CalicoPenn

Sure, you could tack up the sash to make it shorter, or try to buy a smaller sash, or....you could encourage him to rededicate himself to ideals of the brotherhood of cheerful service next year and become a Brotherhood Member - where he'll get a new sash, and perhaps one he's grown into physically (as well as in otherways). If he's still on the small side next year, then spend the time to tack up the sash - he's likely to have that one for a long time (and if he follows the path, he'll have use of his current sash for a very short time - and may wear it about 4 to 6 times total, if that). T

Long Haul - excellent post and points. Has anyone else noticed that lost in all of the hullabaloo over this search is that the third "co-equal" branch of geovernment, the judiciary, issued the search warrant that allowed the search? It seems fairly obvious to me that the congressional leaders (and rank-and-file) know they have no "case" here. If they did, they would be going to court to suppress the evidence, not going to the press. If the courts thought there was a problem with the separation of powers, they wouldn't have issued the warrant in the first place. To go along with

That's it - I'm moving to my bomb shelter. With everyone in here, from what I perceive as most sides of the political spectrum in this forum, agreeing on something with the potential to have been contentious, and even more telling, agreeing on what might be considered a more liberal (or at least left of center) position, the world must be coming to an end! By the way - I agree - with what everybody else has said - LOL. CalicoPenn

Thanks for the clarification, Region 7. Now it makes sense to me. As for the movie trivia, the line is from the Mel Brook's movie Blazing Saddles. It is a parody of these lines from the movie Treasure of the Sierra Madre starring Humphrey Bogart: "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking badges." CalicoPenn

I have a question: >>There is an adult Scouter in our district that wears a...lodge flap for our councils lodge which he is not a member of.

What about some of the commercial fire pits that are out there now - they started out for at home use but some are now designed to travel, complete with their own case (which keeps the rest of the equipment cleaner when traveling. Calico

John-in-KC, According to an article in the October 2002 issue of Scouting Magazine, when the Oscar De La Renta uniform was introduced, troops had a choice of three headgear options for the uniform: The new baseball-style cap, the "smokey bear" campaign hat and the .... Red Beret. I think that answers the question as to whether the Red Beret was an element of the De La Renta uniform. CalicoPenn

The CP definition of winter camping starts out simple: 1) Winter camping is camping done in tents in the winter (either meteorological winter - December through February, or seasonal winter - December 21 through March 20). The I add the next layers of definition: 2) Camping done during the time of year when normal weather conditions will likely bring temperatures below 45 degrees throughout the day and night (allow me to clarify - you can have temps in the 30's at night in May but temps in the 60's during the day - that's called spring and fall), and/or in conditions where c

It's a bit late getting back on this but I have to ask about the "BSA" Boonie Hats - people actually wear those things? In public???? I never thought I would see an article of BSA clothing uglier than the collarless Boy Scout Shirt of the 1970's, but now I've been proven wrong. Now, the commercial boonie hat looks much better - wider brim, not as tall (or maybe it's just the photo of the BSA boonie hat that doesn't do it justice - but I'm doubtful) but even the commercial boonie hat looks rather sloppy - which leads me to the comment that the boonie hat can't hold a candle to the beret

Lisa, I'm not yet convinced though you make a good point. Perhaps I'm finding it difficult to accept that gray area where the BSA tells a CO on the one hand that it has the right of free association to determine who can be a member of the CO's chartered unit and on the other hand, tells the CO that it doesn't have a right of free association to accept anyone from the "Three G's". I've always considered rights to be rather absolute - you either have them or you don't. While I can tolerate (barely) the notion that to be a member of the BSA, I may need to subsume some of my rights to thei

Camp - that's pretty much the gist of it. A Charter Org can charter a troop and say that its not a place for Catholics but a Charter Org can't charter a troop and say its okay for athiests to join. I just see a double standard. Calico

It's unlikely that it is an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake - the diamondback has very pronounced and edged diamonds along its back - the snake described here has faint diamonds along it's side. While the diamondback may rarely be found in Delaware, it is not considered endemic to the state. The only recognized native venomous snake in Delaware is the Northern Copperhead, found mainly in western Sussex and in the piedmont area north of Wilmington (source: Delaware DNR). With the bronze/coppery color described here, and the faint diamond like markings on the side, this could be a copperh

Beavah, I have to disagree with your definition, which for others edification is as follows: "* brats (BrAHts) n.: 1. Slang form for bratwurst or other grillable sausage served in the upper midwest as a staple foodstuff from May through the start of deer season. As distinct from 2. BRAAts, n. young men who don't learn good behavior and value through scouting programs." Serving brats from May to the start of deer season might be true in Minnysoda but in Wisconsin, brats are served right up through the Superbowl - and are still grilled outside. Why, I hear that in some parts of W

In a boy run troop, I see nothing wrong with the Scoutmaster asking the PLC for their input on what should constitute what camping is for the purposes of the camping requirements for OA eligibility - however, it would need to be consistent, and ultimately, in this case, the Scoutmaster has the final determination as to what counts and what doesn't according to OA regs. I'd guess that most units have already come to consensus as to what is and what is not camping. CalicoPenn

Campfire Law 1) The downwind position of a smokey campfire is always where you are standing or sitting. Campfire Law 2) The wind will change directions when you move from the downwind position to ensure that Campfire Law 1 always remains in force. Campfire Law 3) No matter the size of the wood you burn in your fire, the fire will never be large enough to keep your Boy Scouts satisfied. Burn 10 acres worth of wood at one time and your Scouts will insist you add another couple of acres to the fire. Campfire Law 4) You will never find the perfect size stick for roasting marshm

By definition (Webster's), camping is taking up lodging in a temporary shelter (tent, cabin) or outdoors (sleeping under the stars). Cabin camping would likely be considered camping under the regs. Sleeping on a battleship or in a museum would likely be considered an overnight, but wouldn't be considered camping - I'd consider these to be on par with staying in a hotel - and that ain't camping (though some friends of mine might disagree - their idea of roughing it is a Holiday Inn). It's really about judgement - I would consider staying overnight in a cave to be the equivalent of campin

As an afterthought - giving the DE the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he does have a letter from the registrar that says a boy in a Crew has to be registered as a Scout as well. If that's the case, show him the application (and the word OR) and together, get on the phone to National and ask for someone else from the registrar's office to make the correction - it could be someone in the registrar's office that made the mistake. CalicoPenn

From BSA Publication # 58-728 - "Eagle Scout Rank Application" (accessed online at Scouting.org) "Merit badges, badges of rank, and Eagle Palms may be earned by a registered Boy Scout, Varsity Scout OR Venturer" (emphasis on OR is mine). The application makes it very clear that one does not need to be registered as a Boy Scout to earn the Eagle Scout rank. It doesn't get much clearer. CalicoPenn

If I'm reading correctly, then the "special LDS" Webelos program is really nothing more than the old way of doing the Webelos program. When I was a Cub, you didn't become a Webelos until you hit your 10th birthday - no exceptions - and when you reached 11, you aged out of Webelos - no exceptions - and yes, that meant you might very well have a crossover ceremony every month the pack meets and people came and went from the Webelos Den all year round. Cubs were based on age, not year in school - the only exceptions being that you could join a Cub Scout pack at age 7 if at the beginning of the

It will be hard to beat OGE but I'm going to give it a try - and with just one sentence: It's the one the lads are still talking excitedly about the next year. CalicoPenn PS: As for Anarchist's question: Ma-Ka-Ja-Wan Scout Reservation, Northeast Illinois Council located near Antigo, Wisconsin. Three camps - two of which offer full programs with their own dining hall, waterfront, etc. (West Camp and East Camp). Full waterfront programs in both camps including motorboating and sailing. The other camp (Wabaningo) is a wilderness/pioneer camp for up to three units at a time. Th

My understanding of the notification policies, based on my past work on camp staffs and at a national high adventure base, is that it is mainly to make sure that the right person in the professional (read "paid") staff makes any phone calls on behalf of the BSA - it isn't meant to prevent the Scoutmaster from calling a lads parents or a leaders spouse (parents, etc.) to inform them of an incident. It is to prevent the Camp Director, or Health Officer, or Waterfront Director, or even the District Executive from making that call - In an incident, the council needs to speak with one voice, and t

Historians believe that the "mohawk" originated with the Huron (now Wyandot)Indians - a confederacy of 4 nations that were centered around the western portion of Lake Ontario and near Lake Huron (in the US, in the Eastern part of the state of Michigan). The Huron's are in the same linguistic group of indians as the Iroquois Confederation (the linguistic group is named after the Iroquois Confederation, though some scholars believe that the Huron's are the true root of the language) - but they are not a part of the Iroquois Confederation. The Mohawks were part of the Iroquois Confederation, an

There is a quote by Rep. Argall that, if accurate, points to the Council wanting to end their relationship with the Charter Organization, not the people in the troop. It is as follows: "We've been told there is no appeal, although we are trying to review our options,'' he said. ''An option the council has suggested is we can form a new unit at a different church." An option the council has suggested to the troop leaders is that the troop leaders form a new unit at a different church?? If this has anything whatsoever to do with hazing, or with inviting disallowed former leaders to a

Interesting dilemma, not easily solved (the POR service, not the DC issue - that one is easy to solve). I'm not 100% positive but I don't believe that National has ever explicitly stated just what it means by serving in a position of responsibility - they don't tell us what serve means. So, in order to try to figure out what they mean by it, we have to try to decipher what it means based on National's past actions. For instance, the requirements state "Be active in your troop and patrol" without stating what active means but based on the experiences of many Scouters in the past, in prac

If Aquila's translation of the Star Spangled Banner to Spanish is accurate (and I don't for a second doubt that it is) then anyone that can sing those words to the tune of that song deserves a medal, not scorn. CalicoPenn