________________________________________ 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 […]

_______________________________________ 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. (I’ve found that hollering Hey, that’s […]

________________________________________ 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! Your grandson doesn’t need to have been a Cub Scout […]

________________________________________ 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 […]

________________________________________ 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, […]

________________________________________ 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. Here it is, in full, from the BSA. Please […]

  ________________________________________ 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. But […]

CORRECTION On August 2nd (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. Why would a Boy Scout award count Cub Scout […]

________________________________________ 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 […]