fschebor

Gosh, our troop never got rid of them. http://troop_477.tripod.com Yep, the're useless in the desert and the arctic. But outfit a whole troop and you have a ready made parade (or at least a snazzy flag ceremony!)

To answer your questions: 1. Sorry to say I was not in the video (or the country.) Taking 10 of my 15 vacation days for a London trip with the scouts would have landed me in the doghouse for an extended stay! 2. Yes, despite assurances as to the type of video DJ Casper was creating, later on the scouts realised that they did take a chance on how they would be portrayed in the final video. Each of them also signed a waiver. Now if the singer were someone like Marilyn Manson, not only would they have said "NO!", they probably would have run away! 3. Without going into too much discussion (after all we have the Uniforms forum for that) Beret (ber'ay) - a hat that: A. doesn't protect your skin on sunny days, B. doesn't shield your face on ranny days, C. doesn't absorb sweat on hot days, D. doesn't keep your ears warm on cold days. But, by gosh, put them on 50 scouts standing at attention at a flag raising, and you have an awe inspiring sight! Some of us "middle aged" scouters wear our originals from the 70's. The rest we buy new (check the back pages of Scouting magazine). Our council store stocks a fleur-de-lis applique (BSA item B00100) which is stitched to the front. We present them to the cubs at crossover. NOTE - even though we are a 100% full uniformed troop, since we are wearing non-BSA hats, were not really 100% uniformed. 4. Our troop is located in Dexter Michigan. Fred troop_477.tripod.com

This past August, six of our senior scouts and two leaders toured London England. Comming out of St. Paul's Cathedral, they "found" themselves in a music video, and the rest is history. To view it, simply surf over to http://www.aatw.com scroll down to the "Coming Soon" section, click on the green cover "Oops Upside Your Head", select "Watch the Video" No, you don't have to pull out a magnifying glass to spot them in the crowd scenes, they have four scenes all to themselves. Fred http://troop_477.tripod.com

http://troop_477.tripod.com

For the past two years, our troop has gone rafting on the Youghiogheny (1.5 hours SE of Pittsburgh). We'll be there again this comming September. The raft company we use, Wilderness Voyageurs,(http://www.wilderness-voyageurs.com)actually started out as a Boy Scout ONLY outfitter in the 1950's. To see pictures of last year's trip, simply go to our web site http://troop_477.tripod.com, select the "Past Events" patch, scroll down to September 2002, and select the "Report" link. I heartly recommend whitewater rafting, but only under the supervision of highly skilled guides.

The red beret? Totally useless in the field, but then when we are in the field we are usually not in uniform so everybody is wearing more appropriate head wear. However, when we are in uniform, nothing looks sharper! Do I like the red berret? Just check out our troop web site: http://troop_477.tripod.com

I believe that unless a scout's father was himself a scout, the parents probably have little clue as to what skills their scouts are learning, and what they are capable of doing. With this in mind, I'm planning a Scout Skill Fair (i.e. a Parents Night) where the scouts can demonstrate their skills to moms and dads. A couple of scouts could show how a tent is setup, and then take the parents outside to show (and describe) a model campsite. A couple of scouts could demonstrate a square and diagonal lashings, and then take the parents outside and show them a complete signal tower. And since everything goes better with food, a couple of scouts could show the items in a patrol kit and then setup a smorgasbord of foil dinners and dutch oven desserts. We would have other presentations on first aid, map/compass etc. Have any other troops out there tried this this same type of event? If you did, I'm currious as to what types of activities you had as well as what worked (and didn't work).

Our troop project was camp improvment. One patrol graded and re-seeded a hillside. One patrol got a truck load of crushed limestone (donated I believe) and re-graded a section of road in the camp. We beavers cleaned up a dump pile at a farm house that was torn down long ago. I don't recall what the staff did.

I wear my yellow, green, and red (Explorer) service star's for two reasons: 1. I'm proud of the effort it took to earn them as well as the memories they represent. 2. They serve as a constant reminder to the boys that scouting need not end at 18. Even if they wait until their sons are of age, they will know that that if they so choose, there's a uniform waiting for them.

Our troop performs a low-key inspection as part of every meeting. After the opening, the SPL will announce the inspection and he and his assistants will walk through the ranks and if anything is visually amiss, will let the individual scout know. In addition, while the SPL/ASPLs are inspecting the boys, the SM is performing the same inspection on the uniformed adults (lead by example). By performing an inspection every week, the boys are constantly reminded of the importance of proper uniforming. By keeping it low-key, an inspection of 40 scounts and a dozen leaders can be done in 3-4 minutes.

Good discussion people! I'll quickly add my 2 cents. This same situation occured in our troop with a 30ish ASM who was also an Eagle scout in the troop. Had the situation not resolved itself (they broke up), I was prepared to recommend that the committee ask him to step down until AFTER the wedding.