Eagle94-A1

It is. I remember seeing it. 2/3s of the councils gone if memory serves.

I wish. My troop folded in December after years of begging council for help. They said they needed to start new units instead of helping existing one. They didn't like the fact that I told them that National predicted membership and units would decline for a few years after the lawsuit before stabilizing, and that it is easier to keep a stable unit going than start a new on. And at my new troop's meeting tonite, we had visitors from the only other existing troop in town. They are joining us on a camp out this weekend. Oh we know what is causing the problem, we are not recruiting. And Council is not helping us in this matter. One CST's stats. Look like those councils with metro areas are doing well. Rural areas not so much.

If memory serves, there is a 5 year period that professionals are ineligible after leaving the profession. Do not know if any restriction on non professional staff, ie. office staff, rangers, etc. I do know of one SB recipient who was nominated before being employed by the council, but by the time of the awards ceremony, they were the camp ranger.

Or it could be that standards for advancement have been lowered? Once upon a time, the standard was "master the skills" and "the badge represents what a Scout CAN DO (sic) not what he has done." Those come from old handbooks and advancement guides. Now the standard is "A badge recognizes what a Scout has done toward achieving the primary goal of personal growth. " Sadly I have been to a camp, where they gave away MBs. Best example were the Scouts given Canoeing MB, but could not paddle in a straight line on a troop trip to save their life. I had a Scout's family member tell me they bought the MBs by going to that camp. Or how about all the MBUs popping up where you sit in class and get a MB? Sadly my own kids, after they aged out, told me some of the stuff they didn't do for MBs they "earned" from MBUs. And don't forget the online MBUs. What FL council awarded over 18000 MBs during COVID from online MBUs?

Yes, any thing with a counterweight is banned. Catapults are under heavy restrictions as it was classified as a shooting sport, and has to follow those regs. And those regs have become event tighter. Page 14 states it requires a NRA Range Safety Officer to e present Page 77 - 79 gives details.

Yeah, the lawsuit caused a lot of Scouting endowments to be raided.

Does anyone have the stats on OA membership over the past few years? The section below concerns me. Has the OA fallen so much, that temporary units can now have elections? depending upon when the election is held, folks may not know anyone to judge them worthy or not. EDITED. Found OA annual reports here https://oa-scouting.org/resources/publications/impact-report In the 2014 report, we had 171,211 Arrowmen registered. In the 2024 annual report, we had 98,473 registered Arrowmen. That is a 43% drop in 10 years!

Do not remind me of the changes.. Yes, some lodges were doing things wrong. Other lodges were doing it properly. I don't think if the local Native nation has both youth and elders involved with the OA, doing ceremonies, dancing, singing, etc is a problem. Heck one lodge had a tribal councilman as a member, and his cousin was a ceremonialist. Another lodge had a powwow drum started at an OA event. I was active when the change was made. I and a few others said the OA will slowly die as a result of letting everyone in. I gave them 20-25 years. I think the 100th Anniversary gave it a little more life, and of course the patch collectors. OK, I admit, I have read names off of scrolls and the back of shield for AOL and Call Outs. Especially if the pack didn't have anything with their names on it. But completely agree with reading from paper for the main ceremonies. I would rather the "contemplative pause" or even ad libbing the lines, especially if the ceremonialist knew the meaning and purpose of the lines. Instead of using an adult nomination form, they put the SM on the ballot with the youth, and had the Youth vote on him.

I think OA, and national by extension, is getting desperate for money. Between this and "interesting" elections, to increase membership, I have my wories.

I have been inactive for quite some time. Once the kids became Cubs, I had to pick and choose what to focus on, and OA went out the window. My chapter essentially folded circa 2017, as that was the last time elections were held. Tried to get them to come, no response. Well the SM got a neighboring chapter to come in for an election. Yep our chapter is dead, and the hope is the chapter can get restarted. But here is the funny thing. 1. The chapter advisor ran the entire election process. Youth basically said their names and whether they were Brotherhood or Vigil. 2. As long as you were First Class, the camping no longer mattered. 3. The only adult, 21+, was voted on and not nominated. 4. Everyone seemed to get elected, including folks who had just joined the troop, and no one really knows them. While I am glad they got elected, This shocked me. Is this now the norm, or a freak anomaly?

Glad you got a good job, cause i sure don't.

I do not know where you live, but in my neck of the woods $237 IS a lot of money for folks, especially with multiple kids. I am in a rural area with high poverty rate. As for value, (sarcasm on) what's a professional? Are those the paid folks who are supposed to help units with recruiting? I have heard of these mythical creatures, and thought they were extinct since it has been so long since I have seen one.(sarcasm off) If I wasn't trying to laugh, I would be crying.

Oh, but council can add weird fees. A friend of mine's council has a $77 Council fee added to the individual, and a $75/Scout fee added to the unit recharter. $85+77+75 = $237 per Scout per year in that council. Don't forget awards and activity supplies have skyrocketed too.

WOW, who could have predicted rolling registration would be a "Charley Foxtrot?" 🤔

Another reason on adult attitudes was WHEN (emphasis) they were in Scouting. I know a former Scouter who was an Eagle in the 1972-1979 "Improved Scouting Program" era. That was when it was possible to be an Eagle without a single night of camping. He could not understand why camping was important.