witch359

You all make good points. And my intention here is not to start a debate on what companies hold what views or which ones are right or wrong. Also, I'm asking this question mostly for my education and knowledge as a scout leader. As far as I'm concerned, the issue is closed as far as my troop goes. But if a similar question ever arises again, I can respond in a more objective and knowledgeable way.

That's the same question I asked myself (except I used the example of Planned Parenthood). I'm not saying the point is invalid; I think they may be right, just for the wrong reasons. Again, I'm just irritated that they felt they had to weasel around and find some other rule in order to get what they wanted. Which goes back to my original question: Is there a rule against this? And I think the answer is no.

Excellent advice. Thanks everyone for the sanity check.

Bingo! It's a Chick-Fil-A. And, oh yeah, I'm in Massachusetts. Does this help fill in the blanks? The initial argument I got was largely social/religious. Then it turned to it being a business. What really irks me is that many people are trying to make a social statement and don't really care what the rules say (or don't say). So, now that you have the whole picture, what do you think?

No, I got a few complaints from different people. It's an outdoor flag pole next to the restaurant. I initially pitched it as an opportunity for service hours. The argument against it was as follows: Service hours are those provided for community service for non-profit organizations. The Eagle workbook is a little more explicit - and while that is for Eagle projects, it is a reasonable guideline: "While projects may not be of a commercial nature or for a business, this is not meant to disallow work for community institutions, such as museums and service agencies (like homes for the elderly, for example), that would otherwise be acceptable. Some aspect of a business operation provided as a community service may also be considered; for example, a park open to the public that happens to be owned by a business, but primarily benefits the community." To be fair, I'm holding a little information back, but I wanted to present it the way I did in order to be as objective as possible. Let me get your perspective on the above and then I'll fill in the blanks.

Hi all, I recently got a request from a local restaurant asking us to do a flag raising ceremony around Veteran's Day. I initially accepted and sent out an email to the troop asking for volunteers. I was shocked by the negative response I got because it was going to be held at a business. Our troop committee determined that it's not appropriate because of the perception of scouts supporting the business. When I called the owner of the restaurant (with egg on my face) to explain the situation, he said that other troops have done it in the past. So what's the deal? Is something like this prohibited under BSA rules? Thank you for any insights.

Thanks, SSScout. Great ideas :-)

Hi all, At this year's B&G dinner, we're planning some after dinner entertainment. However, there's a period of time when some scouts have finished eating (and some just arriving) and the official start of the evening event. We were thinking the adult leaders would do some light entertainment, skits, etc. Can anyone recommend some good, clean, easy (and short) skits that the adults might want to put on? Some good resources? Thanks, Paul