Troop24

It is so sad that everything must be about making money for the council. Even at $4.00 a piece with a retail price of $5.00 there is a marginal profit but free advertising among the old farts that Bad Wolf mention. Aren't they mostly the ones guiding the Scouts in the selection of camp venues?

I guess I resemble the over-40 old fart thing!

Thanks, Bad Wolf. I guess I will try to look deeper into this. But it seems that everyone at Council is against the idea of advertising our relatively new camp property. They are so strongly concerned about recouping costs quickly that they will not commit to making any merchandise. While we are not any where near the level of Camp Rainey Mountian, that council knows they have a product and they are actively selling it.

I have been talking about walking stick medallions at every district meeting and other gatherings that I attend in my council. I am consistently hit with "but do you have any idea how much costs to create a medalion or how long it would take to recoup the investment?" I do not know the answers to those questions of course and Internet only research has not given me any help. I have not contacted a vendor to see about the set-up because I am not in position to design or create a medallion. Does anyone know the costs involved. Bad Wolf you created a coin? I would imagine it is more expensive.

I went to http://catholicscouts.org/and while I understand Joe Gillespie is spitballing and attempting to start a grassroots movement, I think some of his thinking is flawed. He pointed out a large drop in Catholic membership in the BSA from 2003 through 2013. This does not reflect any change in membership since the youth decision. It also does not appear to reflect the overall drop in Catholicism throughout the U. S. over the same period. As a Catholic I do not oppose the creation of a youth program but why copy scouting. Create your own! But I must echo perdidochas and say that there are not enough Catholics in the southeast to support a catholic scouts organization.

From www,vfw.org: [h=2]Flag Disposal:[/h] 1. The flag should be folded in its customary manner. 2. It is important that the fire be fairly large and of sufficient intensity to ensure complete burning of the flag. 3. Place the flag on the fire. 4. The individual(s) can come to attention, salute the flag, recite the Pledge of Allegiance and have a brief period of silent reflection. 5. After the flag is completely consumed, the fire should then be safely extinguished and the ashes buried. 6. Please make sure you are conforming to local/state fire codes or ordinances. While I have never seen this inaction it certainly makes more sense than placing strips of cloth in the fire. From http://www.legion.org/flag/ceremony Commander: “Hand salute.†(Color Guards present arms. Post Standard is dipped. All officers and members except those on the Flag detail salute. Members of the Flag detail dip the condemned Flags in kerosene and place them on a rack over the fire). (Bugler sounds “To the Colors.â€Â) Commander: (at conclusion of “To the Colorsâ€Â) “Two.†(The Color Guard shall resume its station and detail is dismissed.) (Color Guard advances down center and places Colors. Members of the detail resume their places among the members.)

In our neck of the woods Wood Badge quite often takes on the appearance of a cult. WBers wear all means of regalia from the CSP, the beads and necker with woggle, and the WB circle around the World Crest. Their walking sticks are festooned with their former patrol identification and even statues at the door of their tents. Every conversation is rooted in WB. It has been enough to convince me it is not an activity I wish to participate in. Take the course and learn the lessons. Bring the new knowledge back to your unit and allow your example be the indicator of why others should take the training. If it is truly for the boys then leave all your paraphernalia behind and simply share the wealth.

KDD, I am a recent "convert" to Troop Track. I like the fact that it handles event and other emailing tasks and that scouts and parents can view troop information. However, as a long time Troopmaster user there are aspects I do not like: report formatting, the board of review report is terrible, lack of automatic merit badge alignment with ranks, among other things. The creators are diligently working toward user suggested improvements. So we are currently using both programs (just renewed TM for another three years!). This means that I am making duplicate entries but we are a small troop and the level of work is acceptable.

We used Right Response to sell first aid kits. We have a very small troop and we did alright with them. We did a brochure sale and they offer other sales options too.

I noticed that, too, KDD.

Nothing is returned if you Google Ann Curry broken leg. I agree with Skeptic and wonder if this not a hoax, too.

Would really like the ability to return to the last page I was visiting by using the back arrow.

I earned skill awards as a scout, too. I think the idea was a very good idea especially as an introduction to the required merit badges of the day.

Here is the way our District Advancement Chair sees the issue: Here's the official position: Starting Jan. 1, 2014, Cooking Merit Badge to Be Required for Eagle. Effective Jan. 1, 2014, the Cooking merit badge will be required to obtain the Eagle Scout rank. Regardless of when a Scout earned the Life rank or began working toward Eagle, unless he fulfills all the rank requirementsâ€â€with the exception of his board of reviewâ€â€before Jan. 1, 2014, he must earn the Cooking merit badge to become an Eagle Scout. As I interpret this then, if the Eagle rank was earned prior to 1/1/14, they've earned Eagle. Period. They do not need to then fulfill some requirement that was added afterwards. If they've earned the Cooking MB already, all good. If not, the requirements might change a little (although I have not seen it on the list to be revised) for those currently working on it, however, once a scout begins work on an MB, they can continue using the same requirements as when they started for that badge until its completion.

I think there are enough political ads bombarding me on the TV so I am relieved to use Firefox as my browser with AdBlockPlus. No ads for anything interrupts my browsing pleasure!