Stosh

Unless it's the Friday family time near the end of camp, visits by family should be discouraged. It's bad enough working through homesickness without parents getting in and meddling around. I can safely say that after 30 years of working with boys, family that shows up early means the boy will soon quit scouts. In my cases, that statement is true 100% of the time. With camp, in my case 20 minutes from where the scouts met regularly, I even had one boy that had his parents come and pick him up every night and take him home and bring him back in the morning. Unfortunately parental rights trump SM's every time. The only other issue is cell phone calls home to come pick them up. That is as bad as parents dropping in during the week. I always advise parents against this practice. Every time I have had to walk a boy through homesickness he has always stayed with the program and had a great scouting career. "You're home sick? Me too, that's why I'm here." "Sorry, you can't go back home this week, your parents have rented out your room." Your mileage may vary, Stosh

While in EMT training we had a session on "The Good Samaritan Law" that "protects" people trying to help others. With that being said, those laws have no meaning. As Eagle92 points out being sued and winning is still a costly proposition. In America anyone can sue anyone else for divorce even if they are not married to them. They can never win, but the person being sued is going to have to pay in court to have the case thrown out. While I was an advisor for a reenacting crew, I carried the BSA $1,000,000 liability policy, a $2,000,000 reenactor policy through the group I work with, and another $1,000,000 personal umbrella policy. I often wonder if I had enough coverage. After 60 years of living in America, the biggest lesson I've learned: when it comes to $$$, trust no one! Stosh

Wore my 1960's uniform community strips on a 1960 uniform at Jambo and got a ton of positive comments about how nice they were. People really like to know where you are from and a council strip with troop numbers just doesn't cut it. Stosh

I hear-tell that BSA is planning on banning the playing of Chess with wooden game pieces for fear of infected slivers. And with all there is to be said about Red Rider BB guns "shooting yer eye out", one would think that this activity should be banned as well. hmmm.... .... Sorry, couldn't think of any more stupid suggestions for the BSA to consider in the coming months. I'll have to consult with my lawyer.... Stosh

OGE, That was running through my head the whole time. Stosh

Why join the Army if you aren't going to make General? Stosh

If adults can do it, the boys can be taught to do it as well. A month ago I put out an announcement at work, on the local canoe/kayak club site, university rec center, a ladies' group of kayakers, local commercial outdoor stores, etc. for a flash mob to meet at the head-water landing of a certain river 5 hours away. 9:00 am meet and shuttle vehicles 10:00 am on the water 5:00 pm supper at local restaurant 7:30 pm - campfire, place TBD, BYO potluck snacks. Some stayed in hotels, others in cabins, others still camped in one of 4 close campgrounds. Some brought their kayaks/canoes, others rented. Took almost 30 minutes to get everyone a parking spot and on the water while half shuttled, the other half got organized and ready to go. No one "took charge", just did what was necessary to be done and everyone had a fantastic day. Everyone pitched in to carry canoes/kayaks off of vehicles to the shore. Total strangers in some cases. Water was high and rapids fast! No one made it to the end dry and no one spilled. The only comment was, "We gotta do this again next year!!!" As long as no one remembered who "organized" the event, they just decided, same time, same place, next year. I marked my calendar! Every First Class Scout should be able to do this if they have learned their rank requirements. Every PL should be able to get his patrol "family" there. Every SPL should be able to coordinate efforts so as to be the most cost effective and efficient. Stosh

Like small rural churches, they would rather close than merge to share expenses/resources. Too much pride and politics to make it work. Stosh

As a collector myself I know the pain of people messing with such items, but in this case the effort is for the boy, not some collector 50 years down the road. 90% of my scout memorabilia went to my younger brothers in scouting. It was either keep it for whatever reason or make use of it in the family. I only have my Bobcat pin, a scout knife and my necker left. The Bobcat pin is on my uniform collar, the scout knife is in my pocket (as it always has been now for almost 50 years) and my necker is in my drawer. The rest is just memories. Stosh

The lad involved was fit, 23 years old, registered ASM, Eagle Scout. Out of everyone in the group, I would have expected him to go down last. Being the oldest of the group (60 years old), I was nervous I would be the first to go, but I drank more than I expected the others to and supplemented with 20 oz bottles of Gatorade. When I left I weighed 175#, when I got back I weighed 181#. After a day of hourly trips to the bathroom I was back to 175#. I pretty much sloshed around the whole weekend, but on the second day of battle, I took the field in full wool uniform and hung in there pretty good. It really pays to know what you are doing. It's pretty hard to judge as a leader what is expected. At Philmont in modern materials one can get by a bit easier than in super hot heat wearing a heavy wool uniform. The lessons I learned in scouting really pay off over the years. Stosh

It's time for the servant leadership lesson for your son. Every adult in a unit knows that in order to be a leader they have to accept the responsibility of doing more work than anyone else and covering up everyone else's messes. It's a thankless job to do the extra work for your buddies all the time, but they will quickly learn who to look to when things get shaky along the trail. A good leader always takes care of his people. A good PL does more work cleaning up after his patrol than anyone else. A good DC does more work cleaning up after his cubs than anyone else. Etc. etc. If the only way one can get someone to take on leadership is with a carrot and stick, they will never internalize the importance of the process. Yes a few perks and thank-you's come your way over time, but for the most part it's not always "worth it" and is a thankless job. If your son ever begins to realize this as more of an opportunity in leadership rather than a dreaded chore, he's going to get some great mileage out of his scouting experience. I had one young fellow figure this out at an early age. We did a lot of dutch oven cooking as a troop and no one wanted to clean them afterwards. It was perceived as the worst of the worst when it came to camp clean up chores. Most of the time the adults "got stuck with it". After each meal I would announce that I got to clean the dutch ovens! Eventually after a couple of these announcements, one of the younger boys came over and watched me do it. When I was done, he commented that it didn't look that bad and asked if I would teach him how to do it. I did, and from that point on he was the troop-designated dutch oven cleaner. It got him out of washing, clean-up, cooking, and a dozen other camp chores and was never on the duty roster (how could he be, he always had to do the dutch ovens!). Of course, he got so good at it he could done well before the wash water was half heated for after dinner dish washing. Although challenged many times throughout his career, he hung on for dear life for troop dutch oven cleaner. Even as SPL, he always did the dutch ovens. However, what he also realized that even though he was not responsible for any of the other camp chores on the roster, he had the time to help others as needed and thus was appreciated by the other boys as a good helper. When it came time for PL/SPL elections he was an easy shoe-in for any position he wanted. Servant leadership really works. Stosh

For those who's kids do not listen when it comes to drinking water on a hot day, here's a case in point for you to use. We were doing a Civil War reenactment and the temperature was expected to soar for the day, at least triple digits. At 5:00 am we were up for roll-call and I instructed my first sergeant that everyone in the company was expected to drink a full canteen before they left the line. Every hour they were called back to do the same thing. Each of the canteens were 2.5 quarts. At 9:30 we had a 2.5 hour battle where we ran around and really worked up a sweat. Two more canteens went down during that time. At noon we walked off the field and the temperature was 107 in the shade. About an hour or two after we returned one of my younger members (23 year old veteran Eagle Scout) went down to the heat and we dragged him off to the medical tent. After talking with him the only thing he did different than the rest of the company was he knocked of a 20 oz bottle of Coke. It was enough to put him down and out! The medical staff figured it was about the equivalent of 1.5 canteens negated by that one Coke. The young man remembers coming off the battlefield and then waking up in the medical tent. He was up, talking, for at least an hour after the battle all of which he could not remember. He had changed clothes into modern clothes and laid down in the shade. We dumped 2 canteens of water on him to cool him off but after a half hour his skin was pale and dry. He had stopped sweating and that's when we scooted him off to the medical tent. Next time your boys think it's cool to bend/break the rules, you might want to have a little chat with them about how it works. Stosh

Sew the 4 neckers with the four points in the middle (Tiger, Wolf, Bear and Webelos). It will make a square. Then add the rank patches and arrow points to the open area (the ends that are normally rolled up) and then mount on a padded art board. Remove all the backs to the pins and stick through the neckers to the board. Then frame with no glass and display on the wall. Belt and belt loops can be attached to the bottom edge. Denner Cords can be added as well. Either they are sewn to the neckers or pinned to the art board. Stosh

Print out a complete First Class badge on a 11" x 17" sheet of paper. Get a 11" x 17" piece of 1/8" plywood. Apply a thin coat of Elmer's Glue to the whole side of the plywood and lay the sheet of paper on it. Apply another thin coat of Elmer's Glue over the paper. It will dry clear. Then find someone in your unit with a jig saw and have them cut it out into the segments. You now have a permanent jig saw puzzle of the badge. If you like the flash card approach, you can always use a Sharpie marker to write the meanings on the back of each piece. Stosh(This message has been edited by jblake47)

I do a lot of reenacting and dust in Virginia is horrendous. What we normally do is wear a wet bandana and that negates all breathable dust. Looks like hundreds of people getting ready to rob a bank, but it works great. Normally when it's that dusty, it is also hot and a cool wet cloth on the face is a welcomed addition. Stosh

Buffalo As well as he should! My DC's always took great pride in those braids! Rank (including Eagle) assumes leadership... DC Braids prove it. Stosh

wjturner, I addressed the post to you because you sounded interested in knowing. Nothing in the post was meant to be addressed specifically to something you said, per se. I know this subject is riddled with tradition and US Flag Code jargon and is often times quite confusing to the readers. There are so many things that are traditionally contrary to the US Flag Code it isn't funny. I don't mind traditions that show respect and dignity but sometimes when it runs counter to the Code, it "concerns" me a bit. I usually cut people slack for their ignorance of the Code. For example, in a parade, ALL flags need to go to the front of the parade, not at the front of each unit. Military color guards precede civilian flag details. No one really expects the spectators to be jumping up and down like a yo-yo every time a flagged unit passes. Flags are not to be displayed on floats. Bunting and Red/White/Blue dressing is to be treated the same way as a flag. Flags are to be allowed to fly free, not held on to on windy days. Flags are to be displayed on the right fender of a car (or center hood), not the driver's side window. In a line of flags, the American Flag is out front by itself. It is only in a line, on the right, if there is ONE other flag. Flags should be flown free, not affixed to printed material, stickers, decals or clothing. I could go on and on with all the "traditions" that run counter to the US Flag Code, but I don't want to belabor the point. As an interesting point of trivia, the US Postal Service did not issue stamps with US Flags on them until recent history because cancelling the stamp desecrated the flag. That level of honor for the flag has been lost to history. I was 4-F in 1968 and the military wouldn't take me even at the height of the Vietnam War. Tried to get the rating changed, but they wouldn't budge. So I'm stuck today only emulating the military. My thanks to those who were able to serve and did so. Stosh

wjturner, I used the color guard semantics to point out that there is a difference between color guard and flag details. Flag details are unarmed military or civilian in nature in that there is no armed guard accompanying the flag. However, civilian tradition uses the term color guard for all flag details whether they are armed or not. VFW and American Legion units sometimes carry weapons, but technically all it's members have been mustered out and are now civilians. The issue that always complicates discussions concerning the Flag is civilians are expected (not required) to follow the US Flag Code when handling the flag. It is intended by Congress to describe how the Flag should properly be treated so as to be done respectfully and with dignity. With that being said, if someone wishes to respectfully carry the flag folded against their chest with arms crossed, that's fine, but the Code does not prescribe how it should be carried. It also does not prescribe how it should be folded either, only displayed and handled. So over the years certain traditions have been adopted, but the Flag Code does not address them. If someone has a tradition that does not counter the Flag Code, great, everyone knows that an attempt is being made to show respect for the Flag. However, just because it is tradition does not make it either right or wrong, just "traditional". It is only right or wrong when compared to items actually within the Flag Code. As a point of trivia digression, in 1860, the military use either one or two flags per regiment of 10 companies. It could be the US Flag and/or the regimental flag (also known as a battle flag to the Confederates), both had the unit designation painted directly on the flags. This of course runs counter to today's Flag Code in that nothing should be written on the flag. It didn't make any difference with one flag if it was the US Flag or the regimental/battle flag. However in order to distinguish between Federal and Confederate, the US Flag was used more often than just the regimental flag, although there was nothing wrong with just the regimental/battle flag. There was a color company of 100 men of with which the color guard moved. The color guard was located on the left end of the color company and whereas the company had two ranks of men, the color guard had three. When the flags went forward on "Forward, March" towards the enemy, ranks 2 and 3 filled the spacing on the line with ranks 1 and 2 of the company (The front rank being the first rank). When the order to halt was given the colors came back to the first rank and the two other ranks went back a rank as well. When the order was given to fire the color guard backed up even further behind the line so as not to harm the flag with the firing of the rifles/muskets. If the color guard had one flag, there were two armed men one on each side of the flag bearer to protect it because the flag bearer was unarmed (maybe had a handgun for personal protection). There would be three men in each rank for a total of 9 men. If two flags were used, then the total would be 12 men (4 in each rank to compensate for the additional flag). The color company was always right of center. With 10 companies that would make them 5th company counting from the right. If there were 5 companies, the color company would be 2nd company counting from the right. 3rd company would have been directly in the middle, but the color company was always right of center. If there were less than 4 companies they would not carry flags because the 1st company was never color company. (There will be a test at the end of this post!) All in all, the flag, up until the US Flag Code, was for military and governmental purposes ONLY! Civilians were not allowed to have flags. They were used to mark military positions on the battlefield and mark governmental/municipal buildings, like post offices and schools. When soldiers marched off to war, they were not hailed with small flags as they are today, but traditionally white hankies were waved. However with the change of military tactics, i.e. trench warfare, it was detrimental for the enemy to know what units they faced and so flags were removed from battle areas and the visibility of flags was reduced to parades and governmental buildings. With the increase in national pride, pressure was put on Congress to provide a way for civilians to be able to display the flag and so Congress adopted the US Flag code following WW I. Because Boy Scouts were a civilian organization, they were not allowed to use US Flags in parades prior to the US Flag Code but because they were chartered by Congress, I think some slack was given to them as a group. I am not an expert on how that all worked out from 1910-1923. Over the years the US Flag Code has undergone a number of changes so that even what was prescribed in the early years is no longer relevant today, i.e. men left their hats on and did not place their right hand over their heart. They only stood at attention. Women and children placed their hands over their hearts. I guess one might say that even the US Flag Code is not a tradition because of all these changes over the years. Just remember, what the military does and what civilians do, can and often times are not the same when it comes to flag "traditions". We should not strive to emulate the military, but follow closely the US Flag Code for Civilians in it's directives. If an issues is not directly commented on, what ever is done is done with respect and dignity. Unfortunately, even that is no longer followed by many people today. As captain of the color company at last weekend's national reenactment remembering 1st Bull Run/Manassas's 150th Anniversary, I got an ear full of how to do it from those that have done extensive research on the subject. Stosh

Dehydrating does not require heat. You are not cooking anything, only getting the water out. It only requires air movement. Buy a $10 box fan, use paper furnace filters and bunge cord to the fan, put in the window, turn on, if it's good stuff have the air blow into the house, if it's a smell you prefer not to have in the house, blow it out. Running the fan is a ton cheaper than running the oven at 180-degrees for hours. Been doing this for years and works just fine. Otherwise if you want to make fruit roll-ups, blend the fruit to a paste, put on plastic and put out in your car with windows rolled up on a hot sunny day. Makes the car smell really nice. Stosh

??? Color guard to protect the flag? Sure, but the boys are going to have to arm themselves to do it properly. I'm thinking M-16's might be a bit over-kill, but maybe a short sword, sheathed of course, or maybe a belt axe that could be doubled as a battle axe. If one is worried about traditions copied from the military, in 1860, the flag didn't necessarily go on the right, it just got out into the field where people could see it. It did not stand at the right of anything and on the march was in the middle of the company. Traditions change from day to day... BSA falls under the US Flag Code for civilians. It says nothing about how it should be carried while folded. If one wants to imitate the military on how they carry the flag and how they fold it, fine, but don't prescribe it for civilian use because the Code does not address it. As far as answering the threads question: It never became standard, it didn't! It's just that way because someone thought it might be cool to do it that way. Stosh

Historically from Percy Keese Fitzhugh's books concerning the early program of the Boy Scouts in America (book series commissioned by the BSA), Pee Wee Harris (Walter Harris) was the mascot for the Silver Fox Patrol of Troop 1, Bridgeboro, NJ. Roy Blakeley was "fun time" scout of that patrol and was a constant companion to Pee Wee. Boys' Life picked up on that tradition and carried it through for the majority of the history of BSA until Pedro took over some time in later years (post-1960's) Although not a member of the 8 boy patrol, Pee Wee accompanies the patrol all the time as their mascot. He is described pretty much as a Boy Scout on steroids, wearing his uniform all the time, belt ax and fry pan on his waist, mess kit and canteen hung over the shoulders, and what he lacked in physical stature, he made up for in largeness of voice. He constantly promoted the BSA program amongst the youth of his area. Pee Wee's attention to detail and use of Scout skills enables him to grow up and eventually become a detective. He has at least 6-8 books attributed to him directly as well as multiple references in the Tom Slade and Roy Blakeley series. Back in the 1930's Boys' Life ran a complete novel of him printed as a series in the magazine. I could very well be that he and Roy's popularity waned when the "Great Change" occurred in BSA in the 1970's. However, he reigned supreme in the first half of the BSA movement. I wonder what National was thinking when it took Pee Wee Harris (scout skills) and Roy Blakeley (fun and excitement) out of scouting and replaced them with a donkey and a backpack. Now there's a marketing idea that just had to sell big time. If one ever wishes to know what the Boy Scout program was like in the 1920-1930 era, these books are a very good read. However, one has to remember that the G2SS didn't apply back then. Stosh(This message has been edited by jblake47)

Pee Wee and Roy used to fit this bill. Stosh

For introductory cooking classes for young boys I would start out with some very basic principles. 1) Cooking without cooking... Reheating something like Dinty Moore stew teaches the how to warm up food without burning it and without really "cooking". 2) Food prep without preparing... Going back to the Dinty Moore example, opening the can is probably the biggest food prep process that a lot of boys at that age can handle. And opening a can with a scout knife is a useful skill to have! 3) Open fire "cooking" is often the last resort one wishes to endeavor so don't start with it until the boys are ready. 4) Hotdogs and marshmallows are relatively safe in and amongst themselves, but the sticks aren't. Once one gets these initial skills developed in the younger boys, by the time they are at the Webelos level, they can start handling mess kit cooking where a bit of prep and cleanup are introduced into the process. One can start the whole process over by teaching the boys to put some water the mess kit bucket, put the opened can in the water and gently heat it up. Everyone can master this skills whether it be stew, beans, potatoes, or anything else in a can. At the same time, a hamburger patty cooked in the fry pan compliments the process. Toss an husked ear of corn in the coals next to it and you have taught the boys all three processes necessary for outdoor cooking. Scouting is a game with a purpose. Teaching the boys cooking is a rather easy task if you break it down to sensible steps and teach them one at a time. Stosh(This message has been edited by jblake47)

There are so many people out there that don't know what they're doing it makes it impossible for those that do. When I was at scout camp 50 years ago the I remember the ceremonial cannon used at flags. It was a small 2-3' cannon loaded with black powder and then pieces of wood hammered into the end of the barrel to increase the back pressure and thus produce more noise. I can still remember hearing those pieces of wood splintering off into the trees down range in the woods. Being a dumb 11 year old kid it was impressive, but I had no idea how stupid that whole process was. Modern use of cannon for some has progressed to a very high level of safety. There are national schools that teach people the protocol and rules necessary to maximize the safety of both those shooting the gun as well as those standing around. Annual certification (i.e. Totin' Chip for big guns) is self-mandatory for many groups. The only downside is that not all groups that have cannon are certified. Even though we have our rock climbing, shooting, and COPE people all certified, no one ever thinks that the fool behind the cannon ought to be too. After all how can shooting blanks be a big deal? Well, just ask any reenactor, and be prepared for enlightening dissertation on safety. While carbide guns might be perceived as "safer" than black powder cannons, the concussion to produce a large noise is still dangerous as is the high decibel level everyone around subjects themselves to. Remember, there is ALWAYS more than noise coming out of the barrel of any gun shooting blanks. So where in G2SS is this mentioned? Units can't shoot cannon, but every other BSA fool can? Stosh

I always used the uniform as a teaching aid for the boys as they developed leadership. I would use the inspection sheet and very carefully evaluate every boy finding every little slip from the accepted norm. The more precise I could make it the better. While this may seem on the surface to be uniform police nit picking it pointed out to the boys that every little deviation was a lapse in precision. While a lapse in precision in the uniform is not the end of the world, a lapse in precision in food prep can be, or in first aid, or in handling of tools. A good leader is aware of all the little details necessary to insure safety and the welfare of those he is responsible for. The uniform is the outward expression of detail awareness. Over-kill? Maybe, but the discipline of the military is a teaching tool for leadership development. Why do academy cadets have to memorize the menu meals? Why do they have to memorize all the details of every simple operation and have to repeat them back, over and over again? Because at some point in the near future they will need to make decisions, quick decisions quite often and will need to rely on being able to assimilate a lot of detailed information and make the correct decision, often times relying on rote routines rather than trying to figure it out as one goes along the way is preferred. Handling first aid is of no value if one has forgotten what to do for a blister, or an insect bite, or how to make a sling and, and, and, etc. If one is the patrol leader and Joe just got stung by a bee and the PL's first question is "Where is Joe now?" instead of "Where is Joe's epi stick?" a whole different result can occur. Have I got all my bases covered? Am I ready for leadership? Is something along the way going to pop up to challenge me and my abilities? Can I handle it? Can I handle it if someone else needs me? Be prepared. When one shows up for flags unprepared, and no one cares enough to say anything about it, then it must not be all that important to know. Settling for second and third best is not really a viable option for a good leader. Stosh