redfox420

There are many publications (tracking sheets, etc.) that actually encourage getting your scouts to First Class within one year. As long as this is true, there can be no such rule that says a boy has to be a certain age to reach Boy Scout Ranks...there are typical ages for these ranks, but there is no official rule that says a boy of a certain age cannot be a certain rank...of course the requirements of the ranks past first class can somewhat effect that...Star, Life and Eagles tend to be older, but as to almost everything, there are exceptions.

I don't believe there are many changes in 2003. But eventually, MeritBadge.com will have the updates, like us, they are human and are on a schedule, they are usually a very dependable alternative.

I would assume it would go back as far as criminal records go, to birth...or maybe to when the person becomes an adult according to BSA Standards, 18 for Assistant Scoutmasters, and 21 for Adult Venturing Leaders. The parameters are fair, they exclude most all non-violent crimes. But it will be interesting how they interpret crimes committed while a minor, but by the language of the report, it does'nt matter how old they were. We will see...

WAY too long overdue if you ask me. And I would waste no time in requiring them for current adult volunteers. We can't trust the troops and their committees to do it because it just is'nt being done for the most part...there are some who do, but we need to cover for the ones who don't.

I wear neckerchiefs all the time, I have my Troop Neckerchief which I wear for troop events. My Green Wood Badge Training Neckerchief (yes, Green, i'm SR-420 - Last Course Old Syllabus) which will hopefully be exchanged in February and I have a special older neckerchief that I wear for special occasions where neither troop or Wood Badge is appropriate. I've never heard any rule against this, and I see no reason that we should'nt wear it while the boys do.

In my Wood Badge experience, the Fox Patrol had only one female. 6 of the patrol members in the campsite paired up in tents, and me and the woman had single tents. It never really bothered us, and on the night on the outpost, it was the same, she carried the tent up, slept in it and brought it back down, nothing to it. You were cheated out of a great experience, because personally I thought of that night out with my patrol was one of the best nights of the whole program (with the exception of the opening and closing ceremony of course)

Same here, Maple colored mess-hall style cup, with Fox-oriented art on it. I've had a lot of "spare time" to work on it, it sits beside our patrol mascot on my desk (a 6 inch tall red fox). Can still see coffee stains...never seen the insides of a dishwasher, never will

Both Camps that I have attended, Camp Shenendoah (Stonewall-Jackson Area Council) and Camp Davy Crockett (Sequoyah Council) have one meal a week, both Wednesday Night Supper if I remember it correctly, that must be made in the troop campsite. And they all leave the option open for troops to make meals in their campsite as often as they want to. But I think requiring at least one meal from the troop enriches the summer cmaping experience....they eat in a dining hall at school, so they have plenty of experience there. And after Wood Badge..I have extra respect for the Patrol cooked meal...

And even beyond the individual staff member, the staff as a whole needs to learn to work together as one well-oiled machine, no one, two or even ten people can run a camp alone...that's why a good constructive Staff Week is crucial.

Well, as they always say....Duct tape is like the force, it has a light side and a dark side and it holds the universe together.. It would'nt surprise me if this was true, it has so many other uses, but it also seems to be a painful solution.

I am also a leader in a smaller troop. Our biggest problem is that we have several troops very close to us and do not have a Cub Scout Pack available to affiliate ourselves with. But we have gained some membership in the past by making ourselves noticed, we participate in local Parades, we handle the raising and lowering of the flags every year at the Little League Baseball Season opener in our town. And the rest of these suggestions are right....get involved with a Cub Scout Pack, which we are in the process of...but also get yourself noticed, and get other kids interested that way.