RememberSchiff

Too funny. Will RIT work on 100% nylon fabric? You may have more luck using an "acid dye" on supplex nylon fabric in that there should be less color washout in subsequent machine washings. Check Jacquard acid dyes. Their website has a forum for asking questions. Here's their color chart http://www.jacquardproducts.com/products/dyes/aciddye/colors.php Anyway my 2c, good luck.

Our pack and troop has rang, proudly in uniform and with Council knowledge, for Salvation Army for as long as I can remember. No complaints, just community gratitude. Wanna complain, then we are just scouts singing and ringing a bell. We start at Thanksgiving on thru Dec 23, no matter the weather. We neither collect money nor touch the kettle. People just put money in the kettle and a Salvation Army rep picks it up. This is what scouts do - we help other people. Merry Christmas, Peace on Earth and Goodwill.

The winner: Professor Randy Pausch for his "Last Lecture" http://tinyurl.com/55ukt2 Thank you for the inspiration you provided to your students and the world. You will be missed.

The larger font, an editable pdf, and getting ONE form are big improvements. I would prefer a one page, double-sided form with critical information appearing first for ER admission. You need parent/guardian and family physician upfront, not buried. I have seen too many "Who to contact" to be uninformed neighbors. Photocopy of insurance card should be on side 1. Instructions in how to fill out this form, weight charts, council photo permission, "grade completed" is clutter in a medical emergency. Learning disorders needs a separate section with room for more detail. My 2c

I found this from Sept, 2004 http://www.scoutingmagazine.org/issues/0409/d-news.html scroll down near bottom: "BOY SCOUT AGE CLARIFICATION The BSA National Executive Board has amended the rules and regulations to clarify that no boy may join Boy Scouting until he reaches the age of 10. Previously, the requirement stated that to be a Boy Scout a boy must have completed the fifth grade or be age 11 or have earned the Arrow of Light Award. The new requirement says he must have completed the fifth grade and be at least 10 years old or be age 11 or have earned the Arrow of Light Award and be at least 10 years old. The new clarification became effective May 15, 2004."

You are not obligated to take over another leader's den. If the sudden "added scouts" to your den is your main complaint, be aware as a volunteer den leader, you set the size of the den that you can handle. When "she" suddenly left, her ADL should have stepped up. If that did not happen, the CM should have convened a den parent meeting and recruited a new DL. Yes, we are here for the scouts but we can set our limits. Family first. Keep it simple, make it fun applies to us adult volunteers too.(This message has been edited by RememberSchiff)

Our council camps have no such requirements. We have been through uniform transitions before, I can't remember a camp or scout activity requiring the "latest" uniform. Some of us wore uniform shirts with collars, some had V-necks, and we all looked scout. So this seems a change in thinking or values, more marketing-sense driven than classic scout-sense driven. A scout is (or was) thrifty.

Maybe the City of Philadelphia will lease the building to a non-discriminatory youth group, like the Philadelphia Boy & Girls Club, for $1/yr.

When you see "other references" on a job application, college application, or Eagle application, do your chances a favor and think that other (adult) references is implied. Teachers, coaches, merit badge counselors, neighbors, and adult scout leaders. You have associated with adults as part of a Scout program method, so this should not be a problem. Good luck.

Liz, our unit also presents ranks badges, et al, at the next COH which are held more of less quarterly. We do this to teach scouts patience (we don't subscribe to the need for immediate "gimme" recognition), to give all plenty of time to adjust schedules (we have good attendance and participation at COH), and to give our Advancement Chairman time (less stress) to do his job. It has worked well for us. Immediate recognition is relatively new in scouting. My unit did not do it in the 60's - we waited until the next COH. Looking at my old scout handbook sixth edition, Nov, 1959. Regarding earning first class page 229. (after the board of review) ..."Soon after, at a troop court of honor, your Scoutmaster presents your First Class badge to you in front of your friends." So a scout waited sometimes a couple of weeks, sometimes a couple months...worth the wait. Also as Cub Scouts we typically waited that long to receive our awards at the next pack meeting. Like you said, this approach may not work well for other units but it works well for us. Some of us wait until Dec 25, for Christmas, some of us don't.

Sounds familiar - no supervision, no discipline - "Boys will be boys"... Look at other troops or Venture crews since you said the older scouts are frustrated, or consider starting a new unit. Stacked deck. Your chances of fixing the problem from within the unit are slim and will only add to your frustration. Good luck

Excuse the obvious question. Is your full name often misspelled or abbreviated? Have you seen a list of ALL who received training and you were definitely not on it? Usually in cases of "lost" records, many people are affected and you have not said this of your council. I am wondering if your information was electronically misfiled. I relate, for many years, my council listed me as Troop Committee and not ASM. Finally was fixed.

The units that I have served, have accepted donations with gratitude and without any drama. Often a donations jar is in place at the entrance for the spaghetti dinners. No complaints from Council execs who attended. Not asking for "scout discount" is just foolish, a scout is thrifty. Our council website lists businesses that offer scout discounts to scouts who are in uniform or show their BSA ID card. Eastern Mountain Sports offers a 20% "scout discount" to scouts twice a year.

A scoutmaster can suggest a merit badge counselor but a scout can go to any merit badge counselor in any council that he wants. An example of this is summer camp or merit badge university, the SM signs the blue card without knowing who the merit badge counselors will be.

In my council, I have noticed an increased number of scouts who transfer to other units (some are Eagle factories, most are not) just to earn their Eagle. This information is not tracked on the Eagle application and is rarely stated at an EBOR. Something is wrong here, a scout should not need to transfer out of his unit to become Eagle, but none of the aforementioned police seem interested. Personally, I would like to see the Eagle application require a troop membership history. 'We see just a year ago you transferred to Troop 2. What prompted that move after 5 years with Troop 1?' 'Sir, I would not have been able to earn my Eagle at my old troop because...' The commissioners or Eagle Board then has a talk with those scoutmasters to find out what the problem is.

Where was your class advertised? Did they text scouts or post on the council website frequented just by adults? Ditto what Ed said - Scouts have to contact me. Scouts need to develop the initiative to contact mb counselors. In doing so, they develop communication skills and self-confidence needed later. Mostly, I too find parents care more about advancement than scouts, but we cannot allow them to micromanage their son's Boy Scout advancement as they likely did in Cub Scouts. Good luck with your class. Thanks for being a mb counselor. We seem to have a shortage. (This message has been edited by RememberSchiff)

From the lapels, sleeves,and pocket flaps, it looks like a replica of a WW2 US Army Officer jacket though not the Ike jacket. Zoom the image and you'll see the buttons have an Eagle on them. My guess anyway.

Probably BRANDED. Hat taken off, red epaulets ripped off, belt removed, the bottle opener on one's Swiss Army knife broken off, and then sent out the gate. Like what happened to my old Cubmaster years ago at my last Pack meeting. Our commissioner was pretty tough about unit inspections.

Kudu, thanks for the link.

Yes. I think higher of a patrol which has planned and executed an adult-less campout than a patrol which has not but has completed National Honor Patrol. Also an award would help promote this as a goal and have other patrols and troops asking "What's that?" We all seem to agree that this is a patrol goal. In exchange, I agree to drop another existing award(s) - your choice and plenty to choose from our abundant award inventory.

Another odd thing. So far, I have found no BSA award which recognizes the accomplishment of an adult-less patrol campout. I suppose, a solo requirement could be added to National Honor Patrol and use that border patch. But, how about a new border patch with "wings", "rocket engines", "broken chains",.. something which would attach to the patrol emblem to show their accomplishment? Or is there a ribbon for the patrol flag that I missed?

I would be delighted to hear that I am wrong, that a patrol (or crew) can go on a Philmont adventure without adults. Here at my council, Philmont is managed through Council with a near constant adult presence. As to my council, no adultless patrol camping at camporees or summer camp. At least two adults must be present. This info is in the camporee flyers and summer camp adult leader handbook. Sorry no links, I prefer to remain anonymous. If other councils are different, I'd like to hear about that too.

Agreed patrols can go camping with SM approval, but in practice that applies only to non-BSA properties and non BSA activities which seems somewhat odd to me. Some examples: 1. A patrol cannot go to Philmont without adults. Yes, adults should handle transportation to and from ranch. When I did Philmont in the 60's, only one adult was required then and frankly we would have done fine without him on the trail. 2. A patrol cannot go to camporees in my council w/o adults. (Our troop was not going to the camporee but one older patrol was interested but still needed two adults). 3. A patrol cannot go to scout camp, even a "patrol method" scout camp, without adults. They could go provisional but then the camp provides the "adults". (This message has been edited by RememberSchiff)

Didn't say it was. In fact, I don't think the current policy even requires blue cards. http://www.scouting.org/BoyScouts/GuideforMeritBadgeCounselors.aspx "Most local councils (including summer camps) use the Application for Merit Badge, or blue card, although it is not required." Too bad, I think the perceived "convenience" short-changes scouts on some valuable lessons that my generation learned. My opinion.

When I was a scout (60's), scouts were expected to keep their own advancement records, that's why one third of the blue card is the scout's copy. Most of us bundled our blue cards together with a rubber band and stored with our baseball cards (Cookie Rojas, Johnny Callison,...) - our prized possessions all stored in a shoe box. At Star, Life, and Eagle, we had to show proof of our merit badge work with our completed blue cards and not the white award cards, camp worksheet, or sash. Lose your blue card and you made a trip back to the counselor who hopefully kept his third or at least remembered you. Forget going to Council, they had no room to store their third of the blue card. At Star, I lost a couple blue cards and I learned my lesson for later ranks. So, it was the scout's responsibility, not the Troop Advancement Chairman, not the Scoutmaster, not his parents - the scout's. Good training for adulthood - keep your own records; don't count on anyone else - the government, banks, and especially council. At the BOR, each blue card was examined. A scout definitely had to have all his ducks in a row. I do not remember any issues with parents as counselors. If one of the BOR had been your counselor, he would have stepped aside. Glad to hear your Eagle Board of Review expects the same as mine did. If others expect less, sorry to hear that.