BulldogBlitz

Here's hoping this actually replies, already failed miserably twice elsewhere. Last summer, our troop went to Camp Orr. It looked great from the leader guide. It had places and activities I was familiar with from my time as a scout. We signed up, had a group staying in camp and a group doing their high adventure - really their cornerstone. the HA trek chosen was the canoe trek. then the warnings started rolling in.... severe drought.... water levels might not be high enough to canoe the whole distance. by a week prior, the trek was aborted completely (no fault of the staff) and our crew was offered the alternative which was to backpack that same distance. this wasn't an option for us, might as well call our guys tenderfeet.... backpackers they are not (at least not this oldest set). they did go some, three days. i was set to be in base camp anyway with the other part of the troop. what was there was fine, nothing spectacular, nothing different from any other merit badge camp. the river running right beside camp was low and slow moving. slow moving enough that growth was occurring, not particularly appealing. oh.... and it's in a national park, so it would seem that rifles and shotguns are completely taboo.... so shooting sports were air rifles and archery. if you can roll the dice and get the canoe trek, take it. otherwise, go elsewhere.

I sew my own patches on. I have ever since I came home with 10 merit badges at one Court of Honor in 1983. My mother refused and explained it was time for me to learn. I did...and kept doing it until last month. I had this great idea of upgrading uniform shirts for both me and my son. Using the time to teach him how to sew along the way. We bought the new uniform shirt, the air conditioned variety with the vent in the back. I went to sewing one patch on and had fits, the fabric stretched all sorts of ways that the regular stuff did not. I had to sew the same patch on three times just to get it semi-close to the right spot. It still didn't look right. We ended up finding someone with a machine and the talent to whip right through the patches on both uniforms in about 20 minutes time with guidance from me.

We took a leap of faith this past year and gave the wreaths a chance. We out earned popcorn, by a long shot. Here in Austin, TX they did very well. The wreaths were reasonably priced (so much more so than popcorn). If you are interested, PM me and I'll see if I can extract all the details from my wife (Treasurer) on the accounting of it all. I would be shocked if someone nixes the wreath sales this year.

as quick as some are to damn homosexuals in general... some are really quick to pick up their flag and run with it, handing out eagle badges along the way. seems as though we have two teams, both willing to play "political football" - that ball just happens to be an eagle badge. if the scout kept his sexual preferences secret, and then went running to the paper a month after receiving the award, then there is a problem with trust. participation in the boy scouts is not mandatory. if they'd like to make a rule prohibiting right handed, brown eyed people from participating... i'd likely find somewhere else to go - rather than putting in blue contacts and trying to be left handed.

good responses... thanks to all.. twocubdad you really got me the A-ha! bit i knew someone would have.

...and headstrong parents. I'm a leader in a Troop, not in a position that has direct work with the scouts. I am also a merit badge counselor (which does have that direct work). We've got a few parents who we like to refer to as "still in cub mode" - they do all the communicating for their scouts. When the scouts are polled for their opinions... it is usually the parent who speaks up. When the offer of a merit badge is out there, it is the parent who speaks up. This is where I come in to this. I am going to counsel two scouts (unrelated to those parents) on a merit badge. The scoutmaster asked that I "make it known" to the rest of the scouts. I did. After the meeting, no scout approached me; however, the next morning I had three emails from parents requesting that their son be in this merit badge session. I don't have the tact to tell these parents their sons were not interested - and it isn't their place to volunteer their sons for these things - and i really don't have the patience to counsel those that have no interest. Maybe my question is: How do you break a parent of cub mode? or Do you welcome a scout who is just being pushed into things by their parents? (their sons like boy scouts, just not this particular merit badge offering)

i advocate gays, atheists, transgendered, cross dressed, and left handed pedophiles to start their own club/group. if they want to exclude right handed people with blue eyes, so be it. i would say that those that insist on getting the bsa to change their policy to allow them would be akin to me being a patron of a gay bar and complaining about all the donna summer songs being played - insisting on something a great deal different to satisfy my ear.

40 pages on a forum. must be a lot of folks that know the down and dirty details of this... that's waaaaaay too much speculating. so... if a scout has all his merit badges prior to 18... and a completed eagle project prior to 18... is there a legitimate way to say, "sorry, you just aren't ready for the next step"? i know i look at my son, who just turned 11 and joined, and think he'll make a fine eagle candidate one day. today... nah, he's got no skills and a moderate amount of maturity. you'd think if this were a simple personality difference between the parent/scout/scoutmaster that there'd be a swift response.

i'm a rel. emblems counselor. the other time when it is uncomfortable for the atheist parents/scouts in the room is when we discuss "duty to god" and the opportunity to work towards an emblem. one troop of 40 boy scouts, a scout raised his hand and asked "but what if you don't belong to a church". further discussion revealed him to be an atheist and wondered why there wasn't a religous emblem for him. i'm too practical a thinker. i would think that finding a program more suitable to your needs would be the best option. as for wingnut's comment.... it didn't take long for me to find us a troop that overlooks "clean" - there's only time for one shower in a week ya know!

"it's a bauble who cares"... while i agree on a very low level to that. i will also point out, if you work for the same company for a few years and they never recognize you.... they never give you even a raise... would you be disgruntled? aside of that, the entire program is about getting a patch for doing something (whether it is attendance at an event, membership at a council, or skills). don't like the baubles, don't wear the baubles. on topic now: several have already pointed out that there are clear lines on some awards.

This topic is tangentially associated with Jamboree. We are planning a councilwide celebration, a la jamboree. We'd like to have most of the same trappings that the National Jamboree has, up to and including hot air balloons on display. The G2SS clearly states that scouts are not to ride in balloons tethered or not. I see in several promotion videos for the National Jamboree that there are NESA and OA balloons at the NJ. Who operates those balloons? What actually goes on at the NJ with those balloons? Are scouts allowed within 5802 miles of those balloons? We have already been advertising that we will be NJ-like. All comments to this point have been directed (bitterly) at the things that scouts will not be allowed to do. Any input is appreciated.

almost all recipes i've seen that require (request) wine will allow for broth as an alternative. more than likely it is used to deglaze a pan, and broth will do very close to the same job.

I've seen more than my fair share of scouts who don't actually own uniform pants - mostly wear their scout shirt over some other shirt... unbuttoned, untucked... and he's an eagle scout. I'm sure someone will quickly jump to his defense that he's too poor... problem is, he isn't. His family isn't too poor either. He'll gladly run out and buy a $100 pair of blue jeans with strategic rips in them and wear them proudly - making sure everyone sees his new Iphone app too. He's explained a number of times that the uniform just isn't "cool" and those green pants are the worst. From the top down in that troop, you'll find any variety of the same excuses of not getting or wearing a uniform. You'll also find a bunch of guys who aren't really going to "help other people at all times". It is a quick and easy defense to say "can't afford", but that excuse isn't really needed anymore -- now is it?

I was in our local scoutshop yesterday and saw a new set of commissioner patches. 2010 patches for the roundtable commissioners... didn't see one for UC, DC, or CC

I hear crowd noise... great post BrentAllen. Sadly, I think there are a whole lot of scouts/scouters involved who don't know what the term "watering down" really means with respect to Eagle or Boy Scouts. It would seem that some are just happy that there are 5 scout-aged boys in a room that aren't on probation.