scoutmom111

Singing right along with my friend OldGreyEagle....and of course harmonizing well... I used to be a Bear, a good ole' Bear too. And now I'm finshed Bearng, I don't know what to do. I'm growing old and feeble, and I can Bear no more, So I'm going to work my ticket if I can. Back to Gilwell, happy land, I'm going to work my ticket if I can.

Singing right along with my friend OldGreyEagle....and of course harmonizing well... I used to be a Bear, a good ole' Bear too. And now I'm finshed Bearng, I don't know what to do. I'm growing old and feeble, and I can Bear no more, So I'm going to work my ticket if I can. Back to Gilwell, happy land, I'm going to work my ticket if I can.

Singing right along with my friend OldGreyEagle....and of course harmonizing well... I used to be a Bear, a good ole' Bear too. And now I'm finshed Bearng, I don't know what to do. I'm growing old and feeble, and I can Bear no more, So I'm going to work my ticket if I can. Back to Gilwell, happy land, I'm going to work my ticket if I can.

LIke I said, it taught me what not to do! **smile** And everyone of my tickets is about giving people information!!!! The worst part is that in our council they will probably try to have her be CD again. Unless national checks these things. I would be willing to work with the SPL. She was great.

My CD wasn't at all good at communication from the very beginning. But that's another post... well... several of them! I've gotten over her and I've learned a lot about how NOT to treat people. Hey, I'm a computer programmer and I'm am very into communicating information. Why confuse people on purpose, I'm confused enough with out someone going out of thier way! Our hats were not BSA hats, though the rest of our uniforms were BSA. My thing was that altought everyone had been told to leave the hats on during the flag ceremony, and everyone but my husband and I did leave them on, for us it was disrespectful and we took them off. We just tucked them into our belt and continued the ceremony. We didn't make a big deal about it, we just did it. Our CD made a big deal about it. We were participants, not on staff. We tried to explain why we felt as we did and were told that we just needed to "Play the game and quit thinking". Not really the way we work! When the SPL asked us about it, she listened to our explaination and said "Oh, I see. Do what you need to do."

that's kind of the point. The hats weren't part of the official bsa uniform so, according to what Mackinaw parks states as "official" , they should be removed.

My son made his own slide show. He used it as a time for him to reflect back on his experiences as a scout. Ok, so I'm a proud mom, but he did a great job!!!

When I was at Wood Badge, we had a flag "thing" happen. They wanted us all to leave our hats on while the US flag was lowered and raised. This should only be done if we were wearing an official BS hat. Our troop does a week of service at Mackinaw Island each year. THey are very strict on flag regulations. So for us, to leave our hat on, would have felt very wrong. So each time, we took our hat off. The CD was furious with us. She wanted everyone to be the same and wouldn't listen to why we felt as we do. I will be checking out the web site to see what it says. I don't know that I would change how I feel.... but I will check it out and pass it on to our boys. Oh, and when we were at a camporee in Canada, they had a class in flag folding. THey taught the US flag and the Canadian flag. The Canadian flag is folded so that it goes up the pole looking like a ball and unfurls when it reaches the top. Really cool.

If you go to the dollar stores, or look at the sample aisle, you can sometimes find small zipper pouches that samples came in. I've gotten those for first aid kits SOmetimes you can even get stores to hold some of these when they are about to throw them out. I've gotten some from Target that way. It's worth a try!!!

My tall friend said you only clean under the stove hood when a short friend is coming over!

It's okay Gonzo. I just got done with WB and I'm quite use to people with VERY strong opinions on just how things should be done **smile**. But then it usually takes one to know one... there are no attacks on this forum.. just humble opinions **giggle**. I use to be a bear and a good ol'bear too. C-10-06 Mama Bear

This is all good.... If all troops did everything the same, we wouldn't need roundtables...this forum.... hey, we'd only need one very large troop!!! **smile** The pre-cooked bacon/sausage was what the boys came up with as a solution to the problem of the sausage not getting done. It's a boy led troop and a boy led solution. Our troop has a large variety of activities. We have a one week service camp at Mackinaw Island where the boys have service to the fort, do all the state flags on the island and help tourist. The adults do the cooking on events where we very tightly schedule the boys. Summer camp we eat in the mess hall. Camporees and troop camps it all patrol cooking. Winter polar bear is individual cooking (backpack stoves). When the boys plan an outing, they figure out how the cooking will be done... and just telling the adults to do it isn't an option. Hey, we have even been known to do the pizza thing. Especially after a 7 hour trip into Canada (for the first night only!!!!) I like that we have a variety of ways to handle the cooking issue. It helps the boys think outside the box. I really don't want to hear (and neiter do the boys) that "that is the way we've always done it!) Tradition has it's place, and so does innovation. Everything in moderation.

Then there are the temporary or changing patches. My boys are into the OA. It seems everytime they go to an OA event they come back with a new pocket patch. Plus, the boys position patches seem to change often. We cut out a piece of plastic (usually from a plastic milk carton) that is the same shape as the patch but a little larger. We purchase ribbon bars from the PX store. Those are bars with pins on each end that is used on military uniforms for the ribbons that they have above the pocket. You push the pins of the bar thru the plastic, and then sew the patch to the plastic. Next trim to fit the patch. It makes it easier to change the patches. You can also take them off before washing. If you have several hats to wear and you can't afford several shirts for each hat (I know I can't) then this makes it easier to have your postion patch match your "hat of the day". Personally I don't let anyone use my sewing machine but me. So I usually do the patches. It is one thing I like to do for my boys... this includes my husband. **smile**

We were told that the chartered organization holds the number wheither it is for a pack, troop or crew. We planned to have a crew 111, (we are troop 111) and we were told that we must have the same chartered org. It is always interesting to see the different rules in different councils... and how they always fall back by saying it is nationals decision **smile**

If the boy is generally very involved in the troop and You have seen him work well at campouts, then I would have no problem counting the campout. I would ask him questions about it.... what did you do... what were you able to teach the cubs... stuff like that. We had one young man that couldn't go to summer camp because he was going on a month long camping trip out west to hunt. He took pictures and wrote a journal so we counted it as his extended camp. Shoot it was more primitive than anything our troop likes to do!!! At the same time, we have had young men that are rarely involved and we've noticed that their mommy tends to do the work for them... those we need better documentation before we will accept something they say they've done. It might seem like it isn't fair between the boys, but we've aften talked about integrety and everything you do builds a picture of how people see you. Mama Bear Adv chair