Stosh

When my Webelos boys crossed over into Boy Scouts, they presented me with a Cub Scout coffee mug. 20 years later I'm still drinking coffee out of it. My Banana Republic General's uniform hangs in the back of my closet and I have bins of collected awards out in the garage. Did I mention I'm still drinking coffee out of my Cub Scout mug?. Met the dad of one of the Webelos boys in church yesterday, Asked about him. He's out of the Air Force now and married, Has a new little one born a few months back. I have a mug collection. Most just sit on the shelf and look pretty. I have one that's kind a special and gets used a lot, District Award of Merit plaque is in a box someplace. My Cub Scout mug is on the kitchen counter. Like Eagle Mentor pins, some things have greater value than other things.

Equality and fairness are two different issues. Women can pretty much equal the effectiveness of men in the military. That's equality. When women are required to register for the military like men are, then we can start talking fairness. Parents are equal partners in raising children in the eyes of the law, yet is it fair that the overwhelming majority of children are given to the woman's custody in a divorce? One can idealize all they wish, but life isn't fair, our social systems aren't fair and they probably never will be regardless of how much lip service we give to equality. "Be who you were uniquely created to be, because in the end we're all the same." How is that fair?

I had a homosexual roommate in college, There were homosexuals living in the boarding house I lived in for a while. I have no problem with that. However, I do have a problem with people telling me how I should believe about things especially when they are promoting a hypocritical double standard I don't agree with. Now that could be in the area of sexuality, gender, religion, race, age or any one of a number of issues. No one is privileged over another in this country that's what equality is all about in the long run. And if something's not fair? Get over it, life is not meant to be fair, it's only what we have made it to be. People don't negotiate life anymore, they just make demands and expect the world around them to just roll over and do their bidding. When that doesn't happen bad things happen. Just pick up a newspaper, you'll see what I mean.

If a jerk walks into my place of business and starts ordering me around, security escorts him out the door. End of discussion. If a homosexual walks into my place of business and starts ordering me around, security escorts him out the door. It makes national news. Where's the equality in that? What one will eventually have to admit that it's not an issue of equality, it's an issue of who's ox is getting gored on what day. I may have to someday defend my family in my home from an intruder. If I kill a white intruder, that's one thing, if the person is not white, then I have problems. If there wasn't a "culture war" there wouldn't be sides to choose. Too often we view the minute details while ignoring the big picture. Even if I fix one of the minute details, the big picture is still there. I'm not trying to pass any judgment here, just point out the hypocrisy of the double standard as the issue, not the particular situation. It's kinda like the gardener who takes all week long to mow the lawn. What does he do the next week? Yep, mow the lawn. It's kinda like certain words that were once inappropriate have now become okay. The dynamics are all the same for activities.

99% of the fault with the Dump & Run vs. Helicopter Parents is our own faulty communications. We run the Cub Program pretty much like all the other youth programs out there. You pay your dues, you get a program, very little if any parental involvement. But not in the BSA. One has to take into consideration the emphasis BSA puts on Dad/Lad, Mom/Son bonding and constant recruiting to get involved with their kids in the program as a leader.. 5 years of getting the parents involved only to turn around at a crossover and reverse that. Sure, we'll take you on as committee person, but with 50 boys we don't need 100 people on the committee. When did we tell the parents the rules of the game? Some units do it on their own, others don't. I make sure from the very beginning what's going on and by the beginning, I mean the first Webelos visit to the unit.

Welcome to the forum! A quick check of Ebay only shows a ton of derby trophies. https://www.crownawards.com/StoreFront/KSC.Boy_Scout%99_Trophies_And_Awards.cat Maybe this will be helpful, but it looks like it's going to be some sort of custom situation. Just need to find someone who is BSA authorized to do the trophies.

The majority of adults I have met that are Eagles seem to support the idea that getting their Eagle was in a large part because of the buddies they hung out with. "My best friend in school and I both Eagled,", "The group of guys I was in cubs with went all the way to Eagle together.", etc. This is why the patrol-method with no adult messing around with ad hoc, forced mixed patrols, etc. is so important.

Yeah, that eye contact thingy can be kinda hard on a guy. Sounds like it was a good thing for you, though. Welcome

When my boys come to meetings without uniform, the PL's introduce the "visitor" to the group. Yes, we do bully, tease, hassle, harass the boys at various times. When the scout explains why he doesn't have his uniform, the excuse has to be a great one, like a bear ate it, I gave it to the little old lady crossing the street, my sister needed it for prom (my personal favorite), etc. The "truth" doesn't count.

Did they recognize you without your uniform?

I believe the comment was made in reference to wearing one's uniform, not just the knots. How many scouters out there dumped on their aging out Eagles to not wear their AOL, Religious and Eagle knots on their adult uniforms because it makes them look like Banana Republic Generals? I suspect... well... none? Am I close? As for me? Well the Commissioners' Meeting is just before RT, so I am always wearing my UC uniform and it has no knots on it.

It is when the adult vigil members including the drummer for the event are all adults and three boys 2 in costume, one not, do the ceremony. The OA boys were outnumbered big time. I'm not counting myself in the OA adults that night, just the adults involved with the tap-out ceremony that came in to make it happen. It only emphasized the decline of our council's lodge over the past 20 years.

You are correct but my statement should have been more clear. There is nothing anyone in your position can do..." I was pointing out that if one was going to feel guilty about something at least have it about something they have the power to fix. In this case, feeling guilty about someone else's problem in not a beneficial reaction. Like you said, the CM did his best, Cub Scouting expects nothing less. He just needs to walk away and enjoy his years with his son in Boy Scouting if he so chooses. It might have been a wee bit more beneficial that when the committee heard that the CM and CC were leaving they would have contacted the DE and UC immediately and got the ball rolling on replacements. Ignoring problems very seldom solve them.

I have beads, a couple rows of knots, DAM being one of them, and all the COH's I have attended, only two got me out of my chair in the audience, During ECOH's I was called up to receive the boy's Mentor pin. At the call out campfire a couple of weekends ago, they asked if the Ordeal, Brotherhood and Vigil members to stand. My ASM asked me why I didn't stand. I just smiled and said, this is for the boys. If they want to know what level I am in in OA all they need do is ask. It was interesting that the all the Vigil members were adults.

With the American Dream ever present in our culture for many generations, it was always assumed that one's children lot in life would be an improvement over their parent's generation. I don't think one can guarantee that today. Medical science has already stated that children born after 2000 have a life-expectancy less than their parents. As great as any empire has ever been, they all decline and decay over time. So if every generation says they lived in the Golden Era, there are a lot of the people fooling themselves along the way. The Roman Empire lasted "a thousand years." Hitler's Third Reich last a mere 10. A case can be made that the ideals that American was founded on have been under attack for some time now. It's just a matter of time.

As scouts I expect my boys to do better than the average adult. That's what they are training to be. Scouting is a place to learn failure and make adjustments. If a boy doesn't relay communications to his parents, then it's his fault and his failure to deal with. Once or twice and things will smooth themselves out. If boys learn though failure, this is a pretty safe situation. This is pretty harmless. I don't think there ever has been a scout that had to spend 30 years in therapy because he missed out on camp out. Once they figure out it's no one's fault but their own, communications seem to improve dramatically.

@@blw2 I'm kinda with dcsimmons on this one. You did your fair share of the heavy lifting, more than anyone else was willing to do and now you're going to feel guilty for not taking on more than your fair share? There's a ton of other parents out there that don't feel guilty, why should you? Scouting is for your son. It's time to move on, he is. If the pack is to survive, someone will step up. If it's destined to fold, there's nothing anyone can do to change that. With a dysfunctional committee, there's nothing there to really bridge the gap. I was awards chair for my son's pack for 5 years. When he moved on to Boy Scouts, I just turned in my paperwork to the CC and walked away. No one was upset, I had paid my dues.

Fuzzy logic wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Why do I have to be the only sane person in the world?

Your boys is probably going to just go with the troop that his buddies go to regardless of how well it is run. Just make sure if the troop they pick is a problem, they continue their search rather than dropping BSA because of a bad experience.

@@pargolf44067 @@blw2 Okay, irregardless of sentimentality, both of you guys stepped up when no one else would. Why would you think this time around is going to be any different? Once people get to the panic level, they always seem to come up with a solution. If you plan on doing something different than this unit's traditional process, it would just make sense to let everyone know the new rules.

I'm sure there are plenty of SM's out there that can teach brewing to the boys. I brew coffee and tea all the time. Mention brewing and before one can finish the sentence, the people standing around have sucked every bit of oxygen out of the air and are in full rant mode.

And thus the reason older people understand both worlds and the younger generation doesn't. Ancient history isn't taught much in schools anymore. I grew up in the world of at any moment the whole world could just disappear. Nuclear holocaust was no big deal, we didn't want to survive because the world that would result wasn't worth it. People today have their world changing millimeters at a time. They don't realize what is happening. It's kinda like the pot of cold water and hot water on the stove. Toss a frog in the hot water and he immediately tries to get out to save himself. Toss him in the cold pot and as it gradually warms up to a boil, he will die because the danger just creeps up. Maybe it's just youthful idealism on my part, but getting old isn't that big of a deal. I believe the Golden Age of America has passed and therefore I don't expect things to get better over time. The past 15 years have been quite a downward spiral and I don't see it turning around in my lifetime. My glass half empty? Maybe, but maybe your glass is too small. They teach history classes for a reason.

Sorry, but you won't get much support from me on this subject. 1) Parents aren't going to take you serious unless you are serious yourself. Announce your departure and invite inquiries into filling your shoes. You will help that person transition until xx/xx/xxxx when you leave. After that the pack is on it's own. Make sure everyone knows your are really serious about this. 2) Sleep easy at night because like little children the adults are all going to sit around and wait for someone else to step up and take over. They will be totally surprised when this game of commitment chicken doesn't happen. 3) After xx/xx/xxxx don't worry about it, it is no longer your problem... well it never was your problem in the first place. You did your stint, now it's time for someone else to step up. 4) This is how I run my boy-led program. If no one wants to be PL, they are not going to have much fun. Someone better step up. Well, eventually someone does and they then get the attention, training, and support. I'm not going to be their PL and I only support the PL's. Once they realize I'm serious, they figure it out. Surprisingly it works on adults just as well. You have left your legacy, now it's time for the committee to step up and do it's job. No where in the CM job description does it say he/she is to find their own replacement, but I do think it's mentioned in the committee's duties.