Abel Magwitch

You make plenty of moot points that never happened scoutfish. I was only responding to what information has been provided by the initial author. It is my understanding that the union feels that it was their job to make trails. I would love to have all the details, but I don't so I am only remarking on what information I have. Again, if the making and maintaining of city trails is part of someone's job description, then the project should not have been approved in the first place. That seems to be the point of contention. Super picky and stuck on minor details? I disagree. As a membe

Scoutfish, from what I have read, the trail was complete except for a few missing connections. In other words, there was a dedicated trail that was mostly complete. Perhaps the city had future plans to eventually finish the trail. The question still remains it is within the job description for workers in the city public works and parks and recreation departments to make and maintain trails within their parks? If so, the project (though it sounded good), should have never been initially approved to begin with. A sharp advancement chairman would ask these questions prior to approving

Should you decide for whatever your reason not to sign the Eagle application, the Scout may appeal your decision. Two sets of circumstances may lead to the appeal of a decision. First, if the unit leader or unit committee does not recommend the Scout for a board of review, or if the unit leader or unit committee does not sign the Eagle Scout application, the Scout or other interested party may appeal the decision at the next level. Of course the other circumstance is if the appropriate board of review does not recommend the applicant for the rank advancement. A Scout

The first of several limitations to an Eagle project is this: Routine labor (a job or service normally rendered) should not be considered. The question is this - It is the city's job to maintain and clear the trails? If so, the project should not be approved. Granted cities do not always maintain themselves. Playgrounds get run down and swing sets need paint, but have these jobs been assigned to a city department? Is it in somebody's job description to perform these tasks? If so the Scout needs another project idea as this one meets the limitation criteria. I live in a big city

There have been some subtle changes over the past few years made to the 12 steps to Eagle. I find that the BSA neglects to get the word out sufficiently. The latest edition of the Advancement Committee Book has been changed as well. If you dont have one yet, get one. The changes are listed page by page. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/512-927.pdf Here is the most recent edition of the 12 steps to Eagle: 6. When the completed application is received at the council service center, its contents will be verified and the references contacted. The Scout shall have listed six ref

Shortridge: I appreciate your comments. Our camp does make recommendations in our summer camp manual of what a Scout should know before taking a merit badge. It lists what requirements a Scout should have already done prior to taking the badge. My Scoutmaster also does his job by steering young Scouts away from tough badges like Rifle shooting to easier badges like pottery. We will ask a Scout have you ever shot a rifle before? If he answers No, we inform the Scout that its hard to score and will cost his spending money to buy bullets. The Scout is encouraged to just have fun during an o

boomerscout: let me explain further. Here is a breakdown of the camp staff - Rifle, (2) older adults, (1) youth helper. Shotgun, (1) older adult, (1) youth member. Archery, (1) 21 year old and no youth helpers. Nature, (1) older adult, (2) youth helpers. Pool, (1) 21+ adult, (1) youth helper. Cope and Climbing,(1) 21+ adult, (1) youth helper. (Climbing tower closed in morning, Cope closed in afternoon, open climbs cancelled.) Scoutcraft (1) 21+ adult, (2) youth helpers. Lake Front (1) 21+ adult, (1) 18 year old. Handicraft, (1) 21+ adult, (2) youth helpers. About half of the hired staff e

To boomerscout: Yes, the camp is used throughout the year. Our council used to have two summer campgrounds. One was sold. An additional weekend campground was also sold. Our council only has one camp remaining. Minimum age for MBC is 18. However, camp merit badge classes may be taught by anyone super well qualified -- even if 14 -- although not younger than 16 is prefered. MBC still needs to do the actual sign-off. I disagree. A youth instructor may assist, not counsel. If the actual merit badge counselor never works with the Scouts but simply signs off a merit badge card, that

To belayer_StLouis I am in error. I got the title wrong. The camp director reports to our director of support service in our council. We had 33 of our council troops out of 133 at our council summer camp this year along with 27 out of council troops. Pitiful joke, yes. Quite frankly, it is time to move on to another council camp. And sadly, I have wasted my time serving on the council advancement committee.

To belayer_StLouis: Thanks for your response. To answer some of your inquiries Does your Camp Comm. talk to the customers (scout troop leadership)? No. As with most of our council committees, many of the members themselves no longer use the council camp for summer camp with their troops. The first new thing the camping committee has done was to make a youtube video of advertising the camp. But as for talking to the customers (the scout troop leadership) the answer is No. In fact this year our district committee does not have a camping chair. The previous district camping chair was

To scoutldr: Thanks for your comments. Yes, we have OOC troops coming to our camp. A neighboring council next to ours just lost their summer camp due to an EPA problem so many have started to come over to our council camp. They have even brought their own traditions to our council camp and have been successful to completely disregard any of our council traditions. The new camp director is has been transferred from that council. We do see the writing on the wall as some believe a council merger is in the works. Still even with the added out of council attendance, our council camp on

Im glad to hear that I am not alone. Seems that there are other low quality summer camps out there besides mine. Let me be frank the paid staffers have taken over at my council. Council committees have little say anymore. This was the first time I had a young paid staffer tell me that the council advancement committee was just an outside group with no jurisdiction. The arrogance was quite insulting. What brought this on was the camp director was going to hire the archery director from the previous year. Unfortunately the archery director proved to be unqualified to be an archery merit b

In my council, summer camp has been of low quality for many years. Many have tried to address the problems of summer camp only to be ignored. Over the past decade, most troops have voted with their feet and have abandoned our council camp for other councils summer camps. Currently our camp has 4 weeks of summer camp. Only 25 % of our council troops still attend our summer camp. Two adjoining council summer camps now draw 75% of our council troops. The two out of council camps can offer a far superior program for the same fee. One council actually charges less than our summer camp. Our camp has

An update since my letter was sent to Mr. Mazzuca: The link to World Organization of the Scout Movement that listed the 6 countries with no scouting has been removed from their web site. China now has a new web site showing that there is scouting in mainland China. http://sac.clubspaces.com/Default_css.aspx China is now stating that they recognize individual self worth as written in their vision and mission section. "We recognize the importance of individuals developing a sense of personal identity and self worth which leads to responsible citizenship" It appears

My letter to Mr. Mazzuca sent July 2009. Mr. Mazzuca has not had the courtesy to reply. Dear Mr. Mazzuca, My Troop is located in one of the poorest cities in the United States. Its tough for the parents of my Troop to afford the high cost of the Scout uniform. One father relayed to me his experience at the Scout shop several years ago. He asked the store manager what was the reason for the high prices of the uniforms. The manager replied that the uniforms were quality made in the USA and thus the reason for the high prices. The Scout uniform has in recent years been price