The Bloggers
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________________________________________ I'm on a brief vacation at the moment, so I prepared this in advance. I'll be back next week to answer questions, help solve problems, and guide you to finding what you're looking for. Meanwhile, here are some insights that may be useful to Scouters and Scouting youth leaders alike.
________________________________________ Hi Andy, I recently transferred councils and connected with a new troop. This troop's been around for over 50 years but right now is under brand-new adult leadership. They're trying their best to elevate the troop to truly "Scout-Led," per Baden-Powell, and so we've just had patrol elections for Patrol Leaders.
________________________________________ In response to THE MANTOOTH BONE segment I published on December 31st, I've heard from a bunch of Scouts about wanting more! Here's one… I just read the excerpt about Eddie and I showed it to our troop. They agreed with me and they want to know the rest of the story!
________________________________________ Thank you, one and all! Frankly, I'm shocked and delighted to hear from so many readers asking for a year-end installment of THE MANTOOTH BONE . So here you have it, with my apology for the oversight and my gratitude for your interest… This part of the story takes place in the first third of the…
________________________________________ Dear Andy, Last week (December 22 – Issue 466), in response to a 14 year-old Scout who's been getting into fights, with punching Scouts in the face, kicking them in the shins with steel-toed boots, and threatening Scouts with a knife, you ended by saying, "…since you also mentioned that he may be going with a…
________________________________________ Mary Tomchuk, of the Patriots' Path Council in New Jersey, educator; Eagle Scout Mom; Silver Beaver and Silver Antelope, St. George and Bronze Pelican recipient; Scouter extraordinaire, has too soon Gone Home. She touched, it's safe to say, thousands of lives including my own.
________________________________________ A fine Scouting friend, and true gentleman, Kendall Brown, has "gone home." Thank you, Kendall. It was my honor to have known you. To your family, please accept my profound sympathy for your–our–loss. ———————————————————————- Dear Andy, One particular Scout in our troop, who's been with us for a couple of years now, seems to need ongoing…
________________________________________ Dear Andy, I have a question about one of the Q&A's in your December 1st column about the relationship between chartered organizations and the Scouting units they sponsor. This is the reference point I'm using: www.scouting.org/About/FactSheets/operating_orgs.aspx Your advice about the service projects for the chartered organization was great, up until your "by the way" comment…
________________________________________ Dear Andy, I have a question regarding the relationship between a troop and its chartered organization-in our case, a church, which provides us with meeting and storage spaces. In return, the Scouts of our troop devote between 20 and 25 service project days a year for the church.
________________________________________ Dear Andy, I just read your last week's issue (November 19th) regarding adult leader training. I may have missed reading it in your reply, but I thought Youth Protection Training was mandatory for all adult leaders who have contact with youth, and I thought this was a BSA-wide thing, as it is in our council.
________________________________________ Dear Andy, I've searched your past issues, and couldn't find an answer to this question, so maybe I'm the first… I recently returned from the first of our two Wood Badge weekends, at which we were all given patrol emblems.
________________________________________ Here's more on the idea of parents tagging along on every possible Boy Scout outing… Hi Andy, "Amen" to discouraging continual parental accompaniment! Thanks for discouraging continual parental accompaniment on overnighters and outings. In addition to interfering with peer-to-peer relationships (Senior Patrol Leader, Patrol Leaders, and patrol-mates), as you pointed out, here are a few…
________________________________________ Dear Andy, I usually agree with most everything you have for us out here in the field, but I disagree on the point you made in your October 22 issue (No. 458), when you said, "One of the saddest things I ever heard was just a few years ago at an Eagle court of honor…
________________________________________ Hi Andy, While I know that the Camping and Service logs in the back of the Scout Handbook are great tools to use in keeping track of these activities, is the use of these mandatory, or is this in the realm of "adding to requirements"?
________________________________________ Hi Andy, I found this very nice Personal Management Merit Badge Workbook using a google search. I would like to use it for our Merit Badge College, but it has a copyright: "Workbook © Copyright 2015 – U.S. Scouting Service Project, Inc.
________________________________________ Dear Andy, The Silver Beaver nomination process seems to blur across the BSA councils. Councils don't like to reveal their selection process, have crude ranking procedures, ignore potential information on the personal records, don't ask for recommendation letters, and so forth.
________________________________________ Dear Andy, On the question of "Should a group of Scouters band together and purchase a James E. West Fellowship for another Scouter?"-Without a doubt, Yes! I'm on the professional side of the campsite. When I was promoted from District Director to Development Officer, the volunteers of my district wanted to demonstrate their appreciation for…
________________________________________ Here are some interesting updates on "World Scout Scarf (Neckerchief) Day" that I missed but my readers didn't… Proof that being glib isn't nearly as important as being a good researcher! Hi Andy, In your response to Mitch Erickson in your September 8th column about wearing the neckerchief, you didn't mention "World Scout Scarf Day…
________________________________________ Dear Andy, For an upcoming District Awards annual dinner, some of us Scouters have come up with the idea of collecting $1,000 between us and recognizing our outgoing District Chair with a James E. West Fellowship. A few of us aren't so sure this is a good idea, but we can't seem to get a…
________________________________________ Hi Andy, I must have looked this up twenty different ways on Google, and still can't find an answer anywhere… What part(s) of a Cub/Webelos uniform "carries over" to a Boy Scout uniform? For years I've been told it's only the Arrow of Light; are there any others, like the Cub Scout Religious Emblem or…
________________________________________ Hi Andy, I'm told that a Webelos II den will be ready to cross over right now, in September. Seems to me this is too early. They haven't even started their second year yet. Makes me wonder if the Den Leader is anxious to be done with that position and the sooner the boys are…
________________________________________ I tried jeans. Just once. I thought, well, as a Commissioner visiting one of the troops I serve, maybe I should look like the Scoutmaster and his assistants, and most of the Scouts. Big mistake. The first comment when I walked into the troop meeting was, "Hey, Andy, you're outa uniform!"
________________________________________ Hi Andy, In your July 30th column (No. 448), about that Venturer in the Silicon Valley area, I almost get the feeling someone's looking for reason not to help this young man. Yes, 60 miles might sound like a long distance, but in that area people often commute two or more hours by car to…
________________________________________ Hi Andy, I have a new "Andy's Rule" for you, that I learned the hard way: "It's easier to grow a spine than to have someone manually insert it." (Jimmy Day) Amen, Brother! ========== Hi Andy, I joined Scouts as a volunteer when my sons joined because I always support my boys 100% in whatever they…
________________________________________ Hi Andy, I have to point out your response about shooting sports targets isn't completely right. Starting on page 52 of the BSA NATIONAL SHOOTING SPORTS MANUAL, it says the following for Boy Scout and Varsity Scout Air Rifle, Rifle, and Archery; and Venturing and Sea Scout Rifle: "…are allowed to use tasteful and appropriate…
________________________________________ Fast upon us is the Scout summer camp season. I'm already contemplating August-September and the phone calls that will begin then. You see, I'm a Merit Badge Counselor for five in the aquatic group. "It rained the day of my final swim test, and they canceled it."
________________________________________ Hi Folks! I'll be traveling for the next 13 days, so we'll have to skip next week's column. I'll be back online the week of June 15th, so keep those letters comin' in! Happy Scouting! (Just the other day, somebody asked me, "So, what do you do?"
________________________________________ Hello Andy, I just read your Issue 443 (May 19th). BRAVO! That letter to you about a troop equipment trailer and insurance hit the nail on the head! We have a "troop shed" that requires no insurance of any kind.
________________________________________ My previous column closed on a bullying scenario-something that seems to be in the news more and more these days. When I was a kid growing up, bullies were pretty easy to handle. You got a bunch of your neighborhood buddies together, confronted the jerk, and told him to cut it out "or else" (even…
________________________________________ To my many Scouters, Scouts, parents, professionals, and other loyal readers, sincere thanks for your patience! These past few weeks have been jam-packed with all sorts of responsibilities-family, professional, and volunteer. As a result, this column is regrettably way off-schedule.
________________________________________ Dear Andy, The last requirement for the Mile Swim patch reads as follows: "Swim 1 mile over a measured course that has been approved by the trained instructor who will supervise the swim." Can you please clarify the meaning of this requirement?
________________________________________ Hi Andy, Is it a requirement to have a ceremony after becoming an Eagle Scout? My son says he doesn't want one, and I'm saddened by this. Maybe he will change his mind, but I'm not very hopeful and getting grayer by the minute.
________________________________________ Hi Andy, Great April Fool's column last week… or I truly hope it was I've been an avid reader for quite a well and have always found useful information in your columns. I've also reached out a few times with questions, and your replies were consistently prompt and to the point.
________________________________________ STUMPERS! Did you ever get asked a question that you're just not sure how to answer? I've had a few, so I thought I'd share them with you. Maybe you can come up with an answer. Here we go… Dear Andy, I've heard that a new merit badge-Hunting-will require bagging small game and migratory birds…
________________________________________ Here's a letter I received from Paul Wolf, the USSSP.ORG's resident guru on advancement requirements… Hi Andy – In your column last week (No. 436 – March 10, 2015), one of your readers asked, "Is there a process by which changes to the requirements for merit badges are introduced?"
________________________________________ Dear Andy, I have all the original "See-N-Do" series of slides from the 70s, but I don't have the script to go with them. I'd like to make a PowerPoint presentation out of these and add a narration. Would any of your readers happen to have anything that resembles the original script, or a guide…
________________________________________ Dear Andy, While at the Philmont Training Center for a week-long session on advancement a few years ago-which overall was very good-we spent part of one day talking about getting a new Scout to First Class in his first year.
________________________________________ Dear Andy, Does a troop have to accept any boy who wants to join? (Name & Council Withheld) "Have to" is an interesting way to phrase your question, so let me ask… What's the situation that's prompting the question? In other words, what's "the question behind the question"?
________________________________________ In my January 13th column (No. 431), in response to a reader's comment about "lard-butt Eagle Scouts," I responded, "Yup, pull-ups are still required for Personal Fitness merit badge." I was right and wrong at the same time. Our USSSP resident expert on advancement requirements, Paul Wolf, mentioned to me that "actually, that is no…
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________________________________________ Thanks to you loyal readers and great Scouters for being patient with me! Yup, took a vacation. But by the time I returned I had a major client assignment in my lap, so I did the unthinkable: I let my work come before my Scouting commitment!
________________________________________ Dear Andy, A Life Scout in my troop informed me last week that his Eagle project was complete and that he'd like to have a Scoutmaster conference with me. While I was aware that the project was in the works, I was surprised to find out it had been completed, because no one in the…
________________________________________ Happy New Year Andy, As a regular reader, I've been able to serve as a more effective commissioner. I got a "paycheck" last night that I want to share with you. It was at an Eagle court of honor for a Scout that had needed help navigating around some adults.
________________________________________ Dear Andy, I'm the Chartered Organization Representative and Committee Chair for our troop. I'm looking for the best way to communicate with the troop, the parents, and the troop committee. We have "Scoutlander" and it's just not user-friendly. Some want "Scout Track," but I don't want advancement tracking because that's done through our council service…
________________________________________ Hi Andy, I just gotta know! When can we expect to see more of "A Winter Tale"? You've done a great job with the first two parts. They remind me a lot of the old fiction stories about Scouts from about the time of WWI.
________________________________________ Here's what a reader recently had to say about Eagle Scouts… Most last-minute Eagles think the rank will help them in the future, particularly getting into the military academies. These last-minute opportunists dilute the accomplishments of real Eagle Scouts. I remember hearing, at a troop meeting, "Who's that guy?"
________________________________________ Dear Andy, In our district, registration fees for district events are paid by having checks made out to an individual. The claim for doing this is so that the district, by circumventing the council's accounting system, can have direct and instant access to the funds.
________________________________________ Dear Andy, When I click on the bookmark I have for your columns, I ask myself, "How is he going to find a way to be unkind this week?" Yes, I know this isn't a discussion forum and I'm not asking a question.
