Unkiewill

OK, can we now talk about something really important like how many knots that we should wear?

Three Fires Council in northern Illinois is offering a special set of patches commemorating 100 years of the LDS Church working with the BSA. The flap and one of the CSP's will have a metal buffalo skull. They are available for preorder now: http://www.threefirescouncil.org/camping/lds-commemorative-patches Has anyone seen any other councils or lodges doing this?

Basement, Gilwell did seem to drag on a little too long on most days. I was very fortunate to be in a patrol of some great people. There were a couple of patrols that I was really glad not to be in. So that did make a difference in my experience. My ticket items are things that I have wanted to do for a while. But I always find an excuse not to do them. By having an 18 month deadline it will force me to do them. I think the skills that I learned will help me be a better scouter so that I can better serve the scouts.

Spiney - Congratulations on your beading! Packsaddle - I work really close to Jel Sert, the company that makes Flavor Aid, so in order to help protect their good name I can not join you in your crusade to clear the name of Kool-aid. SSScout - Relax. Trevorun - I have some information on trademarks that I can "Xerox" and mail off to you.

I just finished up my second Wood Badge weekend. It was a great experience for me and I wish that I had done it years ago. I have read about people drinking the Kool-Aid and I may have drank a little bit. But it was interesting to see those who drank gallons of it compared with those who obviously did not have even a sip. It seemed most of of were somewhere in the middle and excited about what we learned and looking forward to taking it back to our units. Wood Badge, like most things in life, seems like the kind of thing that the more you put in to it the more you get out of it. Knowing how I am I will either get my ticket done in about 8 months or 17 months and 29 days. I used to be an Antelope.

My second weekend is coming up in a couple of days. The time between weekends was pretty busy for us. We had several conference calls and two patrol meetings in between to get the patrol project finished. That along with working with my patrol guide on the ticket items has kept me pretty busy. Good luck and go Antelopes!

I am currently in between Wood Badge weekends. My patrol has already had a lots of emails, a conference call and will have a patrol meeting tonight. But a part of that has been menu planning and making sure we have all the gear that we need for the upcoming weekend. It would have been nice to do a week long course but for me it is much easier to take two Fridays off than take a whole week off of work. That is the big benefit for me. From what I have heard one is not better than the other they are just a little different. I used to be an Antelope.

I got back from my first weekend a few hours ago, it was a great time. They were not kidding when they told us that we would not have much free time. It was a very full three days. The group of people in my patrol are really great and we gelled very quickly. It should be a great experience. Any fellow Antelopes out here?

Mine is in Northern IL. OK Basement, almost everyone.

My first weekend is coming up the same weekend. I am really looking forward to it, I have talked to people who have done it and everyone says that it is a great experience.

Thank you all very much for your responses. It is great to get so many different perspectives on this topic.

I am doing a presentation for our district on leader burnout. I would love to get some tips from people on here about things they have seen dealing with this. How do you bring someone back who has already burned out? How can you keep it from happening in the first place? Thanks in advance for anything you have to add.

Back in the late 80's or so those of us in the Leadership Corps in our troop wore the red berets. I guess it helped set us apart. One of those things to look back on and wonder what we were thinking. But maybe they looked good with the really big frames on our glasses. (This message has been edited by Unkiewill)

Morse Code is faster than texting http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/80519289/

There were several guys I worked with at summer camp over the years that are now openly gay. I think the program is missing out without them being able to serve now. I am not sure what someone does in their bedroom, even if I do not agree with it, has to do with there ability to be a scout leader.

Basement - I know I am new here but you do not strike me as one to resist expressing your opinion. Give in, you will feel better.

Basement - I just signed up for our councils Wood Badge course coming up in the fall. Go ahead and spill it, what do you think of it?

Robbin - No apologies are necessarily. Part of the fun of being a Scout leaders is getting to go out and "play". When it stops being fun it will be time to find something else to take up all of those extra nights during the month. He is lucky to have one so supportive. That makes a big difference, my wife deserves a couple of knots of her own.

Winston - You are correct. You need to show the Scoutmaster the highlighted box on page 3 of the workbook - "Only the Official Workbook May Be Used". It may be a case of him not being properly informed. If he still disagrees after seeing it in writing than I would go to the District Training Chair.

Basement - That is a big stretch and amazingly judgmental to question if someone is worthy of their Eagle because you do not understand that someone is making a perfectly legal and ethical decision to register a trailer in another state.

Eamonn - When I was asked to be a UC I said that I did not think I could because I was a unit leader. However the DC, DE and a rep from the Area Commissioner staff said that I could as long as I was not a UC for my own unit. That is the way that they all interpreted the policy. So that is what I went with before accepting the new position. John - I think you and I may disagree on a few things here but I appreciate your passion and look forward to learning from your posts.

All this from my post introducing myself. I have really enjoyed reading all of the comments on this thread and the other one that was spun off of it. It is nice to see that so many of you have strong feeling for the program. I was asked to serve as a Commissioner and will continue to do so as long as I feel that I can be of service to the unit I was assigned and meet the obligations of the troop that I SM for. My wife works for a nonprofit and has to work a lot of evenings and weekends training volunteers and working with the program. Plus we do not have any kids of our own. If I visit my troop once a month or so and go to the monthly commissioner meetings that is about 4 hours a month away from home. The rest is email and phone calls. It does not seem like that much of a burden at this point and working a little with another troop helps me with ideas for my troop. If anything it has helped keep me from burning out because there is something new and different to learn about Scouting.

Deaf Scouter - I should have read your post a little closer, sorry. I have only know of business that have done this, not scout troops. The church that my troop is associated with does not want a trailer registered to the troop because of liability issues. So it was registered in the name of the SM when it was purchased. Years later it is still in his name and he takes care of the registration for us every year but it is registered in our own state. We are thinking of making a special knot for him with a little trailer on it or possibly one that looks like a little license plate. (I am totally kidding about that.)

It is MUCH cheaper to register your trailer in Maine than almost anywhere else. A lot of trucking companies use Maine to register their trailers. It sounds strange but it is nothing unusual. There are companies that specialize in setting this up. They need a power of attorney so they can act in your behalf with the DMV in Maine if you are based in another state. So you have nothing to worry about there. What would bother me is that you just assigned him the task of researching the cost and he took it upon himself to go so far beyond that. He should have presented this solution with an explanation before running off and doing it all himself. But he did probably save the troop a couple of hundred dollars over the next five years.

Eagle92 - You are right, it really is all about the program, what is best for the youth. That is who we are here to serve. John - What is best a UC who is only a UC and does not do his job or someone who holds two positions but does them to the best of his ability? The UC for the unit I am SM for has visited our troop once in the past two years. Every couple of months he asks me how things are going at roundtable. I try and visit the unit I UC for at least once a month and am getting to know the scouts in the troop.