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As opposed to some sort of national "publicity event" i.e. march, gathering, parade, etc. this is a wonderful idea. I think I will follow up on it in my area. Again, great idea.

A SM may, as KoreaScouter has eloquently stated, assign leadership projects/positions. However, regardless how trivial a SM feels a troop scribe postion is, the rules dictate that it is a leadership position. In regards to "taking" a leadership position as k9-goldscout suggest; leadership positions are are either appointed (by SM) or elected (by youth) and not "taken."

I support our armed forces. However, you would be treading on thin political ice if the BSA should organize a rally. It could easily be interpreted as supporting using military force against (insert despot here) which may not be 100% endorsed by BSA membership. I for one, do not think that the BSA should be involved in this type of event. The BSA does support/promote citizenship and patriotism but that is defined in many different ways by many different people. Some feel that anti-war protests are patriotic. Some feel that anti-abortion protests are patriotic. My take, don't go th

I present rank, arrow points, activity pins, belt loops, activity badges, etc. at the Pack meetings. I have the whole den come up at once and stand in a row facing the crowd. I stand behind the boys and read what each boy has earned and shake their hand. My asst. den leader, she actually has the awards and passes them out to the boys. I do this for a couple of reasons. Bringing up each boy individually takes time and bores the audience. Nobody want to see me fumbling around through a paper bag or a bunch of baggies looking for awards. With a medium to large Pack (40 boys or above)

Who sets the "proper" time to get up or go to sleep/lights out? It should not be the adults (for a Troop). I took my Webelos Cub Scouts to summer camp along with my two den chiefs in August. Same place, same breakfast time (mess hall, no cooks required but we did have a set time to eat) that the Troop of the den chiefs had summer camp in June. At summer camp, the SM made a big deal of getting everyone up (i.e. no personal responsibility). At Webelos camp, I let the den chiefs sleep as long as they wanted to. One morning, I told them that we (three adult leaders, four Webelos Scouts)

"For those of you able to learn from others experiences... This serves as a reminder, keep those little cards that merit and rank badges are attached to in a safe place." It is my understanding that I can go down to my local council and purchase "those little cards that merit and rank badges are attached to" by the hundreds. Although better than nothing, they do not serve as good records. Merit badge "blue cards", which are not used by all councils, are what is needed to be kept. Also, TroopMaster print-outs are considered legit. Good luck in your search.

To be blunt, I would prefer that the public servants that I support with my tax dollars would not spend their time praying while "on the job." I work in the defense industry for a private company. We need to have an approved charge number for every task we work on. To my knowledge, none has ever existed for praying on company time. I never understood the need some feel to verbalize prayer or pray en mass.

The BSA has tried very hard to distance itself from both the military and hunting. There is no need for camouflage in the eyes of the BSA. Mike Walton, the "Black Eagle", and an Army officer, has a wonderful tale about a scouter who is refused admission to a camp-o-ree because he is wearing camo pants. That said, I bought a pair of insulated boots last weekend for the express purpose of winter camping with my troop. They came in "mossy oak break-up" (a registered trademark, but "camo" to me) only. Should they be banned from scouting. I hope not and don't think so. However, scouting d

Rooster, You've made statements about homosexuality not being "natural." The food industry uses the term, i.e. Natrual Lite Beer, naturally grown, etc. The FDA has not given the term any meaning. In the FDAs eyes, it is a meaningless term. My question is what do you mean by the term? Does homosexuality occur in nature? While we have trouble figuring out the longings of animals, yes same sex copulation does occur in nature. To me this makes it "natural." However, in my view, it has no bearing on if it is right or wrong.

One of the beauties of our country is freedom from the tyranny of the majority. Yes individuals should be free to practice their own religious beliefs (to an extent) but for the Government to promote religion (generically or a particular religion) is wrong in my view. To many, One nation, under God - does promote religion. Therefore to them, it should not be recited, en mass, in public schools, U.S. senate, public office inaugurations, etc. I would like to see our public schools not teach religion, but teach about religions. For example, compare different beliefs, explain why

I have no problem what so ever when someone wants to add to (not replace) the methods of scouting. I have a problem when someone wants to change the aims of scouting. I don't know much about Yu-Gi-O (sp?) cards, although my two boys play them constantly, but do they foster the scouting ideals, patrols, outdoors, advancement, personal growth, adult association, leadership develpment, or uniform? It all depends in what context. The same could be applied to knot tying. What ideals do tying knots promote? Heck, you could say playing a game with his fellow scouts teaches friendly, courteou

I've been in numerous Christmas and Memorial Day parades with Cub Scouts. For a parade route that is one mile or less, we have had first and second year Webelos Cub Scouts carry the flag (full size) no problem. Getting the boys to "march" or actually be in formation is tough. Make it fun for them. A problem I see again and again is parents who want to march with their boys. The Cub Scouts are in the center in a block formation and the parents walk along both sides encouraging their sons AND BLOCKING THE VIEWv of the boys for the crowd! Nobody wants to see the parents, expecially if t

This is a common feeling from parents of Cub Scouters. Cub Scouts always ran from September to Augut (hopefully) or from September to June at least. Now, in the last year you are telling me it ends in mid-February? Why my son will miss the pinewood derby. The other boys crossover in June. Why? Why?? Why??? From a pure cub perspective, good question. From a Boy Scout perspective, as previously stated, the boys need time to accclimate themselves to the troop and camping by the time summer camp (a full week of camping!) rolls around. Many can't handle it with a February crossover,

Senseless shooting, "gun went off accidently", black 18 yr old with history of trouble (aggravated criminal sexual assault, disorderly conduct {twice}, involuntarily committed for psychiatric evaluation, hisory of mental problems, on medication), arrest warrant issued day of shooting (for shoving a security officer at school), stolen gun, kicked off football team, ... I'm sorry but I read about such senseless acts almost daily. In my neighborhood, a jewelry store owner had his mother, three young kids and himself all shot in the back of the head by a robber in the home just last week. L

Regardless of the facts (as is so often the case) the Supreme Court of the USA has deemed the BSA to be a private organization and as such, can set exclusionary membership requirements. Public universities are funded by taxpayers, fees, private donations, corporate donations, etc. As public institutions, they need to follow certain laws. Can a man join the Volleyball team at State U? In most cases no. Can a woman join the football team at State U? In most cases yes, but not many would become defensive tackles. I don't believe that organizations (clubs, to put it loosely) that de

Lo and behold, I'm planning to hold troop JLT training in March at a campout (cabin). None of the boys have had it yet. When March roles around, we will have about 7 boys who have been in the troop right at 2 years, 7 right at one year and possibly 2 - 6 brand new scouts who just crossed over from Webelos. My intention is to conduct JLT (my first time) for all of the boys except for the brand new just crossed over scouts. My feeling is that even though all of the boys are not on (in?) the PLC, they need to know the duties, responsibilities, etc. involved and could quite possibly become a P

I wear my uniform (as a SM) to all PLC meetings. The SAs and boys usually do not. I don't make abig deal out of it. I wear my uniform ALWAYS when acting as a Unit Commissioner. I rarely wear my uniform at Scoutmaster meetings (no youths present, not held during troop meetings). I always wear my uniform at roundtable. One of my pet peeves is not the issue of wearing or not wearing the uniform but when wearing the uniform, WEAR IT CORRECTLY. I found this on the Iternet and found it iteresting concerning uniforms (from Barry Runnels): There are some clear signs of when adult

Please explain what you mean by "manage the checkbook." Can committee members (treasurer, committee chair) write checks? The charter organization has been granted a "franchise" by the BSA to have a troop. It is their troop. It owns all monies, equipment, troop number and all. My experience is that most COs are not involved enough in the troops/packs. Is the COR a memeber of your committee? If not, that would be a good suggestion, have them join and attend. Good luck.

Good answers all, although I would hesitate for a scout to contact his SPL and or ASPL unless absolutely necessary. He should follow the chain of comand so to speak and approach his Patrol Leader almost exclusively.

I sleep in cotton undies and polypropelene longjohns (if needed) in the dead of winter in Michigan. The cotton is okay if it is clean (i.e. bone dry). I don't like the tremendous "static cling" of polypropelene wear it only if necessary. The earlier comment (page 1) that air is a bad insulator is false. Air is an excellent insulator.

Similar to KoreaScouter, during my Wood Badge course (Wood Badge for the 21st Century) the first three days the males and females slept in different bunk areas. During the next three days, we slept in tents with our patrols, one patrol to a camp site. My patrol (Da Bears) had one female. I think it teaches respect and courtesy having a female (or more) in the patrol. Yes the men act different in the presence on a female (mostly improved behavior). Plus, if a female desires to become an adult leader in a troop, she needs to be comfortable in a camp site with other men. By the way, all sle

... and if you continue this blasphemous topic I will hold my breath until I turn blue, so there! P.S. And Merry Christmas to all!

Background checks, I have no problem with them at all. The Council that I belong to has been performing background checks utilizing the County Sheriff's department for years. My concerns are what they will do with the information they receive. Should any action be taken if a personal bankruptcy is found? What about spousal abuse? What about a firearms violation? What about drunken driving convictions twenty years ago? Divorces? Child custody disputes? Traffic violations? The list can go on and on. There is a trade-off between erring on the the side of safety and erring on the

With your vast knowledge of the "Morman" church, maybe you ought to know how to spell it and that the term is not welcomed by all.

As with Wolf, no arrow points can be earned until the rank badge is earned. What I found with Bear, it makes a difference what requirements you count toward Bear and what are counted toward arrow points. The grouping can make the difference. When I was a Bear den leader, I applied all of the requirements I could toward Bear first. There is excellent freeware tracking software for Wolf, Bear and Webelos which make the tracking of advancement very easy. Send me a private email and I can email you a Bear spreadsheet if you wish. As with repairs, I believe some of craft requiremen