[RR] A good time to make the boys shine

[Outtobein Effcieff]

I don't know how many of you have paid much attention the the new transition brochure, but one thing about it that struck me was the Pioneers and Trailblazers transitions plans. It says this: "Using the transition plan (March 2002 thru December 2003), boys may earn thier current Pioneers advancement ratings (powder horn thru mountainman) by completing the merits required to lead them to the Gold eagle medal instead of using the advancement trail in the pioneers handbook.   I discovered this just about the time I was planning my last Advancement lock-in, this past month. When I did, I called my Sr. Commander and told him about it and said, "I'm going for this full-steam!" And he gave the OK. Then, I looked at the requirements for the Red merits, and they seem to be somewhat simpler to achieve. The blue ones aren't quite as easy to come by.   Now, I don't know how some of you others feel about this, but I'm loving it! Last Wednesday, I awarded 11 powderhorns, 20-30 advanced merits, and some bowie knives. Tonight, I'm holding our next advancement lock-in, and tomorrow I'll be giving out more bowie knives, tomahawks, and 20-30 more merits. Our next lock-in will be August 23-24. By that time, I figure I'll have handed out 25-30 advancement ratings and 75-100 merits. After that, a six-month time period will kick in before the gold hawk can be awarded.   This is fun! Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com