Baden-Powell Service Association

Inertia, as understood in classical physics, typically refers to the First Law of Motion as described by Newton, paraphrased below,

“An object not subject to any external force moves at a constant velocity; and will continue to move at its current velocity until some force causes its speed or direction to change.”

Essentially it’s the amount of resistance to change in velocity of some object, which in physics, is determined by its mass.  This principle, I think, can also be applied to the struggles of getting a new, traditional scouting program off the ground here in the United States.  Currently, we are moving along at a constant velocity.  And with out some outside force, specifically the time, effort and enthusiasm of our members and supporters, we will continue at our current velocity.

This isn’t the current velocity that I want for the BPSA. We can increase our speed.  As our current Commissioner, a local group Scoutmaster, and a father of five children, I understand the positive aspects, benefits and training that a real, traditional scouting program can offer to both kids, parents and volunteers.  Without the enthusiasm and willingness of adults and parents, the Scouting movement would never have progressed the way it did.  The Scouting movement is, after all, an international brotherhood of service.  In cultivating the spirit of selflessness and service in our scouts, we should be leading them by example. That same selflessness, sacrifice and service that we teach should be readily apparent to anyone within or outside of the Scouting movement.  It is through this character of our members and volunteers that the BPSA will ultimately succeed or fail in the long run.

As an alternative Scouting organization, just trying to get off the ground, this quality of character and selflessness is what we need from our members and supporters now.  It is exactly this action of leading the movement by example, of “being” the change you want to see in our organization, that is the outside force BPSA and its members needs to exhibit in order to change its velocity.  We can overcome our inertia by spreading our own enthusiasm for the program to others.

Baden-Powell said the following in his last letter before retiring from his position as Chief Scout of the World,

But the real way to get happiness is by giving out happiness to other people. Try and leave this world a little better than you found it and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate you have not wasted your time but have done your best. “Be Prepared” in this way, to live happy and to die happy– stick to your Scout promise always– even after you have ceased to be a boy– and God help you to do it.

B.-P. had the right idea about happiness and the reasons to do your best.  It is with exactly this intent that many of us are whole heartedly working to get BPSA off and running.  Not only is it a way to do our best and leave the world with something that improves things for our generation and those to come; but in doing so it brings about a pure happiness in each of us.  A deep happiness that can only come from rendering selfless service to our fellow humans, our nation and our communities – knowing that in the end, we’ve done the very best we could with the life and energy we had.

I would like to challenge you today to reflect on these ideas and ask yourself if the BPSA and a real, traditional scouting program for youth in this country is worth your effort and energy to help make the world a slightly better place than when you first arrived?  In service to others, can you truly find happiness for yourself and others?

What can you do to provide that energy and the force needed to help this movement overcome its inertia?

We have our Timberwolf and Pathfinder Handbooks available in paperback format, bound and ready for use in our online store!  These are the same contents as the PDF versions available on the web site in the Resources section; but for getting lots of use out of them, lugging them along on campouts and in the field, the bound and covered versions are available.  The handbooks are $12.00 US each, and are good for the entire section. So getting a Pathfinder Handbook will cover all general and special proficiency badge work for the Pathfinder from ages 10 through 17.  The money goes to support the BPSA program and you get a functional, rugged and nicely formatted printed copy of our handbook for your scout.  Definitely worth the investment I think.

Head on over to the store to make a purchase and as always, your feedback on the the store and our handbooks is always welcome and appreciated.

As I try to get the online store and ordering together for BPSA-US badges, neckers, and more, I wanted to post a preview of the new Tenderfoot/Association badge that will be coming in.  I’m working on a 2nd Class and 1st Class badge that match, and we also have group name flashes (for the right, top shoulder on the uniform) that will be available, customized with your group’s name.  I’ll post more as I move in this direction. However, once the badges are in, I’ll post a complete listing with price guide.

I’m coordinating with Alton at the The Rover Outpost fo badges and I think they’re looking good.  Initially, the store will have available the following:

1. BPSA-US Tenderfoot/Association Badge (shown here)
2. WFIS Membership Badge
3. Group Name Flashes (1st Lone Scouts, and Group Name customized)
4. Neckers – various designs and color combinations of your choice

Enjoy!

Another quick update. I’ve been down hard due to a hard drive failure on my home computer and am in the process of recovering all those files (and putting in place a backup solution as well). However, I have completed some of the final changes to the registration process, to note, we are now taking payments online via WePay.com.  In the past, B-PSA has had one of the current officers (typically the Secretary) open and manage a local bank account to handle B-PSA finances. Over time, this has become a pain, given that most banks require a number things for access, deposits, payments, etc. and typically will need someone local to the physical bank to manage the account and make those changes for the group. As officers and staff change over time, this becomes a hassle trying to manage the bank account or move it to the new location of the incoming Secretary (or other officer taking on the responsibility). To mitigate these management and transition issues, B-PSA has moved to an online financial management solution at WePay.com. WePay allows us to provide an accessible, online bank account and allow multiple officers access and administration privileges on the account, as well as providing for quarterly/yearly financial transaction records and the ability to accept donations and provide for accepting payments for things like registration, activities and events in a more trackable manner.

We hope this provides for easier transitions of officers, transparency on finances to our membership (as we can provide financial reports from HQ on a yearly basis to members), and makes it easier to collect fees and donations as well.  Please check out WePay.com and our information on the site as well.  WePay.com is a secure, BBB accredited, and certified financial institution with many of the features of PayPal but geared towards organizations and groups like B-PSA.

You can find the B-PSA donations page and registration page at the following links:

• Donate to B-PSA: https://www.wepay.com/donate/edit/107473
• Registration Payment with B-PSA: https://www.wepay.com/tickets/edit/25572

I’ve updated the “Join!” page to reflect this new payment information as well.  The forms available for download can still be mailed to the listed address on the page, but payments are now only accepted via online payment at the WePay site we have setup.  Those links are listed on the Join page along with all the other information you may need to register. I hope this change makes it easier and faster for scouts and groups to register; and it should make managing finances and tracking them easier on us as an organization. Should you have any questions or comments, please email them to info@bpsa-us.org or use our contact form on the site.

Please note: I am in the process of updating the language on the registration forms to remove the line about sending payments in with the forms. We can not accept payments via check, money order or other form via mail; but will only be taking online registrations via the WePay.com account.

Thank you for bearing with us and keep on scouting!

In talking with one of our prospective new members, Eugene, he pointed out that the zip code on the individual application was incorrect. I’ve corrected this and uploaded and linked the new form on the “Join” page. If anyone else has sent in registrations, please take note that the correct address zip code is 63090, not 63366. In looking at the US Post Office web site, if you have your return address on the envelope, it will be returned to you since it won’t be deliverable with the incorrect zip code (zip code is final routing destination before they go out for delivery).  Feel free to use the web site contact form or email me to let me know if you’ve experienced any issues.

I’ve been very busy lately, but the forum system we have installed is not very robust and is frankly just allowing spammers and bots to fill up the forums. The forums are currently being taken down and we will be moving to a much more robust forum system (phpBB) going forward. I had hoped to integrate the web site registrations with the forum registrations; but there’s no clean way to implement that feature currently. Once I get the new forums up and running, I’ll try and transfer everyone’s accounts over to the new forums so you can login; but I may have to default your passwords and let you change them upon initial login. The only folks that will have a login to the web site/blog will be those members of HQ or authors that are actually posting content.

I’ve had a couple of volunteers that have offered to step in as moderators, and once I get everything up and working I’ll notify each of you individually.  So, once it’s up, registration will only occur on the forums; and the forums will have the same basic breakdown of categories and areas that we had originally.

So, hold tight, and things will be up and going soon!

It has been asked of me several times what’s the difference between a reef knot and a square knot. I can honestly say that here in the US there is no difference. At least not with most people. However the rest of the world looks at it a bit differently. The origin of the reef knot comes from the sailors of old who would tie the Reef sail with the reef knot and as long as there was pressure on the knot it would hold the sail in the wind. However when the wind died it could be undone quickly. Refer to by Captain John Smith in 1627. The square knot as we know it comes from Dana gives it the name square knot in 1841 and was popularized by Boy Scouts of America in thier handbooks. If you were to talk about a square knot with anyone outside of America they would think you were talking about a Chinese button knot. Yes this causes confusion when discussing what knot to tie in the correct areas. That is why Clifford Ashley originally wrote his book. Which has become the “bible” that knot tyers around the world use as a guide for discussing knots. If there is ever a question we refer to the ABOK number ( Ashley’s Book of Knots and the picture number in the book.)   Just think if you are tying a knot each bend, twist, cross, or using 2 different size ropes can create a different knot. So therefore we need to have a frame of reference to speak from. Therefore when possible I will use Ashley’s number so everyone can have a reference to what I may be talking about. Reef Knot ( ABOK 1204) Chinese Button Knot ( ABOK 599).

What does all this mean and why is it a matter for BPSA Scouts? That when that scout has master this historical and traditonally confusing knot they have joined the ranks of many a knot tyer in being as confused as the rest of us.

Welcome to the new BPSA-US web site!

This web site will serve as the single point of information about B-PSA here in the US. The goal of this web site is,

1. to provide access to information about our policies, program and activities
2. promote B-PSA as a traditional scouting association
3. help new comers find a local group and/or register a new group or for the lone scout program
4. provide an online community for discussions in our forum, for both non-BPSA scouters and active members
5. provide the most up-to-date calendar of events for members
6. provide HQ with a way to make announcements
7. and, with regular monthly columns, provide useful training and other resources for our members

To get started, be sure and register on the site (see the “Register” link on the right hand sidebar).  B-PSA US members who are active (meaning you have paid your annual registration fees) will have access to our “Resources” page and member-only areas on the forums.  All the other information on the site is open to the public and others who might be interested in traditional scouting here in the US.

Our “Photos” section is there so we can provide some pictures and albums of our association’s groups and scouts – so if you have pictures from a recent campout, meeting or other activity and would like to share them with the membership, please email them in with a short description and we’ll get them up.  We’ll try to automate this a bit more in the future.

The site should be fairly straight forward, so take a look around and be sure and register and leave some comments. We hope you enjoy the new site and we look forward to providing lots of useful information, resources and lively discussion moving ahead!

We also will have a monthly column from one of our newest GSM’s, Tony Place, or as he’s referred to elsewhere “Dr. Knott!”  Tony is a member of the International Guild of Knot Tyers, and will be providing monthly content on knots, lashings and pioneering in general.

If you or someone you know would like to contribute a monthly column or resource on a particular subject of interest to scouts in our association, please contact us and let us know!

YiTS,
Dave Atchley
Chief Commissioner, B-PSA US

Thanks: I’d like to extend a thank you to Ric Raynor, George Stecher, Tony Place and Dan’l Adams for providing some much needed reviewing and editing suggestions on the site as we put it together; and content contribution.  A Scout’s duty is to be useful; and you guys sure have been.