mdkeplers

So glad your scout found his blue card. In our troop, scouts are told up front that if a blue card is lost, they have to redo the requirements that were signed off on. Harsh, maybe, but it stress to the scout that it is HIS responsibility to keep the track of the blue card. Problems with lost blue cards are few and far between in our troop.

How about some fox scat? I'd suggest taking a photo of the scat, not actually taking the scat to the Troop Guide. Although....

My son is starting to gather ideas for his Eagle Project. He wants to be prepared with a list of 3-4 projects priot to meeting with the Eagle Advisor? What is the protocal on gathering information? In other words, he thinks he'd like to do something for a local senior citizens home. Does he need to go through the SM/Eagle Advisor prior to contacting the senior home? Or is it ok for him go straight to the senior home and ask them for a "wish list"? He's also considering a building a footbridge in a local park. He's not sure which park. That seems like something the EC might have info on. My son hopes to get his paper work and project approved to be able to work on it as soon as school gets out in June. My son is only 15 but he is anxious to get his Eagle now. So where does he begin?

My sons and some of their troopmates are eager to plan a week long trip to the Grand Canyon. This would be a rim to rim backpacking trip, not a river trip. My husband is willing to be the adult lead on the trip. He and my sons made this exact trip last summer. They know the physical & mental challanges involved. My sons were in the process of gathering info to present to the SM/ASM for permission to propose the trip to the troop. The main ASM caught wind of this and his reaction was less than enthusiastic. Am I missing something? Is there some reason such a trip would be prohibited under BSA guidelines?

Goshen Scout Reservation was shut down indefinitely as of noon today. http://www.boyscouts-ncac.org/openrosters/DocDownload.asp?orgkey=370&id=44627

Is this acceptable? Cub Scouts always said the only award you can carry over to your Scout uniform, other than Arrow of Light, is a religious emblem knot. SPL & ASPL have told my 1st year scout on more than one occassion that the knot should not be one his Scout uniform because it wasn't earned as a Boy Scout. What is the offical position on this?

Within a week of turning 9, my youngest was the first to realize that his brother, then age 10, had flipped his kayak. The older one was in 9-10 feet of water where the current would have taken him downstream. He was not the strongest of swimmers at the time. My youngest immediately recognized the potential danger of the situation, grabbed an oar, ran over to the edge of the dock, held it out and ordered his brother to grab hold of the oar. He held onto the oar until an adult could pull the older one out of the water. This all happened in an instant. My youngest accomplished all of this without any instruction. He had the oar in his hand and was shouting instructions to his brother before I even realized his brother had tipped the kayak. He had him holding onto the oar by the time I managed to get out of my kayak. His den leader encouraged us to submit the action to Council and here we are.

We received notification in Oct. 2004 that my youngest has been awarded a National Certificate of Merit. For several reasons - not all good ones - he has yet to recieve his certificate. I have finally tracked down the person at Council who is in possesion of the Certificate. We have been playing phone tag - but he needs to ensure that the Certificate is presented appropriately - terminology I keep hearing in reference to the certificate. My son is a second year Webolo & will be transitioning to a Troop as soon as they hand him his Arrow of Light (already earned, not received). Would it be appropriate to suggest that the Certificate be "appropriately presented" at the Arrow of Light ceremony?

Does the scout have an IEP - Individual Education Plan at school. If he is recieving accomodations at school, scouts should provide similar accomodations. If he does, I would hope that BSA would recognize it. This is a real disorder. It is not "laziness".