{"id":383,"date":"2011-06-28T09:02:51","date_gmt":"2011-06-28T13:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/?p=383"},"modified":"2011-11-08T09:04:01","modified_gmt":"2011-11-08T14:04:01","slug":"issue-262-june-28-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/2011\/06\/issue-262-june-28-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"Issue 262 &#8211; June 28, 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #003300; font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Andy\u2019s Rule No. 15<\/span>: <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #800000; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: medium;\"><em>Everyone succeeds one hundred percent of the time\u2026at what they\u2019re really up to. <\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #003300; font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> Andy\u2019s Rule No. 16<\/span>: <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #800000; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: medium;\"><em>Scouts and teabags: You never know how strong they can really be till they get themselves in a bit of hot water. <\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #003300; font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> Andy\u2019s Rule No. 17<\/span>: <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #800000; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: medium;\"><em>The only sensible answer to the question, \u201cMay I be brutally honest?\u201d is, \u201cNo.\u201d <\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #003300; font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Andy\u2019s Rule No. 18<\/span>: <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #800000; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: medium;\"><em>Beware any Scouter who\u2019d rather be wrong than take the time to look it up. <\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p align=\"justify\">\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong> I\u2019ve just returned from taking my troop to summer camp for the 22<\/strong><sup><strong>nd<\/strong><\/sup><strong> consecutive year. Igot into quite an interesting discussion with some of the other leadersconcerning whether or not to remove our hats at flag raising and lowering ceremonies.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong> My son was in the Marine Corps for eight years and he said that military protocol doesn\u2019t requiretaking your hat off during a flag ceremony if you\u2019re in uniform, whether it\u2019s the Utility (MCCUU), Dress, Service, or Evening Dress. I\u2019m imagining that this is the same for all branches of our country\u2019s armed forces, and probably law enforcement as well.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong> But what about Scouts and Scouters? Where can I find the BSA\u2019s protocols for this? For instance, what if a Scout\u2019s wearing his \u201cClass A\u201d uniform? What about a \u201cClass B\u201d or how about a Scout T-shirt? Does it make a difference whether or not his headgear is an official BSA hat or cap, or not? Actually, what counts as a &#8220;Scout hat&#8221;\u2014does this mean it must be an official BSA hat from a Scout Shop or the BSA National Supply Division, or can it be a hat from the Philmont \u201cTooth of Time Traders\u201d store, or a hat or cap from a Scout camp, or a specially-designed troop hat or cap?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong> Some leaders at camp and at home insist that, regardless of the origin of the headgear, it should be removed during a flag ceremony, but other leaders, particularly those with military backgrounds have a entirely different view on this.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong> What\u2019s actually correct for Scouts and Scouters, and where\u2019s this written down? (Greg Maus, SM, W.D. Boyce Council, IL)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> Let&#8217;s see if we can&#8217;t cut through this hairball for you by referring to&#8230; <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The Boy Scout Handbook<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> I&#8217;m going to reference four handbooks: Edition 1 (1911-14, called at that time, \u201cThe Original Handbook for Boys\u201d), Edition 10 (1990-98), Edition 11 (1998-09), and Edition 12 (2009-).<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">The first edition simply said (page 14): \u201cWhen the three fingers thus (referring to an illustration of a hand in the Scout sign position) held are raised to the forehead, it is the scout salute.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">The 10th Edition, page 475, with a photograph of an uncovered (i.e. hatless) Scout saluting, states: &#8220;When you are wearing your Scout uniform with or without a cap, greet the flag with a Scout salute.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> The 11th Edition, page 7, with an illustration of an uncovered Scout saluting, states: &#8220;The Scout salute shows respect. Use it to salute the flag of the United States of America&#8230; Give the Scout salute by forming the Scout sign with your right hand and then bringing that hand upward until your forefinger touches the brim of your hat or the arch of your right eyebrow. The palm of your hand should not show.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> The 12th Edition, page 20, with a photograph of an uncovered Scout saluting, states: &#8220;Form the Scout sign with your right hand, then finish the salute by bringing that hand up, palm down, until your forefinger touches the brim of your hat or the tip of your right eyebrow. The Scout salute is a form of greeting that also shows respect. Use it to salute the flag of the United States of America&#8230;&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> OK, so that takes care of the salute, and as you can see it&#8217;s been the same from &#8220;day one.&#8221; But how does this coordinate with what you\u2019re wearing? <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> For the uniform versus \u201ccivvies\u201d aspect, we need first to recognize that <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The Boy Scout Handbook<\/span><\/em> says there&#8217;s just one Scout uniform. That\u2019s right: The BSA has never recognized &#8220;Class A&#8221; and\/or &#8220;Class B&#8221; terminology. (A quick bit of research suggests that these terms crept into unofficial Scouting lingo by the men and women mustered out of the military following the end of WWII who later became Scouting volunteers.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">Using the current handbook, you\u2019ll find a description of the BSA Scout uniform on page 33. (Notice that the young man on the left side of that page is wearing the official Scout uniform while the young man on the right is wearing clothing that doesn&#8217;t constitute a Scout uniform. Now go back to pages 18-19; looking closely at the photos there you\u2019ll notice that Scouts and Scouters in uniform are employing the Scout salute\u2014both with and without headgear\u2014while those not in uniform (per the handbook) are using what&#8217;s commonly called the &#8220;civilian&#8221; method of respect to our flag by removing any headgear and placing their right hand over their heart.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">So we figure we\u2019ve got the answer\u2026 Until we read the current <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Senior Patrol Leader Handbook<\/span><\/em>. The handbook makes a totally unique statement with regard to uniforms. In its Chapter 2-Building Troop Spirit, it says (see page 34), \u201cA troop\u2019s <em> activity uniform<\/em> may include a T-shirt emblazoned with the troop\u2019s emblem or some other significant reminder of the troop\u2019s identity\u201d (italics mine). This is the one and only place I\u2019ve ever found that calls a T-shirt part of an \u201cactivity \u201cuniform.\u201d Assuming that this isn\u2019t an error or oversight, we actually have leave to employ the Scout salute (with or without headgear) when an \u201cactivity uniform\u201d is worn! How about that! <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">So, with all this covered, I\u2019m going to go out on a limb and add a personal observation, which you can take or ignore as you see fit\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">If I were Scoutmaster of a troop in camp, and at, let\u2019s say, morning flag-raising, my Scouts were all looking sharp in Scout shorts and socks, identical BSA or troop-designed caps or hats, and identical BSA or troop-designed or camp T-shirts, I\u2019d use the Scout salute. I\u2019d do this because two of our objects in Scouting are to instill a spirit of citizenship in these young men and also to encourage them, as Scouts, to feel special and bonded, and I believe that this is a subtle (and harmless!) way to reinforce these objectives. <\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>I had the opportunity to have my three boys go through the God and Me program at our local church. They completed all the requirements and subsequently all should have received the religious emblem for this, but only my two Wolf Cubs received it. My Tiger Cub didn\u2019t receive the emblem because, they said, the BSA doesn\u2019t have a religious emblem (\u201csquare knot\u201d) for Tigers. How logical is that? Why would the BSA endorse a program that includes Tigers but then denies them the emblem? I understand that the emblem is \u201cchurch-sponsored\u201d while the square knot is the \u201cBSA\u201d side of the recognition, but one without the other makes no sense to me. Does this mean that my son will have to go through the program all over again next year in order to receive what he\u2019s already earned? What do we expect him to learn new, a second time? Isn\u2019t this redundant? (Edgardo Rodriguez, Heart of America Council, KS-MO)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">Thanks for finding me and for taking the time to write.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">Somebody got it wrong, misled you, and denied your son what he\u2019s entitled to. You can make a fuss, or you can go to your local Scout Shop, buy your son the square knot (show them the medal!), and get it sewn on his shirt (centered directly over the left pocket flap). A wise father will, I believe, take care of his son, first and always.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>My son is working on the Aquatics part of the National Outdoor Activities Badge. He\u2019s taken BSA Kayaking twice at summer camp. Can this time be used towards the 25 hours of on-the-water time required for this section? (It seems strange that kayaking isn&#8217;t specifically listed.) (Robin Putnam, MC, Theodore Roosevelt Council, NY)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">Interesting question, and I can see why you&#8217;re asking. Let&#8217;s look at the pivotal requirements:<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><em>1. Earn at least one of the following merit badges: Canoeing, Rowing, Small Boat Sailing, Whitewater. Complete at least 25 hours of on-the-water time, applying the skills that you learned in the merit badges.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><em> 2. Complete at least 50 hours of any combination of swimming, canoeing, rowing, small-boat sailing, or whitewater activity under the auspices of the Boy Scouts of America, including time spent in requirements 2 through 4.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> Notice that there&#8217;s a connection between the on-the-water time and four specific merit badges, none being Kayaking, because there&#8217;s no specific merit badge for that skill. However, there&#8217;s Whitewater, which does have a kayak option, so perhaps your son was practicing for this merit badge (hint, hint)? Since practicing a merit badge skill can be done by the Scout absent a Counselor because it&#8217;s specifically for practice and not for qualifying on or completing a requirement, and since there&#8217;s hardly a point to doing Kayaking BSA all over again, I&#8217;m convinced that the extra effort in the kayak must have been your son\u2019s practicing for Whitewater merit badge, which then addresses NOA-Aquatics req. 1. (Are you getting me here?)<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Our Scoutmaster seems overwhelmed by his responsibilities. He believes that \u201cone rank advancement a year\u201d per Scout is just fine. The troop&#8217;s equipment is a mess. The Scouts spend a lot of time working on merit badges in troop meetings. Camping has been cut to a minimum: Two-day camping trips (which was our \u201cnorm\u201d for a long while) have been cut to one-day hikes. If there\u2019s cooking involved, it\u2019s mostly done by the adults and when Scouts are assigned cooking detail, there are too few Scouts being given tasks that a patrol should have (for instance, one Scout being assigned responsibility for cooking and preparing literally 40 meatball sandwiches), and then the Scoutmaster complains that the food\u2019s no good. We\u2019ve really taken a nosedive. Out of 20 in the troop, just four are going to summer camp, compared to five years ago, when 25 out of some 40 went. Of 19 Webelos who crossed over just a few months ago, only one is still in the troop. Any tips on bringing a troop back to life? (Name &amp; Council Withheld)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> No BSA-published book on Boy Scouting I&#8217;ve ever seen talked about &#8220;a rank a year.&#8221; Advancement is at the Scout&#8217;s initiative and discretion, and at a bare minimum troops need to provide ongoing programs so that Scouts have the opportunity to go from receiving their Scout (which isn\u2019t a rank) badge to earning First Class inside their first year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> If a Scout decides he&#8217;d like to be Life rank before his 12th birthday, or his 13th birthday, this is absolutely do-able and is absolutely OK by the BSA. If he wants to do this by his 16th or 17th birthday, he&#8217;s entitled to make that decision, too (although, between us chickens, I&#8217;d probably encourage him to step up his energy-level on this, just a little bit). To further start fixing this troop, the Senior Patrol Leader needs to appoint a Quartermaster, and the Scoutmaster and Committee Chair need to recruit a parent\u2014troop committee member or not, it doesn&#8217;t matter\u2014to provide guidance to the Scout on how to organize and inventory the troop&#8217;s gear and then establish some protocols and standards on checking out and checking in equipment. This is <em>not<\/em> the Scoutmaster&#8217;s job, for goodness sakes!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> Patrol cooking on camp-outs, period. Adults cook for themselves and don&#8217;t use the Scouts as their &#8220;kitchen crew.&#8221; Patrols decide on their menus, buy the food, carry it in, cook it, and clean up\u2014all by patrols. If you don&#8217;t do this, you&#8217;re simply not delivering the Scouting program.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> The more I read your tale of woe, the more it becomes apparent that the fastest way to turn this troop around is: Replace the Scoutmaster with somebody who &#8220;gets it.&#8221; Until and unless this happens, this troop is doomed. Yup, it&#8217;s that basic. Problem is: You already knew this before you wrote to me! Darned shame!<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>I thoroughly enjoyed reading your column on \u201cFruit Salad, Christmas Trees, &amp; Generals.\u201d It got me to thinking: Should any Scouter (or Scout) ever approach another who has uniform errors, and if so, how to do it without starting WWIII?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Common hiccups I\u2019ve noticed include non-Jamboree patches above the right pocket, silver shoulder loops with a Scoutmaster position patch, district and council position patches under unit numerals, multiple position patches (I\u2019ve actually seen four on one sleeve!), adults with rank badges on their left pocket, and the list goes on\u2026 In most cases, especially when it\u2019s just a single glitch, I\u2019ve discretely pointed out to a Scout that a patch is in the wrong place (usually it\u2019s a parent\u2019s sewing error)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>In one particular case, I just avoided approaching the subject altogether because it was obvious to many that the Scouter was \u201cmaking a statement\u201d that Scouting was \u201call about the patches\u201d\u2014He actually had a Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, and District Committee patches all together on his left sleeve, plus a den numeral and not one but two patrol emblems on his right sleeve, \u201ctemporary\u201d patches on both pockets, and an assortment of pins on his collar and pocket flaps. So, what to do? (Chris Roy, Yankee Clipper Council, MA)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> With fellow Scouters, I&#8217;m of the belief that we need to never overlook an opportunity to zipper our lip, because unless the Scouter\u2019s a &#8220;direct report&#8221; (e.g., Den Leader-to-Cubmaster, ASM-to-Scoutmaster, Unit Commissioner-to-District Commissioner) we\u2019ll get ourselves branded &#8220;patch police&#8221; and any bovine will tell you branding never ever goes away! If we&#8217;re in a direct report situation, let the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Uniform Inspection Sheet<\/span> be the &#8220;bad guy;&#8221; not you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> With Cub Scouts, fine-tuning is Den Leader&#8217;s job, using the appropriate inspection sheet. <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">With Boy Scouts, run a &#8220;practice&#8221; uniform inspection with the sheets, and do this via the &#8220;buddy&#8221; method, so that each Scouts evaluates his buddy&#8217;s uniform, then they exchange sheets. Couple of weeks later, do it again and see where you are. Then, invite your Unit Commissioner to come by and do the annual uniform inspection that&#8217;s part of the UC&#8217;s job description.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> The best way I\u2019ve found to head off problems at the youth-in-unit level is to give the parents of each new Scout a copy of the appropriate inspection sheet and then open their son&#8217;s handbook to show the parents the inside front and back covers, so they understand that using these templates will keep things where they&#8217;re supposed to be.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> Finally, again at the unit level, if your unit insists on handing out patches for every bloody thing (e.g., the &#8220;Totin&#8217; Chip&#8221; patch, the &#8220;Pinewood Derby&#8221; patch, &#8220;Uniform Inspection,&#8221; &#8220;Klondike Derby,&#8221; &#8220;Went Potty,&#8221; &#8220;Brushed Most Teeth,&#8221; and so on ad nauseam ), explain that these are for the Scout&#8217;s <em>collection<\/em>; they <em>don&#8217;t<\/em> need to go on the uniform and if they do, then <em>one <\/em>can be worn on the right pocket and that&#8217;s it\u2014it&#8217;s decision time. <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> Oops, one more point&#8230; Often, especially with parents, they&#8217;ll ask about a patch at the local Scout Shop, and somebody there will tell them, &#8220;Oh, that goes (wherever).&#8221; These people are usually clerks and\/or hourly employees, and although they\u2019re certainly well-meaning they aren&#8217;t the experts they may like to believe they are. So do tell your parents to take a moment and rely the inspection sheet and their son&#8217;s handbook! <\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>I have a soon-to-be six year-old son. I started as a Cub Scout and went all the way through and earned my Eagle\u2014one of my proudest accomplishments in life. (I\u2019ve often told people over the years that I use more I learned in Scouts than I ever learned from a school book.) Needless to say, I\u2019m excited that my son is now close to starting his own journey in Scouting; however, there are no Cub packs in my town linked to any of the Boy Scout troops or schools. After talking with a few people around town, I\u2019ve decided to try getting Cub Scouts started again. I need help and advice as to how to go about this. Who do I need to talk to? Do I need backing from the BSA? I\u2019ll be starting from scratch, and any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you. (Mark Swords)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> The best and in fact the only place for you to go for advice, support, and sanction is your local council service center. Looks like you&#8217;re in the Greater Alabama Council, so call &#8217;em up and ask to speak with the District Executive who covers the town you live in, describe your situation and what you&#8217;re interested in doing, and schedule a face-to-face meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong> I have a question regards service stars. As a boy and young man, I was in three different Scouting organizations. I was a Cub Scout for two years in the U.K., a Sea Scout for four years in South Africa, and now I\u2019ve just completed my fourth year as a Cub Scout Den Leader in the BSA. With this background, is it OK for me to wear a ten-year service star showing a combination of service in the three organizations, or should I be wearing only the one that reflects BSA service? (James, Longhorn Council, TX)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">Understanding that this is my opinion and not a decision handed down from &#8220;Mount BSA,&#8221; Scouting, to me, is Scouting world-wide, and so in your shoes I&#8217;d wear a service star with the light blue background (that&#8217;s for &#8220;combined&#8221; youth and adult years, in common practice) and &#8220;10&#8221; in the center of it (they&#8217;re $1.29 at <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/scoutstuff.org\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">scoutstuff.org<\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> or your local Scout shop), and then update it as you see fit. Thanks for what you\u2019ve done, and all you\u2019re continuing to do!<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong> In your June 10<\/strong><sup><strong>th<\/strong><\/sup><strong> column, about policies on electronics, your opinion was no electronics on outings. Our troop has had that policy for a long time and it&#8217;s always been a struggle to enforce it. Recently, at Wood Badge, one of the other patrols introduced an idea that a troop in Minnesota developed: They decided that they\u2019d teach the Scouts responsible use of electronics the same as we teach them the responsible use of knives and other tools. We&#8217;ll be introducing this to our troop soon. Here\u2019s the link:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.boyscouttrail.com\/content\/award\/tech_chip-2052.asp\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">www.boyscouttrail.com\/content\/<wbr>award\/tech_chip-2052.asp<\/wbr><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong> (Rick Wills, SM, Pikes Peak Council, CO)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> Yes, I&#8217;ve seen the &#8220;Tech Chip&#8221; concept. It begins with this statement: &#8220;Some Scout units ban electronic devices, such as cellphones, iPods, games, and radios, creating a situation in which adults become policemen, enforcing rules rather than training Scouts. These same &#8216;policemen&#8217; usually exempt themselves from the ban, causing an unfair environment. Some even confiscate devices, putting themselves at a financial risk for that device.&#8221; <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">This is where we part company. You see, I don&#8217;t accept the notion that Scoutmasters, ASMs, Senior Patrol Leaders, Patrol Leaders and such need to become &#8220;cellphone cops&#8221; or &#8220;policemen&#8221; for any inappropriate items, including (but hardly limited to) Gameboys, iPods and other MP3 players, Playboy and other magazines, alcoholic beverages, iPhones and others, iPads, sheath knives, lighter fluid and other flammables, cigarettes and other tobacco products, and so on. I&#8217;m a believer in the Scout Oath and Law and the rule of good sense. There&#8217;s absolutely no way I would expect otherwise decent Scouts and Scouters to need to go through searches of any kind. To my mind, &#8220;Please leave this stuff at home&#8221; is sufficient. If that&#8217;s unrealistic and naive, I&#8217;m guilty as charged and I refuse to be otherwise, thank you very much.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>This question\u2019s concerns the Merit Badge Counselor policy. I understand the process by registering with one\u2019s council to teach seven merit badges per register form: All three of our troop\u2019s leaders plus our Committee Chair are signed up to counsel and teach merit badges. The question: If a Scout wants to do another merit badge that\u2019s not on one of the Merit Badge Counselors\u2019 form, and we can\u2019t find one, does the Scout just wait till the troop finds someone among the adults to, fill out a new Merit Badge Counselor form and do it? The particular merit badge is Personal Fitness, and the Scout has done all the work and documented all the requirements. (Lowell Phillips, SM, <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Coronado Area Council, KS)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> The advancement committees of all BSA councils are charged with developing and maintaining rosters of Merit Badge Counselors for, if possible, every one of the 120+ merit badges available to Scouts, and without question all of the merit badges on the Eagle Scout &#8220;required&#8221; list, so that all Scouts in all troops have access to as many MBCs as possible. It seems highly unusual that your council doesn&#8217;t have several or more MBCs available for Personal Fitness, in light of its being Eagle-required and that in an average year well over 50,000 Scouts earn it (it&#8217;s the 15th-most earned merit badge!) nationally. When is the last time you checked with your council advancement committee and procured their most current MBC list?<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> Second point: I&#8217;m terribly sorry that this Scout was encouraged\u2014either directly or indirectly\u2014to proceed on his own, because this defeats better that 50% of the purpose of the BSA merit badge program, and turns the MBC into little more than a signature, without ever having established a relationship with the Scout or imparted his or her own particular wisdom and insights about the subject matter (which is why people sign on to be Counselors, in the first place!). (The easiest way to defeat 50% of the purpose of the BSA merit badge program is for adults active in a troop\u2014Scoutmaster, ASM, committee member, etc.\u2014to sign on as Merit Badge Counselors for Scouts in the same troop.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> The best recommendation I can offer you is to get in touch with the Coronado Area Council service center, especially since it&#8217;s only about 38 miles away from you!<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong> A few years back, it seems that there was a discussion about Tour Permits and Eagle projects. This topic came up again and rather than go off half-cocked I decided to review some BSA material. The \u201cGTSS\u201d used to be titled, \u201cGuide to Safe Scouting for Unit Activities,\u201d but the most recent edition is titled, \u201cGuide to Safe Scouting, a Guide for Current Policies and Procedures.\u201d Now if you go to the first line of the current Preface, it states, &#8220;The purpose of the Guide to Safe Scouting is to prepare members of the Boy Scouts of America to conduct Scouting activities in a safe and prudent manner.&#8221; Eagle projects aren\u2019t unit activities but they are certainly Scouting activities. Has there been some subtle change that we\u2019ve missed here?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong> In times past it\u2019s been said by our council folks that if there\u2019s no Tour Permit filed then there\u2019s no insurance coverage. So if a tour permit isn\u2019t filed for an Eagle project work day or session, and there\u2019s an injury or accident (someone falls off of a shed roof, tree falls on a car, etc.) how do we address this? Can you provide any clarification? (Bill Casler, Great Alaska Council)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> According to the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scouting.org\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">www.scouting.org<\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> website, here are the conditions for which a tour plan (as it\u2019s now called) will be filed:<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">\u2022 Trips of 500 miles or more<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">\u2022 Trips outside of council borders not to a council-owned property<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">\u2022 Trips to any national high-adventure base, national Scout jamboree, National OA Conference, or regionally sponsored event<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">\u2022 When conducting the following activities outside of council or district events: Aquatics activities (swimming, boating, floating, scuba, etc.) Climbing and rappelling Orientation flights (process flying plan) Shooting sports Any activities involving motorized vehicles as part of the program (snowmobiles, boating, etc.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">\u2022 At a council\u2019s request.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> So, if there&#8217;s a Scout activity (Eagle project, hike, bike-hike, whatever) that fits these criteria, then yes, file a tour plan. If not, for example if an Eagle project is going to be worked on and it&#8217;s inside the council borders, then a tour plan doesn&#8217;t seem to be necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> As for insurance, do remember that the BSA insurance is the very last insurance to kick in&#8230; Everything else will be used first. (So is this really a big deal?)<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> For confirmation, do check with your council&#8217;s health &amp; safety or risk management committee.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Hello Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>I am an Eagle Scout, life-long Scouter, and now Scoutmaster of the troop I grew up with. I\u2019ve run into two issues lately. Two Scouts insist on wearing \u201cvintage\u201d uniforms. One just likes the old uniforms and has pieced one together to make a complete 1970&#8217;s uniform. The other is wearing his grandfather\u2019s uniform from the same time period (but I think its a Explorer shirt\u2014it\u2019s dark green). I love the old uniforms\u2014I grew up in them\u2014so I don&#8217;t mind them in the troop meetings, although I do remind these two Scouts, \u201cThat&#8217;s not really \u2018uniform\u2019 with your fellow Scouts, is it?&#8221;<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>So here\u2019s the problem. Our troop performs several public flag ceremonies each year, and the vintage uniforms have shown up at these events. I hate to &#8220;sit out&#8221; these Scouts because I don\u2019t want to discourage them, plus, I need them in the ceremony. Is there BSA policy on wearing these old uniforms?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>The flag ceremony itself is my second question. Is there a set of standards for a BSA color or honor guard? When we attend these flag ceremonies as a color guards there are usually military veterans\u2019 color guards there also, and they invariably have lots of &#8220;information&#8221; for us (most of which I already know and carry in writing, in my kit). The most recent \u201cinformation\u201d is that there must be an &#8220;armed&#8221; guard beside the American flag. I post a Scout there, of course, but these guys are insisting that he has to be &#8220;armed.&#8221; I told them that is probably against BSA policy and it\u2019s not going to happen. I know they mean well and I\u2019ve actually learned a few things, butI need some sort of BSA policy to show them. Do you have any ideas where I can find that information? Tom Hoover, SM, Mason-Dixon Council, MD)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">To your first question, the BSA policy is that no official uniform or uniform part is ever &#8220;obsolete&#8221; and can&#8217;t be worn. If it&#8217;s got a BSA label in it, it&#8217;s OK to wear, according to the BSA. That said, the forest green shirts were originally for Explorers, later for Venturers, and never for Boy Scouts. So the Boy Scout who wears the forest green shirt needs to find some other shirt to wear, because that one&#8217;s not appropriate in this era or any past era, for a Boy Scout!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> Further, on this uniform thing, I&#8217;m going to assume that these Scouts, like the rest in your troop, wear their uniforms from head to toe and not just limit themselves to the shirts and disregard the pants or shorts. That being the case, why exclude a Scout who&#8217;s otherwise in full uniform just because it&#8217;s &#8220;old.&#8221; To split hairs, would you exclude a Scout who wears red unit numerals and shoulder loops because they&#8217;ve now been replaced by the sort of olive-drab ones? If your answer&#8217;s no, then just chill a little bit and include the Scout, thankful he&#8217;s in complete uniform!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> On the flag stuff, veterans can be a persnickety lot, but unfortunately they&#8217;re often a bit off the mark. Like with the notion that a color guard must be &#8220;armed&#8221; which is obvious nonsense. On line, you&#8217;ll find the U.S. Flag Code (<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/United_States_Flag_Code\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/<wbr>United_States_Flag_Code<\/wbr><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> is a good start) and there&#8217;s no better resource, especially for the sort of minutia some former military will throw at you! Besides, you can always flip it right back around: \u201c\u2019Armed\u2019? OK, YOU show ME in writing where it says that!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Thanks, but like I said, I love the old uniforms, but they stick out in a color guard formation. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>As for the color guard stuff, I guess I\u2019m going to have to reply on good old fashioned diplomacy and agree to disagree. As a veteran myself, I understand their point, but they will have to accept that we are Boy Scouts and not anarmed paramilitary group.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">Well, so the uniforms &#8220;stick out.&#8221; Is this really a big deal when all your Scouts are in full uniform? OK, here\u2019s another approach&#8230; Hagerstown isn&#8217;t exactly &#8220;snow country&#8221;\u2014at least not like North Dakota or Northern Illinois, or Vermont, so how about putting the color guard in shorts and knee socks, with neckerchiefs over rolled collars? Now, you&#8217;ve minimized the difference and they&#8217;re still all in uniform and looking like Scouts. As a military veteran yourself, you can definitely stand toe-to-toe with anyone who wants to turn our Scouts into junior para-military types, and tell &#8217;em what B-P had to say about this stuff: &#8220;The Army trains men for war; Scouting trains boys for peace.&#8221; Hoo-Rah!<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>I\u2019m Cubmaster of a growing pack of now 80 Cubs. While growth is great, it\u2019s caused some problems and I need some advice. We have tried to keep our dens at six to eight boys, but as time goes by and new ones join, we\u2019ve had to add additional boys to each den. The problem occurs when we have a nice-size group and then a new boy joins; then another joins, and then another next year. Now the den that was eight is 11\u2014no longer the size den that the Den Leader signed up to lead, and it\u2019s now starting to affect the quality of the program being offered. Is it fair to the original eight to have to split? Is it right to ask three or four of the last to join to leave the den when some have been a part of it for two years, and create a separate den? One concern is disruption of the dynamics of the group that\u2019s been developed over several years, and losing boys due to change. During several brief discussions with parents about possibly splitting the den, there were a number of families that didn\u2019t want to lose their Den Leader and others who didn\u2019t want to have a couple of the more disruptive boys (a couple of late-joiners) in what would be a smaller second den. I\u2019m troubled with how to make a split while not making a few families feel like they\u2019re being kicked out of the den. Right now the issue involves a Bear den, soon to be Webelos, but I can see the continued growth in the Wolf and Tiger ranks potentially creating the same problems in their dens later on. The idea has been discussed to regroup all the boys from all three Bear dens as they start the Webelos program and form new dens, but again I\u2019m worried that the close bonds and good work dynamic of the current den groups will be lost, or families will quit over the change. I know there\u2019s no magic answer or solution, but any insight on how others have handled overgrown den size would be greatly appreciated. Also, any ideas on how to keep this from happening with our Wolf and Tiger dens? (Name &amp; Council Withheld)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> You&#8217;re absolutely right that no den should be more than eight boys. More than that is unfair to the Den Leader and can lead to early burn-out, especially if the pack has no mandates about the parents of additional boys taking up the slack (more on this point in a moment). So, for any den of ten or more, here&#8217;s the deal: The boys <em>and<\/em> their parents are told by the Den Leader (with the Cubmaster or Committee Chair there, for support\u2014which will be needed!) that this den is too much for him\/her to handle and that it&#8217;s going to be divided into two dens of five (or whatever the split number would be) boys each, and that&#8217;s what we&#8217;re going to do right now. So, for the next five minutes or so, the boys divide themselves up, and the current Den Leader stands by his\/her son and the four other boys who will be in the new (and now manageable) den. Then, the Cubmaster or Committee Chair (whoever is there) tells the five or more parents in what will become the second den for this age\/grade group: \u201cOK, folks, now you need to decide who will be the Den Leader and who will be the Assistant Den Leader.\u201d Then they&#8217;re left alone to decide this, and no &#8220;rescuing&#8221; when they can&#8217;t &#8220;decide&#8221;! (This may sound harsh, but tell me what other option will work better!)<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> OK, so you now have dens of no more than eight, and several in the five-to-seven range. Great! This means that, when a new boy wants to join, so long as the total number in the den doesn&#8217;t exceed eight, he can do so. However, when he does, it&#8217;s with the precise understanding that the parent will become either a trained Assistant Den Leader or a trained committee member (and give no ground on this).<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> Now for the future, since you seem to be picking up boys throughout the year across the various grades\/ranks, you may want to limit new (the ones that form at the beginning of each school year, starting with Tigers) den sizes to a maximum of five or six, to allow for growth to a maximum of eight.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> When a den is at eight and a new boy (and his parents) want to join up, you may have to tell the parents that the den is actually full, and the best way to get their son into Cub Scouting is either to find another pack or\u2014the preferred way\u2014to round up at least three more boys and start a new den, with one of the parents signing on as Den Leader. You see, your Den Leaders are being overwhelmed by at least two factors. The first one is that parents new to Scouting, and especially Cub Scouting, don&#8217;t necessarily know that packs are run entirely by volunteers. Consequently, their question of &#8220;why can&#8217;t you take my son&#8221; is based on fee-based organizations like the Y and others, where it&#8217;s always &#8220;the more the better&#8221; because that&#8217;s how those organizations generate revenues! The second factor is the classic &#8220;BSA means Baby-Sitters-of-America,&#8221; and a large proportion of parents will go to great lengths to drop off their kids and pick up no responsibilities whatsoever! This is why it&#8217;s absolutely vital for you all to cure your &#8220;Scouters&#8217; speech impediment&#8221;\u2014the inability to say no. Sometime, the answer&#8217;s simply no, we are full up, unless you&#8217;d like to sign on as a Den Leader and get yourself trained in how to run a Cub Scout program for your son and his friends.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Our pack recently had our Blue &amp; Gold Banquet, where the boys earned their Bear Badge. I understand that they can now start working on their Webelos badge, but do they actually become Webelos scouts at this point? (Carol Metz)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">Between earning a rank before the end of the school year, and the end of the school year, any Cubs who have earned their Wolf badge work on Wolf Arrow Points, and any who earned their Bear badge work on Bear Arrow Points. Bears become Webelos Scouts at the end of the school year, so that they can start working on Webelos badge requirements over the summer if their Den Leader chooses (remember that Webelos requirements are no longer parent-and-son; they&#8217;re done with their Den Leader, in den meetings).<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Dear Andy, <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>A new Venturing crew is being formed as an offshoot from our troop, and they\u2019re setting their own policy of \u201conly high school students allowed.\u201d In fact, the crew\u2019s Associate Advisor told me that if my presently 13 year-old (he turns 14 in September) son applied to be a member he wouldn\u2019t be approved because he hasn\u2019t completed 8<\/strong><sup><strong>th<\/strong><\/sup><strong> grade! I responded that, according to BSA policy, Venturing crews are allowed to have young people age 13 and completed 8<\/strong><sup><strong>th<\/strong><\/sup><strong> grade, or reached the age of 14 regardless of grade. His reply was that this doesn&#8217;t matter, and said, &#8220;Call district, call council, or you can sue me, but he&#8217;s not going to be allowed in this Venturing crew.\u201d After few minutes of back-and-forth discussion, he used an unacceptable expletive, as in \u201cJust go dowhat you\u2026want to do, but I&#8217;m done talking about it!\u201d This exchanged occurred in front of three other leaders, one of whom pulled me aside to make the exchange stop. Until that moment, I had tremendous respect for his knowledge, experience, and support of the troop and the Scouts. Now what do I do? (Name &amp; Council Withheld)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">Briefly, you may want to find another troop and\/or crew for your son&#8230; There&#8217;s obviously bad blood here and it&#8217;s not likely to evaporate all by itself or very soon. Now the other thing is that the joining requirements for Venturing have recently changed and you should confirm the changes with your council service center or the person in charge of Venturing in your council.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong>Seems every time I see any references to Scouting safety and liability, there&#8217;s always a comment admonishing the reader to make sure they have the &#8220;latest issue.&#8221; Well, what&#8217;s the &#8220;latest issue&#8221;? The GTSS doesn&#8217;t come out on a schedule, and weblinks may or may not be current. Short of downloading a copy at every mention and looking it over line-by-line, how do we make sure? I&#8217;ve even been handed out-of-date copies by folks you\u2019d think would be in a position to have known better.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><strong> Suggestion: Since GTSS issues have no set expiration date, why not clearly mark the first page in large font and have a BSA web link with the current number? As in, &#8220;For current version number, visit www.___\u201d Websites mentioning the GTSS could also provide a link below links that supply copies. This would eliminate out-of-date downloads, as once the numbers don&#8217;t match, the website would get flooded with a pile of requests for the newest version! (Jerry Elya, ASM, Gerald R Ford Council, OH)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"> According to the BSA, the most current version of the GTSS is always the on-line version, found at <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scouting.org\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">www.scouting.org<\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">. On folks maybe not getting thing quite right, as far as currency is concerned, remember that the big items rarely change and the little stuff may be fine-tuned but rarely completely overhauled. And remember that we&#8217;re 99.999% volunteers here!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Happy Scouting!<\/p>\n<h3>Andy<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td width=\"100%\">\n<table width=\"100%\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"5\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<table width=\"95%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Got a question? Have an idea? Send it to <a href=\"mailto:AskAndyBSA@yahoo.com\"> AskAndyBSA@yahoo.com<\/a>. (Please include your POSITION and COUNCIL NAME or TOWN &amp; STATE)<\/p>\n<p>June 28, 2011 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 Andy McCommish 2011)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Letters to AskAndy may be published at the discretion of the columnist and the editor. If you prefer to have your name or affiliation withheld from publication, please advise in your letter..<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Andy\u2019s Rule No. 15: Everyone succeeds one hundred percent of the time\u2026at what they\u2019re really up to. Andy\u2019s Rule No. 16: Scouts and teabags: You never know how strong they can really be till they get themselves in a bit of hot water. Andy\u2019s Rule No. 17: The only sensible answer to the question, \u201cMay [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383","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=383"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":385,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383\/revisions\/385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}