mbrownkc7

That's easy for me, not thinking required. #1. Eagle Knot #2. Mile Swim Patch #3. Arrow of Light Knot

We had a discussion recently at a troop meeting regarding incomplete merit badges. Example, we had a few boys not complete thier climbing merit badge at camp. Before we went to camp we did a climbing overnight and the boys completed some requirements at the overnight. BUT, they didn't request to take the merit badge until we went to camp months later. It was after camp and review of the imcomplete requirements that it was brought to our attention the the imcompletes were done on the previous overnight. Some believe that you can't count a requirement as completed unless you are taking the merit badge. Others beleive that it can be a case by case basis and if it makes sense you could sign off on it. Anyone here have an official answer we can review and print out for the parties involved. Thanks

GernBlansten wrote: "Hoover: We're in trouble. I just checked with the guys at the Jewish house and they said that every one of our answers on the Psych test was wrong. Boon: Every one? [looks at Bluto and D-Day] Boon: Those a$$$$$$ must have stolen the wrong exam!" ****************************** Bluto - "Did we quit when the Germans bombed pearl harbor?" Otter - "Germans" Boone - "Forget it, he's on a roll" Toga! Toga! Toga!

Terrific post and hope to hear alot from you. Welcome aboard!! Your letter made me well up as I thought of the men who had that affect on me. These men included my father, scout leaders, and teachers. I also had something similar happen to me years ago. When my first son was born I named him after my favorite uncle. Although he lived very far and I only saw him once a year, I was always impressed by him. One day I got news that he had been diognosed with cancer and was given a few months to live. I immediately sat down and wrote out a letter telling him why I named my son. I mailed it the same day but I received even worse news two days later. He died and never got my letter. I hope writing your letter made you feel good and I hope you shared it with his family. It was a beautiful letter and I am glad you posted here for me to read. Regards, Mike Brown

There was a great article in Scouting Magazine last year regarding BOR's. Check it out. I believe that if more people used a b.o.r. as a way to get to know the boy and let him open up, there would be less stress. I love doing BOR's because I enjoy talking to the boy about what he is doing outside of scouts. I like to hear about thier schooling and their favorite activities such as sports or academics. After 5 or 10 minutes of talking about him then I like to ask what he likes or dislikes about scouts, the troop, or other boys and what would he do to change anything if needed. They don't always open up but it so nice to see a boy relax once he knows you are not going to bust is chops and ask him a bunch of questions about his rank requirements. I suggest you taylor your BOR to put this boy at ease. I think if you work with him and his fears, he will learn to trust you and cherrish the times you spend with him letting him talk about himself. Good luck.

I love this stuff. Right, Left, Right, Left. You are up Right. This is better than a tennis match. Please keep it going Ed.

My favorite uniform story is the boy who showed up to his Eagle board of review with a Star rank patch and not all of his Eagle required merit badges on his sash. After giving him a really hard time,(We were laughing but he knew I was serious) I told him to make sure he had everything up to date before he came to his Eagle Court. Rank badges not up to date on shirts are an issue with me!!

he sounds like a tool so i think it is very important that you be the best a.s.m. there is to keep your troop together. If he can't do the job very well, be there to pick up the slack and maybe he will learn from what you do. maybe deep down he knows he is over his head but is afraid to ask for help. help him with out telling him you are doing so. good luck

BOR is not a test so being prepared is not an issue. The requirements have already been signed off. This is great time to get to know the boy. See what he likes about scouting or dislikes. Talk about his next rank and goals in life as well as scouting. It is also a good time to get other adults involved in the troop There is little preparation required for a BOR.

I don't see anything wrong with a summer camp being a merit badge mill and not promoting the patrol method. We already go on camp outs 11 other months each year where the boys use the patrol method. I also don't see the boys earning to many merit badges on monthly overnights. Why not do something a little different at camp. I also think it is fun to see all the first years walking around together as well as the older scouts. I don't believe in making them take certain merit badges but after going to camp for a number of years, it kind of works out that way. For example, handi craft badges are good for 1st year boys where I don't see a 5th year camper getting to much enjoyment out of making a basket or a lanyard. I also don't see to many first years strong enough to complete climbing where swimming is about perfect. Just my .02

Here is my little piece of advise. BE NICE and don't think you are better than the campers visiting your camp just because you wear a staff t-shirt. That is what I see alot of when I visit our local council camps. The nice men who volunteer can make the experience a great one but the the old grumpy man who yells at all the boys and barks all day makes me wonder what the darn he is doing there.

I 2nd John in KC. H. Roe Bartle has an excellent program for all especially the older boys. I beleive it has more older boys returning to camp than any other camp in the nation. It is not unusual to see boys returning to camp for their 6th and 7th years. You also see boys going sometimes a 10th year and it is due to a program for older boys. I just got back from Bartle this past Saturday after a 10 day stay. Although it is a long camp, the boys never get burned out. My oldest son just completed his 4th year and my middle son had an excellent 1st year. If you haven't been to Bartle then you must put it at the top of your list of camps to consider especially since you are from Missouri. Contact me anytime and I will send you anything you may need to help with your decision including pictures. Good Luck!

Leaving tomorrow for 10 days at the beautiful H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation. Usually very hot this time of year in Missouri but wait, check out this extended forcast. I am doing back flips. http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/USMO0667?from=36hr_topnav_undeclared I have really been lucky the last 2 years in regards to the weather and this one could be the best ever. Can't wait now. It is my middle son's first year and he is a little nervous. This will be the forth year for my oldest son and anyone familiar with Mic O Say knows he will have a great time. I will talk to everyone in 10 days and look forward to catching up on the blog. Be Cool! pun intended.

OMG, did I say not to pile on uniform police. Give it a rest. I thought we were talking about the wonderful achievement of completing the mile swim but thank you for quoting whatever manuals you may have. Just because of your comment, I will purposely ask the two boys completing the mile swim from our troop to put their mile swim patch on their sash above their merit badges. Centered no less. Just for you. LOL!!!

I will give you a silver lining. I get the attend the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation in Osceola Missouri and the camp last for 10 days. That means I get to miss 7 days of work and some sessions the adults miss 8 days. Now that is tough on the old home front. To be honest, I love it and so do the boys but on the 8th or 9th day, it starts to wear on you. The ten days are good for the boys. You really can't count arrival day and departure day. We also have a Visitors Sunday so you are down to seven full days of camp activities. It is a quality program that I loved as a boy and am getting to enjoy again as an adult watching my boys experience.

dj98adams "Having a hard time logging back in with the new username" Amen! It has taken me thirty mins to get logged in. I write down my passwords and the cut and paste them and they still don't work. It seems each time I go back I have to request a new password. I also print off my little certificates and hand them in to our advancement chair. Good Luck with this and I hope it gets better. Hey, I was also excited that our summer camp has a pretty full schedule of training this year. The last few years I seem to remember them only having youth protection. This year they are offering outdoor leadership skills and more.

I laughed thinking about when i was a young boy at camp. There were not any practices and it wasn't an option. I remember our leaders telling us we were taking the mile swim. Our troop was full of a bunch of swimmers from our high school and they wanted everyone to get the patch. My twin brother who was not a good swimmer tells a funny story how Mr. Clayton(my best friends dad) followed him around the pool with a life saving pole for 21 laps so he wouldn't or couldn't quit. He was so pissed off during but that patch was put on the top of his sash. (don't pile on uniform police) He swears the swim took 2 hours but I don't know for sure. Everyone was so proud to have done it after it was over. I think the practices they do now are tough on the boys especially at the camp we attend. They make the boys meet up at the pool at 6am for their practices and if they miss one they are not eligible for the swim. I would like to see them go back to the old days and let them all jump and and have the entire staff down there keeping watch. Congrats to your boy. I still have my patch on my brag board that I use for recruiting at the elementary school and I often tell them this is my favorite badge besides my Eagle badge.

That makes me laugh that you counted my post about uniforms. Honestly I just started reading this blog and found that hitting the active topics link gives me the most recent posts so maybe that is why you have seen this. Also I sure the math was pretty easy since I only have a few posts. I was a scout as a youth and am back now as an adult and I just get a kick out of the uniform talk. I didn't like wearing all the required pieces back then and I understand what a boy is feeling today. I personally will now put on my olive shorts/pants with my scout issued socks but I will not look down on a boy who doesn't. I expect a shirt and scarf and that is about it. I am just happy that he is coming and learning a valuable message. But reading your post about my percentages makes me think that my voice means very little and I am wasting my time. I will try to watch myself regarding uniform posts and comment on only the other important issues. Keep up the good work and I hope you find that troop with 100% of the boys in complete uniforms. I am also hopeful at that same time you find the perfect troop because we all know that the perfect troop is perfectly uniformed. Good luck and have a nice day.

I do know this, I hear a lot more adults talking about proper uniforms than I do youths. To be honest, I have never heard a youth complain about another boy not being in full uniform. Now I have heard some comments over shirts and scarfs, but never a pair of shoes. Can you argue with that? The point I was making is there are a lot more important things to worry about in our program.

Give the uniform bit a break. About the flip flops at the eagle court, I don't think the boy getting his eagle was to concerned about another boys choice of shoes. I am sure he was happy that he came. I was his court and not yours. I can care less about full uniforms. I haven't seen a pair of olive pants or shorts, let alone scout socks on any of our kids in the last few years but I believe we have a great troop. I am sure there are people out there who think we are less of a troop because we are not in complete full uniform and I laugh at this. I am looking for boys who want to get involved in a program and grow with in the program we are providing. I don't grade him on his attire. So enough with the uniform talk. We have larger problems to address and goals to obtain.

talk to him about your expectations and his goals for his next rank. don't make yourself look bad.

I don't always have the best advise but it works for me. Tell him that we all work as a group and the tasks being asked of you are not anything we wouldn't ask of anyone else. If you don't like the work and don't wish to help out, then maybe this activity is not for you. Plan and simple. If you want to be part of the group, and this can and will include some work, then do as you are asked and help out. If not then see you later and good luck to you. If you ever change your mind, we will still be here and would welcome you back with open arms.

"Sometimes I think we here on this forum get hung up on the details and miss the big picture" AMEN! Who cares. If a boy wants to go full uniform and another wants to go with just a shirt and scarf, let it be. The program is not about the uniform. We can debate this all day but I don't think a boy gets more or less out of the program based on how he is dressed. I was in scouts as a boy and am an Eagle Scout. I have now been in as an adult leader with two of my boys for 7 years and I can care less if my boy or any other boy wears gym shorts with his shirt and scarf. He is in the program because he is having fun and learning how to be a man. I just hosted and mc'd an Eagle court two weeks ago and the boy getting his eagle didn't have a pair of olive pants or shorts that would fit him. He called me in a sort of panic and I told him not to worry about it. I asked him to wear the nicest pair of pants or shorts he felt looked good with his uniform and come in proud and accept the award he had worked hard for. He looked great and everyone was proud of his accomplishments. Not one person said a thing about his uniform. Hey but if you like the full uniform, wear it with pride but don't tell me I am less of a Scout for not wearing a "Complete Uniform"!

Axeman, We did the turkey wing club in Sawmill last year. I believed they served us a taco salad. That is a good outpost. There are some really good outpost at Bartle. Our boys love the Shotgun shooting one and the up and down cave. We are looking forward to supper with snakes this year. I stayed in Sawmill every year when I was boy. Never saw Frontier but after staying there I think it is a wonderful camp. Really spread out. The only bad thing is the transportation to lake front and the point. We meet at the Blue Ridge United Methodist Church at 51st and Blue Ridge. Most of our boys go to Raytown Schools. I actually live in Blue Springs to drive a little bit to participate with this troop. I grew up in Raytown and really like the people in this troop. Where is your troop located?

Axeman, I do go 5th session. Piercing Arrow, Fort McHenry. Where are your boys working? Mike Brown Troop 269