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HashTagScouts

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Everything posted by HashTagScouts

  1. To me, if you simply concede ground then you are letting the Order become the very thing you don't want. My son certainly had some opinions, and still does, on some of the youth that were in the Lodge with him. He's rolled his eyes a few times on who was elected as officers or for Vigil. But, he considered it to be motivation to do better himself. Part of the outside motivation for him was his former SM who very much was a "poo poo on the OA and everything else to do with Council" individual who also never was willing to take any constructive feedback from my son as SPL or any other previous S
  2. The current options for attire aside from regalia is either field uniform or to wear all black, and the all black is what our youth have chosen if regalia is taken away. We did one ceremony this year with the ceremonialists in all black. IMO the current Ordeal and Brotherhood ceremony texts don't need significant change- I think if you just dropped trying to associate the text to the Lenni Lenape, you're just representing a generic legend and legends are by nature not factual historical recitations. The Order itself can endure in a manner that Goodman and Edson envisioned. It's not
  3. The National Planning Meeting took place in December, where the new National Chief & Vice Chief, as well as the two Region Chiefs, were elected. The overall business of the Order is discussed at the NPM, and any changes that impact the coming year are announced. They held a FB Live "Fireside Chat" on the final night to give highlights. It's been anticipated that the end of regalia is not a question of if, but when, so many were waiting for this NPM. Today, they sent an email out with summary:: https://oa-bsa.org/article/order-arrow-national-updates-2023?utm_medium=email&utm_campai
  4. To being the Scout Law into it - obedient. If the organization moves to strike regalia, going rogue is not exactly keeping to that point of the SL. At the end of the day, the AIA issue is one where we have to see it from the perspective of Native Americans, and Native Americans only. If we put a bunch of teens in clerical collars and had them start reciting a Mass, we'd have quite a few Catholics who would be up in arms. The breadth of what the OA was attempting with the "localized regalia" was a step in the right direction. Seeing just the comments in this thread make me recognize how necessa
  5. It's not the government so 1st A has no bearing at all. National can do whatever it wants with the OA, they own it (literally), just as they can do whatever they want with any other part of the BSA. The "should they" is always what will be up for debate. Right now, the only change that is certain is the length of time for an individual to complete their Ordeal from their election date is now 18 months. it was a "temporary change" since 2020 that it was extended from the normal 12 months to 24 months. Made sense while camps were shuttered, but not so sure why it was deemed as necessary now
  6. Sad day for sure. Expected announcements tonight that regalia of any kind will no longer be permissible. Also that the 24 month window to complete Ordeal from election date will be permanent. A lot of us are questioning exactly what it is we are trying to keep alive at this point. I'm interested to see if they make any comment on the proposed idea of eliminating the Ordeal overnight - that's pretty much the deal breaker for me.
  7. This is not helped at all by the "linked unit" option. As others have stated, there are far too many (and really, only 1 is more than enough) units that on paper claim to be separate units, but just have the girls as a patrol within the single troop. Our council has 28 girl troops, and as of mid-November, about 1/3 were slated to not be able to re-charter because they had less than the five active youth.. Of those girl troops that I have some level of interaction beyond just knowing what town they are from- most of my interaction is from within those also involved in Venturing or OA, either f
  8. Keep in mind, Family Life used to be Citizenship in the Home, so really you can just roll that in as well
  9. The BSA HA have age requirements for most of their adventures, so you do want to research that. Philmont, for example, your 11-12 year old scouts are not going on the treks with your 16 year old scouts, so be prepared for that. If the troop has never done an excursion, my first advice to you is start planning now for 2024, not 2023. You need to know you have solid commitment before you start trying to get into a Philmont lottery. Also, watch the "crew size" on the HA bases- those do generally also have to include two adults- so, if you thought about Out Island Adventure at Seabase, for example
  10. Same here. Charters were extended, but the annual participant registration fee was not given extension.
  11. If you are a member of the OA, check out the opportunities available to only OA members at each of the HA bases. Special pricing, and special programs available only to youth OA members.
  12. I have a friend who ran into as issue a few years ago on a boat trailer that someone gave to him that had been sitting in their yard for years. He had to pay for a title search, which takes time, and then once that was completed the state issued a new VIN and title with that VIN. Different states have different rules, so a trip to your RMV might be the best way to get all the answers you need and save you a whole lot of headache. An hour of your time and an extra $75 spent that saves you hours of dead-ends might be the better value for you.
  13. When New England Base Camp began in earnest, bullet points would get whispered about how much interest there was from young boys and girls and their parents about "what Scouting had to offer", and how much the BSA should be learning from the feedback. I'm sure those kids, both boys and girls, did and do like a half day of lighting fires, throwing tomahawks, shooting BB guns, having chicken nuggets/tater tots cooked for them at the kitchen, moving from one program area to another with their parent when they are ready to move on, etc. Does any of that actually translate to whether they would hav
  14. Last I checked, Friendly/Courteous/Kind are still three points of the Scout Law. If you can't sit and have a civil conversation with someone you disagree or see eye-to-eye with, you really are not following the Scout Law. That's the point I would emphasize.
  15. This is the reality- we became so focused on advancement as program, the organization became less about time spent in the outdoors. The skills learned were of practical nature to the environment we were in. As a youth in Scouts, I slept in a cabin maybe three times. I slept more times in a tent on top of snow than that. We didn't have "trail to First Class" at summer camp. The Troop only had two stoves, so cooking over the fire was the norm. We had a blast, and were dog tired by the end of our weekends. Checking off the boxes in the handbook was the last thing on our minds. I don't know a
  16. Sorry, but I would never agree you must use that structure. My son had zero desire to be in Cubs. He observed the Den of his school friends in Cubs, and saw it of no interest. First troop he joined, SM (who had never been in the program, he took what he learned from the BSA training and what his wife, who had been a Cub leader told him) wouldn't let my kid go to summer camp (assumed it wouldn't be enough time for my son to prepare between when school was over and my son could officially join the troop and when camp began). My son spent the summer reading the BS handbook, learned the Law
  17. If you assume all troops place all newly joined Scouts into a "New Scout Patrol", then you might be right. I have never been in a unit that would take a newly-joined 14 year old and put them into a NSP. Frankly, with the current YP tenting age requirements, you really can't. We'd always put them into the age appropriate patrol they joined, and it was up to the other kids in that patrol to "bring them up to speed" and teach them. If the kid wanted to advance, the PL and other patrol members helped to teach them skills. I don't agree it is inherently difficult for a kid to join at a later a
  18. Considering the cloud under which the dissolution would occur, I couldn't see it gaining massive support to give CC recognition to a new organization(s) immediately. I think you'd have to see the new organization(s) prove themselves over several years to get to a CC stage. I personally don't think we'd see just one cohesive organization rise from the ashes. I think tribalism will direct there being multiple. Those who don't agree with there being a faith requirement could splinter, those who still don't agree with girls and boys being in the same organization could splinter, those who bel
  19. I don't have anything to add on the specific cases, but that was the prompt to change that NYLT courses are required to have a two SMs now, one male and one female.
  20. My sons unit allowed any type of green pants/shorts, so if the parent bought a pair of "no-name" or designer name pair of dark green pants, those were perfectly fine. They did not require the actual BSA pants at $50. With Cubs, being navy blue as the color, I would never ask a parent to spend the money for the official shorts, I'd tell them to go to Walmart and buy the $15 navy blue cargo shorts.
  21. Sadly, I have great concerns on the future, because I don't for a second believe the institution of the BSA is truly going to learn anything from what we are currently going through and change itself. They had significant staff reductions, but the moment they have the chance, I believe they will begin increasing staff again- and not always for what the volunteers/units need, but for what National wants. My own council began hiring again late last year, but not to place individuals in the four open DE positions, but in "membership"- which mostly consists of individuals at the council level that
  22. Correct. You can't exclude any active Scout from participating in the election. Official rules: "In Scouts BSA troops, Venturing crews, and Sea Scout ships, every registered active member of the unit under age 21 at the time of election is eligible to vote in an Order of the Arrow unit election; this includes assistant Scoutmasters who are 18, 19 or 20 years old." Our elections teams are instructed to use some judgement on suggesting that Scouts can not turn in a ballot if they desire- aimed for the first year youth, so long as they make up a small fraction of the eligible youth that are prese
  23. I stopped giving anything to FOS years ago. If a Scout needs a new handbook, I'm happy to pick one up for them on my trip to the Scout Shop. Kid needs $10 to buy a leather working kit at camp, I'm cool with reaching into my wallet. Camp needs brake cleaner and lubricant at the rifle range? Check, I'll pick some up and bring it down. Sports needs new soccer balls that will actually hold air? Check, I can help. But, give $ direct to FOS? Nope. Its whole premise was to get contributions from those OUTSIDE of Scouting.
  24. How the Lodge functions operationally can vary, and a lot can depend on the "human capital" factor - though a lot can depend on being stuck in the "we've always done it this way" mode. With your first point, if the Lodge truly has embraced the Chapter usage, it is perfectly fine for Chapters to function fairly independent and recruit their own Chapter ceremonies team, conduct induction weekends themselves (or team up with another Chapter to conduct a joint weekend). Greater Tampa Council is just one example I am aware of that does this. The OA Lodge is supposed to give "service" by "camp
  25. It has been the toughest part for me to reconcile throughout this, and left me entirely questioning if I should continue to stay involved, is knowing that the BSA was not requiring disclosure to law enforcement in most cases when a credible incident was reported to them, nor notifying other parents of kids in those units. Leave No Trace was uncomfortable to watch, and hearing the very person who was in the position that received those reports for decades say the organization didn't want to have a part in damaging these men's careers or personal lives made me yelp.
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