OldGreyEagle

When we put on VLSC it was just "US" adult vernture members. The Council had little to do with the whole thing, actually they had none.

scoutldr, I am sorry that you see this as pot stirring, I saw a musing in another thread about whether or not wine tasting was an appropriate fundraiser so I updated this thread so he could read what others have said on the matter. I had no other intentiona

Can someone tell me how to differentiate between a heartfelt prayer and a generic one?

Our troop has a policy that no patrol eats without saying grace, all chuck boxes have the graces on plastized sheet for reference. We could do better with prayers at meetings, although we once opened a Court of Honor with a recitation of the Byrds old song, Turn Turn Turn. These are the words to the complete Scoutmaster Benediciton that I know: May all Scouts be prepared to go...not only upon the earthly trail..but also upon the heavenly trail. Whether it be the earthly dawn or the twilight of old age. Til this end, may the Great Master of all Scouts, keep our hearts and minds til we meet again. Goodnight. I remember this when I was a scout in the 60's and they repeat it often at our Districts Roundtable, I disagree that it is a strange prayer. I find this prayer especially appropriate for the troop I am with which has Christians, Jews and Hindu's,(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

As my old college Philosophy professor used to say that in the pantheon of Philosphy books, Thus Spake Zarathustra certainly filled a certain niche, see how Critique of Pure Reason worked out for Kant

My favorite campground is Denali National Park, I wouldnt change a thing about it.

Use the search function on the forum for the word Stoma and the name OldGreyEagle, you will find posts on my son who has disabilities. Search the name Dsteele for the term brain disorder, Mr Steele is a professional scouter who faces challeneges

I put together a Troop Resource Court of Honor Book as a Ticket item for Wood Badge, it has installation of officer ceremonies as well, If you send me your personal email, I will email it to you. It has openings, closing, Eagle Cermonies and Intallation of Officiers as well

"Those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it" I don't actually know who said it first, maybe someone does, anyway, check out this thread on the Unit Fundrasing section of the forum. Is wine tasting an appropriate fundraiser? It will save retyping all our opinions again

Oh, just bringing it up in relation to the Cooking Sherry thread

I of course want to answer, even though I am not Dan, do not play Dan on TV nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn last night. Most of the foum members who posted in the So What do You Do thread appear to be employed by someone else. Most of us who have a "Boss" are familiar with an annual tradition known as the "Anuual Performace Review" which distilled to its core is how much of a raise you are going to get and then either get chewed on or praised by the "Boss". Now, the worst reviews I have heard about is when the Boss explodes and starts critizizes the employees performance starting 11 months ago or so when the employee started using the wrong report template or something like that, of course employee was never told it was wrong, the "Boss" just kept a tally of how many times the wrong report format was turned in. It would have been a simple matter to tell the employee which format to use and the employee would have used the correct template, but no one told him for 11 months. Now on his evaluation it says, Does not follow Company procedure I find stories of the above incredible, but they happen. I am blessed with a very nice Boss, not soft, nice. She lets you know when you could have done a better job rather quickly, as a result, I know what's going to be discussed on my evaluation every year, because my performance is constantly communicated to me. Once a Scout is in a POR, and has been trained, he should receive periodic assessments of the job he is doing. Not after every meeting, or outing, but at least monthly. He should know and have on paper his job description. He should be able to speak to how he fulfills each point on it each month. At the three month point, the scouts and adult leader, either SM or designee should evaluate the scout's performace, what is going well, what needs to be improved. At that time a descision is made, does the scout stay in the POR or is he removed? Perhaps he is on the edge so areas to work on and goals to accomplish are set. If those goals arent met then the scout is releived of his positon before the end of the 6 month term. I cant see how a scout with all required BSA support could possibly serve a six month term of a POR and then the Scoutmaster tell the scout he doesnt get credit for the POR because of poor performance. If the Scoutmaster truly gives the support that the BSA guidelines require, the scout will either not be in position for 6 months or he will have actively served in it, because the adult support coached, directed, delegated or flat out directed him to do it. One of the local troops have a policy that if a scout misses two PLC meetings during his 6 month term, he loeses his position, subject to reasons of course, but band Practice, sports, etc isnt counted as the PLC meeting is as important as an activity as any other. The scouts know it and follow it. Now, when I say scoutmaster, I mean either the scoutmaster or designee, I dont expect the SM to do it all. Just because a scouts term is 6 months doesnt mean you have to wait 6 months to talk to him about his performance

So, Eammon, are you saying we are a basically motely collection of multi-regional, multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-cultural scouters each with their own unique blend of scouting and life experiences? No wonder we have quite a few "differences of opinion" spats. Its a wonder we agree on anything, oh yeah actually we do, Scoutings a Blast and as one postor often puts it, If it aint for the boys, its not worth a dam. WOW common ground, who knew?

oops double posted(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

Venture Leadership Skills Course I put one on as one of my Woodbage ticket items. I have to say that when I first read the syllabus, I thought it was a little "hokey" or shaky even. However the staff and I resolved to present as written and it went over very well. I think it plays out much better than it appears on paper

The troop of my choice uses Troopmaster and while I dont use it, I am told it only counts 6 month continous blocks of POR, can anybody tell me if thats right? I wonder what they based it on. I have to say, "stopping the clock" on a POR because the troop is dormant is a new concept to me. On the back of the Eagle Application it has a space for the POR the scout fulfilled while a life scout, it has room for two date ranges, I dont know what would happen if you had six date ranges, anybody have experience with this?

From the OA Website: What is the cutoff age for youths and adults in OA Activities? A: For Order of the Arrow participation (events, elections, etc.), a youth is anyone under age 21. Adults are those 21 or older. This holds true for everything except housing status at events, where adults are defined as 18 and older (see more below). Note that this does NOT change the BSA youth protection policies, which define Boy Scout youth as those under 18, and adults as those 18 or older. These policies still apply to all OA activities. So individuals at OA activities really fit into one of three categories: Those under 18, who are youth for both OA events and BSA policies Those 18 to 20, who are youth for OA events, but are adults for BSA policies Those 21 and older, who are adults for both OA events and BSA policies Got that?

Sorry Eammon, since OA youth go to 21, an adult leader, male or female must be over 21 to be selected for the OA. Otherwise we could have female adult membes younger than the national youth chief.

I respect that you have an opinion different from that of mine and Pounder's, (leastwise I think so Pounder, if not say so) I apologize that I am not able to explan my position to you so that you could regard it as something other than silly

Pounder, Again Here Here (and that means approval for those uncertain) We advertise the Venturing Program as Co-Ed, we have the crews elect their own officiers (male or female) who then run the program with as little adult intervention/interference as possible. All the Venturing awards are open to all members, Bronze, Gold, Silver, Ranger, Quartermaster , etc. BUT, we tell the girls they cant become youth members of the OA, because thats a Boy thing only (instantly a picture of the Little Rascals "He-Man Woman Hater's Club" flashes to mind , or was that the Our Gang, oh well, its was one, I forget and digress) and by the way, the Venture boys can earn Eagle in the program and earn merit badges but not the girls. So, we kinda have an ironic twist on the old Animal Farm saw "all animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others" I think either the program serves all the members or none, not just some based on activity in a completely different program. Then again, I respect those people and their opinions which oppose mine

Actually, I always thought the six months was to be consecutive, although the requirement only states for six months, never thought of counting months separatley, that is an interesting thought. Now, the requirement does say "serve actively". now, as we have/will see thats means different things to different people. I think the key is, does the scout know what is expected of him. If the scout performed as Parol Leader when it was required, but wasnt required but once, is that the scouts problem? Should it be the scouts problem? Now, if the Scout only attended one outing, and blew off all other activites for the sake of sports or other activities then there is a problem. If the Patrol Leader never attended an outing, but the patrol was always perpared, the menus planned, food bought, duty roster set, etc. and the patrol ran great because the patrol leader kept things organized, then it would be an interesting debate, was he active? I think it goes back to the expectations of the scoutmaster and whether or not those expectations were met, and whether or not the scout was counseled when he did not meet expectations. Oh, and just for the sake of experiment, lets debate the issue, argue points of view, and see if we can leave personal attacks, vendettas and past history out of this one thread (Today one thread, tommorow the forum)(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

Depending on how far the cars are from the campsite, I could see keeping the bottle in the Scoutmasters trunk before and after use as a compromise. BTW: Those who sneak quick "sip" of cooking sherry will receive retribution in the form of tatebud punishment usually reserved for those who try to eat unsweetened bakers chocolate. ::shivering at remembering BOTH experiences::

As Huey Lewis once sang, its hip to be square

Heck, no personage less than the esteemed Kelly Osbourne showed up on the very first show of their series in a full dress uniform.

THank you FOG, it may take awhile to digest this

Pounder, Here! Here!