kraut-60

How many lawyers does it take to shingle a roof? Depends on the size of the roof and how thin you slice the lawyers.

Dress the shorter Cubs as Jawas....they sometimes sound similar when they get wound up! Will Princess Leia be presenting the Arrow of Light(sabers)? Chewbacca in a Cub Scout leaders uniform would be a neat touch...and you only need the face mask and a pair of hairy gloves or sleeves. Cubmaster= Obi Wan Akela..easy costume too...ratty brown balnket with a belt and sandals. Luke Skywalker...get an older brother or a Boy Scout..add a karate outfit...there you are!

Greetings everyone, I hope to take a minute or two and tell you all what has happened to me that seems too good to be true...I finished my ticket and will receive my beads,woggle and neckerchief at my councils annual Wood Badge dinner on Mar. 1st 2008 What makes this special is that I become Scoutmaster for the troop I have been serving as an Assistant Scoutmaster for the past 5 years on the same day. This really is coincidental...the present SM and I decided 3-1-08 would be the date for the stepping up/stepping down between us (he will stay on as ASM). My WB course director informed me at the councils recent Pow-Wow that I should gotten my beads that day at the Pow-Wow,...but that I dragged my feet about having all my paperwork done...it was done, but I wanted to make sure...got chewed out by the Course Director for being too hard on myself...was reminded "you ARE no longer on active duty!" she then informed me that I'll be 'beaded' on Mar. 1 2008 at the WB dinner...I didnt put it together about the dates till 2 days later. Any way,.. is this cool or what? C-19-06 Antelope

I would suggest "Twelve O'Clock High" starring Gregory Peck from 1949. Yes, it is old...but this picture shows several good examples of leadership styles. The impact of those techniques is also made quite apparent throughout the movie. The varied approaches to discipline and order are well illustrated throughout the show and will be reasonably easy for Scout age boys to pick-up on. If you use this movie, I would have the disscussion about what the boys learned immedeiatly after the credits roll...while the impression is still fresh and questions come naturally. Be sure to have those who are conducting the training pre-screen this movie so as to be ready to point out the pertinent differences among the leadership styles and the examples of discipline and what impact those things have on people...have your post-show critique in a town-hall/forum venue that allows the Scouts to get "their 2 cents worth in" and ask if any can relate what they saw in the movie to something they have seen or experienced at school,church, Scouts or at home. Good Luck...hope this helps.

ASM915; thanks, I think the costs for this would be borne by the network and its advertisers. BSA and Philmont Scout Ranch could/would provide the services in the form of equipment use and food for the participants while using the facilities on the ranch. The BSA stands to benefit from such an endevour (should it ever actually occur) from the exposure afforded through a nationally broadcast, prime time TV reality show. I cant say for sure how this would specifically benefit Scouts from inner city units, except to suggest that the survivor crews could be shadowed by a crew specifically made up from Scouts and advisors from urban or inner city troops or Venture crews. A crew of rural Scouts could shadow the other Survivor crew (tribe) to promote competition with the Scout crews as well as the TV show participants. The Survivor crews would need to modify their format to allow all tribe or crew to complete the trek. This would forgo the voting off/out of participants. This might be a chance to have the show take the tack of helping the weaker members rather than excluding/eliminating them. My only reservation in this idea, is that having a TV crew, survivor participants doing this show at Philmont DURING the normal season for trekking would deny some Scouts from going there as Philmont has only so many spaces for so many people in a given year to go on a trek.

I am bringing this thread up after all this time to report that I did indeed do it and that it came off well...thanks in a large part to the feedback(GIFT) I received from those here on the forum. There was no powerpoint or demonstration of fabric performance or non-performance, instead I used the official policies and BSA regs as the foundation of the presentation, the first 2 pages were composed of this material. I pointed out what the uniform does and asked questions to promote discussion among the audience. I had an additional 2 pages of information that included why camo isnt a good idea...wearing older/vintage uniforms...reasons TO wear scout uniform pants/switchbacks...and a narrative that had the listener on an airliner with the crew in uniform from the waist up and how they would react...I asked the listener to give THEIR impressions of what they thought of uniforming and does it better the BSA program or detract from it. I will strive to post the presentation I gave so that any who are interested can peruse it at their leisure. As per John-in KCs advice, I left this presentation flexible enough so that it can be expanded to a College of Commissioner Science class, or simplified for a new Scout parent orientation, or as a quick instuctional capable of being delivered by a Scout to the patrol or troop.

Well, some good ideas so far here....the float and band idea are ok, but the $64,000 question is...how many scout-age kids will see the 1-3minute exposure the float and band would get? The OCC chopper? those guys are the poster kids for dysfunctional families...please! My idea; Survivor: Philmont. It would be on the air a lot longer than a parade on new years day. Chances are more scout age youth would watch it...It would give the BSA an opportunity to show OUR scouts and what they are capable of. The participants could go to Philmont..form crews/elect leader(s)/draw equipment and head out to the trail...no practice hikes..no shakedown...just take your best shot and haul what you brung!(no dumping gear). It would be at least entertaining and hopefully show that SOME youth in the good 'ol US of A can hack the outdoors without having a hover-parent present. The best part is...the actual youth and advisors trekking at Philmont would be on air to show that the BSA is THE original Survivor....Title; Survivor-Be Prepared-Philmont

Eamoon; Our "guest" inspectors are clued in prior to the evening of the CoH, so that they can decline if they wish to or to ensure they will be ready...so far no polite declinations.

"Every unit, every month" Unit Commissioners are tasked with visiting ALL units they are assigned (by the DC) no less than once a month. These visits are not only for a uniform inspection, nor should they be perceived as such. UCs must call before visiting and schedule at the units conveniance the best time to visit. Also, visits are recommended to take no longer than 15-30 minute max. John, does your unit have a policy exluding visitors?

I can claim the best boot deal so far here. A pair of mens size 8.5 Vasque hiking boots that were nearly unused for the princely sum of $1.50 at a yard sale. No. 1 son fits them well for now and uses them a lot...but I doubt he'll still fit 'em when we hit Philmomt in '09. I guess we'll find a scout to use them when he out grows them.

The troop I serve has uniform inspections held after the potluck fellowship and before the Court of Honor. This tradition came about when the then serving SPL suggested it at PLC and the PLC approved it. The Scouts feel it is one of the times they want to look their best. The SPL will form the troop for assembly by patrols. He (the SPL) will then invite a uniformed adult leader from the troop or a visiting Scouter to inspect the patrols along with the PL and the SPL. The same Scouter is never chose twice (we have 3 CoHs per year). By having the inspection with family and friends and guests present, the boys feel they are showing their folks how proud they are to belong to their patrol as well as the troop and the pride shows as all Scouts have complete uniforms. We do not require uniforms in our troop, but we encourage them....and the adult leaders wear complete uniforms to set the example....no scout is ever chastised for not wearing his uniform, in fact complete uniforms are rare in normal meetings but when the PLC prescribes them, the boys wear them.

I will endorse the "roasting bag" method GW posted here. I was at Philmont in '06 and our crew used crock pot liners to rehydrate our evening meal. The crock pot liners are just about the right size for the 8qt pot we used, and they became the "yummy bag" that any remaining food went into. Using a liner will keep the clean-up much easier to handle, and it is "human-sumpable", one member of the crew got the honor in rotation (11 crew-11 nights-10 human sumps...Chuckwagon stew at last trail stop at Ponil). I would suggest a meal of red or black beans and rice. Our crew liked that one the best of all. The worst was Hawaiian chicken....even curry powder couldnt fix it...numbah 10 GI! Swap-Box raiders! We got some good stuff in our foraging...lots of oriental trail mix, very little gator-aid...no beef jerky.

Heres another "Switchbacks in Action" report! DATELINE; Eagle Cave,just outside of Gotham WI. Scout wears Switchbacks uniform pants caving for 24 hours, claims rinsed clean in deep sink prior to cycle in washing machine. Life Scout Willis K. of Troop 131 reports he wore a pair of Switchbacks while caving with his troop this past weekend. Willis claims the pants had turned from greenish-khaki to a shade of red-brown after a day of serious cave crawling. After arriving home the following day, our Scout rinsed the dirt encrusted pants in the deep-sink in his homes basement. He was astounded by how well the new scout uniform pants washed free of all dirt he had enthusiastically ground into them just the day before. The switchbacks came clean with no staining after just a normal wash cycle. Sadly, the same claim coudnt be made for the 100% cotton t-shirt that had been worn during the cave trip. The gray t-shirt has reddish stains visible after 3 washings. Willis serves as SPL in his troop and related his findings to his troop on the monday night meeting following the cave trip. He is encouraging the other scouts in the troop who own Switchbacks to wear them for activities and not to save them for "good" as most scouts say their parents want them to be saved for. No rips were suffered by the pants, but the t-shirt got a few hole and pulled threads.

We have a real groaner that comes back every year during summer camp. Its the good news/bad news that happens at the Wed. morning troop assembly. The SPL will announce that he has good news and bad news...the good news is, we are all going to change underwear! The bad news is,...Willis will change with Mark,..Tony will change with John,..Mr.K will change with Dr. Mike...and so on until the groans and outburts of "GROSS"! drownout the near delerious SPL....needless to say, the older scouts love it and the newer scouts are somewhat bewildered. The new scouts always look forward to next years installment.

Would the missing knot be the Asian American Spirit of Scouting Award? Dark green wearers right rope under white wearers left rope on a purple background.

They should be ok in the jeans and cotton..so long as the weathers dry. Cotton is the poorest choice to depend on if the weather turns cold and wet. Hopefully you get good weather. Do encourage the Scouts to get some switchbacks...they work. I wore a pair today here in SE WI to ride 16.5 miles on a bike in 40 degree weather...wore light polypro longies as a 1st layer...stayed real warm, even perspired a little...didnt get chilled. Buy the right stuff and be comfortable...enjoy the outdoors, dont just survive it. Cotton kills...not right away,or the first time...but eventually you'll be sorry you wore it.

I am presently the Boy Scout Roundtable commissioner for the Southern Lakes district of Glaciers Edge council. Part of the roundtable session is what I call "knot of the month" and no, its not knots that are used in scoutcraft. I spotlight one of the knot insignia, what it looks like, which way the colors go, and what is required to earn and wear it. This last wednesday was our RT for this month, and Novembers Knot of the month is the Silver Beaver. I will probably do a Cub Scouter knot for December. Perhaps the RT commish at click23s' roundtable might have such a feature also? On a personal note, I find it beneath contempt to wear ANY knot or award that is not actually earned or awarded.

I used to be an ANTELOPE, and a good-ol ANTELOPE too! And now I'm finished 'Loping, I dont know what to do? I'm growing old and feeble, and I can 'Lope no more.. So I'm going to work my ticket if I can... Back to Gilwell, Happy land! I'm going to work my ticket if I can! C-19-06 "This is the best Wood Badge EVER!"

Ask any lawyer how well received the issue of Tort Reform would among the members of the lawyer community.....I imagine they would laugh and think it a great joke! Our nation needs Tort Reform to get away from the "free money" idea permeating our society. I can remember when attorneys DID NOT advertise...they didnt need to THEN. Now, it seems every shyster ad on TV is hoping to help someone get the compensation they "deserve". I have an uncle from Glasgow Scotland who visits here regularly and has mentioned to me that in Great Britain, they have what he calls "Loser Pays". He described this premise as follows: I bring suit against say...John-in-KC for defaming berets...ok, if I cant prove my case...I get to pay John-in-KC for the amounts I WAS suing him for. This would completly subvert the current tort-happy attorney's paradise we live within...IF WE had such a system. Worrying about insurance...the lack of insurance...the need for insurance ..is time wasted in my eyes....I'm here to be a Scouter...not running scared about what COULD happen!

Goldwinger, I have also done what you did, and for the small amount of coin I'm out, its a bargain to see the Scouts wear a uniform and be proud they NOW have one. One boy I helped get uniformed recently dropped out...or better, has stopped coming to meetings. I seen him friday evening while I was picking my daughter up from a middle school dance. This young man told me how his new job is going and that his grades are better this year...Scouting never got mentioned in our conversation, but it was apparent this young man is still a good kid....A little Scouting CAN go a long ways! "Cast your bread upon the waters...."

Beavah, I find your idea to "chip" the Scouts and Scouters interesting. Having ones medical history at hand in such a manor would sooner or later come in handy.....however, your idea assumes that the uniform shirt will be worn at all times by the Scouts and Scouters while at a Scouting event. Also, Scouts have been known to lose their shirts,or lend them out. I think we definetly should have a way to have a personal record that one could retain on their person that would have medical information(such as what is on the current class 1,2, &3 forms), as well as advancement,MB and training records. This record would ideally be small enough to be carried in a shirt pocket while also being waterproof and sealable. Hmmm...maybe all Scouts and Scouters can carry a CD with their info on it? Maybe wear it on a lanyard....troops and packs could personalize them with distinctive designs....our imagination is our limit! The CD could replace the paper registration cards and also serve as proof of membership...National could have supply division add circular pockets inside the campaign and expedition hats so scouters would be encouraged to wear their hats AND be up to date in the 21st century! As far as "game" uniforms goes, just have jerseys...blue for Cubs, red for Boy Scouts, blaze for Varsity crews, green for Venturers, silver for district and council and gold for area,region and national....and hey just print the pack,troop or crew number on the back and the district,council and locality on the front.....Badges?..we dont need no stinkin' badges! OH, and white jerseys for Sea Scouts.

I could see the BSA using the recently added "Action Shirts" as the 'new' uniform shirts ...IF, they furnish the shirts with velcro that is the same shade of color as the shirts and in the shapes of the insignia as given in the insignia guide and inspection sheets. I dont support the idea of doing away with insignia on the uniform....what purpose would such a move serve? I have read several posts that want less insignia...why? So that Scouts become 'invisible' to the public? Or is it just some who resent the Scouters who wear what can be best described as "excess" insignia? I dont wish to raise the ire of the folks who wear multiple rows of knots, many Scouters who wear such a display are the tireless few that bring Scouting alive for the many young people within the Scouting movement. Maybe by using velcro as the primary way of adorning the uniform shirt with the insignia one rates to wear, the sometimes seen right sleeve collection of Quality Unit patches could be avoided?

None...I like it in the dark, its quiet and peaceful...but if it must be changed I would have the LBP do it...the light-bulb police. They''ll make sure the bulb is official BSA as well as the right color and wattage, as well as being packaged in the CORRECT type of package.

Old Grey Owl; Sorry...we havent yet had Brats on the menu at a BSA campout or trip...its not because of the no alcohol policy (we would NOT break the rule), but probably because Brats taste better at home...although we could prepare them prior to heading out...Nah, save 'em for home!

Here in Wisconsin there are many foods we enjoy that seem specific to our state. The best is the Friday Night Fish Fry...the fish can be Cod,Perch, Haddock and even Blue Gills, the potatoes are either french fries or potato pancakes(served with applesauce). Cole slaw and buttered rye bread round out the fish fry fare. This seems to be popular throughout southern and central Wisconsin....fish boils are a Door county delicacy primarily. And it wouldnt be 'Sconsin without the Brat! Johnsonville are the best name brand ones, some local meat processors make some good ones too. Brats must be boiled in beer and onions before grilling! Never skip this step...save the onions and carmelize them in a pan to add to the Brats when they are served on a roll of your choice...I dont care what kind of roll is used, so long as its lightly toasted prior to slipping in the Brat and onions. If you should ever find yourself passing through Fort Atkinson WI, and its any day from Tuesday through Saturday BEFORE 1pm, grab breakfast or lunch at the Eat-Mor on Main street. Its been there since the 30's and is an old style short order grill...watch your order hit the grill...THE BEST hashbrowns in the WORLD! 130 N.Main St. Ask for a veggie scramble, tell 'em Kraut sent you!