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The Latin Scot

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Everything posted by The Latin Scot

  1. Well, I wrote that post to get a few good chuckles, if nothing else. If we didn't laugh, we would have cried ... 🙄 😄
  2. I must vehemently express my sincere and seasoned belief that there is NO SUCH THING as a "bad" kid. Badly behaved kids, sure, in spades. Bad behaviors - more than I can count. These are things children learn from the imperfect world around them. But there never has been a bad child - only children who have been fooled into believing they are such by foolish adults who have deceived themselves into thinking that the wrongs committed by children who haven't taught better must somehow be the fault of the children themselves - and surely, they claim, not of the grown-ups who misunderstand and thu
  3. That's great! I am the same way; no family of my own yet, so I love having a meaningful place where I can volunteer and make a difference in the lives of young people. Another welcome aboard to you my friend!
  4. WARNING - LONG POST. DO NOT ATTEMPT WITHOUT REGULAR INTERVALS FOR REST, NOURISHMENT, AND MILD PAINKILLERS. GET PLENTY OF EXERCIZE BEFORE READING. A STORY OF WOE, WARNING, AND WEEPING As dreary or long as some event may be, I dare say few have ever been as bad as our COUNCIL awards nights have been these last two years, which have now, by mandate, superseded all district recognition events, meaning all Silver Beavers, District Awards of Merit, Heroism and Honor Award, Hornaday Awards (or upcoming Conservation Awards), James E. West Fellowship Awards, and Unit Exceptional Scouter Award
  5. Greetings from Mission Viejo, my new and fellow OC Council friend! Thank you for getting involved with Scouting in our community; we definitely need all the volunteers we can get! We are especially lucky to be part of a strong council with good leadership and a excellent community reputation. Do you have kids in the program too, or are you involved purely from the desire to make your community a better place? 😀 Believe me when I say, this forum is one of the best places to go when you have questions or need guidance about ANYTHING related to Scouting. You are almost always going to get a
  6. Those are both pretty nice. I have been really tempted to buy this jacket; the fit and tailoring are really attractive, and since we're entering our rainy season, the waterproof seams are an enticing feature: https://www.scoutshop.org/eddie-bauer-commissioner-jacket-men-s.html
  7. My general instinct is to push back against overly-casual trends in language and manners. I cringe whenever I hear a young person address an adult leader or teacher by their first name, and especially at official Scout meetings and the like I try to impress upon the Scouts the need to address me by Mr. (or Brother in Church settings). However, I am much, much younger than most other leaders in similar positions in the troop and district, and I am neither married nor do I have children of my own. My own father is still a very active and widely-respected member of the community (we have liv
  8. What fun! I have taught at University of Scouting for the past few years, and it has been one of my favorite experiences in Scouting! Of course, that might be due to the fact that I get to teach all the leader-specific training courses for new Den Leaders and Cubmasters, which (as everybody knows) are the most delightful and exciting of all UofS classes! I LOVE training new leaders, especially new Den Leaders, who are usually the least-experienced and most-nervous Scouters there. Giving them the tools, resources, and confidence they need to get out there and make the most of their Scouting exp
  9. Sure, here is the page so far. It's a work in progress, but you should have seen it before I started repairing it. 😵
  10. So this site has a rather convoluted explanation of the award's symbolism that I don't entirely understand, but among other things, it claims Not sure how accurate this is, and there is a notable lack of reference material and source information, but it's interesting nonetheless. I have never heard of dark blue council flags before.
  11. Unfortunately our council is too large and too cheap to makes plaques viable I guess. I got the certificate and small medal in the shape of our council (they have been awarding these for a long time). Nothing too fancy, though I like being able to wear the medal with my uniform, something I couldn't do with the plaque. ☺️
  12. As part of my "thank you" to my district for awarding me the DofM this past weekend, I have been going through our district website and cleaning up a lot of old junk while refining much of the information put there a long time ago by Scouters who didn't seem to quite know what they were doing with the information they had. Part of this is adding new little blurbs about each of the awards adults can achieve on our awards page, but sadly I have yet found but very little history about the DofM itself. So far all I have written is this: Does anybody have any more information I can add to
  13. Perhaps it's merely another personal, sartorial idiosyncrasy, but I like contrasting textures and materials when I dress, and mixing the different fabric options available allows me to add a personal touch to my ensemble while still maintaining complete conformity to uniform policy and regulation. My shirts are long sleeved, but generally I have them rolled all the way up, and of course my bottoms are all switch-backs for the rare occasion on which I desire or need long pants (although the poor zip-away bottoms are a few shades darker than the shorts themselves since they only see a tithe of t
  14. And thank YOU for such kind words! I hardly feel deserving of them, but I pray I will continue to share as much with others as has been shared with me over the years, only tenfold so!
  15. Sometimes it seems there's little one can do to avoid recognition. Exactly one year after ensuring my mom finally earned the District Award of Merit, it seems this month I am going to receive the same.  And I haven't done a fraction of the good she did during her 30+ years of Scouting - so much catching up to do! 😵

    1. hikeoholic

      hikeoholic

      Congratulations! 

    2. KYScouter

      KYScouter

      Congratulations!

    3. qwazse

      qwazse

      TLS, I was in the same position relative to the person who also was awarded the Venturing Leadership Award. I told him mine was more valuable because I did only a fraction of the work!

      Congratulations.

  16. Reading through this article makes it obvious the journalist knows precious little about our religion; however, regardless of the writer's ignorance the simple fact is that the increasing ubiquity of these cases means nothing but trouble for the BSA. I have no doubt but that the church will weather these accusations as well as ever (we've endured far more calamitous calumny than this before), but BSA national? They have had their backs to the wall for too long already, and these cases will do far more damage to Scouting than they will to the church. My heart goes out to the innumerable vi
  17. I have struggled all evening over whether or not to post this, but my heart tells me I must, and so, having learned never to doubt my heart when it speaks so clearly, here are my thoughts. I actually and truly believe this is one of the saddest changes and toughest blows yet to this generation of young boys who are struggling to grow up in today's increasingly identity-challenged society. The entire purpose of the magazine's creation was to give boys - future men - a monthly collection of stories, articles, selections and even advertisements tailored specifically to the interests of boys
  18. I have seen them in person at our local Scout Shop. The material is a nice lightweight fabric (here in southern California, we invariably prefer the light-weight materials that wick away sweat and keep us cool during our perpetual summer (last week it hit 89 degrees outside!), and the design is simple, plain, and unobtrusive. Those with an eye towards simplicity will appreciate it. It's very straight-forward, and as has been mentioned here, it seems they have eliminated all the bells and whistles of some earlier designs. I myself like all the extra pockets and flaps and buttons on earlier
  19. There was a great article on just this topic here: https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2020/03/18/good-turns-during-the-coronavirus-acts-of-scouting-service-you-can-do-from-home/ And more! https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2018/11/19/why-this-cub-scout-den-does-a-service-project-once-a-month-every-month/ https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2020/09/16/in-face-shield-service-project-clear-proof-that-when-things-are-bad-scouts-step-up/ https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2020/09/16/in-face-shield-service-project-clear-proof-that-when-things-are-bad-scouts-step-up/ https://blog
  20. I don't think I shared this before, but I am the Cub Scout Roundtable Commissioner in our district, and I have kept a page up with all the latest information about BSA regulations and den/pack ideas for use during a COVID lock-down. Some information is specific to my council, but hopefully some of the information might prove useful to somebody here: https://www.saddlebackdistrict.org/node/2612
  21. I will admit, the only time I ever did any kind of face painting with my Webelos den was at my first AofL ceremony, and only because I was new, unsure of what I was doing, and cajoled into it begrudgingly by a domineering parent. After that, I asked the kids what they thought of the face-painting tradition. Most were apathetic, two were downright uncomfortable with it, and one was actually afraid and nervous about it, the poor little guy. So I just axed the whole thing! And I never missed it. I HATED face paint of ALL kinds as a kid - and still do (I don't know how the ladies do it every day),
  22. Correct. As long as the child is a registered Webelos Scout, they can work on their Webelos rank. That is why there is no actual difference between what some packs call "Webelos 1" and "Webelos 2" or "Arrow of Light" dens. In fact, Cubs do not even have to complete the Webelos rank before they earn the Arrow of Light - they can earn it after, if for whatever bizarre circumstances their situation demands it. \ So you are absolutely correct - Webelos is a continuous program that encompasses both the 4th and 5th grades. Scouts may complete any Webelos-rank activities in any order during the
  23. The problem with the "silent majority" is the same problem I think of when I hear the quote "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" - the problem in thinking, in trusting, in assuming that others feel the same as one's self, and that they will follow a similar course of action in the end. That kind of trust is important, but it is not enough. That line is, of course, the quippy, easy-to-digest version of a quote from Edmund Burke that should be understood in full: That's how I like to think of this place - a forum in which 'the good (can) a
  24. From the great Baden-Powell himself: If you ask me, mere numbers are no sign of success, or if they are, it is the wrong thing succeeding. I am by far more troubled and concerned by the growth of Scouts Canada since these changes than I am encouraged by it.
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