I said I would be sending out a series of newsletters about topics primarily aimed at New Scouts and their parents, but hopefully there is information here that will benefit everyone. I may go ahead and post this on the Many Point Blog also. In this newsletter, I would like to talk about advancement and uniforms. However, another appeal: PLEASE SEND PICTURES! ANYONE who took pictures at Many Point, contact me and I'll give you some options for getting me the pictures.
During the first week of Many Point we held 15 Boards of Review for rank and easily just as many Scout Master conferences. We had 121 merit badges completed!
I have entered most of them into the national database known as ScoutNet. There will be even more when the Scouts that stayed two weeks get home. For you new Scouts that did not finish their Leatherwork or Basketry projects, get them finished off and we will be arranging a time for you to come and get your final requirement signed off. Remember: It is very IMPORTANT to hang on to the partial "blue card" (bright PINK this year to aid in visibility) so we know what you have finished and what need to be completed.
Scouts: In your Scout Handbooks (pages 432-437?) are the requirement sign-off sheets for Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class. You can work on all three ranks at the same time; we call these the skill ranks. Some of you have all ready finished Tenderfoot. When all of the requirements except "Demonstrate Scout Spirit...", "Participate in a Scoutmaster conference..." and "Complete your Board of Review..." are complete, you are ready for your Scoutmaster conference. Scoutmaster conferences for all ranks except Life and Eagle can be done with the Scoutmaster or an Assistant Scoutmaster. You will complete the "Demonstrate..." and "Participate..." requirements at the Scoutmaster conference. When you have successfully completed your Scoutmaster conference, you can call Mr. McGrath to schedule a Board of Review. Boards of Review are held with at least three non-Scoutmaster adults, so they take a little bit more scheduling. When you successfully complete your Board of Review, you have EARNED your new rank. The Advancement night scheduled for August 29th will be a great opportunity as are most campouts and meetings. In Boy Scouts, it is up to each individual Scout to be responsible for his advancement.
The Scouts will receive their rank patches and merit badges at the fall Court of Honor on October 3rd. PLEASE put this date on your calendar, it is very important that ALL Scouts from the troop try to attend. We hold three troop wide Courts of Honor a year; fall in September or early October, Winter in February or early March, and Spring in May or early June. There are also SPECIAL Eagle Courts of Honor held by the family of new Eagle Scouts. Typically EVERYONE in the troop is invited to these important events. The next Eagle Court of Honor is for Ryan Hayes on August 14th. I would encourage ALL Scouts to attend, especially new Scouts. These are typically very inspirational ceremonies. New Scouts should note that Troop Courts of Honor and Eagle Courts of Honor count as troop activities for the Second Class and First Class rank requirements, as do Eagle Projects (Reed Fischer has one coming up, check the calendar!)
Once you get more than a few merit badges, you will want to go to the Scout Shop and get a merit badge shop. The merit badge sash is worn on special occasions like Courts of Honor, Scout Master Conferences, and Boards of Review. The sash is worn on the right shoulder and extends to the left hips. Badges are sewn three across starting at the top right. Troop tradition is to sew non-Eagle required merit badges (see the Scout Handbook or www.meritbadge.org for a list, non-Eagle merit badges have a green border) in the outside rows, and Eagle required Merit Badges (silver border) down the center.
In addition to the rank and merit badge patches, we will also be handing out a 2011 Many Point patch and activity segments to all Scouts who attended Many Point. Tradition in Troop 346 is that a Scout sews the patch from his first year attending Many Point onto the right pocket of his uniform, with all the appropriate segments. Go to http://www.troop346.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/ManyPointPatchSystem.pdf to see how these are arranged. The segments represent different things that a Scout does during his (many) stays at Many Point; all the new Scouts will receive one for Voyageur, climbing, Super Troop, etc. Everyone that attends each year will receive a Many Point patch for that year. Many Scouts will sew the patch for subsequent years onto the back of their merit badge sash.
Another important patch we plan on handing out is the patrol patches for the Polar Bears and Piranhas! I need to order these soon, so be sure to let me know the latest roster for both patrols so I order the right number!
During the Boards of Review, we talked to several Scouts about their uniforms. Several were missing shoulder loops, several were still wearing Cub Scout patches, and several were not wearing their Scout Rank patch on the left pocket. If you are wondering where patches should be sewn, look at this Uniform Inspection guide: http://www.scoutstuff.org/media/content/docs/pdfs/34283.pdf.
ATTACHING PATCHES:
- Patches can be sewn on, either by machine or by hand, I have done both. It can be time consuming, but looks very sharp. There is no rule that says that Moms have to do the sewing. I've always thought there should be a sewing merit badge; there isn't, but that doesn't mean you can't teach your Scout. Some sewing places will sew patches on, but at a fairly high price. The sewing does not have to be perfect.
- Badge Magic (http://www.badgemagic.com) is a double-faced tape product for attaching patches. It available at the Scout Shop as a large sheet or a pre-cut shapes for badges. It works well for large badges and is very easy. However, despite what the makers say, I have never been able to remove all of the residue when removing badges and it does not work well for small patches like Many Point segments. The residue is not usually a problem if you are changing badges (I.e. rank), but if you are using to attach a position patch (I.e. Patrol Leader on left sleeve) the residue could be a problem after the term is over (6 months). Badge Magic works pretty well for Merit Badges.
- Some badges are attached and are not changed often; I.e. patrol patches, merit badges, Many Point patch, OA patch, etc. Some badges need to be changed more often; I.e. rank, position, quality unit awards. For awards that don't change often, I prefer sewing. For various reasons, I have to change or remove some of my patches occasionally, and here's a trick I use. First get some tan velcro, it almost the same color as the uniform shirts. I put badge magic on the back of the patch and attach the hook part of the velcro to the back of the badge. Sometimes you have to use several strips, and trim it to the shape of the patch. Then I attach the same shape of the fuzzy part of the velcro to my uniform using badge magic. Then I can attach the patch to my uniform with velcro. If you use this method for rank, you can attach the Scout patch to the right pocket without sewing, then when your Scout gets his Tenderfoot patch, you can attach it with some velcro and swap them out. If you use this method for attaching position patches, then when the Scout's term is up, they can remove the patch and there is just a fuzzy part, the same color of the uniform, instead of sticky residue. The only downside is you need to be careful when ironing and it doesn't lay quite a flat. Stop and look at my uniform next time we're at a meeting, I have several patches attached this way.
That's about it for this newsletter. If you have any questions or topics you would like me to cover, just email me at troop346@troop346.org.
Yours in Scouting (YIS)
Jon Yearous
Adult Webmaster
