CA_Scouter

In the last year, we've had a disappointing response to several tasks that we've asked the scouts to do... for example, we stressed Emergency Preparedness after Katrina, asked the scouts to build a 'go bag' for their homes, and only about 3 of them ( out of 16 ) worked on it. Everyone else was 'I forgot'. This went on for several weeks until we finally stopped asking. We also had disappointing participation in our winter coat drive, and the scouts donated nearly $30 ( yes, $30 ) to the Katrina Relief effort. What do you do to motivate your scouts, build Scout Spirit, and get them to participate more actively in non-advancement activities?

I especially like how PETA tries somehow to link high school violence to fishing without any facts, figures or relevant studies. Good science, that.

Twice now I've had the same ASM bail out on me for skillbase. He really is a nice guy and a valuable resource, but the two times he has been assigned something his work has intervened and left us hanging. Myself and my ASM's were scrambling to fill in the time. I understand that 'work happens', but I would have appreciated a phone call instead of just waiting around and mumbling execuses to the kids. We need to have a 'talk'. eh?

OK, continuing the side-thread.... Ed, PBS had the Cream reunion on night before last - awesome, especially Clapton going nuts on Crossroads... I could listen to Clapton until the cows come home... I had the honor of attending Sir Paul's concert back in November. Nothing compares to this guy.. he just loves what he's doing... and so did everyone else.. imagine 18,000 people singing 'Good Day Sunshine' all together! Then the next week, I saw Metallica and the Rolling Stones live. I actually liked Metallica more than the Stones, but it was still a priviledge to see them going strong in their sixties. So I severely strained my concert budget for the year, but hey, its 2006 tomorrow, and I already booked Aerosmith in Feb.... Gives a different meaning to the Rockin' Chair Patrol, now doesn't it?

I haven't been to Yellowstone, but I've been to Yosemite more times than I can count, so I have a little knowledge to pass on... Seeing as they are both national parks, I would assume they have the same backcountry permit process, which is that you place a call or send an email up to 24 weeks in advance for your desired trailhead. I'm sure these numbers are posted on the Yellowstone website... With Yosemite, many of the trailheads fill up within minutes of the 24 week time limit, so I would suggest you call ahead an ask the ranger about your selected trailhead and ask for recommendations on the best way to secure a permit.. might as well ask the source directly!

Sorry Ed if you don't like my post. I tried to be courteous about it. I understand perfectly well what is going on in this thread. Merlyn makes a post, you find something to disagree with his post, he finds something to disagree with yours, and it goes back and forth and on and on. This is not the first time I've seen this, I have even asked the moderators to close a thread that I had started because you two were starting a flame war and ruining the very insightful and valid discussion on which I had started. Honestly as I see it now, the subject matter is completely irrelvant once you two start going. But you are absolutely right. No one is forcing me to read these posts, just like no one is forcing you or M to one-up each other. I will therefore do my best to do my duty to keep my comments to myself at most times, to sometimes keep myself physically away from my keyboard, and to try to keep mentally awake during these posts. Happy now? I apologize to others that I've taken the thread off subject. It won't happen again. ps OGE - I refuse to answer your question on the grounds that I'll get yelled at again. :-)

And so it starts... again.... the Bickersons are back. Honestly, you two would argue for months on the proper way to hang a roll of toilet paper. Merlyn's recent post was insightful, thoughtful and humorous. Ed, to quote something I say to my children now and then, 'Not everything that pops into your head has to shoot out your mouth.' ( or through your keyboard ). Both of you, please don't subject the rest of us to your personal rants. Resist the urge to 'one-up' the other guy. Its pointless. And its un-Scoutlike. Can I get a YO! on that brothers? ( and Sistas! ) Gotta go now, I've got a gnome in my lower intestine and its pressing on my bladder.

Well, my little guy ( 14, Star Scout, 6'3" ) has just about all the gear he needs, but he promised me he would be Life Scout by the next COH. He's recovering from a broken tibia that he received while trying to learn to fly over the handles of his motocross bike the day after he made starting center on the freshman basketball team. No, thanks, I'm not bitter/disappointed/devastated. :-) I got the nephews some gear though, the Coleman brand lightweight butane backpacking stove and lantern. They are 11 and 13 so this is their first real backpacking gear, and they really seemed to enjoy it. My brother and I live about 3 hours apart, so I'm trying to work out a joint campout with our respective troops this next year. Now THAT would be a cool present!

BSA has nothing to fear from either the Supreme Court, the ACLU, and anyone else as long as it follows the laws of the United States. Now yall don't slam me too hard, because I speak only from a layman's point of view, but as I understand, its entirely within the law for the BSA to set its own membership rules, whether that excludes atheists, homoesexuals, left-handed persons or people who have had laser correction surgery. BSA is entirely within its rights to do so. It does, however, exclude the BSA from certain relationships with government entities, but that is a restriction that the BSA has accepted. BSA doesn't need allies, it simply needs to follow the existing laws and not seek special treatment. Then the BSA won't have to worry about the ACLU and others.

Dan, sorry, you don't know anything about my attitude. If you read my post carefully, you'll note that I did acknowledge that Trev's intention was to pass along a joyful greeting, however, the point of my post was that you seemed annoyed that non-pagans had extended their own greetings. What's fair is fair, if pagans are permitted to post a greeting, then others should be able to do so also. And yes, I will admit to being cynical at times. There have been several instances where posters deliberately push other's buttons in order to provoke a response, and after seeing much debate on the Christmas greeting in other posts, I surmised there might be such a situation going on here. So, apologies Trev, as it would seem I've misinterpreted that... So Dan/Trev, no cynicism intended ( Scouts Honor ) and sincerely, Happy Solstice to You Both!

You know Dan, you don't see a lot of pagans posting here because, well, there ain't just too many pagans involved in Scouts. Something about the 'declaration of religious principle' thingy. You may consider that the reason for this post originally was twofold, one, to convey a joyful greeting and two, to provoke a response. I'm pretty sure its mostly the former based on past experiences with The Trev. :-) But you know, people can get annoyed by many things. My Dad would take a widower friend of the family out to lunch every other week or so and would get really pushed out of shape becuase the old guy would blow his nose into his cloth napkin after every meal. But I guess I'm just leaking from another thread... sorry all... Have a happy, er merry, er joyful, er.. oh forget it!

Though I support some RHIP ( rank has its priviledges ), this seems to be done to the extreme, almost to the point of hazing. I can see where you can have the choice of tent sites go through the rankings, but to have to wait and then belittle the youngest ones because they are the last to put up their tents, is, well, just plain STUPID. This approach teaches nothing useful. What it does teach must be untaught as the Scout grows older. What a crock. Adversity is when a Scout forgets his jacket, and he has to roam around camp with his sleeping back wrapped over his shoulders. Adversity is forgetting your mess kit and having to eat out of a can. This is adversity that is useful and from which much can be learned. I think the Scout needs to answer the question truthfully, and politely ask the SM to explain his reasoning for permitting this situation to occur.

OK, ES316, if I'm wrong then I do apologize. Being an Eagle myself, I'll accept your 'none of this is a lie' statement. But some of your other statements DO concern me. I'm sorry you say your life is 'hell'. IMHO, perhaps hanging out in places where lifestyles which directly contradict the teachings you've been raised with are causing you strife. Perhaps removing yourself from these situations might help. As an example, we had a young man ( a neighbor ) go off to join the Army Rangers, and he was dishonorably discharged after having a type of nervous breakdown. Long story, but it seems they tried to take this young man, who was very religious, and turn him into a sniper. I don't know the psychological terms/effects, but we suspect this caused him such strife as to contribute to his breakdown. I want to clarify that I said you were giving the IMPRESSION of being a participant in that culture, and I'm referring to your statement that you are now a bartender there, not simply because of a single visit to the place. Suggestion: drop the 'hateful' rhetoric. Disagreement does not equate to hate, despite what the politicians tell you. Finally, I sincerely wish you luck.

I've been monitoring this thread for the last day or so and I've finally decided to post my response. I think Rooster7 option#2 is what is going on... This is a charade and the poster is trying to tweak the other participants in the forum. I would like to compliment the posters to this thread for their restraint and gentlemanly behavior. My son is now 14 years old and very interested in the opposite sex. I talk to him about his actions and his perceived actions with the young lady, and the point I always make is that a gentleman would never put a lady in a position where her integrity could be questioned. I also remind him that he has a responsiblity to himself and his family to not put HIMSELF into a situation where his integrity could be called into question. Using this imaginative story as an example, it would seem the originator of this thread has put himself squarely in such a position. Though he has not violated any BSA rule, he has given the impression that he is a participant in this culture, and that would cause concern among the parents in the troop.

Amen Brother. Welcome. Your good intentions are admirable, but be sure you are protective of your family and allow others to participate. You may do them more service by doing less than doing more. Just my $0.02...

I think the mere assumption that this time of year is worthy of a 'Holiday Wishes' greeting is presumtive and I take offense at said assumption. :-) I wish everyone a Happy Sunday After Next, though my assumption that you might be happy may offend others as well. Perhaps even my use of the term 'Sunday' could be construed as offensive. I hereby change my designation to day 1 of the week. Unless, of course, that might indicate that day 1 is somehow greater in importance than day 2, of which someone else may take offense, and for that, I sincerely apologize. I think. I'm confused. Must I really apologize for the history of my culture and religion? I don't see anyone else doing so....

I'm sure most of you do this also, but since it wasn't mentioned, I'll say it here. As far as planning, we go through the list of merit badges offered and ask the Scouts to pre-sign up PRIOR to camp, so they can obtain the phamplets and necessary materials before they get to camp. We look at their rank advancement and make recommendations, especially for those merit badges where we don't have counselors in the troop. We also gauge interest in the overnight programs offered. Our summer camps are pretty busy, and we don't have a lot of downtime, so we don't do much more planning than that. The SM's usually make plans for a cobbler one or two nights though...

Oh, hey folks, we are not always at the top of the food chain. Try scuba diving. Especially in Northern California ( great whites! ). When you jump off the boat, you are no longer at the top! Regarding the discussion on 'tree-huggers', I think we get this attitude about conservationist efforts because of the multitude of legal wranglings that goes on in our courthouses. For example, we have had an ongoing situation in the Sierra foothills about habitat for the red-legged frog near a proposed development. Problem is, no one has seen a red-legged frog in the area in question. But its tied up in the courts because of the possibility of there being one there... Now, I'm making an observation, not a judgement, but I'm sure you can see how some people can get worked up on a situation like that. There is a small group of people who have used the legal system to impose their will on the local majority. I'm sure that statement will garner a variety of responses from the forum! Have at it!

Well, it turned out that they didn't do any 'surprise'. As I mentioned, they could have done a little better on the planning, so this is probably the reason it got dropped. And as I also mentioned, they still did a good job anyway, so I am still pleased and looking forward to the next COH which I'll have them plan again. Thanks for asking!

Returning to this post... my guys did a very nice job on Monday with the first Scout-run COH. It went a lot smoother than I thought it would, as I thought they should have done more planning, but they managed to cover things pretty well, so I am pleased. I had one scout who normally likes to keep quiet, stand up and volunteer to take on a task for next time. Hopefully I'll see more volunteers over the coming weeks. Parents seemed pleased as well. All in all, a good job.

I'm guessing that fourth frog wasn't in full uniform. :-)

Prarie, Your concern about those that make 'entertainment' about ending the life of an animal is valid, however, I submit that the vast majority of hunters don't feel that way, and are very honorable and respectful of the sport. As I've seen in many areas, its that 1/10 of one percent of the group that ruins things for the rest of us. You seem to be focusing mainly on that very small minority, and painting the canvas with much too large a brush, if you know what I mean. You might equate this to people claiming the entire Scouting organization is bad because we have one person out of many thousands of volunteers who gets arrested for indecent material on his pc. And btw - I am not a hunter.. the only thing I hunt for is the remote! :-)

Thank You, Sir!

Some folks in these forums have 'Parent Handbooks' on their websites... I remember getting one some time back... but I can't remember who gave it to me... How 'bout it fellers? Can someone guide this Scouter to a source?

Seattle, Where's the 'hate' in this thread? I see this as a calm and rational discussion of the topic! Just for that, I hope my Niners dump your Seahawks this weekend. :-)