National Scouting Museum moving to Philmont

[desertrat77]

Does the BSA intend to sell the Irving museum property or covert it to more office space. perhaps an IT center? 

IT center...good idea, but once National moves its sole Commodore 64 to the new location, there will be lots of extra space! 

[The Latin Scot]

I just hope this doesn't cause any problems with the Scouting Heritage merit badge, where one of the requirement options is to write to the Irving museum for information, in return for which they receive a patch, a pamphlet, and a few other goodies. During the transition, I hope there aren't any troublesome delays in that process. I would hate to be a scout waiting 3 - 4 months for that packet to arrive so I could complete the requirement, and as a counsellor, I don't want to see any boys frustrated by the possibility.

 

That said, it should make the old patch a fun item for the collectors. I am sure the will have a fancy new one after the move is completed.

[TAHAWK]

Scouting Heritage MB.  

Give a short biographical summary of any TWO of the following, and tell of their roles in how Scouting developed and grew in the United States prior to 1940.

 

(1) Daniel Carter Beard

(2) William D. Boyce

(3) Waite Phillips

(4) Ernest Thompson Seton

(5) James E. West

 

 

 

Since 1929, when he wrote the first Handbook for Patrol Leaders for the Boy Scouts of America, Bill Hillcourt has been the foremost influence on development of the Boy Scouting program.

Scouting, Vol. 73, No. 4, September, 1985, at p. 26.

Edited December 20, 2016 by TAHAWK

[TAHAWK]

Scouting Heritage MB.  

Give a short biographical summary of any TWO of the following, and tell of their roles in how Scouting developed and grew in the United States prior to 1940.

 

(1) Daniel Carter Beard

(2) William D. Boyce

(3) Waite Phillips

(4) Ernest Thompson Seton

(5) James E. West

 

 

 

Scouting, Vol. 73, No. 4, September, 1985, at p. 26.

 

BP started it and Bill gave it it's American features, such as boys electing their leaders.

[The Latin Scot]

Methinks I have stumbled upon some controversy here, tee hee. 

 

However, my question was not about requirement 2a., but rather this one:

 

4b. Write or visit the National Scouting Museum in Irving, Texas. Obtain information about this facility. Give a short report on what you think the role of this museum is in the Scouting program

 

At the present, a letter or e-mail to the Museum is reciprocated with a letter, patch, brochure, etc. But suppose a Scout is earning the badge during the move from Irving to Philmont. To which does he write, and until when? I assume they will change the requirement when the transition is completed? Alas, I know not.

 

I'm afraid I don't quite know what the deal is with all this discussion about good ol' Green Bar Bill, though I think I can piece it together from what I have read so far. I won't ask though, since something tells me that would only ignite some heated debate, and Smokey always warned me about starting wildfires.   

Edited December 21, 2016 by The Latin Scot

[TAHAWK]

Simple, he has to write to the museum "in Irving Texas."  No authority to revise that requirement outside of Irving, Texas.  0___0

[RememberSchiff]

IT center...good idea, but once National moves its sole Commodore 64 to the new location, there will be lots of extra space! 

 

I dunno, I am not sure there is enough room for half of the IT consultants.

[Col. Flagg]

I have been to the National Scout Museum a great deal. I have many friends that live in Circle Ten Council and have heard a great deal about the museum's issues from them too.

 

From what I understand, the museum traditionally had around 20-22,000 visitors per year in just about every location. When it first moved to Dallas it was heavily used by local units. They would offer lock-ins, MB classes, Activity Badge workshops and other such things. There's a pretty good Scout shop there too. One, very overlooked item is the Norman Rockwell collection. It is almost like going to an art museum the way it's set up.

 

After 2-3 years of heavy use, some of the cooler exhibits were broken and never repaired. There was a shooting gallery that worked most of the time, but not always. You had to buy a token for 2 mins of shooting. They had a Pinewood Derby track but that stopped working almost the first year. You'd think they could keep that running. Several of the interactive exhibits (they had a mountain bike and deep sea fishing game) broken down early on too and were never repaired. The place got the reputation pretty fast that 20-30% of the stuff there "wouldn't work" on a frequent basis. Still, the other exhibits were pretty cool...but for older Scouts, not young cubs or young Boy Scouts. Really should have had more to engage the video generation.

 

There were tours. You could get a unit ribbon for completing a scavenger hunt for clues in the museum. They had a few Disney-esque animatronic things there. Seton, B-P, Beard and I think one other were done as animatronics.

 

Basically the place got the reputation of "been there, done that". While they did rotate exhibitions to a degree, it was still pretty stale if you lived near it. If they had some more techno-stuff to make the lock-ins more fun it might have driven a bit more repeat business from Dallas and Ft. Worth. There's certainly no wanting for Scout units in the area.

Not sure going to Philmont is going to increase your attendance any more than its past locations. Doesn't Philmont get around 20k visitors a year? That would mean EVERY visitor to Philmont would have to go and visit to make that happen. I don't see that happening.

[Stosh]

When I was there, the docent, the shop clerk, the receptionist were the only people there for the time I was there.  It reminded me of my local children's museum rather than a serious attempt as a legitimate museum.  I did like the Rockwell exhibit, the only thing there worth seeing.

[RememberSchiff]

TripAdvisor ranks the National Scout Museum #2 of 31 things to do in Irving

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g56032-d264982-Reviews-National_Scouting_Museum-Irving_Texas.html

[TAHAWK]

But part of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex.

 

Our museum is the #1 thing to do on our block in Cleveland. 

[blw2]

Methinks I have stumbled upon some controversy here, tee hee. 

 

However, my question was not about requirement 2a., but rather this one:

 

4b. Write or visit the National Scouting Museum in Irving, Texas. Obtain information about this facility. Give a short report on what you think the role of this museum is in the Scouting program

 

At the present, a letter or e-mail to the Museum is reciprocated with a letter, patch, brochure, etc. But suppose a Scout is earning the badge during the move from Irving to Philmont. To which does he write, and until when? I assume they will change the requirement when the transition is completed? Alas, I know not.

 

I'm afraid I don't quite know what the deal is with all this discussion about good ol' Green Bar Bill, though I think I can piece it together from what I have read so far. I won't ask though, since something tells me that would only ignite some heated debate, and Smokey always warned me about starting wildfires.   

I doubt that will be an issue.  Just an old fashioned "Mail Forwarding" through the USPS will take care of little Johnny's letter.  Might add a couple days to the process.....

But I'd imagine most go by email now days, so it's maybe a non-issue.... I hope

[The Latin Scot]

LOL that is true. I have been using the hand-written method as a way to encourage boys to try their hands at actual letter-writing for once in their lives, but during the interim it would be smart to just use e-mail until we get more information about the change. Thanks for the thought!

[Stosh]

With the onset of the hand calculator, the world no longer needs to learn the principles of mathematics.

 

With the onset of the computer keyboard, the world no longer needs to learn the principles of handwriting.

 

Once the electricity goes out, the world will revert back to the stone age and electronic paraphernalia will be the only thing in museums.

Edited December 22, 2016 by Stosh

[The Latin Scot]

Well in that case, as soon as the Museum has officially moved, the boys I counsel will be going straight back to hand-written letters!