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CalicoPenn

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Everything posted by CalicoPenn

  1. MinnSM, Don't give up - appeal - right away - you can wait for the written document if you want but you already know why the rank was denied. I doubt it will need to go any farther than Council - the Council has already made itself pretty clear - denial based on this lack of signature won't stand - its too bad the DAC didn't "get it". Call whomever it is in Council who made the original decision to have a BOR held and tell him the Board denied the rank for the reason you appealed in the first place. Then - and there is more to do - get your COR to call the District Chairman, expl
  2. Great - as if the uniform police were not enough - now we have to deal with the flag police (just kidding - big wide grin). The folks who have pointed out that the Blue Star doesn't belong on the flag are right - only Gold Stars are permitted by the regs. However (you all saw that coming, didn't you): in times of war (whether we agree with the war or not) this is one rule I wouldn't mind being bent if circumstances warranted. If I were the Scoutmaster of a Troop who had a leader or parent called to serve in Iraq or Afghanistan and the Troop decided to put a Blue Star on the flag whi
  3. I would hope the Scoutmaster would not resign - and I don't think anyone is asking him to - The Scoutmaster is threatening to resign if the Scout (more likely the Scout's mother) appeals. This is why my suggestion is to talk to the Scoutmaster and get him to a) calm down and b) understand that the Scout and parent have the right to appeal and he can not do anything about it - he can resign if he wishes but it doesn't change anything. If he is insistent on resigning if the appeal happens, then sadly accept the resignation and move on. Ed - just wanted to point out that in some states, gr
  4. Problem solved? I wouldn't say so - sounds more like taking the easy way out - and here's why - the stars are put there to honor a specific person in the military, not just whomever happens to be serving in active duty at the time. If no one in the current unit knows who the star was honoring, then that star should be retired. Not trying to bust your chops here Cigar (and thanks for serving!) - just trying to suggest the honorable thing for a Scout Troop to do. My suggestion is to keep trying to find out who that star was placed on the flag to honor. In the meantime, to honor you, a new s
  5. I'm going to make a suggestion no one else has up to now (though Beavah came close with the Venture suggestion): Your college has an Outdoors Club - join it - and join in on some of their activities - let them lead you for a while before you start to lead others in the woods - heck, get someone from the Outdoors Club to lead you and your friends on your next hike to Contentment Falls (tell them you're thinking of joining the club and want to experience a little about what its about and what you can learn from them) - You'll gain lots of experience in a safe environment from people who are alr
  6. A Blue Star would be attached to a flag to honor a person on active duty military service. A Gold Star would be attached to a flag to honor a person killed during active military service. I would suggest that you try to contact one of the troops own old-timers (ex committee members/leaders) to see if they can shed light on why there is a Blue Star on your unit's flag. If no one in the current leadership knows why it's there, then the reason for it being there may no longer be valid and it could be removed. Calico
  7. Sounds like a tough one because of the circumstances around it, but it really shouldn't be. The issue here isn't the lads felony conviction. The issue here is that the Board of Review refused to perform their duty. It sounds like the Board was trying to do right by Scouting and this Scout but went about it in the wrong way. If they were convened, as you state they were, then the refusal to perform the Board of Review may be tantamount to denial of rank and if so the Scout must be given written documentation of the denial with steps needed to correct the deficiency(ies) and informatio
  8. My opinion: I don't think I'd be going to far out on a limb to say that most of us think the explanation seems a bit silly to us. However, perhaps we should be cutting the officials quite a large bit of slack here - they know their community much better than we do and likely knew they would be in for it if they didn't take this action - by doing so, they could disarm those who would object to the Scouts being there by stating they were within the law, and could disarm the critics by stating that they didn't prevent the Scouts from setting up shop - we may not think so but it's probably a
  9. Time requirement for POR? Yep - the same amount of time as any other time requirement - if the requirement states serve 6 months, the time requirement is 6 months. Here's the rub, though - the requirements don't state that it must be the same position for all 6 months - they state serve in one or more POR's for 6 months - theoretically, a Scout could serve in 6 different POR's, one per month, for 6 months and meet the requirement but it's really written that way because sometimes someone might be elected to be SPL, having already served 4 months as a Den Chief, or Scribe, or whatever, and in
  10. You had a wise Den Chief ASM there, Barry - good chemistry between the Den Leader and the Den Chief is the key to a successful Den Chief/Den relationship - after all, the Den Chief becomes part of the Leadership Team of the Den (and Pack) and needs to be counted on, and counted! In theory, the Cubmaster makes a request to the Scoutmaster for Den Chiefs. Den Chiefs are then appointed by the SPL and Scoutmaster - the SPL MUST be involved in the appointment because the Den Chief is a youth leadership position, and it is the SPL that appoints all youth leadership positions in the Troop (with
  11. Thanks for the clarification ScoutNut - I agree with it 110% Calico
  12. Generally, it should be one Den Chief per Den. Part of the scouting method is interaction with adults - and this certainly counts. As for mentoring, I consider that part of the training process - it's ongoing training. Going to Den Chief Training for 4 hours one Saturday morning may get a Den Chief his "Trained" patch, but it doesn't mean he's ready to handle anything that comes his way. Having an older Scout who is/was a Den Chief act as a mentor to the younger Den Chiefs helps complete the circle of training. I would hope that a Scoutmaster wouldn't send a raw SPL to training then t
  13. As others have pointed out, once he turns 18, he can register as an ASM or leave thr troop. The other option is he joins a Venturing Crew - if you have one affiliated with your Troop, you could have a couple of joint outings. As for the "officious snot" - YPT guidelines are clear that an 18 year old ASM can't tent with a 17 year old Scout - even if they are the best of friends. However, a 17 year old Scout can also be a 17 year old Venturer, and they may be able to share a tent on Venturing outings (can anyone confirm?) Calico
  14. Fantastic WDL Mom - just what a good Den Chief is supposed to be. It's amazing what a little bit of responsibility can do. I served as a Den Chief for 7 years - from the moment I joined a troop to my 18th birthday as an Explorer (yep - Explorers could be Den Chiefs). It was the most rewarding youth leadership position I ever held - not even Chapter Chief or Lodge Vice Chief held a candle to it. While the Den Chief is there to assist the Den Leader, another part of the job is to encourage the boys to move up to the next level - from Bear to Webelos, and from Webelos to Scouts. Some
  15. Gonzo, I appreciate the answer but I'm still not buying it. Cutting and Running is just another soundbite with no real meaning behind it, similar to leaving and losing. The arguments still don't convince that leaving (or "cutting and running") means losing. The "terrorists" will be no more empowered to attack us than they already are while we are in Iraq. (And I purposely quotation the word terrorist because my opinion is that we are using it too loosely with regards to the situation in Iraq - we all understand and agree that the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks were terrorists - n
  16. I have yet to find anyone who could clearly articulate how withdrawing our troops from Iraq and losing is one and the same thing. The closest I've seen is someone who stated that leaving is giving up - but the argument seems to fall apart when countered that we could declare that our objectives have been met, tell the Iraqi's the balls back in their court, and leave Iraq - not as losers or giving up, but as winners who have succeeded in doing what we set out to do (whatever that is - there've been so many iterations, I don't think anyone knows anymore). Seems simple to me - declare victo
  17. The rule among my friends and family - if you didn't vote, you don't get to complain (or course we don't say complain, we use a bit more colorful language but you get the idea). Voting is a priviledge, it is also a right, and more importantly, it is a responsibility. I'm very proud to say that I have never missed an opportunity to vote, not even in municipal or primary elections - I even pulled an absentee to vote in my municipal election back when I was away in college. Having grown up in the Chicago area, I'm very familiar with voting early AND voting often. Calico
  18. jwmerica, Allow me to echo the Welcomes to the forum - and to say don't worry about bumping up this thread again - I'd be willing to bet (if that were allowed in the BSA) that the folks who didn't want to see the thread again are the grumps that didn't like the red beret in the first place (extra wide grin). Great advice on breaking in the beret, by the way. Of course for those scouts without the patience to spend an hour or so with a wet beret on their head, sleeping with the thing works wonders as well. CalicoPenn
  19. SSS - most a bit before my time but the Peter Graves reference intrigues me. I know Peter Graves from his role in Mission Impossible, his role as host of Biography, and the really bad 1950's B-movie science fiction films (the ones that are so bad, they're good - and the perfect fodder for Mystery Science Theater). So what was the oceanic documentary? Growing up, the weekend routine was Saturday morning cartoons, Roller Derby in the evening, Creature Features at night (we got to stay up late for this - it didn't come on until 10 - first Creature Feature I saw was Dracula - scared the bej
  20. I readily admit to having mixed feelings on this - I agree that just because an SPL becomes Eagle that it shouldn't mean the automatic loss of an elected position and the the Scout should be allowed to finish his term - and run for another term should he wish. On the other hand, provided the lad is at least 16 (JASM is the only youth leadership post with an age requirement - he must be at least 16),it's not that onerous of a tradition to appoint the lad to the JASM position - provided, of course, the lad agrees. On yet another hand - the Eagle rank is not required to become a JASM and you ma
  21. Welcome to the forum, Tim. And don't worry - as that "one-hour per week" grows to many hours per week, it will still feel like time is flying by and it's only one-hour per week. Calico
  22. The age is 18. The adult registration form is used but the age limits on that form doesn't apply to Merit Badge Counselors because MBC's aren't considered leaders. If the only position one is applying for is Merit Badge Counselor, no fee is collected with the application. CalicoPenn
  23. I cancelled cable television back in October of 2001, and never hooked the TV to the antenna. I use it strictly for watching movies or History/Discovery/PBS channel/type programs that I can pick up at my local library. I was getting awfully tired of local newscast "on the street" interviewers transferred in from Texas/Florida/Arizona (name other typically warm state here) bundled up in parkas on the "first cold day of the season" (usually about 45 degrees) asking construction workers (who were invariably dressed in jeans and sweatshirts/flannel shirts) how to stay warm when the weather t
  24. Trevorum, I did 14 Mile Swims during one two week camp period, including two back-to-back (got into a zone and my poor Scoutmaster couldn't keep up with me in the row boat). Of course, this was back when I was a young, in shape, lad who swam the 500-meter competitively during summer swim meets and in High School. Calico(This message has been edited by CalicoPenn)
  25. I'm looking forward to the day when the BSA is sued for denying the Eagle Scout Award to a boy who proclaims his faith in the Flying Spaghetti Monster, the deity of the Pastafarian Movement. Calico
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