-Graham

If a chapter chief is a district committee member, what about a chapter vice chief? Is a lodge vice chief a council committee member as well?

When exactly is a youth allowed to wear silver shoulder loops? The actual BSA policy says anyone holding a council or district position can wear them. Does this include youth? What is actually considered a district position a youth can hold? Is an OA Chapter Chief and Vice Chief allowed to wear them? The idea has been tossed around by some chapter members. Although I think it is a bit of an "I hold a chapter position, you don't" idea,There's some merit to the idea. OA officers have no way of actually showing they're heavily involved in their chapter or lodge. I can see some other benefits to allowing it. They would promote holding a leadership role. They would also signify an OA youth leader at council/District events. Which positions, if any, allow the use of silver district shoulder loops? Does the OA leaders in your district wear the district/council shoulder loops? (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

qwazse, that sounds amazing, we are in South West Florida, our chapter meetings are 5 miles away from the beach, a water based camp-o-ree would be amazing. The only downside I can see is I know personally of some land-locked scouts in our district, so we can't do solely water sports, or they'd be left out. We also expect 300+ campers, and 50+ staff, so that'd be 350 people, at 2 people a canoe, so we'd need 175 canoes basically. That's a little far fetched. I do like the idea, and finding a way to incorporate water sports into the camp out would be a huge hit. SSScout, it was approved for a shooting range, not a game of airsoft. We did something like what you might see on topshot, and we treated the guns exactly like a .22 cal rifle. Some of our current key members in OA are leaning towards a Medieval theme, but when I think of that, I think of the movie Role Models, (they take a kid to a live action role playing game, where they are all knights, and it's just a huge geeky affair. I think I've gotten a decent idea, if anyone's heard of the Tough Mudder Challenge, it's basically a marathon you run, and compete in challenging events along the way. (Go to toughmudder.com to see what it's like) By the way, thanks for all of the ideas so far, they are a lot of help.

My chapter has just had their Camp-O-Ree last weekend, which means our planning meetings for next year start in 2 weeks. I was wondering if I could get some suggestions for a theme, and constructive criticism for any suggested. Just some background information, I am my chapter's event chair, and camp-o-ree chair. I am very interested in marketing. I'd also like to let everyone know we are a very liberal chapter. We follow the rules, but we are a very fun loving group of guys. Our last theme was an Arcade theme. This appeals greatly to scouts, (target audience) and it has many great team building events. We had an airsoft Shooting range themed around a shooter game (Name escapes me), "angry birds" slingshot, were we launched "Angry birds" stuffed plushes filled with softballs at targets, a life size pacman time mazed, and a lot more. Everything was amazing with it, even the patches were amazing. Never before has the majority of the kids in the troop wanted the patch, normally they are everywhere in the dirt. (I'll upload a picture of the patch if anyone cares) Also, I will most likely be chapter chief in about 2 months, so I will need to out do myself this year. Also, the two important things, it has to be fun. We usually keep scout skills such as knots to a minimum, we incorporate them in minor ways throughout. It has to be fun, and make kids go back to their meeting saying "wow, you should have been there it was great!" We always have a huge wow factor. The 2nd most important thing is patches. I'd like to make a set that all goes together to make a scene. I'd like there to be a patch for staff, members, leaders, and cooks (We cook all meals, and do a huge cracker barrel) and they all fit together on this other patch we will sell to make a little scene. This makes it a "collect them all" kind of thing and it has some value at above the district because it's interesting. (Basically I want to take these patches to Jambo in 13' and be able to get something nice in return trading) Our past themes were... 2012 - Arcade 2011 - The Great Scouting Race 2010 - Nightoree (All day + all night event, just one day) 2009 - Pirate theme 2007 - Cowboys 2006 - lumberjacks (I was a Web 2 for this visiting a Troop, don't really remember it all, there was more to it) Anyways, any ideas, support, suggestions, etc. is appreciated. Your's in scouting, -Graham

can I get this deleted? I posted this in the wrong section somehow, meant to post it in OA.(This message has been edited by -Graham)