New Eagle Scout

[MuffinMan]

He wants to invite John McCain, So I told him as soon as we have a firm date to start a letter campaign. Of Course with the Fall election it might be easier to wait acouple of months.

MM

[Standard]

Congratulations to your son from the Eagle Scout classes of 1980 and 2006 (me and my son). It is an accomplishment to be proud of. I hope he enjoys his big day.

[Foyt20]

I appologize muffinman for derailing the thread.

Congrats again to you and your son!!!!

[MuffinMan]

no apologies needed, I know the thoughts of this crowd and should of known better than to include about his wishes. It is sad that sometmes we do need to watch what we said about Kilts even on this site.

[Foyt20]

no apologies needed, I know the thoughts of this crowd and should of known better than to include about his wishes. It is sad that sometmes we do need to watch what we said about Kilts even on this site.

Mine was just as a soon to be kilter and bsa supporter. Honestly, your son should be able to do whatever he wants.

Where can I send a congrats card? PM me please.

[rocscotjoe]

I got my Eagle in 1974. The uniforming issues were just as hot then as now. Keeping in mind that we were just coming off the VietNam conflict, and many of our leaders were WW2 types, we had some who would have just as soon had us appear paramilitary.

I am a Wood Badger (used to be an Eagle) 2000, and plan to apply to Clan MacLaren as an honorary WB member, should I want to wear the MacLaren tartan.

As a Scouter (ASM and 2001 Jamboree SM) I struggle with the rigidity of the uniforming guidelines, especially when dealing with young men of limited means and the expense of uniforms. If anyone wants to suggest uniform exchanges, I think they are fine, but also remember how cruel young people can be when I am observed wearing your "hand-me-downs".

To Muffin:

Congrats to you and you son! It is very special, and will be more so in time. My son is an Eagle class of '03, and I think it has only been in the last few years that he has recognized how special an achievement it is.

YiS

Rocscotjoe

[Mike_Oettle]

Hi, Muffinman, and hearty congratulations to your son on making Eagle Scout.
During the two years I was a Scout, South Africa went from being a British dominion to a republic outside the Commonwealth, so we also saw a transition from Queen’s Scouts to Springbok Scouts.
My patrol leader was a Queen’s Scout – one of the last in South Africa.
The BSA uniform rules do strike me as odd (okay, I know this is a red-button issue, but I don’t plan on making a major issue of it).
In my day all Scouts wore short pants (military-style khaki). Rovers could be seen in trousers, and some Scoutmasters wore them. But our Scoutmaster wore shorts, as did the Scoutmaster next door (two troops shared a hall, which was divided by a partition).
But the trousers were always khaki, even if (like the neighour troop) the shirt they wore was green. Most of the Scouts in Cape Town wore khaki shirts.
One troop (from a Presbyterian church) had a tartan element in their scarves, but I cannot recall whether the scarves themselves were tartan, or if the scarves had a patch of tartan on the triangle.
While I do not recall seeing a kilted Scout in the flesh, we were well aware that Scottish Scouts wore kilts.
I have noticed trends in Scouting in various countries towards putting the boys (and nowadays the girls, too) in trousers. But grey trousers strike me as being extremely odd with the Scout uniform.
Perhaps that is because I am used to having worn (in the distant past), and seeing boys wearing, grey trousers as part of school uniform, by contrast with Scout uniform.
The only difference (in this respect) between the schools I knew in Cape Town and those in the Eastern Cape was that in Cape Town, boys in Std 6 and 7 (Grade 8 and 9) wore shorts, while only the senior boys wore long pants, whereas in the Eastern Cape younger boys were also expected to wear longs.
But to this day, grey shorts are the uniform in primary schools (Grade 1 to 7), not trousers.
The point of this ramble is that, at least in South Africa, grey pants are not Scout uniform.
As for kilts, I don’t even know Scout uniform rules in South Africa any more, but I would recommend wearing a kilt for hiking.
Someone (on this thread or another) warned about ticks and other pests that might infest one if you walked through brush, but it is worth mentioning that many of these little pests prefer to infest clothing like trousers, and are less fond of bare legs (and a kilted man’s legs are much barer than a man in trousers).

Obviously Muffinman’s son would need permission to wear a kilt to his court of honour, but not simply to possess one. I would say go for it – get the kilt, young man!
Whether that kilt should be McLaren is also something I will not pronounce on, but possibly Muffinman junior does have his Wood Badge already.
Regards,
Mike

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

As a Scouter (ASM and 2001 Jamboree SM) I struggle with the rigidity of the uniforming guidelines, especially when dealing with young men of limited means and the expense of uniforms. If anyone wants to suggest uniform exchanges, I think they are fine, but also remember how cruel young people can be when I am observed wearing your "hand-me-downs".

Here's how it was handled in Troop 214 back in the late 50's and early 60's. My troop had a mix of rich kids, poor kids, black kids, white kids. Our meeting uniform was the scout "overseas" cap, a red troop neckerchief, a scout uniform shirt, and a pair of jeans. Outdoors we added a red baseball cap, and if it was cold, a red watch cap. I doubt the whole uniform-- jeans included-- cost more than about twelve bucks in 1959.

Every boy who joined our troop-- filthy rich or dirt poor-- was given a hand-me-down shirt, and was told that he was expected to live up to the achievements of the other scouts who had worn that shirt. It was an honour to wear that shirt, to follow in the footsteps of all those scouts who had previously worn it. And no scout was allowed to wear a new shirt until he earned the privilege. When a boy made First Class Scout he was presented with a new shirt by the Troop with his FCS badge sewn on the pocket. I can not tell you how proud I was of my new shirt, because I had earned it.

Yes, kids can be cruel about hand-me-down clothes. But, with a little perspective, they can also be motivated to earn their shirt.