BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER > BSA BEEKEEPING MERIT BADGE

Cake Decorating Badge

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Dane Bramage:
Hi All,

I just received the e-mail on the beek merit badge and thought I would share an Alabama father's recent personal observations (from another forum) regarding the BSA.  

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--- Quote from: swindle ---So how does one find and approach a Scout troop to volunteer for a leadership role? Particularly without looking like some sort of pedo since I don't have kids myself.  ;)
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Swindle:

You seem like a fine young man with his head screwed on straight, and I find your desire to volunteer and help out commendable. So please don't take what I'm about to say personally or in the wrong way.

The bottom line, at least in my dealings with the scouts, is that there is no way in hell you'll be allowed anywhere near a troop to teach traditional skills.

The first problem is your assumption that the mission of the scouts is to teach woodland skills of some sort. From my experience, it's devolved into a social club designed as much to feed the egos of the adults as the character of the kids.

There is a rigid pecking order for the adults, and it's based on popularity, who has attended what "training", etc. Fundraising and selling overpriced popcorn is FAR more important than camping out.

The simple fact of the matter is that none of the adults I've met could start a fire using a ferro rod and natural materials if their lives depended on it - nor do they think that is important. What is important, in their eyes, is that proper procedure be followed and that on the annual campout, "skits" be performed, songs sang and all the formalities be observed.

We've had "campouts" where pizza was delivered to the campsite. So much for cooking in a dutch oven. The last campout I had a father walk up to me with his son and say "My allergies are really bothering me and I can't stay - can he sleep with you?"

The kid had no sleeping pad. He had a Sponge Bob indoor sleeping bag. No tent. No flashlight, no change of clothes - nothing. It was 50 degrees that night. Fortunately I had a spare sleeping pad and he slept in my spare tent with my son.

On that trip they turned the kids loose to ride bikes around the state park. I found an Indian arrow head in a freshly plowed field next to our campground. I took the arrowhead to the pack leader and suggested that perhaps the boys could be directed to get off their bikes and look for Indian points.

"That's definitely something to consider" was the response.

Do yourself a favor. Buy a copy of the current Boy Scout manual and see if it bears any resemblance to your notions of what Scouting is. Just remember, if it ain't in the book, it ain't gonna get addressed.

Oh, tonight was our cake juding contest. Here's the patch that the boys earned:



Yep - the Boy Scout emblem traced out by a cake decorating tool.

Sickening.

I told my wife this was the last straw. No more. Of course, she disagreed, saying how much our son enjoyed playing with the other kids and how much it would hurt him to pull him out. As usual, she misses the point. Typical feminine *******. It's not about playing and having fun - it's about building character and self reliance. But then again, what the **** do I know.
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Hopefully that story isn't too discouraging.  :(  

bigbearomaha:
a cake decorating badge in boy scouts?  Are you kidding me?

and here  I thought there was no way I could get a lower opinion of the Boy Scouts.

Most of the stuff they used to teach in boy scouts, I learned as a matter of getting through the day.  my kids learn those same things from me.   I have talked with some others who say they feel similarly, about starting our own "scouting" club type thing and get back to the basics.

We still working on it.

EDIT

I did a google search for a boy scout badge for cake decorating.

I couldn't even really find another reference to it save for one...

I found this webpage showing boy scout badges and there is no badge like that listed here.

I am not sure if you are pulling my leg or if it maybe it is a special badge for your particular troop maybe or it could be there are more badges than those I linked too  (if so, could you link to them so we can see if it is higher than a local level?)

AllenF:
I don't think it is real, at least for the BSA.  Maybe for a more liberal, progressive group of scouts.

Dane Bramage:

--- Quote from: bigbearomaha on December 12, 2010, 02:54:54 pm ---a cake decorating badge in boy scouts?  Are you kidding me?

<snip>

I am not sure if you are pulling my leg or if it maybe it is a special badge for your particular troop maybe or it could be there are more badges than those I linked too  (if so, could you link to them so we can see if it is higher than a local level?)

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--- Quote from: AllenF on December 12, 2010, 03:16:31 pm ---I don't think it is real, at least for the BSA.  Maybe for a more liberal, progressive group of scouts.

--- End quote ---

No, I'm not kidding nor trying to pull off a hoax or anything.  I'm just sharing what I believe is the truth.  As always, it's up to you to decide for yourself what is true or not.

Here's more info:

Your Google-fu already found the one link w/troop177 ~> http://www.troop177.scoutlander.com/publicsite/unitcustom.aspx?UID=470&CUSTOMID=759

Here's another: "Father & Son Cake Contest"

Oh lookee, Scout Stuff has the emblem for sale.

Unconvinced?   :-\  Give Cub Scout Pack 235, Vestavia Hills, Alabama a call and inquire yourself.   ;)

Anyways... if they've got a badge for "Cake Decorating" it wouldn't seem that having one for beekeeping would be so difficult or inappropriate?  Of course, I have to admit to having no idea what the BSA is all about.

BjornBee:
I'm not sure what to think of the scouts.

I was a scout through the three levels, and quit when girls became too important.

Now it seems around here, most packs are associated and are run out of, or run by, local churches.

I also worked years ago for a guy who was gay and a scout leader.  :shock:

I want my kid to go camping, learn shooting, do Derby's, all the stuff I did. When I was in, it was not a religious thing. It was a get out in the woods and have fun thing. I had a blast. But I'm not convinced it is worth the effort or what I want for my boy, due to the changes over the years.

Maybe I should just pass on the scouts and just fast-forward and get my son a girlfriend.  :-D

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