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From going through various forums and blog: The Don't worry be happy..."we have a benefactor who is paying the 2000 increase.....nothing to see here" The ones getting a council bail out or assistance vs the crickets The OMG...we are out of business. thanks BSA The WTH...how incompetent is national announcing this just before recharters. No Transparency with the risk analysis. A lot of folks concurring with this one. The look down the nosers ...It's only $5 a month or two cups of coffee, suck it up not knowing the individual financial situation of others or volunteeri

In the case of 4H, $0. The link has a couple of interesting jabs at scouting as well..... https://4-h.org/parents/ways-to-participate/

Scouter.com has been cheerfully sharing wisdom about scouting for almost 2 decades. That's a lot of wisdom to sift through when you're looking for "take aways". Luckily for y'all, I was curious about some of the different ways a scout unit might make money, or maybe ways a scout can fund his Eagle project. Here are 50 useful and interesting approaches that have been discussed here through the years, along with links you can click on to see the pros and cons that scouters have talked about. In my quest to be maximully helpful, I left off Captain Obvious's favorite choices like Trails En

Like everything it's a balance. A few years ago I hiked a moderate trail down in the Great Smokie Mountains. Before I got finished I'd shared some water at the top of the hike with people who didn't bring any, gave up some moleskin to a blister sufferer, and gave up my TP to well, you can guess. None of those people would have died had I not been there, but, their experience was made better because I was prepared. In the immortal words of the great philosopher Mike Tyson, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."

The issue is what services does National provide that we are paying to receive. National does not provide facilities for meetings, any of the District or Council paid staff, most camps any scout goes to, etc. National provides the program outline (actual program materials comes with extra cost), insurance (but not the insurance that councils provide for injuries at outings), IT systems, and administrative overhead. The actual program is put on by units, districts and councils. The correct comparison is GSUSA, Trail Life, 4H, etc. who’s National fees are much less than BSA. My disapp

My troop as a Scout was founded in 1908 in Santa Ana, California. BSA showed up after the troop had been in operation eighteen years and had, at least on paper, 61 members. They "figured" they were the forty-third Peace Scout troop in California when formed in 1908 from two preexisting patrols. I Scouted twenty-five years with a Cleveland-area troop formed in 1908. There were ninety-nine troops in the area when BSA appeared in 1912 (five claiming to be the first), not counting independent patrols, that could register as such for the next fifty years. We owe BSA for many thing

I like the idea that a uniform tells a scouting story. Quite true... In the Bryan on Scouting post about Congressman Elijah Cummings, there's a bit about how he grew up in a working poor family that could ill-afford to pay for "official" BSA uniforms. The article says... None of the Cub Scouts in Elijah Cummings’ pack could afford a full uniform. So, in true Scouting fashion, they improvised — cobbling together uniform pieces at bargain shops and the local Salvation Army. Some boys bought unofficial iron-on patches and cut out the numbers to iron onto their left sleeves.

@SteveMM, full disclosure: our PLC has been "planning" to do inspections for two years. Until that time, I will point out at boards of reviews, SM conferences, and ceremonies about how to look sharp. Since uniform police has become pejorative in some circles, I've told the older scouts to just call me the local insignia dork. I do agree with @ParkMan in that I want the scouts to be intentional about how they present themselves. So, I try to bring up deviations from the Insignia Guide -- including my own -- in a kind and courteous manner. I want the scouts to know there's a balance betwee

The scouter's camp fire. Pull up a stump and join us.

I get the whole "it's just good he's active and participating. The uniform is just a method" concept. But, I really think Scouts miss out on an important concept about how to present themselves well. To me, that's a big part of what the uniform method is all about.

@RainShine, Even though you didn't say it, I figured your were an SM by the way you asked questions. (... If it talks like a duck ....) To both you and @Treflienne, regarding youth sign-offs, the answer is now is the time to start. The question is how. Here's what we did: We had the first-class scouts and the patrol leaders sit in the circle, and asked them what we should expect from a person who signed off in their book to have seen: An argument that they did this here or that there was not enough. A display of paperwork was not enough. If you saw the scout demonst

Make Scouting Great Again

@PACAN you forgot the suggestion to just get in gear and sell more popcorn to make up the difference.

Darn it Steve, you made me laugh so hard that I spewed coffee all over my keyboard and monitor! I kinda feel guilty being critical of any youth's decisions about how to wear his uniform, but I gotta agree with you. That mess really puts the UGH into UGLY.

Well that's a complete nightmare. 😵

So for good news from this weekend. We are a small, one patrol troop. The SM had some serious concerns about the patrol as they were your typical Scouts: having fun, not focused on practicing for the events, etc. But he followed Green Bar Bill's adage: "Train 'em. Trust 'em. LET THEM LEAD!" Over the past 2 months as they prepped, he had some major concerns, and thought he was setting them up to fail. Took all of his self control not to step in. And to his credit he did not interfere. At camporee, our Scouts had no adults following them around events. In fact we saw them only at 2 events t

National Executive Committee and National Executive Board too, but it will probably take Chapter 11 to get it done.

I think 4-H is an example of a youth organization that has done a good job of retooling and managing itself well to meet changing youth and family needs. 4-H also has about 6 million kids with a very similar leader/youth structure to BSA and yet very few reported cases of child abuse. There are problems in every organization -- 4-H isn't perfect either -- but BSA could probably learn something from how they operate.

Ahhhh...now I understand why my el-cheap-o brother had his kids in 4H!

Yeah. I guess it really didn't matter much exactly what I said. It was that I made a big deal about entrusting them with this responsibility. I've had 2nd class scouts work on teaching new scouts (especially one's who didn't come up through Webelos) the Oath, Law, etc ... By the way, our PLC is taking it upon themselves to arrange an evening to get everyone's cyberchip up to date. Now that we have several classes of scouts who understand what a roadblock it can be, they are beginning to help one another move along.

I don't think it's the money. If things were going great, membership was increasing, and volunteers were aplenty, nobody would mind that much. But it's just the opposite. Underlying all the angst is a desire for leadership. Everyone here believes in the program and if something came from national that really helped with membership and volunteers we'd be less grumpy. I'm not sure what the answer is. My gut says it's nothing major, more like focusing on making the message and program more succinct. Adapt training to busy families and a wide range of interest and backgrounds. Have visio

For us the sticking points were a) patrol identity stuff (name, yell, etc). When a new patrol is formed it takes the patrol collectively a while to reach consensus on a good name. So for a number of our scouts this was the sticking point. (But scouts who joined later had this really easy -- the flag was already made, the current scouts were really enthusiastic about their yell . . .) b) the cyber chip -- scheduling the opporunity to teach other scouts c) the cyber chip -- the contract with one's parents about electronics usage.

Scouters.com - Uniting Scouters Worldwide

What I like about this is that it shows you are enabling your scouts to succeed. You aren't just saying, "OK, these kinds of scouts can sign off." You're giving them some guidance on HOW to do it and what to consider. That's what mentoring is all about.

Last week's news was full of articles about the passing of Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings, an upstanding, ethical, highly respected legislator. Although I couldn't avoid seeing all the clips about his body lying in state in the US Capitol, or about the myriad accolades extolling his virtues, I did miss any mention of the fact that he was a former scout and a long-time advocate for BSA. That perspective is in a recent Bryan on Scouting post... https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2019/10/29/remembering-rep-elijah-cummings-a-passionate-advocate-for-inner-city-scouting/ Now I feel

@ParkMan These are all things that have been said on the forums/blogs. Instead of quoting those folks Individually I just wanted to show the wide range of reactions to the fee increase. Clearly the WTH one has the most hits.

A part of me feels like I should be insulted here. I don't see why this list characterizes anyone who isn't appalled by the increase so negatively. I guess by your terms, I'm in the "The look down the nosers ...It's only $5 a month or two cups of coffee, suck it up not knowing the individual financial situation of others or volunteering to pay it for them." As a Cubmaster, Pack Committee Chair, and Troop Committee Chair, I'd literally spend an hour every time it was discussed whether it was too much of a hardship to raise our annual dues by $5. I'm remarkably aware that many families s

Troop I grew up in made their own shirts. We had a silk screen made, and used it every year. Each year was a different color shirt and ink. Got them at the Christmas COH/ party. It was way cheaper making your own.

@5thGenTexan, though it may look a bit odd, I hit the "thanks" button to show my gratitude and respect for all you're doing for scouting. As a rural scouter myself, I believe there are more leaders in circumstances similar to yours than the BSA recognizes. Especially in rural areas, where there are limited numbers of adults who could or should work with scouts. Often the rural leaders do double and triple duty, and must put up with long-term dysfunctional circumstances simply because there are no other options. This can be very draining on a number of levels. My recommendation i

Honestly, who really cares if you can't spot your scouts in a crowd? If they get swapped for some other scout, you might get a better cook! All of that lettering on the back of the shirt? It gets covered by a backpack anyway. I've become a real fan of troop/patrol neckerchiefs. It's a tough sell, but frankly a lot easier to manage. Our camp produced a neckerchief with a map on it.

It takes about a month. Most of Scout rank is for the scout to learn basic scouting things like the Law, the Motto, the Outdoor Code, the Patrol Method, etc., and to be able to explain these things. Scouts who are gung-ho can read the Scout Handbook and knock these things out in an evening (assuming they can get the attention of someone to sign him off). Two requirements seem to be speed bumps for a scout working on Scout rank: * 3b. For a new scout patrol, the patrol members need to get together and talk about who they want to be. They need to pick a patrol name, decide on an emblem (p

Perhaps a bigger question- who in your troop signs on requirements? For us, we want any scout that is Star/Life/Eagle signing off on anything up to First Class requirements. Adults are a last resort for most requirements.

ummmm, no. Sea Scouts started in 1912.

Sort of the same thing our district did for the winter event. Leaders manned the events, Scouts wandered about camp going (or not) to the stations. Our troop leaders would man the event, basically describe the station, then let the various troops patrols figure it out. We never sent anyone around with the Scouts, figured they had a map, off they go. Usually they came back to the site, especially when it got dark and cold.

I have not read all seven articles but what I have read is well researched and considered. The link below has links to those articles and the references used. https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/news/research-compiled-in-the-boy-scout-series-in-indian-country-today-jHVohLu1TEyc1jdf4jqn0A/ P.S. a scouter.com topic is one of references listed.

My ideal camp would be for each PATROL in a troop to have the option of designing their own program. NSP gets scoutcraft, maybe makes a bridge, tower, maybe works on advancement, special training in cooking on wood fires, whatever the boys want to do. Older boys want whitewater canoeing this year, maybe rock climbing next year and shooting sports the third year or maybe they'll just fish all week. If there be a patrol of older boys that just want to come to camp to sit and enjoy the out-of-doors for a week, jaw-jack around the campfire and stay out of trouble! What's the harm? Maybe they migh

I like 441's approach. What can Summer Camp offer that will fill a boy's dreams until next year? Take an HA area and create 3 or 4 levels for boys to move up through. Examples: Shooting; 1- .22 rifle, 2- .223 AR 15, 3- Pistol, 4- High power scoped hunting rifle. Primitive Weapons: 1- Slingshot, 2- Recurve Bow, 3- Spear, knife and tomahawk, 4- Blackpowder rifle and pistol, 5- Trebuchet Climbing: 1- Rappelling, 2- Top-roping, 3- Leading, 4 Teaching. Build it based on "What would this boy like to do next to logically build on his adventure?" Require successful completion of

My unit has been selling trees for about a dozen years now. This goes into a troop fund earned by the scouts that participate. Then they can use it to offset summer camp,or ski trip, or what ever scout activity they choose. Several units in my area sell trees.

To piggy back ontu your selling trees fundraiser why dont you offer the service of picking them up and having them recycled? Our area has done it for over 25 years now.

Our troop has come across a great fundraiser - low cost - high profit - very low (pester the neighbors and family) annoyance factor - WATER! yup - plain old bottles of drinking water - the 16 oz size. We buy them from Sam's club (tax exempt, too!) at about $.17 each and sell them for $1 each at fairs, parades, community events. Anything we don't sell is easy to store and non-perishable. (and even if the boys drink some of the profits, it doesn't matter! - we're still way ahead!) We usually freeze about half the bottles (yup - frozen solid) because it keeps the others cold,

My troop has recently put together and had a cookbook published! It has over 250 recipes and is really great! If anyone is interested in purchasing one please e-mail us at troop734@aol.com. The cost is $7.00 plus $2.00 for shipping. It's really great so don't miss out! Thanks!

Hi. We are going to ry something new this year to help us out. We have gotten together with our local mall and we are planning to help out with the taking pictures with Santa Claus. We provide the Santa (the mall lets us use a suit), the picture taker and the camera/film and we get to keep all but 10% for ourselves. We are hoping to make up some of the difference on what we dont make on popcorn sales. We have 23 boys in the pack and Popcorn doesn't do very well in our town. We also don't collect dues, so the Pack is always tight on funds.