Rule No. 77: • A clear conscience is usually the sign of a faulty memory. ________________________________________ Dear Andy, First off I’d like to thank you for all your hard work and the great service your columns provide. Many times, your advice and clarifications on BSA policy have kept me “on track” in my troop. I’m […]

Rule No. 76: • You can tell some Scoutmasters there are four billion stars in the universe and he believes you, but tell him the Senior Patrol Leader is supposed to be running the troop meeting and he looks at you like you’ve just had frogs leap out of your mouth. ________________________________________ Dear Andy, As […]

________________________________________ Rule No. 75: • You can fix the blame, or you can fix the problem; take your pick. ________________________________________ Do we have great readers here? You bet we do! Here’s a note by Chris, from the BSA’s National Advancement Team: Thanks Andy, Our Twitter followers increased by about 50% thanks to you, and there […]

Rule No. 73: Learn a subject or skill so well that you can teach it; by teaching it you’ll understand it and it’ll stay with you for life. Rule No. 74: Commissioners: If you want to learn a unit’s greatest weakness, listen to what they brag about. ________________________________________ Hi Andy, Can you let your readers […]

Rule No. 72: • The BSA trainer’s motto: “Look Prepared.” ________________________________________ Dear Andy, Some of the finest leaders in Scouting are female, and we want to find more! I’m a male District Commissioner; one of our district’s best Unit Commissioners is female, and together we’re trying to create a course for this fall’s University of […]

Rule No. 71: • Procrastination can always be solved…eventually. ________________________________________ SHOWDOWN TIME! Here are the answers to Sunday’s quiz, and the BSA sources behind the answers. How did YOU do? Did any surprise you? 1. Packs and troops can decide how much of the uniform they want to wear. FALSE SCOUTMASTER HANDBOOK (p. 9): Wearing […]

________________________________________ Rule No. 70: • Light travels faster than sound, which is why some people look intelligent…until you hear what they have to say. ________________________________________ GOOD NEWS! That little email hack problem I had a while back has been solved. Feel free to send to askandybsa@yahoo.com ________________________________________ OK, Folks, here’s a little quiz for you. […]

____________________________________________ Rule No. 69: • First Law of Guides, Manuals, and Handbooks: The topic you need the most is always absent from the index. ________________________________________ Hi Andy, Youth Protection guidelines state that a Scout “can’t sleep in a tent with an adult who is not his parent or guardian?” But can a Scout sleep in […]

Rule No. 68: • When contemplating the replacement or removal of a volunteer, make the decision with surgical precision, then carry it out with compassion. ________________________________________ The 6 Inescapable Phases of All Projects: 1. Enthusiasm 2. Disillusionment 3. Panic 4. Search for the guilty 5. Punishment of the innocent 6. Praise and honors for the […]

Rule No. 67: “No” and “Let me think about that” have identical meanings. Dear Andy, I’m a pretty new-out-of-the-box Assistant Scoutmaster for a troop that’s been around for some seven decades, with a Scoutmaster who acts like he’s been around even longer.  I’ve done my “Scouter’s homework” and feel pretty confident that I’m up on […]