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New "Scouting Service Award?"


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So I was browsing various merchandise on scoutstuff.org and encountered this interesting item:

 

http://www.scoutstuff.org/knot-scouting-service-award.html

 

So, according to the item summary, this award "Replaces the Asian American Spirit of Scouting Service Award, Vale la Pena Service Award, and the Witney M. Young, Jr. Award." Yet try as I might, I can find absolutely no mention of this "new" award anywhere on the official BSA website, nor on the websites of any affiliates, nor even on any third-party webpages that are usually all over any mention of a new knot to earn. So what gives? Have they just let the cat out of the bag on their website prematurely, or has this change been announced while I have been oblivious? I find it interesting that it seems to indicate that the BSA is not going to maintain its award system for growing Scouting in specific cultural communities; I think it's a good thing really if it means a more broad-minded approach to building Scouting in different cultural contexts, but I hope there is more information available soon as I am curious about how they will define this new award.

 

Has anybody else heard about these changes?

 

Edit: Ha! I just noticed that the knot is upside-down in the picture they have. I guess it's still new enough that nobody has even noticed it yet, lol.

Edited by The Latin Scot
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My guess is that they are again reducing the amount of knots and will have one ethnic supporter knot with a device for each ethnicity.  Personally, I don't understand the motive behind the knot reductions.  Are they really worried about someone having too many leader knots?  If that is what a person wants for dedicating hours and hours of service , let them have the knots.

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My guess is that they are again reducing the amount of knots and will have one ethnic supporter knot with a device for each ethnicity.  Personally, I don't understand the motive behind the knot reductions.  Are they really worried about someone having too many leader knots?  If that is what a person wants for dedicating hours and hours of service , let them have the knots.

 

Had to chuckle that this. I can just imagine the conversations if something like that were true.

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Yeah, that would simply be ridiculous. And can you imagine the backlash from ethnicities that weren't represented by a device, or those that refused to be labelled under the device of the "wrong" ethnicity? And what would they use for the devices? Would I get a llama for helping the Scout program among my Andean paisanos? Little bagpipes for promoting Scouts to my Scottish relations in the local Scottish neighborhood? I think the BSA would be out of their minds of they attempted anything like that. I think they will just group any community efforts for any ethnic community under the one knot, and not worry about trying to identify just which minority group the Scouter was trying to help. 

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Hey Latin Scot,

 

I can confirm this. The "Scouting Service Award" knot is new, official cloth insignia for the Asian American Spirit of Scouting Service Award, Vale la Pena Service Award, and the Witney M. Young, Jr. Award.

 

When I was Philmont Training Center over the summer, one of those awards came up during a discussion and the professional from the National Council did confirm that all those awards' knots are being consolidated into one. The picture showed to us matches the on Scoutstuff.org.

 

Hopefully their applications/literature will reflect this soon.

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Ah, @@4CouncilsScouter, thank you so much for the information! Does this mean then that each of the the awards will still exist as individual honors, but share one square knot between them, or that the awards themselves are being conglomerated into one single award with one single square knot? 

 

I am so grateful that you have some information on this; thanks again!

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Duplicate links posted above. Good to have an answer however. How long before we see the new knot PLUS the 5 it replaces? :)

 

I've already seen it at a district meeting. Of course it was on a Banana Republic general.

 

You just knew that would happen.

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So glad Bryan posted that article! I love getting official answers. 

 

 

Hat tip: Thanks to Edward, the eagle-eyed commenter who let me know about this

 

That was me! Maybe I should change my screenname to Eagle-Eyes, lol. 

Edited by The Latin Scot
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