Leaderboard

I have never felt more appreciated and unwanted as I did in the moment of his request. One wonderful thing that came out of my time off was the independence my younger 16 year old son gained as a result. We never saw much of each other at the meetings or camp outs, but we both felt a since of freeing when I wasn't part of the program. Kind of hard to explain, but it was a growing experience for both of us. Barry

While I have not stepped down as SM, I have as CSDC PD and OA chapter adviser. For OA, I was too busy with Cub Scouts to be around much after I stepped down. When I stepped down as CSDC PD, and for those that remember I was also doign a lot of the CD's work too as she would not do what she said/needed to do, I kept my mouth shut. THAT WAS EXTREMELY HARD FOR ME TO DO! (major emphasis). One thing that helped was I picked up a new hobby, model railroading, and focused on that so I could keep my big fat mouth shut. When day camp came, I focused on my Tiger son so that I would keep my mouth sh

My replacement requested I take a 3 month hiatus because he felt my respect with the scouts might overshadow his effort in developing a relationship with them. I thought that odd since I trained him to be "Just like me". Barry

Yep. It helps me if I keep reminding myself that it was never my troop. The unit belongs to the Chartered Organization.

Yep. At some point, you need to hold your tongue. If it's mainly style (strickness, by the book, etc), then it's hard to argue. Personally, my ideal scoutmaster is still a very laid back person who watches from a distance. Who laughs with the scouts. Who mainly teaches by asking questions in a way that the scouts don't even know he knows the answer. Rarely, does my ideal scoutmaster actually direct anything. Rarely, does he take charge or raise his voice. But then scoutmasters change and the SM often sets the tone of the program. Similar with camping chair. Advancement. Treasure

Thanks for the correction Qwazse.

Always place clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark. Lazarus Long

Canoe relay without paddles is always good Canoe waterskiing is good times, but getting the canoe up on a good plane is a challenge, also don't try to slalom, stick with two skis

Guess I don't really see what the big concern is with coed rules and the like - there has been co-ed Scouting in the US since the 50's; the Polish and Ukrainian Scouts (ZHP and Plast, respectively) have been coed in this country since they "moved" here in the 1950's - not sure why we just don't confer with them to see how they've been dealing with these issues for the past several decades in the US. I'm sure they've figured out most of the 'bugs' by now. Ukrainian "Plastunka" - female member of 'Plast'

Intelligence is knowing that Frankenstein was not the monster. Wisdom is knowing that Frankenstein was the monster.

Lol. Son #1 and I once tried to rig a floating BB gun/archery course on a great lake. (Think summertime biathlon.) Never got past the planning/testing stages. A submerged orienteering course is an awesome challenge. Controls are numbered bouys suspended just below the surface. You can either use a map, or the heading to each control from a land mark can be used. Fishing contest. Floating campfire. You figure it out. (Okay with metal canoes. With others, you may want to pass.) Merry go round. Rope boats end to end with about 6' lead. See how fast you all can go in a circle w

Did anyone else notice that while the CC is said to have been threatening to add to the requirements, it appears that the Troop has already added to the requirements which the Advancement Chair is trying to enforce? Cyber Chip is an optional tool - it is not a requirement for any rank and should not be a requirement to schedule a BOR. Instead of worrying about how many of the 20 committee members make themselves available as a first step, I would suggest figuring out who the core group of BOR volunteers are and getting them trained on how advancement works and how to run a BOR - th

Canoe jousting!

see if your district (or council) training chair is willing to do the Troop Committee training in person with all of you. Much better experience than the computer modules, at least in my experience.

Then get rid of the other 12-14?? No need to have extra people if they don’t do anything. Just say you don’t need that many you that they’re not active.

Not sure why you need 20 people on the Committee, but that's a different discussion. I agree with you...BOR should be rotated amongst all the committee members, so that all get experience. With that many members, there should never be a delay in getting a scout a BOR when he needs one...you could even have several going at the same time.

@FaithfulScouter , welcome to scouter.com.

That comment will probably find its way into some email leaked from National... again.

I've seen these jokes about knot awards a few times but I don't understand the context. Is it poking fun at people that have a million knots on their uniform that may not necessarily deserve them?

You have to keep changing the requirements to drive book sales. It's all about monetizing the program, gotta get on the cash flow train. As I have noted, Summit is not gonna pay for itself

"God gave us Memory so we can have roses is December"

"" If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."" = Red Green =