OldGreyEagle

There is a thread in the Open Program section that talks about places Units go as a tradition. It gave me am idea about a thread on Campfire traditions. I am starting this here to give it separation from the other thread. When I was a scout, lo those many years ago, after Brownsea Island but before the demise of the Red Berets, the troop I was in had a tradiiton of ending each campfire with the singing of Scout Vespers with Taps sung next without a break. Each line of Taps would be sung and then a senior boy leader of the troop would speak the Scout Oath one phrase at a time. At the end of the phrase the Troop would sing the next line of Taps and so on. I always thought it was a powerful way to end a campfire. It was considered quite an honor to be selected as the solo speaker, because it meant you had the confidence of the scoutmaster not to mess it up. It went like this: (SUNG) Softly falls the light of day As our campfire fades away Silently each scout should ask Have I done my daily task Have I kept my honor bright Can I guiltless sleep tonight Have I done or have I dared Everything to be prepared (PAUSE) Day is done (spoken by one scout ) ON MY HONOR Gone the sun (spoken by one scout ) I WILL DO MY BEST From the Lake (spoken by one scout ) TO DO MY DUTY TO GOD AND MY COUNTRY From the hills (spoken by one scout ) AND TO OBEY THE SCOUT LAW From the sky (spoken by one scout ) TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE AT ALL TIMES All is well (spoken by one scout ) TO KEEP MYSELF PHYSICALY, STRONG, MENTALLY AWAKE Safely rest (spoken by one scout) AND MORALLY STRAIGHT God is nigh. ********************************************* What do your units do?(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

What forum? Where?

Our Crew has established the tradition of Backpacking the New Jersey Pine Barren over the weekend cloest to Halloween, looking for the Jersey Devil.

I dont see it as a rival thing, I see it as a constant reminder to half of the crew that they cant be a member of an organization simply due to their sex.

You are correct Ma'am, although I share your concern about letting the boys down, it should never have been scheduled. Check out the Sports and Activities : Unauthorized and Restricted Activities section to the Guide to Safe Scouting http://www.scouting.org/pubs/gss/toc.html

Arrghhhh Arrghhh and Double AArrrghhhhh I dont live in the Bloomington Normal area although I used too, Pretty close to the fairgrounds off hershey rd. Worked at St Josephs Hosptial Medical Center next to State Farm world headquarters

WHich College Town? ( you never know)

Or a College student in need of a summer job that is majoring in elementary education or some other related field

I don't care. If it doesn't rhyme, it isn't a poem. Do you want to dance? I know the Funky Broadway Are these underground passwords?

Now, I want all you red beret detractors to watch this video and tell me you would have preferred the scouts and scouters to have been wearing the baseball hat... Go Red Berets!!!

Nothing like seeing a troop of boy scouts in a parade, with the upper parts of their pants all faded just a little different from everyone else's although the bottoms parts will be slightly off as well. I hope the scout shops will have replacment legs to replace lost ones and maybe they can sell diferent lengths to keep up with growth spurts(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

We went into Iraq because of 17, count them, 17 UN resolutions were passed asking, requesting, demanding, however the proper diplomatic way you are supposed to say it, that the weapons inspectors be alowed to do their jobs. The US, Bush, was not alone in thinking Iraq was a threat. How many UN resolutions have Iran had leveled against it? How many times has North Korea refused UN weapons inspectors entrance to their country to carry out inspections that were agreed to in a peace treaty after invading and being removed from another country. Whats that? The UN hasn't passed any resolutions against Iraq? North Korea hasn't invaded a neighbor? Oh yeah thats right. Before invading another country to protect itself, the US is supposed to get international approval. Perhaps 18 UN resolutions would have been better. Iran and North Korea are as scary as the Cuban missle crisis, and I remember praying that october that the world wouldn't end until at least next monday as the Bears were on TV that sunday and Uncle Jim was comming over to watch the game with us. But iraq had shown much more provacation that Iran and North Korea put together. Saddam used gas against Iran, not Iran against Iraq. Saddam gassed his own people, North Korea hasnt done that yet. There were reasons to depose Saddam, some didnt pan out, but the reasons to invade Iraq were not made up, they had a foundation.

Actually the girls in the Crew wear their gold award on their greem uniform based on the premise the boys can and the girls can't ever earn Eagle. Its a separate program and why some members can earn things that other members cant just boggles my mind but as I keep getting told, Venturing is new and its still evolving. OA flaps on uniforms and boys earning Eagle as a Venturer hopefully will go the way of the Dodo bird and pasenger pigeon

Backpacker, I do not like it very much when what I consider ultra-conservative right wing militant types tell me how to save my soul and then fill me in on the "correct" interpretation (Correct interpretation, aint that an oxymoron?) of the bible and how they know they are right because God revealed the truth to them. I prefer to love and serve God on my terms and understanding, not theirs. I similarly find it quite offensive when someone from what I can only gather is far left wants to fill me in on how I can be saved from myself as far as ecological issues go. We wont be saving the world if we decrease our quality of life, if we lower our standard of living. We should be striving to raise others to our level. Ok, if we double the worlds consumption of petroleum based energy then we will run out twice as fast, ok, but any fear of that supposes that there will be no replacement source. I remember when Freon was declared illegal in Air Conditioning units, people wrung their hands and said automotive A/C units were doomed, a thing of the past. You know the A/C unit in my Scion Xb does quite the job and it doesnt use freon. At the turn of the century it was pretty much agreed that American cities had pretty much grown to their ideal size as increasing their size would lead to health problems based on the sewer and garbage disposal methods of the time so say nothing about the horse manure problem that would occur with increased population density. Doesnt seem to have been a real issue after all. 15 years ago the idea that I would have a plethora of friends and acquaintances that I have never met but still comunicate with would have been as foreign to me as having 120 TV channels available to me or the fact I wouldnt have to stand at the TV set reviewing each stations offering either. I dont sell the inventive mind of genius short in a capitalistic society. Am I living in a fools paradise that is heading for a fall or somewhere is there a boy and or girl who is now developing an energy source or technology that will allow us to thumb our noses to oil ( I wish) One of my favorite classic Star Trek episodes has a scene where a disoriented Dr McCoy goes back in time to depression America, its the one where a very young Joan Collins plays a pacifist (and could still act). Dr McCoy surveys the scene and says something along the lines of "its looks like earth, mid to late 20th century, oh how I would love to see the hospitals where they would cut and sew people like so many pieces of cloth". Who knows how much contempt the people of 100 years from now will hold us users of gas powered internal combustion machines when to power their lives they only .... I dont know the answer, but its not to accept less today

SA, I understand what you are saying as well as time goes on I develop a deeper understanding to the old Chinese curse, " May you live in interesting times"

Well Pounder ol' buddy looks like its just and me, and I say we are right. If your crew says no OA patches, then its none and thats the way it is

Anarchist "...As the chief cook and bottle washer for the adult kitchen (and slowing steping back as I train the newer dads), we feel camp and kitchen "washing" is important for every one...." I am sure it was just a slip of the pen/fingers but rather than "newer dads" I am sure you meant younger scouts and the PLC, right?

Well, unless you colored your story, which I don't think you did, there is an old expression that fits this situation, and I think is goes good riddance to old rubbish or don't let the door hit your backside on the way out or something like that. Sounds like you did the right things

Either choice (Minsi or Settlers) is great, but my heart is with Minsi http://www.minsitrails.com/camping/BoyScout/default.asp

As the late great screen acteress Bette Davis once said. "Buckle your seat belts, its gonna be a bumpy flight" I dont know how many of you were able to watch any of the 9/11 commission hearings. I was able to see Rudy Giuliani give his testimony and it was riveting. His description and remembrances and insights as to what the events were and the thought processes that were followed were just astounding TV. That clip should run every 9/11. At the end, His Honor got up to leave and people in the back of the room shouted 3, 000 dead and you did nothing, you should have known, you should have done more. or words to that effect. The intelligence systems of the world agreed Iraq had weapons of mass descructions. Sen Kerry has been shown in TV saying as much. The UN weapons inspectors hadnot been allowed to do the job they were supposed to do and 17 UN resolutions on the matter had been pased and Iraq would not yield. At this point the US had a choice, do or not do something. At that point in time there was no third option. So we invaded Iraq. Turns out that perhaps Saddam would have swept all the Poker Tournaments because he is the master bluffer. The problem is, the US wasnt alone in saying Iraq was dangerous. So, lets suppose we didnt do anything. We went along with sanctions (altough the recent uncovering of the Food for Oil scandal kinda lessens the sanction impact). Then at this years first game of the world series an atomic bomb goes off that is traced to Al Quada and Iraq. How many more people would be screaming to the goverment, to the president, you knew and you did nothing. Has the invasion of Iraq saved more lives then it has taken? No one knows or will ever know. Its estimated that the dropping of the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima saved a million lives because the Jappanese homeland was not invaded and American and Jappanese lives were spared (except for the two cities of course). Today people argue if dropping the bombs were right. The war ended rather abruptly after and I know lives were spared. Then again, we have history on our side as we look back over the 1940's. Of course, the problem is some other colassal terrorist attack is possible, most people agree it will happen again, all we can do is make it harder. We don't know if such an attack will be found to be backed by Syria, Iran, or even just a nameless faceless group and then after the fact all the clues will be obvious, just as the 9/11 clues are now. The problem is do we as a country favor action to inaction?

Just where in "upstate" New York are you ? A fairly recent transplant to Pensylvania it took me a few years to realize that "Upstate new York" is a loose term to mean any part of the state not in the NYC metro area, more or less.

Actually I wouldnt like it a whole bunch if a heterosexual scoutmaster went into detail about his lifestyle either

Humor is great, but not at the expense of another. I do love the stories of adults supplying a Skyhook (helium filled ballon)smoke bender (Battery powered fan in some duct) and on, the problem is, you cant guarantee such inventive minds will be on hand when the boy goes off. Now, this past week end was our Districts Fall Camporee, and I have a standing challenge with the troop I serve that any Patrol that comes in first, second, or third in the scout skills competition can have its patrol leader throw a pie in my face at a scout meeting. I had to leave before the official results were in, but I beleive I have pie in my future. Which I beleive is an exmaple of good humor.

All kidding aside, what report does the DOE or other govermental report have that says "most" americans blast their furnances during the weather? I would like to read that. Actually, the country as big as it is, and with the sothern and westrn states, I am not sure how many Americans blast their furnaces at all. Those in FLorida?, Arizona? New Mexico? In LA? San Diego? Texas? Next, I would like to know the source of the prescience you claim to have that knows the mind of the American public. The notion that "most" Americans wont sacrifice. Every day I see scarifce, it may not be for items you wish, but the sacrifice is just as real to the person The American public may well be responsible for the energy consumption you claim, (the furnance thing not with standing) but rather lower our standards, why not raise others? Miles per Gallon standards have been out quite a long time, but GM didnt get into hybrid mode until Toyota nnd Honda proved it could be done and there was a market. What was more compelling, Governmental regulations or the force of the marketplace?

And then explain the boys can earn Eagle and wear it on their green shirt but they cant