Kaji

As Manassass Eagle can attest to, I'm sure, the general policy in NCAC is to wear the Totin' Chip patch on the flap sewn on 3 sides (top, left, right, leaving the bottom so you can button it), and then wear the OA flap sewn over it with a quick line machine-stitched across the top so that you can flip it up to show off the Totin' Chip patch if need be. Personally, I appreciate the fact that there's a patch for it, because as someone else alluded to, it makes it very easy to keep track of who's allowed to be doing things and who isn't. Also, another one for the Paul Bunyan myths: When I went through in the mid/late 90s, the word was that Paul Bunyan entitled you to use a double-bladed ax (which as we all know, is in violation of almost every safety rule out there for woods tools in the BSA...)

(He lives!) I still wear my red beret, personally.

Boy Scouts do Courts of honor on more or less either a quarterly or a semi-annual basis, but they still recognize them in an informal fashion amongst each other when the rank/badge/etc. is actually earned. The CoH is for recognizing them in front of the parents and everyone else. If you feel that isn't often enough, you can take the last meeting of every month and make it a "pack meeting", just like many packs already do (the one I'm with meets every Monday night at a Methodist church for den meetings in their own rooms, and then the last meeting of the month is a pack meeting instead). There are a number of ways you can fix the problem without forcing the girls in where they don't belong (as part of the Cub Scout program, in this case). Besides, this is smack dab in the middle of the "girls are gross!" phase, so I don't know how well it'd actually be received by the boys, themselves...Just as it's good for girls to have a place to be to be with other girls, learn what it is to be feminine, etc., same goes for boys and masculinity (even if the latter is rather frowned upon in today's society).(This message has been edited by Kaji)

You guys still get balsa kits? Lucky! I used balsa when I went through, but by my brother's time NCAC (at least) had switched to using styrofoam for the boats and only gave them wooden masts, which was a disappointment to say the least (as they had a tendency to push all the way through the boat, thus stopping it if it drug along the track too much...).

The gutters should be parallel and level, filled to about a centimeter from the top. From there it's all wind power! Just make sure that the boys aren't using their noses to push it down the gutter and are actually blowing it along.

I can definitely see the horseplay angle on it, myself. I remember at my first Klondike Derby 11 years ago the boy who was appointed provisional patrol leader for the event rode the back of the sled and thrashed boys he didn't like with a broomhandle he referred to as his "leadership stick". Thankfully in that case the scoutmaster dealt with it swiftly and harshly once he learned what had been going on.

PS: You mean North Dakota? Or are you talking some random city in New Mexico? hehehe...

Right after their Bear year makes a fine time to introduce them to it, as it'll jumpstart their Webelos stuff. The programs are so different between what's done with Boy Scouts and what's done with Cub Scouts that I've never seen a problem like what you're describing with younger boys (I think the allure of having such a simple and structured way to earn merit badges has its appeal in itself...)

I grew up in NCAC, and it's like Manassas Eagle said, there (Probably even came from the same district, if you go by the old PW District instead of Occoquan and Bull Run). I think part of the issue is that before Webelos, Cubs are requires to have a parent with them when they go camping. Many dads can't afford to take a full week off from work for summer camp, and most moms I know (although there are certainly some out there who go against this trend) think that a Motel 8 is roughing it, and refuse to camp in anything less than an RV. I'm currently in Allohak Council in WV, and we've got a resident camp (Camp Mahonegan) for the boys out here, although I don't know what the lower age limit is for it. We did have a campout for the Cubs in my district last October though, which was for all ages so long as they had a parent with them.

rar...Hate how hard it is to navigate the online catalog if you don't have the print one on hand. That said, there IS a Venturing trained strip, although it's got the initials of the program name, as opposed to "Trained" on the strip. Same dimensions, however.

Amen. Even if the first generation immigrants back in the day didn't exactly learn English or assimilate all that well, they usually made as strong of an effort as they could to be certain that their children did, in many cases even going so far as to forbid them to speak the language of the old country so that they could become better at English than their parents, who would often be in their 40s by the time they came over to begin with. There was effort on all sides to do the best they could. There's nothing wrong with using the old language in environments where it's appropriate (my girlfriend is Vietnamese, so naturally household affairs in her family are conducted in Vietnamese. See the above example about Mexican adults in the community using Spanish, as well). The important thing, however, is that in all the cases I just mentioned, they learned English as well. They're functional outside of their cutural community. It's hard to truly call our nation a melting pot when people are insisting on blending with American socitey the way oil blends with water...

I've got a multi-part patch from a New Jersey council (I'd have to double-check my binder to tell you which one) which covers the winter/spring/fall camporees that year (1976). Comes as three thirds that piece together to form the liberty bell and a tricorn hat in the center. Also have miscellaneous single patches from the same area if you're interested.

Amusingly, the tune the song was written to is an old German drinking song...

So it's ok for the ALA to exclude based on violations of THEIR moral values, but it's not ok for the BSA to do the same acording to the moral values they embrace? As I've said before, the words "bigotry" and "prejudiced" are worthless in modern English because it's simply another way of saying that the person doesn't agree with you, and trying to throw some mud their way while you're at it.

"I guess the same could be said of the Bible. Anyone up for Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek lessons?" Reread my post, already headed that off. When was the last time you heard Aramaic in general use outside of a Mel Gibson film? How about Hebrew outside of a synagogue or Israel? And ancient Greek bears little resemblance to modern Greek. Furthermore, as has been noted, it's not the same song when translated. That aside, we're ONE nation, last I checked. Therefore we should all be able to sing the anthem in unison. One of the reasons why this country gets torn apart so much internally is because we insist upon letting everyone retain their culture from the old country and make no effort to assimilate, making it so that there is little culturally that is distinctly American, especially things from modern times.