________________________________________ Do YOU subscribe to the BSA’s “ADVANCEMENT NEWS”? This isn’t a “blog”—it’s a newsletter published about ten times a year that you can subscribe to. Each article is written by an advancement expert and vetted by the BSA National Advancement Team. As a true newsletter, it brings you up-to-the-minute information on advancement happenings as […]

________________________________________ Please take a moment of silent personal reflection before reading this column, in respect to the victims of the Las Vegas massacre and their families, and to honor all those who responded immediately and afterward to this singular tragedy. Thank you. ====================== Hi Andy, Great column last week! I have a situation to share—somewhat […]

________________________________________ Hi Andy, One of the Cub Scout packs I serve is struggling because of the lack of parent participation. I need some good advice on how to approach parents at upcoming recruitment nights and what to say. Can you help me out here? (Sten Oswald, UC, Minsi Trails Council, PA) The smartest pack committee […]

________________________________________ Just a heads-up… I’ll be traveling sans computer till September 22nd, so no columns on the 12th or 19th. But when I return I’ll be personally answering every letter and there will definitely be a new column on the 26th! ========== Hi Andy – From your August 29th column, I found the term “third […]

________________________________________ Dear Andy, We have an Eagle Scout candidate who transferred from our troop to another when he was a Star Scout. While at that other troop he received his Life rank. Following this, he transferred back to our troop and has since completed all requirements for Eagle. The council staff, while reviewing his Eagle […]

________________________________________ Hi Andy, Just read your last week’s comments about “how any knots?” and just had to share this with you… A couple of my own uniforms have 12 square knots, which drives at least one Scouter friend of mine nuts! He actually TOLD me—on three separate occasions—that I MUST remove the District Award of […]

________________________________________ Hi Andy, Thanks to a great district committee and a marvelous nomination I hadn’t expected, I’ve recently received the District Award of Merit and, with it, my tenth “square knot.” But then, at our summer Roundtable, a long-time Scouting friend who scanned my uniform shirt pointed out to me that the BSA only allows […]

________________________________________ Hi Andy, I’m a kinda new (seven months) Scoutmaster. My problem is that, here we are, mid-summer, and I’m seeing our troop’s Life Scouts flounder and squander their time with no clear direction toward Eagle; so far, they’ve wasted a half-year of their Scouting lives doing little to nothing in the advancement arena. We […]

________________________________________ Messages have been flying around the Internet ever since President Trump’s speech at the National Scout Jamboree yesterday. The USSSP has received a bunch and I’m sure the BSA has received even more. I’ve received a number also, and the very best one I’ve seen is from a Scouter in my home council: Howard […]

________________________________________ Just a quick heads-up, folks… (If I can remember what month this is!) I’ve been traveling for the past couple of weeks, with a last stop coming up at the Jamboree on July 23-24. On Monday, the 24th, I’ll be lunching with the great Scouter-Rotarians at the IFSR exhibit and then giving a talk […]