Eagle92

Also if your MBC signs off in your BSHB, that too can be used to verify you got the MB. My troop growing up didn't use blue cards, we had the MBC sign the BSHB directly when we finished a MB.

Scruff, 1) Welcome back and glad to have ya. 2) Beav said it best. all this started in '89 or so.

Eng, Sorry to hear about the competitiveness of your troop as that is not how it's suppose to be. Advancement is suppose to come naturally by DOING scouting and being in the outdoors. Yep the MBs can be tedious, esp the paper pushing ones. But they are suppose to teach life skills, i.e. First Aid, Swimming, cooking, and provide an outlet for areas of interest, i.e. atomic energy, plumbing, etc. Your story and others really makes me appreciate my SM's approach. It was a hand's off approach, unless a gentle reminder was needed to get ya back on track, esp. after spending almost 5 years as a Life Scout.

A few things to ask your stepson Eng. 1) Are you having fun in Scouts? This is critical b/c if he isn't having fun, he will get out as soon as he gets Eagle, IF he even gets that far. 2) What do you like best about Scouting? Got to find out what he likes best to encourage hime to speal to his PL, or if he is a PL then at the PLC, what motivates him. 3) What does he like least about Scouting? Again needs to find out the things that discourage him. 4) What problems do you see ahead with Scouting? 5) What activities would he like to try, i.e. backpacking at Philmont, Canoeing in Northern Tier, doing a program at Sea Base,. jambo, etc. 5a) How plan to go about doing the activity? 6) What do you think about workign summer camp staff for a sumemr whn you get older? 7) Are adults to involved in Scouting, i.e. picking MBs, tellign you what to cook, etc? 8) What do you think about your mom's involvement with you in Scouting? Depending upon the answers you may need to let him talk to his mom about her involvement. You may need to supprto him from getting her to back off. I personally cannot wait to have all 3 kids out camping in a troop so the wife and I can have the house to ourselves. All three have been informed that they will be working summer camp when they are old enough. that way My utilities and food bills will go down

NJ, There are some religions and Christian denominations that do view homosexuality as immoral. Hence the the splintering of the Anglican union over this topic and an exodus of Episcopalians and Anglicans to Roman Catholicism as well.

Kudu, As I mentioned, working on Cit Nat and World were done in conjunction with the HA trip. Lots of hiking around DC, did three trails we discovered at the post trip meeting, and canoeing and portaging in the Canadian Wilderness. Some requriements were met automatically, others we were told if we want the MB, then we needed to do. It was totally up to us. The MBCs I've worked with, outside of summer camp, tried to relate the p/w MBs to Scouting and life in general. Summer camp MBs were just plain fun: Indian Lore, First Aid, Canoeing, Cooking, Wilderness Survival, etc. While I also think the schools need to do better, one reason I am homeschooling, There are ways to incorporate someof the PW Mbs into scouting. With PM, you can use a patrol's budget for a weekend as a foundation for other budgets. You are so correct in the PM is a model of our democratic republic, i.e. patrols elect PLs who represent the members on the PLC. You just go on to expand. As for my friends who aged out at Star and Life, they just didn't have the interest in getting Eagle as they wanted to have fun. A few remained active after 18, but most went off to college or enlisted. Now I agree with you 100% on wanting to work on the fun MBs. I wonder why some P/W MBs are even offered at summercamp. Scouts Should be in the outdoors not stuck in a classroom. heck the "only" classroom I ever went to was the healthlodge for FA and EP Mbs, and that's only when patients were in the lodge an the MBC needed to keep an ear open for them. teh rest of the time we were outside working ont he requirements.

Kudu, More or less agree with ya. Although it depends upon how the MBC deals with it. My CitCom, Nat, and World counselor was awesome and made it fun.Yes there was paperwork, but he related it to scouting. Also Nat and World were worked on while preparing for my 64 mile canoe trip in Canada, with side trip to DC. So it was relevent to my trip. Personal management on the other hand.... The problem as I see it is that the schools are not preparign the scouts in these topics, at least in my neck of the woods. part of scouting is to teach citizenship and to prepare them physically, mentally, and morally. So scouting is filling in that role. As for the scout losing interest,if mom keeps pushing, he will want to quit. At 12, let him do what he wants. let him try new things and make mistakes. Let him searchout the adventure that he wants. let him learn the things that interest him. Advancement comes natually. Also it doesn't matter at what age you get Eagle: 12, 14, or 18, the responsibility and recognition are the same. Also I knew folks who aged out at Star and Life, and they were better at scoutcraft than some Eagles I know

I'm back. With the OA, there was alot more informality between youth and adults. I intereacted with both adults and youth pretty well. I was a committee chair and had no problems My problems arose after turning 21, and becoming chapter adviser. Some district folks didn't think I was up for the job, and others thought I was a mouthpiece for the lodge adviser. That eventually worked itself out. But the biggest challenge was a few of the SMs. I had SMs act very unScoutlike, call me a few names, and tell me I didn't know what I was doing in relation to unit elections. While some of the SMs did eventually realize I did things by the book, a few were upset, and didn't like how the OA did things. For me the situation with the troop was solved when I left the troop b/c of a job move. I came for a visit at a ECOH after 1.5 years, and with the exception of a few of the older scouts, it was either "Mr. Eagle," or "the 92."

When I was a G.A.S.er (Gray Area Scouter, i.e. 18-20) in the troop I related more to the youth as I grew up with a bunch of them. Although I was an adult, I wasn't "Mr. Eagle" like the other adults but "92," b/c I did have youth friends still and that just carried over. To be honest it took some time for me to transition to adult mode b/c I was so used to being in a leadership role, and also the older scouts always looked tome for advice. Luckily I had good mentors and that helped at the troop level. More later.

Actually what I find interesting is that at the time the Constitution was written, several of the states did have state religions. One reason why Congress cannot pass a law establishing a religion.

i admit i am a bit iffy on this one. I wouldn't camp too much on the T-W-B level, saving it for the Webelos. Then again I am the one in the pack that has a fishing rodeo, with family camping if you want saturday only, this weekend, Patriot's Point the following weekend, pack family campout the last weekend of the month, and a council family camp out the 3rd weekend in Oct. The key is #1 having a balance, and #2 doign what the kids, and parent want.

One other options, get a BSA sweatshirt. With my old troop, you wore stuff under the shirt UNLESS is was a scouting sweatshirt, i.e. winter camp, from the shop, or from an event , and then it was OK to wear over the uniform. ( I wore my Sea Scout and later WSJ sweatshirt)

As a DE I had a unit with a husband-wife team signing off on everything. Was not good as the pack folded and no one knew where the money went, and they owed for popcorn. Council ended up eating the popcorn ( figuratively and literally). When the wife became troop treasurer, I requested to be taken off the account. Made it interesting since I was the one buying all the advancement as I worked at the scout shop at the time.Aabout 1/2 the checks were made out to me to cover advancement and supplies, and I was extremely glad that either the SM or CC also had to sign off for reimbursement.

RS gave great advice. Also look at past treasurer reports from the committee if any. One thing about 2 signatures, make sure you have a minimum of 3 authorized ( you never know when someone is out of town, in the hospital, etc) and that NO ONE is related. That's important b/c avoiding a husband-wife team can prevent any appearance of impropriety, and avoid possible headaches.

I can tell you that when Scouting for All had a protest outside the Southeast Louisiana Council's offices to protest the Dale decision in 2000 or 2001, the council had a lot of calls in support of the BSA's policy. The office is visible from I-10, so the protesters were also visible form the interstate.

Gary, There are legitimate reasons for buying ranks, esp Eagle. Venturers can wear the Eagle badge on their uniform until they turn 21. One of my scout shop staff Eagled at 18 and loved the fact that when he worked the summer camp trading post, he could wear his Eagle on the Venturing green shirt. Too bad the boss would only let him wear the Venturing uni at camp and not at the regular shop. As for why I have bought Eagle patches after 18, 1) for table tops for my troop ( each eagle has a table decoration with an eagle badge, his name, year, and a point of the Scout Law. Since I worked for the shop, I would buy advancement for the troop) 2) for presentations, and 3) trade (yep I traded an Eagle badge for both a British and Canadian Queeen's Scout award. I also traded a set of BSA ranks for a set of British ranks.) I can tell you that part of the reason why BSA is so strict is because of Ebay. But even before the net, they were strict b/c folks would try and but things. Trust me, Halloween and Mardi Gras wer the biggest times when folks who had nothing to do with the BSA try and buy uniforms.

10, At national scout shops, the policy is that ANY advancement: ranks, MBs, etc. MUST (caps for emphasis)have an advancement report turned in with the purchase. If it is a replacement, i.e. getting multiple ranks for multiple shirts, then proof of the award AND an advancement report with the word REPLACEMENT ( emph again) must be submitted. that's how it was 10 years ago when I worked in supply

I know that in '99, units from LeJuene were deployed to Central America for some emergency, and about 1/3 of the units either did not recharter, or recharter on time, due to the loss of leaders. My coworker was having a rough year at that time. So to answer your questions. 1) units folded or scrambled like crazy to keep going. 2) yes 30 don't know.

Fish, Don't know. But my council did have a week that was mostly LDS at camp ( sorry don't know if they still do b/c I haven't been to summercamp since I worked staff in 98 and 99). Only differences were A) Units showed up Monday early and aquatics had to be up and ready and B)less coffee and tea and more bug juice. Those guys were great scouts and leaders. One unit met 45 minutes away from my district, so I wouldn;t copnsider it a geographic thing..

Since we are so short on CS trainers, last year only 1 besides DE, this year 3, we only do traiing 1 x per year as a district. BALOO didn't happen last year, but we did it this year and had 6 attend. So as you can guess I am happy tohave online training. Just wish it would show as being completed if we took a class.

I've seen both the segregation and integration with LDS units. Unfortunately the local units in my district do not do anything with the district at all: no training, no roundtables, no district events, no OA. Only one event have I seen anyone participate: 2 Cubs at day camp. And it's not from want of trying. As both a DE and OA CA, I tried to get them involved. The leaders changed so fast, and the unit would not notify the council of the changes, that I could almost never get up with them. trying ot get them involved in the OA did not go anywhere as only 1 scout was eligible, and he was not interested. Sad thing was these were older scouts who have been around for some time and have not the camping requirements, rank requirements, or both. Now one district in LA was completely different. The units were VERY active, they attended RTs, served on training staff, etc. BUT I bet that b/c the bishop was active in Scouting, it helped.

Check out MacScouter.com as they have most of the requirements there. want to say all of the Sports and Academics stuff is now current.

I was told that it's national policy that the rank has to be 4earned this year. That said, I know some local councils are selling them if you present the proper credentials.

YES! While some folks consider scouting a 'white, middle class, urban pasttime" It isn't I was one of those that if it wasn't for scouting, I could of ended up worse off. I've worked with youth in the same boat that I was in, and am workign with some who are in worse predicaments. You got to do your best to get them hooked, keep the promise of excitement and adventure, and work with them.

Yes it tests you, forces you to use your Scouting skills and the knowledge you've gained over your scouting career. Depending upon the type of trip, it forces you to depend heavily on your partner and crew to overcome challenges that arise. You are completely dependent upon the gear you have packed, the skills you have mastered, and knowledge you have learned. Yes my first HA trip was a blast and a learning expereince, something I will never forget, and something I hope my boys go through.