[NO. 668 \u2013 MY 20TH YEAR OF HELPING SCOUTS, SCOUTERS, & PARENTS]<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve been looking at various viewpoints on uniforms in the past several weeks. Here are some more that just came in. We also have some further comments about parent-drivers staying at a troop\u2019s campouts, sometimes with dining provided by the Scouts\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n When I first joined Scouts, I used the money I earned selling newspapers (and netting 2.5 cents per paper) on the streets of southcentral Los Angeles to buy my own uniform: $10.41. Later, I bought the green-with-white-belt Explorer uniform for only slightly more. That took sales of about 600 newspapers.<\/strong><\/p>\n A few years ago, one of the boys for whom I was legal guardian (there were three kids in all), wanted to be a Scout (he went on to earn Life rank!), so he had more than one uniform along the way (kids do have habit of growing). At that time, shirt, pants, belt, and necessary insignia cost over $100 and was no bargain because this \u201cBSA official uniform\u201d had been made somewhere in Asia, and the shirt\u2019s buttons were sewn in a nice row along the shirttail\u2014no wearing it till we removed the buttons and sewed them to meet the buttonholes! (Dean Whinery, Life-long Scouting volunteer & council paraprofessional, now in Zacatecas, M\u00e9xico)<\/strong><\/p>\n Yup, I get it. My youngest son had any number of uniforms between 1988 and 1998\u2014neckerchiefs, shorts, pants, belt, knee- and short-socks, cap\u2014and none of them cost less than $100. Ouch!<\/p>\n In the late 1990\u2019s, when I worked as my council\u2019s Sea Scout Commodore (about the same sort of job as a Unit Commissioner), the recommended uniform shirts and pants came from the Dickies brand (the BSA didn\u2019t sell uniforms for Sea Scouts or their adult volunteers). This was oaky by me, because a khaki shirt-and-pants combo from Dickies cost me about 70 bucks, while a comparable combo from the BSA ran over 90 simoleons!<\/p>\n Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n On the issue of driving parents, if a group of them camps and cooks for themselves, they send several positive messages to the Scouts (assuming the Scouts are within sight of them). First, cooking can be fun (assuming they\u2019re not kvetching at each other). They can also create interesting dishes that the Scouts can aspire to. Plus, they\u2019ll be \u201cdemonstrating\u201d good cooking methods (bring the water to an active boil before dumping the macaroni in), and techniques (use a plastic spatula in the no-stick frying pan). (Mitch Erickson, UC + executive board, Patriots\u2019 Path Council, NJ)<\/strong><\/p>\n Your ideas about adults cooking and Scouts looking on in awe and admiration are indeed interesting. There’s just one little problem. Scouting’s method of learning is not for youth to watch and listen–it’s for Scouts to DO. To actively dig their hands in, get grimy, make mistakes and fix them, encounter problems and solve them–all with an adult “safety net” but without direct interference except on issues of safety. Scouting is kinetic and visceral. Scouting is hands-on, not hands-twiddling-thumbs while listening to some adult drone on about how to do everything while all are surrounded by parents and others steeled to immediately jump in and keep Scouts from making mistakes.<\/p>\n Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n For camping trips with parents and adult volunteers driving, I\u2019m suggesting one more thing\u2014arrange it so that the parent group can sort of \u201cshow off.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Some of my favorite times as a parent when my sons were Scouts were when we went camping with the troop. The Scouts would do their thing in their patrols, and the parents and leaders would form their own “patrols” for cooking and such. We parents took great delight trying to outdo one another with creative menus.<\/strong><\/p>\n Occasionally, we\u2019d pitch our campsites downwind from the patrols Scouts and cooked things that smelled really good. Since many of the Scouts didn\u2019t know that \u201ccooking\u201d can be much more than a scorched pot with mac-and-cheese lumping up at the bottom, \u201ctube steaks\u201d (hot dogs) skewered on a branch and held over the flame, and powdered \u201cbug juice.\u201d Camping upwind of us, our tasty aromas from beef Stroganoff, roasted corncobs, and a cranberry cobbler would waft in their direction, often yielding a Patrol Leader or two coming over to our campsite to watch what was going on and get better whiffs of those tasty aromas.<\/strong><\/p>\n Most times, we parents would pre-plan, making way more cranberry cobbler that we\u2019d ever need or bringing more \u201ds\u2019mores\u201d supplies than we could possibly finish. Then we\u2019d tell the Scouts about our over-cooking \u201cproblem\u201d and ask them if they might be able to help us off-load our excess desserts. Their eyes would light up! \u201cSure we can help!\u201d they\u2019d say.<\/strong><\/p>\n For breakfasts, we\u2019d usually bake multiple batches of cinnamon rolls, using a couple of Dutch ovens. Same thing: A couple of Scouts would show up at our patrol gateway, wide-eyed and asking what we\u2019re cooking now. For this, we\u2019d have the raw materials bagged in proper quantities for a normal patrol size and we had a couple of recipe card for them. (On Sunday mornings after the troop\u2019s Scouts\u2019 Own service, we\u2019d notice as the Scouts were packing up, that their unopened little boxes of Count Chocula, Lucky Charms, and Froot Loops were getting repacked to take home. Mission Accomplished! (Robby Wright, ACC, San Diego-Imperial Council, CA)<\/strong><\/p>\n What you and other parents did was a wonderful parent-kind-of gesture, and surely appreciated. But I\u2019m a bit confused. I\u2019d though this level of the Scouting programs was about Scouts doing things for themselves, with no parents around. I recall the famous quotation, \u201cNever do for Scouts what they can do for themselves\u201d so I\u2019m not sure that what those troop parents did fits with Scouting\u2019s purposeful plan of adults being \u201cguides on the sides\u201d instead of \u201csages on the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n ==========<\/p>\n Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n I read your piece about adults grumbling about gas money to drive their Scouts to outings and the meal kerfuffle regarding both Scouts and adults.<\/strong><\/p>\n About parents driving their sons or daughters and maybe another Scout or two, I agree that whatever dollars are spent on gas might at the most equal a couple of Chili\u2019s hamburgers, and I also agree that gas is a small cost relative to the benefits of Scouting for our kids, so how about just sucking it up. That said, if the week-long summer camp is the three- to five-hour drive, one way, then a flat dollar amount for their vehicle and time is a fine gesture, sure to be appreciated by all (and maybe even refused by some).<\/strong><\/p>\n Besides, it\u2019s likely that the parents\u2019 gas expenses may be tax-deductible. warranted. Plus, how about recognizing all parent-drivers at courts of honor\u2014a I think a public show of thanks (and maybe a small token from that camp) can go a long way!<\/strong><\/p>\n About who cooks what: In our troop the patrols do cook all meals to include leaders and parents. As Scoutmaster, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s much of an issue, but if it ever becomes one, we\u2019ll be sure to have the Patrol Leaders Council decide what to do.<\/strong><\/p>\n One way to handle this is to have the adults cook for themselves as a \u201cpatrol\u201d of their own. (Joe Sefcik, SM, Connecticut Rivers Council)<\/strong><\/p>\n I think you\u2019re really onto something with your idea of recognizing all adults\u2014parents or not and drivers or some other contribution to the troop\u2014at every court of honor. Yes, these events are for the Scouts, but having \u201caudience members\u201d stand for recognition goes a long, long way! (A public “thank you” always trumps a couple o\u2019 bucks!)<\/p>\n As for Scouts cooking, serving, and cleaning up for parents and such, I think that horse has been beaten up enough today.<\/p>\n Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay positive!<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Andy<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I will personally answer every message I receive. There\u2019s no \u201cwriting staff\u201d\u2014just me. When writing, please include your name & council. If you\u2019d rather be anonymous\u2014if published\u2014just tell me and I\u2019ll honor that. Although these columns are copyrighted, you have my okay to quote or reproduce any column or part, so long as it\u2019s attributed: \u201cAsk Andy\u201d by Andy McCommish.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n [No. 668\u2013 3\/2\/2021 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 2021 Andy McCommish]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [NO. 668 \u2013 MY 20TH YEAR OF HELPING SCOUTS, SCOUTERS, & PARENTS] We\u2019ve been looking at various viewpoints on uniforms in the past several weeks. Here are some more that just came in. We also have some further comments about parent-drivers staying at a troop\u2019s campouts, sometimes with dining provided by the Scouts\u2026 Hi Andy, […]<\/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-2730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2730","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=2730"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2733,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2730\/revisions\/2733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHappy Scouting!<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n