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The Latin Scot

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Everything posted by The Latin Scot

  1. Get rid of ALL the girl-centered products that have been sitting on our stores' shelves untouched for months! Bracelets, ribbons, leggings, hair accessories - I am sure BSA was banking on them being instant sellers once girls joined Scouting, but NONE of it gets bought here, they are expensive to produce, and they take up shelf space with product over half of the program's members will never touch. Such a waste.
  2. I concur with the general sentiments here; it's a wonderful thing for you to offer vespers and a benediction at the close of your meeting. How corny they are depends only on how corny you make it, meaning they could be utterly sincere and heartfelt if that's the way you treat them. Coming from a deeply religious unit, we always begin and end our meetings with prayer, and very often a hymn will accompany the opening or closing of our meetings. It's can be a meaningful addition to your meetings, but as the one introducing them, remember that you set the tone, and others will follow. But judging
  3. As a lifelong amateur swordsman, I found the original post absolutely delightful and it definitely made my day. 😄 As a lifelong amateur swordsman, there's no way in Heaven or Earth I would give my Scouts swords, even with all the protective equipment. I'll let them enjoy that activity under the watch of a trained professional and let somebody else deal with all the liabilities, thank you very much. 🤣
  4. I agree 100%. Those who deny Scouts opportunities because they lack a uniform do not understand the purpose of Scouting, and those who end up fretting because they don't have one yet suffer from an unfortunate lack of imagination. However, @yknot and @CynicalScouter, be very careful with your comments - one might suspect that you feel supporting and/or promoting the uniform must equal either a disproportionate understanding of the values of Scouting, or that it somehow limits opportunities for Scouts with limited financial means. But these would of course be egregious assumptions; my specialt
  5. It bears repeating that none of the values listed above - thrift, value, and safety - need to be sacrificed in order to get your Scouts looking their best. As for what @yknot has written, each point addressed has an equally valid counter point. Thrift - Nobody should spend a single cent that isn't related to delivering an engaging program. Your program will never be as engaging out of uniform as it will be in it. The uniform is one of the most powerful tools you have in keeping your parents and kids involved, so every penny paid towards that goal is a penny well spent. Value - I wou
  6. Well, there have certainly been a lot of comments here telling you not to worry about uniforms, or to forget them completely, et cetera. But what if you want to wear the uniform? And after all, as BP himself said, what boy (or girl, or leader) with Scouting in his heart wouldn't want to wear the uniform? The policy which expects Webelos Scouts to wear the tan and green uniform is new - it only came into effect this year. But as per BSA tradition, ANY uniform, once approved by the BSA, is always approved by the BSA - so a Webelos Scout can wear the traditional blue uniform. Just be sure to
  7. My dad is a college professor, and I had to train him in the use of Canvas when the pandemic forced him to shift all of his voice and acting classes online. It's not particularly user-friendly, nor is it particularly intuitive. I would recommend against it; it's far too complicated for the needs of Scouting. All you really need is a simple platform like Zoom or GoogleMeeting. Canvas is much too complex and involving to be practical for Scouts and their families.
  8. Of course there is also the far more likely and sensible probability - that this "next generation" and its parents actually don't mind the terms Scout- or Cubmaster, and in fact are perfectly happy keeping them, and wouldn't even think twice about the matter unless it was pushed on them by overly politicizing factions who only want to look for trouble where there is none to be had. I feel comfortable saying this since, according to you, I fall into the category of the "real" decision makers - and I never, in all my functions at the unit, district and council level, have ever even heard of the
  9. So, I just got back from my local Scout Shop where I tried on the new uniform pants they just issued (luckily I am trim enough to fit into the youth sizes; leader sizes still haven't come in). And you know what? I actually LOVE them! For once, the pants are fitted comfortably with a nice stretch fabric, and they hit just at the knee, giving a slim, trim fit that looks great! Good job for once, national!
  10. Badge Magic is the DEVIL!
  11. But that quote is from Episode VIII while the image is from Episode V! 🤪
  12. It would certainly be a valid topic if you ask me - what point would you add or subtract from the Scout law if given the opportunity? I remember that at my own Eagle Board of Review, I was asked that very question. I, like you, answered humble, and my reasoning was much along the same lines as your response here. Even as a 14 year-old, I was frustrated with many of the egos I encountered in Scouting - certainly among the bullies who made life difficult for smaller fellows like myself, but even more so among the leaders who thought themselves above reproach. That was twenty-odd years ago, but m
  13. I have never, in all my years of Scouting, encountered this 'problem.' As I have always interpreted it, the Scoutmaster is not a master over the Scouts - he is a master of the skills of Scouting. Likewise, the Cubmaster is not the master of the Cubs - he is a master of the skills of Cub Scouting. In Scouting, the label 'master' is used as a term of respect for the Scoutmaster or Cubmaster's superior abilities and skills, not as a submission to some (imagined) superior authority or status. This is perhaps a finer nuance of meaning than many are accustomed to consider, in the which case I t
  14. SO, I created a powerpoint to share with all the units in our district for our Roundtable a month ago, and I would like to share it here, but I don't know how to upload powerpoint presentations here. If anybody would like to see it though, I am happy to send it to you! EDIT: I figured out how to save it as a PDF - if you would like to use it yourself, I can send you the Powerpoint files which you can then customize at will. Just send me a private message and I will be glad to oblige you. Thanks all! Cub Scout powerpoint SAMPLE.pdf
  15. Yes, girls in Scouting will be able to earn the new awards. The wording is specifically written to include young women activities as options for completing the requirements.
  16. No, VISA is NOT the new official LDS program. The new LDS program was instituted at the end of last year, and is entirely apart from Scouting of any kind - there will be no intersection between the official LDS program and Scouting. The church proper has nothing to do with VISA nor its new religious awards program. That said, VISA has been created entirely by volunteers who are both members of the church and continuing members of scouting, and while it is in no was directed by nor affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it is designed exclusively to serve LDS scou
  17. By the way, VISA was officially recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement this month, which is why they are licensed to use the international scouting emblem on their own emblem, and its awards were also recognized by the BSA Religious Relationships Committee this month. So this is legit, folks. 😉
  18. The old religious emblems program was created by the church, distributed by the church, and directed by the church. Because the church no longer sponsors scouting, it no longer offers those old awards, nor any other awards of that kind - it has its own program now with its own forms of recognition, entirely apart from the awards it used to offer its boys of scouting age. The old awards have been officially retired and their production discontinued. So there was a need to create a new religious awards program for members of the church who opted to continue in scouting, awards that can be worn o
  19. Not at all my friends, they have just been saving everything for announcement at the annual Little Philmont event which they broadcast this weekend! I spent this whole weekend on an online training conference held over Zoom where the entire organizations and its programs were revealed and carefully, dynamically presented by the organization heads. Over 600 people attended from all over the country! Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the newly revised website for the newly organized and ready-to-rumble Vanguard International Scouting Association! https://www.vanguardscouting.org/
  20. I don't know how the church would go about sanctioning any one group as it's 'official' representative body, as it likely wants to keep its break from Scouting as clean as possible. However, if any organization does assume that mantle, it will be this one. It's made of up many of the same people who served in the previous organization, like Mark Francis and Charles W. Dahlquist II, who were important figures in its structure and in the BSA at large, so it's pretty clear this will be the most important organization to LDS Scouting families in the future. Whether or not the church chooses to giv
  21. Actually these developments are much, much further along than noted here. First of all, there is already an official organization in place that has replaced the LDS-BSA Relations Committee, now known as the Vanguard International Scouting Association - it was announced on February 8th of this year to coincide with the anniversary of Scouting. Its information can be found here: https://www.vanguardscouting.org/uncategorized/new-vanguard-international-scouting-association/ Secondly, there is a virtual conference from Philmont scheduled for next week (Friday and Saturday) during which
  22. Having dealt with tremendous numbers of older pants myself, I can almost guarantee you won't find anything that fits the same as those pants did. That cut and style was very much a product of its time (circa the 1980's), and is now woefully out of fashion. For the most part that's a good thing, as that style just did NOT seem to fit any boy I ever met, what with the slim waist and larger carriage area leading to the wide pant legs - boys just aren't shaped like that, and the design had long baffled me (even when I was a Scout and wore that very style myself I thought them distastefully goofy).
  23. Wow this thread is old! LOL. But I will take the time to note that few things irk me as much as the misnomer 'Webelo' used in reference to a single Scout who should, in fact, be called a 'Webelos Scout." There is no such thing as a 'Webelo!' Drives me bonkers every time I hear it. Enough to keep it in my signature, lol. 🤪
  24. I think it's irrational to believe that this pandemic spells the end of such basic parts of our culture as hand-shaking. For a season it may diminish in use, but only for a season - when we finally have this illness beaten, which we will, I believe the handshake will come back with a vengeance. Until that time, I am strongly encouraging all Scout leaders to salute each other - it's just as much a means of salutation as the handshake, and in many situations I even prefer it. Why don't we salute each other more? lol.
  25. Amen to this! Especially with all the space now available at emptying BSA properties in Utah and Idaho; there must be a way to hold a large-scale event that doesn't require travel all the way back east. Distance wise, anything over the Rockies can be like travelling to another country for those of us on the west coast.
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