Re: Chartered Organization Change
Anthony J. Mako (ajmako@APK.NET)
Tue, 3 Mar 1998 21:28:43 -0500
More on switching Chartered Organizations:
Having been through the experience of changing chartered organizations
several times in my career, I'd have to say that it isn't a simple matter of
writting a letter. It is extremely simple to get a letter from a chartered
organization to move a troop. The problem is, in order to take to number,
the equipment, the money, and everything else associated with it, you have
to get explicit permission from the current CO.
On my first try, as Scoutmaster of Troop 38 (chartered to Firestone Tire and
Rubber Company), the letter I sent to our CR spelled out that we wanted the
troop number, the equipment (which wasn't worth much anyway), and everything
else. His reply was that we could have the equipment and any funds the troop
had, but the number still belonged to Firestone. We still moved the troop,
but had to effectively start a brand new troop.
We became Troop 86 (chartered to St. John the Baptist RC Church). About
eighteen months later we had to start looking for another place to meet due
to the fact that the Pastor who had brought the troop in had moved way to
fast in his attempt to inject some youth and vigor into the parish.
The letter I received from the new Pastor basically gave us everything. They
also gave us two weeks to "get out of the church." My experience has been
that there are several factors which come into play when you change CO's.
The most important being the relationship the organization has with the
present leadership of the unit. In every case I have been involved in, the
unit was ultimately viewed as "outsiders" and not really a part of the
organization (the demise of Troop 86 was a prime example).
Another factor that comes into play is how the CO views the history of the
unit. Firestone T&R was extremely proud of their tradition of supporting
Scouting. At one time they chartered at least six troops and several other
units in Great Trail Council alone. They also sponsored an annual
competition called the Raymond C. Firestone Award. They even donated a
building to Great Trail Council for use as a service center. They were very
interested in hanging on to that history. Of course, that's the impression I
got from the letter I received. Of the two troops that remained chartered to
Firestone in 1984, our troop had to fold and start over with a new CO. The
other troop managed to keep their number (and everything else), although I'm
pretty sure there was some sort of co-sponsorship involved.
When Troop 86 had to move we asked for a letter releasing us from the
charter. I worded the letter just that way, fully execting to have to start
all over again. The response was a little too vague for our DE so he called
the Pastor and asked about the number and the equipment. They didn't care. I
should point out that Troop 86 had been chartered with St. John's from 1943
to 1976. The troop's charter had only been inactive for nine years when we
moved. I had thought that the church would want to hang on to a tradition
like that, but it soon became clear that Scouting wasn't something they
cared about when I was told the reason we were being asked to leave. You
see, evidently my Scouts were juvenile delinquents bent on vandalizing the
church.
Troop 86 survived for another six years before finally dissolving. In the
end, it dissapeared because the church that sponsored it felt no real
connection to it (not to mention concern over a couple of things my
successor had done).
More recently, I walked into a situation in Troop 381 that looked all too
familiar. Their Scoutmaster, who has been a friend of mine since I was 15
years old, had five Scouts and met in a tiny room in the CO's basement.
There was no real connection between the church and the troop even though
the troop had been chartered by the church for 54 years (unbroken). For
three years the troop committee had been talking about moving the troop but
nothing was ever done. It also looked very much like 1997 was going to be
the last year the troop was in operation since four of the five Scouts were
working on Eagle service projects.
Once again, a letter was sent to the CO informing them of our intention to
move the troop to a new location. They gave us their blessing without much
of a fight. It helped me get the troop back on its feet because I didn't
have to worry about equipment and money too much, and it helped the district
hang onto one of its oldest units, but the church has lost some of its
tradition. In this case, the new Pastor didn't have a lot of experience with
Scouting and wasn't sure how it fit in his ministry, so he let the tradition
die.
So, what you end up with when you switch COs really depends on
relationships. The relationship between the CO and the unit, the
relationship between the CO and the unit leadership, and the relationship
between the IH and Scouting. If the unit feels like the unwanted step-child
of the CO you're probably better off moving to a friendlier location. If
it's just a matter of members of the CO participating in the unit there are
ways to work on that. If the IH has no experience with Scouting, or doesn't
see it's worth, you may still be able to change their view but it'll be an
uphill battle.
YIS
Anthony J. Mako, ajmako@apk.net
Scoutmaster, Troop 381
http://members.aol.com/Scouts381/
"Home of the Unofficial Boy Scout Desktop Theme!"
Great Trail Council - Akron, Ohio
"I used to be an Eagle (C-7-97), but I'll always be an Eagle (1981)"
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