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Look at these girls: http://epaper.bostonglobe.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=12c84660-0428-44b3-a64b-5d1232622bd8 That article make me want to join up as a Girl Scout leader, maybe be a troop's outdoor expert. Looks fantastic to me, I have been reading about the Girl Scouts, they seem fantastic to me. There is a long list of outdoor thinks they can do. They are Girl lead, they have patrols. Unlike Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts can run power tools, including chain saws. I am reading a lot of good things about Girl Scouts that they are actually doing better t

Assuming this is true then the only reason I would exclude would be that I knew they were gonna leave anyway. Very interesting, if true. I disagree to some degree with Hawkwin in that yeah we can drive ourselves crazy reading BSA tea leaves but the problem is when they lack trust and transparency this is a direct result; folks start arguing hypothetical because they want to get their position on the table since some folks at BSA seem to lurk the boards.

Sorry all, I didn’t mean that they were trying to interfere or “steal members” more like trying to gain money. Apologies to those that voted down. Mind doesn’t think late at night and early in the morning.

My Star Wars comments are 100% true, I was a fan of Star Wars and now I am done with Star Wars. You are on point and correct about my YMCA post, that was complete sarcasm. I believe 100% that if Girls want their own club they should be allowed to and the same for Boys. I am HAPPY that the GSUSA is a Girls only club, my daughter is now a member. I am bummed at the direction that BSA is taking. So yes, calling shenanigans, on my YMCA is the correct thing to do.

Someone needs to turn on their sarcasm detector...

Maybe BSA aren't as bad as you think they are.

Ok, boys and girls...Here's Part 2 of Green Bar Bill's "Patrol Ideas" for your viewing pleasure. Good Scouting to you! Patrol_Ideas_by_Green_Bar_Bill_pt2.pdf

or the WB beads?

Who is the source of any of these quotes and ideas? None if it is coming from National. National says there will be single gender Troops - they specifically said there would be no mixed gender Troops. 24 hours later, there's "reporting" all over the place that the BSA is going to have mixed gender troops, and maybe even mixed gender patrols. Where did that come from? Scouters speculating like wild because they can't seem to take what National has said at face value and they say they can't take what National says at face value because they don't trust them. Trust is a two-way street -

I see many instances where the phrase "cabin camping" is used on the Forum and it concerns me slightly, from the simple standpoint of Scout advancement. While sleeping a cabin is undoubtedly a valid/frequent/normal exercise in the annals of Boy Scout activities tradition, it does not fit within the acceptable activities to fulfill the camping requirements for Tenderfoot, 2nd Class, 1st Class, or Camping Merit Badge. To be clear, I am simply supplying the Forum with a resource from the BSA explaining camping requirements. I'm in no way knocking sleeping in a cabin; or letting the Scou

Some months back, I was tapped for taking over as our troop's Scoutmaster. The biggest top of mind I had was bringing fun back to the meetings. I happened to be in a World Market store and saw a $7 iron squirrel doorstop, and picked it up because I thought I could use it at some point as the trophy for some games we were kicking around. It has since become one of the mainstays in our troop monthly program, now dubbed the "Iron Squirrel Competition." Each month the adult leaders come up with a challenge that all the scouts participate in. These should combine some type of useful training/skill

Weird thread title but.... we had an inter patrol movie making competition tonight. Each patrol had one hour and a phone to produce a short film on a subject of their choice. Entering the Dark was the winning entry. Hadn't anticipated scout aged kids producing anything quite this creepy or genuinely well made. Sleep well everyone!

I'd say the primary type we used when I was with my sons' troop was state parks. I know we stayed at state parks in FL (home state), AL, MS and LA. We also have stayed in a tribal park (campground run by a local Native American tribe), national park (Gulf Islands National seashore), scout camps (several different councils), Naval bases (most military bases have group camping for scouts) and national forest campgrounds. Wish we had private property as an option.

Having had several kids on the autism spectrum in our unit, I have to say that having involved parents was key. Also, making sure several of the leaders are trained in how to deal with kids on the spectrum was also helpful. If you search around this forum there should be a thread about a pretty good video series put together by a member. This is the council but I don't see the video series they put together there. You can contact them and maybe they can share it with you. Here's another decent link.

What say you, @Cambridgeskip and @ianwilkins? Do British Scouts get dressed up as Saxon hordes or Norman conquerors or anything like that? You have more "legend and lore" to choose from than we do. (Added: I found a good illustration of some Saxon raiders doing their thing, but I did not post it because it was slightly gruesome. What I noticed that is somewhat relevant to today is that the guys were carrying... sheath knives! Very large ones, too.)

I have had heartburn with a few over the years. Typically I will advise SM, advancement and CC, do what they feel is right, I will be taking a break on whomever it may be. Will support the process but I am not going to be involved in the race to the finish, the EBOR, etc. That being said we have had some that were very active as older scouts and for whatever reason (teens being teens I guess) that end up at the last days needing this or that signed off. With those we will do what we can to support.

Aw, give him a break, he had to refer to something with a "mill" in it, and what else is there, really? And by the way, Don, just so you know, you seem to be tilting.

Is this all still the result of the college application effect? That need to have a laundry list of activities on your resume so you can get in to the school you want? And does it even work? I would like to think college admissions officers are skilled enough at their jobs to recognize when a candidate just signed up for any and every activity possible, but wasn't really very accomplished in most of them. Personally I think it's more telling if a kid does one or two things and has a resume of accomplishments within those activities. I hope that maybe colleges recognize that. But un

I think we need to be careful of sticks or canes in the senate. There is some nefarious history. http://www.ushistory.org/us/31e.asp

Not siding with nationals on this as I’m advocating a case by case decision. Each lodge reviewing their own with local tribes. That said, if the WB group painted their faces black, dressed up like an “African”, danced around, used voices and fake stories reminiscent of 1930’s Hollywood view of African tribes, I believe you might see some protests and changes from national. I haven’t been through WB, but I certainly hope they don’t do the above.

Actually the Senate uses its own rules, which are largely the same as Robert's Rules but with some important differences, most notably (at least in the past couple of weeks) the rules that allow for filibusters on legislation. Robert's Rules limits speeches to two (per day, if it's a multi-day meeting) per motion per member and the speeches are limited to 10 minutes each, so even if someone was trying to delay a vote, eventually everybody's right to speak would be exhausted and the vote would be taken automatically. Unlike in the Senate where the length of speeches is not limited and it take

The mostly likely event is that GSUSA and BSA membership will, for many reasons discussed over the years ad naseum, continue a slow decline...it is just now that it will blamed on the BS4G initiative by BSA National critics and GSUSA supporters--it may not even matter if it is true of not.

As long as you pay your membership fee why would BSA care about anyone anyone being a member of another group?

"Interpersonal skills" is the number one thing scouts learn. We can talk leadership and skills, but dealing with people is where scouts shines. But I do love the canoe trips.

I don't think "A Scout is Loyal" was ever meant to mean that someone had to be exclusively loyal to only one scouting organization. I know there are kids who are BSA members and also BPSA-US members. What I would find shocking is that after so many years of not having an exclusive membership policy, that the BSA added one on to the books just for Girl Scouts.

Not any more. Didn't you hear that LDS is quitting scouts? Oh wait, that was another rumor.

Meh. We all (myself included) are susceptible to saying dumb stuff when we are put on the spot that may not be factual or even how we really feel after further consideration. If, as you say, those quotes don't come from anyone of importance in BSA, then why give them any weight or relevance on this topic or allow them to rent space in your brain? Besides, you probably know in your heart that it isn't even a valid statement so why allow that phrase to taint your perception of Nationals - especially when it did not disseminate from Nationals. Per this board, Nationals has enough problems al

Yes, we are Yes, we are staying under 15. We have 9 girls right now. We plan on sticking to the size limit of 15. Our Boys Scouts just added 1 more boy last month and stands at 8 boys, in a few month we will be adding 3 cubs that will be crossing over. I am excited to soon have enough boys in the troop to have two patrols again.

What's frustrating to me is that the GSUSA is touting their "single-gender model" as being so superior, while either ignoring or remaining ignorant of the fact that the BSA is not going co-ed, but rather creating a new, separate program for girls that will be distinct from their boy's program, despite the ranks and requirements being the same. One of the basic premises of their argument, that the single-gender model is better for development, is actually still being followed by the BSA, but they continue to put us down for straying from it, which isn't true. I have read many articles late

Project had meaning and wasn't because it was easy effort. Heard some Christmas horror stories about poor kids, in the hospital, for Christmas. That got the idea going. Good bit of work advertising, collecting, and especially cleaning ( was collecting new and "gently used" toys and had to be cleaned to hospital standards, and even then, I think they took them somewhere to be sterilized) the toys. Then distributing them. That was heartwrenching.

You mean “perceived,” I think.

How many troops camp far from outlets and flushies.

How about using the kudu horn. Does the wood badge crowd have the African culture’s permission they stole that from? Doubt it.

If it has a personal meaning and have a valid reason behind it, then I’d be onboard. But doing it because it’s the “easiest and least effort” Project is not the right attitude. I had a bigger project planned but my beneficiary ended up asking me to change it due to them wanting to keep items as a memory.

My problem with collection drives is that Scouts rarely know what their goal is. "Collecting stuff" is not a goal. So we always challenge them to come up with a goal, just like any other project. If collecting food, they can use SFF donations by unit statistics from district to gauge how much might be realistic. Clothing drives can contact local shelters and missions to see what their efforts usually obtain. But just collecting stuff without a goal (and one that is hard to reach too) is usually frowned upon in my area too.

I think that there are times when collections drives can work as Eagle Scout projects, but they are more than just collecting items. Here are a few examples: Bryan on Scouting: Reminder about nontraditional Eagle projects was music to this Scout’s ears This Scout did more than just collect donated musical instruments. He also got them repaired and refurbished. In addition, he organized local musicians who came in and gave a 1-hour lesson to the foster kids who would be getting the new instruments. Bryan on Scouting: An Eagle Scout project doesn’t have to be permanent W

You mean actual events like a Scout helping a lost stranger in the London fog? I don't think the OA characters have to be based on real people or actual legends. Even if they borrow from or paraphrase real people or legends or stories, that should be fine as long as the proper respect is used. If we held movie and TV writers to the standard of portraying real people and events properly (and without embellishment) we'd all be watching PBS documentaries from the 1970s still.

There are two issues really. First is the one you mention for fulfilling the 6 months of "active participation". For that it an be ANY six month period while a Life Scout. That seems only fair. Our PLC did not like the idea of someone cobbling six months of activity over a 36 month period (e.g. Month1, then Month 8, then Month 10, etc.). It had to be six semi-continuous months, although we are usually very lenient. It is usually VERY obvious when someone is not active. If anyone is not seen for a month the PL and SPL start calling to see what's going on. Encourage better participation. Of cour

Under your system, are you requiring that the boy actively participate throughout the entire period between Life and Eagle, or just a 6-month interval sometime between Life and Eagle? Our troop uses the latter definition for Eagle requirement #1.

Oddly enough this worked fine and no one balked. Not one. Under our system that 14 year old Life Scout would have to find some way across meetings, service projects, camp outs or other events to maintain his active participation. You can't simply check out if you play football, are in band, choir, orchestra, debate, etc., so our PLC figured why should Scouting allow you to "stay dormant" and still reach the pinnacle. That's how this policy came about. 12 years on and it is a reason the troop continues to be strong and have VERY active participation from all Scouts.

Yes - perhaps heavy-handed. In our troop, that would only alienate families and not fix anything in the end. A 14 year-old Life Scout easily finds the time for six-months of activity in the troop to satisfy Eagle requirement #1, and then slips into marginal participation until age 17-3/4. Sustained activity is the issue. To be honest, older boy participation is the single biggest problem facing our troop. Fixing it is like pushing on a string.

I think BSA is simply using the term Family Scouting in place of coed as they are attempting to keep some single gender aspects of the program intact. For example, in my.scouting.org if you go to Organization Manager and are the CC for a Pack, you can click on setting you will see a new section called “Family Scouting”. That appears to be able to be set to is or is not available. I believe they use this term instead of coed. Again, as they want to say the family (both boy and girls) are invited to join. I don’t see this as a strategic change to also include mom and dad earning ranks

This may be heavy-handed, but our PLC put in place many years ago a definition of what constituted "active participation". Why? About 12 years ago our troop recirculated back to a younger-aged unit, but we had a large number of older Scouts (15+) too. Big age discrepancy. About a year later the younger Scouts became part of the PLC, saw the lack of participation from the older guys, read the GTA and, with advice from the SM, decided to define "active participation". The PLC set baseline minimums for service projects, camp outs and such. Rather than requiring attendance at 50% of all camp outs

Excluding summer camp, our troop usually only travels as a unit about once a year for a camping trip. Those camping trips are mainly the ones that it takes over an hour to get to the camping location or the location is very hard to give parents directions to the site. Most of the sites we camp at are less than a 45 minute drive and we have the parents bring the scouts to the camping site. We do this mainly to not have to wait until 6:30 or later on Friday evening to leave on a camping trip to when all the parents get off work.

It's gonna be a free for all. Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling! Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes... The dead rising from the grave!.... dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!

Yes. I had many friends who got Eagle a few months before 18 but they were always active in the troop and OA. I got mine just before my 18th birthday but I had over 120 nights camping, 500+ service hours, was on an OA ceremony team, nylt and worked at camps and as a ranger. I can honestly say I spent 7 full years in scouting. I didn’t need much help when doing my project because I was old enough to read and understand the process. When asked why I waited so long I told my board that I was savoring my scouting experience. I let me record speak for itself.

That article does not mention that at one point in the meeting, one of the Senators "forcefully delivered" (I believe that means "threw") the stick to (or "at"?) another Senator and the stick hit a shelf in Senator Collins' office and broke one of the knick knacks on the shelf. Sen. Collins then put the stick away and they switched to using a small rubber ball. This is mentioned here: http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/22/politics/susan-collins-bipartisan-talks-congress-shutdown-talking-stick/index.html Other than that it apparently worked reasonably well.

Everything is fun and games until someone sets the island on fire. Upside of that is the navy may come by to check on things....

Bear with the following, it'll come together in the end. My son is the oldest in the troop now. We have been in 3 different troops over the years (various reasons for switching, not pertinent here). When we were in our first troop he was one of the youngest scouts in a mixed age patrol troop. He tried several times to make friends with the older boys but they had no interest. The 'fumes' thing really make a difference between 11 year olds and 16/17 year olds. The young ones stuck together regardless of patrol. It was just the way it was. On occasion at the urging of the SM both groups and

My project came to me when I was a Star and talking to my cousin at Christmas. She worked in a pediatric ICU unit, and told me some stories. Long story short, my project was collecting toys for the kids at her hospital's pediatric ward.