The Latin Scot

I definitely pull out whatever I have when I teach the Scouting Heritage merit badge. My stuff generally isn't that old, but the boys are pretty motivated when they see that a youngher guy like my can still be interested in all the old stuff, and they get excited when I find little odds and ends to add to my collection. Maybe someday I will acquire enough to have a really legitimate collection! Aside from my collection of Handbooks (I have one each of every single edition now), most of my stuff is pretty recent.

Aw ... I am 34 years old and I still wear a small. Now I feel ridiculous. My Dad wears a garrison hat though; he's a Wolf Den Leader and the boys love it. Between his garrison and my campaign hat, we're pretty well covered in my home! Now we just need to find my mom a good lady's hat that doesn't make her "look like an airline stewardess."

Perfect; thank you so much! This is just the thing I have been looking for.

Wear can I obtain this? I searched the Scout supply site to no avail; do you have a link? I LOVE the idea!

This is absolutely correct; in fact, for many decades Scouts were supposed to wear the neckerchief over the collar with the collar tucked under. Allowing them to tuck the necker under is the more recent option, but as @HelpfulTracks has pointed out, both are entirely permitted.

I LOVE neckerchiefs! They add such a classic feel to the uniform, not to mention their little splash of color does a lot to brighten up the earth tones of the rest of its items. I admit I am starting to amass quite a little collection of neckers, all for different occassion - I have my Cub Scout Leader blue, and my Webelos plaid, not to mention the white NESA necker I just got a from a boy's parents to wear at his coming Eagle Court of Honor. I can easily see myself ending up with a whole plethora of colors to choose from; I love colors, and the neckerchief is the one part of the uniform where you can really add a bit of flair! Especially for somebody like me who otherwise tries to be an absolute stickler for proper uniforming, lol.

@karunamom3 I would love to hear how this event turned out if you have a moment to share!

Wow ... that house is bigger and nicer than the house I grew up in! Those boys had better appreciate it, lol.

Well fortunately the boy's mother dropped by and actually asked if the blue Eagle necker was something that I was comfortable wearing or if she should have gotten something else. We had a rather delightful conversation mostly centered on the over-eagerness of her son, and we opted to switch out the blue on for the white NESA necker instead. This way the boy still feels like he is sharing the moment with me (which is far too kind of him already), while I can still be distinguished as a leader and not as one of the Eagle recipients. The boy's mom joked that I should just go with it and pretend I was one of them just to see how much cake I could get out of it. I can't say I didn't think about it.

I just took the new YPT out of curiousity, not because mine was going to expire, but I must say - I appreciate the tone of the new modules, even if they are a bit heavy handed. As a Child Development Professional, I am grateful they are committing themselves to keeping their information updated and the leadership informed. It's longer than the old one, but I am of the mind that when it comes to the safety of young people, any measure of my time is worth the effort.

I am sure there are many more cases than these floating around somewhere. I have a friend who is a third generation Eagle Scout, and he has kids of his own who will likely earn their Eagles within the next few years, so that's easily 4 generations. As for my family, we are slowly growing our own crop, lol. My father is a Life Scout, but all three of his sons earned their Eagles, and now I have a brother with four sons and another with two - that'll be nine Eagles within two generations (and if I can convince some nice girl to marry my someday, maybe I will have little Eagles of my own eventually too!).

Okay, this isn't as much a policy question (as there isn't one on this issue) as much as a protocol question. Another boy in my neighborhood is holding his Eagle Court of Honor next Saturday. All is well and good, and then he comes to my home this morning to present me with ... an Eagle Scout neckerchief to wear. You know, the bright blue embroidered one they sell at the Scout Store, very bright and very pretty. Now, his reasoning was that he noticed I didn't wear one at the last Eagle CofH, and so he wanted me to have one to wear at his next week (he's doing an "Eagle's Nest, gol' darn it (I hate those)). I have never purchased one for myself because I thought it was more something a youth member would wear, not a leader. I earned my Eagle almost 20 years ago myself, but I get mistaken for a youth member often enough as it is, and I am mildly concerned this will exacerbate that misperception. I will of course wear it to this Court of Honor, as it was after all a gift from an eager young friend (and since I am sure his parents were all too happy to fork over the cash for it and who-knows-how-many-other unnecessary luxuries); however, I am not sure about making this my regular fashion choice at future C'sofH. So my question is: Is it normal for an adult such as myself to wear the Eagle Scout neckerchief? Shouldn't it be worn more by youth members themselves? I feel like it calls undue attention my way, so other opinions would be appreciated. Thanks all.

My mom is actually trying to find one of the old blue Cub barets; she's the Wolf Den Leader in my Pack and it's the only hat she actually likes (she won't wear the ball caps and thinks the lady's Garrison hat makes her look like a stewardess). But they never show up on eBay or Etsy ... Anybody know where to find one? She insists it be official, no knock-offs, which makes it tricky. She actually doesn't know I am on the look out for one; I am hoping to surprise her for Mother's Day.

As an LDS Webelos Leader myself, I confess I have indeed seen a few leaders who seem to shrug Boy Scout training off on to the shoulders of the 11 year-old leaders, but I don't subscribe to that kind of lazy mentality. I firmly believe that it is my duty as a Webelos Leader to ensure that every last one of my boys enters the Boy Scout Troop fully prepared with the knowledge and skills they need to start off successfully. As I have mentioned in other threads, my success is measured by each boy's ability to earn the Scout rank within 1 - 3 weeks of crossing over. If it takes him longer than a month, then it is probably my fault, and so it becomes my opportunity and duty to assess what I did wrong and to make the changes I need to ensure the next boy is more successful (I also meet next door to the 11 year-olds, and the boys are always free and eager to come to me for extra help even after they move on). It is, however, essential for Webelos to engage with a Troop at least a few times each year, not only to meet a number of their requirements, but because that is the nature of the Webelos program - facilitating the transition to Boy Scouting, and ensuring that they cross over to a welcoming and active troop. If a Webelos leader doesn't keep that near the top of his priorities, he doesn't understand his full duties.

As Tolkien wisely wrote, "he that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." The reason the advancement program is so vital to what Scouting is comes from the fact that, at it's core, it teaches boys how to make, and accomplish, worthwhile goals, in a manner which boys can understand. They learn planning, work, and preparation. When they fail or don't quite meet the requirements, they look back and learn from their initial attempt and keep trying till they succeed. It gives focus to their inborn energies and desires to achieve by giving healthy, stimulating and enlightening goals that let them stretch themselves in constructive, meaningful, and exciting ways. It replaces mindless entertainment with the more robust exhilaration of adventure and exploration, both geographical and cerebral. And when he earns the token signifying he has met the requirements for whatever badge or rank he has worked towards, well, what to some might seem just another "silly patch" (oh the naive innocence of the over-experienced!) is, to that boy who truly worked for it, a sign that he has learned how to develop certain skills or knowledge that he didn't have before, but in which he has now gained a proficiency. He wears on his sleeve what he feels in his heart - dignity and self-respect. With each merit badge he feels he has dipped his toes in a potential new interest, hobby, even career. With each rank he feels he has grown more in character and capacity and self-reliance. And while the Scout may not be able to articulate that sentiment, the emblems he sews on after each award are cues that help him turn those esoteric ideals into the reality of his character. Sure, the lazy, detached or burnt-out leader might brush it all off as useless bling, but I find these people have forgotten what it is like to be a young person just beginning to see what kind of man he can become, while for the boys and burgeoning young men who are Scouting itself, the colorful badges and ribbons and medals actually let them visualize what might otherwise be intangible concepts - accomplishment, inner strength, maturity, self-mastery, and self-respect. I believe it is only the inability to clearly see the vision of what Scouting should be that impedes us from appreciating the magnitude of Baden-Powell's genius and profound grasp of what growing boys want AND need. His simple methods - uniforms, the outdoors, the advancement program, all of them - they are all one needs to change lives. But cynical, tired skeptics who aren't seeing their own vision of Scouting try to place the blame any place they can to assuage the frustration they feel when they cannot get their program going - they will say boys are different these days, or that they can't run the program right because the committee/council/national/tooth fairy/parents make it impossible, or that the program has deteriorated, or whatever. And so they suggest - change the program! Lose advancement! Ditch uniforms! Toss the committee! To that I say, you are looking the wrong way. Don't tear it down, but build it back up - with the very materials we have always had. Outdoor learning. Patrol method. Advancement. Uniforms. Boy led. If you can get the boys to FEEL what you want them to LEARN, they will make their own program flourish, as it is supposed to happen. But to suggest shedding core elements of the program is simply giving up on the hope that it will work. In which case, beware lest your skepticism taint the minds of those under your guardianship as a Scout leader or parent. If the advancement program's purpose has been distorted or inflated by those who cannot see what it truly should be, do not fault the system, but those who abuse and misuse it for warped ambitions such as status, reputation, prestige or gain. They are the problem, not the program. My rule is never to tell a boy that Eagle Scout looks good on a college application or a resume. Only that it shows him what he is capable of doing, who he has been able to become, and what he will prove to give back in his future. Am I defensive of the advancement program? Of course, as I am of all the ideals at the core of Scouting. Though the world slides downward faster each year, I hold that the methods are just as effective and crucial now as they were on Brownsea over a century ago. And I mean that as much for the boys coming into the program now as for our more chronologically-enhanced Scouters, many of whom seem to have coldly given up on the future while looking towards a past that has passed them by, and because they fail to see the potential of the present, they have forgotten that, yes, one person can make a difference - and that person needs to be you. If the program isn't what it could and should be, don't start by looking for who or what is to blame. Start by making a change in yourself, and how YOU are going to make the difference.

Just out of curiosity, what are the two special awards? Judging by your mayor, it sounds like your pack is full of achievers. I hope your B&G goes wonderfully tomorrow!

Are you KIDDING ME?!? Any pack in this country would give their right arm (right den?) to have a community leader as generous and loyal to Scouting as that man! I dare say the fact that he is a former pack member himself makes the whole thing sound too good to possibly be true; what a FABULOUS friend and opportunity you have - wow I am already envious (forgive me!). There is no rule whatsoever that states only pack leaders can hand out awards - in fact this kind of community involvement should be the ideal of every Scouting unit. As it turns out, hosting community and civic leaders at Scouting ceremonies seems to have been a common occurrence in the first half of the last century, though in the latter decades Scouting units unfortunately became more insular and less bold in getting local leaders involved. But think of the benefits! It gets the community involved in Scouting and their young people's lives, it makes local leaders aware of the program and more likely to involve it in its growth and development, and it gives the boys a well-earned and legitimate understanding that, even as youth, they are important players in their community and their nation. You go to your committee and tell them this kind of opportunity is absolutely heaven-sent and can only do good for your program. And besides even all that - your mayor sounds like one ardent supporter of the pack who more than deserves to participate in your ceremonies, at any level. You are extraordinarily fortunate to have him.

The thing is, statistically and technically, you are incorrect. If you check the national averages, the majority of boys who are in Cub Scouts do in fact continue on to Boy Scouts. No it isn't 100%, but it is more than half, so ... that is the definition of MOST. A majority. The larger portion. The bigger slice of the pie. Trying to push the idea that "most kids who like cub scouts end up not liking boy scouts" is an unfortunate commentary on your experiences for which I am indeed sorry, but it does your position no good to try and force an idea that objectively isn't so. I understand both your point and your sentiments, but you cannot factually claim that "most of them won't" move on. Perhaps explaining the factors which influence those who do not progress, rather than basing your argument on the quantity of boys who do not, might be a more effective way to illustrate your point.

LOL that's nice of you to say, though one would need to be a bit more attractive than I am to get that kind of attention. Not with that kind of an attitude, no. But if you cultivate a close partnership with a local troop and simply assume from the start that Webelos in your den will move on to Boy Scouts when they are old enough, you can ensure that the majority of them do. I don't even talk to my parents about the possibility of the boys not moving on; I simply gear all conversations towards the eventual advancement to Boy Scouts, and treat it as being as expected and natural as the transition from Wolves to Bears. If you prepare them for the transition early enough, and have a good troop in the wings waiting to welcome the boys even before they actually advance, they will more than likely continue on to Boy Scouting when the time is right.

A half-hour north of me, there is one of the oldest Troop cabins in the country. Huntington Beach Troop 1 has been meeting in the same place for a century, and it's a treasure trove of Scouting artifacts. Here is a link to their website's images: https://sites.google.com/site/troop1hb/about-us/inside-the-cabin

Everybody knows that the official socks are the plushiest, most delightful socks in the world, and that it's the ONE part of the uniform that's worth every penny of the cost. And this from a Californian who prefers to wear sandals whenever humanly possible!

Our pack has simplified the PWD as much as humanly possible, and it has turned out GREAT for us. Here are some of the changes we made that have made things easier AND much more fun: 1. We don't have a 1st, 2nd or 3rd - instead, every boy received a participation medal, but then there are extra medals that encourage effort and success of all kinds. Our categories are Fastest Car, Slowest Car (what we call the "Marathon Winner"), Most Creative Car, Scout's Choice Award (the boys all vote on this one), and two other awards that change from year to year. This way, some cars are given prizes based on performance, others by specially chosen judges for effort put into them, and of course a car that the boys themselves get to choose as their favorite. Everybody gets a prize, but there is still the incentive to work hard for whichever award catches a boy's interest. 2. We have totally eliminated all electronics from our PWD. We simply bring in three "Celebrity Judges" (usually from our CO leadership, which is nice to get them involved), and their final choice for each round is considered ABSOLUTELY FINAL. We make this expressly clear beforehand. And after each race they have only 60 seconds to decide who won that round (I have a Den Chief with a timer sitting right by them). This way we don't waste time deliberating over the winner, and we move through each round very quickly. 3. Our track has 4 lanes, so for each round of 4 cars, we have them race 4 times. We know that sometimes the speed of the car depends on which lane it runs on, so by running each set of 4 cars 4 times, switching lanes each time, we get the best idea which car from that set is the fastest. We go through the whole Pack by simply starting them all off in brackets of 4, and then racing the fastest cars from each group in sets of 4 in a simple process of elimination that eventually brings us to the final 4, out of which the Fastest Car is declared. We ALSO take the slowest cars from each set, and race them in rounds to determine who is our slowest, "Marathon Winner" (the only stipulation for these is that it has to make it all the way to the finish line to count - many of our boys consider this category even more desirable than the Fastest Car!). 4. Before the races even begin, we have a short talk about sportsmanship - with the parents! I like to talk about all the worst parents I have seen at these events, exaggerating their antics and then, of course, letting them know that naturally I know THEY would NEVER act so childishly, and that SURELY our parents will be good sports and not contest the decisions made, since of course that would be RIDICULOUS and a TERRIBLE example to our judges (sure it's passive-aggressive, but they get the point). Hopefully some of these ideas will help make your next PWD a better event for you. Until then take advantage of the lessons your Scout can learn from this kind of an experience, and don't let it get you down!

@Urbanredneck welcome to the boards! Mind sharing what your idea might be? :-)

These are interesting demographics! I know that here in Orange County CA, Den Leaders are overwhelmingly female. I do new Den Leader trainings for the council all over the County, and generally there are 25-40 new den leaders at each event, held every quarter or so. And I am usually one of the only men in the room. Looking at my roster from a training I did in October (conveniently at hand right at the moment!), there are 27 names listed, and 23 of them are women. Male Den Leaders here are simply uncommon, though they are certainly sought after. And I being a young single male with no kids of my own, I am regarded as a valued but extraordinarily atypical commodity by my district.

I think the question parents need to consider is - why are their boys in Scouts at all? If they are in it to build character, become good husbands and fathers, and take active, positive roles in their communities, then advancement will reflect that and the effort, time and personal expenses will all be worth it. But if we don't have a clear vision of the end goals, what good is all the work we put into it? Considering these things, I don't believe the tired old adage about "the journey mattering more than the destination." Quite the opposite. Sure, you should get the most out of the journey as you can, but what does the journey matter if you don't know where you're going? For example, advancement is a compass that points the boys learning experiences in a productive direction. It allows them to make measurable goals that they can plan, follow through with, and accomplish through hard-work and careful record-keeping, all vital life skills. By using advancement as a way to plot specific goals - destinations, really - you allow the boys to see clearly their own progress and recognize their diligent effort. That's the whole point of the advancement program. But if you are advancing just to advance and collect badges, what will you get when there is no more rank to achieve? To that end I say the journey won't matter at all if it doesn't lead you someplace better than where you were before. It's just like in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, when Alice finds herself at a crossroads splitting off into two paths. While she ponders her choices, the Cheshire Cat appears, of whom Alice asks, “Which path shall I follow?” The Cat replies, “That depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn’t matter which path you take.”