Hi Andy, I enjoy reading your weekly columns… But I do notice that the BSA’s GUIDE TO SAFE SCOUTING seems to be catching so many of us left and right. I did notice one slight problem with your answer to the question on the composition of PLC (Patrol Leaders Council) meetings (Issue #600). You said […]

Dear Andy, I know that many families—especially military families—move during the summer and then have to find a new troop for their Scout(s) to join once the school year starts. (We live in a city that hosts a military training base, which means we have plenty of families that go through this each summer.) This […]

I’m looking at a postage stamp at the moment. Just a tiny bit of paper with some ink on one side and glue on the other. Pretty insignificant, you’d think. After all, the envelopes and packages it’s affixed to are often much more valuable, carrying contracts and paychecks, letters of remembrance and love and friendship, […]

________________________________________ ~ By Presidential Proclamation ~ Police Week ~ May 12th through May 18th Peace Officers Memorial Day ~ Wednesday – May 15th TOMORROW you will see NATIONWIDE LOWERING of the NATIONAL COLORS and the FLAGS of EACH STATE. Please do the same for the AMERICAN FLAG you may display at your own home ~ […]

________________________________________ Hi Andy, Our troop has logo T-shirts that both our Scouts and our adult volunteers wear. And, for a parallel troop for girls that we’re starting up, we’re now ordering T-shirts for the girls, in a female cut. Okay so far, but then, in preparation for a fund-raising car wash, the mothers on our […]

________________________________________ Hi Andy, I’m a bit confused and need your help understanding something regarding Youth Protection. I’m a registered leader in a Cub Scout pack and, as such, have completed the BSA’s Youth Protection Training. Our pack is sponsored by a Roman Catholic parish, which happens to be a different denomination from my own. I’ve […]

________________________________________ Huge THANKS to the Scouters of the Michigan Crossroads Council 2019 Academy of Scouting & College of Commissioner Science! Michigan Crossroads is a unique “super-council,” comprised of four councils functioning as “districts” in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula (locally called “The Mitten”): Great Lakes Field Service Council, President Ford Field Service Council, Southern Shores Field Service […]

________________________________________ Hi Andy, It’s always been my belief that, as a registered adult leader, I could make and receive phone calls to and from my Scouts, but the most current BSA policy on this says that “private online communications (texting, phone calls, chat, IM, etc.) must include another registered leader or parent. Is a regular […]

________________________________________ Hi Andy, I just attended a College of Commissioner Science. At several junctures, other Commissioners mentioned uniform inspections as being “old-school” and for fuddy-duddies. I’ve poked around on BSA and affiliated websites, and found plenty of PDF versions of the BSA’s Uniform Inspection Form as well as some PowerPoints of indeterminate vintage, but I […]

________________________________________ SCOUT CRACKERS!  BRAND NEW!  JUST FOR SCOUTS!   The BSA just launched a new fund-raising program for Scouts BSA troops for boys and for girls! Almost five years in the making, your Scouts will now be able to sell SCOUT CRACKERS and receive 70% commission for every box of these yummy treats they sell! […]