CalicoPenn

In my opinion, without proper instruction in the use of an axe AND a hatchet (hand axe), Totin Chip training is incomplete. Part of learning how to safely use the tools is learning which tools to use for a particular situation. You can't split logs with a hatchet (at least not safely) - and most people shouldn't use an axe to split kindling. The handle is too long and unless you have a lot of experience wielding an axe - it's just unsafe to do so. There is also different handle lengths to consider (a 3/4 or a full) and different uses of an axe depending on it's head. A single-bit

If I hear a boy say "my knife sucks", my first reaction isn't going to be to jump all over him for his use of the word. My first reaction is going to be to ask him why his knife sucks then ask what he's going to do about it once I get the answer. If he tells me it won't cut anything or is too dull, he's not going to continue to use the knife until he sharpens it. If he tells me the blade or the handle is loose, he's not going to continue to use the knife at all. An experienced Scouter would look beyond the word choices of the scouts (unless it's one of the really offensive words (ie Ca

Knowing what the vine looks like is as important to poison ivy identification as knowing what the leaves look like. At our cub scout day camp there was a hickory tree with a very healthy crown of leaves. A perfect place for getting under in a small shower, right? Except, the tree itself was dead. Snaking up the tree were a number of vines, all growing to the top of the tree. The vines weren't grape and didn't look like Virginia Watercreeper. The leaves covered the crown of the tree, and it once being a mature hickory, that put the crown of the tree about 90-100 foot up. It took bino

To the next available moderator, Please remove all of my post from this thread completely. Now that you have needlessly edited one post and butchered it in the process, there is no reason for them to remain. Its a real shame you didn't look at the OA Fact Sheet before editing the factual posting I provided. Calico

Nothing in my post is a secret or is to remain a secret to a parent or a Scout. In fact, an official Order of the Arrow Fact Sheet readily available to anyone through www.scouting.org (the BSA's official website)without any special passwords also lists exactly what I did about what occurs in the Ordeal. It is the ceremony that is the mystical part of the experience, not the Ordeal itself. You can view that fact sheet here: http://www.scouting.org/factsheets/02-512.html Take a look at the section titled "Induction". It is made public knowledge precisely because of concerns that Cr

I have some questions that might help answer your question a little better. Have the Webelos in the past typically joined one of the two Troops or do some join Troop "1" and some join Troop "2". If your pack considers itself a "feeder" Pack to one particular Scout Troop, then that is the Troop to approach about Den Chiefs. If your Pack is "feeding" both Scout Troops, then you should ask both Troops to consider supplying some Den Chiefs. From your post, it doesn't appear that either of these Troops is a "sister" unit (both sponsored by the same group). That being asked, I see no prob

Your son could not participate in the Ordeal (it's much more than just participating in a ceremony at the out of council summer camp because the Ordeal must be completed, per OA Policy, within one's home council's Lodge. The Scoutmaster should have informed your son and all the other elected Scouts about their election if they were going to miss the Call-Out Ceremony (It sounds as if it is the Call-Out Ceremony your Scoutmaster was going to surprise him at). Your son, and all the other Scouts have one year from ELECTION (NOT Call-Out) to complete the Ordeal. You need to ask your Scoutma

I think the "evolution" of Scouting from woods based to urban based in the 70's was a reaction to population patterns - that it happened after the "counterculture" was just a coincidence. For most of the countries history, the majority of of lived on farms and in rural areas. After World War II this pattern started to change. In the 1960's, this change was becoming even more evident. By the early 70's, the population was increasingly urban and our population was starting to increase tremendously. In the 1950's, the US population stood at around 150 million people. In 2000, the US populat

Nope, holding elections at one period per year isn't bogus. In fact, the OA encourages Lodges to hold elections during one period per year, and recommends that they be held before summer camp. Lodges choose the time of year for elections, and most lodges schedule the elections for the late winter/early spring season, sending election teams to the units during this time. Some good reasons for doing this is that most opportunities to complete the Ordeal start in May and run through September. Hold your election in October, and you have a long time to wait until the next Ordeal opportunit

Scott, I'm sure it has something to do with the use of liquid fuel. But - I have to tell you - I laughed out loud at the Coleman Lantern quip! Thanks!! Calico

Its ocurred to me that we're all missing the forest for the trees here. Yes, this article is critical of the BSA, is full of anecdotal evidence, has a specific slant to it (and I see that slant as being critical of the BSA not for the 3 G's or any other "political" reason but for its seemingly lack of concern for safety) - but while folks are focusing in on such issues as the 3 G's and if it's appropriate to the article (I agree with LongHaul - for the point this mention is making, it certainly is in context), or whether it's being unfair to volunteers/scouters, or whether Ms. McGivney has an

In all the discussion of what skills one needs to take youth into the woods, the big one that is missing is the one that we should have been learning starting with our parents and continuing forward. For simplicity's sake, most call it Common Sense - but anecdotal evidence suggests that so-called Common Sense isn't so common after all. My undergrad degree is in Environmental Education/Outdoor Recreation. Not only did I learn advanced outdoors skills, I learned how to teach them, and how to lead groups safely into the woods (do you know who is often called upon to teach certain outdoors

Don't forget: 7 to point out that the G2SS prohibits Scouts from climbing ladders to change a light bulb 3 to state that the G2SS is just a set of guidelines and since the prohibition of ladder use isn't in bold face type that it's perfectly ok for a Scout to climb a ladder to change a light bulb 14 to insist that the light bulb changing program be followed exactly 27 to say its okay to tweak the light bulb changing program just a little bit 9 to wonder where the patch a Scout earns for light bulb changing proficiency is placed 18 to ask if Cub Scouts can earn the

Go to your Chartered Organization Representative NOW and tell him/her what is going on. Either the COR will support you or won't. If you get any indication of any less than full support from the COR, then this is your sign that it is time to move on. Talk to the key leadership (Scoutmaster, key committee members). If you don't have their support it might be time to move on. This parent can hold as many "no confidence boards" as he wants - they just have no meaning unless that COR gives it meaning. This so-called no-confidence board can't remove you from your position, nor can the c

Interesting article and even more interesting responses. As a species, we tend to react pretty defensively when our particular ox is being gored. No one has said that anything written in the article is untrue. The anecdotal "blatherings" (don't you just love that term) are well documented cases, and not just merely the "heard it from a friend who heard it from a cousin who heard it from a neighbor" type of anecdotal evidence that is considered a major flaw in any good journalistic or scientific article. The bringing in of 2 of the 3 G's effectively calls into question the assertion by a sp

What can a Council do to a Troop that does not attend the Council's summer camp? Only one thing - refuse to recharter the unit - a short sighted move no Council would ever want to make. Other than that, the answer is "nothing". There is nothing in the charter, rules, regulations, policies, procedures, etc. etc. etc. that declares that Troops must attend their own Council's summer camp. So your troop should feel free to attend the camp of the Boy's choice. Hopefully, your SM & CC have the gumption to stand up to whomever is pressuring them and tell that person/those people to, politely

In my experience, I've noticed that lads are more likely to "play" with makeshift hiking staffs found along the trail than with permanent hiking staffs. Finding a stick on the ground seems to energize a lad's imagination (the stick becomes a sword, a gun, a Bo, etc.) while a permanent hiking staff is most often given the status of "Tool" and is therefore treated with the respect one gives one's tools. Certainly, if the play fighting is getting out of hand, we adults need to step in. The trick is trying to determine when play has overstepped its bounds. Rather than keep butting heads

Good Evening, Anne, I checked the National Park Service website for the St Croix Riverway and this is what they had to say - in red letters on their "river levels" page: "Notice: Water levels are at near record low levels on the St. Croix and Namekagon. Paddlers will need to stay in river currents to find the deepest water and use caution to avoid rocks, tree limbs and sandbars. Wading may be required to move between shallow spots." For the section you plan to canoe, they add: Interpretation of gauge readings: Depth in Feet Canoe and Kayaking Conditions Belo

Great accomplishment - congrats to the lads, their parents, and their leaders. In my opinion, it will be important in this ceremony to make sure each new Eagle Scout is recognized individually - that they each have an equal share of the spotlight all to themselves. This could be done by calling up each Scout, and his parents, individually, have a presenter introduce the Eagle by talking about the Scout's trail to Eagle and then present the Eagle Medal to the Scout and the parent pins to the parents. This could also be an opportunity for the Scout to present an Eagle mentor pin to his me

Lots of other "stuff" is starting to roll in on this - issues with UC's, etc. so trying to get back to your original question, with your further information. The Scoutmaster can certainly refuse to be "interviewed" (ie interrogated) by the EBOR. In fact, the Scoutmaster SHOULD refuse to this interview. The unit leader introduces the lad to the Board of Review and MAY choose to sit quietly in the corner if he desires - but he does not participate in the Board. He may be called upon to provide some clarification to a point, but he isn't interviewed. The Scoutmaster's statement of intro

Sorry, Vicki - your lodge's election rules are not in compliance with National OA Policy. National OA Policy on elections is stated quite clearly in the OA Guide for Officers and Advisors. Anything that deviates from this is "local option" and there is no such thing as "local option" when it comes to OA election policy (except for where elections are to be held - note it's where, and not how). Your lodge rules state that a boy must be in attendance at long term camp in order to be elected to the OA - this is simply not correct per National OA Policy. The policy is that there is a requi

Hillis, As I first started to reply, my thought was very much like yours - it's meant to prevent the use of illegal feathers - and since the lad is a legal possessor, the rule wouldn't apply to him. The I read the rule again - a little more closely. The rule is as I quoted it from the Guide for Officers and Advisers and is thus pretty clear. NO feathers, talons or parts of federally protected species of birds may be worn or used in Order of the Arrow. On other sites I found while looking into what others have had to say, I noticed that some state it as "No illegal" - which is as I rec

"For those working on the Astronomy Merit Badge, there will be a Full Moon viewing at 9:00 PM at the shower house"

Kahits, I can tell already that you are also going to make a great addition to the chapter/lodge teams. How do I know that? This sentence: "As for the drumming, I am hoping to help form a chapter drum group, which does not exist right now, of OA scouts. At conclave it was only adults who were doing the drumming, and that should change, if the boys are interested." Its refreshing to see that someone gets it - that the youth should be doing the drumming (I often see the adults doing the drumming at ceremonies). Passing the skills, and the responsibility, to the boys would be a

Congrats to you and your son and welcome to the clan. I'm glad to hear your son talking about how he can use his skills to assist the chapter/lodge, and that he's already thinking of the next step (Brotherhood). The first thing to determine is what is the style of regalia that his chapter/lodge dance team uses. If its similar to the regalia your son already uses, then he should be set. If it isn't, and he wishes to be part of the dance team, he might want to create a separate OA dance outfit to match what his brothers in the OA will be wearing. He should talk to the chapter/lodge