RememberSchiff

Shazam, I moved this topic to I&P.

Depends on your state and town. Maine is more DIY-friendly for electrical and plumbing work than Mass.

That's a good point. Add calling Dig Safe as well. Whether local code allows a DIYer to work on his/her own gas lines, I doubt the BSA or parents would approve.

If a member of my unit is denied access to a destination, the trip does not automatically grind to a halt. Yes sometimes scouts/scouters get sent home for a variety of reasons, right or wrong. Now if the Girl Guides said we refuse to have our (all) members groped by TSA, that would make more sense to me. Another $0.02

They should have dropped Req 6 from plumbing as mostly that is for gas lines. Not many DIYers are allowed to work on gas lines. Maybe add to 7, also demonstrate connecting copper pipes with compression fittings or Shark bite connectors. 6. Cut, thread, and connect two pieces of metal (formerly steel) pipe. 7. Under the supervision of a knowledgeable adult, solder three copper tube connections using a gas torch. Include one tee, two straight pieces, and one coupling. Another $0.02

My concern is that nonsensical decisions like this could spread and impact the World Jamboree at Summit. Maybe Tillerson's State Dept can send a scout-friendly message to our nervous northern scouters. Another $0.02,

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/trump-travel-ban-girl-guides-canada-cancels-all-trip-u-n733161 The organization, which is Canada's equivalent of the Girl Scouts, announced Monday that they are canceling all trips to the United States until further notice. The group cited uncertainty about the ability of all of its members to enter the country. ... "Girl Guides is a very inclusive and diverse organization," spokeswoman Sarah Kiriliuk told the CBC. "It is part of our mandate and it is very important to the fabric of our organization to be inclusive and diverse. And we wanted to make sure we could extend that to all aspects of our organization — which includes girls that are traveling." She added: "In this case, girls that were traveling across the border would not have that opportunity, it would not have been an inclusive and diverse opportunity for them." Kiriliuk also said that the Girl Guides' national office was unaware of any issues occurring with members traveling to the U.S. so far, but that the measure was designed to ensure "no girl gets left behind." Good grief.

I would not, I would just chalk it up to experience, it is the project not the hours that count,...but others may want a fuller reporting of a scouts total Eagle Projects hours. Reporting volunteer hours using the same counting method as other volunteer agencies ensures that Scouting as a movement gets proper credit for all the great work our Scouts do. When we present that number to groups and families not affiliated with Scouting, we want it to be as accurate as possible. http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2016/03/10/eagle-scout-service-hours-number-probably-hour/ My $0.02

Scouts in Action. I liked the skills review at the end of the story.

Let's not get tied up in terminology. I do not know the full story of the OP's situation, but as to question can a registered BSA volunteer leader or non-registered volunteer adult be removed (fired, banned, ...) from a scouting position or activity? Yes and it is unpleasant. IMO, if you see a problem with your unit and the Council or CO does not see it or refuses to rectify it, then it is time to find another unit or another activity.

From the 2016 Report to Nation • 1,262,311 boys ages 6 to 10 in Cub Scouts • 822,999 boys ages 11 to 17 in Boy Scouts and Varsity Scouts • 119,268 young men and women ages 10 to 20 in Exploring career-based programs (including the STEM Scouts pilot program) • 136,629 young men and women ages 14 to 20 in Venturing and Sea Scouts • 372,891 boys and girls in elementary through high school in Learning for Life character education programs • 102,888 units, representing partnerships and collaborations with businesses and community and religious organizations that support BSA programs @@qwazse scooped me! Well done. Here's link http://www.scoutingnewsroom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/2016-Report-to-the-Nation.pdf

If I had a time machine and as a Dad who wants the best for his sons, I would send my sons "back in my day" to experience the better scouting I had at my old, probably below average, troop. But after a month or year what would be their preference?

So opinions on the make-up "classic scouting" by different generations - Greatest Generation, Boomers, Gen X, etc.?

Issues and Politics seemed a more flexible (rules-wise) forum for a highly opinionated discussion about whatever Classic (traditional) scouting might be in terms of membership, advancement, leadership, lawyering, Methods and Aims, reverence (DRP), volunteer quality, safety-concerns, uniform, role of scouting, visibility of scouting... I don't see that the changes were internally driven by politics, but I could be wrong. Who knows who is on the Executive Committees? I see money (ligitation, donation, salaries), publicity, and just poor leadership as driving factors. Please more substance and less labeling in these posts. Anyway that was my thinking. If I had to honestly label my opinion, I would say non-caffeinated.

I think you meant 1st Class which had a Signaling requirement, either semaphore (flags) or Morse Code. I was 2nd class for a long time.

In New England, just about each year, WFA courses taught by SOLO instructors are hosted by a Council or unit. $120-150pp. I have not seen any Red Cross offerings here.

IMO, adult leader judgement was trusted more. My old SM would credit patrol camping in our town woods but not backyard or family camping.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/premium/article_966698ba-047c-11e7-b73b-e730653044ea.html Another interview with some more background info on Mr. Fossum. Fossum, public speaker, author and philanthropist, was born in McAllen and graduated from MemorialHigh School in 1982, the school’s first graduating class. He graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in mechanical engineering and served as an officer and captain in the U.S. Air Force. Fossum is a lifelong Boy Scout and at the time of casting, was a Scoutmaster in Spokane Valley, Washington, where he now resides. A casting call was sent out to the national scouting website and Fossum was nominated by someone who had been through one of his leadership courses. Fossum initially thought the casting email was a hoax. “The problem is, I’ve never gone to that website, and if I did, I certainly wouldn’t have answered a casting call for a reality TV show,†Fossum said. “I’m not interested in being on a TV reality show in the least. I was 51 years old at the time, getting fat and had pretty much decided that my adventures were behind me.†Fossum agreed to the casting call and tried out for the show. When it appeared he would be cast, he decided to leave it up to faith and accept the challenge. “Well, I’m a Boy Scout, always have been, always will be, but is that enough?†he asked himself. “I used to teach Wilderness Survival merit badge at Boy Scout Summer Camp as a youth. I took a real interest in it, being able to survive without much, or anything. I won’t pretend to ‘master’ the wilderness, because the wilderness is always the master and anyone who believes otherwise is a fool.†This video is pretty funny. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdEaF4cHL8Y more on Mr. Fossum at his website https://terrylfossum.com/

Consider this recent NPR story regarding the ornithological inaccuracy in Hollywood. Surely this a problem that Scouting can solve! So we birders are doomed to hear that same Red-tailed Hawk scream every time they show a Bald Eagle or some other raptor, and that same inappropriate Mourning Warbler song every time a commercial wants to convey a suburban atmosphere. That recording really gets around, which is strange because it’s an obscure and uncommon species that you would not hear in suburbia. http://news.wgbh.org/2017/03/03/arts/plea-hollywood-get-your-bird-sounds-straight Agree, that Sustainability is unnecessary and Nature MB was once Eagle required and should be again.

When I was a scout (there he goes again), there was no instant recognition. I waited until the Court of Honor to receive my rank patch and card. There were two reasons for this. 1. Taught scouts patience, 2. The troop had no cache of rank patches, nor was Mrs SM inclined to visit Council more than once a month. She also typed the information on the rank card. Seemed reasonable. So far, it is interesting the varied opinions on what would be "Classic".

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/04/15/the-boy-scouts-of-america-then-and-now-a-comparison-of-the-1911-and-modern-handbooks-and-merit-badges/

From Stosh in another thread Maybe BSA ought to develop a program called "Classic Scouting" and quit with this New Scouting "stuff". Would it be a reset to 1960? 1950? 1930? Would scout advancement work be only on the next rank? Would instant recognition go away? Would adult volunteers be treated like adults? Would MB books return to black and white and the only part read would be the cover? What would "Classic Scouting" be?

According the Unit Charter Agreement the CO has to "ensure appropriate facilities for the unit for its regular meetings to facilitate the aims of the Chartered Organization AND Scouting. So it is more by mutual agreement IMO and hopefully everyone wants to do what is best for our kids.

IMO this is the legal conundrum which the local NJ BSA Council found itself in and so NJ Law Against Discrimination applied. Next, National found itself drawn in - could the membership rules vary by state? What if this family moved? And so on. Could BSA Legal have been proactive about advising the BSA to clarify the membership form further, e.g."Gender on Birth Certificate"? IMO, yes. Speaking of BSA Legal, has anyone seen their website www.bsalegal.org lately? Another $0.02

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/rockland/stony-point/2017/03/07/stony-point-camp-bullowa-lawsuit/98362984/ ^--more details, video, and photos STONY POINT,NY - A legal battle over who controls the purse strings of the $3.1 million endowment for Camp Bullowa has brought nearly all repairs to a standstill at the Boy Scout site. ... Ralph Heavner, who accompanied Olori inside the camp’s Dignman Cabin, said the endowment remains locked as his lawsuit against Hudson Valley Council, Boy Scouts of America continues. Heavner, a trustee for the trust fund, filed the lawsuit last year to recoup $500,000 that the Camp Bullowa endowment agreed to loan the council in 2003. The council stopped making payments on the loan in 2013. After he filed the lawsuit, Heavner said he was dismissed from his position on the Hudson Valley Council executive board. The Hudson Valley Council oversees more than 7,000 Scouts in the region, according to its website. The lawsuit was also brought by the two other Bullowa endowment trustees, Edwin Ward and Thomas Condon, as well as the Emilie M. Bullowa Memorial Endowment of Camp Bullowa. The lawsuit was filed against Howard Hellman, president of the council; David Horton, scout executive for the council; William Poole, executive vice president of the council; and the council itself. lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court in New City, the council was “facing financial failure" at the time of the loan. The loan marked the first time funds from the endowment were used for purposes other than maintenance of the camp. There remains $426,000 outstanding on the loan, according to court papers. .. Heavner described the lawsuit as a final defense for the camp. “We are not going to go down without a fight,†he said. The lawsuit over who can access the trust fund and what the money can be used for is the first time the endowment has been tested since it was created in 1949, Heavner said. The camp is maintained using approximately $140,000 a year from interest raised from the trust fund, Heavner said. Heavner said the the council has also has attempted to remove him, Ward and Condon as trustees of the endowment and appoint new trustees, which violates the trust. If the council does not repay the loan and is permitted to dip into the endowment in the future, Heavner said there would be no stopping the council from whittling down the endowment for any number of purposes unrelated to the camp and it would eventually be depleted. “You sell a few acres here, you sell a few acres there, and before you know it, it’s gone,†Heavner said. Hellman said the camp will never be sold. "Unequivocally, there is and never has been any intentions, any discussions about selling the camp," Hellman said. "That will always remain a camp. That will always remain in the ownership of the Hudson Valley Council who runs the camp." The lawsuit is seeking the Hudson Valley Council repay the $426,000 still owed on the loan, $110,000 in fees and interest, and clarity over how trustees are appointed and removed, among other things. Fight on Trustees and Scouters.