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My sources boogied to get a close viewing spot for tonight's Starliner launch.

My sources say talks are ongoing... Basically, each Board involved must vote to agree to a merger. Financially unsound councils won't have much choice, and will face pressure from National. My guess is that National's stick is denial of a charter to a council. Financially strong councils kind of call their own shots. How is your council doing? Ours is not doing well... Here is an historical example: https://web.archive.org/web/20131213125856/http://www.cnjcscouting.org/index.php/download_file/view/801/1/

Are there council mergers being announced?

I'm guessing it's going to be Boy Scouts of America DBA Scouting America instead of Boy Scouts of America DBA Scouts BSA? It's a mouthful with more syllables. Scouts USA would have made more sense if they were going to change it. Plus, I've family in Canada and South America and have spent time in both places. People there also consider themselves part of the American continents. It's a little in your eye.

If BSA is supplanted, does that suggest "Scouts BSA" will be rebranded (again)?

It seems dumb. Our girl troop had flourished with 22 Scouts at its max. We have ebbed down to 12 between this year and last. It wasn’t because of BSA. Maybe if they really moved from Boy Scouts of America to nearly 100% use if BSA they could get “there” without as much turmoil. Seems like a waste of resources. So, does this mean Scouts BSA just becomes Scouts? Again, turmoil that we already went through. Is the juice worth the squeeze? No.

And don't forget the "occasional" driver who will have no idea where their spare tire is when that cursed flat tire occurs.... Hey, HERE'S an opportunity.... Automotive Merit Badge afternoon in the church parking lot.....

Actually @SSScout, it is not communicated well, but BSA requires all drivers check their vehicles prior to departure: https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/680-696(21)-SAFE-Transportation-Checklist-FPO3-5172021.pdf "Motor vehicles used to transport Scouts must complete Pre-Trip Transportation Inspection before travel for each driver and vehicle. This includes correcting all deficiencies." btw, @RichardB, "Motor vehicles" don't complete checklists... people do. Would recommend re-wording this statement on the form.

Convoys,,,,, Every driver MUST have the good directions. I marched in the Purdue Band 1966-1970. When we went to away games, it was a military operation. Ten or more busses, two or three trucks, a couple of private cars.... The student corps (I was a "supply sargent" , helped load and arrange stuff) listed, ordered, spoke to the drivers, and answered to the faculty staff. No cells, some radios, paper maps, memoes, lists of people and gear. Even a Troop of a half dozen cars/vans/ trailers, 35 people, needs knowledge, organization, cooperation, understandings. Convoys are

@RichardB, thanks! IMO, we are in a good place with the driver policies we have now. No need to revisit "convoy" or "caravan." Are you still seeing a trend of convoying being a causal/contributing factor in vehicle incidents? I do have some recommendations on improving the Transportation checklist. How do we plug into the apparatus to suggest those changes? For example, "Windshield Wipers" are not on the checklist, and darn well should be 😜 Several other things should be considered for inclusion, particularly for trailers... happy to provide input. Also, do you hav

Transportation guidelines change over the years. Language around travel has also changed, as has driver education. Today's terms and laws focus on distance between cars, following to closely, tailgating, adding more following distance during inclement weather. It did not make sense to keep using antique terms. However, I'll entertain language if you all have it. There is also no longer language around carbon tetrachloride....has not been available in years.

@captkeating, welcome to the forums.

Haven't heard this one... but am getting intel on potential council mergers. Of course, that scuttlebutt has been flying around for years... As for the name change, looks like someone wants to "leave a legacy"... smh

Is this the big announcement? Is everyone at the launch getting numbered jars of scout jam?

It looks like they have obtained trade marks for naming, products and indication of membership.

Rumors of a rebrand to Scouting America... anyone have anymore information? Allegedly being revealed Tuesday Morning at NAM.

Our pack just participated in our local part of a worldwide conservation status check in urban areas called the City Nature Challenge. Because the overlap of scouts and scouters with conservationists isn't an accident, the person organizing our city's effort on behalf of the city was a scouter for many years and still runs a survival camp for troops. So we got to talking about more scouts than just our pack participating, and looped a commissioner in, who in turn connected the city organizer with council. So far, so good, let's do a good turn and be Earth Protectors. We connected with cou

Welcome, @captkeating! I can relate to your excitement about reconnecting to scouting as an adult leader! I'm sure you will have a great time together, while Building a Better World while you're at it! I saw a joke BSA leader badge on Etsy the other day that said "CAT HERDER" and that seems to be the job as a cub scout leader! Good for you for stepping up! I'm thinking about incorporating collaboration games into next year's pack meetings to give the cats some focused experiences with what happens when you collaborate vs don't 😂

Dear Scouters, I just wanted to introduce myself and say what a great resource this website is and how excited I am to be a part of it! I am overwhelmed (in a good way) by the amazing resources available about and for Scouting. I was a Scout as a youth decades ago. I achieved the rank of Life Scout, and I was also Senior Patrol Leader. Last year, I volunteered to be my son's den leader, which was my first experience as an adult leader. I have many fond memories as a Scout, and Scouting is one of the main reasons I love the outdoors as an adult. We go camping as a family every year w

captkeating - welcome to the forum

I certainly hear and appreciate your frustration, and I can tell that your frustration is from a commitment to have a thriving, growing, valuable program that works and helps the Scouts get the leadership and life skills that will truly make a difference for them. I think that part of what inherently frustrating (potentially) about a program like this is that we are a volunteer army, and everyone, Scouts and adult leaders alike, are at varying levels of experience and leadership. I know that when I said yes to being my son's den leader last year when he joined as a Lion, it had been deca

And, for the history buffs, see page 49 in the attachment, right side, #10. 2007 Printing, BSAGuideToSafeScouting.pdf

Take out point 5, everything else applies when drivers are on their own. Before cell phones, we moved a whole troop of 120 six-hundred-miles and ended up at the destination with in 15-20 minutes. So it works well. Before cell phones, we used radios that had a range of 50 miles. Our trailer broke an axle in Colorado and all other cars knew within minutes. A plan was set to which car would help and which ones would continue to next stop at a safe place for a bunch of scouts. Much better than stopping a whole caravan of cars along side a busy two lane highway. Barry

Here’s a great winter Scout hat

Where I have seen it “fail” is when you get on local roads with traffic lights. It can easily split up and cause people to either brake hard or “blow” a light. Not good stuff.