acco40

I've been very active in the BSA program (Unit Commissioner, Cub Scout Den Leader (Tiger thru Webelos), ASM and SM but am fairly ignorant about Girl Scouts. All of her meetings are held directly after school which limits my involvement. Both of my boys have earned their religious awards (Light of Christ, Parvuli Dei, ad Altare Dei, etc.) but my 8 yr. old (2nd grade) daughter's Girl Scout leader is unaware of any similar program for GS. Can anyone lead me to the resources for the GS religious award programs? Thanks.

Old fashioned potato chips work well as a fire starter. The oil and starch burn well and fairly slow. BBQ flavor works best! (Just kidding on the last one.)

Right now, our troop has three patrols with rather slim numbers of 4, 5 and 7. We also have two boys in the Sr. Patrol (SPL & ASPL). A couple of months ago I asked the boys if they wanted to form two patrols of eight and they declined. I was glad that they fell a patrol identity. We have our SPL and ASPL eat as guests of a patrol. We are going to have an influx of four new Webelos Scouts in April and the current patrol of 4, which has two Scouts who crossed over in February will in all probability be the patrol for the new boys, bringing it up to eight. I like the peer group approach

"The patrols seem balanced in age, rank and friendships, in that order." That seems contrary to what is indicated in all of the BSA literature that I have. Partrols should be a group of peers and therefore NOT balanced by age and rank. That is why there are new scout patrols, experienced patrols, etc. First, the boys should choose which patrols they would like to belong to, with no "pre-approved" PLs or PL candidates. Why should someone in the "rat" patrol have any say in the leadership of the "cat" patrol? The goal of a troop is not to have evenly balanced (except for pure

Certain topics should be off limits around youth. Most are not. I know that my District has an "adults only" rule for roundtable. However, simultaneously in another part of the building, the Order of the Arrow meets. There are good pros and cons as to why youth should or should not attend roundtables.

Chucklehead, I laughed at OGE's comments. As a Scoutmaster, we have to remember (and are constantly told) that the boys lead the troop. I am nobodies "boss" in the troop. I tend to agree that the "shows scout spirit" can be met with spotty attendance. However, I also believe that the leadership requirement requires leadership (a novel idea!) and not just elected to office. If a boy were elected SPL (in our troop for a six month "term") and only made a handful of meetings, did not provide input into the troop meeting agendas, annual planning, PLC meetings, etc. I would not sign of

scoutldr, You are correct. One should not wear the 1937 shirt withthe 2003 pants. However, once correct, always correct with complete uniforms.

During training, we had a staff member show up in a red jacket and the students (adults) were asked what was wrong with his uniform. The answer was that placement of patches on the jacket. I can't specificly remember the guidelines but I believe one could have only a centered patch in the back (according to the staff). I don't recall ever seeing the issue covered in any BSA literature. Just like adults who wear patrol patches (Old Goat, Rocking Chair, etc.), it is often done, not a big deal to many, AND a violation of the uniform guidelines. I'm not a memeber of the patch police but i

18 - 21 yr of age are the "tweener" years. To old to be a Boy Scout, to young to be a SM or SA (ASM). However, Venturing offers a good program for these ages.

Yes, there is an official red wool jacket, and if you have "patches all over it" it is in violation of the uniform guidelines. Is it a big deal? That is in the eye of the beholder. Personally, I believe the adult leaders should strive to do everything "by the book." Otherwise, how do you explain to the youth what rules you feel are okay to break and what ones you feel are not?(This message has been edited by acco40)

Disney is amoral. If they thought re-releasing Follow Me Boys would earn them $$, they would do it in a flash, regardless of content.

"has announce me" for Patrol Leader I'll interpret the above as you were chosen by an election of your peers in your patrol. If so, congratulations. If not, inform your "troop leader" (SPL or SM?) that Patrol Leaders should be elected by the boys. Get a copy of the Patrol Leaders handbook and read it. You should prepare for the coming year (does Be Prepared ring a bell?). Keep the traditions, games, etc. that you and your patrol like. As for help when you need it. Make sure you fully understand the responsibilities of the position, none more and none less. Enjoy!

Before the diehard Scouters get to "high falutin" about their scouting ideals, remember this, in a real Boy Scout troop, the SM would be following the boys! Enjoy the movie.

FOr the youth one word meaning: snack. Original meaning: sort of the civilian version of the scuttle on board a ship (i.e. scuttlebutt). Country stores used to have a cracker barrel (literally a barrel with crackers I believe) that customers and town folk would gather round for informal conversation. For Boy Scout troops, "crackerbarrel" or "cracker-barrel" or "cracker barrel" is SUPPOSED to mean the time when everyone gathers around the campfire (or equivalent) shares a good story and may munch away on something. To most youth (and adults) nowadays, the original meaning is lost

Sctmom, Instead of pushing him to visit a nearby troop, why don't you tell him that he is "forbidden" to join the nearby troop. Just a thought.

Webelos Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts can attend the same camp-o-ree and even do the same activities! They just can't compete against one another. My wish, I got paid by the hour for my Scouting work. Having a job and needing to provide for my family gets in the way of all my scouting activities. (No, I'm not wishing to become a Scouting professional.) Wish #2, that this forum would employ a spell checker and that users would use it!

OGE, shhhh! Be quiet or I'll have to use the "cone of silence" on you! I miss agent 99.(This message has been edited by acco40)

Maybe the US Government will have another huge drug bust and the BSA can purchase another "Sea Base" for pennies on the dollar. Who said drugs never did any good?

The boys in our troop wanted to play paintball. My advice, talk to your parents, talk to the boys, and have at it. Just do not do it as a BSA activity. I (the SM) would not organize it. Similar to other GTSS issues. What I do as a parent violates some GTSS policy. What I do as SM does not.

The two most misunderstood concepts that I have seen when discussing Scouts is maturity and discipline. Nothing in the Scout Oath (Promise) and Law mention maturity. To "show Scout spirit" is to live the oath and law in your everyday life. Therefore, there is nothing about maturity in the "shows Scout spirit" requirement. That said (or should I say typed?), some immature behavior, such as being disruptive, discourteous, etc. if NOT Scout like and does not show Scout spirit. Immaturity and "shows Scout spirit" are not mutually exclusive behaviors. Some boys are silly (my second

Allow me to post a few rambling thoughts. Can the SM block the boy's pursuit of Eagle? Yes (It appears that he has.) May be block the boy's pursuit of Eagle? No. It violates BSA policy. Same goes for merit badges by the way. (Shades of the smoking thread?). It scares me when someone implies that he would expect more out of a 17 yr. old shooting for Eagle than a 13 yr. old doing the same. Maturity is not a requirement for ANY Boy Scout rank. From personal experience, my son earned his Life rank at 12 years and four months. Our troop is very young and he was able to h

Here are some of my thoughts (which are not universally accepted to say the least). I think the younger the den, the OLDER the den chief should be. Twelve year old den chiefs (haveing completed at least a full year of Boy Scouts and obtained 1st Class) can work great with fourth or fifth grade Webelos Cub Scouts but tend to struggle with Tigers and Wolfs (Wolves?). It takes more maturity to work with first graders than it does to work with fifth graders. So, if I were assigning den chiefs, I would assign the most mature (usually the oldest) to the younger den and the least mature to the ol

Watching the Tonight show last evening and Leno made a reference to Kim Jong Il's seldom heard brother Mental Lee Il. Sorry, but I thought KoreaScouter may like the comment. Check out: www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Parliament/8058/

Sparkie, I think you missed my question. Yes, the Tiger diamond "replaced" the Webelos diamond, wrt to real estate on the shirt pocket. My question is, in the future when the Webelos diamond no longer exists and the youth in question begins the Cub Scout program as a fourth grader and the tan shirt is mandatory (trust me, it will be in the future). When he earns his Bobcat badge, should he sew it on only to remove it once his Webelos badge is earned?(This message has been edited by acco40)

The funny thing is, when the boys cross over to Boy Scouts, a blank shirt is much more preferable to the one with Cub Scout "stuff" on it. Question: I'm aware of the Tiger diamond badge, oval and diamond Webelos (NOT WEBELO!!!) badge and the implications of both. However, what if a fourth grader joins Cub Scouts for the first time (in 2005 let's say so the diamond Webelos badge is now an outdated relic). He still needs to earn his Bobcat "badge." Will there still be a Bobcat badge? If so, where will it be worn. In the mid-60s when the boys could earn Wolf, Bear and Lion diamon