Leaderboard

Maybe the answer is to make it significant again and not just a notch on the belt for someone. When it was an Honor Camping Society that encouraged camping on the unit and council levels, and had real standards to be elected, including limits, and councils did not sell off camps to survive, it was viable. Now it is pretty much a memory for we old people and that notch I noted. No, that would make some people unhappy to have real entry standards. An Honor Scoity for Scouts and Scouters should actually present an aura of honor one might think. A few still do, but it is no longer a mystery or has it any real reason to exist. Just an observation.

But didn't the lawsuit raid the OA endowment? What is to stop that from happening still?

Agree with that line of thinking... make it an honor to be earned & recognized for again, and make senior patrols of OA Scouts in units the centerpiece ... with emphasis on unit and community service. There is too much emphasis on serving the Lodge, rather than serving your unit or the community. So much so, that the Lodge and the OA have become a self-licking ice cream cone (yes, I've used that phrase before...) That is, for most of the Lodges I have seen since the early 2000's, the Lodge exists to serve itself. This is one avenue where the OA has gone wrong... Hopefully, some of you out there have vastly different experiences.

Well, you have to make larger donation, but yes, the OA does have knots too

I like the OA. I've got lots of good memories from my youth and the admonition has stuck with me as an adult. That said, I wouldn't be upset if it folded. Lax membership standards and concerns over Native American cosplay have left the OA in rough shape. One underrated benefit of ending the OA program would be a boost in Venturing participation. Right now, they function as parallel senior scout programs, but a strong chapter could easily function as a Crew and continue providing service to its district and local camps. If the OA were to continue in present form, I'd consider eliminating elections in favor of a universal standard such as: 50 Nights of Camping 50 Hours of Community Service Star Rank Completion of Ordeal

Does anyone have the stats on OA membership over the past few years? The section below concerns me. Has the OA fallen so much, that temporary units can now have elections? depending upon when the election is held, folks may not know anyone to judge them worthy or not. EDITED. Found OA annual reports here https://oa-scouting.org/resources/publications/impact-report In the 2014 report, we had 171,211 Arrowmen registered. In the 2024 annual report, we had 98,473 registered Arrowmen. That is a 43% drop in 10 years!

There was an article today in Bloomburg Law about Dechert LLP joining the fight against Slater for their profesional misconduct and ethics violations. The article is behind a paywall. However, I contacted the author of the article. Alex Wolfe gave me permission to publish the entire article. Thanks Alex! If the moderators would like to see the correspondence with the author where he gave me permission to publish this article. Shoot me a private message. Thanks. Boy Scouts Abuse Claimants Tap Dechert to Fight Mass Tort Firm Summary by Bloomburg Law AI Feb. 13, 2026, 3:35 PM Attorneys from Dechert LLP are assisting a group of Boy Scouts abuse claimants seeking to terminate their contingency fee arrangements with Slater Slater Schulman LLP. The group alleges that Slater's misconduct and deception has resulted in irreparable injury to claimants and undermined the credibility of the bankruptcy system. The claimants are seeking to have the court decide whether Slater should be financially penalized for allegedly deceiving thousands of child sex abuse claimants about the status of their claims in the Boy Scouts of America Chapter 11 settlement process. Attorneys from multinational law firm Dechert LLP are assisting a group of Boy Scouts abuse claimants seeking to terminate their contingency fee arrangements with mass tort firm Slater Slater Schulman LLP. A trio of Dechert attorneys, including Yale Law professor G. Eric Brunstad Jr., were part of the team that filed papers Friday urging the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to decide whether Slater should be financially dinged for allegedly deceiving thousands of child sex abuse claimants about the status of their claims in the Boy Scouts of America Chapter 11 settlement process. “The Slater firm’s misconduct and deception has resulted in irreparable injury to claimants, undermined the credibility of the bankruptcy system, and has wide-ranging impacts on the BSA debtors’ estate,” the group said. “This court has jurisdiction and the power to ensure that justice is done.” Brunstad, who has argued multiple cases in front of the US Supreme Court, adds heft to an effort to terminate Slater’s 30% to 40% contingency fee agreements it holds with more than 14,000 Boy Scouts child sex abuse claimants. Lawrence Friedman, a former executive director of the Justice Department’s bankruptcy monitoring unit, has spearheaded the legal fight for the claimants. A group of 14 former Slater clients seek to punish the New York-based plaintiffs’ firm for concealing for more than a year that all of its claim submissions were under investigation by the Boy Scouts abuse settlement trust. Slater in September acknowledged that it had submitted “problematic claims” and, as a result, would reduce its total legal fees by about 4%. Its former clients have argued that the firm should either be denied all of its fees or receive as little as $250 per claimant. The group tapped Dechert for additional help after Delaware bankruptcy judge Laurie Selber Silverstein in November said she’s unsure whether she has jurisdiction to wade into the fee dispute, which takes broad aim at the business practices of mass tort plaintiff firms. “So what’s the proper vehicle to raise those issues?” she asked at the time. “I don’t know.” In their brief Friday, the former Slater clients said because the issue is core to the Boy Scouts bankruptcy case, Silverstein has “inherent authority” to decide it. The same authority was used decades ago by a Virginia bankruptcy judge to regulate attorney contingency fees in the Chapter 11 case for A.H. Robins, which settled more than 300,000 personal injury claims stemming from the company’s Dalkon Shielddevice, they said. “Just as in the A.H. Robins case, and perhaps most consequentially for claimants, reducing or capping the Slater firm’s fees would affect the amount that each of the claimants would receive,” they said. An attorney for Slater didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Claim recovery has become a fraught topic for abused former scouts, who have so far received just 1.5% of what they’ve been told their claims of childhood molestation and rape are worth. The settlement trust, which began operating in April 2023, had been constrained from distributing additional funds while the Boy Scouts’ Chapter 11 plan was on appeal. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s refusal last month to hear a petition brought by a small group of claimants that opposed the plan, the trust has said it will be making supplemental distributions that raise recoveries up to 4.7% of claim value. Slater is represented by Law Office of Susan E. Kaufman LLC, Robert & Robert PLLC, and Continental PLLC. The movants are additionally represented by Scheer Law Group LLP and Rosner Law Group LLC. The case is Boy Scouts of America, Bankr. D. Del., No. 20-10343, brief filed 2/13/26. To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Wolf in New York at awolf@bloomberglaw.com

Difficult to find any new policy stuff regarding adult camping on any official websites. Apparently, an email with this verbiage went out to Lodge leaders around mid-January: (Underline emphasis added.) ------------------------ As a lodge leader, you play a vital role in creating exciting and welcoming experiences that keep Scouts engaged in the OA. This year, we're introducing significant updates to our induction weekend and membership requirements, changes designed to ensure that new Arrowmen feel deeply connected to their fellow Scouts and leave their induction energized to return to your next lodge event. Induction Updates The Order of the Arrow has created transformative experiences for over a century. We're evolving our induction to ensure today's Scouts continue forging real connections, discovering what Brotherhood, Cheerfulness, and Service mean in their lives, and beginning journeys they'll carry forward for years. To align with that vision, we've redesigned the induction experience to create a welcoming environment to emphasize the connections new members build during the induction weekend and leave energized to participate in your next lodge event. The best way to understand the changes to the induction is to experience it yourself at an induction event put on by your section or lodge. What's Staying the Same? Brotherhood, Cheerfulness, and Service still guide everything we do. The induction weekend remains a serious, meaningful milestone in a Scout or Scouter's journey. Service is still a core component of the induction weekend. The Admonition, "To Love One Another," continues to anchor our purpose. What's Changing? We're strengthening how Scouts experience and understand the values the OA teaches. New members engage in guided reflection and meaningful discussions. Silence still has its place for reflection, but the weekend now prioritizes building the connections that make Scouts want to return. Several experiences have been added to create a shared understanding of what our values truly mean in action. The guide for each group, now called a Luminary, will take on an enhanced role in facilitating these transformative moments, helping new members discover their place in our brotherhood from the very beginning. What’s Happening Next? Watch the Campfire Chat: A recording of Sunday evening's Campfire Chat with our national leadership can be found on our YouTube channel. The Induction Experience: Existing Arrowmen have the opportunity to build a shared understanding by going through the new induction before the lodge offers it to new members. Your section will play a key role in offering an event in your area to attend and experience the new induction themselves. Dates for these events are being finalized and will be shared in early February. We encourage all Arrowmen to experience the new induction as a participant. Practice With Existing Members: Lodges will share the induction experience with existing members at least once before offering it to new members. Support: You'll have resources at your disposal: on demand videos and guides to supplement the Induction Handbook. In addition to webinars and concierge-style support from trained induction staff to help you succeed. More information about this support will be shared in late March 2026. Keep an eye on the OA Website for more details. We're counting on you to help bring this vision of the induction to life. Step one? Go experience it. We'll see you at your section or lodges induction experience. Membership Requirements Updates We are also updating our membership requirements to allow more opportunities for Scouts and Scouters to be elected into the Order of the Arrow and participate in our program. We're expanding election opportunities beyond traditional units to include council-recognized Scouting America groups like staff for summer camp and NYLT, council high adventure contingents, and jamboree troops. Nearly a third of units don't hold elections, and every eligible Scout deserves a pathway to membership regardless of unit circumstances. The camping requirement for adults has been removed. This change recognizes that many adults who would be valuable resources to the Order face professional or family responsibilities that make youth-oriented camping requirements challenging, and lodges need a broader pool of qualified adults to support youth leadership and meet safeguarding policies. These changes ensure that today's Scouts, and the adults who support them, have additional pathways to OA membership. We are working through how to best support lodges implementing the expansion of unit elections and will share more in the coming months. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anyone receive this?

Induction of adults into the OA was never intended to be an "honor"...it was to fulfill the need for adult supervision and advisors to the youth. As such, they are not "elected", but "selected". I agree with the elimination of the camping requirement.

I think OA, and national by extension, is getting desperate for money. Between this and "interesting" elections, to increase membership, I have my wories.

Scouting Mentor: Fr. John Shaw Fr. John Shaw of the Diocese of Yakima. ..should be 94ish years old now and I think still living in the Yakima area of Washington State, though I've heard recently that he was on hospice care a year or 2 back. I know Father Shaw has served St. Mary's in White Swan, WA after his time in Wenatchee, and had retired by 2022 but continued to serve as the Diocesan Native American spiritual director and the English-speaking spiritual director of the Cursillo Movement, a ministry that focuses on training lay people to become leaders. Here is what I also know about Fr. Shaw. In the 1980's & 90's Father Shaw served as Chaplin to Troop 8 in Wenatchee, WA. Chartered by the Knights of Columbus and supported by St. Joseph Catholic Church, Troop 8 was allowed the use of the CYO Hall (where Augustedge Accounting on Chelan Ave is now) every Tuesday night. Father Shaw would drop-in every once in a while, to make sure the boys were growing into young men of God and not degenerating into dirt throwing heathens. Depending on the week, who knows what he found lol. Father Shaw was sometimes a very enthusiastic and animated in his speaking. Such that he frequently had a foamy bit of spittle in the corners of his mouth. Something we Scouts giggled to ourselves about at the time, but is rather fond memory for me now. While my family are not Catholic, we are Christian and my parents saw no harm in allowing my brothers and I to help at St. Joe's when the Troop volunteered. Father Shaw was always there helping when he could. I remember clearly one camping trip the Troop took to Merit Lake up on Highway 2 just past the Nason Creek area. It's about a 5 mile hike up from the trailhead to the lake, with SO MANY switchbacks. The Scouts had set up camp, dinner was made...mostly ate, and the light mostly gone for the night. And up the trail comes Fr. Shaw. He had come up to give the Scouts a Blessing for their weekend activities. After doing so and chatting with the adults for a short time, Fr. Shaw headed back down the trail. He was in camp maybe 20 minutes all told, and at 8:30 or maybe 9 at night, with the dark fully upon us, he headed home. It was the first time I had seen a head lamp before in real life. (Back then they were only used for intense joggers and cyclists. Who knew every Scout would have one thirty...twenty...well some years later.) We watched his light bob through the trees until he was out of sight then carried on with our mischief. I'd always thought he was a bit crazy to do that. The woods and mountains are pretty scary just to be walking in alone when you are 12. Slightly older now I'm grateful for the dedication he showed to the youth back then. St. Joseph's Catholic Church originally chartered Troop 8 in December of 1922. The Knights of Columbus 1545 took up the duties and continues to support Troop 8 as its Charter Organization for over 104 continuous years now. At 98, I wonder how many Scouts Fr. Shaw has known and mentored over the years.

Other reasons why the insurers wanted to move the case from Texas federal court to Illinois state court: 1. Trying to start at the bottom of the food chain with state court. Don't have to worry about that as this case is now wading its way through federal court. Less delay starting closer to the top of the food chain. 2. Attempt to freeze case indefinitely under Colorado River abstention. Denied which equals less delay. 3. Judge stated in opinion, "“Texas law is likely to apply to many of the issues in this case.” Texas has very strong bad faith statutes. In addition, historically Texas juries are not friendly to coverage avoidance particularly involving childhood sexual abuse claims and Texas has stiff Insurance Code penalties. Yes, the insurers can delay but the more they delay, the door opens more wide for "bad faith" penalties. In Texas, if a jury finds bad faith where policy benefits are withheld, damages are not capped and attorney fees are recoverable. I am sure this is one of reasons why bad faith was included in the lawsuit. In short, risk is growing exponentially for the insurers. A normal loss = policy limits A bad-faith loss = uncapped damages.

Insurer's first attempt at getting the Trust's suit against them tossed has been denied: USCOURTS-txnd-3_23-cv-01592-0.pdf Essentially, the insurers started playing their delay game and asked for the lawsuit to be moved to Illinois. The court has said "nice try, but no." So, it's a victory. BUT, expect there to be an apeal of this and any decisions unfavorable to the non-settling insurers. They are masters at delay and even with a trial moving forward it will be years until any resolution. This is a time value of money exercise and insurance attorneys are masters at delaying procedures so their employers hold onto their assets as long as possible. Still, let's appreciate any victory no matter how small, and hope some insurance CEOs start thinking "Okay, the cost of litigating this is starting to cost more than settling."

Your idea isn't new; the BSA has made these kinds of promises since the creation of the program. I do agree that at this age, cost isn't as much of an issue as the cub program, but a results-based program is very subjective. And most of the time the adults go the easy route of Eagle for their results-based program. However, youth at this age aren't advancement-driven. I found that most Eagle-driven programs lose 70% of their scouts by age 15 because advancement gets boring. Adventure-driven programs thrive because they are fun in the outdoors, and because independence in the patrol method drives more maturity in their growth. Go look at units where scouts age out, and you will find they are more scout-run with adventure. Also, adventure-driven programs typically have a high number of Eagles because the scouts are in the program a long time and earn the Eagle requirements by simply participating. Barry

It is dying. And the majority of folks do not want to put quality control measures. They want 'High Speed, Low Drag" advancement and increasing the number of Eagle Scouts. They would rather celebrate the 13 or 14 year old with all 130+MBs than the troop that is doing trail work on the AT, or the troop running Red Cross evac stations.

I was not aware of the Adult adjustment, though totally agree. Years ago I had one of our parents and really involved parents turned down by our lodge for nomination due to his not having ever done a long term. Now this is a man that had done every available training of the time, as he could fit it in. And he had been on a dozen or more weekend backpacks, some up to four nights, and he had done what was then called Trail Boss training with the FS. But, he had tow younger daughters and a wife, and his annual longer term vacation was for family. Thus he did not go to summer camps. When his son was elected, was when we also nominated him as an adult. Fortunately he rethought his emotional response when turned down, and he did not drop out. He finally managed to work out a week at summer camp, but that was three years later. It was, from my perspective, ignorant and short sighted. He had more nights than a number of adults that did get accepted due to summer camps, plus he also was an accomplished welder and building skilled person willing to share his skills. The worst part of that was when I suggested to the Scout Exec that he might wave the summer camp requirement of the time, he refused. Later I went to Jambo and spoke to a couple of OA big shots, and they told me in no uncertain terms that my perspective was nonsense and they would never even consider that. Oh well; he is long in the background, the son is in his thirties and married, and OA is a mess.

Well, Scouting America's position on old uniform items, as far as I'm aware, is still that anything that was ever official is always permitted. So in my opinion, if an award (Seabadge in this this case) is still an official award, and there was an official square knot for it at one time, then just because they stopped making the square knot doesn't mean you can't wear it if you earn the award. Given that it's discontinued, I personally have no problem with wearing a reproduction. But then, I also don't have a problem with wearing higher quality unofficial reproductions of square knots that are still officially produced either. Also, Scouting America used to produce knot variants with white, black, or green backgrounds for different program uniforms because it looked better. They stopped doing that, probably because of money issues, but I wear reproduction black background knots on my Sea Scouter uniform because it looks cleaner. As long as you aren't wearing anything you didn't earn, I wouldn't be too worried about it. With Seabadge specifially though, remember that the pin and the knot aren't supposed to both be worn together. I wear the pin on my Sea Scout uniform and the knot on my Scouts BSA uniform.