MikeS72

I was a part of our chapter ceremonial and dance teams for 6 years, from 1968 - 1974. During most of that time Arrow of Light was not around yet, but even once it was, I do not ever recall our chapter being asked to conduct an AOL crossover ceremony. Back then, all of our regalia was personally owned. However, that did not mean that we could go against National or Lodge policy with it's use. I agree with both @SR540Beaver and @HashTagScouts, that as members of the OA, who should be the best of the best, no chapter should say National has no right to tell me what to do, partic

Been there, done that many a time both as a Scout and a Scouter, but only once below freezing since becoming a Floridian. We will be backpacking this weekend, with daytime temperatures expected at 81 on Saturday.

Interesting article, but I swore after leaving Colorado for Florida 26 years ago that I would never set foot in that awful white stuff again! 😁

There was extensive thread here a few months back about the new policy concerning Arrow of Light ceremonies performed by OA chapters. It included a couple of videos of the approved ceremony. The key here, and it caused a bit of confusion when posted a few months ago, is that the no Native American imagery is in regard to OA chapters performing Arrow of Light ceremonies for Cub Scout Packs. At this point in time, it does not remove the NA aspect for Ordeal, Brotherhood, or Vigil Honor ceremonies, OA call out, etc. Our chapter ceremonial team just performed a Brotherhood ceremo

@MattR bottom of the opening slide showed it as copyright BSA 1978. I have seen many real life versions of that SM over the years, all of whom were sure that they were doing things the right way. It takes a lot of effort to step back and let Scouts make mistakes. I have told them more than a few times when they forget to pack something or don't set up the way I would, if it is not life threatening, I not going to step in and fix it for you; hopefully you will remember next time. I did have a little bit of a flashback when hearing that first little beep, and remembering how often I

@LeCastor I spent a week at one of the Atlanta Area Council camps, Woodruff Scout Reservation and compared to Florida in July, it was downright cold, at 42 degrees the first night we were there. Also spent about a week and a half on staff of a Woodbadge course hosted by New Orleans Area Council in '74.

9.0.2.4 “Give Leadership to Others …” “Others” means at least two people besides the Scout. Helpers may be involved in Scouting or not, and of any age appropriate for the work. In cases where just three people are not able to conduct a project to the satisfaction of a beneficiary, then more would be advisable. It may be, however, that a well-chosen project conducted by only three provides an impact not achievable with those involving more. One of the purposes for the project is to demonstrate leadership, but this could be considered a more important element, perhaps, for a Scout w

Also in the south, however our council camp is about 90 miles north of us. In the winter, that equates to about a 10 degree drop in temperatures at night. Many of our Florida born and bred Scouts do not handle anything below 75 very well, and do not own 'winter' clothing. At our chapter Ordeal weekend last January, we had several show up in shorts on Friday night, on a weekend when it dipped to 27 degrees that first night. We camp, hike, and backpack year round here. Much more comfortable being on the trail for three days in November or January's temps than July's upper 90's. By

Very true. I know that the Coleman tent will only last if I am careful with it, it is not really made for heavy duty use. The Big Agnes may have cost 10x more than the Coleman, but I know it will, taken care of, last many, many years. Doesn't hurt that Big Agnes has excellent customer service and backs their products to the fullest. I do see that with some of the cheaper tents that parents buy for Scouts, particularly in tearing them when being a bit enthusiastic about pulling on the tent corner rather than the stakes during take down.

When buying a tent I tend to look more at what type of camping it will be used for, rather than what type of weather. As weather here in Florida can be rather unpredictable at times, we should Be Prepared for anything it may throw at us. I also have no problem with Coleman, if it I am using it when we are basically 'car camping'. In those instances, comfort, particularly being able to stand up when dressing, is a big consideration. I have multiple Coleman tents that are used in those situations. I also have 2 one person Eureka tents, along with a 2 person (really more comfortable with

Was any of that time spent at Boxwell Scout Reservation? If so, when were you there? My first 4 summer camps were at Boxwell, followed by staffing in 72, 73, & 74.

Here is a link that may help. You may want to look into the Lone Scout Program https://www.scouting.org/commissioners/lone-scout/

My troop chose the beret because of the Army. I was with a troop on base at Fort Campbell, from 1965 - 1974. Back then, the only one's who wore berets were Special Forces. When we saw that we could wear that red beret, we were all over it.

Hey now! I wore that beret proudly in the early 70's, and am planning on wearing it (along with my '72 retro uniform) to Roundtable tomorrow night. I also have, and wear with it, one of the 60's garrison hats. Only time I wore the campaign hat was on Woodbadge staff in '74.

If we are thinking of the same infographic, as I recall, it was sent to Councils and shared on Commissioner pages as early as last April.

Has anyone registered a parent under the Unit Scouter Reserve (91u) designation? We have a parent with our Pack who shows on our roster in my.scouting.org as Unit Scouter Reserve. No one in the Pack has any idea why, and my thought is someone at the Council applied that position code, probably due to the application not being checked before submission. I know that the Unit Scouter Reserve is supposed to be for those who want to register, but are not registered for a specific position, and they are required the same background check and YPT requirement as anyone else. I have not been ab

It was made abundantly clear at the school nights I attended as a Unit Commissioner that they were signing up to be Cub Scouts, and a part of BSA. We had one school night where we were in the school cafeteria and the GSUSA folks were in the Media Center at the same time. We were instructed to make sure that we asked every parent coming in with a girl if they were there to join Cub Scouts or Girl Scouts. If they replied Girl Scouts, they were sent across the hall to the Media Center. No poaching, no confused parents.

Probably the majority of packs use a school year calendar. Our pack does, as do all the surrounding packs. They have 3 or 4 pack wide activities during the summer, in addition to CSDC, (bowling, movie night, etc.) but no den meetings or pack meeting. I am not aware of any troop in my area that does not use the calendar year. While we do have Scouts who miss things during the summer due to family vacations, we have a full slate all summer long, including week long summer camps both in and out of state.

I concur. On a side note, perhaps I will break out the old 70's 'Scout BSA' uniform for Roundtable this month; and yes, it will include my much maligned red beret!

With the pack, show and sell proceeds are divided by the number of Scouts in attendance and credited toward individual prizes. We also waive dues if they reach a preset sales figure, usually $600. Those sales also go toward what it takes to be able to pie a leader. With the troop, the Scout has 35% of their individual sales credited to their Scout account, which can go a long way toward paying for summer camp. Troop show and sell proceeds go into the troop treasury, and helps with paying for awards during the year.

Boxwell Reservation - Middle Tennessee Council, both as a camper and staff Salmen Scout Reservation for Wood Badge staff Broad Creek - Baltimore Area Council Camp La-No-Che - Central Florida Council Woodruff Scout Reservation - Atlanta Area Council

During our annual Commissioner Conference in Central Florida Council it was mentioned that we had the highest both the highest overall recruiting numbers, and the most girls joining in the country. I can't say how school visits went in other areas, but in our district, there was a particular emphasis put on this being the first time that girls have the opportunity to join Cub Scouts. Most of our school night sign ups had pretty close to half of the sign ups be girls. We picked up 11 in my pack, and we were not even close to the top pack.

You may have read that on one of the Scoutbook forums, but that, like these forums, often represent the poster's opinions or belief system, not official policy. It may not be a good idea for a spouse to be part of 2 deep, just as it may not be good idea to have spouse in key 3 positions, but I have never seen anything in writing from BSA forbidding it.

One came with the new red JacShirt I bought last winter.

Regardless of age, no one should do Wood Badge because someone else thinks they should. I took the course at 18, although it was a much different animal (pun intended) 46 years ago. As for SM specific and IOLS, if you want to be officially position trained, those are required. If JTE is important to your troop, having leaders position trained is important as well. As @Sentinel947 said, you may find yourself helping others who do not have your experience during IOLS. I came back into the program after a hiatus when my nephew was in Cubs, and moved into the troop with him. IOLS was not