Saltface

4 minutes ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

Sadly it is not only different from council to council, but also Scout Exec to Scout Exec. While the volunteers are suppose to be in charge, I have seen the nomination process rigged first hand at the council level, and was encouraged to do the same at the district level when I was a DE.

Now that we're already off-topic , how common is it for district-level volunteers to be expected to donate a certain amount in order to maintain their position?

A moment of silence for the starry-eyed young scouter who evidently didn't survive the game of life.

On behalf of National Council, I'm aghast that scouts and scouters would think it okay to point firearm shaped objects (FSOs) at human shaped objects (HSOs).

I've played with it a few times. If I need (or have time for) a better whipping than a common whipping, I prefer going straight to a sailmaker's whipping (ABoK 3446 for you knot nerds). There's a lot more friction holding the whipping on.

23 minutes ago, Eagledad said:

There is no requirement to observe a "debate" and I feel safe assuming that a video of a public meeting wasn't what the MB developers were thinking. I would have been disappointed as well. In my opinion, observing a City Council meeting is one of the few highlights of the Citizenship in the Community requirements. The summer camp guide should advise that scouts would have to complete that requirement on their own time.

Barry

My mistake. I was talking about Communication but I see now that SteveMM was referring to Citizenship in the Community.

5 hours ago, mrkstvns said:

Interesting.

I've never been asked to sign off on a scout who watched a meeting (or debate) on TV.  In our area, the local school board and the city council record meetings and put them on their web sites.  I'm not too keen on accepting that though because I think the scout misses out on the opportunity to be there in person and to see that it really can be ordinary citizens who make their way to the podium to express opinions, ideas, complaints, etc. (and the scout could be one of those people if he cared enough about an issue to come speak out about it).  I'm not sure that kind of civics lesson is clear from watching TV...

1 hour ago, SteveMM said:

My son took Citizenship in the Community at summer camp, and ... sadly ... they "fulfilled" this requirement by showing the boys a video of a town hall meeting.  One of the prerequisites was to do the public meeting visit in advance, so before camp my son and I attended a county school board meeting with him in full Class A uniform.  A lot of the boys in the merit badge class at summer camp didn't do that pre-req, but were signed off after watching the video.  I was pretty irritated about it.  Watching a video is NOT the same as taking the time to go to the meeting and sit through all of the discussion.  Not only is it lazy to just watch the video, going to a meeting in YOUR community is much more meaningful because the discussion will be about local issues.

Yeah, obviously in person is better. But most city council and school board meetings are rubber stamp affairs in which you'll probably hear just one point of view presented (if any at all). Would you require a scout to continue attending public meetings for several weeks or months until a debate occurred?

I believe the intent of the Communication requirement is to experience a public debate. 

As much as I would enjoy listening to a 45 minute diatribe on what species of grass should be planted in the common areas, I doubt an HOA meeting would have a debate of any real substance. If a scout can't attend a city council or school board meeting in person, my PBS station frequently hosts debates on local issues. I've accepted reports on that before.

7 minutes ago, malraux said:

Its not a bad idea for scouts to learn to use it, and to recognize the signs of when to. 

And to know what to do when it kicks in. Most drug abusers aren't too happy when you ruin their fix.

3 hours ago, mrkstvns said:

Knife (useful in the woods, not so much downtown)

A knife is useful anywhere you can legally possess it.

2 hours ago, Cleveland Rocks said:

Contrary to popular belief, Girl Scouts in all levels can camp (there are many people who erroneously say that Daisies cannot camp. They can, although there are some limitations). The GSUSA requires that any troop that camps has at least one person at the campout who has taken a council-level training course on camping, similar to the BSA's BALOO training requirement for Pack campouts.

2 hours ago, Cleveland Rocks said:

The GSUSA requires a registered first-aider on all outings. This must be a person who has taken the Red Cross First Aid course. They also require what they call an advanced first-aider, meaning they've taken WFA, if you're further than 30 minutes away from EMS care reaching you.

Is this all that GS leaders are complaining about when they say that GSUSA makes it really hard to go camping?

13 hours ago, Scoutmom1989 said:

I heard im going to learn things about myself i didnt even know but im gonna make a whole bunch of life long friends and have the experience of a life time thats what everyone keeps telling me but I also hear theres a fire hose is that literal or metaphorical 

Maybe you'll make life-long friends, maybe you won't. Don't try to force it.

Will you have a life-altering transformative experience? Probably not.

Will you learn something and have an enjoyable time? Most likely. Wood Badge is a good training course, especially for those who haven't experienced leadership/management courses elsewhere. Yet all too often, it gets oversold. 

1 hour ago, perdidochas said:

Just an FYI, the iPhone Compass app has the GPS latitude/longitude coordinates.  

There's also a free iPhone app called Tomstrails GPS that's dead simple. Most importantly, you can change the coordinate system to UTM or MGRS. You can also see the accuracy of your GPS fix.

On 8/13/2019 at 1:20 PM, NJCubScouter said:

That's my point.  In the BSA you have CO's that are Christian churches, Jewish synagogues, Hindu temples, etc. and many that are not religious at all, like PTA's, American Legion, Elks, etc.  If you want a new unit of your own religious bent, you can line up the appropriate place of worship and start a new unit, regardless of which religion it is.  None of that is true for Trail Life.  You cannot get a charter for a Trail Life unit unless you are a Christian church (and maybe other kinds of Christian organizations, I don't know.)  The point is, Christian.  Nothing else.  I am not faulting them for that, it is their organization.  I was just wondering, since people say Trail Life is open to non-Christian youth (but not non-Christian adults), whether the group is open with parents of non-Christian youth about the fact that people are going to try to "spread the word" to their children.  If they are, and a parent chooses to send their child into that environment, that's fine.

By the way, the general rule within Judaism is to not proselytize to members of other faiths.

The Trail Life troop I visited a while back was pretty forthcoming about incorporating religion into their program. Their handbook references the bible on the first page. A parent would have to be pretty dense to not realize their son was being preached to.

I second the use of metal pans. One chicken feed pan on top another (bottom to bottom) will insulate your coals from the cold wet ground.

Any idea what the ingredients are in a Crisbee stick?

15 minutes ago, Cleveland Rocks said:

It's GSUSA councils that are telling their units to "turn in" any BSA members they see at their cookie booths.

What does that mean?

55 minutes ago, MattR said:

If it has a taste then it's gone rancid.   Start over.

My grandmother, who was known for many things other than her cooking, loved to make fruit cake in an old cast iron skillet. It always had this funky flavor that nobody liked and everyone joked about. She passed some 30 years ago. About 10 years ago I had a cast iron dutch oven that started getting that same flavor. Aha! I suddenly knew what it was. (It was too much oil left in it for too long) I put it in the oven on the clean cycle, smoked up the house, and started over with seasoning it. It still works.

Always use the grill! I like to use a wire cup brush to make sure I get everything off when re-seasoning.

$24,000?! That's at least fourteen bags of popcorn right there.

49 minutes ago, yknot said:

People either love, hate or endure popcorn season.

Or just shun.

23 minutes ago, Terasec said:

reading that actually discourages me from pursuing Philmont,

350 arriving and departing daily? am not a fan of crowds,

I get you. Running into another human when I'm soloing is the worst.

13 hours ago, TAHAWK said:

California Peace Scout Troop 43 first had camping, by patrils, in October, 1908 on private property in orange County, California.

I thought every troop that predates ~1920 calls itself Troop 1.  

An army scout was an experienced woodsman that could care for himself and carry out his duties (cook, navigate, track, evade, etc.) away from the safety of the main body of the army. Isn't that why BP chose the term?

Maybe we should change the name to SBSA...

44 minutes ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

In fact some folks were praising the lack of outdoors since it would open it up for those volunteers who do not like camping.

Just what were these highly trained folks planning on doing with their training?

11 years later, I'd like to know too.

Judging by the recommendations made here, I'd say the only hard and fast rules of summer camp would be to not do the Citizenships or other "classroom" merit badges at camp.

Our regular camp is a mile higher in elevation than our town. No one in their right mind does Swimming there. Too cold.

Invariably, the camp is under total fire restrictions when we're there. How the scouts complete Cooking there (other than the cooking at home) is beyond me. I doubt they're getting the full benefit of the badge.

A lot of first-years have difficulty scoring enough points to complete Archery or Shotgun Shooting. They're really popular merit badges, so there's too much waiting in line for range time.

First Aid, Emergency Prep, Leatherwork, and Astronomy are my two cents.

1 hour ago, ArmyScout said:

Just got my uniform back from cleaners.  Sewed my patches on.  Is the pin on name tag required.  I much prefer a sew on.  Camping, carrying, back packing that pin on is bound to get torn off or lost.

The nameplate is not required. Most folks don't even have one.