MikeS72

Exactly why skipping this particular requirement can have unintended and deadly consequences. I took longer than expected to reach First Class, precisely because when younger we did not live near enough to a pool to learn to swim. If it had not been a BSA requirement, I would never have bothered to learn; however, it was, and while it took a while, I did learn. I also earned my Eagle when there were not alternates to swimming or lifesaving merit badges. While I have never had to perform a water rescue, I firmly believe every Scout should know what to do in and around water.

With any luck you could find information at National Council. They do maintain a database of Eagle Scouts, although some records were lost in a fire a number of years ago. Worth a try though.

As I am sure you know, your commissioner has things a tad bit confused. At least at this time, no one should be 'adding girls to their troop'. Those COs who choose to take in girls must do so by chartering a separate all girls troop. As several others have stated, I do not see a big rush of girls joining at the troop level. Once we get a few years in, and have girls crossing over from packs, I am sure that will change. I am leaving the house shortly for a district school night presenter training, and should have an idea how things will look in our district, based on how many packs will be admitting girls, and whether it will be as a girl only pack, or a co-ed pack with girl only dens.

Based on the picture you attached, this is more likely a 70's shirt. While I no longer have my very first uniform, (from 1964) I do know that it was a much heavier material than the one shown. The 60's shirt I first wore also had a wide pleat in the middle of the pockets which made it real fun when sewing on patches. You do not seem to have gotten uniform pants along with the shirts. If you had, the 60's pants had the button down flaps with red piping. We do see a few camp staff wearing the 70's uniforms here, with a pretty fair number wearing the older 80's pants/shorts with either the original tan Oscar De Laurenta shirts or the current one. I wore my 60's uniform to Cub Scout Day Camp this year, and got quite a few comments from the boys on how much they liked the old style.

I have my Life patch (1970) on a vest. It was indeed just a heart, no OD rectangle or square like the other rank patches of the era. Much tougher to hand sew and keep it straight.

The Scouts BSA shirt was a 70's shirt. (did not stay in circulation very long) I have one hanging in my closet.

I have read through this entire thread, and waited for a little more information before hazarding a guess as to what the problem here may have been. Your comment that his 18th birthday was June 9th means that unless a specific request for an EBOR past September 9th was filed, that would be the most likely reason for any denial. That denial would not be for an ECOH, but of the Eagle application itself. You have stated that the SM gave him a plastic bag with his Eagle medal and patch. Did he also receive an actual, legitimate, Eagle certificate from BSA? As was stated earlier by @Eagle94-A1, if the EBOR was more than 90 days past his 18th birthday and the proper extension paperwork was not filed, someone may not want to admit to that oversight. If that is the case, I would hope that it could be worked out, especially if someone in the troop or district is the one who neglected to file the paperwork, rather than your son being the one who did not file. I look forward to hearing what you are able to find out, and what the final resolution may be.

It is very much the camp staff's problem, particularly when they were presented with a copy of the court order. As to enforcing that court order, if need be, it is enforced by local law enforcement. While that may sound like a drastic step to take, it is far less drastic than the father arriving to find his son gone, and never seeing him again. It is not unusual in this day and age to deal with these situation every new school year, and yes I have had to tell a parent that the court order the school has does not allow us to release a child. Not the most pleasant conversation to have, but still less unpleasant that telling the custodial parent that we do not have their child.

As an educator, I have made all of my staff aware that in our state we may not deny any parent access to their child, unless we have a copy of a court order restricting said access. In such a case, knowingly ignoring that court order could not only jeopardize the safety of the child, it can (and likely will) jeopardize that individual's job. Not against your requests, they violated a court order by allowing access. As @shortridge stated above, you need to contact your Council, to ensure something like this does not happen again.

Hand sewing needles do not do well with those heavy plastic backing either. I broke countless needles trying to get them through the backing, which is one reason I bought the sewing machine. I use a clear filament thread, so you do not see any stitching, and you can adjust the size of the stitch so it is easy to remove if and when needed.

We did our first of 2 summer camps three weeks ago. Seven out of the twelve boys who attended are new to the troop since February, and participated in the camp's Trailblazer program. They spent a good portion of the 'instructional day' working on Second Class & First Class requirements. They also had time in the middle of the day for merit badges, most of them earned 2 for the week. I say most of them, as this camp is, thankfully, a stickler for completions being actually earned. A couple of the younger boys, along with some of the older ones, came back with incompletes that they will have to finish back home. One of the things they really enjoyed was the 'troop time' activities each night after dinner. They went on a long swamp trek, which I had better sense that to try; they did mountain biking, zip lining, archery, rifles, shotgun, and much more - all things they chose to do. One of the highlights of the week was a very impressive Native American Pow Wow. We are leaving at 6am for our second trip, this one an out of state camp that the boys chose. It has an excellent reputation. Hopefully they will have as much fun there as they did locally.

Goo Gone will do a pretty fair job, although you may need repeat applications and some scrubbing with a soft brush (toothbrush works well). You could also give Goof Off a try. It is a similar product, but worked pretty well for me, after finding that our Scout Shop used a spray on adhesive before sewing on the council patch, and the international patch. I had to move that dreaded little purple guy to sew on knots, and found the residue. Not a happy camper! I discourage parents from ever using Badge Magic, even to the point of offering to run the patches on my sewing machine.

I had the same situation when I got back involved in my great-nephew's pack. I had been inactive for a number of years, and was accepted into the lodge after providing the date I went through my ordeal, and of course, paying dues. In many instances, there has to some element of trust; particularly if you do not have old membership cards for verification. In my case, it was a little easier, as while I did not have the 50 year old membership card, I did have my Vigil Honor certificate to use as verification.

Should I mention how much I enjoy 'winter camping' here in Florida? Coldest I have run into here with Scouts was a 27 degree night on an OA weekend. (did see plenty of cold in Colorado, however)

I find that many Scouts also struggle just to get a properly built fire lit. We were at summer camp last week, and after multiple failed attempts, I showed them a correctly built fire, which lit on the first try. As I laid the first bit of kindling, one of them remarked 'Look, he's doing it the way they showed us in Vanguard (second class skills)'. He sounded surprised that what they had been taught earlier in the week actually worked. p.s., I agree with your assessment of state fire bans. Here in FL it is often hard to find a campsite that will allow open fires.