OldGreyEagle

On a related thread I mentioned the Troop had its OA elections this past week. One surprising to me thing the scoutmaster said was we had to be sure the troop had one more than half of the registered scouts in the troop show up for the election. I don't remember such a requirement in the past. SO, I ask, is this new? has it always been this way and I either didnt hear it or it was never enforced? Does the troop holding an OA election have to have one more than half of its registered scouts attend the election for it to be valid? Is there a reference somewhere?

Had the Troops OA election last week. The OA team did something a little different from the last few years. Had the names of all the eligible scouts on a pre-printed form with boxes by the names and the directions, place an X in the box by the name of all deserving scouts on the form. Then, they had the scouts form two lines ten feet from a table. The scout wasnt given the ballot until he stepped up to the table to vote, by himself with the other scouts at least 10 feet behind him. They had a scout stand between the scouts voting on the table with a raised scout sign and all others had their sign up. Even though only two scouts voted at a time, and we had 36 scouts in attendance, it didnt take very long and the resulting silence brought on by the raised sign lent a solemnity to the proceedings that was missing in years past.

Until rather recently I wanted Venturers (read girls) to join the OA. Then I looked at the current OA membership in the District. The average age of dues paying members is 14, the youngest a female venturere could join the OA would be 14, and thats if they could earn a Bronze in less than 12 months, a fairly significant task. That means the girls would be most likely 15-16 before they could be ordeal candidates, and then take the ordeal with mostly 12-13 year old boys. I am not sure this is a situaiton the would work well. What appeals to the younger boys may not strike a resonant tone with the girls and the opposite is quite true. Why not keep the Boy in Boy scouts, girls out of the OA and start an Venture Honor Group? I am not sure about your area, but the Venture Program struggles to establish its own identity and having Ventures in the OA only blurs the line more. Of course dual registered boys can be members, in their troop.

Rooster, you could just as easily said "liberal viewpoint" rather than "ageless blather of liberal", its this kind of inflammatory rhetoric that many poster's object to and really dosnt further the discussion, On many forums this is considered 'flamming" and its only goal is to produce reactions. I remind all, we can debate any issue we wish, but do it in a scoutlike maner

Shaken, not stirred? It figures... I love iced tea, unsweet, of course,. On a nice frigid morning, and we have had a few of those lately, I love a cup of hot tea as well, does that make me bad?

I love a glass of ice cold strong tea on a hot day, made the mistake of ordering such in a little ol' diner in south carolina. I took a huge swallow and then realized I had genuine boil the sugar in the water until the spoon stands upright sweet tea, almost broke my throat if thats possible. Man, I learned to say unsweet anytime I get tea south of the Mason-Dixon line, unless of course its FLorida which really isnt the "south"

When I see a crucifix, I see historical accuracy, a crown of thorns, nails in hand/wrist, and feet and laceration in the side. When I see a crucifix I dont expect to feel warm and fuzzy, only to be reminded what is documented what Jesus did to save mankind because of our own weaknesses.

Brevity is the soul of wit Wm Shaespeare

Dragons huh ? Ready Set FIRE!

?

At the 2001 National Jamboree the Scuba Staff had red loops with a white triangle to mimic the dive flag, I could see wearing black loops to a funeral, We have a district committee member who wears blue (cubs) red (boy scouts) and green (Ventures) because he holds a positon in each and says this way he is always in uniform. I struggle with having a sense of humor, such as when I see scouters sporting the "untrainable" patch and the absurd, such as the 25 year old with an Eagle rank patch challenging you to take it off him. I mean ,if they are wearing the shirt and pants, thats a start, but at what point is it too much ?

Perish the thought Aardvark, my all time role model for a scoutmaster is Lemuel Siddons, he became scoutmaster as a single man and while later on he married and adopted a son, he contuned on as Scoutmaster till Whitey was way out of scouts and practising medicine. If I implied disapproval, I apologize for it, I meant none

then again The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Chink n 1: offensive terms for a person of Chinese descent [syn: Chinaman] 2: a narrow opening as e.g. between planks in a wall 3: a short light metallic sound [syn: click, clink] v 1: make or emit a high sound; "tinkling bells" [syn: tinkle, tink, clink] 2: fill the chinks of, as with caulking 3: make cracks or chinks in; "The heat checked the paint" [syn: check] The point is the term PC is pretty much reviled as being stupid and moronic, but there is a basis for it. It wasnt that long ago comedians would make careers out of playing drunks (see Foster Brooks)because society doesnt see anything funny about alcoholism anymore. You wont see a Black face Minstrel Show anymore, becuase society doesnt think that white people paiting their face black and acting as Steppin' Fetchit charactors is all that entertaining. I remember comedy sketches about being in special class, riding the short bus, etc and now thats seen as offensive,,, Society changes, and sometimes they get it right

Awhile back the University of Hawaii was known as the rainbow warriors, they even had a nifty rainbow on their helmets, then the rainbow became to be used as a symbol of non-scouting behavior. Now they are just the Warriors and the rainbow is no where to be seen. On a nod to political correctness, growing up in Illinois, during the high school basketball tournament I always marveled that the Pekin, Illinois team was known as "the Chinks". I hope most here would agree that changing the name to the Dragons in 1981 was the right thing to do, or does anybody think a high school should be able to call itself the chinks?

So, I remember a clip of John Kerry saying there was no doubt that Saddam had WMD, does that mean had Kerry won we would still have a "liar" in the White House?

The slugs are Santa Cruz... Oh man, thats harsh, oh you mean the Fighting Banana Slugs... Still the best oxymoronic College team cheer has to be exhorting the Fighting Quakers of Penn... I don't know who remembers the Stanford "injuns" emblem. it really wasnt very flattering at all, At least the Florida State Seminoles and University of Illionis Illini portray native Americans as dignified

depending on his interests, perhaps working at the district or council level would suit suit him

We will know as a nation that we have truly emerged when people state "...With so many fine Americans for our youth to emulate..." Our heroes should be our heroes regardless of demographic breakdown

(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

I didnt think the Scout Stores were connected with the Council, ours keeps saying they are not part of council but are a national store, are they mis informed ?

And here is where the OLD in greyeagle comes out, but what do you do with those who can't stay in the tent till 700am? But must busy themselves making a fire, or starting to cook which i dont mind, but dont be rattling the pans at 6:15am or am I just being grumpy, ( no offense intended Grumpy)

never thought I would see a Rocky Horror reference in a Scout Sunday thread...

Our District encourages youth to attend and has et up panel discussions amoungst the SPL's on occssion

this was spun from cheffy's comment on Buglers competing to awaken the troops at district events. This is separate from when the Troop is alone out in the woods. What time is ok to start making "noise" Pesonally if I was at a multitroop event and some eager beaver of a bugler (say that fast three times)woke me up at 5;30am or thereabouts with a rousing rendition of whatever, I would not be a happy camper. I was always been lead to believe 7:00am was reville, what do you guys think ?(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

So, mhager, what we have is an Eagle scout who became Atheist and now wants the organization to change its membersship policies because you "know" its not right. And it appears you also place a large stock in the fact that you are an Eagle Scout. Well, so am I, and so are lots of other forum members and of all the reasons I have seen concerning changing a BSA policy, such as allowing snipe hunts (you know I had to say that) changing board of review or advancement procedures, uniforms or what not, I havent seen anyone else post that the BSA should do it the way I want because I am an Eagle. Well congrats and that and 99 cents will get you something off the value menu. The BSA has changed it stands over the years, most likely I would imagine reflecting the changing of society. When I was a cubbie, my mother was a full fledged "den mother" and I think that was as high as a woman could go. Now women are scoutmasters. How did this happen? The membership looked at an issue and talked amoungst itself and came up with a solution. You ask for an explanation, I think several very good ones have been offfered, but you keep saying you havent seen a good one yet, well here is a feeble attempt. Many people comprise the BSA, they come from disparate backgrounds, from every socio-economic class from the very poor to the very wel off. Such a group comes together and holds in stewardhip a program that has as a core fundamental values that a religious foundation is key in a youth's development. You may wish to disagree, and I respect your right to disagree, but you should also repsect my right to be a member of a group that I share my lifes philosophy with. If at a time in the future, the membership feels that having a religious foundation is not necessary, then it may change, but it will because the membership says so, not because someone outside the group is jumping up and down and shouting unfair-unfair!