Attendance Pin & Bars

[biglou]

Does anybody use them? I know I had them in Cub Scouts but did not get any while I was a Boy Scout or Explorer. Is there a guideline to giving them out? This is one of the few things that I am unsure about. I used the search feature on this site and tried to find something. Just curious about this.

[Fibonacci]

I'm not sure what an Attendance Pin or a Bar is. We give out Service Stars. The boys get them at Court of Honor. The adults are asked if they want them; about half of the registered adults like them.

The following is what I print out and give to the Scouts with their Service Star at Court of Honor. (I'm the Advancement Chair.) Most of it is copied from various sources; I invent very little!

A Boy Scout who has earned a one-year service star wears a one year service star with a green backing (don’t throw away the green disc!) When that Boy Scout earns a two-year service star, he REPLACES the one-year pin with the two year pin. He does NOT wear both stars. Same for three, four and five year pins...they are replaced with the current pin representing "the current status of the individual."

A Boy Scout who was a Cub Scout for five years can wear a five year Cub Scout year pin with yellow backing disc on his Boy Scout uniform. When he earns a year pin as a Boy Scout, he wears a one-year pin with the appropriate green backing disc for Boy Scouting. When that Boy Scout earns a two-year service star, he REPLACES the one-year pin with the two year pin. In this case, he wears two stars - one representing his Cub Scouting experience and the other representing his Boy Scouting experience.

Service stars are worn at the option of the wearer. There's nothing that says that you have to wear them; but if you do decide to do so, wear them properly and with pride. If you do choose to wear them, remember that service stars are worn centered on the left pocket button slightly above the left pocket seam.

[wagionvigil]

AT one time there was a Pin for attendance. Then there were bars that were added for each year after that for loss of a better example it was like they give for Sunday School Attendance.
You had to attend X number of meetings out of whatever.

[ThunderingWind]

AT one time there was a Pin for attendance. Then there were bars that were added for each year after that for loss of a better example it was like they give for Sunday School Attendance. You had to attend X number of meetings out of whatever.

Penn's Woods Council has a drawer full of the pins and bars for sale. I have not seen them on any uniform but we have them available.

[Billiken]

Our troop does not use them.

Frankly, the topic/use has never come up at PLC or Troop Committee meeting......

[Mrw]

Our troop does not use them.

Frankly, the topic/use has never come up at PLC or Troop Committee meeting......

Same here.

I have a handful in the bag of old/extra patches and badges, but no one has ever asked about them. And we have too many kids to add keeping track of who has what pin to my list.

[biglou]

I was wondering if any Troops used them. The Cub Pack at my church does. But I know the Troop has not in many, many moons. Heck, we have not used the service stars. I am going to ask if the Troop Committee if they would like to use them. I personally like the service stars. Then again, I might ask the PLC first. I will have to think about that.

[Fibonacci]

biglou ~ if you do use service star pins, I'd recommend having a "recycle system" set up. The pins aren't cheap, and they're only good for one year. I think about asking the boys to give me back their old ones since they probably just throw them away. The adults just take off the old one, hand it to me, and pin on the new one.

[biglou]

I was thinking that. Thanks for the advice about that. I got to check with the "powers that be"! LOL

[kwildman]

we used to use the pins and bars for perfect attendance with the cub scouts. A lot of the scouts didn't like them because the backings poked them...moms dont like havint to take stuff of and on the uniform to do laundry. Same thing with the service stars...figured that since they were not being worn by very many scouts or scouters we could spend our money on other things. Our pack will pay for them for those that want them. The troop we just never started with either and it has not been an issue.

[jr56]

My troop gave out attendance bars for perfect attendance, but very few ever qualified for them.