CalicoPenn

My thoughts on this is that the press often brings up the exclusionary policies because no other organized group represents "America" better than the Boy Scouts (not even the Girl Scouts, American Legion, VFW, etc). In our collective American subconscious, the BSA represents the Human element of Baseball, Hot Dogs, and Apple Pie. It seems to me that when the press is bringing up the exclusionary policies of the BSA, they are't attacking "traditional American values" per se but are pointing out that as America has evolved over time, our values have evolved and changed, and that the Boy Scouts

All this teeth gnashing over the "what if" bumping off of Hitler and/or George III and if it's ok to bump off Hitler but not George or is that hypocritical - and in the end it's all meaningless twaddle. You're assuming that history would have changed for the better had Hitler been assassinated - allow me to suggest that such an action may have, instead, allowed someone else to ascend to power that was even more of an idealogue than Hitler and this person would have prevailed instead of losing. It's not that big of a hypothetical stretch, either - it's known that Adolph had some of his inner

This thread should be re-titled WTH??? I skimmed through the "by-laws" of the Shawnee Lodge. Mark, I assume from your comment on the pre-ordeal sleepover that you are not a member of the OA yet but have been "elected" and are getting ready to do the ordeal. Once you have competed the Ordeal, I hope you'll follow up with National OA (you can use the guise of being a new OA member curious as to why the Shawnnee Lodge's "policies" don't match National's. Here are some things I found in my quick skimming in these By-laws that are totally contrary to the policies of the Order of the Arr

As I see it, the key word in your question is "intentionally". As it's a hypoythetical question, I'd like to assume that means the boys had a choice between someone who has proven to be a leader or has leadership potential, and someone they knew to be the "class clown and screwup" and they deliberately chose the screw-up because they thought it would be funny. Without taking away from the other suggestions of making sure to mentor and work with this new SPL, I'd also make sure that as adults we weren't stepping in to make sure things happen that are supposed to happen if there is no effo

At the risk of sounding defeatist, it sounds like this Troop's time is up. I applaud you for stepping up to the plate and taking on the SM role (btw - Welcome to the Forum) but that shouldn't mean you spend your time banging your head against the wall. A Troop with 1 Scout showing up for meetings? No planning by the Boys and no proper support by the Committee? You could try (as I'm sure others will suggest) getting the Committee Members to take training so they know what the game is all about - and it's not about the boys being entertained. You should definitely tell the committee tha

Gazing into my crystal ball, I see the next big OA Ordeal project at summer camps all across the country - installation of solar powered cell phone chargers in every camp site with the capacity to charge up to 20 cell phones all at one time. Rather than ban cell phones, take the troop camping to places where the cell phones just won't work. As for "emergency use" - remember that story last year about the two former scouts who rescued a woman who was lost in the woods? If you'll recall, they hiked out to get help - not opened their cell phone. Even if they had a cell phone with them, it

I'll continue my recently started quest to read all of the Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee mysteries written by Tony Hillerman. I plan to re-read some of the Anna Pigeon mysteries by Nevada Barr (set in various National Parks, Anna is a Law Enforcement Ranger). Also on the re-read list is A Density of Souls and The Snow Garden by Christopher Rice (Anne Rice's son). On the non-fiction front, a re-reading of William Least Heat-Moon's Blue Highways around weekend campfires is sure to happen. The Journals of Patrick Gass (a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition), Into Thin Air (Jon Krakau

Dues - if your Troop collects dues from the Scouts every week, then yes, if a Scout misses a meeting, he should be paying two weeks worth of dues at the next meeting. Weekly dues aren't meeting dues (pay only for the meetings you attend) they are weekly dues, payable every week, whether attending the meeting or not. (My troops never collected weekly dues - we relied on our fundraisers, and only collected annual registration fees). The Books - YES - the books should be open for view by parents - the only reason not to open them to view by the parents is if you're trying to hide something

A couple of thoughts: Print out the Eagle Scout list from Wikipedia and show it to Mom. Ask her if she would like to see her son join the ranks of these men someday - if she says yes, remind her that they all had to go camping to get there, and that Johnny will need to do so too - heck, if she remembers "Who's The Boss", that goofy television show with Tony Danza, point out Danny Pintauro's name on the list (played Jonathon) and tell her if he could get his Eagle, then Johnny certainly can. Talk to Johnny's football and karate coaches - any chance they may have been in Scouts and ca

I'm with Beavah on this one - the people who were out of line were the Committee Members. Patrol organization is not the purview of the Troop Committee. Nor is it the purview of the Scoutmaster Corps. It is the purview of the SPL and his PLC. I have to say upfront that if I were in the SPL's shoes at this point, the Committee would no longer have to worry if it would lose little Joey because little Bobby, whom he doesn't get along with at school was assigned to his patrol - they'd have to wonder why their SPL has suddenly stopped attending meetings and outings and perhaps why they ju

I think we've discussed this before - National seems to consider "active" to be synonomous with "registered", not with quality/quantity of "activity", and has used the appeals process in the past to bolster this position. Since this seems to be the position of National, then "Be active in your troop and patrol for at least 6 months as a Life Scout" would be properly read to mean that they have to wait 6 months from the time they earn Life to the time they can earn Eagle - and they must be a dues paying registered member during this time. Your troops policies? They don't apply - they would n

Not a go-getter? Had to push and prod? And yet he still earned his Eagle? How many go-getters fail to earn their Eagle? Many, I'm sure. So what if he got his Eagle, and other ranks, through fits and starts - he still earned his Eagle - and you should be celebrating the fact that you were there to push, prod, and cajole him into trying - and succeeding. How many times on the forum have we heard of Eagles earning their rank despite the actions of their Scoutmaster, or some other leader. Clearly, this lad earned his Eagle BECAUSE of his Scoutmaster and Committee Chair. You should be proud

Seems to me they should face forward and salute as the flag should be carried through their ranks and placed in standards in front of them - once the flags are placed in their standards, they should say the pledge - since the flags are now in front of them as they are facing forward, there should be no need to twist their bodies or heads - the Senior Patrol Leader and the Color Guard, who should be up at the front, should fully turn however is necessary to face the flag when saluting and saying the pledge. There is no reason for the Scouts to face the flag and follow it as it is being carried

Packsaddle - there are plenty of prohibitions and limits to the liberties of the people in law - this latest SCOTUS ruling is just one of those many - but the key is its in the law - not the Constitution. There are no prohibitions and limits to the liberties of the people (except perhaps Presidential term limits which arguably prohibit us from re-electing a President for a third term) in the Consitution - only in the laws. The laws may be found to be Constitutional, but they aren't enshrined in the Constitution, and are thus easy to repeal or change. Eamonn - I had to read about Miller

In my troop, there were three "ceremonies" of recogniont. The first was between the Scout and their own religious institution, where they were generally presented the award at one of the churches own service. The second was at the next Court of Honor, where the religious award knot would be presented. THe third was on Scout Sunday - the troop was sponsored by the men's club of the local community (non-denominational, though mostly protestant) church. On Scout Sunday, no matter what church we went to on a regular basis, all of the members of the Troop attended service, in full uniform, of t

I just have to point this out, only because The Scout asked a hypothetical about an Eagle Scout, specifically himself, starting a religion where the divinity of his pet hamster was central to the religion. It's been done. Some of you may have heard of the Pastafarian Movement. It gained some notice when the state school board in Kansas was proposing to add Intelligent Design to the curriculum and open the curriculum to other religions to present their creation viewpoints (presumably to douse any constitutional issues). The creator of the Pastafarian Movement wrote to the Kansas sch

It's quite possible that the Scouting Parent and the COR just aren't aware of the rules about Scouts and Political Campaigning. Given that this person is running for Judge, I'm sure that once they are told what the rules are, they'll understand. If they don't understand, then I'd wonder if the person is cut out to be a Judge. I'd let the COR and the Scouting Parent know what the rules are and leave it at that. CalicoPenn

gwd-scouter - Wow - that's all I can say - Wow! You really are doing it right. That's exactly the response that should come out of a BOR. Congrats!! CalicoPenn

Patrol decided to make blueberry pancakes. Scout volunteered to be the cook. He prepared the pancake batter then stirred in the blueberries. Batter turned green - Scout forgot to drain the blueberries. Had the blueberries been canned in water, it wouldn't have mattered much - so the pancakes were green - call then St. Patricks Day pancakes - but no, the blueberries were packed in heavy syrup. Tried cooking them anyway - I've never had a worse tasting pancake in my life. Fortunately the other patrols had extra pancake mix so we just had regular pancakes. Calico

Why can't we attract and/or keep minorities? I suspect its nothing overt but is the subtle things - things that we don't make a big deal out of yet still lodge themselves in the back of our minds and makes us wonder if we're really welcome. For instance, African-American folk songs (or Hispanic folk songs, etc.). Not in the Woodbadge Song Book, not taught to Scouts, not part of the traditional campfire. Most of us won't see songs, or lack of songs, as a big issue, or even a small issue, but if you're part of a group who isn't represented by the songs, you'll notice over time, and start

Packsaddle, I won't be nervous just as long as you don't drive like my brother. CP

National and the Religious Relationship Committee of the BSA doesn't recognize it? Fine - and who cares. If I had a boy in my unit who earned the Hart and Crescent, I would go buy the religious award knot, and present it to him at the next Court of Honor. The heck with the politics of National - recongnize the Scout for his accomplishment. Calico

In general, the equipment is held in trust by the Troop, for the Troop's exclusive use. The Troop raises the funds, aquires, cares for, repairs, replaces and, if neccessary, disposes of outdated, irrepairable and unsafe equipment. In general, they do this without interference from the Chartered Organization. In general, only if the troop were to fold, would the CO take possession of the equipment. In all of the Troop's I was involved with, we kept an inventory listing of all the Troop's equipment. This is part of the Quartermaster's responsibilities. Like Lisabob, we had an adult com

Is the Scoutmaster storing the Troop's equipment in his garage? Then Yes - during the time it's being stored. Otherwise, its everyone's responsibility - the adults and the boys. Calico

Diversity isn't about quotas and mandates from on high. It isn't served by a rule that says for every 10 boys in a unit, the unit must have 1 boy of a different ethnicity, race, creed, religion, etc. What diversity is about is creating a space where other peoples "differences" are respected, where we learn from people that aren't carbon copies of ourselves, where people can be comfortable around other people, even people who are "different". The BSA has had a diversity component as part of the Scout Law for decades - as part of a Scout being Reverent, the Scout is to respect others reli