A former Scout in London has scored the perfect job- Sleeping Bag Tester!

Sleeping on the job is a criticism that can never be levelled at Phil Latham. The 27 year old freelance outdoor instructor has just learned that he has been awarded one of the most sought-after jobs in the country. He is the new sleeping bag tester for Halfords.

“I have been a member of the scout movement since I was four and have a lot of experience of camping. My girlfriend saw the job advertised first in the papers and rang saying: “I have just seen a job you may be over-qualified for!” Then my mum phoned and my sister, all telling me it was a job tailor-made for me so I thought I better go for it.”

Read the whole story at http://www.easier.com/70336-halfords-tester-sleeping-job.html

Popularity: 2% [?]

As you are well aware yesterday was April Fools Day.  The Scouting World wasn’t exempt from this day of pranks; however it seemed fairly tame this year.  Take a look at a few of the April Fools Day Pranks that tried to take the Online Scouting Community:

• John over at OAImages.com had breaking news about the New OA Policy on Vigil Honor.  This new policy would remove the limit on the number of Arrowman that could be selected for Vigil Honor, “The National Committee did not want to exclude any worthy brothers from attaining this honor, simply because there are “too many” able leaders within a lodge or “too many” active and selfless adults.”  It also enacts a checklist of requirments that need to be met for any Vigil Honor candidates.
• Kevin over at A Boy Scout’s Blog informed us that Google Inc. was acquiring his blog and integrating it as a Scouting based blog aggregator.  This news was accompanied by a theme change that was very Goolgesque.
• On Scouts-L, Mike pointed out a Press Release titled Boy Scouts Enter 20th Century with Modern Initiatives.  “Responding to global “go green” initiatives and a number of lawsuits over food served at Scout camps, the BSA is taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, raise ethnic and cultural awareness in food preparation, and become the premier training program for new and improved ways of catering t= o discriminating palates.”  It has some cheap shots at the organization such as “…to demonstrate BSA’s ability to move quickly on ground-breaking initiatives.”
• On Scouts-L, Donald shared some information he was privy to about the future site of the National Jamborees at how in 2013 the Jamboree would be held at two sites connected by Virtual Reality.  “A highly placed individual in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), on condition= of anonymity, announced today that the preparations for moving the National Jamboree from Fort. A. P. Hill to The Summit: Bechtel Family National Scout Reservein West Virginia have not been progressing at the expected pace.”  Tico Perez did not seem amused.

Did I miss any?  I follow a lot of the online Scouting Community, but it wouldn’t surprise me if I missed an April Fool’s prank or two.  Were the victim to any of the above?  Share below in the comment section!

Popularity: unranked [?]

It’s been a long wait since Scouting Magazine announced the Historic Merit Badge Program back in January to yesterday when the program was made live for Scouts to earn the badges.  (ok, technically the material first appeared on March 30th, according to some readers- however according to the material April 1st was the first day of the program.)  The original announcement with lack of details caused quite a flurry on the web with some Councils and Leaders jumping the gun and offering the merit badges based solely off of the original requirements.  A lot of folks couldn’t wait for the details as is apparent from the comments on our February 2nd post stating the Historic Merit Badge Program was on hold until the materials were finished and posted online per the original announcement.

All of the support material for the Historic Merit Badge Program can now be found here:
http://www.scouting.org/sitecore/content/Home/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/historical_mb_program.aspx

The site features background, requirements for each of the four Historic Merit Badges (Carpentry, Signaling, Tracking, Pathfinding), sample press releases, Historic Merit Badge Fliers, an implementation plan, and plans to hold the merit badge sessions at Council events.

According to the National site, one of the goals for the Historic Merit Badge program is for a majority of the BSA’s registered Boy Scouts earn one of the merit badges during the centennial year.  The historic badges will count towards a Scout’s rank advancement, and the effective date for earning these merit badges is April 1, 2010, and the requirements must be completed no later than December 31st, 2010.

Since it is now official, don’t delay, go out and recruit some appropriate Merit Badge Counselors and help your Scouts take this step back in history!  Everything you need is available at http://www.scouting.org/sitecore/content/Home/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/historical_mb_program.aspx

Over the next few days, we at Scouting News are going to take an in-depth look into all four of these Historical Merit Badges.

Popularity: unranked [?]