{"id":64,"date":"2002-12-03T13:56:16","date_gmt":"2002-12-03T18:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/?p=64"},"modified":"2011-11-03T13:57:20","modified_gmt":"2011-11-03T17:57:20","slug":"issue-7-december-2002","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/2002\/12\/issue-7-december-2002\/","title":{"rendered":"Issue 7 – December 2002"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Andy, We have a Scout transferring from a Troop in a Virginia council to our council in New Jersey. I\u2019m pretty sure he should fill out a standard application and indicate that this is a transfer from the other council, but how do his advancement records get transferred to the Scout\u2019s new Troop and our council? We also have a Troop-to-Troop transfer inside our Council. In this case, the Scout\u2019s \u201cold\u201d Troop didn\u2019t keep good records, and he needs to get his advancement records transferred over to his new Troop so that he can keep working on his ranks. Would our own Council have records, assuming the old Troop filed advancement reports, and if they didn\u2019t, then what? (A.M., DC, Basking Ridge, NJ)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Two good questions! I\u2019ve asked a Council Advancement Chair to help me out, so here\u2019s a \u201ccombined answer.\u201d For the first Scout, you\u2019re right that on his new application form he should check off the \u201ctransfer\u201d box. He should also get in touch with his \u201cold\u201d Troop and ask them to send him his own records, from the Troop and from the Council (\u201cScoutNet\u201d) too. If this is difficult, but the Scout is First Class or less, then all his \u201cnew\u201d Troop needs to do is verify advancement by checking the Scout\u2019s own set of advancement cards, merit badge cards, and\/or \u201capplicant\u2019s record\u201d stub from his \u201cblue cards\u201d and turn in an Advancement Report. This applies to BOTH Scouts and BOTH situations. If the Scout is Star or Life rank, he can still use his own records (they are \u201cofficial\u201d and he should know this!) and cards. Or, he can even check with our Council Service Center to see what\u2019s been entered for him in the \u201cScoutNet\u201d system. And there\u2019s an important lesson in this: The one person who\u2019s MOST responsible for advancement record-keeping is \u2013 Yup! \u2013 THE SCOUT HIMSELF!<\/p>\n

Dear Andy, When I was at the 2001 Jamboree, I saw some odd looking beaded \u201cnecklaces\u201d that had claws at the bottom of them, worn by some Scouts and Scouters. They didn\u2019t seem to be \u201cOA.\u201d What the heck were they?(D.D., SM, Garwood)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Aha! You were looking at The Tribe of MIC-O-SAY! (Check the Internet\u2013there are Web sites that explain more than I\u2019ll do here.) MIC-O-SAY is, like the OA (founded in 1915), an \u201chonor camper fraternity,\u201d founded in 1925 in the St. Joseph (Missouri) Council and spreading over the years to several other councils in the Missouri-Kansas area, to become a major Scouting force in the area. MIC-O-SAY was created by a locally famous Scouter and Scout Executive\u2013H. Roe Bartle\u2013to \u201creinforce the principles of the Scout Oath and Law, and foster continued participation in Scouting\u2014especially camping.\u201d The \u201ccoup beads\u201d and claws you saw represent advancement through the \u201cranks\u201d of MIC-O-SAY.<\/p>\n

Dear Andy, I\u2019m turning 18 and I\u2019m heading to college next fall. I can\u2019t be as involved with my Troop as I\u2019d like, but I\u2019d like to stay a registered member of the BSA (Heck, I started almost 11 years ago, as a Tiger Cub). What can I do? (H.D., Kenilworth)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You should be able to stay registered as Assistant Scoutmaster in your pre-sent Troop, but maybe that wouldn\u2019t be practical if your college is not close by. So, what I think I\u2019d do is, first, make sure I\u2019m registered here until the end of this calendar year. Then, when I got to college, I\u2019d contact the council in the area and register with them as a Merit Badge Counselor for a Merit Badge I\u2019d actually like to do. Being a Counselor costs nothing, keeps you registered, and gives you opportunities to continue to \u201chelp out\u201d in Scouting!<\/p>\n

Dear Andy, When Webelos Scouts join our Troop, that\u2019s great, but we\u2019re having trouble getting their parents involved in the Troop, too. They think they should \u201cdrop-and-run\u201d when it\u2019s Troop meeting time, and we never see their faces! Help! (D.G., SM, Montague)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Had the same problem when I was a Scoutmaster, too! Here\u2019s how I solved it: I held a \u201cnew parent orientation meeting\u201d (with refreshments prepared by our regular Troop parents), and our Committee Chairman explained how EVERY FAMILY in the Troop had a job. On the table were a bunch of index cards, each with a different job and description on it (like, \u201cOuting Driver\u2014Responsible for transporting Scouts to or from our hikes and camp-outs\u201d). We explained that every family should take at least one card (we recorded who took what) and that any \u201cleftover\u201d cards would be \u201cassigned.\u201d Guess what happened? Since this seemed so \u201cnormal\u201d everybody took a card, and we were up and running!<\/p>\n

Hi Andy! I\u2019ve enjoyed your columns on the NetCommish site for a while now. Thanks for simple and common sense answers to everyday Scouting questions. Great job! As our Council Commissioner I put together a newsletter for our Commissioner Staff to keep them up to date and give them something more to share with their units. I\u2019d like to include your Q&A\u2019s\u2014You\u2019d be a standing column in our newsletter. Is this okay with you? (A.R., Council Commissioner, Ventura, CA)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks for reading and enjoying! Go ahead\u2014I’d be honored! And I’d be happy to send you originals of past columns, so you don’t have to re-type.<\/p>\n

Happy Scouting, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Andy<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Have a question? Send it via email to askandybsa@yahoo.com<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(Issue 7 \u2013 December 2002)<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Andy, We have a Scout transferring from a Troop in a Virginia council to our council in New Jersey. I\u2019m pretty sure he should fill out a standard application and indicate that this is a transfer from the other council, but how do his advancement records get transferred to the Scout\u2019s new Troop and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-14"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64","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=64"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions\/65"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}