Firecrafter - Identity and Traditions

Identity and Traditions

Being that Firecrafter is a camp rank organization, many different traditions have been started and continued from generation to generation, and these traditions have contributed to the identity of Firecrafter, making it a unique part of the Scouting experience in Central Indiana.

• Firecrafters have a unique signature used for Firecrafter and Scouting business. Any person that holds the rank of Firecrafter is permitted to sign their name with three capital X letters immediately following: John Scout XXX. Further, Minisinos are permitted to sign their name with an underlined M immediately before their name: M John Scout. The signatures are often used on documents relating to Firecrafter only.
• Part of the Firecrafter rank requires that the candidate build a fifteen minute fire. At the conclusion of the fire three holes are burned in the middle of the card at the fire-by-friction requirement for Firecrafter, as an attest to the candidate's completion of the requirement.
• The campfire program requirement for Firecrafter entails a grading process at which the candidate's program is critiqued. Three candles are used during this process. If the candidate is successful, the graders will sign the candidate's card and then seal their names with wax. It is also tradition to present the candidate with a wax ball from the three candles used, signifying Friendship, Leadership, and Service.
• As part of the induction process, Firecrafter candidates are usually guided to the final step of induction by members of their Scouting unit or members of their own family. It is considered bad taste for a candidate to be guided during this step by a complete stranger if a friend is present at the Ritual.

• In the earlier years of the organization, the new Firecrafter was presented with a leather backing for his Firecrafter pocket patch called a rounder by his guide at the induction ceremony. Usually made of two pieces of leather laced together with colored lace and a fob for attaching to the right pocket button of the field uniform, the rounder's lace generally identified where the new Firecrafter completed his candidacy. In present-day Firecrafter, the candidate usually either picks the colors of his rounder, it is made for him by a fellow Firecrafter, or his troop wears the same colored rounder.
• Still pertaining to the patch rounder, Scouts or Scouters who are close to the new Firecrafter or helped him or her attain the rank are usually expected to sign the back as a sign of welcome and passage into the organization.
• As Firecrafter was and is a camp based organization, the different Crossroads camp staffs maintain their own separate identity within the organization and usually compete with each other on a regular basis. Higher ranking Council officers and officer candidates are usually affiliated with a camp staff (or Fire) organization, leading to fierce but healthy competition between the Ransburg, Belzer, Kikthawenund, and Krietenstein Fire organizations.
• Members of the various Fires usually gather immediately after the induction ceremony at the Firecrafter Ritual and carry out their own traditions. Normally, these traditions include singing of the camp hymn and various spirit chants.
• Adults selected for the Minisino Honor are almost always crowned (officially recognized) immediately following the end of the induction ceremony at the July (Midsummer) or August (Grand) Rituals. It is custom to name the oldest new adult Minisino as the 'Baby Minisino' and bestow upon them a baby's pacifier for wear at events throughout the year.
• There is a Ritual flag that is flown during the inductions weekend, and the senior members of the Ritual staff (Chief Trail Guide, Assistant Chief Trail Guide, and Adult Chief Trail Guide) sign the flag as a mark of their service to Firecrafter. However, this is a more recent tradition dating back to the 1970s or '80s
• After Grand Ritual and until the start of Summer Camp the next year is known as the off-season. There are currently three main activities that occur during the off-season: Firecrafter Fall Frenzy, Mid Winter Dinner, and Spring Fellowship.