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And yet the in many ways the peak of American Scouting was in the pre-1954 days when BSA was in New York City. Hillcourt wrote many of his classic books in NY and later in NJ. BSA didn't move to TX until '78. I think your geographical determinism is too simplistic.

I have no problem with vintage headwear. Our troop has adopted the garrison hat. It took no arm-twisting from me - the boys proudly wear it because it sets them apart. Everyone at camp recognizes immediately who we are.

If your unit has been keeping him on the rolls for 3 years, then I would say yes. A scout unit doesn't have to keep registering an inactive scout any more that a sports team has to keep an inactive player on the team roster. If a scout isn't active, the unit can drop him. There is no rule against a unit dropping an inactive scout. But if a unit chooses to keep an inactive scout registered with the unit, I think they need to treat him like an active scout. It would be unfair to treat a currently registered scout any other way.

People sure like to dump on the 1970's era Scouting - they love to call it disastrous too, and like to blame it for so many of Scouting ills. Then to prove the point, they quote Wikipedia which certainly is an unbiased and 100% accurate source of information Many of us who went through the 1970's program tend to remember things differently. In fact, you can find threads on this very board that discusses Skill Awards and most of those commenting are pretty positive about them. Some people like to claim that there was a de-emphasis on the outdoor program but that wasn't the case at all.

Was just a joke...my real comment was the one prior. I found that my son actually preferred being in his OWN tent, rather than bunking with another scout. Some may simply believe that they have to bunk with another...and they would prefer their parent over another boy. Not sure if this is the issue, but maybe?

My daughter is in GSA....no plans to quit. We have a watered-down troop. Hardly meets. That is simply what works for these girls now that they are all 6th graders in middle school. They are, however, doing the minimum requirements, and they are doing them fully. I have already expressed interest in taking on a committee position next year in our council....I was told that they need to work on the cub scout program first. I think being involved in both of my kids troops is doable, but only as a committee member. I prefer an active role there, rather than as ASM/SM. I presume, howeve

Forgive me if this is redundant to my last post, but I want to emphasize that this is not a hill to die on! You have 3 families where the boys like being with their dads. That's a good thing. None of these boys are older than 12, I'm guessing. That's a good thing too. The majority of your boys must be deciding to tent with a buddy. It sounds like if you told them to choose a site with their patrol on the opposite side of the field, they would. You're in a good place. You just need to find that field. (Otherwise, if like our boys, you find yourself in close woods, pick sites on opposite si

Also, you could just tell them that they will considered as "Webelos 3" until they are in their own tent

"[F]lopped" is kind.

The Boy Scout Handbook says that the neckerchief may be worn "over or under the collar, depending on your troop's custom." Yes, all the pictures on the inspection sheets show under the collar, but the troop could decide to wear them over the collar. The main thing is that all of the Scouts in the troop should be wearing it the same way. There was also a Bryan on Scouting article that mentions it (some troop wear over / some troops wear under collar): https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2015/02/03/scout-neckerchiefs-yea-or-nay/

good point! Professional certifications are among the big offenders in this regard.... CPA's, Architect's, Engineers, Medical professions of all sorts.... require regular CEU's. Biggest laugh. Nothing but a money making scam. In my experience most of these folks end up taking a bunch of stuff that has no interest to them at all, and zero bearing on their actual job....except maybe to help them be more "rounded" as a person arguably.

BSA on the results of the "Improved Scouiting Program" of 1972: "While well-intended, the plan flopped,...." "Hillcourt’s biggest impact came after he retired. In 1972, the BSA revised the Boy Scout program, de-emphasizing outdoor skills in a bid to become more relevant to America’s urban population. While well-intended, the plan flopped, and Hillcourt stepped in. He saw the need for a new Scout handbook, one that would capture the romance and excitement of Scouting, so he offered to write it for free. It was an offer the BSA couldn’t — and didn’t — refuse. That handbook — the n

I didn't know that. I thought under-the-collar was just a personal style preference on my part. I think most of the rest of my troop is in violation though. (Actually up until a few years ago it was never an issue for me. For most of my youth as a Boy Scout, my shirt had no collar, and when I became an adult leader (with a collared shirt) I always opted for a bolo tie, since I absolutely hate wearing a neckerchief. However, a few years ago my troop adopted a new custom neckerchief designed by the boys, and I got one and started wearing it in the interests of, um, uniformity. So to spe

The only reason I returned to Woodbadge after the first session was because it was required in order to be SM for the Jamboree contingent.

Are you guys trying to tell me that you have never taken a college course, attended a professional seminar, or done boy scout leadership training/YPT just to fulfill a requirement? I've done lots of that stuff. I have wasted thousands of hours of my time and spent many thousands of dollars of my money on things that meant nothing to me. As a matter of fact, I have another one coming up this summer. Paper chasing is a normal part of college and professional life. It is an absolute requirement for being a scouter. We all do it. I would be a hypocrite if I criticized a boy for paper c

off topic, but to a new SM...when I read this book a couple years back, I thought it should be required reading for all new SM's it's a work of fiction, and a quick read..... but thought provoking I think https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24872995-so-far-so-good Another really good one, in a different way was https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2711721-rocks-in-my-backpack?from_search=true

Don't be hating on the red beret

I'm late to this, but wanted to add the flavor that for the most part, these are not awards, but advancements earned. These could be presented by anyone - the Cubmaster or Den Leader does it so that out feels more special. The BSA structure encourages this. From the BSA's Pack Committee description: "Every pack is under the supervision of a pack committee,...". "The pack committee chair leads the pack committee and thus is responsible for the administration, oversight, and support of the pack program." It may not be appreciated - and indeed is something a CC needs t

Home repairs MB ... not a bad thing for boys to learn. It's also a lesson in "The more you own, the more it owns you!"

We have about one of these per year. They were active 5th - 8th, attained Life rank, were active for those 6 months, then High School comes along. They come back in during 11th grade and try to wrap it up. It may be the minimum, but that is all that is required. I really like the Eagles and older scouts that are active for the full time available, but then I like many things I cannot always have

So you responded "You go girl!" and walked away laughing maniacally?

I believe the 300 foot gap was Baden-Powell's advice. I don't know how, but I would discourage any scout from regularly sleeping in their parent's tent UNLESS there is some disability (mental or physical) involved. The Scout isn't growing much if that's the case. The umbilical cord needs to be cut sometime. About the only time that happened in our troop is 1) backpacking and 2) if the scout and parent showed up late, after the troop had already set up tents, but it was never allowed as a regular practice. I never slept in a tent with my sons after Cub Scouts. It's hard for a scout to ha

How does he plan to add them when troops have to be separate?

Thought I would post a few updates. We have added 12 Scouts since January (8 girls and 4 boys). One of the boys joined with his sister and another joined when the parents learned of us adding girls (that boy’s sisters will join in the fall as they have too many conflicts now). We have 1 more Girl Tiger registration in progress and a couple more possible but we are looking to stop new registrations soon and restart in the fall. Note we did decide to have the Girl Tiger den meeting during the same time/place as the boys. We have separate leaders so they can be segregated. We will

Kill things! Is that like saying knives are designed to kill things? Or the SUV that kills drivers of other cars. Go visit a shooting range and count how many things are killed. I don't know, but I feel safe in saying that 99.999 percent of the bullets shot from these guns were not intended to kill anything. And it's probably just as safe to say that 99.9999 of gun owners have never killed anything either. That includes hunters. Guns are tools for sport, just like the killer baseball bat. In fact, there is actually a number of golfers killed each years by impelling themselves with a

@.40AET, please do not leave the board or even the discussion. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, as is @CalicoPenn In my opinion, one of the major problems with our society is the urgency with which we settle into a position, and how entrenched we become, during (or even prior to) a discussion. Too often we weaponize debate and there is no real chance to have a discussion that might help solve a problem. If you are for gun control legislation you are for tyranny and against individual rights if you are against gun control legislation you are for murdering children and agai

Well, our 83 year old Pack just had our first girl den meeting... and I believe the Earth is still rotating. No media present but we did have some pictures taken of the girls. Most were in uniform and no skorts. Overall it was a lot calmer than a boy den meeting. We have 3 den leaders working the 3 separate age groups present. All of us we experienced in the Pack and we remarked that we need to prepare more as the girls got through the material more quickly than we planned. That could be due to smaller groups, but they were also a bit more focused. Several of the girls were tal

Absolutely. Reality trumps rules ... ewww ... somehow I just don't feel right these days using the verb "trump".

Found this video... Webelos uniforms are changing. New patches. More info on girls. https://vimeo.com/249824630 F@mily4UnitLeaders

How ironic it will be if the largest problem that packs encounter with girls joining is membership processing via National's online software.

Week 1 We are up to 9 girls now, 4 Lions, 1 Tiger and 4 Bears. The Troop has caused some issues with the charter renewal so we haven’t been able to sign up online yet... should be fixed by next week. We expect a few more Tigers to join as well. A couple of the parents are interested in becoming den leaders. One is a current GSUSA leader and the other an Eagle Scout and former scout leader. We have den meetings set up and several of the girls will be part of our upcoming PWD. We haven’t figured out the Be A scout flag and our DE told us not to worry about it. In our

Thanks. I figure I would post weekly updates on progress/findings/etc.

Week T-1 Update We now have 5 girls interested in joining our Pack. 4 are current GSUSA members and 3 have brothers in the Pack. We have not pushed recruiting at all and do not plan to so I expect our early adopter numbers to be low. So far, 2 Lions, 1 Wolf and 2 Bears. Two of the girls would bring a new family to the Pack. Their father is an Eagle Scout and former scout leader (he doesn’t have sons so he hasn’t been involved with our Pack). Next week... committee meeting, meeting with DE.