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The Latin Scot

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Everything posted by The Latin Scot

  1. All I know is that when I tried to renew my membership with the OA, it took me no less than 6 MONTHS of e-mails and phone calls and pushing and shoving just to find somebody to accept my dues. I was trying to give them money, and it took me 6 months?! And now I have been submitting one request after another for an OA Arrow of Light Ceremony to be done at a future pack meeting, which they advertise with bells and whistles on their webpage, to no avail. I have great respect for the purpose, history, and traditions of the OA. I have been an Arrowman for almost 20 years. But I am sadly frustr
  2. If a little example like rolling the neckerchief becomes symbolism, then I can see how it could become a little too arcane for comfort, especially for Cub Scouts. But I do think it is wise teaching to make connections between ideas and the more tangible world around them. I like the idea of using the neckerchief as a tool to help them comprehend concepts such as duty and honor. Those can be hard for young boys to conceptualize, but they respond to concrete examples that draw what they see toward what they can then understand. I did a simplified version of it with my Webelos Scouts when I f
  3. OCTOBER - all of my Webelos Scouts are earning their Arrow of Light at our monthly Pack Meeting! Plus to earn the Maestro Adventure pin, they are putting on a Den Talent Show for their parents and families NOVEMBER - the SPACE DERBY! I am in charge of running it too, so expect me to be asking for advice about it in a new thread sometime soon. Also Scouting for Food DECEMBER - our annual Pack Caroling Activity to elderly and sick friends of our pack in our community :-)
  4. Yeah I wish they were bigger now too. My father could easily sew a big one for me but as a Webelos Leader I feel the boys like seeing me wear the same plaid they are wearing. But if I ever move on the the older programs ...
  5. Ah that's way cool; my Sindarin is better than my Quenya, lol.
  6. I am halfway towards my goal of saving up enough for a campaign hat ... I think they are so cool! And fortunately my local Scout Shop has a big enough stock of them for me to find the right size without having to guess. :-)
  7. Has anybody heard of this? Some time ago I read somewhere of a wonderful way to teach the Scout Law using the neckerchief. More or less, it connected the long edge of the necker to our duty to God since it is the longest side just as it is our lifelong duty; the other sides represent our duty to others and ourselves; the folds as you prepare it for wear represented the many layers of our responsibilities, and then we wrap it around our shoulders just like the responsibilities we wear throughout our lives as scouts ... ... or something like that? If anybody has a more complete version
  8. I was reading through old thread (so I apologive for diggin this up), but official BSA policy states that 3 is the maximum number. I wear Spanish and French, though I admit I wish I could add an Elvish patch, lol.
  9. Two were in the same troop, the others in different units. The ones I attended were basically glorified Courts of Honor featuring only one or two Scouts. The basic format was almost always: - Opening ceremonies (Flag Ceremony, Invocation, Scout Oath and Law) - Invitation to the "Eagle's Nest" (where they invite anybody in the audience who has earned the rank of Eagle to sit in some chairs that have been put in a front corner of the hall (does anybody else do this?)) - A brief and often diluted review of the Eagle Requirements - "An "introduction" of the Eagle Scout (he's not a
  10. Until I read this thread today I had never so much as heard of and "Eagle Pledge/Charge/Oath/Monologue" or whatever. Of the five Courts of Honor I have attended this year, none have had anything like this, nor did I at my own. Is this an official BSA element that I missed? I would have thought such a thing would be included in the Official BSA Handbook ...
  11. Well, we are way down in Southern California just a mile or so from the water, so ... yeah. Last year our Troop had to drive for 5 hours to get to a mountain far enough inland + tall enough to get snowfall so they could actually do a "winter camp-out." And even then, there was only an inch or so of snow. The pitfalls of paradise I guess, lol. We get to do a lot of beach camping though!
  12. With my Den, I simply had them read the requirements from the book, then asked "what are some easy service projects you have been a part of that we could do together?" One of them had been part of a clothing drive recently, so I just asked leading questions to help them put it together. "When could we do this?" "How will we let families know?" "Where will we take the clothes?" After a few questions THEY were the ones figuring out the logistics and I could just sit back and catch up on signing their books. They had it all organized really quickly, and at the Pack Meeting where they ran the driv
  13. I think I got it! Here is the Boy Scout Troop with the flag I designed, completed by my father. It's done with black and white denim, is machine-washable, and on the back it has one of the jumbo patches from the scout store sewn in (the Eagle scout rank patch). It also has their Patrol Call embroidered into the back - "Knights of Light - We Do What's Right!" The image of the knight on the front is an exact copy of the image on their patrol patch. Now all the boys have to do it create a flagpole for it and start winning award ribbons to attach to it! Forgive the blur; I figured I should avoid p
  14. Well, I am TRYING to post a picture, but it's turning out to be very difficult! Once I figure out how it works, I will post it here!
  15. I try to make sure my Denners actually have a share in the running of our meetings, so wearing the cords actually indicates a legitimate role in our group. We have a full flag ceremony and uniform inspection every week, both of which the chosen young Denner leads and conducts. He also chooses who will give our opening and closing prayers, administers the Scout Law and Oath, and makes any announcements. When I do have to make last minute changes to our plans, I clear it with both the Denner and the boys to make sure it meets their approval. The Denner also helps me decide what adventures to wor
  16. I ended up just paying for the cords myself; they and the tabs are pretty inexpensive, and since they rotate them throughout the year, its easier for me to keep track of them if they are my own personal set than if I had to keep track of such a small piece of "den property."
  17. First of all, a warning: This is a long story! It's important I think, but maybe take a nap and eat something before diving in, tee hee. I wanted to share an experience I have had over the past few months that has proven to me the tremendous power of Baden-Powell's vision when he formulated for boys what we now call the Patrol Method. It has helped me as a leader, and it has recently saved scouting for a young friend of mine in a way that has touched his family profoundly. I hope it helps somebody else to capture the spirit of what the Patrol Method can do for young men. As a Webelos l
  18. If you have good enough den leaders, you could do what my pack does and divide the responsibilities. Every month we split the gathering, flag ceremony, activity, and refreshments amongst the various dens, and for special activities and Derbies the Cubmaster takes charge personally. It helps the dens feel involved in the larger meetings and gives the Cubmaster a chance to focus on more than just planning activities. With a pack as big as yours, that might be helpful!
  19. These are some great ideas! I think if we were to pit the kids against the leaders, the leaders would lose pretty badly, lol. I have been having uniform inspections with my Webelos for the past two months now; they all earned their Webelos rank at the same time, and they wanted to all rise together at Pack Meeting to receive their awards as one body. I thought that was very mature of them. So, I required them to have their uniforms all up to par, and inspected them for the few weeks before the Pack Meeting, and wow - they rose to the challenge! I have NEVER seen them look so good, and many par
  20. Thanks for the advice! I know already none of the other cub leaders serve in other positions; in fact the ADL for the Bears is the only one who has ever been in Scouting before, which I imagine is why he is the leader with red epaulets. He was actually the assistant Scoutmaster over my New Scout Patrol as a kid and hasn't done scouting since. The other leaders are nice guys but none of them have done much Scouting before, despite the fact that they are all at least 20 years older than I am. I just feel awkward offering advice at all to a bunch of gentlemen who are my senior.
  21. Question! The Bears Den Leader in my pack was just called recently and, bless his heart, has little idea what's going on. He got a uniform shirt and just happened to get the bright green Venturing epaulets, not knowing the colors had any significance. Should I take a moment to help point out to him the meanings of the colors, or do I risk being regarded as the Fashion Police? Should I just buy the blue ones and give them to him? Do I ignore it all together and mind my own business? I appreciate any thoughts on how to handle this; I notice other leaders in our cub pack, including his ADL, are w
  22. I discovered this site recently as I was learning all I could about the Scouting program. The person running it has WONDERFUL insights and resources, and I have referenced his site to many leaders who are trying to run the program in our area. I highly recommend it.
  23. So, when I was first asked to be the Webelos leader, I had a fun contest of wits with my Webelos over our Den Flag as we worked on the Scouting Adventure adventure (I laugh every time I write or say that). It was a fun process though, and it taught me a lot about working with Webelos-aged boys AND about why this little item, the Den (or Patrol) Flag, is such a valuable resource in creating that elusive entity known as Patrol Spirit. We had just started the Scouting Adventure adventure (haha!). I told the boys that after they chose a patrol name and yell, they would need to create a Patrol
  24. Thanks for the welcome everybody! I look forward to joining the discussions here!
  25. I am saving my nickles because I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to get myself the traditional campaign hat. It's such a wonderful article .... but also a pricey one. $99 on Scoutstuff! So I am just saving up slowly but surely. Hopefully someday I can have enough saved so that I can get what I feel is the most iconic piece of uniform wear money can buy
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