Hal_Crawford

Let's not forget that he has been charged with DUI, not convicted. It doesn't sound like his EBOR is coming soon so I would suggest waiting to see what happens next. Let's not convict him in Scout court before he faces the judge. He may not be convicted. If he is, more details may emerge that will make the course clearer. After his day in court he will also be able to talk about the experience without fear of it being used in court.

If you take down your son's tent at the end of a campout. If become a MBC and sign off on your son's merit badges when there are lots of other counselors available. If you wrote the proposal for your son's Eagle project. If you hire day laborers to carry out your son's Eagle project.

Don't forget to include farm subsidies to the list of socialist programs. What could be more socialist than to pay someone not to grow something?

Yeah, I saw that at work. Must have been a day-tripping cub pack. At least they referenced the website. Hal

Jamboree photos from the Washington Post's web site. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2010/07/29/GA2010072906471.html?hpid=artslot Not sure how many of these were printed in today's dead-tree edition. Hal

I have worked a few events involving first family, second family and a former president. I have been the venue contact with the Secret Service on a couple of them. The Secret Service is generally non-committal about who and if the subjects will attend. I know that they are even more guarded if the POTUS might attend. You never know, he might still show up. Hal

What do they call the guy who graduates last in his class at med school? Doctor. Scary, huh? If the scout meets the minimum requirement he passes. He may not remember the skills a week later and that is sad but it doesn't take away the merit badge. Maybe BSA should require a swim check, a current Red Cross first aid certification and a demonstrated ability to tie a bowline as part of the EBOR. That would be interesting. Seriously, it bothers me that many scouts pass with the minimum and then do not maintain or improve their skills. A week ago we were at a high adventure base and the staff conducted a brief map and compass training before the trek. We were going on a white water canoe trek so map and compass was not a priority in our preparation... the river only goes one way and when we get to a dam we're done. Still, I was embarrassed that one our scouts could not orient a map. In fact, he didn't know which end of the needle pointed north. Worse still, he announced that he had orienteering merit badge... earned at the same reservation. Oh well, we'll work on that one. Hal

The original poster's troop is now at camp. They should have no problem as Camp Marriott provides all the kitchen gear they will need. Hal

Our troop camps at Camp Bowman at Goshen Scout Reservation. The good news is that every patrol site is provided a fully stocked chuck box. I am shocked that the Leaders' Guide is so thin this year. The following is pasted from the 2007 guide: Patrol Cooking Equipment The basic items of equipment listed below are furnished at Camps Marriott and Bowman for each patrol-cooking site. Cooperation in the proper use of the equipment will not only benefit your troop but also will benefit those campers who follow you. Dining fly with poles and lines Cooking fly with poles and lines Fireplace Patrol box Patrol table Cooking pot (small) Cooking pot (medium) Cooking pot (large) Large frying pan Medium frying pan Fry pan handles (2) Plates, metal (3) Measuring cup Colander (strainer) Hot pot tongs Plastic water jug Pitchers (2) Wash buckets (3) Basting spoon Soup ladle Meat fork Chefs knife Pancake turner Can opener Kit cover Paring knife Pot lid (medium) Dutch oven Food carrier Molly mop Shovel Bow saw with sheath Either your camp commissioner or site guide will check off the equipment with the Senior Patrol Leader upon arrival and again before departure. Your unit is expected to return all equipment in the condition it is received, normal wear accepted. Scouts must bring their own knife, fork, spoon, plate and cup Generally the stuff is in pretty good condition. The site guide will check them all with your SPL at arrival and again at departure. That said, our troop takes our own gear to avoid any inventory issues at 6 in the morning on checkout day. We also bring our own axe yard gear as it is generally in better shape than what the quartermaster has to offer. I would recommend bringing extra rolls of paper towels. The scouts always need more than the commissary provides. Best wishes to your Scouts for a great week of camping. Hal

"Having uniforms at scouting events is important, as you are identified as SCOUTS and not just random people" There is truth to this. We occasionally have people walk into our meetings who are looking for the group that meets two flights up. The shirts seem to be enough to convince them that we are a Scout troop and not an AA meeting. I am not sure that the official pants would make it any clearer. I also agree with the gentleman who recollected that his troop was fully uniformed but rarely camped. That could have been my troop. We were fully uniformed and had regular inspections down to the cleanliness of our finger nails. If I recall we did four campouts a year: the camporee, the projectoree and a practice campout for each of them. We also did a week at summer camp. I liked it at the time but looking back I have to think it wasn't much of a program. May be the reason the troop died in the mid '70s. Hal

If this week is any indication it is shaping up to be a hot summer in Virginia. Heat index at 100 or above today, tomorrow and Wednesday--Thursday's forecast remains to be seen. Hal

Our scouts wear their scout shirts at meetings. Some wear scout pants but the rest wear gym shorts, sweats or jeans. Adults have tried without success to push the scouts to full uniform but the PLC calls the shots and they do not see it as an issue. What they do insist on however is that, no matter what the pants are the shirt must be tucked in. Every week the scouts line up by patrols and then we pause for a moment when the SPL reminds a couple of scouts to tuck in their shirts. You could say their standards are low but at least they have standards. Our troop does not wear neckers. Every couple of years the PLC considers and then rejects the idea. A friend of mine posted on Facebook pictures of her sons' troop retiring the flag at Mt. Rushmore. The scouts were wearing clean uniform shirts with proper insignia, neckers, white gloves and blue jeans. They looked sharp even though they were not wearing official pants. Hal

"In Brazil, the A-OK sign ( forefinger touching thumb) is the sam as calling them an A-hole." When I was a teenager, I lived in Brazil for three years. My mom went back home for a couple of weeks when her mother passed away. On returning she was walking toward the terminal from the plane when she saw my dad and I standing on the balcony over the entrance to customs. She wanted to let us know she was OK and--you guessed it--she proceeded to flip off the entire Galeo International Airport.

234 candles on the cake! Happy Birthday America.

Looking forward to next year your troop may want to look at other camps in your council. Camp Baldwin is not a dining hall camp--ingredients and menus are provided and scouts cook over campfires. The call it Jamboree style but it is basically patrol cooking. While the ingredients may still be problematic it should be a lot easier to adapt to an individual scout's needs when scouts do the cooking. Our troop goes to a camp that has the same setup. We have adapted to kids with pretty severe allergies. Since the food is not prepared it should be easier to work around the problematic ingredients. It also puts management of the diet in the scouts' hands rather than the adults'. IMHO patrol cooking is a better camp experience for all the scouts anyway. Good luck, Hal

Who ever thought that "pine wood derby" would show up in an article about an SEC fraud investigation? http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100702/us_nm/us_sec_wright_fraud At least they didn't specifically mention the Cub Scouts. Hal

In for a penny in for a pound; coed from beginning to end. Ease into it with local option. They are fully coed in the UK and it seems to be working. I think that going from co-ed cubs to separate scouts would cause a lot of upset when friends don't want to be split up. Beavah, I really like the way you address this as "doing our duty to young people". Hal

Interesting that the Judy Garland clip has Portuguese sub-titles. You find the strangest things on Youtube.

Interesting that the average number of incidents dropped after 1988 from over 8 per year to less than two per year. Did something in BSA policy or training change in 1989? Hal

I think that we tend to be a little too quick to find offense when scouting is mentioned in the media. Reading the first article I don't see it as a comment on scouting. The victim was described as an Eagle scout, and Emergency Medical Technician and a young man who dreamed of being a firefighter. I believe that these facts were included to put a face on a tragedy rather than to malign Eagles, EMTs or future firefighters. What I see described is a promising young man who's life was cut short by a tragic accident. There is no indication that scouting somehow contributed to his death. I also find circulating these articles to be useful. The more we know about the risks and consequences the better we can prepare ourselves and our scouts. Hal

Stosh: Pleased to read your last post. Wherever life takes this young man you have made a difference. Attaboy. Hal

I rarely see a posting by Merlyn where there isn't one by Ed so in the interest of balance I think that Ed deserves his own thread. I am sure that we can have another about Beavah and the funny way he talks. The list can go on. Perhaps it needs its own catagory. Actually, I don't believe that any more than I think there should be a thread about Merlyn or any other individual on this forum. A number of posters have complained about ad hominem attacks and I can't think of anything more conducive to that than naming a thread after a poster. I don't think it is up to the standards we should expect from scouters or model for scouts. I believe that the original poster has already come to that conclusion and apologized. I encourage the moderators to close the Merlyn thread and this one too before this all gets further out of hand. Hal

Someone should tell Rush they speak Spanish there. Hal

Huzzar: No, it is for a lot more than that. http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/12/08/uganda.anti.gay.bill/index.html Gay sex once,life sentence; gay sex twice, death penalty. I doubt BSA will take a public position on this but I hope the WOSM will. Hal

This article is from the Sacramento Bee about Todd McHugha teen who saved a mother and two children. Deep in the article it identifies him as a scout working on Eagle. http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2542080.html He doesn't think he's a hero. Hal