The Bloggers
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________________________________________ EAGLE – An Attainable Goal! Seven years and 290 issues ago I first wrote this piece. Since then, an entire generation of Scouts has moved on, “Scout” has been added as a seventh rank, and we now have girls in Scouts BSA troops.
Hi Andy, We need your help. The current “SCOUTING” magazine has an article in it called “Ethics,” sub-titled “Pest Control,” on page 16. One of the things it talks about is the Patrol Leaders Council assigning two Scouts to an existing patrol that already has seven Scouts in it.
Hi Andy, A couple of weeks ago, you fielded a question about age limits on Scouts tenting together, and I’d like to add a thought to that point. One simple solution to possible tenting complications is this: There’s nothing that says a Scout must share a tent with anyone, or that a Scout can’t sleep…
THE LAZIEST SCOUTMASTER Charlie, with his wife and 12 year-old son, moved in next door just two weeks ago. Charlie Junior is a Scout, and Charlie Senior—who’s been reading my columns off and on since his son was a Tiger—asked me about a week ago if I knew anything about Scout troops in town that…
Hi Andy, If a Scout has already earned a specific merit badge, like Rifle Shooting for instance, at summer camp this year, can that same Scout earn it a second time at summer camp next year? I’m asking because there’s a very limited number of shooting positions available at our camp’s range and, while many…
Dear Andy, Our troop is having a recurring problem resulting from “poor language choices.” Last week, the dad of a family new to our community contacted me about getting his boys involved in Scouting. I let him know when and where for our troop’s next meeting.
Hi Andy, I saw this article in about the Baden-Powell Service Association in a local newspaper the other day: https://www.nj.com/news/2019/07/these-kids-do-scouting-the-old-fashioned-way-but-membership-has-a-modern-twist.html I know there are various “alternative” Scout-like organizations in recent years, established largely in reaction to certain BSA policies. This one was formed in 2006 and seems to differentiate from the BSA based on inclusiveness…
Hi Andy, I’ve been a committee member for my son’s troop for several years, mostly handling campsite and summer camp reservations. I’ve just been asked to be the troop’s advancement coordinator, and I agreed to handle this. But I need some advice about courts of honor for our Eagle Scouts.
________________________________________ INDEPENDENCE DAY Today is for renewing, celebrating, appreciating, staying safe, and honoring with thanks all men and women whose service has made and kept America free. The usual day we make resolutions is January first. Today may be an even better day… o As Cubmaster , I will encourage all dens to participate in our pack…
Dear Andy, Can I ask you some questions? In addition to being in a Scouts BSA troop, I’m also a Sea Scout. I’ve earned Eagle Scout rank and also received a bronze palm at the court of honor. Can I work on additional palms through my Sea Scout Ship instead of my troop?
Hi Andy, I’m our troop’s Committee Chair and the father of a Scout in the troop. I just found out that, while on a troop campout, a 15 year-old Life Scout in my troop vaping with—of all Scouts!—my own 17 year-old Life Scout son!
Hi Andy, I absolutely love reading everything that’s posted on your online columns. I’m still learning from you. May I share your content on my website? (Achat, Scouts Mauritius) Thank you—Merci! Yes, you may share any column or comments within columns, and my only request is attribution.
Hi Andy, I enjoy reading your weekly columns… But I do notice that the BSA’s GUIDE TO SAFE SCOUTING seems to be catching so many of us left and right. I did notice one slight problem with your answer to the question on the composition of PLC (Patrol Leaders Council) meetings (Issue #600).
Dear Andy, I know that many families—especially military families—move during the summer and then have to find a new troop for their Scout(s) to join once the school year starts. (We live in a city that hosts a military training base, which means we have plenty of families that go through this each summer.)
I’m looking at a postage stamp at the moment. Just a tiny bit of paper with some ink on one side and glue on the other. Pretty insignificant, you’d think. After all, the envelopes and packages it’s affixed to are often much more valuable, carrying contracts and paychecks, letters of remembrance and love and friendship…
________________________________________ ~ By Presidential Proclamation ~ Police Week ~ May 12th through May 18th Peace Officers Memorial Day ~ Wednesday – May 15th TOMORROW you will see NATIONWIDE LOWERING of the NATIONAL COLORS and the FLAGS of EACH STATE. Please do the same for the AMERICAN FLAG you may display at your own home ~ HALF-STAFF from SUNRISE to SUNSET on WEDNESDAY.
________________________________________ Hi Andy, Our troop has logo T-shirts that both our Scouts and our adult volunteers wear. And, for a parallel troop for girls that we’re starting up, we’re now ordering T-shirts for the girls, in a female cut. Okay so far, but then, in preparation for a fund-raising car wash, the mothers on our troop…
________________________________________ Hi Andy, I’m a bit confused and need your help understanding something regarding Youth Protection. I’m a registered leader in a Cub Scout pack and, as such, have completed the BSA’s Youth Protection Training. Our pack is sponsored by a Roman Catholic parish, which happens to be a different denomination from my own.
________________________________________ Huge THANKS to the Scouters of the Michigan Crossroads Council 2019 Academy of Scouting & College of Commissioner Science! Michigan Crossroads is a unique “super-council,” comprised of four councils functioning as “districts” in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula (locally called “The Mitten”): Great Lakes Field Service Council, President Ford Field Service Council, Southern Shores Field Service Council, and…
________________________________________ Hi Andy, It’s always been my belief that, as a registered adult leader, I could make and receive phone calls to and from my Scouts, but the most current BSA policy on this says that “private online communications (texting, phone calls, chat, IM, etc.)
________________________________________ Hi Andy, I just attended a College of Commissioner Science. At several junctures, other Commissioners mentioned uniform inspections as being “old-school” and for fuddy-duddies. I’ve poked around on BSA and affiliated websites, and found plenty of PDF versions of the BSA’s Uniform Inspection Form as well as some PowerPoints of indeterminate vintage, but I haven’t…
________________________________________ SCOUT CRACKERS! BRAND NEW! JUST FOR SCOUTS! The BSA just launched a new fund-raising program for Scouts BSA troops for boys and for girls! Almost five years in the making, your Scouts will now be able to sell SCOUT CRACKERS and receive 70% commission for every box of these yummy treats they sell!
________________________________________ We have a winner! Last Tuesday I published Issue 591 at 12:15 in the afternoon. Eight minutes later, the first to respond in the fastest reader response time ever was long-time reader, Scouter, and friend Matt Culbertson of Carlisle, PA.
________________________________________ Hi Andy, About your recent viewpoints on learning and applying The Patrol Method, I could swear that one of the purposes of IOLS (Introduction to Outdoor Living Skills) is to do exactly this! In fact, that’s what the introduction to this training component—required for all Scoutmasters and assistants—says, and here’s the quote: “Specifically, this hands-on…
________________________________________ Seven years and 266 issues ago I wrote a piece called “EAGLE—IT’S A NO-BRAINER!” A lot has happened since then, and a bunch of readers have asked me for an update. So here it is… This is for all Scouts BSA troop members but especially for the girls who joined beginning February 1st this year.
________________________________________ Hi Andy, One of the requirements for the rank of Scout states that one must “Explain the patrol method” (req. 3a). Yet Scouts BSA can’t seem to say what The Patrol Method is in any accurate or coherent way (I checked the Scout Handbook before writing to you).
________________________________________ Hi Andy, I’m a military veteran and former Scout. As Chair of the State of Michigan American Legion’s Scouting Committee, I regularly write articles for our Legion newspaper. I work hard at encouraging our Legion posts across the state to charter and sponsor Scouting units, but sometimes I feel I need a quote from someone…
________________________________________ Hi Andy, Our brand new Scouts BSA troop for girls is growing faster than we imagined. We were just four potential Scouts before January and, as the real kickoff has happened, we’ll quickly be at 14! Where it liked like we might be a single patrol we’re going to start off with two!
________________________________________ Dear Andy, I’m a former Boy Scout (Life rank) who got back into Scouting with my oldest son seven years ago. When he graduated from his Cub Scout pack three years ago, I allowed him to pick the troop of his choice, even though I knew it was poorly run—and still is—but that was his…
________________________________________ Hi Andy, In our pack, we have a Cub Scout who’s currently in the 6th grade (middle school), and he’s 9 years old. He started in our pack as a 3rd-grader, at age 6 (his school “skipped” him through kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades, based on their evaluations of his intellectual capacity), so, when he…
________________________________________ What’s the difference between this issue and 584 (without the “a”)? Check the SPECIAL NOTE includes in my answer to the last question here…the one about “camping nights.” ======================================== Hi Andy, On that question about how to “tent” an odd number of Scouts, my troop has used double-door “Timberline II’s” for that situation.
________________________________________ Hi Andy, On that question about how to “tent” an odd number of Scouts, my troop has used double-door “Timberline II’s” for that situation. The Scouts pitch two of these tents door-to-door, with a slight offset for entering and exiting.
________________________________________ Hi Andy, I attended an Eagle Scout court of honor today. The new Eagle gave out five (FIVE!) Eagle Scout Mentor pins and apologized that he couldn’t distribute more. Two of the recipients were his boss in his part-time job and a teacher who arranged and led three foreign trips that he went on.
________________________________________ For the bunch of readers who reached out to Scouter Ray Acocella and gave him a line on several highly usable advancement-tracking spreadsheets, THANKS! It’s a wonderful thing when we can help each other succeed! And I’m also happy to report that, the day after he wrote to me, the 90 year-old Scouting veteran Billy…
_______________________________________ Resolution for 2019: As a boots-on-the-ground commissioner, I’m going to do my level best, when I mentor the units I serve, to present ideas that’ll improve a unit’s program delivery methods in a way that they believe it’s their idea that just slipped their mind for a moment.
________________________________________ Hello Andy, My 11 year-old grandson wants to be an Eagle Scout, but he’s never been a Cub Scout. Can you guide me so I can help him figure out how to accomplish this goal? Thanks. (Sharon Saunders, Orange County Council, CA) Good news!
________________________________________ Hi Andy, Our troop is going to have a court of honor for our newest Eagle… He just turned 18 and earned, in total, 33 merit badges. As I understand it now, he can receive “palms” for the merit badges earned beyond the 21 required for Eagle rank at this court of honor (he won’t…
________________________________________ Hi! Thanks for your patience – It’s been exactly two months (my longest hiatus ever!) since my last column. I’m back and online now, so let’s get started… Hi Andy, Our troop is at work recruiting Webelos. At one of the packs we visited, one of their Webelos dens has a girl in it, and they…
________________________________________ The BSA has just published a statement related to new members of SCOUTS BSA and how this will relate to rank advancement. You may already have been alerted to this via direct contact or through your local council, so consider this “back-up” to that notification.
________________________________________ Hi Andy, I just read the very upsetting September 18 (Issue 575) letter from a parent about the off-the-reservation Scoutmaster and his assistants, and it caused me to wonder how many stories like this out there. But your response was right on, and I agree that these adults need to be gone.
CORRECTION On August 2 nd (Issue 572), I responded to Tom DiGuido’s letter that said, in part, “I’ve discovered in an article that the camping nights from Cub Scouts are to be counted in the National Outdoor Camping segment. I can’t see why this would be accurate.
________________________________________ I’ve just read a cautionary tale of—yes!—a misguided Commissioner! Seems the Scoutmasters and other volunteers of troops he’s assigned to can’t stand the guy. He’s taken it upon himself to dictate to these troops, giving orders instead of suggestions, telling Scoutmasters they have to “toe-the-line” or they’re out , stepping “inside” troops to reorganize their patrols…
________________________________________ Hi Andy, I’m Scoutmaster of a small (11 Scouts) troop. My biggest problem is getting our meetings more interesting and exciting for our Scouts—they’re bored! How can I keep them more engaged and excited about our meetings? (Steve Kopezna, SM, Suffolk County Council, NY) “I feel your pain”… seriously.
________________________________________ Hello Andy, As the advancement coordinator for our troop, I’m looking to promote the National Outdoor Awards program. We have a very active troop and I’m sure there are many Scouts who would strive to achieve more if they have a goal in mind.
________________________________________ “If you’re out and about some morning and you run into a jerk; okay, so you met a jerk. But if you keep running into jerks all day long… you’re the jerk.” – Raylan Givens ——————————————————————— Couple of weeks ago, Scouter Joe Martinez, who had just completed YPT, asked about the “no more than two-year tent-mate age…
________________________________________ On the morning of this day 120 years ago, the United States was hardly a recognized “world power”—this accolade went to Great Britain (and remained there until the early 20th Century). But by sunset of this day, America had taken its place—if not yet the lead—among the world’s dominant countries.
________________________________________ Last week, Scouter Joe Martinez, who had just completed YPT, asked about the “no more than two-year tent-mate age difference for Boy Scouts” and as part of his question wondered since, as he described it, “…youth sharing tents should not be more than two years apart in age…but it doesn’t say ‘must,’ so is it…
________________________________________ Dear Andy, Thank you for your support with my son, as his counselor for Communication merit badge and helping him promote the Order of the Arrow in his troop. While he was fulfilling the requirements for Communication, he needed to attend a city council meeting to take notes.
________________________________________ Hi Andy, On a Scout’s position(s) of responsibility relative to six months’ tenure in one or more slots, I advise our adult volunteers that if there’s a Scout who has this position but isn’t showing up to fulfill its responsibilities, then it’s time to remove the Scout from that position.
________________________________________ Dear Andy, Thank you for your informative and insightful columns! In light of the upcoming changes, I have a question… Why is it that the “Boy” Scout program has no restriction on the gender of the adult leaders providing oversight (this can be both male and female and even be two females on a Boy…
