AT1988

That was gay.

Tracking is a good badge. It should have never gone away. I wish they'd keep it around again.

Out advancement chair went to pick up the merit badges earned for this COH. Pathfinding and the other historic merit badges have not yet arrived. Maybe this is the reason for the delay in the start of the program--production problems.

I signed off my first scout for Pathfinding MB today. It was at a merit badge day. I wasnt teaching a class, just hanging out with the parents while our scouts were working on their requirements. He was a boy who called me the day I got the email saying that I could begin counseling Pathfinding. He was an older scout, and very confident, but it still took him three tries before I could sign his blue card. Its a simple thing to know your way around town. Im sure many of us can remember bicycling around town as kids, but this doesnt happen very often these days. In this day of chauffeured kids, the ability to give simple directions is becoming a rare aptitude, one that deserves its own merit badge.

First Id like to answer WHY we have ALL our scouts have a BOR every three months whether they are advancing or not. baschram645 stated: "The scouts had not met the requirements for the next rank therefore they were not eligible for a BOR." And Evmori asked: "Why would you hold a BOR if a Scout hasn't completed the requirements for rank?" My answer is, according to BSA policy: A board should be set up to review accomplishment and lack of accomplishment. The board can counsel with Scouts who are not advancing to determine reasons for lack of progress and to stimulate these Scouts to greater participation in the program. This function is of equal importance to the function of reviewing boys who present themselves for advancement. http://www.scouter.com/Forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=272614 Thank you all for your input. Its rare that there is such a consensus about anything on this forum. As NealOnWheels summed it up so well: Proper procedure would mean you need to schedule a "follow up board of review. If they have completed their requirements it should go quickly. This is what I felt was right. We are a new troop and are committed to doing things the right way. Regarding what baschram645 wrote about, . . .your Adult leader's need training. If they don't know the requirements then read the Handbook. Well, I did, but I still had questionsthats why I came here. Thank you all.

A couple of weeks ago our troop had a board of review. Two of the scouts were 1st Class going for Star. Both did fine, except for the fact that neither one of them had quite finished the requirements for Star. One lacked an Eagle required merit badge, the other had not finished his service hours. It's been ten days, and in that time both scouts have fulfilled their requirements. Do we need to hold ANOTHER board of review for these boys, or can the committee chair and scoutmaster just approve?

From Scouting.org: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/Resources/invite.aspx "Scouts Can Invite Friends Electronically A new feature called the e-card is available to Scouts and leaders on the www.thescoutzone.org Web site. This fun and easy activity will help a Scout complete the new First Class requirement that states he must invite a friend to a troop meeting or activity. Please share this at roundtables and in newsletters." The boy has the email of his friend, fills ont a custom ecard here: http://www.thescoutzone.org/ecard.jsp and presto, 1st class requirement is fulfilled!

Cheffy is in an ideal situation. Clearly the intent of the original merit badge was to instill a mental map into the minds of the scouts (dimension of space)and the ability to communicate this. Added to this is now the idea of instilling a sense of history (time dimension).

It's too low for a water bladder [but I'm going to try it out anyway]. The pack bottom is dedicated to accommodating a sleeping bag, so that function would be superfluous. If it's for a sleeping pad, why the hole? So far nldscout has the most plausible answer.

Point well taken. I wouldn't ever require a boy to use a MB worksheet (that would be adding a requirement), if I were a scout I wouldn't want to fill out a MB worksheet, but some kids LIKE to fill out merit badge worksheets.

I bought an official 50L BSA backpack for my son for Christmas. I think it's a great pack, but there is one feature that perplexes me. On the bottom there are two zippered compartments. One contains the built-in rain cover, the other contains this odd contraption made of straps, buckles, and strechy fabric with a hole in the center. What is the purpose of this thing? I asked the people at two different scout shops, but neither of them knew. Any ideas?

Pathfinding Merit Badge Workbook Scouts Name: Unit: Counselors Name: Counselors Ph #: 1. In the country, know every lane, bypath, and short cut for a distance of at least two miles in every direction around the local scout headquarters; or in a city, have a general knowledge of the district within a three-mile radius of the local scout headquarters, so as to be able to guide people at any time, by day or by night. 2. Know the population of the five principal neighboring towns, their general direction from his scout headquarters, and be able to give strangers correct directions how to reach them. Census data can be found at: http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/SUB-EST2008-4.html Pico Rivera Population _______________ Directions: Los Angeles Population _______________ Directions: Santa Fe Springs Population _______________ Directions: El Monte Population _______________ Directions: Sierra Madre Population _______________ Directions:  3. If in the country, know in a two mile radius, the approximate number of horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs owned on the five neighboring farms; or, in a town, know, in a half-mile radius, the location of livery stables, garages and blacksmith shops. tire store Name:______________________________________ Directions: hardware store Name:______________________________________ Directions: gas station Name:______________________________________ Directions:  4. Know the location of the nearest meat markets, bakeries, groceries, and drug stores. grocery store Name:______________________________________ gas station Name:______________________________________ Directions: drug store Name:______________________________________ Directions:  5. Know the location of the nearest police station, hospital, doctor, fire alarm, fire hydrant, telegraph and telephone offices, and railroad stations. police station Directions: hospital Name:______________________________________ Directions: your doctor Name:______________________________________ Directions: fire station Name:______________________________________ Directions: bus depot Directions: cell phone store Name:______________________________________ Directions:  6. Know something of the history of his place; and know the location of its principal public buildings, such as the town or city hall, post-office, schools and churches. Population of Our Town____________________ History of Our Town city hall Directions: post office Directions: your school Name:______________________________________ Directions: First Methodist Church Directions:  7. Submit a map not necessarily drawn by himself upon which he personally has indicated as much as possible of the above information.

What was the idea behind the pathfinder MB in 1911? Is it a fossil, meant merely to have the scout picture what his neighborhood was like 100 years ago? Or, is that idea still applicable in a world of automobiles, GPS, and fast food? According to the author of the original Pathfinding merit badge pamphlet, Belmore Browne: To my mind there is no important merit badge among all of those granted by the Boy Scouts of America than the one given for pathfinding; and if the scout is not interested in pathfinding, he will know nothing of the locality in which he lives, and he will not have the opportunities for learning and putting into practice those requirements that are necessarily a part of the education of every Norman man. So then, the main purpose of Pathfinding is for the scout to, know the locality in which he lives. A purpose, I would argue, just as important today as it was 100 years ago. How many of the boys in your troop never take notice of the names of the street and highways as their parents chauffeur them from place to place? Browne goes on to say that working on the Pathfinder MB is to help the scout acquire a good memory and intelligent perception. Today we might say that we want the scout to develop an awareness of his surroundings and an adult understanding of his town or city. Ive come to the conclusion that while having the boy develop a historical perspective is indeed part of the intention in the reissue of Pathfinding, the original intention of familiarizing the scout with his town, and having him communicate clearly from memory directions to a stranger, is still valid and important. Perhaps more today than it was 100 years ago. To this end I will present the requirements unaltered to foster a local historical perspective, but I will not shy away from updating my questions. In keeping with the stated intentions of the requirements, I will substitute livery stables and blacksmith shops for something just as useful and pertinent to our world. I have not yet decided what these things should be however.

Our troop's necker is 32" square, which is fastened with a turkshead woggle made of brown and kaki braided bootlace from the dollar store. My son made the first batch, which I super-glued together. Many boys prefer it just tied however, that way it can come undone and serve as emergency cordage; just as the 32" necker too has so many practical functions.

An interesting article about how one troop is doing Pathfinding: Troop 1 Scouts earn Pathfinding MB! by trooponenews (Subscribe) Posted on: Mar 23, 2010 at 11:28 PM MDT Channel: News Location: Logan, Utah Tags: Boy Scout Troop One - Old Ephraim Dist.-Trapper Trails Council Boy Scout Troop One from Logan, Utah (Sponsored by the Logan Lions Club-Trapper Trails Council-Old Ephraim District) is celebrating its 100th anniversary as a continuously chartered scouting unit with specially scheduled activities each month throughout the year 2010. Troop One is the oldest Boy Scout Troop west of the Mississippi River, and will be celebrating their 100th anniversary as a scouting unit in March 2010. Boys between the ages of 11-17 who are interested in joining Troop One are encouraged to visit our troop meetings at First Presbyterian Church, 178 West Center Street in Logan, Tuesdays between 7:00-8:30 pm. Troop One is a non-denominational scouting unit. March 23-Logan, Utah By Joshua W.-Asst. Senior Patrol Leader-Troop 1 Logan, Utah Tonight, Troop 1 Asst. Scoutmaster and merit badge counselor Jason Grimes and 15 Troop 1 scouts hiked the streets of downtown Logan to earn requirements for the Pathfinding Merit Badge. This antiquated merit badge was decommissioned in 1952. However, in honor of the BSAs 100th Anniversary, this badge has been named to the BSAs new Historical Merit Badge Program and can be earned by Boy Scouts from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010. As part of the merit badge requirements, scouts from Troop 1 had to show general knowledge of the local area and also describe how to reach their home from their current location at the First Presbyterian Church of Logan. During the walk, scouts were told about some of the historical sites of downtown Logan. Stops included: Caine Lyric Theatre in beautiful downtown Logan (which reportedly has a ghost on the premises that has a thing for Shakespeare); the Logan LDS Tabernacle; St. Johns Episcopal Church (the founding site of Troop 1 in 1910), Federal Way (upon which was the original Post Office in Logan & the first Federal Building in Cache Valley); Logan City Fire Department; War Memorial and County Courthouse (where a mob lynched the murderer of the sheriffs nephew back in 1873); Logan Post Office, Logan City Police Station, & Logan City Library; First Judicial District Court Building, and finally the Logan Masonic Lodge. In closing, as a scout, I thought this was an interesting way to learn about the city of Logan and earn a rare merit badge, all at the same time. I hope other scouts will participate in the Historic Merit Badge Program too. http://www.cachevalleydaily.com/ishare/88986977.html