Eagle94-A1

As @RememberSchiff stated, there was the pistol a Scout brought to camp. I've personally dealt with cigarettes/cigars, alcohol, and pornography. And yes the Scouts can get creative hiding it. The one with alcohol had it in a Scope bottle. Got the idea off a movie he saw. And one of the incidents with porn had had the Scout taping it to his leg and covered with his knee sock. We didn't catch the "Scope" until he was tipsy one nite. We caught the leg guy during a shake down of the gear. The sock was coming down, and he was making sure it stayed up,but the other leg he was not concerned about.

Well, no one has complained yet about it, so I am not worried. Again EVERYTHING (enphasis) is required to be typed in the public schools, so for these kids, it is not a big deal. NOW having them hand write something. That is a challenge.

I am in a similar predicament. I am looking to get a lighter pack as I am using a Camp Trails Wind River Pack. It is approx. 5.5 pounds, and is approx. 80 L expandable to 90L. After looking at what is out there. I am sticking with the Wind River. The 35# weight limit is a major concern for some packs, and for others, the weight savings was negligable for the cost. In one case, the pack weighed more than the Wind River! Not only do I use the pack for family camping, there have been two instances where I had to deal with medical emergencies, and gear had to be redistributed. First time it happened, I had a cheap pack from K Mart, and the pack broke from the excess weight.

District I am in wants it typed. #1 reason for that is that since handwriting isn't done in the schools locally, it is legible. Apparently they had issues in the past about legibility. The #2 reason for that is every student in the public school system is issued a laptop and the bulk of the Scouts are already use to typing everything up. Most homeschoolers and private school students also have computer access. So it isn't a big deal. I know my oldest is currently working on his paperwork. He has a working copy that he writes in pencil with and edits.. But he types up stuff once he finishes with the working copy.

Did he go home early or were you with him last year? I ask because only twice have I seen anxiety like what you are describing with a 2nd year, or later, camper. First time was a camper who left early his first summer. Long story short camp was literally down the road from mom, mail made him homesick, and she picked him up Wednesday, we had a chat with mom about the letters and about not picking him up the 2nd year. Yes, he was severely homesick, but he made it through. The second instance was more complicated. This was an 18 year old camp staffer working staff for the first time. Dad was his SM and they did everything together: camp outs, summer camp as a camper, even a HA trip. Outside of Scouting, whenever he did out of town sports trips, dad went with him, although dad was doing his own thing. Long story short, Staffing camp was the first time he was away from dad ever. He did OK the first year, and is working camp again.

Well, oldest is officially working on his Eagle Project. It's taken about 3 weeks, but everything has been reviewed, questions the DAC and Eagle BOR had answered, some additional documentation completed, and it is approved. Now the hard part: implementation. His project is building a mobile gaming station for the pediatric ward at a hospital. Today, he presented his proposal to the head of a foundation for a grant. Question the head had was: why only one station, how many are needed? The head also asked if he would be willing to present his proposal to the foundation's board of directors for final approval. To help him out, Oldest and the head's secretary will be meeting to create a PowerPoint presentation to secure the funds. She is also going to help him out . He is now in the process of upgrading his project a bit. I now know why an "Eagle Project Coach" is recommended. The planning and paperwork alone is a major pain in the buttocks. It is a far cry from the single page of my youth. And he has not gotten into the nuts and bolts of the project, just the preliminary work for approval. And that is where the balancing act lies for me. When my friends and I did our projects back in the day, we did all of the work ourselves: planning, presenting, executing. Adult interaction was basically approvals and providing transportation. Heck one friend used the powertools in his dad's workshop for his project as it was before the G2SS. When I conducted my project, only adult there was my mom, and she was providing food and drinks for us while working on the project. So while trying to give him as much experience on his own, I know he needs adult help. And I've helped Scouts in the past. In fact one of the folks on the district Eagle BOR who was in when he presented his project to the DAC told my son that I helped his son back in the day on his Eagle Project. I provided contact info, gave ideas, and provided resources for that Eagle to use for his project. So I am trying my best to limit how I help to how I would help other Scouts. It's hard balancing the roles of dad and ASM. But his project is really testing me. I am extremely proud of what he wants to do, and yes I have been bragging to my friends . That led to one of them reminding me "It's his project."

HEAR YOU SCOUTS, AND YOU PARENTS TOO, OF THE ... TALE OF TWO EAGLES! Once there were two Eagles. The First Eagle was the son of a "Double Eagle," or an Eagle Scout and Explorer Silver recipient. "Double Eagle" dad pushed and pushed and pushed his son to earn Eagle at the ripe old age of 13. Since the Silver Award was no longer around for Exploring, dad did no pushing for that. Since the First Eagle met his dad's expectations, and thought his journey was over, he quit Scouting at 13, only to rejoin many years later when his own son became a Tiger Cub. Now the First Eagle had a cousin. Both "Double Eagle" Uncle and First Eagle Cousin pushed and pushed and pushed the Scout to earn his Eagle. As a 13 year old Life Scout, he was well on his way to becoming an Eagle at 14. But the Second Eagle took some winding trails after earning Life. First he did a local high adventure program instead of the traditional MB summer camp program, and he had FUN! A few months later he took the NYLT course of its day; Brownsea 22. It was a challenging week and he had FUN. Next Second Eagle was inducted into the OA, becoming a Brotherhood Member before earning Eagle. And guess what, HE HAD FUN! Then Second Eagle went to a National Scout Jamboree and then did a Canadian canoeing trek. It it was FUN. Finally Second Eagle realized he was 17 and some odd months, and he needed to buckle down fast if he was to become an Eagle. He finished everything but his Eagle BOR 5 days before turning 18. And Second Eagle stayed active in Scouting. He got involved in Sea Scouts, earning Ordinary, and then the OA again, becoming a Vigil. Second Eagle was selected to participate in the European Camp Staff Program, spending an entire summer at Scout camps in the UK. He also attended a World Scout Jamboree. He stayed active in a variety or roles, and was proudest when his three sons earned their Bobcat badge wit him as their DL. Now tell me who had more fun in Scouting, my cousin the First Eagle, or me the Second Eagle? Over the years, no one has asked me how old i was when i got it, or how many palms I earned. They ask if I am an Eagle, and what my adventures have been. And I can go on and on about my 35 years in Scouting as a youth and adult. Good luck on your journey.

Ever hear my "Tale of the Two Eagles" ?

110% SPOT ON! I left a troop that had issues, lots of them. While I worked to improve the situation over several years, and it was slowly getting better. But then the situation reversed course suddenly, and it got a lot worse extremely fast. I would say for about 8 months or so, I was tempted to yank my kids out of the troop, and only stayed because my sons didn't want to leave their friends. But it was affecting them. Oldest wanted to earn Eagle was was going to leave afterwards. Middle son was becoming more and more pessimistic, and constantly complained. BEST DECISION WAS LEAVING AND I WISH I WOULD HAVE DONE IT SOONER! Not going to lie, it was hard on all of us. Kids do miss their friends. But they kids have been reinvigorated and are enjoying Scouts now. I wish I would have tansferred sooner.

Most interesting program I have seen was at a camp I worked at. This camp offered rappelling, or absailing as they called it, off the White Cliffs of Dover. They also had a homemade raft race in the English Channel for the camp. That water is cold.

Not to be a naysayer, I know it is quite possible to Eagle at 12, but I got some concerns. From the article: "Ray said he started the arduous project in September 2014." and "Ray became a Boy Scout in January 2014, then achieved Tenderfoot rank in May 2014, Second Class and First Class in July 2014, Star rank in Nov 2014 and Life rank in May 2015." You cannot start an Eagle Project unless you are Life and it is approved.

I am one of those opposed to paperpushing MBs at camp. Exceptions include Environmental Science (I hated the reports back in the day) Journalism, and Cinematography. The Journalism folks published one camp's newspaper, and the Cinematography folks did the closing campfire slideshow/movie. I've seen it done twice, and that was ages ago. Citizenship in the World MB was taught by an International Staff Program participant. Having an Aussie Scout teach me was cool and fun. m Otherwise i agree. Sadly, my middle son is ignoring me on this one. He's doing 2 paperpushing ones for 1/2 of camp. at least the other half will be on the rifle range and a muzzle loading course.

I will double check when I get home. I believe sometime in the 1950s. I got my first religious Award and knot in 1983 or 1984.

If the ribbon needs replacing, contact a national scout shop. They use to sell replacement Eagle ribbons.

Sadly National changed the election protocols a number of years ago. There use to be a quota on the number you CV ould vote for. Instead of the best scouts getting elected, people view OA more of a gimme than an honor camper society as it was originally. People predicted the lowering of standards would slowly kill the OA.

I am really disheartened by this move. I wish National would remember when the times they have already made things easier in an attempt to improve retention, but made matters worse, i.e. doing away with time requirements for T-2-1 Ranks, changing OA election procedures to allow everyone eligible to be able to get elected, automatically allowing SMs admission to the OA.

The 4 digit number won't be in the reports, it's part of the metadata or coding..

From https://oa-bsa.org/article/national-committee-immediate-policy-changes National Committee: Immediate Policy Changes Ed Lynes June 07, 2019 Announcements Brothers, In recent years, youth membership in the Order of the Arrow has declined significantly — down 18 percent since 2015. These changes have impacted lodges, and their ability to support councils and deliver program. The Order must grow, alongside the Scouting movement, to achieve its purpose. The best way to do this is through supporting a “High Performing Lodge” in each council. To help achieve this aim, the national OA committee approved several, significant policy changes at today’s meeting: Brotherhood Requirements: Effective immediately, the waiting period between induction and eligibility for Brotherhood membership has been reduced to six (6) months. All other requirements are unchanged. Journey to Excellence (JTE): The lodge program is being discontinued and immediately replaced with the new Performance Measurement Program. There are a small number of requirements and clear benchmarks for lodge achievement. The requirements are consistent with the former JTE to align with your lodge planning. Purpose of the Section: Effectively immediately, the role of the Section has been expanded beyond hosting an annual Conclave. Sections share in the responsibility of empowering, supporting, and helping lodges become high performing. The Lodge Ledger will have more detailed information on these changes and other new programs and policies approved at the meeting. They will also be covered extensively during Thrive, the national OA webinar, on October 19. If there are questions on these changes, or feedback on how to better support your lodge, please contact either Vice Chairman of Unit, Lodge, and Chapter Support Dan McCarthy or myself at membership@oa-bsa.org. Thank you for all you do to make our Brotherhood stronger each day. WWW, Ed Lynes Vice Chairman of Strategic Performance National Order of the Arrow Committee membership@oa-bsa.org

Been a while since I dealt with this, so bear with me. Because of the old legacy system, EVERY unit has a 4 digit code. The 1st digit was a program code, and the rest was the local council's number. IF MEMORY SERVES 1= Boy Scout, 2=Sea Scouts, 3=Exploring/Venturing, 4=Cub Scouts. 5= Varsity. Reason for that was a charter organization owns the local council number. For example The First Baptist Church of Hometown, MS owns the local number 935. The Troop in the old system was 1935, Pack was 4935, and crew was 3935. But all wore 935 on their sleeves. Hope this helps

I see your C3-P0 quote and raise you

Glad you were faster.

I do not know what is up with my council, but they are holding 3 invitation only meetings with the council key three. Suppose to be going over news. Media reports, and plans so we can br "ambassadors for Scouting." I hope part of those plans do not include a council fee. My part of the state is hurting really bad, with above national average unemployment, and out of date infrastructure. Me personally it was a struggle to pay for summer camp for the 3 hoodlums and myself. I am already saving for next year. Council raises costs, I do not know how we can afford it.

No, to much like GSUSA. One of the loudest complaints I hear from old Girl Scouts is that they don't have a uniform and the only way to tell someone is a Girl Scout is by the cookies.Besides red has never been associated with Cubs, only Explorers up to 1980, and Boy Scouts from 1980 - 2009. The blue uniform has a long history, and easily identifies someone as a Cub Scout. BADGE MAGIC IS EVIL! I hate the stuff, and have seen too many shirts ruined.

Looks like the stove will need to wait. Mrs. Eagle94-A1 was NOT happy in the least. this would be my 4th backpacking stove (6th if you include the homemade ones i do NOT use on Scout trips) and she does not see a need for yet another stove. The only way I could get it was to use a gift card I had. WELL the local place I have a card does not carry stoves anymore, just the canisters. Oh well.

Why I am an advocate of beginning the transition to Boy Scouts as soon as they become Webelos, just as the program was intended. Start giving them more independence, lewt them camp a few times with a troop, LET THEM HAVE MORE RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES AND LET THE PARENTS SIT BACK (emphasis). I have seen the difference between packs that begin the process early compared to late. IT IS HUGE! Ebery single Scout in my oldest son's den from 5 that was in his old troop is still involved in Scouting save one. And he moved and I have not been able to keep up. Compared to the other pack that fed into the old troop, 0 remain. With my middle son's den, all are still active in 3 different troops. The other pack's den has a 50% attrition rate after 2 years.