CalicoPenn

The question was asked a few months back about the embroidery running on the sashes and I haven't seen anyone touch on that. Back in the late 70's early 80's, we would tell folks the same thing - don't wash the sashes because the dye in the embroidery threads would run - we told them this because this was our experience with the sashes at the time - we saw quite a few pink-tinged sashes after they had been run through the wash. I general, embroidery thread is not washed after it has been dyed and will run when washed - for most applications, like patches, this isn't much of a problem, pa

My unit wore the Red Beret when it first came out (1972) - and in our district and council, we were one of the few for the first 4 years or so. Most units wore the field cap or no hats at all. The beret came out before the uniforms were redesigned in 1981 by Oscar de la Renta into the "French military uniform" and when worn correctly, looked sharp with the uniform of the 70's - especially with the forest green uniform shirt of the Leadership Corps (and Explorers) and the medium khaki pants of the time. The proper way to wear them is exactly as described in another post - square on the h

"We had a case where the boy was removed from Scouting because he was involved with a 17 year old girl when he turned 18 and didnt break off the relationship or resign his membership. He fought but lost." Wow - what a choice - Break up with your girlfriend or give up scouting. This is an unintended consequence of the youth protection policies. Did the girlfriend quit after this? Did their friends quit? Did the Venture unit survive? Was there a violation of youth protection that precipitated this? Surely, there is a way to handle this within the policy without forcing a boy to mak

>>Another question - is it appropriate, for me as SM, to ask the scout about the board of review process, and whether he thought he was treated fairly?

Back in the mid-80's, I attended a camporee in Maine. One of the units showed up with 4 patrols and a "patrol" of adult leaders - all with names that linked them together. The patrols were: Slimer's Brigade Friends of Caspar The Booberries Xmas Past, Present and Future (this was the 3 members of the Senior Patrol) The adults patrol name was (and if you haven't guessed by now, get thee to a video rental store): The Ghostbusters Calico

Quite a few people have asked for the details in order to properly answer but the following gives me all the info I need to opine that the BOR was flat out wrong to deny this boy's Eagle: "The offense (disclosed to the board in a reference letter, which was not intended to be a negative comment), was an egregious violation of "morally straight", by most measures, except maybe the moral standards of most teenagers these days, whose attitude is "stuff happens". The SM knew about it (as do all of the other scouts in the troop), however, it was felt it was "not relevant" and not important eno

PNWscouter: I take it your wondering about the swimmer test everyone takes at the beginning of the summer camp session and not the tests for rank requirements (once they take pass the rank requirement test, they aren't required to retake the test). If the scout "fails" the swimming test and is classified as a non-swimmer or beginner at summer camp, then for the duration of that session at summer camp, the scout is restricted from activities requiring swimmer status -- this holds true even for scouts that easily pass the swimmers test in a swimming pool. Others have mentioned t

I've not seen anything online like this. Try contacting your old lodge - they may have a record of the names. CalicoPenn Vigil - Lakota Lodge 175

Hmmm...These ingredients look suspiciously similar to Emeril's "essence" (not an exact match, but pretty close). Are we supposed to yell "BAM" when we add the spice mix? Or maybe Boom? CalicoPenn

"During the summer camp swim test, one boy refused to jump into deeper water and the other had to be hauled to the surface. The problem is that these boys do not have the swimming skills you describe, but conducting the swimming test allows that fact to be disguised." This is why summer camps do swim tests for all campers at the beginning of the week - a Scout (even a Scouter) may be able to pass a rank required swim test, or may have been able to earn the swimming merit badge but that doesn't necessarily mean he has the skills to swim in a lake. The scout may have been able to over

All the movies mentioned are great examples of movies with leadership roles, but almost all of them are much more suitable for adults - when I think JLT, I think 12-14 year olds - and you want movies that will appeal to them and will hold their interest. What about X-Men and its sequel, X-Men 2? How about one of the Star Trek or Star Wars movies? How about the Steven Spielsberg movie Hook, with an adult Peter Pan as a reluctant leader? CalicoPenn

"Its a creampuff question if - any reference to a higher power suffices as a definition for God, and/or duty to God becomes so personalized that no one is qualified to challenge the answer." The Scout Oath DOES personalize "Duty to God" - and as long as a scout has an answer that works for him you really can't challenge the answer. Lets look at what the Scout Oath says - the most important part that qualifies all that follows: "On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty" - Its all about "I" and "my" - MY best, MY duty - who is anyone else to stand up and tell a Scout what there duty

Someone asked a question some posts back that I don't think has been answered yet - and I'm really curious to know the answer. What would happen if a boy is asked "Do you believe in God?" and he answered no? Kick him out? Not kick him out but never advance him again? What is the purpose of asking this question, in this blunt way, if not to weed out the "undesirables"? Under the current national policies of the BSA, wouldn't you be required to kick a boy out of the scouts that told you he didn't believe in God (or some other higher power)? And if you didn't kick him out, wouldn't you

I'm trying to figure out the point of the question - is it to assert the right to have the jamboree at a miltary base? Question - what other groups have had large gatherings like the jamboree at a military base? Do you really want to go down the path of using the right to peaceably assemble to assert a right to meet on a military base? Won't that mean that the military would then have to open their gates up to any group that wanted to hold a peacful assembly on the base? Groups like the National Knights of the KKK, or (insert the name of your favorite "bogeyman" group here). Is that what

Full disclosure - I take along my lap top computer during my full week vacation/camping trips and use it about 1/2 hour per day to download and sort the days photos from my digital camera - after that, its back to the car (and I use a converter to recharge the lap tops batteries if needed while driving). On weekends, and I try to camp as many weekends as I can, the only electronics that comes with me (other than the aforementioned digital camera) is my cell phone which I leave off and in the car - I camp to escape from the technologic world, not to keep myself surrounded by it. TV'

District events are only as good as the amount of effort your unit puts in to it. The district "staff" after all, come from the units. Don't like the campfire at a camporee? Volunteer your unit to set up and run the campfire at the next camporee. Get a member of the troop committee or an ASM to volunteer to serve on the event committee. Challenge the district to do something different and come up with some ideas. Not all camporees need to be competitive - one of the best camporees I attended was themed around the cooking merit badge - every station corresponded to one of the requirem

Where to place the shark patch on the red jacket? How about with the nose coming up on the belly of the bull, as if the shark is about to take a giant bite of beef steak. Calico

Back when I was a scout (in the 70's), my troop banned hot dogs AND hamburgers on camping trips. Both foods are too easy to fall back on, become routine, and show a lack of creativity. The interesting part was how the troop leaders went about the ban. At a unit camping trip (so as not to hear any complaints about time restraints due to camporee activities) each patrol was break out the cost of each meal per person, and keep track of cooking times. The adult leaders did the same thing. The patrol menus all featured such gourmet fare as hamburgers for dinner and hot dogs for lunch, and the

I've read all of the posts on this issue and one thing stands out that I'm surprised no one has mentioned - the knowledge about this boys drinking is all heresay. No one has actually seen this boy drinking, at least thats the impression I get from reading the posting. Even the father's "admission" that his son has had a drink is heresay, unless the father actually witnessed the drinking. The claim is that it is common knowledge that the boy is drinking - but again, without a witness, without actual facts, the "common knowledge" is all heresay. Be very careful about using common knowled