Eagle94-A1

Agree. I have found Scouters tend to either A) be harder on their own kids than other Scouts or B) "pencil whip" the requirements. There have been a few instances where I had to sign off for my sons because I am the only registered MBC for the merit badge. I make darn sure others are shown the work and can verify that the requirements were actually met. And that I am not to hard on my sons.

Unless it's a homemade one. One den made a plaque with the DL patch and their signatures burned into it. 110% AGREE! This has happened to me several times, and I am looking forward to attending one of my Eagle's wedding in March. Necker signed by the Scouts is AWESOME!. My most treasured gift is a photo album that was given to me when I left the troop I grew up in. A very close second was a copy of the 1979 edition BSHB that one of my Eagles gave me. He knew my original copy was no more and got me one, Another idea is a Norman Rockwell print. One of my Eagles got me "The Den Chief" since it is closest to our relationship. Some of the things I've seen include gift certificates to diners, coolers, coffee mugs, and a camp chair. Someone on Scouter.com received a Campaign hat from his den or pack.

Spasiba.

According to https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fellow Fellow is gender neutral today. Definition of fellow 1 : comrade, associate was eager to rejoin his fellows 2a : an equal in rank, power, or character : peer discussions among a group of fellows from the nearby Los Alamos National Laboratory— Roger Lewin b : one of a pair : mate 3 : a member of a group having common characteristics specifically : a member of an incorporated literary or scientific society a fellow of the American College of Surgeons 4a obsolete : a person of one of the lower social classes b archaic : a worthless man or boy c : man, boy He seems like a fine fellow. d : boyfriend, beau She and her fellow went to the movies. 5 : an incorporated member of a college or collegiate foundation especially in a British university 6 : a person appointed to a position granting a stipend and allowing for advanced study or research Synonyms

Considering the news article came out yesterday, or the day before, I think the CSE decided to do some damage control. I do not think ANYONE (emphasis) planned this email. On a tangent, Carebear, love the quote. Just realize Vader went to the Light Side of the Force in the end. I too returned from the Dark Side. To paraphrase Luke Skywalker, I know there is good in you. National hasn't driven it from you fully.

I agree 110% with this. My old CO has been looking for females to step up and become the SM and ASMs . They have gotten no interest in those roles, only committee roles. Irony is that the two ladies who names keep popping up as potential female Scouters for the all girls troop all believe that going coed is a mistake on the BSA's part, and that GSUSA should have improved their program to meet the needs of the girls.

You will need to be careful doing this. We had a new troop, the size of a patrol, do joint activities for about 8-9 months. Then they merged with us. Grant you, Officially it is two separate troops, but many adults I've talked to siad the reality will be a single, coed troop in gender segregated patrols.

Are the boys in these troops truly for it, or is it adults saying OK with being linked? I ask because in my neck of the woods, the majority of the boys are against being linked troops. But the majority of adults seem to have no problems. In the troop I just left, the majority of adults were fine with being a "linked troop." The adults stated it would be coed in all but name. However when they asked the boys, they were overwhelmingly against becoming a linked troop. Enough stated they would leave over being "linked" that the CO and adults backed off on it. I would go it alone if it would hurt existing Scouts.

My district's EBOR requires 2 copies of everything. One copy is for the Scout's personal records. The other is for the Council's records. I am extremely glad they require 2 copies of everything. My council lost one of my Eagles completed application. We found out they lost the application 2-3 months after it was submitted and we had not heard anything back. They said they never received it, despite them receiving the other 2 Eagle applications that were in the same package. My Eagle's copy was scanned and sent via email stat.

No worries. Don't remind me of the Kingsdown sell off. I know it had been a Scout camp since the 1940s, and I have some good memories there. And I was repeating what someone told me about UK neckers. Sadly in the US since 1972, neckers have not been required as part of the Boy Scout uniform. Each troop can make the decision to have one or not. And national has not made it easy to have either. Their standard neckers have been the wrong size for a long time, and when they finally come out with correctly sized neckers, they limited to 4 styles, then they discontinue making them. My old troop went through 4 different neckers in a 6 years. Currently they use a custom one. Troop I am in now also has a custom necker dating back to when the national stopped making them the correct size. Necker colors however date back to 1922.

Ian, What troop are you with, and did they go to Kingsdown or Youlbury in 1995? I ask because I know every necker design is registered to one group only, and I have your necker in my collection!

Pioneering projects over 6 feet in height off the top of my head. Also the ability of troops to use 18-20 year olds towards 2 deep leadership requirements. I remember being the acting SM at 19 and 20 because I was the only adult there the entire week as the two 21+ year olds had to split a week anmd no other adults were available.

One place I would add is Youlbury International Scout Campsite in Oxfordshire. It is the oldest, continually used Scoutcamp in the world, since 1912. It briefly serves as the British Boy Scout HQ during WWII when MOD took over Gilwell Park for the war.

I wonder if the fathers will continue to be treated as second class leaders like they are today? I've heard the stories of how friends with daughters have been treated by GSUSA, and do not like it one bit. If ladies in the BSA were treated like my friends were, there would be lawsuits.

While I've never stepped down as a SM, I did step down as Cub Scout Day Camp Program Director (and de facto camp director). Couple of ideas iunclude: 1) Develop a hobby 2) Do some fun things with the family

I too am worried about the OA. Neither one of my sons who are eligible are interested. The loss of the Native American theme, the spirit of the OA, is slowly dying. And in all honesty, I can no longer do the things I have done in the past to revitalize and reinvigorate chapters I have worked with as it has always been AIA and Ceremonies.

Just read that section and noticed spears and blowguns are prohibited because they supposedly serve no program purpose. I beg to differ. as MIkeS72 points out Indian Lore has uses for those items, and I have had folks build them in the past. And I have seen them as activities for the OA. Further both had applications for Wilderness Survival. This is extremely silly.

One of the reasons why I stepped down as camporee chief is because of the complaints BY THE ADULTS ( emphasis) on some of the events. #1 complaint I got before and during the wilderness survival themed camporee was the shelter building event. This was an event the Scouts wanted, and was done once at a council camporee long, long ago.I cannot tell you how many adults complained it was not feasible, it would take up too much time, there are not enough materials at camp for each patrol to do one, etc. With those complaints, and a bunch of other problems going on with the camporee, I said fine, one shelter per troop and part of the campsite inspection instead of a separate event. Then the Scouts complained that only a select few got to build shelters. As for the Camporee Guide, that is a new one for me too.

While I've seen SMs introduce the Eagle candidate, although that has only been in of of the council's I've been in, why do the parents need to accompany the Scout, especially since they are not allowed to sit in the EBOR?

All of this could could have been avoided if GSUSA went with Girl Guides like the BSA requested way back when. It could have also been avoided if we won the court case against the GSUSA for infringing on the term Scouts.

I agree, but will add there needs to be consistent enforcement by all involved. There have been a series of meetings and talks with the parents, but there has been no enforcement. That has been where some of the problems lie.Some of the adults didn't see the problems as a big deal until they grew. Some of it was that these new families got into positions where the troop, and in my case the district camporee, depended upon them too much. Troop depended upon them to run a fundraiser. A camp out was canceled in order to do the fundraiser, and it fell through: no camp out or fundraiser happened. One dad was suppose to run what was suppose to be a major display at camporee for since he is a national certification in wilderness survival. He was causing a problem at camporee, on Friday night after taps, and threatened to leave. He didn't care that not only was I counting on him for this event, but two districts of Scouts were depending upon him to honor his commitment. I backed down. In retrospect I wish I would have told him bye. He not only didn't honor his commitment fully by creating the display he said he would and manning his event the entire day, but also complained when Scouts stopped showing up since the first patrols spread the word that the display was not there since it wasn't built. When I stopped by that afternoon, 1/2 the stuff he said he would have up was not up. In all honesty the site looked like something my middle son's Webelos den did for Castaway Activity Badge instead of something from a certified wilderness survival instructor from some outdoor school. These two families have the attitude that if they do something, it is there way or they leave.They do not care what the PLC, SM or ASMs in charge want, it is there way or the highway. Another update. Apparently there is a series on back and forth messages between the two families involved and the SM. They still do not believe the CO got involved in this matter, despite the COR attending the meeting just in case there were such questions as why the church got involved. They are now saying the CO's policies violate Guide to Safe Scouting. They are using this line "All aspects of the Scouting program are open to observation by parents and leaders. The BSA does not recognize any secret organizations as part of its program." to say the troop is violating YP. I guess they are not taking into account "All adults accompanying a Scouting unit who are present at the activity for 72 total hours or more must be registered as leaders. The 72 hours need not be consecutive." nor the fact that the CO can make stricter rules on who their leaders are.

Update with the old troop. As you all know, I still have friends with them. Heck the SM, an ASM, and I are suppose to be backpacking together in a few weeks. So I am still hearing about them. Last night was the parents meeting about the new policies. THE PARENTS DON'T GET IT! (emphasis) Apparently they have concerns about possible first aid situations ( multiple Scouts have FA MB, several adults have basic FA, 2 have WFA, one adult is a RN and another is a MD, I think they have FA covered). And another does not see why she cannot follow her son around on camp outs just for the day. SHE DOES NOT GET THAT THE OTHER SCOUTS IN THE TROOP DO NOT WANT HER, HER SON, AND OTHER UNTRAINED ADULTS AROUND! (emphasis) while messaging amongst my friends, I reminded them that the son almost lost his head on the catapult course because he was interfering with the patrol ( mom was there but not watching son) and that her husband violated range rules by coming to a hot firing line without permission. Not to mention the fact that the husband took over the QM's job and completley ignored the Patrol Method or the other adult countermanding the SPL so that together it took 2 to 3 times as long to set up camp in the rain than it would normally take. My friends are predicting the two main problem families will leave. They are joking around saying they are going to send them to my new troop. The unfortunate thing is that one family will probably leave that has not caused problems. Long story short, Mom is extremely protective of her son, and wants dad to camp. Dad is a former Scout, know how things are suppose to be, and when bothered by his son tell him to go see his PL or "Go away you horrible Scout." So dad is basically there to relax and keep Mom happy. with the new rules, he can no longer camp, and Mom is not happy. That family I would not mind coming to my new troop as they have the right attitude: let the son do his thing and not interfere. Several cans of beer and a bottle of Scotch were opened by my friends once they got home after dealing with the parents. How many times must you do this before it gets through to them. This sis something like the 6th time in an 18 month period. And they still cannot believe the COR got involved in withthis topic this time.

I agree that the CO should be concerned. SM needs to be active. And over 21 because there are a lot of legalese involved. If the SM cannot be involved, you really need someone over 21 to be in charge. There can indeed be some serious liability issues too. HOWEVER While he is not the Scoutmaster, he IS an Assistant Scoutmaster as approved by the CO and the SM. The parents need to accept his directions as if those directions came from the SM because the ASM works under the SM. If the parents have a problem they need to see the SM and/or COR about this. BUT THEY NEED TO FOLLOW THE ASM'S DIRECTIONS UNTIL THEY DO SO. (emphasis, not shouting). I've been in the situation where I was the defacto acting SM as a 19 and 20 year old ASM instead of the 21+ year old ASM. Sadly our society treats young adults like children still. Not only through Scouts, but also studying military history, I can tell you that teenagers and young adults can meet the challenges of adulthood. Anyone hear of William H. Johnston or Jacklyn Harrell "Jack" Lucas?

Agree 110% on this. Since I've never seen it before AND @qwazse asked us to use emojis, I had to pick the "Gag me with a spoon" emoji.