Hi Jason!
You wrote and asked me:
"I am becoming a Tiger den leader after an 11 year break. I was in scouts as a
boy from tiger till my 18th birthday, and am hoping for another long run with my
boys."
boy from tiger till my 18th birthday, and am hoping for another long run with my
boys."
Yea!!! for you, Jason...thanks for serving as a BSA volunteer -- and welcome back!!
"Can I wear the old council shoulder patch that I am sentimentally
attached to for a few reasons. 1 it looks better. 2. The '90s were weird for
patch design, in my opinion. 3. It is a 75th anniversary patch for the Council."
There are two answers to this question, Jason.
The official answer is that you should wear the current Council Shoulder Patch (CSP) representing the local Council where you are currently registered within, which is the Greater St. Louis Area Council.
(to others reading this: many local Councils like St. Louis, were consolidated in order to maximize Scouting opportunities in a wider area and to reduce reducancies in program delivery. Two other smaller Councils consoldated with the St. Louis Area Council a few years back to form the larger Greater St. Louis Area Council. Similiar moves were made in Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky (two separate moves); portions of the Chicagoland; in Massachusettes; and in upper New York State. The most recent consolidation occured this spring within two Councils in Pennsylvania and the new name of the Council was not available until a week or so before the National Scout Jamboree...Scouts were wearing the CSP of the old Council name and carrying around the CSPs representing the new Council name. )
The reason why you should wear the Council patch representing the current name is for consistantly sake -- as a volunteer and part of a unit, your uniform should match that of others within your Pack -- youth and adult.
The unofficial answer is that you could indeed wear the older St. Louis Area Council 75th Anniversary CSP because it is still representative of the location in which you are currently "doing Scouting". "Be prepared" however, for members of your Council's "patch police" to come and "pull you aside" asking why you are wearing the older version of the Council's patch -- some may ask you to take it off and replace it with the current version. Be ready to defend why you continue to wear it; and have another shirt that you can wear with the official CSP so that if push come to shove, you can replace shirts.
The ONLY person who can ask you to hand over a patch is the Council's Scout Executive. He can't delegate that authority to a volunteer, a Commissioner, nor any other professional -- he makes that decision and nobody else. That's the way the BSA is designed, Jason!
Some people reading this will see some "fence sitting" on my part -- "you said that you wear it (the official one) for consistancy..." That is true. A great thing about many local Councils is that they have developed CSPs to promote programming; to honor specific individuals or locations; or to give recognition to the Council, for instance, for being 100 years old or in support of the BSA's 100th national anniversary. Those CSPs may ALSO be worn optionally if a person paid for them or was awarded/presented them -- and most importantly -- they represent the CURRENT LOCATION where they are registered. In this case, there's little "consistancy."
Again, just like Jason's older CSP version, those wearing something "outside the official CSP" will need to somehow "defend themselves" when the "patch police" comes cruising by -- a little education helps even those fellas and gals!
Hope that I did not confuse you, Jason -- I'm glad you're back involved in Scouting, and no matter WHICH CSP you choose to wear -- the most important thing is that you are once again involved in a program, this time as a wonderful example to your boys!
Mike Walton
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