school scouts, and private school scouts too. One could not tell them apart. The schooling choice of the parents has no apparent influence.

as far as parent roles in youth baseball, just as in scouts there are a ton of other roles besides coach (SM), asst coaches (ASMs). In baseball, parents help by planning and organizing the opening day parade, post-game treats, end-of-season banquets, etc... Besides the named roles in any youth activity, there are many other un-named roles which enhance the program for the youth and/or provide the ligistical support for the named roles.

I remember when I found my 1st edition handbook at an estate sale for 50cents. Well worn. I imagined the boy carried it with him on many adventures. He had written his name and age inside. As well as his SM and Patrol leader. I also did some sleuthing and found out he was born in 1898 and died in the 50's ( I cannot recall the exact year). My collection of old books is not very large, but this one is my favorite as because I have the boy's name. It makes it more real to me.

Far too often people only listen enough to figure out how to respond instead of listening to understand the perspective of others. This is not limited to one side or the other.

My father lives in Germany and over there he says the germans watch reruns of Hogans Heroes and find it hilarious. They are also very ashamed of allowing the fascist regime to take control by not standing up out of fear.

I have some old versions of Boys Life which had patterns and directions for making your own tent. Of course if mom is sewing on their patches, then this would be a stretch. So much for boys learning to do on their own.

Also one could add descriptors of their leadership accomplishments or mbs completed which might be relevant to the position sought.

As a cub, we had a huge pack. It didn't matter though since everything was done as dens. There were no "pack meetings", we met weekly as dens. There were at most 3 pack events per year (B&G dinner, fall camporee, pinewood derby) all of which I have little memory. All my memories of cubs were with my den. IMO, that is how it should be as it sets the stage for the patrol method in Boy Scouts.

I have fond memories of setting up camp in the dark. We got quite good at it. When it came to the eureka timberline tents, we could honestly say... "we can set these up blindfolded" as we were often doing it with little/no light.

and have a better cross section of people. there are plenty of lawyers, and businesspeople but not enough farmers, plumbers, or teachers.

In the older literature a tarp was referred to as a tent. In present day we make a distinction between them based in bugnets, floors, zippers or whatever. The gi pup tent, is a floorless, zipperless, tarp. My official bsa scout tent is a square piece canvas. Pitching that to sleep under whether on the ground, a stretcher-bed (the old term for cot) or a hammock for certain satisfies the requirement; tarp=tent. Lastly I have heard BP favored the hammock as his personal choice.

I would ask your son if he has the MBC phone number, and recommend he call.

Teaching adults how to run productive meetings is just as difficult, possibly moreso.

If the allowance for doing requirements for future ranks out of order was eliminated as well as double dipping, then scouts would have more experience and have real opportunities for growth in those areas as they progressed through ranks. This would remove some of the need for the legalese IMO.

I just got home and looked at my two books. I attached a photo of a title page with the Rockwell Illustration on the previous page. I had looked at the illustrations in the past, but never noticed they were N. Rockwell. Thanks for the info.

I have the individual books. I did not know that about Rockwell.

I am in NY, about an hour from Syr. I have a small campsite in my woods. The virtual campfire can turn into a literal one if anyone chooses. As to books, my collection is not large but I am proud of what I do have. My first edition Fieldbook and First Ed Handbook (found at an estate sale for 50cents). Along with random assortments of other handbooks and fieldbooks. I also have two other non-bsa-commissioned books from the 19-teens by Edward Cave... The Boy Scout Hike Book, and The Scout Camp Book. He wrote them to provide more details and "how tos" . Like a fieldbook. Also Daniel Beards "Shelters, Shacks and Shanties."

The first fieldbook is one of the best publications ever done by bsa. I would argue that it is possible to have an awesome scouting program if patrols focused only on the fieldbook and did the pow wows.

I encourage patrol camping over troop camping. 2 vehicles is usually enough for a patrol (6-8 scouts) and gear plus the two adults driving (3 at most). No need for trailer, or plethora of adults. Most locations for awesome trips don't have space for 20 people to camp, many areas do not allow groups sizes that big anyway. The ones that do are car camping sites. Many issues troops have, as referenced in this thread could be mitigated by focusing on patrol camping. Save the troop-centric camping for the camporees, etc... There are many other benefits as well. For example, Imagine a patrol trip with only 2 adults, the SM and a parent. The SM can use that time to train the parent. A different patrol goes to a completely different location and has 2 ASMs and a parent on their campout. Again, the parent learns from the ASMs.

I, too, learned to cook b/c of scouts. When one is able to make pancakes, etc... on an open fire a stove is child's play. I still like to experiment with cooking. My wife sometimes rolls her eyes and says, just follow the recipe. Iv have a campsite which I use for campfire cooking. Made dinner out there last night actually. Also like the chef, we had fun experimenting. Instead of pineapple cake, we did something similar using fruit coctail. Not sure why anymore, but we always had a can of fruit coctail on every trip, and Tang.

I am not sure (likely not) whether some of the books in my collection were commissioned by bsa. But both of them are how Stosh describes. "Campfires of the Wolf Patrol" 1913 by Captain Alan Douglas "Black Wolf Pack" 1922 Daniel Beard also in my collection: " The Boy Scout Hike Book" and "The Boy Scout Camp Book" by Edward Cave. These were published in the teens, many years before the Fieldbook's publication.

Thanks. I found that icon a few hours later.