Col. Flagg

Again, another straw man not germane to the topic of educating Scouts about nutrition versus limiting their choices and forcing compliance on a Scout setting. When we do menu planning does your unit override the patrols' choices and force them to eat well? Or do you teach them the right things and then let them practice it themselves? If the latter, then why wouldn't you do that at summer camp?

Your council doesn't allow female OA members? Ours does. Am I the only one? I thought it was national...for a while now.

And the meals were well-balanced.

And the converse is also true: You can show them what you want at camp, but if it ain't continued at home your basically wasting your time. We agree it's about educating youth we disagree that forcing a kid to make these choice, as well as limiting his choices, is wrong.

We are talking carbs, not saturated fats. Not al carbs are the same. Heart disease is genetic and life-style induced. Eliminating carbs is not the answer to curing heart disease. If it were we'd have eradicated it years ago. Don't throw up a straw man. It's a complex issue that dictating choices won't work. Educating folks on the balance while giving a full (not limited) range of choices is the key. The biggest issue is being able to read your body and how it reacts to various foods. The wholesale elimination of "bad carbs" is very 1990s. Science has moved on from this notion. Read the AP

I stock the house with good and bad. I ask them what they want. I cook healthy but don't monitor what they eat at school, for snacks or when alone. I've taught them well and they know good from bad. Have they had cake for breakfast when on their own? Probably. But they've also had salads and fruit and milk and veggies in abundance too...all on their own. I've noticed my friends who've always made these choice for their kids have obese 18-20-somethings because they never had to make the choices on their own. We talk so much about boy-lead and "train 'em, trust 'em, let them lead" but when

Yup, me too. Hope you and yours are well in Tampa. Hopefully your shell was not hit too hard by Irma.

I'm ticked about people making choices for others. Offer healthy food, great. Don't over engineer the offers though. Too much low/no fat, gluten-free, no oils food is ALSO bad for you. Some folks process carbs, oils, sugars, etc differently. This just smacked of too much engineering an outcome by limiting choices. Perhaps it was the way it's written.

Doubt it. Our unit added those to the list to any Scout who was headed down. It's a must have.

Hmmm, I get the spirit of what you mean but I think the concept of not "teaching" the MB is incorrect. I am MBC for all shooting sports MBs, as well as many of the outdoor skills MBs (pioneering, orienteering, wilderness survival, etc). Many of those MBs have skills that must be taught for safety reasons. It's not something you want to leave to laymen, well-meaning (but unskilled) adults or some Scout googling the answer or using Wikipedia to find their answer. An MBC *can* "teach" an MB and still put the onus on the Scout to dig deep and learn, even teach himself...but it takes preparati

Depending on the person, the parent might be harder on their own kid than on the average Scout. Generally my son did NOT take MBs from me to avoid any perception of favoritism.

These things are not universal so applying them to everyone is incorrect. Leave it up to the individual. Let's not police people's freedom of choice.

Had weeknight meetings but was a challenge due to school and work/life balancing for parents. Decided to have the first part of the meeting be dinner. Parents rotated making/bringing dinner. The boys would take 20 mins to eat and watch something Scouting-related. Used to call it "dinner and some learning". Very popular. By the time the kids were Webelos it was practically a banquet.

I'm not in favor of waiving requirements unless it's due to disability or something. The role of OA is supposed to be an honor society of campers. There's NYLT these adults can help staff. There's high adventure trips, there's all sorts of non-summer camp opportunities for these adults to get their 5 day long-term camp. When we start making excepts to rules for folks we create problems and preferences for one group or one person and not others. If they truly want OA there's a way to make that happen but it take desire and sacrifice.

Carbs don't put you at risk for heart disease. The point is that the Sugar Nazis don't have to manage what kids eat. Offer up healthy choice in the mess hall? Fine. Manage kids with limited snacking options in the TP is too much. Let kids be kids. If they're Scouts they get the food choices beat in to them in MBs and rank Advancement. The last thing they need is someone pushing carrots on them instead of slushes in the TP.

If one burns 3000 calories a day, a ton of starch and carbs won't matter. Seriously? It's the fat adults who don't walk around (or can't) that get fat at camp.

It would help if the OA didn't cannibaize unit or district events or did their planning with enough notice so that units could send people if they wanted. All too often that's not the case. And when you DO take time out to suppor an actitivty, such as Ordeal, it would help if the chapter leaders themselves took the vow of silence with the same reverence intended of participants. Again, not the case. I think there's plenty of blame to go around, but much lies in a lackluster OA program that is (in my area) poorly timed, planned, prepared for and executed.

They are spraying for West Nile. It's a large are to cover.

If anyone goes wear long pants, long sleeve shirts, duct tape any gathers, get netting for your head. The mosquitoes are HORRENDOUS!!!

Lol that another one. Add in the many op ed pieces that are out there too. I guess those don't constitute "outside pressure"?

Taking someone at their word requires them to KEEP their word to develop that trust. When someone like BSA continues to BREAK their word, they lose that trust. When someone hides or manipulates surveys or ignores their results to push their agenda, they lose trust. How is the "millennial family dynamic" any more challenging than what the Boomers or the next cohort had to deal with? Millennials have smart phones, apps, and family management options we never had. And they are more "challenged" in managing a family? Give me a break.

Folks I've live in Texas for 15 years. We've done summer camp in state and obviously camp here a great deal. I've been to this camp and I've done a ton of backpacking. I can tell you without a doubt, NO ONE wants to camp and hike in Texas in the summer if there are other options (e.g., Philmont). This past June it was insanely hot. My own unit cancelled outdoor events due to the heat index. To be out in that weather, little shade, little water and no place to bring down body heat in an emergency is simply INSANE!! As an SM i would not recommend any of my Scouts or adults undertake such ad

Mailing lists of past members. Donation boxes at COH's. Notes to those aging out about uniform donations. Must be on the PLC's annual program plan with someone to manage it. Usually a Guide or two.

My district split about four years ago despite having issues staffing the once colossal entity. Therefore, logic dictated splitting one large hard-to-staff district in to two smaller hard-to-staff districts. They now need to bring Scouters out of retirement just to get chairmen and commissioners. RTs are dead. Planning is just-in-time (no notice given). No successful unit relies on district for anything.

Forcing folks to the salad bar isn't a heavy-handed tactic? Riiiight. Whatever happened to coon it and allow folks to choose? We ate poorly when we were kids and still hit the TP for candy. We weren't obese. What changed?