mrkstvns

25 minutes ago, Eagle1993 said:

While I think it is foolish, the marketing argument doesn’t upset me.  The underhanded comments that BSA is not safe seems to border on slander.  It is definitely not scout like.  

 

I don't think it "borders" on slander, I think it is.  

It's also patently stupid because BSA has a long history of promoting youth safety with an established YPT certification program that is mandatory for adult scouters and a firmly defined set of safety policies set down in the published "Guide to Safe Scouting".  To imply that BSA is unsafe is irresponsible and completely wrong.

No, the marketing argument might not be upsetting, or even surprising, because marketing is a biased type of communication, but responsible leadership would have quashed such efforts and issued a retraction and apology to BSA.  

By George, that's an interesting question!

I imagine that there are many international scouting organizations with their own unique traditions. This is the first I've heard about St. George and UK scouting.

In the US, there are no celebrations or parades for St. George that I am aware of, and the only BSA acknowledgment of St.George that I can find is a religious emblem awarded to clergy and laity who promote spiritual development for catholic youth.  

See:
https://www.scouting.org/resources/relationships/st-george-emblem/ 

That sounds like a good plan. Garden of the Gods is a beautiful park and the drive from Colorado Springs to Philmont isn't particularly long.  

Are you planning to drive up to the top of Pikes Peak?  Did that with my son when he was about 10 and he really liked it. Amazing how warm it can be in town and then how cold it gets by the time you reach the peak...

It's possible that the church might have a record of it.

When my son earned a religious emblem through the catholic church, he needed to turn in paperwork to an archdiocese-wide catholic committee on scouting. They conducted boards of review with adults and scouts from many troops throughout the council and they kept paperwork signed by the adult counselor and by the parish priest. If your church did something like that, they might be able to "prove" you earned the award.

However, I agree with Liz:  "A scout is trustworthy."  If you know you earned the award, then just buy the patch whereever you can get it and wear it with pride. After all, you earned it and you know it.

On 4/24/2019 at 10:13 AM, qwazse said:

No joke. A friend was planning a mom's weekend away. They hiked into their site and before they finished setting up their tent, a bear lumbered in and made straight for the smellables which were sealed in a dry bag. They didn't even have a chance to get it out of their packs, he did that for them after tearing everything apart because - well, he couldn't smell exactly where the food was.

Too bad the bear didn't have the courtesy to wait until your friends got their food hung up in a bear bag. 

Super easy, super fun, everybody gets to "customize" their own dessert...

INGREDIENTS

• * At least 1 banana per scout
• * Your choice of toppings: such as
  •  Hersheys chocolate syrup
  •  mini marshmallows
  • fresh strawberries
  • peanut butter
  • chopped nuts
  • toasted coconut

DIRECTIONS

1. Slice a banana lengthwise, with peel on, then slice the inside of the banana lengthwise.
2. Place banana on a sheet of aluminum foil.
3. Stuff some toppings into the slit of the banana and top the banana with more toppings. Be careful not to overstuff the banana.
4. Wrap up aluminum foil.
5. Place on top of grill or in coals.  Heat until the banana is soft when foil pouch is poked.

COMBINATION SUGGESTIONS:

• Smore: chocolate, marshmallows, crushed graham cracker
• Banana Split:  chocolate, marshmallow, crushed pineapple, sliced strawberries
• Reeses:  peanut butter, chocolate
• Samoa:  chocolate, caramel, coconut

If you happen to live in the mid-Atlantic region, a great opportunity to get Orienteering requirements knocked out is to participate in the Baltimore Area Council's annual "Orienteering Day".  It's a huge event with hundreds of scouts competing against similar aged scouts from other troops to complete pre-defined routes. Troops can camp on site and make a weekend of it, and the camp is famous for their pit beef sandwiches if you don't want to mess with meal prep on event day.

The next event is November 2, 2019

http://www.baltimorebsa.org/programs-/orienteering-information/64896 

I sure wish my local council offered youth programs this awesome!

Kudos to the scouters in Baltimore who make that event happen, decade after decade!!!

On 4/28/2019 at 6:24 AM, rickmay said:

I see some scouts wearing state flag patches under the American flag--texas is a good example>>>is this authorized?

It should only be allowed for Texas since all other states are irrelevant.  😉 

My personal feeling is that things like a Thors hammer have no place on an official scout uniform, but are fine for the red "brag" vests, brag blankets, etc., just like the patches for commercialized places that scouts visit regularly.

I tell my son to only put things on his uniform that have the BSA trefoil on them and put everything else on his "brag" platform du jour. 

Most other scouts have enough bling that they don't need yet another irrelevant doo-dad, but if they choose to wear it, so be it.  Like others, I've definitely got bigger fish to fry.

If I were allergic to everything outdoors and all the fun activities that are the heart and soul of scouting, then I would NOT join scouting. 

Scouting is an outdoor program. Scouting helps kids grow and mature by placing them in normal outdoor situations and allowing them to find solutions to challenges. A scouting program that removes challenges and that removes every risk is a worthless program that does nothing to foster personal growth.

A scout who can't or won't engage in the program (or a parent who irresponsibly insists on "adapting" the program) just ruins the experience for everyone who DOES want legitimate outdoor experiences and challenges. 

Scouting is what it is, and let's face it, some kids just are NOT cut out to be scouts. 

A scout is courteous. That also means he (or his helicopter parents) aren't a PITA for everyone else in the troop.

Scouting is what it is. Some parents also aren't cut out to be good scouters....

21 hours ago, qwazse said:

• Ask at your district roundtable if anyone has a scout working on Orienteering MB who would like to set up a course for your troop.

I've seen permanent orienteering courses that were set up by scouts in local parks as an Eagle project. It's a great project, but unfortunately, they need to be walked and maintained periodically otherwise markers go missing.  People in your district will likely know about existing courses. 

The Orienteering MB booklet is indeed a good basic intro.  This short PDF can quickly give you the essentials:
https://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/images/uploaded/downloads/dev_poc_poc_webpage_how_to_set_up_poc.pdf 

6 hours ago, dedkad said:

Interesting about all the desserts people are talking about. None of the summer camps my son has been to in California allow food in the campsites because of the critters.

Yes, it's mighty inconvenient when the squirrels and chipmunks get into your snack supply...

For those who don't know what Venmo does ---- and for those naive users who think it's "safe", here's another eye-opening article that gives you a hint of what the app is REALLY up to:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/21/style/venmo-cheap-friends-transaction-history.html

1 hour ago, qwazse said:

My adult kids are all about the Venmo. Not sure how it would help a club or unit.

Venmo is a GREAT app. It lets identity thieves quickly and accurately profile its users spending habits and it makes privacy settings obsolete by letting 3rd parties override any settings you may make on your own account and device!  Wow!  Great stuff!  

When you use Venmo, you can instantly:

* publish all your financial transactions to the web

* let your neighbors monitor your spending habits so they can gauge how much you drink, who you spend time with, and many other things that are none of their business

* become an easy target for identity thieves in Estonia, Korea, and other 3rd world countries

Yes, Venmo is a VERY useful tool --- for CROOKS, SPIES, and HACKERS.   

6 minutes ago, TMSM said:

Council can ban skits? I think half of our skits could be banned if you applied this kind of logic. German biker gang, scout masters brain, Hanz the german, ugliest human. I could go on and on.

Micro-management of a troop that way is completely inappropriate.  

There can be no excuse for anyone at the council level doing such a thing.

15 minutes ago, Tpherr said:

Does anyone have a recommendation on a brand of trailer? We are buying a new trailer for our troop and all the reviews I see for trailer manufacturers are three stars or lower. 

I prefer to find a  site that has objective reviews (like consumer reports) but can’t find any

You're right....there aren't many good, solid, objective reviews of cargo trailers around, so probably the best thing is to find local dealers and just go see them in person and evaluate them based on your objective criteria: space, egress, weight, solidity of construction/materials, etc.

Don't forget to budget some $$$ to customize the trailer. Most troops like putting logos or slogans on the trailer and most build shelves and boxes into the interior to handle the kinds of equipment you want to carry. Some ideas for trailer customization are in the Bryan on Scouting site: https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2013/05/03/trailer-insides/ 

49 minutes ago, allangr1024 said:

You know, even though the BSA has been trying to get us to stop using the term "Class A uniforms"  and "Class B uniforms",  and instead use terms like "Field Uniform", I rarely hear the sanctioned terms, and much more often hear about Class A's or Class B's.

I think it's funny that BSA calls the Class-A uniform a "field uniform", yet when the troop goes out in the field for a weekend activity, it's the Class-B (i.e., troop T-shirt) that the boys wear.

The Class-A is more of an "indoor, don't get it dirty" uniform.

18 minutes ago, willray said:

You might want to look at the frequency of reported data breaches for the electronic systems before you trust them too much.  And that's just the reported ones.  Living on the side of the fence that has access to those databases, and can watch who else has access and what they're doing, I can assure you that there are an order of magnitude more unreported breaches than reported ones.  

You are very conservative in your estimates.

It is astounding how little the average American knows about information quality or cyber-security.  All of us could benefit from learning a bit more about issues surrounding privacy and cybersecurity. As technologies like AI and data mining become more prevalent, the issues only become more important.

47 minutes ago, TAHAWK said:

Fat was raw material for producing glycerin, in turn an ingredient in explosives and ammunition propellants.

I'll have to let the NRA know. 

After all, "When fat is outlawed, only outlaws will have fat."

A merit badge class revolving around designing a product for online sales might actually meet "Entrepreneurship" requirements pretty well. So, in addition to "Salesmanship" (as suggested by John-in-KC), you might want to take a look at "Entrepreneurship" and see if that's something you might also be interested in counseling.

2 minutes ago, John-in-KC said:

Let the boy have his money directly from you. Teach him the value of work. 

Agreed.

Gift cards and other gimmicks are an annoyance. Money talks...everything else walks.

3 minutes ago, TMSM said:

Chicago area council has 0 Hornaday advisors.

Who told you THAT?!?!

Call the Pathways to Adventure Council and ask to be put in touch with the Hornaday Committee Chair.  He'll steer you to local Hornaday Advisors...

4 minutes ago, TAHAWK said:

Our kids came up with a project to put warning signs  (epoxied over) ("DON'T POLLUTE OUR DRINKING WATER!] on street drains - pointing out where the drains lead and discouraging putting oil and radiator fluids down the drains.  Signs also warned that radiator fluid is poisonous.

Our troop's SPL recently did exactly that as his Eagle project.

An emerging area of concern is also household cooking grease being put down kitchen sinks. Many people think that this will be automatically filtered at the local sewage treatment plant, but the fact is that kitchen greases have been getting into water resources and causing bacterial growths damaging native aquatic life. An enterprising young scout could develop a Hornaday-eligible project around this kind of problem.

See:  http://ceasethegrease.net/ 

4 minutes ago, TMSM said:

Its hard to encourage Hornaday projects when you live in urban areas - less available advisors for sure.

Not at all "for sure".

Most of the large, urban councils have more Hornaday Advisors available than they have scouts who want to work on Hornaday projects.  I live in Houston; it's the 4th largest city in the country (and has the 4th largest BSA council in the country).  Our local council (SHAC) has some highly experienced, energetic outdoorsmen on its Conservation Committee. They maintain a list of Hornaday Advisors and also a list of Conservation Organizations in the region that are actively looking for scouts who want to do conservation service projects.  All a scout needs to do is call the council office and ask...

In many ways, urban areas have even more opportunities than rural areas. They've typically been plagued with industrial excesses, poor land planning and usage, and suffer the worst problems with over development, pollution, resource limitations, etc.  There's 8 categories in which Hornaday projects may fall. Some of these (like Forestry or fish and wildlife management) are well suited to scouts in rural areas....but many of the others (like hazardous material disposal, water pollution control, resource recover, energy conservation) are extremely easy to do in an urban environment.

If you're working at camp, then your tent is your home for several weeks. Make it your own!

I would get something fun that makes your friends chuckle appreciatively at your sublime wit.

When I was in scouts, one of my friends had a slightly twisted creative mindset. He showed up at camp with a doormat emblazoned with the Hertz rent-a-car logo. Why?  Who knows, but he was definitely the only kid with anything like it. I still laugh at the memory and remember that guy with a warm scout salute...