Eagle94-A1

With all the bankruptcy stuff going on, I thought I would update on council and district situation Good news: We no longer have a conditional charter according to the council key 3. Bad news. Council has downsized professional staff. From 8 districts to 3 districts. Local camp, which has not been in a trust since 2000, had some visitors last week. SE, 2 exec board members, and gentleman with a clip board who looked like a "suit," walked around camp inspecting it. Apparently the camp is a B+. Why am I worried?

THIS! I once was on two council committees, and staffed council events. I questioned a few things. I am no longer active at the council level as a result. I am tolerated at the district level because I am one of the few people to do things at the local level. Also I have quieted down because I have two more sons on their trail to Eagle. EDITED: National extremely rarely listens to the volunteers in the field. Best example is "InstaPalms." national took a poll on whether to instantly award Palms at the EBOR, and do away with the ledership requirement. 94% were either AGAINST (18%) or STRONGLY AGAINT (76%) awarding palms instantly and doing away with the leadership requirement. Despite 94% saying it was a bad idea, they did it anyway. Another example is the surveys they did regarding membership changes. They have never released the membership survey results, only the non-member results, to support their decision. And looking at the GSUSA court documents, it appears the decision was already made before the polls.

Regarding a few things. Regarding G2SS, they used Department of Labor Laws to create some of the rules, i.e. the no little red wagons, no power tools, etc at certain ages. I questioned that, brought it to my SE's attention, and he got clarification for me. Regarding the BSA's expulsion letters, I have read a few, had to enforce one, and sadly contribute to one.They are direct and to the point, membership revoked, and you are no longer allowed at BSA activities. Again I had to enforce that letter one time, only to find out the guy had a court ordered injunction against the expulsion until his civil trial against the BSA ended. Wish I was told about the injunction prior to phone calls being made. As for being placed in the IVF and being innocent, you still won't be allowed back in the BSA, and even if they did allow you to continue, your reputation is ruined. Good friend of mine was accused. They were promptly escorted off the camp, and police began an investigation. There was enough physical evidence left by the accuser to prove that her story was corrrect: she caught the "scout" being a peeping Tom after hours in the ladies shower area, and when she confronted him, he ran off. He accused her to save himself, and sadly it worked.

"NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!"

While the course I took and taught, Cub Scout Basic Leader Training, were longer, they were live classes, and IMNSHO a heckuva a lot better. It was a 9AM - 4PM class with a lunch break/social, and when you completed it you were trained in any position in the pack except Den Leader Coach/ Pack Trainer. I know when I last did the online training a while back just to see what the complaints were about, the different CS DL courses had heavy repetition. 3+ Hours on a computer will drive a person nuts, especially when repetitive. Actually some councils are requiring IOLS to be completed before being an ASM/SM. Last IOLS class I taught, 2/3 of the participants were from the neighboring council that required all position training, including IOLS, to be completed before being registered in the position. Training rates affect district and council JTE scores. Sadly just because some is "trained" does not mean they will implement the program properly. I have seen "trained" leaders run adult lead programs and limit their Scouts what months they can camp and to car camping. That last course I taught was designed primarily for one specific troop that had a bunch of new Scouters. The only time that fit both schedules was January, only 1 person showed up from that troop. When I asked where everyone else was, he stated "it's too cold to camp." Temps were in the upper 30s/lower 40s, and we had an enclosed shelter for the classes.

Just read their recent newsletter. Was disappointed in their commissioner comments. No one is perfect, we are all products of our times. We got to recognize both the success and failures of our role models. We need to learn from their mistakes and grow. If anything happened to BSA, I was looking to join BPSA, now I don't know.

Little trick I did to get distances. used 100' of paracord and put knots every 8 to 8.8 feet apart. Sorry cannot remember but got the number from adding the width fo the chair to 6'. It was strung out and construction flags the church used for services were put at every knot. And that marked the rows of chairs. The two areas I had for the high rick folks were 12-12.5' away from everyone else. Also CALL ALL HIGH RISK INVITEES IF THEY DO NOT RSVP! (emphasis, not shouting). I just remembered we had a 4th high rick person who did not RSVP and showed up. Thankfully it was at the point we were adding chairs to the ones set up, and the family spaced themselves apart. For an outdoor venue, visit the place around the same time the ceremony will be. Pastor recommended one spot were he has services. At the time of day the ECOH would be, it would be sweltering. Found another spot on the church's property that was perfect. Back to masks, PLEASE MAKE SURE INVITATIONS STATES MASKS ARE REQUIRED. Sounds commonsense, but trust me it's not. And again have them on hand.

Moderna #1 yesterday. I too knew it was there by late afternoon. Glad I work from home today because I hurt. Hope all is well tomorrow as I am back onsite.

@Scouter20 1. WELCOME TO DA FORUMS! 2. I have been to 3 ECOHs where multiple Scouts have been recognized, and was friends with an Eagle that was in a troop that din 1 ECOH a year. All of the scripts were modified individual ECOH scripts. In fact the 1st multiple ECOH's script was the one I used for mine. 3. As Fred said I can attest to that. One of those ECOHs was over an Hour and a half, not including the reception. Some advice, FWIW. 4. As the father of an Eagle who had their ECOH during the COVID Pandemic, you need to keep up with the local laws on outdoor gatherings. You may need to limit the number of family and friends each Eagle can have. And do not rely on folks RSVPing. My son had over 75 people attend his. Thankfully we were doing it at the church we meet at, and the pastor was involved, so we were met the religious institution clause. 5. Have masks and handsanitizer on hand. Yes folks will forget masks. 6. If you have a reception, individual servings. More expensive, but a lot safer 7. Plan on set up taking a lot longer. Normal ECOH takes about an hour in my experience. It took a lot longer measuring distances and setting up chairs. 8. If you have known high risk folks attending, set up a separate area for them. We had 3 folks at my son's. We had two areas set way apart, but great views, for the two families,. More later.

We have been fortunate. Since COVID hit, we lost 1 to a death in the family, and 1 to aging out. We had 3 come in due to word of mouth, and 2 cross over. But we have been active this time. First with zoom, then with physical meetings and events. We have problems, i.e. cannot meet inside the CO at this time (we were meeting in a tent), we are limited to 1 hour one way drive for camp outs, and we have been doing more day trips than usual. But we are doing our best to keep the "OUTING in ScOUTING." But LDS was a 20% hit. And yes, we lost some folks with girls coming in. Also for Exploring and Venturing, are they including 18-20 year olds in that number? If they are, that would also affect comparison in the past.

If memory serves, individual councils paid insurance premiums to National, so National would be on the hook for claims.

BSA is being generous IMHO. I would give them nothing since they deliberately called themselves Scouts and not Guides to piggyback on BSA.

I kid you not, SWMBO told my Eagle Son that his ECOH is like a wedding, except he has a voice in what is planned as his fiancee/wife and mother/MIL will be taking over his wedding planning. 😅 One reason why an Eagle may want to hold their own outside of a normal COH if out of town family and friends. I know for mine, There were some folks I wanted to attend from out of state, and picked accordingly. Thankfully one was able to get leave to attend. Didn't know if he was going to be able to make it or not.

One of the reasons I hate BSA's legalese. And multiple publications state multiple things. What I would like to know is how is an Eagle Court of Honor benefitting the community? First it is a unit activity, even if the Eagle Scout does all the work in planning, preparing, and decorating. Second it benefits only the Eagle(s), and not an organization. How long has this SM been involved in Scouting and Scouts BSA specifically? Have they done any training?

1) WELCOME TO DA FORUMS! (and yes I am shouting in joy at ya;) ) 2.. You new SM is incorrect. BSA's definition of community service is found in Eagle Scout requirement 5 which states, " "While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community. (The project must benefit an organization other than the Boy Scouts of America.) (emphasis added) A project proposal must be approved by the organization benefiting from the effort, your Scoutmaster and unit committee, and the council or district before you start. You must use the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook, BSA publication No. 512-927, in meeting this requirement. (To learn more about the Eagle Scout service project, see the Guide to Advancement, topics 9.0.2.0 through 9.0.2.15.)" So no, participating in an Eagle COH is NOT community service. Nor would I say it is troop service. I is a troop expectation, obligation activity, whatever you want to call it. In every troop i have ever been in, it was expected that we would be there. Also in regards to community service at the lower ranks, this definition has been used in every unit I have ever been in. So working CS day camp, serving as a volunteer at summer camp, doing an OA Ordeal also do not count as community service.

Since 2018 or 19, dodgeball is now banned. In fact at one point, National stated in the FAQ that Dodgeball had never been an approved Scouting Activity. It took a while, but they finally corrected the FAQ. Dodgeball has been an approved game since as early as 1929 when the 3rd. Edition SMHB listed it as a recommended game. Even after it was banned in the Guide to Safe Scouting, you could still find it on the BSA's website as a game to play at troop meetings. Next game to get banned will probably be GAGA Ball. National has already said they were looking into it.

Two friends of mine were in my troop, and their younger brothers were in another. One reason was the younger brothers were in Cub Scouts, and all their friends went to the pack CO's troop.

I am one of the dissertation writers for all the awards I nominate people for. I was once told the more eloquent, and fact filled a nomination is, the better chance the nomination will pass. This is especially important for those serving in a variety of roles in the background . Summer camp staff, lodge officers, ceremony team members, and American Indian Affair members, the ones who are the 'public face" of the OA are a lot easier to get Vigil. People remember them easier and can put a name to the face. Best example of that is the Vigil I nominated in which I used his legal name throughout the nomination. No one knew who he was. But when I ended the nomination with his legal name, and added his camp name, everyone knew immediately who he was. So those in the public view in general tend to get the awards. So a detailed dissertation of the activities is vitally important to recognize those in the background. Best example I can give is actually a Silver Beaver recipient I nominated. This guy has served Scouting in a variety of roles for over 50 years. But those roles have never been in the limelight. He served on the unit, district, council, and national levels, but always in a support role in the background. When i discovered he did not have the Silver Beaver, I was shocked and immediately nominated him. At the recognition lunch, I had the chance to talk to friends on the Silver Beaver committee, and a ALL OF THEM (emphasis) were shocked he did not have it already.

I stand by what I said based upon my research on this subject matter. In the overwhelming majority of cases, BSA did everything they could legally do AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENTS (emphasis). Were some mistakes made? Yes. Was the system they had in place perfect? There is no such thing as a perfect system. The problem is that it appears to me that this lawsuit, with one case going as far back an circa 1939-1946, is using today's Mandatory Reporting Laws as the legal standard which did not come about until circa 1988/89 nationally.

1. Bravo Zulu! 2. BEST. RECOGNITION. OF ALL!

Actually BSA IS a victim. With very few exceptions, BSA did everything it could legally do at the time the bulk of the abuse took place. People are forgetting that mandatory reporting laws did not affect the BSA until the late 1980s/early 1990s, about the time Youth Protection Training came about. Prior to that time, if BSA accused anyone publicly of abuse, they could have been charged with libel. BSA encouraged parents to press charges, because their hands were tied.

Welcome back. As you noted, the ODR and Centennial uniforms are fully interchangeable. So yes you can wear current insignia with the ODR and wear vintage insignia with he Centennial Uniform. BSA even published information stating full interchangeability. While some folks will argue you can no longer do so, once uniform, always uniform. So you can wear your "vintage 2009+" uniform.

@fred8033, No worries.. My apologies if it seemed as if I was attacking you, that was not my intention. Although these incidents were 2.5-3 years ago, it still rubs me raw. My boys have lost some friends as a result of switching. And friendships I have were weakened as well. It was a rough decision to leave, but the right one.

@fred8033, I do not think it was a case of not communicating the expectations. The families in question were told repeatedly that it was hurting the Scouts and affecting the troop. See some of my posts from the 2018 time period.

I can only find my old Eagle info, and even then it is incomplete. As for my logged in profile, nothing is showing. And folks wonder why they have people who do not rely on My.Scouting and Scoutbook.