Am I the only one who wants to keep unit ribbons? :)

[Laurie]

I was presented with the 2004 Quality Unit ribbon yesterday during an emergency meeting out at council, and it is sitting here by my computer (aka Scout Central ), and I'm not so sure I want to give it up. Oh, I know, it's not mine--I have the patch for my uniform, the pin for my civilian clothing--but I like the ribbon too. The FOS ribbon is still here too. Good thing they didn't send the popcorn ribbon my way, although, like the popcorn itself, I might have tried to get rid of this one! Anyway, just curious: anyone else ever feel the desire to hang onto a unit award? Or am I truly nutty?

[Twocubdad]

You're truly nutty.

 

I've never worried much about the ribbons. Our pack has been around a good while and we have a large wad of them hanging from our pack flag. Whenever we get one, we let the boys involved (or the Web2s in the case of the QU) add it to the flag pole.

 

I will admit wrestling with a bunch of 8-year-olds for our den flag from day camp. My son and his best friend made the flag. The friend was moving out of state shortly after camp and we wanted him to have it. Now that I'm camp director, to prevent squabbles the rule is that the den leaders get to keep the flag. If they want to give it to one particular Scout, they are encouraged to do so privately.

[Laurie]

Thanks for confirming that Twocubdad

 

What a great idea you've shared. We haven't received ribbons for anything for awhile, so this is new to the current leadership. We've a huge bunch on the flag already. The boys putting the ribbon on--I love that. Thank you!

[Eamonn]

One problem with all this Stuff is that it tends to breed.

Our house has me in it, at least part of the time.And it has Her Who Must Be Obeyed. She tells me that I'm a pack rat. While she is views the world through Dust Free, Junk Free Glasses.

I have often wondered if there is a 12 Step program for people like me.

"Hello I'm Eamonn I AM a Pack Rat."

It starts with patches and a couple of Tupperware box's. It grows into one, then two then three filing cabinets. Slowly it takes over the garage then creeps into the living room and the den and even the bedroom.

I ought to know better but someone reads a poem or has plans for a great patrol box and I find myself asking for a copy. This then gets added to the ever growing pile of stuff.

The Stuff takes over half the space on your hard drive. Membership reports, advancement reports, financial reports that go back eight years. All the records from a wood badge course.

Add to this the Stuff that a teenage son, who takes after his father and is joining the ranks of the pack rats can add.

When the Clean up Queen arrives there is no mercy, un-filed papers are found a home, that neat craft that the cute cub scout gave me is destined for the land fill.Replaced with the smell of lemon Pledge.

So beware them ribbons could lead to:

"Hello I'm Laurie...."

Eamonn

 

[ASM1]

Unit ribbons go on the unit flag. Not to leaders. It was the effort of the unit that gained that ribbon, not the leaders. My point exactly in my other post.

 

 

ASM1

[Laurie]

ASM1, I am fully aware of that, and I even said it's not mine. I'm not sure what other thread you are referring to. My point, since it was missed, is that I just love working with the unit and am thrilled that we earned this ribbon as it took hard work to accomplish and feels just plain good.

 

Eamonn, it is far too late for me as I am a packrat, and I am the daughter of a packrat who married a cleaning queen. Seems I got only the packrat gene! I can clean just fine, but my husband laughs when I start on closets because I usually disappear for hours...only to be found going through the boxes of photos and memoribilia I've collected instead of doing the actual clean up. That is so much more fun. Thanks for the warning, though sad to say, it came too late

[ASM1]

"My point, since it was missed, is that I just love working with the unit and am thrilled that we earned this ribbon as it took hard work to accomplish and feels just plain good."

 

Then hang it on the unit flag where it belongs and be proud of your accomplishments.

 

ASM1

[OneHour]

Laurie ... you're not nuts. You're just a packrat who likes nuts ... in this case ribbons! I only kept one item ... District Popcorn top Pack sell award. The only reason is that there isn't a place for us to display it and the other leaders didn't want it!

[dsteele]

That's what I get for thinking out loud.(This message has been edited by dsteele)

[packsaddle]

This troop and the associated pack are several decades old - and the accumulation of ribbons is way too much for the flag. So we display the old ones along a rope stretched across one end of the meeting place. Even that is getting crowded. But I think it helps motivate the boys to see what the previous generations did and what they can do. Plus, I really can't bring myself to discard those old memories. Oh well.

[John-in-KC]

My name is John and I am a pack rat.

[Laurie]

Packsaddle: do you have a place in the CO where you may keep the ribbons? The pack ribbons are currently on the flag, but I anticipate seeing the number of them increase pretty dramatically this year. However, other than the flag, we may not store or display anything at the CO.

 

Anyone have suggestions for those ribbons that won't all continue to fit on the flag?? Also, the ribbons currently on the flag look to be 10 or more years old (we go back almost 50 years now). They are dusty looking. Is there a recommended way to clean them? And I'm guessing maybe the flag too? If those ribbons are dusty, the flag beneath probably is too. Neither can be replaced; the ribbons are our history; the flag has the old spelling of our community so it too is a piece of history.

 

It looks like the packrat community is growing (This message has been edited by Laurie)

[Twocubdad]

Supply division sells a ribbon holder that attaches to the top of the flagpole. It's a halo-like gizmo with 7-8 hooks around it to hold the ribbons. I bought one for our pack flag last fall and reorganized all our ribbons. We have probably 60 or 70 ribbons and have room for plenty more. It looks sharp and works well.

[packsaddle]

Laurie, I offer this advice based on our experience. When the unit gets close to the 40-50 year mark, members will be wringing their hands wishing they knew all the names of the previous members and leaders. We caught this fever a few years ago and it has been a fun time recovering all that info. But to be able to put names and faces on the original ribbons is just GREAT! Photos even better! Especially when some of those guys (much older now) stop by to visit. As they stare at a particular ribbon you can imagine the memories flashing through their minds.

We don't have any particular place to store or display these things but I wish we did. We find that it isn't easy to keep more than the current generation of ribbons on the flag. That means that we try to keep all the ribbons that have been awarded during all current youth members. That's tough too. We take the superannuated ones off and pin them to a rope that we can drape across the room. The really old ones are getting frayed and faded, kind of like the boys that won them so long ago. I don't know what to do about it though. The CO is in the midst of a major upheaval so it will be some time before we ask any favors.(This message has been edited by packsaddle)

[Laurie]

Twocubdad & Packsaddle: Thanks! You know, we missed an obvious solution--store them in my closet

 

Seriously now (yeah, that was a joke), thanks for the ideas. Twocubdad, looks like I've another expense to have approved. I like that, have seem them, and it would make our flag look nicer. Right now the ribbons just hang at the top of the pole.

 

Packsaddle, maybe in trying to work out a solution for the units I serve, I'll come across something that will help you too. One idea I have is this: scrapbook the ribbons. They'd need to be folded, which I would not be wild about doing, but it could work. You wouldn't believe the stuff that is getting sent to me lately: old insignia, slides, neckerchiefs, awards earned by leaders in the pack now deceased, some photos, old pinewood derby cars and what look like eskimos and turtles on rope (must be 2 types of the turtle race), and even old programs. It all started with our UC asking me if I was interested in some old insignia. I said yes, but that I'd like to scrapbook them or put them in display cases (light enough to carry) to share with the units I serve and visit. He thought that sounded like a neat idea, for he was giving me the stuff--just because he knew I liked this sort of thing (think packrat!). Well, he talked to others, and I've met some others during events, and the results is 3 boxes of things that I've got to figure out how to organize, store, and display so they can be shared. Wow, what a haul! And I never know when more might come my way--it's fun. We came across Blue and Gold programs for the boys turning 18 in the troop--how cool is that?!

 

(This message has been edited by Laurie)