Our first, we’re optimistic, grandchild Jackson Glen McNew was born June 7, 2008 (6/7/08 - nice date, easy to remember - good going Jackson).

I thought my son was growing fast but I had forgotten how quick they change at this age. Grandma and Grandpa are trying to bribe daughter and son-in-law into town as often as possible. Here’s a cheer to all you current grandparents and to you future club members. Its great.

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Out today is the new re-alignment of OA sections for the Western Region.

See the following PDF:

wregoa_08.pdf

There will be six (6) areas with a total of fourteen (14) sections. I’m not sure how many there are currently. This covers 23,748 OA members.

I know Central region has reconfigured its Areas and my guess is the other regions as well. This is probably in response to a re-org in Western Region. I’m sure there is some bouncing around for some lodges. Locally here, Toledo, Ohio (Erie Shores Council, Tindeuchen Lodge) was in our Area and Section, then out of our Area and Section and are now back in our Area but I don’t yet know about section. Always confusing. Hopefully it helps. I’m sure the OA will adapt.

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Man, this is becoming the fake report. Another day, another one to report and this one even more egregious.

eBay seller PITTKING describes this as:

oa 36 mitigwa RARE

this patch is the lodge before the neche lodge and is mint and very rare

The lodge has no known real issues. If it did, they certainly wouldn’t be from overseas embroidery as the lodge went out in 1950. This is a hoax. A misrepresentation. Its currently bid to $36. If this were what the seller purported it to be it would be 100 times that. The problem is, its not represented as a fake, and it probably cost $1 - $3 to make. At such a profit, these kinds of scams will keep going on. What does it do to the hobby when the buyer of such an item finds out later it is a fake? That won’t be good.

Actually one could argue this is a fake of a fake as it is a twill version of a solid fake shown on John’s oaimages.com site.

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A quick heads up - from a seller on eBay, out of Spain of all places, is offering up the following patch from old New York lodge 500 - Ona Yote Kaonaga (proper spacing for the lodge name):

Click on the image to get an expanded look. It is not the original, which can be seen on the OA Images site.

Notice that the original is on twill right rough (TRR) as well as swiss-style embroidery. The seller of the fake, pwaitor29, titles his listing:

O NA YOTE KA O NAGA LODGE 500 SCOUT PATCH

No where does he mention its a modern patch or a fake. Buyer beware. This is not good for the hobby.

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Ebay is offering a 10% off coupon, up to $100, for purchases made on eBay and paid with PayPal. We accept PayPal so here’s a way for you to save on TSPA eBay offerings and paying with PayPal. See the information below. I don’t know how long this coupon will last so use it soon.

10% off* your next purchase–up to $100 off
Redemption Code: CJULYFUN0810P

Please note:
1) Make sure the email address on your eBay account is also on your PayPal account.
Find out how.

2) The redemption code for this coupon cannot be combined with any other coupon redemption code. See terms and conditions below.

 

Who’s eligible?

Only invited, registered eBay users who received this offer by email from us or saw an ad on eBay are eligible. If you want, you can confirm your eligibility by checking My Messages in My eBay and looking for your invitation email. Sorry, no forwarding–this offer is not transferable. See terms and conditions below.

 

Here’s how to redeem this offer:

1. Start shopping on eBay. Be sure the seller accepts PayPal.
2. Pay for your item with PayPal before the expiration date: July 29, 2008 11:59:59 PM PDT. (Make sure the email address on your eBay account is also on your PayPal account. Find out how.)
3. Enter the redemption code: CJULYFUN0810P

*Terms and Conditions:

The offer will expire at 11:59:59 PM PDT on July 29, 2008. Discount applies to the purchase price (excluding shipping, handling, and taxes) of a single item on eBay.com. Recipients of the coupon must be registered eBay members and pay for the item with PayPal. If actual discounted amount is less than maximum discount indicated on the coupon, the unused portion will be forfeited.

The coupon is non-transferable, void where prohibited, not redeemable for cash, for one-time use only, and has no face value. The coupon is subject to U.S. laws and cannot be combined with any other coupon. eBay reserves the right to cancel, amend, or revoke the coupon at any time. Use of automated devices or programs to redeem the coupon is prohibited.

Purchases on www.express.ebay.com and eBay Live Auctions and purchases made through any customized checkout system are excluded.

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The Chief Scout Executive (CSE) is making his mark on the Movement with a complete overhaul of the National Office.

New BSA Organizational Changes 2008

and here’s the new Org. Chart:

I find this INCREDIBLY POSITIVE. It needs to be part of every council’s Board discussion. The mention of building the BSA brand is powerful. The trimming of Corporate structure is very powerful. Forgetting “business as usual” is very powerful. These are terms that ALL business leaders are confronting on a regular basis. It probably needs to be spread in the community leadership as well because it shows that our leaders are taking bold actions.

I was on the phone with a Scout leader in N.J. when this came in. I related two small anecdotes from the past week. I replaced my air conditioner unit here at my warehouse. The guy doing the install is an Eagle Scout out of Blissfield, MI. He was amazed at some of the patches around my office. The UPS delivery guy came in just now. He was a Boy Scout out of TN (did not earn Eagle but still fond memories. Was in the Marines. Was interested in getting back involved/helping out with Scouts…). An effective BSA marketing campaign could bring these folks back into the fold.

When Council President, I kicked off the strategic plan update in the council to try and get our structure right. We’re doing that locally. One strength that we’ll need to factor in going forward is our alumni and senior members. Scouting is a place where retirees can get reconnected and re-contribute to the youth of this country.

As I hear more or as others get more insight into these changes, please post.

P.S. In re-reading it - the CSE needs to state in this letter what are the core objectives of Scouting. We, you and I, need to re-state these so often that we’re sick of hearing them. Only then might there be a chance of having gotten them into fabric of the organization. I think also, rather than a “new era of growth” it needs to be “a new era of service to the youth of our country”. I think this is a truer statement of our purpose than growth. Growth will be the outcome of providing quality, funded program that serves youth and their families and thus our communities.

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We received the following e-mail over the weekend. If you have any information, please e-mail Mike

I don’t know what all was stolen but we do get this flap, the S3, in from time to time (I think we have one in from a collection right now actually). It certainly is a good issue. As we get more information, we’ll post it.

Dear Scout Patch Auction,

I see that a Mascoutens Lodge 8 Advisors Award has turned up on eBay. It is a Mascoutens Lodge patch with gold edging. This is a fairly rare patch (six given each year). Our lodge trailer, with all contents, was stolen in the last year, from the council service center parking lot. The inventory of lodge patches, such as this one, was stored in the trailer.

If you can provide us with any help in locating the trailer, we would be most appreciative. Thanks.

Yours in Scouting,

Mike Palecek

Lighthouse District Chairman

Racine WI

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For those who have not been to our office and warehouse, we’re in an industrial park. We have trucks coming and going as well as our normal course of business sending out 200 packages a week. Through it all, we have a nesting Killdeer that comes back each year.

These are a fascinating species as they nest on the ground. They seem to like the area next to one of our curbs. Their eggs are almost perfectly camouflaged against the crushed limestone gravel. When you approach, they’ll get up and run away from the nest but act as if they’re wounded splaying their wings, limping and make a chirping noise as if dieing. Needless to say, they’ll keep pulling you away and when you get really close they fly off.

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At this year’s Calumet Council Memorial Day TOR, Bruce Richardson put on a display of his Region 7/Northern Wisconsin Canoe Base collection. It is probably the most complete collection of these. Bruce shared with us some of the history and why he has found this to be such a fun area to collect.

Bruce also maintains a wonderful web-site on Region 7 Canoe base but here you can hear him describe the history and background about this memorabilia.

 

 BSA Region 7 Canoe Base collecting with Bruce Richardson: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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