BlueandSilverBear

A lot of Scouters need to think long and hard about how they are modeling the Scout Oath and Scout Law for their Scouts. That Scouter should reflect on what he is teaching his Scouts about Duty to Country. Others need to take "I will keep myself physically strong" a little (ok, a LOT) more seriously.

Haven't heard from the Troops, but recruiting for our Pack has been phenomenal after a big crossover year. The current Webelos 1 and 2 classes are small, so Troops will have to get creative on recruiting the next couple years and won't be able to rely on crossovers alone.

Pony tail first, clip right above the pony tail holder. #GirlDadScoutSkills

My Bear loves her bow and usually picks to wear it over her hat 🤷‍♂️ It was also $0.99 on sale when it was discontinued.

We have already had 9 girls join our Pack this year with several more interested and 1 more school night to go... after a big crossover last spring (6) we were down to 8 active girls (plus a few more on paper). Our Girls Den is going to our local Girls in Aviation Day this weekend, which is always a hit, and I'm teaching Whittling Chip to our 6 Bears the weekend after that 😬

Camping, shooting, first aid... time in the field was my favorite part of basic training 🤠

I love the original "National Treasure" movie and have gotten a kick out of the new Disney+ series, "National Treasure: Edge of History." No spoilers, but in the season finale two of the main characters are trying to navigate a swamp. One says something along the lines of "I wish I had paid more attention in Boy Scouts." He jokes that his dad made him sign up so he could become an adventurer but he never made it past Scout. When he asks the second character how far he made it, the second replies "Eagle." The Eagle Scout uses some basic navigation skills (direction of the sunset) to go get help and eventually returns to save the day. After the Eagle Scout explains how he did it, the first character exclaims, "Boy Scout!" I was honestly surprised at how long the conversation went on, and even more to see the positive impression of Scout Skills come back for a second time. Great to see some positive cultural relevance. I'm off to MC our pinewood derby... fingers crossed that my Wolf's Princess Peach Mario Kart makes a good showing. Scout on!

Defer to the Scout Law and be courteous and kind.

This is an opportunity to make OA relevant while bringing BSA back to the experience that most of us Scouters want for our kids. It's not hard to imagine... The arrow flies true, just as the order remains true to the Scout Oath and Scout Law. Reinforce the basics... The arrow on a compass points north, just as the Order of the Arrow always points its members back toward service to others. Service at camps, service to Troops, service to Packs... The arrow represents excellence in scout skills. Archery is a scout skill taught from Cub Scouts up through the Archery merit badge in Scouts BSA. Sounds like a great way to serve at the range... The arrow represents a Scouting ideal. Originally inspired by American Indian legends, the Order of the Arrow looks to American Indians and First Nations as the cultures with the longest and deepest knowledge of and connection with the natural environment of the Americas. This part requires making Make REAL efforts to SERVE with Native communities in conservation efforts. It probably requires admitting that the OA has often gotten things wrong in the past. Work to create Trail Crew programs with tribes and Native conservation groups. Learn and appreciate culture while working together to protect something that we both love. Keep the name. Keep brotherhood and service. Leave dress up and dance teams in the past... those don't provide anything that can't be accomplished in another way. Make real efforts to serve and learn.

Our Pack has gone from 79 as of August 17 to 121 as of October 2 with a few more paper applications working their way through the system. We have at least 30 (up from 25) crossing over in the spring, so we needed to backfill if we wanted to keep the Pack rolling. I had 4 new girls at our all-ages girls den meeting today: 1 Bear, 2 Wolves, and 1 Tiger. It has taken a lot of work from our CC, Cubmaster, and Den Leaders, but the program is still relevant and still in demand. Now it's up to us to deliver the adventure. Scout on!

Pack didn’t have anything scheduled but I took BALOO. Nothing groundbreaking, but always great to spend a weekend outdoors and talk scout stuff. Next weekend we’re cleaning a section of shoreline at our local lake for Scouts Trash the Trash Day.

I’m a reserve admissions officer for the Air Force Academy. Several years ago I heard from Admissions that the only statistically significant predictor of success as a Cadet was if they were an Eagle Scout… not sure if that is still the case, but we’re building strong citizens. A toast to Captain Ross.

Hooah!

I was on an ill-fated backpacking trip out of Camp Buffalo Bill 20 years ago… https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/texas-boy-scouts-head-for-home-after-being-stranded-overnight/article_93767415-3367-5b9d-bfae-fd2f0e8386fc.html The situation was more due to physical limitations of some of our adult leaders, but a wild one for sure. Beautiful country and the highlight of my youth Scouting experience!

We are already +1 Tiger and +2 Lions in our Girls Den just off siblings/word of mouth recruiting before we even make it into schools.

A scout is Loyal… 😊

Not that my opinion is worth anything, but here’s the way I see it... A Scout is Loyal. We should be loyal to our brother Scouts who were abused under the auspices of the BSA. They deserve some measure of restitution for what they suffered. We should be loyal to the current Scouts who benefit from the program. This will require creative solutions and a different program in some ways, but it’s understandable that many don’t want to lose what they consider to be key pieces. Maybe they shouldn’t be expected to lose them to keep the program alive. We should be loyal to those in the broader community who believed in Scouting and gave of their resources to make it what it is today. I don’t want to belittle anyone’s personal view on how to balance those loyalties. It’s an emotional task and I’m glad I don’t have to be the one to make the call.

You keep saying this but, having worked for one of JPM’s competitors in the real estate debt asset management space, I just find it incredibly hard to believe there was massive fraud. You’re alleging front page of the Wall Street Journal for weeks, huge fines, people are going to prison fraud. JPM’s legal and compliance departments would have seen it. Outside counsel would have seen it. Their third party asset manager would have seen it. Is BSA upstream from Arrow WV and have equity to lose from a forced sale? Maybe. Does JPM have a priority lien? Maybe. Did JPM make a corporate loan and not a mortgage? Maybe. Did some rogue banker somehow get through that many checks to commit fraud and risk prison on a big, but not world changing, deal so he could juice his bonus a little bit? Doubt it.

Agree on them running small- I’m usually somewhere between a small and a medium, and the small was tiny through the chest. My cynical theory is that the change in the organization name tape to the “BSA” embroidery is so that you can just cover it up with a patch for a post-bankruptcy successor organization. Still like the shirt though.

This is the periodic reminder that “millennial” means born between 1980 and 1995, not just younger people you don’t like. “Boomer” doesn’t just mean conservative... I know a lot of Gen-Xers who think they are Boomers. I’m a millennial, an Eagle Scout, a veteran, and a girl dad. I work 50 to 60 hours a week to support my family, serve in my church, and am a military reservist. I get home after 7 most nights and log back in to my day job or reserve work after dinner. My wife works part time from home, does a ton of volunteer work, and keeps our world from being total chaos. This is what middle class looks like in a major city in your 30s in 2021. And, thanks to program changes since I was a scout, now I’m a Lion (Tiger starting next week!) Den Leader for my daughter. I was a 15 year old Eagle in 2002, so think about where the program was from 1997 to 2012 . That was scouting to my generation, and we want to share that experience to our (still very young) kids. I think the biggest wave of millennial scouters hasn’t arrived yet. I hope we still have something to give them.

Isn’t that where the value is though? I would imagine COs like First United Methodist Church of Smallville don’t have much more than their building and maybe a parsonage on their balance sheets. Philmont and the Summit have secured creditors. Local councils may have camps without mortgages, but they could be restricted gifts or held in trusts. Flood the market with former scout camps and their value drops even more. These are all difficult to pursue from an operational and practical perspective. The insurance companies and the LDS are the golden geese. It’s a cynical game, but it’s a solid strategy for the TCC.

I'm a Circle Ten guy... The council has a lot of claims, but it's huge, old, and has absorbed a couple other councils over the last hundred years. A quick skim of the council executive board includes a congressman, a state senator, the wife of an oil billionaire, and the most recent Dallas Chief of police... and those are just the names I recognize. I get the impression that the council office is relatively sophisticated and has access to the resources to do what is in it's own best interest. I would be surprised if other councils aren't doing the same. Shouldn't be a shock to anyone... The LDS church has 100 billion reasons to fight... https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/mormon-church-has-misled-members-on-100-billion-tax-exempt-investment-fund-whistleblower-alleges/2019/12/16/e3619bd2-2004-11ea-86f3-3b5019d451db_story.html

We were out at Cooper Lake State Park last night and had the same lovely neighbor... perfect night otherwise!

I went with the latest version of the uniform shirt (with my late-90's CSP and early-00's lodge flap from when I was a scout). It's comfortable and looks pretty sharp. I used my REI member coupon on a pair of the Sahara convertible pants in "army cot green."

West Point still has gymnastics as a core PE requirement for all cadets (although they call it "military movement") and they have the infamous Indoor Obstacle Course Test that is essentially a series of gymnastics events. I have to assume the inclusion in the Master-at-Arms badge came from that same school of thought.