NWScouter

I carry iodine tablets in addition to any filter as a back up.

Over the last twenty years I have used many different water purification systems and have a few general tips. To use them as much as you should they must be easy to use. The pumping action should be easy and smooth, the handle must be conformable and the hoses must be long enough to enable you to be comfortable sitting by the stream with one in the water and the other in the bottle. Easy cleaning is plus nothing is worse than plugging the filter, once it was taking me it seemed like a five minutes per ounce. Here is REIs website for helping picking water filtration system: http://www.rei.com/online/store/LearnShareDetailArticlesList?categoryId=Camping&url=rei/learn/camp/filter3f.jsp Im going to buy a new one shortly and I think I will get a MSR Sweetwater Guardian Filter. Just because my leg is not allowing me to hike much right now so I wont be getting a lot of use.

Ok Ok I know the admonition and I know the translation but dang it if I can't spell it correctly. I guess I will have to get home before I can get into the restricted site. (I even made a call to two fellow vigils and they didn't know how either, one the development director of our council).

Our council and the local single A baseball team the AquaSox have a night at the game. Then an overnight where they get to pitch their tents in the outfield. We also have a campfire program and a breakfast . We have had 500 to 800 tickets sold the years we have held it. Cub Scouts and Webelos seem to like it best .

You have to be Brotherhood for two years before you can be selected for Vigil. Wecome back to an active role at the council fire, Balding Eagle.

Years ago the council in which I now active and also in my council as youth the unit number had some relationship to where the unit was located. The north end was 300s in the main town were double digits, the 100s to the south excreta., for example. Then mergers came and then came the fun of having two units with the same number. Solved by the both get to use the their original number but on official paperwork, one got a 40XX added to the old number. Now new units get what ever numbers is available but they try to keep the old geographic scheme in place if possible.

As a former district advancement chair, the only pervious advancement problems that caused a pause in a candidate path to his Eagle BOR were due to missing advancement reports. Most council does not have time to do more checking than looking over advancement reports. So when they have earned their ranks and their timing, if you have enough merit badges and the right ones and the paper work for them is in, are what they look for. The other problem we had was one young man moved to Venturing and his Team didnt recharter him and the Crew never registered him, he thought he was in. That though was easy to fix. Just remember the job isnt done until the paperwork is in.

I known them as young as 12. If the unit is young you work with what you have.

As in many organizations there are documents that are secret, i.e. for internal use only. I image that Irving has memos floating around about changes in the program, uniforms, equipment, policies and whatever. Any organization needs to look to the future. Study groups are formed to present options and not all of them need to publish to the whole group, only the ones that are implemented. I suppose there are studies on opening up Boy Scouting to girls, and how to integrate gays in Scouting Leadership. Not to study them would be poor management. To study something does not mean it will happen but is a way a being prepared in case you decided to go that way or are forced. But because they exist do not change anything yet or in the future.

I just happened to be looking at the Bah web site (http://www.education.usbnc.org/child_spir_ed/scoutin.htm) for their Unity of Mankind award for scouts and found this comment: The program is available both for scouts who are members of the Bah Faith and for those interested in learning more about the Bah Faith and its teachings of unity.

UMC also is product of the merger of Norhtern and Southern Methodist Churches long ago.

I believe that in the near future the BSA will stop producing the diamond shaped Webelos badge and only the oval will be available. It matters not whether or not the boy has or has not been a Tiger.

John ,what I was trying to say while PRAY publishes and yes does write and proposes the requirements, the individual denominations accept the requirements by their committees on Scouting. I think we are saying the same thing.

I in have four youth working with me on their God and Church Award. It is designed for youth to do in the own home congregation and many of the activities pertain to the their denomination. It would be easy to include non-churched youth but youth active in a congregation need to working with their pastors or counselors appointed by them to follow the requirements. The Roman Catholic youth would get more out of their own program. Also PARY is a publisher of the materials, the requirements are approved by the various denominational committees on Scouting. The God and Life Award in the God and Country program as an upper age limit of 18. I believe the only one I know of for 18 to 20 yr old Venturer is the Roman Catholic Award. I have helped over 100 youth earn the awards, this year I had 5 God and Me, 12 God and Family and have 4 (2 BS & 2 GS) working on God and Church. BTW the insignia guides just say you have to have earned a religious award to wear the knot. The adult knot is for the recognition awards (Lamb, St. George, Good Shepard, etc.) which are awarded like a Silver Beaver by nomination. and the LDS which is earned not the mentor award which is just a pin to be worn on civilian wear.

It is Gov. Locke. I was at the dinner. Out here we don't discuss the gay issue too much at scouting events as opinions are about evenly divided among adult scouters and some get really get hot. Most large businesses and government bodies out here recognize 'domestic partners'.

I posted this a while back. Here is another politician who supports Scouting. Henry M. Jackson Heritage Auction November 8, 2003 926 words/MSW Good evening. I am honored to be here. Honored to be at this event whose namesake, Scoop Jackson, played such a significant role in the history of both Washingtons. And honored to have this opportunity to talk about scouting. As I stand here this evening, my mind is filled with the memories of my development as a Boy Scout. It all started with a camping trip I took with my Aunt and Uncle when I was just five years old. I will never forget the sense of awe I felt as we walked in the rain forest of the Olympic Peninsula. The thrill of standing beside a wild river waiting for a fish to strike. The feeling of being in another world, a beautiful world with all kinds of new sights and sounds and smells. My camping trip had fired me with enthusiasm to explore the outdoors. But my parents ran a grocery store that was open seven days a week. They worked very long hours and worked very hard. No vacations, no time off. It was extremely difficult for my Dad to break away from the store and our familys livelihood to take me camping. So my parents urged me to join the Boy Scouts. I jumped at the chance. Scout leaders became an extended family, and Scouting was a great adventure. I enjoyed scouting from the start. I felt the same sense of pride and accomplishment earning my first merit badge as I did finishing my Eagle Scout service project. I will never forget the look on my parents faces, beaming with pride at my Eagle Scout Court of Honor. Its hard to make it all the way to Eagle Scout, as you all know. There were so many competing interests. School, sports, cars. And girls. On average, only four out of every hundred scouts earn the rank of Eagle. I am very proud to be among them. I became active in the Order of the Arrow. Through all my high school and most of my college summers, I worked at Camp Omache in the Cascades. Even now, many of my dearest friends and most enjoyable memories are from my Scouting days. I am immensely proud of my years in Scouting. And I am forever grateful for the nurturing I received, and for all that Scouting has helped me become. Scouting has always been one of Americas most reliable developers of character and leadership. It teaches the ethic of service, and the discipline to get any job done. And Boy Scout leaders have always been generous not just with their money, but with a far more precious resource --their time. To millions of kids like me, that has made all the difference. Todays youth desperately need people to make a difference in their lives. Never have the pressures and challenges been greater. The information explosion, an affluent society, and greater mobility make trouble easier to find. Pervasive pop-culture icons and pseudo-values make it easier for young people to believe they arent measuring up, arent cool enough, arent good enough. Hard-working parents and over-burdened teachers make individual attention and quality time elusive. These factors are a formula for bad decisions and dire, lasting consequences. Too often, kids today spend their free time with a video game, cable TV show, or Internet chat site. A drug or a gang or a street scene. These are not good ways to become all that one can be. The era of big government is over. Here in Washington, the number of state employees is droppingwe have one of the lowest percentages of state employees per capita in the nation. Tough economic times have restricted our ability to do all the things wed like to do as a state. Increasingly, we must rely on strong communities and organizations like the Boy Scouts of America. Scouting has never been more important. And it has never been more important to support programs like this that help young people. Young boysand now girlslearn many life lessons from Scouting. The American spirit of adventure and the gift of self-confidence. An abiding love of our environment. Compassion and caring toward others and the desire to help. Optimism, appreciation of diversity; and a lifelong commitment to service. And a sense of personal responsibility and self-discipline. Scouting creates heroes. Not just those who perform death-defying acts of bravery, although scouts have been known to save the day and face danger to help others. No, the truly valuable heroism scouting teaches is everyday heroism. The everyday heroism that makes a good and active citizen, day in and day out for the whole span of their lives. Reading books to children. Creating opportunities for young people. Caring for neighbors. Speaking out for those who are unable or afraid to speak for themselves. Working on community projects. And building strong, safe and friendly neighborhoods. Scouting trains the future leaders well need to make our country all that it can be in the years ahead. Once a Scout, always a Scout. In my duties as a governor and as a dad, I rely heavily on those tried and true principles of Scout Law: Trustworthy; Loyal, Helpful; Friendly; Courteous; Kind; Obedient; Cheerful; Thrifty; Brave; Clean; Reverent. I try to remind myself daily of these principles. They serve as an invaluable guide to my actions and decisions. Scouts like me will be forever grateful to the Boy Scouts of America. You are making a big difference, and an invaluable contribution to our youth and to our country. God Bless you, and thank you.

I couldn't find anything in the most recent Scoutmaster Handbook, so I looked back to the the 1981 edition in there it said: "The individual tests for skill awards may be passed to troop approved boy and adult leaders," p. 225 This isn't a current reference but it is how all the troops I know handle it. BTW skill awards were earned toward Tenderfoot, Second and First Class ranks, and the requirements for them are many of those for the present ranks.

My understanding is that Spielberg's dad was a Life Scout and tbat was the reason for Indiana's rank

My sons patrol, back in the 80s took the blank patrol patch (I think they still sell it) and used magic markers to cerate the Big Foot patrol patch, a big footprint. I see no problem and find no reference to how the patch is to be made in the insignia guide.

FOG, Now that you mention it it was the metallic vs. regular thread that signified trained form untrained.

I once saw but now cant find on the web pictures of old (at least 25 yrs ago) Scoutmaster patches that by the difference in color of the edging differed between trained and untrained. Maybe thats what he was thinking of.

From Washington you should know Gary Locke, governor; Dan Evans, governor, senator and university president both from Washington State; both Eagles.

The youngest age you can join Scouts is determined by the age you complete Fourth Grade. There is quite a range for example when I was young, you could enter kindergarten if you were 5 by November 1st. The school district my kids were in they had to 5 by September 1st. Then there are ones who test in earlier and not to mention any that may skip a grade or are home schooled. Then when you finish fourth grade, some parts of the country school ends in May while some of our districts out here end in late June. If schools end in May you could cross over in November or December and be closer to 10 than 11. I doubt that anyone would be denied his Eagle based on the age he entered Boy Scout.

Yes, sort of. You will need your pack to submit a unit fundraising application for whatever you decide to do. Only the Pack is allowed to do fundraising. Your den could be the only ones working it, but the rest of the pack may also work on it. Dont forget to check with your council; most councils have a campership fund that will help out with the cost of camp. I know the one in our council has a hard time giving the money away as it has not been getting enough requests.

That is an odd quesstion because around here it seems that Webelos cross over starting in Jan., about half way through fifth grade.