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#1 has to be parent support. If they believe in the program they will get their kids there, volunteer, etc. A close #2 has to be the fellowship--if a kid's buddies aren't there they won't be either. So intertwined #3 is the program. If you have a great program the kids (and their buds) will want to participate and the parents will have the belief in the value of Scouts. And then #4 the adult leaders who help the boys develop and execute #2, All are interelated and one could argue my ordering---a whole lot of chicken and the egg. There are obviously more specifics w/ respect to 2 and 3 a

OK. So the blog confirmed the blog. So now after the Handbook, the GTA, I will be sure to check the blog when I need advancement guidance. In fairness, I guess not much different then calling National/Council/etc. I think, and would hope, all SM/Committee/Adv Chair are familliar w/ the first two. I will have to admit until this thread on this forum I wasn't familiar w/ Bryan's Blog. Not sure that is a good/standardized way to disseminate information. but I digress. w/ ya on it should take 3 months and not a fan of the change

the good news is soon the Jambo crowd will be estimated at 150K, the largest Jambo crowd ever in the history of Jambos

obnoxious parents...well we try

again, w/ no axe to grind, no horse in the race and just because debating on the internet with anonymous strangers is fun (or more fun than doing actual work) are responses to FAQ's in Bryan's Blog now official policy statements and binding guidance? I absolutely follow the logic and don't disagree with it but that isn't what is in the actual guidance put forth and one could read/interpret it differently and if they haven't checked with the FAQ section of Bryan's Blog, well... But yes I see the answer the National Boy Scout Subcommittee provided to the FAQ section of Bryan's Blog and i

slightly off topic, but related, how does Jambo environment (obviously not activities) compare with NOAC (w/in the context we have been discussing) if anyone has some insight? my limited anecdotal evidence is there is patch trading but much less cutthroat and emphasized for example.

Not sure I agree with you. I don't think it is that clear. "After successfully completing your Eagle Scout board of review and being validated as an Eagle Scout by the National Service Center, you will be entitled to receive an Eagle Palm for each additional 5 merit badges you have completed before your Eagle Scout board of review. For these Palms only, it will not be necessary for you to complete any of the requirements stated below." post 1 Aug you still have completed an EBOR even if it occurred before 1 Aug. It does not specify this only applies to EBORs post 1 Aug. For every o

Here is a question: using the scenario in Col's post 114 kid gets his Eagle. 3 mos later puts in for the palm, wouldn't he be entitled to collect them all then? New rule would be in place. If the principle is now when you Eagle you get all your entitled palms I would think, using same logic, when you earn your first palm post 1 Aug you collect them all and not have to wait 3 mos per.

When we lived in Alabama folks came round the neighborhood selling pine straw. Sort of like big pine needles, thinner than actual straw. can harvest from woods in quantities like grass clippings. we used it as decorative ground cover in our flower beds. was cheaper than bags of mulch

breaks my heart. as I said before I am realist, but I just want to be an idealist when it comes to Scouting. Luckily, these reports have been an anomaly in my son's experience and I will work to keep it that way--for all.

BSA was stuck. They had to know they were going to get a speech like they got. But they had to invite him--BSA doesn't want to start down the road of not inviting a POTUS, for whatever reason. I am sure there were plenty of folks who didn't want to invite 44, or 43, or 42...but BSA can't open that door. I think the folks who want to blame BSA for DT's remarks probably had an axe to grind with BSA anyway. I think most people gifted with logic can separate the person speaking from the audience and attribute the remarks (and responsibility for them) appropriately. And to those who can't

It was fine. He just wasn't a big fan but it had much more to do with what his troop mates picked out every day and how they prepared it than anything BSA/Jambo staff would be responsible for. Camp food for 40K, it isn't going to be Smith and Woll. I wouldn't count it as a valid complaint, just a picky teen. He didn't go hungry.

again, this was a very minor part of HIS experience. I have certainly overblown my interpretation of hearsay evidence. I imagined an Amish farmer's market, which at times it was, when it turned out to be the commodities pit of the Chicago Board of Trade a lot of the time. He had an amazing time and I would highly recommend. and, yes, he was not a huge fan of the food...

sorry for the double waited too long to edit. I was prepared to deal w/ bummers from wx or lines. didn't expect kids to be kids I guess. I am such a realist in all other facets of human endeavour but tend to run towards idealism w/ respect to Scouts but it really was a minor trifle to him which is what counts

good perspective. and that is why I came here. I dont want to discuss it with/in front of him. He had an amazing experience and that is enough. And I am not focused on the little that was suboptimal, just wanted to put out a rant and move on. Very glad he went, I know he is.

Son just got back. He had an amazing time. Did a tremendous amount of activities (his troop went to Summit last summer so he knew his way around and had done a lot of the high traffic stuff already), lots of good fellowship, raved about the program. He was able to distinguish what was scoutlike and what wasn't from the POTUS speech (both by the speaker AND the audience. My disappointment: stories of lots of unscoutlike behavior. borrowed w/o return phone chargers (phones were encouraged to use the jambo app), scouts huddling by the charging stations so they can unplug boys who drop off

ok BSA had hands tied a bit, gotta invite POTUS no matter who it is. They had to know current POTUS would probably go off reservation with remarks (I mean, watch ANY other "similar" appearance like CIC Trophy presentation to AFA or the event at the USS Ford the week prior or well, you get it) if he chose to come. I wonder if they were hoping T would not come and send any one of his Eagle cabinet members (or the VP) to speak in his place. It does get me thinking maybe he was proposing a change to the Motorboating merit badge requirements.

when I was on AD we called it the wedge theory. No matter how bad you screwed up and got moved to the bottom of the totem pole, somebody else will manage to do something to wedge themselves under you in short order

The good news he quickly managed to do/say something that takes this event off the front page.

We award Rank the night of the BoR, to include handing them their patch. They get announced again and handed their card and Mom pin at the CoH. We award MB's at the CoH. We do CoH quarterly. If a boy misses the CoH I ( I am the adv chair) or the SM will present/award at the next meeting they attend. I log the Ranks into the system (ours and council) as soon as I can after the BoR. I do the same for MBs as soon as the Blue Card is turned in. and our council shop knows me so they don't require the signed report to purchase. I have a stash of rank patches (usually keep an inventory of

we went to troop tents a couple of years ago. like OP we had a good surplus and wanted to do something constructive instead of it sitting in the bank. kids (and adults) learning the responsibility previously mentioned. The uniformity, which wasn't a big deal to me personally, does look good when we have a big group. We also had a problem, prior to going this way, with some scouts not having very good tents leading to less than enjoyable camping experiences. Yes that is on them and they did learn but the rest of us have to hear about it and deal with them the rest of the campout--a lot few

The rules I have adopted for myself and my son, since I am a MB counselor for several badges, is if I am offering it to the Troop in a group then he can be a part of it. I don't do one on one with him. And even w/ the group setting, I will only do that for one Eagle required. So he got to join in w/ 20 guys for Personal Fitness, but had to find a different counselor for the Citizenships. Works out because while I was the only PF we have several Cit counselors--in fact I counseled one of the other's sons and he counseled for mine. I figure if a EBoR looks way into the weeds they will on

"There are many adult things that don't fit into the scout law. War is one of them. It is not possible to wage war in a scout like manner. " Not sure how much war you have waged, but in my 25 years of military experience, to include command in combat, it is possible to do so and trying to do so to the best of our abilities is what has separated us from our enemies in the conduct of the most ugly of human endeavors. Have we done so perfectly, of course not, and many times we have paid a price for that failure but the Scout Law was as good a guidance as any orders, regulations, or tra

my favorite changes were the ones to the Music MB "Deleted requirement to “catalog your own or your family’s collection of 12 or more compact discs, tapes, records, or other recorded music†because most Scouts don’t know what those things are" the did add a requirement to discuss intellectual property and the right way to download and share music which makes sense and seems relevant.

another example of what I learned over years of command, don't do anything and most issues resolve themselves. a lot of times favorably