MikeS72

Good advice, with the exception of no smores! That combination of puffed sugar, melted onto a chunk of sugar, and sandwiched between two wafers of sugar is every Scoutmaster's favorite thing for his/her scouts to consume just before bedtime! 😂

I guess I must be a millipede also then, since I hit 29, started over from scratch, hit 29 a second time, and am now about to hit 9 for the third time.

The age restriction could have been a SM thing. As to two scouts per year, that would have depended on the size of your troop at the time, and whether it was prior to the elimination of the old quota system.

We have several scouts attending Camp Rainey Mountain in Georgia next month. One of the covid related precautions they are taking is that every scout and scouter must bring proof of a negative covid-19 test, dated within 7 days of arrival at camp. No negative test, no admission to camp.

My 1990 handbook does not even list the membership requirements, instead spending a lot of time on the Ten Induction Principals. As I mentioned above in my response to Mrjeff, the first requirement for election has always been the approval of your unit leader. It is entirely possible that some unit leaders would not approve anyone under the age of 14. Back in the days when there were unit quotas, we did tend to elect older scouts, but not because we could not elect a 12 or 13 year old. If you were in a small troop, you may have had 4 or 5 eligible scouts, but could only elect one. That one scout elected was, if other factors were equal, most likely to be the older of those eligible. In addition to going back through a number of my older handbooks, I have also scoured online resources, and have found nothing from at least 1968 on that restricted membership to those 14 and above.

I am a little older as well, having been inducted in 1969. If you had to be 14 to be elected, someone somewhere was doing it wrong. Since requirement #1 is and has been, unit leader approval, perhaps your unit leader at the time simply did not give his approval to anyone under the age of 14. I have the 1968, 1973, and 1975 handbooks in front of me. Requirements for election in the '68 handbook state: 1. Unit leader approval; 2. Camping requirement; 3. Unit quota; 4. Who may vote; 5. First class requirement (at that time a scout could be elected PRIOR to achieving First Class, provided he reached that rank within 6 months and it was also achieved PRIOR to induction). There were a few changes to election procedures noted in the '73 handbook, most notably the ability to complete First Class after election but prior to induction, and the change in the quota. Instead of the number of scouts in a troop determining the maximum number of those who could be elected, the number of scout in the troop determined how many of those eligible you could vote for. Everyone who received at least 50% of the votes cast was elected. The only election procedure that is currently in place that I would consider changing would be to bring back the unit quota. I am convinced that if we went back to making it a bit tougher to be elected it would mean more to those scouts when they do receive the honor, and they may be more inclined to be active members.

We are told here that units may meet, based on CO approval. In my troop's case, we may end up mid August before we are allowed back into the church for in person meetings. Looking at the possibility of some troop outdoor meetings until then.

Makes more sense, but that seems like an awfully high insurance fee. Even if your council activity fee matches the new $66, that leaves $48 for insurance. Ouch indeed!

What happened to the pronouncement last year that councils could establish an activity fee, but at no more than the amount of the national registration fee?? Or is that $180 the total cost of registration, activity fee, and troop dues for your individual unit?

While our council has not put anything out, and likely will not until after the vote, I have alerted my unit leadership, so we can plan now for how to cover the additional cost.

Which makes absolutely no sense at all. I have to provide a new copy of YPT every time I send in a adult app OR even to add a MB to my list that I counsel. This despite the fact that as an ADC, I can pull a YPT report for every unit in my district, and know within seconds if anyone in that unit has expired. I know that a council registrar has that ability for every unit in the council.

The only Eagle related phrase I dislike more than 'getting Eagle" is when people refer to it as they 'Eagled Out". I would hope that many (most really) Eagle Scouts who have not yet reached their 18th might choose to stay in their units and give back to those younger scouts who will benefit from their experience guidance. I even winch at the phrase 'he aged out'. He (or she, soon) may transition from scout to adult; nothing in the program says you reach your a 18th birthday and are suddenly 'out' of scouting.

Amen. As a scout going to summer camp in the mid to late 60's, pretty much everything you did was outdoor related with the exception of the handicraft area. Pioneering, cooking, camping, water sports, shooting sports. No one went to summer camp to sit in class and talk any of the citizenships. Two years ago I volunteered to be the MB counselor for 6 scouts who signed up for Chess MB. I could not fathom why anyone would come to camp to do chess! (although it did get me 2 hours each afternoon in the most air conditioned room in the camp - June heat and humidity in FL - that air sure felt good)

Hey now! Some of our cubbies are taller than me!😅

I registered as an ASM for the first time in 1971. Just a simple adult registration, did not specify position (other than the fact that 18 I could not be a SM) In today's world, I had to fill out one adult app (with YPT certificate attached) as a Unit Commissioner, another as a Den Leader, another as a MB counselor, again as an ASM, and once more as ADC for roundtable. I would have had to do another to change designation in the pack from DL to committee member, but I made that change when doing online recharter, which is the only time the change can be made without another paper form. Every one of those also required YPT certificates to be attached, even though council personnel can see online when I did YPT and when it expires. Definitely needs to be simplified.

OA has been around almost as long as the BSA has. I would agree that there are problems with maintaining the type of active membership that it once had, but that is a solvable problem. I the 51 year mark as an Arrowman on the first of this month. For those of us who have been members that long, we know that it was not a given that you were elected upon reaching First Class and having the required days and nights of camping. OA was an honor camper organization, and it was much tougher to get into than it is today. While there have always been those who never participated in a chapter or lodge event after completing their ordeal, the fact that there were limits on how many scouts could appear on a ballot, and then a limit on how many of those scouts who could be elected, made it more meaningful than many scouts today would consider it to be. A return to those limits on elections would go a long way toward restoring the prestige that wearing the lodge flap carried. It would take time, but it would happen. Someone with the power to make those changes needs to remember that there is a big difference between quantity and quality.

I read an article the other day in which one of the plaintiff's lawyers was discussing council assets. His basic premise was that if every council does not turn over an accounting of all their holdings, they will file multiple suits against every council in a state which will allow them to do so. Some have already started to file against councils this week. They see $$$ and they think they see blood in the water. While I feel for those people who were genuinely harmed, I wonder if any of them realize that when all is said and done, they will receive a miniscule portion of any settlement amount, with the lawyers raking in billions for themselves.

The beret and Dracula have one thing in common - neither will ever die!😁

Had a campaign hat back in the day as well. Wore it along with the dark green Leadership Corps shirt on Woodbadge staff back in 1974. Had to borrow the shirt from a 14 year old scout, who was a bit bigger than me at the time.

Still have it!

If that is the criteria that councils use to determine whether they will open summer camps, most if not all will drop out in column one: "Will the youth program or camp limit attendance to children and staff who live in the local area".

Our council (Central Florida) has stated multiple times that all fees will be refunded for weeks cancelled by the council (still have a target date of July 5 for camp to open), or if families choose to cancel themselves. I can only imagine the fallout in any council that chooses to cancel summer programs at any level, and then attempts to keep people's money. We normally have a group attend our local camp in June, and a group go somewhere out of state in early July. Our June week has been cancelled, and will result in refunds. As of today, our out of state week is still on, though several families have withdrawn. I am a little leery of the ambiguous wording on the out of state camp's covid-19 information page: Hopefully there is not a disconnect between 'we will be flexible if necessary' and giving full refunds to scouts who are unable to attend.

A quick search gave the correct spelling as Yves St. Laurent. Didn't need to search the fact that it was Oscar De La Renta who did the 1980 redesign. While many fellow old timers complain about the redesign, and in particular the epaulets, I liked them, as I was constantly having to adjust my sash at OA events. That is probably an unintended benefit, but one I welcomed. While my troop does not wear the neckerchief, I do have quite a few, going back well over 50 year. I do still occasionally wear them when in one of my 60's/70's uniforms. Still have my very first one, from '64, although it is no longer in wearable condition.

As both a First Aid MBC, and a long time Red Cross instructor, I frequently tell scouts that I consider FA to be the most important MB they will ever earn. While many badges will lead to lifelong hobbies and interests, FA has the potential at any time to save a life.

They are on ebay all the time. Here is someone selling a pair of size 12. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Official-Boy-Scout-Youth-BSA-Pants-Size-12-Waist-26/233571522101?hash=item3661f29635:g:BbUAAOSwmj5ed97G