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I'm not a big patch collector, but I will snag old lodge flaps and camp patches from my home council whenever I find them on eBay for $10 or less. From my limited sample, I've noticed these patches haven't appreciated much in price and, in some cases, are actually less expensive than they were 10-15 years ago. A few industries experienced a resurgence in 2020 with everyone stuck at home (Lego and sports cards immediately come to mind), but Scouting memorabilia may have been left out of the boom. Just curious - what has everyone's experience been in recent years?

Who knows; it may relate to the person involved and his idiosyncrasies. Many Scouters had harsh words for him during his last administration, especially after the Jambo. We will see.

Autopen needed a new ink cartridge. 😜

I find it amusing that the stuff that cannot be easily made, i.e. patches and medals, have been done and out for a while, but the item that can be easily laser printed we are waiting on.

This is from a FB post...

My guess is that National always puts the cart before the horse. I've noticed that since I started volunteering in 2017. It happens frequently that now it's the new norm.

What's up with the delay in Eagle Certificates? If they are waiting for the president's signature, why not use the one form the previous term? And if it is a design issue, why were they not updated when the medals and patches were updated. Those have been available for some time now.

"If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters." Senator Alan K. Simpson (1931-2025) Scout Salute and Farewell

It has never come up to me in conversation, but why not ? BUGLE as the instrument in the MUSIC Merit Badge req.#1. and #4b........

Thank you, both! I appreciate hearing from someone more familiar with the Guide to Advancement. It's a large document and I wouldn't know where to begin looking. I'm so happy that it mentions the exact situation I asked about! That answers my question completely.

@Eagle94-A1 is right. For advancement, read BSA/SA Guide To Advancement. https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33088.pdf Section 4.2.3.6 Fulfilling More Than One Requirement With a Single Activity "At times it may be appropriate for a Scout to apply what was done to meet one requirement toward the completion of another." Your situation is also explicitly answered. "Some requirements may have the appearance of aligning, but upon further examination differ. These seemingly similar requirements usually have nuances intended to create quite different experiences. The Communication and Citizenship in the Community merit badges are a good example. Each requires the Scout to attend a public meeting, but that is where the similarity ends. For Communication, the Scout is asked to practice active listening skills during the meeting and present an objective report that includes all points of view. For Citizenship in the Community, the Scout is asked to examine differences in opinions and then to defend one side. The Scout may attend the same public meeting, but to pass the requirements for both merit badges the Scout must actively listen and prepare a report, and also examine differences in opinion and defend one side."

I too used to, stress USED TO, do that. But was informed that unless the requirement specifically states you cannot use an activity for more than one requirement, you gotta accept it. I am waiting for the duel enrolled Girl Scout/Scouting America Scout to do one project for both their Gold Award and Eagle.

If you counsel the Communication MB and Citizenship in the Community, you might have noticed that these two requirements are very similar. I've always required Scouts to attend two separate meetings, but I'm questioning that. Do you count attendance at one meeting for both badges? I understand that Cit Comm 3 just says you have to explain your conclusion to your counselor, and Communication 5 involves writing a report. But can it be the same public meeting? It feels like the point of these exercises is the same. Citizenship in the Community #3: Do the following: a) Attend an in-person meeting of your city, town, or county council or school board, local court session; OR another state or local governmental meeting approved in advance by your counselor. b) Choose one of the issues discussed at the meeting where a difference of opinions was expressed, and explain to your counselor why you agree with one opinion more than you do another one. Communication #5: Attend a public meeting (city council, school board, debate) approved by your counselor where several points of view are given on a single issue. Practice active listening skills and take careful notes of each point of view. Prepare an objective report that includes all points of view that were expressed, and share this with your counselor. Thanks for sharing your opinion, especially if you have experience with these badges.

They deliver on the promise.

This is allowed. It was brought up as an option for Cub Scouts units when I did BALOO, so I looked more into it. We did this on a campout this past fall. Stayed at a council camp and council provided archery range masters for us. Scouts loved it. Being at a council camp makes it a council event for G2SS purposes. Council also had kayaks at the camp, so was able to arrange for a day for Webelos and AOLs to go kayaking. I think these type of things makes Cub Scouting so much better.

The argument around this sort of thing is odd. The standard is the standard. 21 MB, so many camping nights, pass the swim test, etc ... right? This is sort of a like the old school adage that A's may pay, but C's get degrees. For the scout that goes above and beyond, fantastic, but it does not redefine the standard. The kid that does just the standard is just as much an eagle scout as any other eagle scout.

I had a pretty traditional Scouting experience that culminated in earning the Eagle Scout award after I had a lot of fun and finally got around to the paperwork. One of my best my friends could be described as a "Paper Eagle." He made it through the program with very little camping and had everything wrapped up by high school so he could focus more on academics. Today, he's a professor at a prestigious university and travels the world to present his research. He is absolutely someone we'd want to represent the program. Scouting just means different things to different people and we all have to be OK with that for the BSA to survive.

So what happened with this? He straighten up?

council: your troop has paying members, well "nothing to see here"

Agreed. I think BSA was hoist by its own petard on this one. The focus of Summer Camp is, generally, the merit badge program. This is a mistake, because it turned the focus to Advancement. And then, to do it on the cheap, camps hire 15 & 16 year olds to teach MBs, when this inherently violates the "spirit" of what the MB program is about. (This is where you can go down the rabbit hole of the responsibilities of unit leaders and "actual" merit badge counselors as well...) Summer Camp is a "pay your fee, get your degree." operation. On the whole, we have a huge integrity problem when it comes to Summer Camps and the Merit Badge program. Parents, Scouts staffs, unit leaders, paid professionals, National... all complicit. This is one of our biggest "dirty little secrets." I used to work with Scouts after camp to go through their MBs and ask them how they completed the requirements. Many, many times, I got the answer "Oh, we didn't do that one." or "My counselor said we didn't have to do that." or some such response. After working with Scouts to correct, I filed quite a few of these: https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/512-800_WB.pdf Know what became of them? Nothing... ignored

One reason why my troop is still alive: we DO stuff. Except for 2 members, all of my Scouts transferred from other troops. And one of the 2 had brothers who transferred into the troop. Sad thing is this: it can be very, VERY (emphasis) discouraging for some Scouts who see the 'Paper Eagles" I cannot tell you how many times in the past few years I have seen Scouts discouraged and not want to earn Eagle, because of "paper Eagles." Sadly I have met too many folks that believe summer camp/ merit badge weekends/etc are "purchasing" MBs.

They know who the "academic" or "paper" Eagle Scouts are, too. "If the minimums weren't good enough, they wouldn't be the minimums." I do not like that way of doing business, but the world is full of folks who accept that currency.

They figure all of us that endured the ISP effort of the 70's have maybe forgotten. (We have not) Even as a youth we fully understood it was a fiasco. I got my Eagle (had to accelerate the process) under the "Old" requirements. On camp staff a few years later there were Old Eagles and New Eagles. Even though they camped and were actually on staff, there was still the pecking order. Scouts can easily read and understand requirements. They see that much of the advancement now is focused on classroom and less on experiential learning. Youth want action, not more school. Go and DO

They made that move starting in 2007 and went from ~312 to ~111. There were a couple of lawsuits that ended up allowing a couple of councils (at least 1) to not merge. It was an interesting take.

Update 3/3/2025: Two have now been charged with vehicular homicide by recklessness, as well as safe speed, risk of collision and head-on situation violations. Both have posted a $5,000 bond, according to Wilson County jail records. Both were working for the Middle Tennessee Council, Scouting America at the time of the crash, their attorneys said. More at source: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/wilson/2025/03/03/charges-filed-in-old-hickory-lake-boy-scout-crash-that-killed-tennessee-boy-10-jack-gear/80300219007/