Eagle92

While a female can be an adult leader in a troop at 18, for OA purposes she would be considered a youth, and hence ineligible, since she hasn't earned First Class. BUT she can vote in the election every active member of the unit under age 21 at the time of election is eligible to vote in an Order of the Arrow election. (page 2-1 of the Guide to Inductions). (This message has been edited by Eagle92)

He may surprise ya. I had three friends who had their kids go through the Ordeal the same weekend. None had problems.

No problem.

One of the problems in havig volunteer trainers: you sometimes get what you paid for Seriously though that is a challenge in training: getting good instructors. I've seen first hand some inadequate training in my opinion. Instructors not as knowledgable as they think they are, instructors not practicing skills in advance, not reviewing materials ahead of time, not having adequate supplies, etc. Now I will cut some slack to insturctors who do not have enough supplies to a degree. Sometimes it's hard to guage how many will show up last minute. I know in my BALOO course I took, 15 signed up, instructor was prepared for 20, and almost 30 showed up. In the course I taught, 2 preregistered, and 4 showed up the day of the event. Gonna solve that problem by including a late fee to cover the cost of the trip from camp to the grocery store

GK, Soudn like it's workign nicely. But why must the SPL only serve one term?

Webdog, You are correct, the Second Class Scout is ineligible for election at this time. I will not post the direct link to the Guide to Inductions, just in case that is a way around the password protection. But here is the general link to the offical BSA source http://www.oa-bsa.org/resources/pubs/gti/ Appendix 1 in the Guide to Inductions, the sample Letter Announcing Unit Elections, states under YOUTH MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS 1 A Boy Scout or Varsity Scout who holds the First Class rank, is under the age of 21, and is registered as an active member of the troop or team may, with the approval of his unit leader, be nominated for election (emphasis mine on both accounts) Prior to the annual election, the unit leader must certify the nominee's Scout spirit, and youth membership qualifications.

A few comments, with some rehashing. 1) Anyone who wants a copy of the old BROWNSEA 22 Syllabus, the council level course that Green Bar Bill wrote, and was prior to th council JLT and NYLT, PM me with your email as I have a copy. I love the course, especially since I'm a Cocky Curlew. 2)As I stated previously, my district as a youth did do the troop level TLT, or whatever it was called then, as a district. Some SMs were not doing it. The course was staffed by BA22 graduates, applying and teaching what they learned at BA22, and was well attended. I know my troop hosted it the year I went, and I want to say we had about 4-6 patrols worth of folks in attendance. Unfortunately I went the last year they did it. part of that I bet is b/c national did away with BA22 for JLTC, and for whatever reason JLT didn't catch on until 1994. 3) The district course was a day long course and did have hands on opportunties as well as "classes" We brought notebooks to take notes, I want to say we were told to bring a specific type, and I remember using that same notebook when I went to BA22 that summer. 4) If I was to do it today, I would use the current TLT syllabus so that the scouts will be familiar with the concepts presented as they will encoutner them again at NYLT. I would definately add activities and additional information,informing them that it's extra stuff that they will use.

If memory serves, you treat as a spinal injury and immobilize. I HATE SPINALS! (and the caps are a poor emphasis to my feelings on spinals). It is covered in 4b of teh FA MB requirements.

My council has just started using KINTERA as their online payment system for events. They do have a service charge, and I am told it's steep (I'm getting more info on this for CS Day Camp on the 17th as we are possibly looking into using it). Adding the service fee to events may be needed to compensate.

ALPS Mountaineering has a scouter program. Sign up here http://alpsmountaineering.com/tinc?key=fMP5s2XV&formname=ScoutRegistration Also CAMPMOR has a program too. I'm a Eureka fan. Got my 11y.o. tent still. Troop had 20 yo Eurekas.

Pack, There is a classification of flags, for lack of a better word, called All Weather Flags, that are designed to be flown in all weather conditions. I do have one of those in my front yard, and a "spare" that I keep for camping activities.

Not to change the subject, maybe go off on a tangent, but I would love to have First Aid MB required for First Class rank again. The public expects scouts to know their FA, and I think it is that important a skill.

Moose, Thanks for posting some of the backstory. I can understand where someone would be upset with a Crew that only had members chasing after the boys. But as folks constantly mention, all scouting is local. Things that happen in my neckof the woods wouldn't occur elsewhere, and vice versa.

WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT!!!!!!!!!!! (LOL) More bling to wear!

Point of clarification, I and the other scout did not, repeat NOT, need an evac up in Canada. Getting me to realize I had hypothermia and needed to use my survival kit's blanket, sterno can, and boulliou cubes was the key. Getting into dry clothes, in front of a nice hot fire, with a reflector blanket, and hot drink and food in us did the trick. (This message has been edited by eagle92)

Once again Cub Scout get shortchanged

Fox, 1) Have you talked to the person in charge of the Klondike Derby about the issue? That individual may be the best person to talk to about the matter. 2) How is Venturing doing in your district, i.e. is it thriving, only a few crews, etc.? That may be a deciding factor in why Venturing units are invited to attend: there are not enough crews to organize a district event for them. I know in my neck of the woods, there is only 1 active crew, and they do participate sometimes in District events, besides working staff. 3) As some have pointed out, one of the challenges of the BSA is that Venturing and Boy Scouts do overlap, and there are activities appropriate for both groups. Further there are Scout leaders who do view Venturing as a threat to their unit, taking away their older, experienced scouts after investing time and energy into getting them up to snuff (an aside, same argument folks give against the OA). So if Venturing in your area doesn't invite the older scouts, it may be b/c of local pressure. 4) It looks as if national is on board with allowing Venturers do activities with Boy Scouts. Just look at NYLT for those Venturers under 18 (over 18 go to WB21C). 5) FYI Exploring, which predated Venturing, was coed from approx the late 60s, early 70s. I was in a coed Sea Explorer Ship in the 90s. Hope this helps. E92

I've seen a bunch, but one that stands out was a guy deliberately infected a blister he had so that he wouldn't go backpacking during training. So he didn't have to backpack after all. But he did have to stay at training, and he had KP and latrine duty for the adult staffers while the patrol backpacked Patrol carried him to the patrol guide. Then rode to the base camp to see the doctor. Now I was the victim of hypothermia, but didn't realize it until after the fact. Scouts in my patrol took care of me. Didn't need an evac, and it would have been interesting as an evac would have entailed a float plane. I was 4 hours north a Montreal in the Canadian Wilderness Pretty much the scouts and/or leaders have been able to take care of it. Sometimes folks needed to go home, sometime they have to go to the hospital to get it checked out. To be honest, the absolute worst thing I've seen was when I was training for a "hoods in da woods" program. One of my fellow students recently had surgery, and while OK for doing a 50+ mile canoeing trip, he did have to be careful. Well he had some complications, first getting feverish, then passing out. While he was feverish, we aimed for the nearest park where he could be evacuated. The trainers did what they could, while the rest of us was told to set up camp, get dinner ready, and keep out of the way and busy. He had to be air evaced. He rejoined us at the base camp 3 days later. He was joking around stating that he had to do something to get some meat, as the group had several vegans, who kinda forced their belief on us for the trip.

Mr. B. National already allows the wearing of the Eagle medal at events like this.

Well this is an interesting topic for me. As a DE I had a pack that essentially pointed their Cubs to a nearby troop instead of the COs troop. Part of the problem was that the Troop really didn't interact with the pack, part of it was personality differences between the pack leaders and troop leaders. Don't know all the details, but knowing the folks involved, I bet the troop's attitude that they should automatically come to us tied with the attitude that Cubs don't camp, as well as the pack's if you aren't goign to help us, then why should we send boys to you, and Oh yeas cubs should camp attitude may have contributed to the situation. Long story short the troop died, and pack died when leadership moved. It took A) new pack leadership and B) old SM going though ALL training again (he wanted to understand the new CS program which I think helps greatly) My advice would be to repeat what others have said. Work with through the CO, get the parent's addresses and phone numbers to contact them directly, and most importnatly GET DEN CHIEFS involved! I cannot stress the importance of using den chiefs.

Any member of the uniform police who thinks you can't wear your Eagle medal at an Eagle Court of Honor should be subject to having his UP membership revoked. Darn tootin, esp since as the OP quotes, it's allowed in the IG. Hope you have a great ECOH today.

I got two words for ya '732: WEAR IT There is nothing wrong wearing your Eagle Medal at a formal occasion like an ECOH. Heck I still have mine on from the District Banquet as I have given the Eagle recognition at them in the past. banquets, ECOHs Blue and Golds are considered formal occasions for its wearing.

I'd rather a sonic screwdriver, than a sonic lipstick. Although K-9 is pretty cool. Speaking of which, if you decorate your metal watering can and label it "Can-9," you are a Sci fi geek.

DC can be worth their weight in platinum, no not gold but PLATINUM, or your worse nightmare if they act worse than the cubs. Several keys to getting a DC IMHO are the following: 1) Willingness to work with the younger boys. Some scouts don't want to do this. 2) Have the time to commit. Again this can be hard with Scouts b/c they do have school, school extracurriculars, troop activities, and in some cases jobs. And sometimes conflicts do arise. Case in point; Scouting for Food and Scout Sunday with my soon to be ex-DC. 3) Have the KSAs to do the job. Also add maturity. Every scout and Venturer ( yes Venturers can be DCs) is different, and that has to evaluated. 4) Have leaders who know how to use them. This is a pet peeve of mine b/c When I was a DC back in the day during the old 3 year program, my first Dl and ADL basically treated me as another Cub, and wouldn't let me help. Second den I worked with was much better, but the WDLs really let me do a lot of work, esp. since they didn't have the outdoors skills I had. 5) Let the SMs know about the advantages of of having DCs. Some SMs just don't get it.

Ok won't promote pacticality of lashings, will promote fun of it. Wolf son had fun fixing the sofa, so did middle son. When I told them all the cool stuff they could build with lashings, and showing them some pics, they were happy. Now I gotta get my soon to be ex Den Chief to polish up his lashing skills, which I think are at the decent level for the moment as he built a survival shelter back in Dec. with the skills, so that he can teach his soon to be new Webelos Den how to build a catapult for engineering activity pin and for Webeloree. Kinda fun having an "old school" CM running Webeloree. To bad we lose him next year to a troop. Our loss is the troop's gain as he has already has his Webelos, one of whom is his son, pumped up about going to Philmont. Lucky dog has been there 3 times already, and can't wait for his 4th.