Dear Andy, I’m a District Advancement Chair and have a problem with the four “historical” merit badges that the BSA has just reissued: Carpentry, Pathfinding, Signaling, and Tracking. Just where are we supposed to find Merit Badge Counselors for these? I’ve put out emails to our troop leaders and Commissioners, asking them to talk with […]

Dear Andy, I’m a Sea Scout leader, and it was with great excitement that I heard that National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) will now be open to females. For years, there have been all these great opportunities in Scouting, but because they only accepted boys, I didn’t feel that I could send any of my […]

Dear Andy, I was going through my old Scout equipment the other day with my grandson. Even though I’ll be 58 this year I still have everything I used when Scouting was a big part of my life. My grandson, who’s just 6, was full of questions about everything. While we were taking my mess […]

Andy, As an Assistant Council Commissioner I visited a local troop and discovered that there are instances of boys having merit badges where the requirements were not met. In particular, parents that are registered Merit Badge Counselors had signed off their own son’s badges. Additionally, there were instances of merit badges earned at summer camp […]

****************************************************** “www.scoutstuff.org” news: Thirteen new and exciting Cub Scout Academics & Sports Program Belt Loops have arrived! These new Belt Loops focus on change and innovation, and feature topics that today’s Cub Scouts will enjoy exploring, including Skateboarding, Video Games, and Photography to mention a few. Read about the newest additions in the latest Academics […]

Hi Andy, Can a council demand letters of recommendation for an Eagle board of review? Our District Advancement Chair says that this demand can be made because the Council Advancement Chair has said that this is a council’s choice. Since there’s nothing on the application or worksheet to this effect, we have an Eagle candidate […]

Hey Andy, In reading your January 10th column “preamble,” it makes me start to wonder: Where’s the book! You ought to have more than enough material for at least one book about questions, observations, and experiences, and some thoughts on the more frequently recurring themes and issues that you’ve addressed over the years. I’ve been […]

Dear Andy, What’s the definition of “service” for the Star and Life service hours requirements? I’m told it’s service to others not normally done in the course of normal school or religious or other organizational (sports, for instance, being part of the baseball team repairing the diamond before spring practice) requirements. Is this correct, or […]

This is a landmark column: It’s the first in what’s now my tenth year of listening to you and writing for you. When in 2001 I first began these columns, I had little idea how fast and far they would grow—all by word-of-mouth! Now, in addition to receiving letters literally daily, many councils around the […]

Dear Andy, Whatever happened to the great index of your columns? It was very helpful when questions arose and I wanted to find out what you had to say on the subject. (Tricia Barber) Just like everything else on the usssp website, that index was done by a volunteer, and he, unfortunately, ran out of […]