MikeS72

We do this type activity on both the district and council levels. We have a district led Webelos Woods in November, and a council led Webelos to Scout Transition weekend in December.

Would these be the ones you are referring to? The plain green and silver was the standard SM patch; the second version with the mylar threads showed that the SM was fully trained. Still have both, first worn in 1975.

My nephew loves those flavors, especially the strawberries and cream. Tear the top off of the pack, pour in a little water (straight from the water bottle), stir and eat. Great when you want to get going quickly when backpacking or on the river. Some dried fruit, some hard cheese, and off we go.

These I have seen some of them carry. To some of them, anything below 70 is like an arctic expedition.

I doubt any of my scouts own those items here in chilly, chilly, Florida.😀

I am pretty sure that it was around when I took the troop there in the mid-70's.

Mine does, and so do a number of others in our troop.

Yes, but without those ads, I am sure that Boy's Life would cost Scouts far more than the $12 annual rate they now pay, and Scouting would definitely not be going out to every registered Scouter.

Just home from our CoH, which was MC''d by my great-nephew. He was nervous up until the microphone was in his hand, and then proved that he has never in his life met a stranger, or been in a group that he was not able to charm.

Attend a meeting of your city, town, or county council or school board; OR a municipal; county, or state court session. - Citizenship in the Community Attend a public meeting (city council, school board, debate) approved by your counselor where several points of view are given on a single issue. Practice active listening skills and take careful notes of each point of view. Prepare an objective report that includes all points of view that were expressed, and share this with your counselor. - Communication Considering that HOA meetings are not one of the kind listed in the requirement for Citizenship I would definitely not accept it there. Also, considering that HOA meetings can be restricted to members only I would not look at it as a public meeting of the kind that either MB is looking for. (yes, I am a MB counselor for both)

As I mentioned earlier, most of my MB's are for scouts in my own troop, so we have been associating with each other all along the way. I am also our district roundtable commissioner, and we offer MB's at most of our roundtables. Tonight was session #3 of 4 for a group working on Citizenship in the Community. The counselor has spent years developing the civics program taught in our state (I asked one of the scouts after session #1 how he liked it - he replied 'Man, that guy really knows his stuff!' He will end up not only earning the MB, but I am sure will benefit in the classroom as well. I had a group of scouts who spent the evening in a great discussion as a part of Scouting Heritage MB. Several were so into scouting history that they stayed for almost an extra hour going through the large collection of uniforms, insignia, and books that I brought with me. Plenty of adult association going on. Yes, there are the ones who feel that they have everything done ahead of time, and just want a signature, but I often find that they are not a 'complete' as they may think they are. In my Scouting Heritage group this evening, as we talked about the evolution of the BSA, I asked each of them how long we have had young ladies in scouting. Each of them had the same answer, less than a year. (Venturing is not big in our district, we currently have one chartered crew, and most folks do not realize they exist) Imagine the look on their faces to learn that girls have been a part of our program since Exploring went co-ed 50 years ago! Even the scout who does not think he needs more than a pen and blue card will usually leave having learned something new by the time we finish meeting.

I also prefer to spend time with the scout, and it is rare for it to be just a hand me the blue card and get signed off, typically at least two and sometimes 3 or more meetings take place. That being said, I am in a district that has a plethora of MB counselors, so most of the scouts I work with are in my own troop. When they come to me for hiking, camping, cooking, etc., I have already been working with them all along. We have spent time during and after a backpacking trek discussing the ins and outs of the MB, ie - you have packed these same items on multiple trips; have you ever actually used them? If not, do you really need to be carrying the extra weight? Does every individual need to carry their own stove, or can several scouts share one, and cut down a little more on the weight? You may think that dropping a tent in favor of a hammock lightens your load, but have you compared the weight of your single person tent to the weight of the hammock, tree straps, under quilt, bug netting, rain fly, all put together? We also offer MB's at our district roundtables, and the scouts who attend those session know that they will be very thorough and complete. They also know that we do not sign a blue card just for being in the room. Everyone participates. I a requirement says 'discuss with your counselor' everyone contributes. We just got home from roundtable, where I (as roundtable commissioner) had a Citizenship in the Community counselor conducting session 3 of 4, with one of the members of our county council speaking to and being questioned by the scouts. In another room I had a group of scouts working on Scouting Heritage, where we had a robust and free wheeling discussion of the history and development of scouting worldwide and here in the U.S.. I will admit to being surprised when one of the scouts at roundtable asked me about having Animation MB offered; I responded that I would find a counselor and set it up. I was quite surprised to find that our district only has one registered Animation counselor - Me! We ended up with half a dozen scout earning the MB, and producing some really impressive animations!

Quite true, unless as stated in the Guide to Advancement: "if it remains clear under the circumstances that some or all of the requirements could not have been met, then the merit badge is not reported or awarded, and does not count toward advancement." To me, this would be something like attending a one day MB workshop for Wilderness Survival and walking away with a completed blue card, despite there being requirements that could not possibly have been done in that single session, and knowing that the scout had not done anything related to the MB prior to attendance. If however, the counselor states that they covered all of the bases, the fact that the scout cannot remember specifics, while concerning (particularly if relating to something like First Aid, E-Prep, etc.) would not by itself lead me to believe that he somehow cheated. As several others have mentioned, some scouts do not do well with testing or being grilled. Having spent the better part of 40 years in education, I see kids every day that have trouble test taking, or verbalizing; yet have not problem at all if I toss them a tablet and a box of Legos and say 'here, show me what kind of stop motion video you can make". This is just one of many threads that shines light on the problem with MB colleges; while you will no doubt have scouts who attend and have done a lot of work prior to arriving, you will just as likely have as many who have never cracked the MB book. In most cases, both types of scouts will leave with a signed blue card. I wish that this were not the case, but it is what it is. As a MB counselor, I see both types of scouts, and obviously much prefer the 'be prepared' types. Many of those scouts get signed off with little trouble, while the type two ones require multiple meetings before I will sign off. Some come back until they have satisfactorily completed all requirements, others look for someone who is willing to let them slide. While I have those who come to me somewhat unprepared, and are told they have more work to do, I can honestly say that I cannot recall an instance where I felt one of those scouts was lying to me about what they have done.

The MSR Sweetwater Microfilter states that it does heavy metals. $200 I carry a Katdyn Hiker, which has a carbon core that is very good at removing taste and smell issues. It easily handles bacteria and protozoa, as well as chemicals. One one of our regular backpacking/kayaking routes there is a small camp with a non-potable faucet. The katdyn filter completely removed the strong sulfur smell and taste that a Sawyer filter did not. No need for drops as well, although I also carry a SteriPen.

Congratulations

All too often, traditional means building a bench or picnic table, or something similar that will be around for a few years and then end up being dismantled after it wears out. I think I might have encouraged him to see how he could work it so that he did show leadership and get others involved in the effort. If he is sharp enough to come up with an idea like he did, I am sure that with a little more outside the box thinking he could make it work. I would love to see more Eagle candidates think about how their project can have a lasting impact on their community.

I thought about that, but based on his doctor, it will be several years before we have to worry about much in the way of outgrowing anything. Plus, in the year and a half since crossover, it has gone from 1 MB sewn on to 16, with 2 more to be added by the end of the month. Once he does hit that inevitable growth spurt, he will have more than enough to hone his sewing skills, either by hand (as I did more than half a century ago) or on the sewing machine.

I bought my Scout his sash on our first trip to the Scout Shop after crossover last February, (had to buy the smallest available) and as soon as he had earned his first MB, it was sewn on.

Until I see that it has been entered in Scoutbook.

I will plead guilty to being one of those who does keep my copy of every blue card. Most of what I sign are for scouts in my troop, and I know that there is always that scout who will come up to me weeks later, after having lost the rest of the card before thinking about turning it in to our advancement chair.

When you are on the my.scouting front page click on the Menu option, and select My Dashboard. Click on the 3 horizontal lines on the left side of the blue bar, then select My Profile. Click on your email address; that will open a box showing your current email. You can highlight and type over the email address in the pop up box, click save and you should be good to go.

We do a week at our council camp in June, followed by an out of council camp in July. Pretty much every out of council camp requires us to bring a copy of our council's proof of insurance. Not a big deal.

As we emphasis in our required bullying training at work (school system), it is important to remember that repetition does not have to involve the same victim each time. The student who exhibits bullying behavior toward multiple other students is just a guilty of being a bully as the one who only has one target. We also find, and you may as well after this is (hopefully) resolved, that a high percentage of children who bully are mirroring either what they see at home or what they have experienced themselves.

There are 4 relatively recent optional YPT modules, one of which specifically addresses bullying. All 4 are good, the bullying segment should be mandatory.

Not sure about wrist bands, but I know I have seen drawstring bags and water bottles on classb.com.