david.w.rahfeldt

CONCUR ... a GOOD ceremony should leave everyone trying to control themselves emotionally and failing.

How do you know the ceremony was good?

When folks need to wipe tears from their eyes you did it right

When the end of the cermony is marked with automatic silence out of respect for the intensity of the shared feelings, you did it right.

When folks shuffle off bored to find a place to rest their tired feet and bored souls ... or run for someplace to seek amusement ... you did NOT do it right.

SHORT, HONEST, INTENSE, REAL ... is the guage for ceremonies.

A bugler at a ceremony once spontaneously asked for 30 seconds of silence

"in rememberance of those thousands of men who have preceded us - who had the courage to choose to dedicate their lives to love of their fellow man and to ensuring the freedom to choose to love, and who so loved life itself that they were willing to pledge and give their lives to ensure us the same opportunity to life, love, pursure our dreams. "

He then dropped to his knee, folded his bugle under his arm, and hung his head in silent prayer.

Unbidden, everyone followed his example.

He then stood, closed with taps, and walked off silently.

There was not a dry eye amongst the troops.

More than one had to be helped to their feet shaking with emotion.

THAT kind of deep, honest, and real emotion is ... irristable, unstopable.

Ceremonies from the heart ... not from the book

No ... he was not following the protocol for the ceremony ... in fact he mutated and aborted a perfectly good well practiced formal ceremony.

What he did was a 1000's times more powerful than any planned ceremony.

At the bottom of the newsletter you see what happened to his Cabin.

http://www.saintemariefoundation.org/Current_News_Newsletter/Newsletter_Winter_2010.pdf

Never met the chap, but he sounds, indeed, a good fellow.

Scouting is filled with un-sung heros who have changed the future of many boys and men.

Scouting is a bit like Masonry ... Change the future of humanity, one man/boy at a time.

One never knows when that kind word, the bit of encouragement, that one extra skill, whether how to catch catfish or how to set a bone in the wilderness ... will save or change a life.

We all owe a debt of gratitude and life to those who have come before us ... and kept the traditions of caring and giving alive ... to make a better world.

Me, I am momentarily humbled ... (dont worry, it wont last)

What makes this so confusing is that there is no NATIONWIDE BSA policy with regard to knives or sharp tools other than what you find relative to safe knife or ad / cutting yard policies and such. (guide to safe scouting, etc)

BUT

Many cities / counties have restrictions on the size and nature of knives that can be legally caried.

and

MOST Scout camps have restrictions on what kinds of knives and tools are acceptable in camp (for kids or adults both).

Most of our camps here in Washington State ban combat knives or other large fixed blade knives. NO you CAN NOT bring your butcher knife or 16 inch meat cleaver ... to camp, even for cooking ... and you sure can not bring that samurai sword for "oh so cool firewood chopping demonstrations".

What each camp places as restrictions for safety and common sense may vary.

However, in general, as a troop you are best off erring on the more conservative side of things.

I would do "knife inspections" and ban any knives that are in bad condition or threaten to fold up or break under use (I find a few of these abused and cheap junk knives every year), and make sure that whatever they bring, they have sense to use it correctly and safely.

For whittling ... I REQUIRE 2-3 inch locking blade knives. The longer the blade the greater the chance of bad leverage and their slipping, and as for locking, that is obvious ... unless you like to reattach fingers for your version of first aid, or show the other kids what exposed bone looks like ... I recommend requiring locking blades for ANY whittling ...

Always a good idea to do "knife safety" "ax safety" and "correct use of knives" and "how to keep your tool sharp" sessions BEFORE any summer camp or major event where knives are coming.

Do remind the chaps that "guide to safe scouting" bans duels, knife or ax throwing, or using them to hunt and kill animals, small or large during scouting events.

Medical experiments with knives are also banned unless they are an MD and have human review committee approval and parental consent. Oh ... and the Council permission ...

Also remind them of the "safety officer" concept that anyone using a sharp tool should have at all times a "safety observer" in their vicinity and a "safe zone" around them ... and to cut away from their body parts ...

folks forget the obvious ...

I think sharp metal objects suck the neurotransmitters directly from kids brains ...

never underestimate what lack of neurotransmitters can do to behavior.

This is why in Scouting ADULT patrols are kept separate from YOUTH patrols on hikes and camping trips.

IF the old folks think that they have a better way ... let them do THEIR PATROL or THEIR CRUISE ... their way ... but when they are along on YOUR CRUISE, they need to, with exception of health or safety issues ... or coaching folks on METHODS ... keep their good intentions and great ideas safely tucked away in their heads or notebooks ... till they use them on THEIR CRUISE ... and yes ... the adults should get it out of their system doing their own thing now and then ... separately.

I would try to pick out the parts of the manuals and handbooks that keep saying BOY LED ... and copy and forward those parts of the training and handbooks to the parents in question ... perhaps an anonymous mail to them to start with ...

see if that makes any impression or change before engaging them directly in risky dialog.

Odds are they just dont understand the consequences of their actions and attitudes.

Time to take them aside and diplomatically but firmly state that BSA like any large organization has standards and requirements if they want to participate. Those standards are NOT optional and NOT subject to interpretation and NOT flexible.

IF they want to be an adult leader, they MUST take YPT ... and this is THEIR responsibility to get accomplished.

I would ask them flatly what the problem is, do they have a problem with the computer or a problem reading or some functional problem you can help them work around ... and if NOT, how do they expect to be regarded as a viable leader in Scouting when they can not follow the simplest rules or requirements?

Note that EVERYONE involved has liability if ANYONE involved is not compliant with the rules and regulations ... and that even the insurance might not protect folks if regulations for safe scouting and correct paperwork is not followed.

Then I would leave it in their court ... act or not.

Frankly, there is no way I would want someone who can not do something my 11 year old did in minutes ... for an ASM.

You do realize that the boys (scouts) can take all the training courses also ... and it is probably a good idea for them to do so ...

The more common understanding of safety and youth protection and scouting standards the youth / boys have ... the easier it is to get everyone going the same way with common expectations in scouting ...

I would have his son do the YPT ... and see if that gets "dad" off his duff to at least catch up with his son and the other youth taking it.

I learned NO new woodcraft or camping or outdoor skills

I spent about 30 minutes doing breakfast and the cleanup from it daily (our patrol)

I learned that sitting on hard seats for hours listening to inane lectures about stuff that was lame / trite "leadership" training stuff from the 60's was really boring.

I learned that standing around watching ceremonies for hours makes your feet tired and your soul bored. Ceremonies need to be impresive and brisk ... not droll and slow and endurance exercises. Ceremonies are NOT a place for lectures while everyone stands around.

I learned nothing new about the patrol method.

I did learn that singing is still fun if you relax and just go with it ...

OH ... and I did learn that if you want to get good sleep in a cabin with a bunch of guys who snore like they are a medical experiment gone wrong, you need to make sure your batteries on your mp3 player are charged .... to cover the snoring with a book-on-tape (mp3) or music ...

Would I recommend the Wood Badge 21st Century ... that depends on your previous leadership experiences and training ... if you have an MBA or Ph.D. and do business or technology consulting, nah ... it will seem childish and silly to you ... if you are a dock worker and never had any of these trainings back in the 60's (or in your corporate training today) when it was in vogue ... yah, probably kinda fun and you can learn about pert charts and project manamgnent and SOW's and stuff you will never use in scouting ... rofl ...

Frankly ... its ONLY value is that it provides a focus method for those who are not used to such tools or self management skills to build leadership self assessment ... OK for that, more or less ...

It makes you a member of the "woodbadge club" ... a certain degree of respect there ... from your Scouting peers ...

Dont expect to learn any woodcraft.

Too weak sister on the leadership stuff, and they left out all the old woodcraft stuff ... ergo ... I think it is kind of a waste of time for most well educated folks to bother with.

Unless your sole purpose it to practice your singing ... and get an excuse for a couple weekends away from home ...