clemlaw

Even though I think the whole safety issue can be dealt with with a little bit of common sense, that's actually the main reason why I was surprised that this is a Tenderfoot requirement. I don't know how it's taught, but a few of you have mentioned lighters. Personally, I would much prefer using a match or a candle, because with a lighter, there's always the possibility that the molten sludge will drip onto you if you're not careful. With a match, it will drip onto the ground. If you whip the rope, you don't have to worry about that. (Like I mentioned above, even though we considered

----Give the scouts TIME and a Handbook.----- What does TIME stand for?

Those den meeting plans are available for free download on the internet. Really! They are at: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/Leaders/DenLeaderResources/DenandPackMeetingResourceGuide.aspx These were announced with great fanfare at our Roundtable. They couldn't be found with the instructions given to us. The URL in the glossy brochure that was handed out yielded a "file not found" error. I couldn't find them with the search engine. But after I e-mailed the DE, I got this secret URL. So download them fast, before they hide them again! Isn't scouting.org a gr

I went ahead and put the 1973 Jamboree patch on my brand new uniform. Well, yes, my wife put it on for me. For our "Go See It" to visit an older member of the community, we had a visit from a Scoutmaster who got started as a Cub Scout in 1945. So it was nice to be able to show off another reminder that Scouting has been around for a long time. When the Uniform Police approach me, I'll have my line rehearsed: "Surely you're aware that the word 'current' was removed from the 2009 Insignia Guide." If they're on their toes, they'll say, "Explain it to the Judge Monday morning."

It looks like some entrepeneurial individual with a box at the local UPS Store had some medals made up and is selling them to kids who can sing the Star Spangled Banner and do a few other requirements. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but no, the medals they sell don't go on the uniform.

Actually, I just got a patch for showing up at my first roundtable. It's a good thing, too. I just got a new uniform (the old one shrunk just hanging in the closet for 30 years), and I can't very well go out in public without some kind of temporary patch on that pocket.

I don't think we had Fire Chits when I was in Scouts, so I guess that just came under the category of common sense. And maybe I missed it, but I didn't see anything in the G2SS that specifically says scouts need to earn those cards. If it's not, then it seems to me that it comes down to being a troop rule. And since it's a troop rule, it seems to me that a common-sense exception would be appropriate. Incidentally, when I was a scout, using a match to fuse a rope seemed vaguely like we were doing something that was forbidden, not because matches were dangerous, but because of th

----Green Bar Bill had to come out of retirement in order to save scouting from the 1970s----- In my troop, Improved Scouting really didn't affect us very much, other than everyone went out and bought a book that we didn't bother using. AFAICT, our entire program stayed about the same as it had been prior to 1972. For example, I'm pretty sure that the merit badges I earned included all of the pre-1972 required merit badges, and this was true of almost everyone that I knew. The only difference was that we occasionally had to stop and make sure that we had finished the advance

Perhaps I'm being overly charitable, but based upon the limited information given, my first inclination is that this could be a mere case of poor communication. (Obviously, there is poor communication, but it seems quite possible that's all it is.) The original poster was appointed "co-scoutmaster", and then two weeks later was "removed". I think it's possible that the original intention was to appoint an _interim_ scoutmaster, they were overjoyed to have two volunteers come forward, but forgot to communicate the part about it being an interim position. It's possible that w

2, 2.5, and 4 sound about the same to me, and get my vote. I was a little amused the first time I saw EDGE in the requirements, especially because it doesn't really make sense to "explain" anything when tying the square knot, other than, "I shall now show you how to tie a square knot." IMHO, when it comes to tying a square knot, the explanation only works when done as part of the demonstration. Yes, EDGE might indeed be part of a worldwide conspiracy to destroy scouting. But if they really want to destroy scouting, they're going to have to try a lot harder than that. I doubt if

---Not an urban legend as I know one that did Eagle at that age----- Oh, just because it's an urban legend doesn't mean that it can't be true. (And I doubt if the scout in our legend was actually the same person as your friend.) Incidentally, I didn't get a chance to read the article yet, but the latest NESA magazine has an article about 3 brothers who all earned every single merit badge. (Apparently, you don't need to have your very own cows, chickens, or pigs any more to do that.) So that urban legend is also true, apparently. I suspect they had some fun along the way, an

One thing to keep in mind about Eagle is that there really isn't any single requirement that's particularly difficult. For most scouts, there are probably one or two that are a real challenge. But for the most part, they need to get 21 little badges. A few of them can be earned in one day. A few of them might take a year or more. Most are somewhere in between. But for about 99% of the available merit badges, almost any scout, if he decided he wanted that badge, can earn it. Most merit badges have 5-10 individual requirements. So to complete the basic requirements for Eagle (other than

----Personally, I'd take the 17 1/2 year old Eagle over the 14...clearly the 14's parents earned the Eagle.----- Actually, when I earned my Deathbed Eagle at the ripe old age of 17-1/2, I had my Eagle Court of Honor with another Scout who was 14 (or maybe even 13). Yes, his parents earned it. And so did mine. They earned it by spending many hours driving scouts places, serving as leaders at camp, counselling MB's, etc., etc., etc. But I can assure you that he also absolutely earned it, just as much as his mother earned the pin he presented to her.(This message has been edited

I was 17-1/2 when I got Eagle. Does that qualify me for the Deathbed Eagle square knot, or am I stuck with the plain ol' Eagle knot?

Interesting. They're not secret, but it looks like they're kinda sorta semi-secret (in an organization that doesn't tolerate secret organizations): "Volunteers requesting copies of these publications _MUST_ contact their local council which _WILL FORWARD_ their request and [$1.50] payment to ... Irving, TX." (Emphasis added)." If anyone told me there was a "no notes" policy, I would hand them the check for $1.50, point to that page, and remind them that they will forward my check (made out exactly as specified) to National. I don't intend to be a troublemaker, but sometimes it

(Double post deleted)(This message has been edited by clemlaw)

I'm also late to chime in, and I only have a little bit of experience, but I think it could be a very fun activity. The one time we did it with a Cub Scout group, the leader planted some caches, not very far off the camp road, and then took the GPS's we were going to use, and programmed in those spots as waypoints. They were ammo boxes (or tupperware would work fine) with various small trinkets, but also the ingredients for smores for the campfire. Then, he handed the GPS to leaders of the smaller groups. Unfortunately, those leaders didn't necessarily know how to work the things.

I wonder if the lack of preparation was his fault, or if maybe some adult leader told him, at the last minute, to toss on his uniform and head over to the roundtable to tell them all about the Whatchamacallit-oree next weekend. In other words, I wouldn't read too much into one example of a kid giving a lousy speech in front of a large group.

So it looks like poor public speaking skills are now lumped in with drugs, vandalism, and theft. One of my Eagle merit badges was Public Speaking. Apparently, for the scout in the original post, it was something else.

IMHO, I would just put any ambiguity to rest by writing a brief explanation. I would write the name of the owner, the number of the license of the driver, and underneath, write in something like, "this is the license number of John Smith, who will be the driver of Mary Jones's car." The worst that will happen is that they'll ask for Mary Jones's license number as well. To forestall that possibility, you could just write it in with an explanation.

I was the Secretary of our OA Lodge. And if I do say so myself, the meeting minutes I took were probably the best minutes in the history of the Order of the Arrow. I bet they're still tucked away in some file cabinet somewhere. And that newsletter I put out wasn't half bad either. On the other hand, I knew arrowmen who were absolutely lousy at writing anything or at public speaking. But they knew how to work a shovel, a saw, an axe, a post hole digger, etc., better than I could ever dream of doing. We were both important. I took care of the irksome task of cranking out the newsl

The temporary patch that I'm currently displaying is from 1977. IMHO, it's OK, because that's pretty much the last thing I was at while wearing that shirt. It has the date printed on it, so I've been making a point to brag about it. I have to admit, it's kind of fun explaining when a Den Chief walks over and asks, "why is your uniform that color?" For any uniform police out there, don't worry--just one more meeting, and then I'll go buy a new shirt that actually fits. But this thread got me thinking....should I dig out that 1973 Jamboree patch and put it on the new shirt?

Well, from reading this thread, I realize that we stumbled into a pretty good pack just out of blind luck. (And we were equally lucky with the pack we stumbed into last year from which we had to transfer just because of a conflict with meeting nights.) The committee seems to run very smoothly, mostly from consensus. They seem to operate mostly under Bob's Rules rather than Robert's Rules. There were no votes taken on anything, and there was no need to. There were differing opinions, but decisions were made based upon what the majority wanted, even though nobody bothered to formally count

>>>>>>>>The committee should be stable with experienced leaders guiding the Pack, Packs get in trouble when they have inexperienced leadership and no mentoring. Taking the kids swimming is a great idea, they just need to rent a pool that provides life guards is all. no big deal.

OK, I'm still at the Cub Scout level after many years. And when I was a Scout, as shocking as it may sound, the EDGE method had not yet been invented, yet most of us still managed to figure out the square knot. In fact, fire hadn't even been invented yet, so there was no requirement for us to light a fire. We were required to invent it ourselves! But the way I read the requirement, the scout needs to "teach" another person how to tie a square knot. IMHO, it's definitionally impossible to "teach" someone something they already know. So in order to complete this requirement, the scout