CA_Scouter

Had a scout go to the county fair to do an Eagle project, and they suggested building a new bar for the beer concession or parking barricades and directional signs. He chose the latter.

I've come down on one patrol for their naming... they first tried the 'Narcissistic Patrol', then the 'Utterly Confused Patrol'. Though I'm ok with having some fun with the names ( we've had the Lost Patrol, Neutral Patrol ) their cynicism was too much for me this time. I've got a couple of older scouts who are becoming a challenge in the Scout Spirit department and I see it having a detrimental effect on the younger scouts. We've had a conversation and they seem to understand my concerns so we'll see what they come up with tonight...

What Skeptic said. What Ed said. I have no idea what Merlyn said.

I think you misunderstood EMB's response. He didn't say uniforming didn't matter, he said the shirts were not considered The Uniform.

Gern seems to have a handle on the situation. The issue is not the paint ( my gosh if it were just that simple! ), its the utter rudeness and non responsiveness of the Chief that has my shorts all scrunched up. My scout has tried repeatedly to contact him regarding not only the paint, but for materials used for the message board, which the Chief also said he would supply. Other communications such as asking for him to come by to check on the status of the project, etc... were all ignored. I realize that the man can be busy, but to ignore dozens of contact attempts is just plain wrong. So when the project is done, how are we to expect it to get signed off? He should have delegated this responsibility to someone else if he wasn't wiling to follow through. Here's the kicker for me. The Chief has 2 Eagle scout sons and is a Silver Beaver recipient in our council. So much about being courteous. Aaaargh!

I have a scout whose Eagle Project is building a message board for the local fire department. Project was approved by the chief last year and its nearing completion. The problem we are having is getting contact with the Chief. The Chief volunteered to supply the paint and some other materials for the project but we can't get ahold of him ( a painting crew is all set to work tomorrow ). The scout has emailed him numerous times ( 10+ ) called him numerous times (10-15 times ) , both at work and on his personal cell phone and has had one email reply and one callback. Today, he got an email, the Chief told him to stop by before 5pm today, so my scout went to see him ( 4pm ) and we was gone for the day. I am furious but am holding my tongue. I want to write him a terse but polite letter about his rude behavior but I'm the SM not the scout working on the Eagle project, so I'm thinking I should leave it to the scout to work this out. Our troop meets at another firehouse under the Chief's jurisdiction so I don't want to jeopardize our arrangement. Where does an adult step in to assist? Do I write the letter or let the scout handle it? Comments?

To keep ahead of my charges, I get several workouts in during the week. I'll get in a 2-3 mile run a couple of times a week and hit the gym usually twice a week where I do the eliptical thingy ( like x/c skiing ), lift a little and then play some hoops. And when I do yard work at the house I try to keep the pace up so I get a good sweat going. Diet wise I do try to stay away from sugar, but I can't stay away from bread... I'm in SF often and too close to the best sourdough in the world...

I'm with Ed. ... and he is not courteous or kind about it either... ( where DO I get the idea that this counts... )

"Since your tents are personally owned, how do you handle damage by a tentmate?" I would submit that Brent would not be handling this situation as its not Brent's tent. The owner and 'lessee' would have to work it out, not the adult leader ( personal responsibility and scout led/patrol method things ). We also use personal tents and we've been fortunate never to have a situation where there was intentional damage by a tentmate, and we are a backpacking troop so these tents get a workout. I also ditto Brent's tent recommendations. We have had a couple of ALPS and they've worked out well, and I've had my Half Dome for 5+ years now and its watertight and durable ( and I got it on clearance from REI for $79 ).

Vol... to quote one of my favs.. "...there you go again... " and two wrongs don't make a right...

Merlyn has a point. M.. you are forgiven.. ;-) Wouldn't it be better for our country if we stopped pointing fingers and instead put those fingers to work fixing things? I remember a quote from someone somewhere... something like 'I may not have voted for him but he's still MY president'

SFGATE.com front page today has an article about the scouts selling donated land. Its the second in their 'smear the scouts' series. After that, in order to show that they are fair and balanced, I'm sure they will showcase the benefits of the BSA and show how it helps youth and exposes them to outdoor programs and leadership and.... hmmm, maybe I won't hold my breath on that one...

Yea, this article is making the rounds. Front page on the sfgate.com website, along with accompanying snarky comments. Very good sensationalist/provocative writing. "All media is entertainment"

Are you talking about the $25(or so) Eagle kit you get from the scout shop? Sheesh. Mebbe your committee needs to ask for some bailout money from the Fed. Criminy! My spidey-sense tells me there is more to this story.....

Packsaddle... OMG, OMG, OMG... I am laughing so hard I'm going into convulsions... My 'handle' in the Troop is the 'Pun-inantor'... we have the Govinator out here in CA. However, I now pass this title onto you. I am humbled. ;-)

Wait a minute... I can see where this is going... Atheists will claim to be 'injured' by the phrase, so much so that they will sue and be awarded damages... um, but they would be awarded damages in US currency, with the phrase, so they will sue themselves and then.... oy vey... I'm getting a headache..

done

IMHO if the scout truely acted 'bravely', and others can agree, then its probably ok. If its just because maybe he didn't cry, then I wouldn't necessarily say that was 'brave'. Of course, I don't know the entire situation, but that's just my $.02. You'd probably upset parents, not cubs btw. Two more cents...

Yea, I'm in a similar situation. We started out the year with 3 patrols but with a couple of drop outs and non-attendees we now have patrol sizes of 5, 6 and 5. We have 3 webelos crossing over this year and one ageing out this month, so we'll have a total of 18. I'd like to pare it down to 2 patrols. Let us know how the tent thing goes... sounds like a plan...

fyi - here is some excerpts from the email my commish sent me: ..... or has committed fraud in the course of doing business as a non-profit organizational leader, etc., etc., etc. The only way to protect the boys and/or the organization is to be able to do a background check and verify that the person - for that matter, all adults that have anything to do with the boys and the organization are clean enough to participate with the boys at any level (even come close to the location where the boys are) and participate at any level in the organization. ALSO HE ADDED: To not submit to such a safety requirement by disclosing their background means to me as a parent, that that person, who is the top leader of the organization, is unwilling to commit to the safety of my son.

UPDATE AFter all this hullabaloo, I found out last night that Council already had her SSN. She must have given it to them sometime in the past and had forgotten about it, so all the uproar was really over nothing. However, Pack's got it right. I'm still of the opinion that SSN should not be a condition of membership for scouters who were registered prior to 2003. Thanks for your input everyone.

Pack.. Yea, I know, I'm just frustrated. Seems like we are throwing the baby out with the bathwater. ( I should stop with the cliches' eh? ) E92 - yup, I've made this known to the DE, waiting to hear back.

j/kc... sorry I mean 'grandmothering'.. ;-) So for 15 years they don't need the SSN and now they require it. Why not just let it be after all this time? OK, I'll go along with requiring it for new members for a background check, but for 15+ year members? Pack... so I'll just tell her 'thanks for your 15 years of going to bat for us with the org, thanks for providing a meeting place, storage, providing us with leads for fundraisers and community service, thanks for bringing in the firefighters during their time off to do first aid demos for us... and by the way, don't let the door hit you on the butt on your way out.' B-E-A-utiful! sheesh A scout is trustworthy... LOYAL ....

Eisely writes: 'I take it that the CO rep has been registered for some time and is not a new applicant. ' This is correct. She has been the CO for the troop since the early 90's. I don't much care for the 'take it or leave it' attitude I see in some posts. If she 'leaves it' then I don't have a chartering organization. She has been a loyal and trustworthy Scouter for 15+ years. Although I understand that its required for new applicants, I wish they would just grandfather in these long time scouters in cases like this. I'm in contact with our Commish. Apparantly there is a possible exception for sworn public safety officers ( of which she is.. ) who have already had background checks as a condition of their employement, but he thinks it only applies to Venturing crews or Explorer posts, but he is checking further with the DE. Will keep ya posted.

I just was told by our Membership chair that our charter org rep won't complete her application because it requires she list her Social Security number. I can't say that I blame her because with the SSN and DL# one can easily obtain credit fraudulently in her name. She is adament that she not disclose this information. So now it looks like we cannot recharter unless we find a replacement, which is not likely to happen soon. Complicating the matter is I've got a scout ageing out in 2 weeks who is just finishing his Eagle app. Is the SSN requirement new for this year? I don't recall addressing this issue in previous years...