dsteele

Come on in and chat with OGE and I. We'll be here for a while. Unc.

Wow. I guess I only thought I was in the loop. This is the first I've even heard the rumor of a rumor. Unc.

I love Zig Ziglar and his "musings." To call what he does mere speaking does him an injustice. Thanks for the post, Eamonn. It's great reminder. Unc.

Nldscout is correct -- at least as far as I have heard. There is a check box for printing cards for multiple registrations. Unc.

Amen, Eamonn. Unc.

5570 beat me to the punch. The Trail's End Ideal Year of Scouting site has an excellent budgeting tool for unit use. For a non-electonic guide, check out The Unit Budget Plan, a paper version available from your council service center. This is also a good tool to use as a guideline for planning your pack's budget. I'm kinda partial to the Trail's End site -- it's free and easily distributed to the families in your unit. Unc.

Juris: I'm not sure of the intent of your post. Giving you the benefit of the doubt, it appears you're trying to praise the role of women in Scouting. I do have to tell you that some will find your comments offensive. I know I do. Women may register and are very capable in any position in Scouting and have been for several years. Anyone can run a bake sale, and I know of no BSA Ladie's auxillary or any other such group or organization. I have had the honor to serve with many women and men in the Scouting movement over the past 30 years and do not think a gender distinction should be drawn. People are either good Scouters or they are not. I would ask you to treat both genders equally. Unc.

KS is correct. Lone Scouting is intended as a way to allow boys to get the Scouting program if there are no viable troops in the area. Simply not liking the local troop or troops is not reason enough. Unc.

Lots of food for thought, at least for me, in this thread. I've read the opinions posted here and found that I have no strong objections to any of them. Indeed, I can understand where the opinions are coming from. Speaking only for myself, I have decided that I am opposed to the amendment and will not vote for it should it be brought to the states to ratify. I am opposed to burning the flag as a symbol of protest. I am for freedom of speech/expression. However, I do not think the American experience with negative amendments is a good one. In other words, if you want an American to do something, the best motivation is to tell them they can't. As a reference, I give you the Volstead act which brought us those cheerful days of prohibition. I have no problem with laws that prohibit certain activities. I do have a problem with a constitution that tells us what we can NOT do. Thank you for helping me to clarify, at least in my own mind, the way I will vote if the issue comes to my local ballot box. Unc.

Whoops -- I did it again. I answered the technical part of your question, but there is more to it than that. His weight will have an effect on the amount he should carry. I'm sure you'll get responses from people with more expertise in backpacking than I have, but I believe the rule of thumb is that your pack should weigh not more than a third of the weight of the person carrying it. In your son's case that's 140/3 as opposed to say 160/3. I'll let you do the math. I majored in Social Studies Unc.

Welcome to the forums! I looked at the Philmont weight chart. There are no minimum weights listed. A range is listed, but it appears that only the maximum is of concern. I run on the underweight side of every chart I have ever seen, and it's never been an issue. I hope your son enjoys his time at Philmont! Unc.

Good topic and good discussion. I'm just going to relocate this thread. Please continue your discussion without interruption. Unc.

Juris: Did you mean to say "My *fellow* Scouters?" What you said was, "My Scouters." Unc.

Kindly do not let this thread go the direction the previous two responses were headed. If it does, it will be locked. Unc.

I'm glad you checked with your Scout Executive. It is the local council that approves the tour permits and his reading far outweighs anyone elses . . . especially from a place far, far away. Have a great Scouting summer. Unc.

If you're willing to start now, I say go for it! As long as you understand the age at which your son can join, go ahead and get involved. You can "pave the way" and give him a year to look up to dear old dad in his uniform. Best of luck to you. Unc.

NLD -- Please feel free to disagreee. I think you are on the safe and preferred side of the issue. I think it is best if two registered leaders from the unit attend any trip/outing of the unit. However, nowhere in the policy does it say registered with the unit, it simply says registered leader. The way I read it, if another interested registered leader (like a Unit Commissioner) were recruited to attend the outing as the primary leader, it would be acceptable as long as they were accompanied by a parent of a participant from the unit or another registered leader. Just a side thought not directed at NLD -- If the registered adults were required to be from that unit, boys would not be able to attend provisional summer camp troops, or go to a camporee with a different troop, etc. unless one of their unit's leaders were attending. But that's just my interpretation. Unc.

The decision of asking you to become a Junior Assistant Scoutmaster is up to your Scoutmaster. You should ask him about that opportunity and chat with him about what you would like to do once in the position. My question to you is, why would you have to give up the position of SPL? Nothing says the SPL can't be an Eagle Scout. Unc.

Ringbo: Welcome to our electronic campfire. Pull up a log and sit a spell. We're always glad to have another with us. Check your email. I sent you a private message. Unc.

Sometimes it's best not to ask Eamonn what he means. This may be one of those times. But it was a good story. Unc.

I read the rant, too. In its entirety. I didn't like its tone. Not that there was really anything outside of the Scout Oath and Law because there wasn't (at least according to the way I read it.) I did, IMHO notice one fundamental flaw in its philospophy -- these are Boy Scouts we're working with, not solidiers. We are in the business of teaching values, not rules, to the boys in our care. Showering once a week is a rule . . . not a value. Helping one's fellow man just because he can is a value. One thing to remember about Boy Scouts -- no matter what their rank, or age, we're not done with them yet. They are the raw material in varying stages of development . . . and not yet the men we hope they will become. The Kudo I can give to Ted is that it appears his heart is in the right place. His vector seems to be a little off. Unc.

The answers to your two questions are: "No." and "Yes." in that order. To explain: Registered leader means registered member of the Boy Scouts of America. parent of a participant is pretty self-explanatory. The one caveat -- the actual unit would still need to approve the tour permit, which includes approving the leadership for the outing. If they don't want the person from the other unit to be the registered leader, they can deny signing the tour permit. I hope this helps. Unc.

FScouter -- I've been in Scouting a long time, but have never seen the complete text as you posted it here. Never even knew of the existence of it. I have always liked the saying, but I so much more appreciate the full essay. Thank you for posting it. I have printed it and will have it put into some more permanent format. Thank you! Unc.

I never should have posted the Italian results and simply stuck to the U.S. responses. I was surprised at those results. Thanks to Acco for letting us know that Europe is less religious than the USA. I hadn't thought of it from that perspective. It's these different perspectives that interest me. As to Canada . . . I agree with Ed. Unc.

Man! I'm glad I don't live in that neighborhood. Although I'd welcome Packsaddle as a neighbor, I'm not so sure about the others he describes. Unc.