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\nIn response to THE MANTOOTH BONE segment I published on December 31st, I\u2019ve heard from a bunch of Scouts about wanting more!<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s one\u2026<\/p>\n
I just read the excerpt about Eddie and I showed it to our troop. They agreed with me and they want to know the rest of the story! (Fawn Walden, Western Tennessee Area Council)<\/strong><\/p>\n And another\u2026<\/p>\n Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n THE MANTOOTH BONE = GOOD STUFF!<\/strong><\/p>\n Here\u2019s another summer camp bullying experience still vivid in my mind\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n I was 15 or so at my last summer camp 40 plus years ago. Wayne, one of the Scouts in our troop, was doing Lifesaving merit badge. Back in those days, he had to do an in-water \u201crescue\u201d of one of the counselors. This staffer was very uncooperative with the younger Scouts, to the point of being a bully. Wayne was about five feet tall, but full of piss and vinegar, so much so that, in school, he chose to switch from trumpet to the Sousaphone in 7th grade\u2014smallest Scout guy in the troop and the band, and he chose the Sousaphone\u2014\u2018nuff said. Anyway, after being almost drowned for the umpteenth time unsuccessfully pulling the counselor out, Wayne came to other Scouts for advice. We were one of those “wrong side of the tracks” sort of troops, but our schools were wrestling powerhouses (our high school regularly took the state championships in wrestling). We told Wayne we’d go with him and make sure this counselor gave him a fair shake in the pool. So the five of us go with Wayne to the pool, and he points out the counselor\u2014a big muscular guy, probably 185 pounds, with thick black curly hair…all over his chest. After seeing him, we huddled up with Wayne and coached him: “Get in close, get the biggest handful of that chest hair you can, and twist like there’s no tomorrow. Keep twisting until he goes limp, then pull his butt out.” Wayne tells the guy he’s ready, the guy smirks and jumps in. Wayne jumps in and goes after him. Didn’t take him very long to get a good handful, and twist away. The counselor made a sound like a moose in pain, and Wayne pulled him around on his back, and towed him out like a little lamb. Of course the counselor wasn’t real happy with Wayne, and said he cheated, but the group of us told him, \u201cAll’s fair in getting a victim out of the water, so now sign him off!” Deed done, Wayne got his merit badge. One of our group then told the counselor, “And, don’t be picking on the little Scouts. Do it again, maybe we’ll all come down here and try for that merit badge.” (Jeff Stone)<\/strong><\/p>\n Great story\u2014Thanks!<\/p>\n I had a similar situation as a Scout… the Lifesaving counselors would jam you underwater and literally push you down so far they’d stand on your shoulders and send you to the bottom (we did our “rescues” in about 20 feet of water). I learned two things:<\/p>\n Anybody does that, you grab his foot and pull him straight down with you.<\/p>\n If he struggles when you’re doing the cross-chest carry, jam your thumb straight into the softest part of his armpit. He’ll stop messing with you instantly!<\/p>\n Like Wayne, you don’t “out-fight” ’em, you out-smart ’em!<\/p>\n So folks, here\u2019s the deal\u2026 I\u2019m just about done with the final edit and THE MANTOOTH BONE\u2014a tale of Scout Eddie Starling, his adventures and misadventures in the sorriest troop in town, Max, his Eagle Scout but sort of goofy much older brother, Riley O’Malley, a feisty, self-aware girl you definitely don\u2019t mess with, and a Scoutmaster who maybe committed a murder\u2026or not\u2026 Running through the story is a deep hurt Eddie’s feeling, that he and his father must come to grips with. And you’ll find out just what the “Mantooth Bone<\/em>” really is! If you think you\u2019d be interested in the novel let me know. It\u2019ll be sensibly priced and thoroughly readable whether you’re ten or a hundred. <\/strong><\/p>\n Just shoot me a quick email with \u201cMantooth\u201d in the subject line and \u201cI\u2019m interested\u201d as the message, and we\u2019ll see where we go from there!<\/strong> The BSA’s Declaration of Religious Principles can be found in several locations online. Foremost is this affirmation: \u201cThe Boy Scouts of America maintains that no member can grow into the best kind of citizenship without recognizing an obligation to God.\u201d The BSA further states that \u201cThe Boy Scouts of America\u2026is absolutely nonsectarian in its attitude toward\u2026religious training\u201d and \u201c\u2026In no case where a unit is connected with a church or other distinctively religious organization shall members of other denomination or faith be required, because of their membership in the unit, to take part in or observe a religious ceremony distinctly unique to that organization or church.\u201d<\/p>\n However, while the BSA \u201c\u2026does not require membership in a religious organization or association for enrollment in the movement,\u201d the BSA nevertheless \u201c\u2026does prefer, and strongly encourages, membership and participation in the religious programs and activities of a church, synagogue, or other religious association.\u201d<\/p>\n I have it on the authority of an ordained Christian minister that the wording of a prayer is purely optional by the prayer leader, so long as it honors the twelfth point of the Scout Law in \u201crespecting the religious beliefs of others.\u201d<\/p>\n All Scout troops\u2014whether church-sponsored or not\u2014have available to them the positions of Chaplain (usually a registered adult) and Chaplain Aide (a Scout), and information on the responsibilities of each is likewise available online (scouting.org).<\/p>\n All Scouting units you have a wonderful opportunity waiting right around the corner: Scout Sunday in February (check online for the actual date, which can vary by faith or denomination). Why are Merit Badge Applications called \u201cBlue Cards\u201d? (Beth Bell, Troop Advancement Chair, Central Florida Council)<\/strong><\/p>\n They’ve just sort of “always” been blue and printed on card stock…even over 60 years ago, when I was a Scout. My guess is that it’s simply a nickname that stuck. That’s about the most help I can be on this… Maybe you might want to check with a Scout memorabilia expert or museum (you can find these folks online)…<\/p>\n Thanks, Andy. The scout who\u2019s asking is actually wondering more about the history of the name “blue card.” His guess is that somewhere in military history, like Army ROTC maybe, “blue cards” were used in an advanced leadership training program, or maybe it\u2019s just that it was the available color of paper when merit badge applications began printing. Can you give us more insight? (Beth)<\/strong><\/p>\n For your answer, go here: Merit Badge application – MeritBadge.Org<\/p>\n Although I can tell you that, back in the early 1930\u2019s they were white card stock (I have a couple of my father\u2019s from that era), and some time over the next 20 or so years were re-printed dubbed \u201cBlue Cards.\u201d Is it specified somewhere how often a troop committee must meet? If so, what\u2019s the reference, please? I\u2019m asking because I\u2019ve heard monthly, every other month, and also at the discretion of the Committee Chair with the chartered organization’s consent. Obviously, it can’t be all of these, so I’m trying to find the definitive answer, if there is one. (Tom Scarpelli, MC, Tidewater Council, TX)<\/strong><\/p>\n First, check the BSA’s TROOP COMMITTEE GUIDEBOOK. In there, I believe you’ll find that troop committees work best when they meet once a month at a regularly scheduled time and place. Most troops hold committee meetings at the same location as the troop meeting, selecting the meeting of the month farthest away from the troop’s major outing-of-the-month, in order to make sure that all necessary arrangements not handled by the Scouts themselves (e.g., tour permit, campsite reservation, outfitter fees if any) are taken care of sooner rather than later. This once-a-month arrangement also allows for three (minimum) committee members available at least once a month for rank advancement boards of review for the Scouts.<\/p>\n Happy Scouting!<\/strong><\/p>\n Andy<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Have a question? Facing a dilemma? Wondering where to find a BSA policy or guideline? Write to askandybsa@yahoo.com. Please include your name and council. (If you\u2019d prefer to be anonymous, if published, let me know and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll do.)<\/strong><\/p>\n [No. 469 \u2013 1\/5\/2016 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 Andy McCommish 2016]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ________________________________________ In response to THE MANTOOTH BONE segment I published on December 31st, I\u2019ve heard from a bunch of Scouts about wanting more! Here\u2019s one\u2026 I just read the excerpt about Eddie and I showed it to our troop. They agreed with me and they want to know the rest of the story! (Fawn Walden, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1943"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1954,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1943\/revisions\/1954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nI was recently asked about prayers at troop meetings and events (e.g., \u201cScouts Own\u201d services while on camp-outs, and so here\u2019s the result of what I\u2019ve learned, which may be useful to you\u2026<\/p>\n
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\nDear Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nDear Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n