mgood777

I like your post, but one minor correction. The current GUIDE TO AWARDS AND INSIGNIA page 61: Recommended . . . limited to three rows of three. Not required. I remember when two full rows was a buttload of knots. I was rather awestruck the first time I saw someone with three full rows of three. (My Scoutmaster had two full rows and the beginning of a third.) It seems that knots have proliferated in the last 20 years or so to the point that it doesn't seem uncommon - from what I've seen recently - for people to have four or even more rows. I'm kinda digging the idea of limiti

They should pay ME! . . . Oh, wait. I don't. I'm poor. All I have to give is my time, and sometimes little of that. I have not read the other responses yet. CO provides for the unit, not the other way around. On the other hand, $300/yr is cheap rent for a meeting place if the alternative is storing the stuff at home and meeting at the park. I'd feel better if we agreed to work a fundraiser for the CO. Maybe help staff their fundraiser, maybe organize a fundraiser for them. That seems better than saying "We'll give you [x number] dollars each year." No real difference, I suppose, from

Yes, what @@oldisnewagain1 said. Some knots can be earned in several different ways, and earned multiple times. The pins show in which branch of scouting they were earned. You could earn the Scouter's Key as a Scoutmaster and the Commissioner's Key as a Commissioner. Same knot. Rather than wearing two identical knots (like my District Commissioner does ), you wear one knot with the two pins on it. I think the Scouter's Key and Scouters Training Award were once available to Cub leaders too, before they came out with a bunch of Cub-specific knots. So someone could have earned the Scouter's Key

Agree. Some of the best Scouters I've known have worn quite a few knots. And I've known some with lots of knots who made you wonder why they were even there, seemed to contribute nothing but to look down their noses at the "less accomplished" Scouters. And I've known some great Scoutmasters with nary a knot to be seen on their uniforms. Some had them and didn't bother sewing them on. Some never got them, busy with their troop and not noticed by district/council and never bothering to turn in paperwork for personal awards.

LOL, true. When I was a Life Scout and SPL, me and an Eagle Scout JASM were challenged to a camporee-type fire building contest by our SM and CC, two Eagle Scouts, but old farts. We thought there was NO WAY we could lose. . . . We lost. It was close, but we lost. [Many of you have probably seen this. It used to be common. May still be. There is a string tied 12 inches high, another at 18 inches. You have two two-by-fours 12 inches long. You have one hatchet, as many knives as you want, and two matches. Build a fire, stacking the wood no higher than the 12" string. First patrol to burn

Sounds to me like the guy with one knot probably had way more wilderness survival training than most Scouters could dream of. Most likely some practical experience in that area as well. Best man (or person) for the job is not necessarily the one with the most doo-dads on his uniform. If I were to become a Scoutmaster, the first person I'd ask to be an ASM is my best friend. If I was teaching some Scout training course and needed help, I'd call him. Only knot he's qualified to wear is the Arrow of Light. He topped out at Life in Boy Scouts. In junior high school, he was my Assistant Patrol

What intimidates me is being The Man In Charge, and making the commitment to being there all the time. As a commissioner, I can pass on a little information here and there, but I'm not expected to be at every meeting and campout. I would LOVE to be a Scoutmaster, have a youth-run troop without some SM above me stepping on that process. But I would hate to take on that responsibility and then 4 months later get so busy with work that I had to step down or delegate most of my responsibilities to ASMs.

Yes, I sewed them myself. Thanks. I hire someone to hem pants and things like that, but sew my own patches. When I was about 2nd Class or somewhere in there, I mentioned that I didn't have something on my uniform yet because my mom hadn't sewn it on for me yet. An ASM suggested that a Boy Scout should be able to do things for himself and asked why I had to wait on my mom to do it. I thought it was an interesting question, so I gave it a whirl. I've done most of my own patch sewing since then. Yep. I became fascinated by the knots when I was an 18 year old ASM. Some of the real

LOL. I'm actually a little intimidated of the idea of being the SM. Something I've always thought I'd like to do when I grow up. (I'm 46 ) Dedicating the time to the job, being able to be there all the time would be difficult. I have enjoyed all the training courses I've been to. Even if the material was mostly stuff I'd known for some time, I learned a LOT from discussions with other leaders about how THEY implement the material being taught. My post above was mostly a knee-jerk reaction. "BASIC outdoor skills?? Tenderfoot to 1st Class?!? Wait a minute, I made 1st Class when we still ha

True. If you hold those positions for the required amount of time, and are even halfway doing your job, you've done all the requirements. That's how I got those two knots. Guilty, of wearing devices and all - on and off. Love the "Banana Republic Generals"!! Though I'm a bit of a wannabe, I'm still going to use that phrase.

As for the original question, I'd say District Training Chairman or Unit Commissioner, if those positions are active in your area. District Executive if not. I'm sort of guessing, which is sad because I used to be a District Advancement Chair (long ago), and a Commissioner (long ago and now new again).

Me too. Paperwork? I don't need no stinking paperwork! Hey, one time I was rejoining my old council from long ago, but could never get to Lubbock (where the South Plains Council office was) during business hours. I was in Midland and stopped by the Buffalo Trail Council office, where they don't know me from Adam. I walked in and told them my situation. Said I need an Eagle knot, Scouter's Training Award knot, and Scouter's Key knot. Gimme a Unit Commissioner badge of office, a Trained patch, Arrowhead honor, blah, blah. (I still had extra council strips and lodge flaps from back in the day

Cool. From a map on that page: 1. Where I grew up. 2-4. Other places I've lived in Texas. (2 is the headquarters of the council where I said the lodge used Comanche-influenced costumes.) 5. Where I live now. (Locations are approximate 1=Denver City, 2=Lubbock/Levelland, 3=Dallas area, 4=Breckenridge, 5=Snyder, more or less.)

Gotcha. Thanks.

Ok, help me out here. I am a bit rusty from being away from Scouting for so long. For what, exactly, is IOLS required? Why should I need to test out. As an Eagle Scout, former Philmont Ranger, and someone with 16-17 years in Scouting, I looked over that list on the "test-out" form and I have taught most of those skills at one time or another. (Granted, some of the skills could use a little dusting off because I haven't done much of that in a long time.) Had to take a CPR course last year at work. (I remember being told at the time that Philmont Ranger training was the most challenging out

I grew up in what was once Comanche country, I guess. Heck, I was in Quanah Parker District, in the area where Quanah Parker was actually born. (There's a historical marker over at Cedar Lake, near Loop, TX, where I have hunted many times.) I never remember hearing of any other Native Americans around these parts (though I suppose there must have been others). Our OA ceremonies team always seemed to be generic plains Indian. But I just Googled Comanche ceremonial dress and Sioux ceremonial dress and glanced at the pics. They don't seem too terribly different (to my untrained eye). I'd even say

We would have had entirely too much fun with this when I was a Scout. Sadly true. Give them as much responsibility as they can handle. Unfortunately most adult leaders don't really believe they can handle all that much and are unable to step back far enough to find out.

The troop I grew up in was fortunate enough to have our own building. A fairly spacious cinder block building that was mostly one big room, but also had two small offices (one was the Scoutmaster's office and one was the "Eagle Room" where we conducted boards of review, a really neat room decorated with eagle wallhanging, pictures, statuettes, all sorts of eagles, mostly donated by Eagle Scouts who'd come up through the troop) and a restroom, plus a kitchen area. Flagpoles out front, basketball goal off to the side. Big fire pit in the middle of the room. Retired patrol flags, some going back

I've always been taught that the 18-20 year olds could tent with either youth or adults. Say you're backpacking, where you're trying to minimize the weight. You're carrying 2-man tents. (Talking about all-male crew, not dealing with gender issues here.) You have 7 youth -> 4 tents. You have 3 adults -> 2 tents. total 6 tents. BUT, if one of these adults is 18-20, that person may be considered a youth for this purpose. So: 8 youth -> 4 tents 2 adults -> 1 tent. total 5 tents. Weight savings of one tent. Yay. This is the way it worked at Philmont when I was on st

They never were - which I think is why mgood777 referred to them as "illegal." Right, they never were. Back when the uniforms with epaulets first came out, one troop in my district started wearing baby blue shoulder loops and my troop started wearing the red and white striped loops. I never owned a set of red loops until I went to Wood Badge (8 or 10 years later). The Scoutmasters of these two troops were known as rebels who ran their programs their way. They got lots of threats from council to fall into line, but they generally ignored them. They ran some of the most successful troop

One Scoutmaster of mine commented that there are a lot of Eagle Scouts out there who, if dropped in the woods in the middle of nowhere, would die of starvation and exposure. He thought this was a sad state of affairs and that there was no excuse for it.

No kids here. On September 6, 1986, my 18th birthday, I had just gotten the meeting started with an opening when the Scoutmaster and CC called me over and said, "Goodwin, you know you're too old to be Senior Patrol Leader, right?" I told them I knew that and that's why we had elections scheduled right after the opening, to select my replacement. (It was such a youth-run operation that they didn't even know what we had planned from week to week. I'd been SPL for several years and was running the troop when this Scoutmaster took over. So he occupied the office and did paperwork while I had c

I'd love a college like that. I think most schools required 128-130 hours to graduate last time I checked (which was a while back). I have 140 hours but am no where near graduating in anything.

That is sad.

In my experience in rural districts there are never enough people to fill all the slots that need to be filled. Not even close. If someone shows up for two District Committee meetings in a row, just to watch and see what goes on there, they'll find themselves appointed to a position on the committee. How do you think I became District Advancement Chairman at 19 years old, or District Commissioner at 21? I was one of the five or six people who regularly showed up at district meetings. They'll give you as many hats as you're willing to wear. I know how these positions are supposed to be fill