NEWS: Boy Scouts Sell Lemonade for $250

CULTURE: Boy Scouts Sell Lemonade for $250

A troop of Boy Scouts set up shop in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah, trying to raise money to pay off a $14 million dollar lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America. The 12- and 13-year olds hawked small glasses of lemonade for $3, and 16-oz glasses for a whopping $250 dollars.
The lawsuit was filed earlier this week by the state and federal governments to help cover the cost of damages done by a 2002 fire, allegedly set by Utah Scouts. The group of Scouts was supposedly left unattended overnight in the Bear River Boy Scout Camp, leaving smoldering fires that spread across 14,000 acres.

Troop 347 of Fruit Heights, UT, was not involved in the campout responsible for the fire, but they still wish to help out their fellow Scouts. After two hours, the lemonade stand had netted just over $66 dollars in sales.

Sweet Jesus. I'd like to SuperSize that for 27,000.

The cynic in me sees this as a cheesy publicity stunt by the scoutmasters to make it appear that the government is suing a bunch of little kids.

How hard is it to see that a fucking fire was put out? Jesus.

Pretty hard, actually. The coals down in the bottom can smolder for days, especially if the fire has been burning continuously for 3 or 4 days, as we used to do. That's why we always dumped all the water in camp -- drinking water, KP water, whatever, on the fire pit before we left, and then buried it with dirt.

This comes down to the Scout Master's responsibility. I don't think BSofA has any responsibility in this, because basic fire safety is explicity covered in the scout manual, and everyone is supposed to learn it.


[Edited on Jul 03, 2004 by Keith]

The whole unsupervised thing does come into play, though. Scout masters shouldn't assume that a bunch of kids got it all done right. They should have checked the fires to make sure they were out.

Not only the Scout Master, but also one of the older scouts, usually an Eagle, should be assigned as Fire Master. It's not that fucking hard, and you'll notice you rarely hear about this kind of thing from Scouts -- even with all the fires they have every year -- but the law of averages says someone's going to fuck it up at some point.

Aren't these the same Boy Scouts that hate gays and atheists? Yeah, my heart really bleeds for them.

That's the official line. I never heard anyone, ever, say anything about either of those issues while I was in Scouts. It's a lot like the Catholic Church, y'dig, the Pope says this, and people go "Yeah, okay, whatever", and continue with what they were doing anyway..

] said:

That's the official line. I never heard anyone, ever, say anything about either of those issues while I was in Scouts. It's a lot like the Catholic Church, y'dig, the Pope says this, and people go "Yeah, okay, whatever", and continue with what they were doing anyway..




until one of the members refuses to stay in the closet. then, they ask them to leave. check out BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA et al. v. DALE

(thankfully, the girl scouts of america openly accepts queer girls.)

sorry, that was off-topic. yes, they are like the catholic church. and similarly, they should pay when one of their members causes harm to others...

Are you one of those Americans that hates Ay-rabs?

That's not even the half of it my friend...Many troops unnoficially run people off for going to a different church from the rest of the troop members, or having a single parent family... something that Boy scouts like to say is that, "America is returning to the Values that Scouting Never Left"

Lord I hope not. Then again, Scouting does positive things, so lets not throw teh bay out with the bath water ok? Scouting promotes wilderness safety and responisibilty. They promote the Belief that There is no nature, but an interconnected land mass of wilderness and civilization. They also teach ideas of community and service...

However, many people get lost in the mire of the Scout Oath and Law...Because they use language Like God, and Reverence... more conservative Scout leaders feel that this implies Religious piety...

As with any group that promotes certain values, there are those fanatics who feel that the only way to display those values is by being unforgiving to those who don't not share their values...rather than show them the vaalue in their values....

I'm rambiling...sorry, this is just a very important issue to me because I come from a more progressive background, one that values message over image and actions over words.

That better be the BEST glass of lemonade I ever drink.

i agree. i'm an eagle scout. while, yeah, if the scoutmaster caught you with your dick in another scout's mouth while on a camping trip, there may have been some reprocussions. but all in all, i had no idea at all that scouting had any beef w/ homosexuals or atheists. we'd pray at the beginning of meetings, but that was as much as we ever really talked about god

I'd better be talking to Jesus by the time I'm done halfway with that glass.

It'd be funny if they spiked some of the drinks with acid or X; they'd make a killing on repeat customers.

This is off-topic, but

isn't completely accurate.

From what I understand, the Girl Scouts essentially have a don't ask, don't tell policy - sexuality isn't supposed to be overtly mentioned or discussed at all. Adult Girl Scouts, i.e. troop leaders and council members, have been fired by some of the less-tolerant Girl Scout councils when the higher-ups learned of their sexuality - other charges would be formulated to cover up the real reasons a woman was fired.

The Girl Scout organization is a major haven for queer women, but nonetheless, in order to keep their jobs, many queer leaders or council executives have had to stay closeted. Of course, some councils are better about this than others are, as council membership will reflect the sociopolitical bent of the surrounding community...so yeah, while the situation seems to be better there than in the Boy Scouts, it's not all peaches and cream for the girls.

Check out Nancy Manahan's On My Honor: Lesbians Reflect on Their Scouting Experience to read essays on this subject...

[ /offtopic ]

i think they'd raise more $$ by selling tight young boy scout virgin ass via the phone to registered sex offenders.....

Some of the happiest times of my life were in Boyscouts.

The laws and lessons learned in BSA still stick with me. They help me all of the time.

Not less than a month ago, I was the last one to leave a fireworks demonstration. Because I was the one who waited until the camp-fire was out.

Those boys and there leaders should be put on probation. And not allowed to own lighters or matches for 20 years. A couple of winters with empty fireplaces will reinforce that lesson.

What kind of scout leaves a fire smoldering? A bad Scout.

isn't how to put out fires one of the first things boy scouts learn? stupid scouts.

The head of our Girl Scout councel is a lesbian. In fact, most of the older lesbians I know are girl scouts. Make's me proud.

Then again, politicians throw $1500/plate dinners. It's not the food you're paying for.

they should have a guy in a smokey the bear suit kick their asses...

The Scouts don't HATE anybody. They have a moral difference with the homosexual community.

Nor do they hate Athiests. The law suit that was brought on by the parents of Athiest kids was because they refused to say the Scout Oath. The Scout Oath has the word God in it. You can't be a Boy Scout if you won't say they Scout Oath. My Troop had Scouts different religions. The Scout Camp I went to every year offered different religious services for religious Scouts. There was no rule that you had to attend religious services.

The Boy Scouts of America was built on a tradition of strong morals. That is the reason it has worked so well or many years. People that don't subscribe to those morals want the benifits of Scouting with out the moral baggage that comes with it. The problem is that they go hand in hand. If you take away one element, the rest breaks down.

Read the Scout Oath, the Scout Laws and Scout Motto some time and see what the objection is all about.

I can tell you that in my 14 years of Boy Scouts (Eagle) that I and my fellow Scouts never hated any group of people.

Scouts should be the last people in the world to accidentally set a fire. Purposefully? well, it is the Scouts, but starting a forest fire is just embarassing.

The last time I dealt with sweaty boyscouts, ice-cold lemonade, summertime, and lawsuits was..

oh wait.

nevermind..