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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/16/18 in all areas

  1. What with all the gloom. doom, and turmoil in this section of late, I thought it might be no bad thing to remember and recount a few of our high points on the scouting trail. I'll start. Troop meeting night, I was near the end of my 12 month term as SPL and feeling pretty burned out. Between the troop, the Explorer Post, the IWLA shooting team, OA ceremonies, church,school, and falling in love I was a very busy young man. While driving to the meeting in my car, I mused on the sheer irony of it. As a new tenderfoot I had looked up at the older scouts of the senior patro
    4 points
  2. Based on the sketchy facts available I wholly agree that they were not prepared. The one thing I give the group credit for is sheltering in place instead of trying to self rescue. Yes they risked the rescuers' lives, etc etc... but if they hadn't done that I think there is a reasonable chance there would be dead scouts instead of injured scouts. I think in these cases it is easy to point to outrageous root causes of the incident but it is important to highlight the good as well as bad decisions once you are trapped in the incident pit. I also like to remember: "There are old climbers
    2 points
  3. We talk about the cost a lot on our troop. I was a scout in 1985. Campouts were $20. I put $20 into a inflation calculator and today it's the equivalent of $46. Our average troop monthly camping trip is about $30. I thought that was interesting.
    2 points
  4. No. I don’t have the time and energy for the baggage that would come with starting a troop for girls. -ongoing struggle to find registered female leaders to be at every meeting and outing -repeated meetings with Samantha Second Class’s parents to explain that unless they are registered ASMs, they cannot sign off for rank req in her handbook -repeated meetings with Tammy Tenderfoots parents to tell them they cannot sign off on her merit badges because they are not registered MBC -Paula Patrol Leader does not like to camp and quits attending meetings because she is in marchin
    2 points
  5. Hi folks! Please welcome @desertrat77 and @MattR as the newest members of the moderator team at SCOUTER.com! As a reminder, these moderators are volunteering their cheerful service for a quality experience around our virtual campfire. They aren't forfeiting their roles as members of the forum, they are just stepping up to help keep the area clean, and remind us all to remain Scoutlike in our interactions. Be kind, be friendly... and thankful to the full team!
    1 point
  6. Most of my memories of Scouting as a youth are largely negative; I was bullied mercilously by the other boys, but since they were part of the same congregation that paid for me to be in Scouting in the first place, looking for another troop was not an option, so I had to get by on nothing but patience and forgiveness. But there was one camp-out that stands out to me, for many, many reasons. First of all, it was the most grueling, miserable hike of my life. Now, understand, I was tiny for my age; at 13 I was 4'11 and not even 100 lbs. And I never did any kind of sports, so I was not accust
    1 point
  7. Mercy. It's that kind of ideology that breaks my heart; gender is NOT "fluid" yet society is becoming increasingly hostile towards those who still recognize this, while trying to force this suggestion on increasingly younger age groups. I was told at one preschool - preschool, mind you! - that as a teacher I could not "assume that all boys will grow up to be men, nor that all girls would grow up to be women," and my language in the classroom was supposed to reflect what they called a "non-gender bias." Of course I totally ignored that policy, and spoke against it whenever I could and to whomev
    1 point
  8. I agree that hunkering down was their best choice for extending their luck. Their second lucky break came when the weather cleared long enough to pluck them off, early the next day. Based on their found condition and required hospital stays, it would be a stretch to think they could have survived another day. One media outlet reported that the evening temperature was in the teens. To me, some of the clear lessons here center around understanding the difference between "institutional (scout trips)" and personal climbing, and the risk one assumes in each endeavor. I think there are plent
    1 point
  9. That's what got me. I've been approached by several parents and girls who are interested in starting a unit. Talked to the COR who talked to the head of our Chartered Organization who gave approval. Working with the Pack Committee and Cubmaster to start there and working with the COR to lay the groundwork with Scouts BSA in 2019. I can't be SM (due to being SM of current Troop and the Advisor of the Venturing Crew) but I'm going to do everything I can to see the new Troop succeed. The powers that be are in agreement the Troop will be Youth Led and patrol based That solves all t
    1 point
  10. Respectfully, I think we're over thinking this. Girls will not like uniforms because they feel the need to be sexy? Girls won't like advancement because it's too militaristic? I don't think so. I've got a 9 year old and a 14 year old daughter. They are not too concerned with dressing sexy - actually it feel kinda odd even thinking about it. Both daughters are in Girl Scout troops. My older daughter's troop sets a high standard for uniforming. All 12 girls in that troop do a great job of uniforming and I've never heard more than grumbles from my daughter. My 9 year old's troop is mu
    1 point
  11. Perhaps that is where BSA has screwed up. BP, Phillips, "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt and others have all stated that the Patrol Method is the only method of Scouting.
    1 point
  12. Funny, I have spent the last two weeks writing personal letters to each of my children as well as my wife. I will quietly leave the letters for them to see when they wake Sunday. I would not be a father without them, and they are the greatest gift I could hope to receive.
    1 point
  13. I believe this story is far from over. Rumor has it several in the party suffered frostbite. I was told the group had an "epic" on the same mountain, in previous years. The newspaper described it as a "hike". It is, actually, technical mountain travel where one ropes up to move more safely across snow covered crevasses in the glacier, as well as protecting climbers on steeper terrain. I've guided* on this mountain, professionally, twice. Summitted once, backed off once, near the top. It can be winter time on that mountain every day of the year, including June. On my last trip there w
    1 point
  14. No. I got into scouting as an adult to help my son and his peers navigate the path from boyhood to manhood in a society that is increasingly hostile towards boys/men. That's where my passion for scouting lies. I did the co-ed youth group leadership thing for a few concurrent years as well. It was a good program, but, it wasn't as good for the boys as scouting.
    1 point
  15. Wood Badge is intended for participants to understand where they fit in the program and planning to develop skills for that fit. Wood Badge is not a skills development course. It’s very good at helping leaders build a plan for their scouting future, provided the staff is good at guiding in seeing that future. Many staffs don’t understand the intention of Wood Badge and instead just play their staffing part for the fun of being on staff. Personally I think Wood Badge is better fitted torward adults in cub scouts looking at a long future in scouting. If you have a plan like ASM, then I thin
    1 point
  16. No. My primary objection is that, while I believe the aims of Scouting are important goals for both boys and girls, I do not believe that the methods of Scouting are best suited to the learning and development of young women. I continue to object to the idea that Scouting will work for girls as it does for boys, as unpopular as that moral position may be these days. Plus, as a single guy in his early 30's, the very idea of my joining an all-girl troop of minors as a leader is inappropriate. I wouldn't even countenance the thought.
    1 point
  17. I don’t know. Our troop and crew have same CO, COR, same meeting night, same meeting location (different rooms). We share equipment, but usually have different dates four outings, but not always. Sometimes we share programs or service projects. We have different Committee’s, different unit leaders and different youth leadership. The youth work out the logistics. Sometimes we have improvise on equipment. Our focus has been on providing the best program we can for our units, less about reasons we can’t.
    1 point
  18. Depends whose doing the asking. If it's a DE or other pro, no. If it's a CO, maybe. If it's 5 girls ... I've launched a crew for as much.
    1 point
  19. My sons are now 18 and 20, but the last year they were both in the troop, and I volunteered as ASM, participating in our troops' activities cost over $3000 for that year. How much over? I can't say. I camped about 6 times that year, and my boys 8-9 times. Summer camp was one week. NJ is expensive - summer camps within 3 hours drive run $400 - 450 per week. Our troop charges $15 per person for food on a campout, so that was $330, plus when the adult volunteers camp, we split cooking and shopping chores for the leader patrol. I cooked one trip that year, and shopping cost me about $
    1 point
  20. Get out Get out Get out Get out Get out Get out Get out Get out Get out Get out Get out Get out Get out Get out Get out Get out Get out Get out There is NOTHING to excuse the behavior of abusive leadership, and your FIRST priority is getting your child away from them. The fun activities he may miss, the cost of the trip for which you paid - none of that matters more than his security. Discontinue your relationship with that troop immediately upon his return. I am grateful you know of other troops nearby; many families don't have that easy an option. But that troop is a TRAINWRECK. Uniform
    1 point
  21. I think this resolution leaves out some things that are important to a correct understanding of what the BSA's religion policy actually is, "on the ground." What I am about to say is "old hat" to most of those who read this forum, but unfortunately the vast majority of unit Scouters do not read this forum or any other Internet Scouting forum, to say nothing of Scouts and their non-leader parents, and perhaps more importantly, prospective Scouts and their non-leader parents. Examples: 1, It mentions "Duty to God" a lot, but it doesn't mention that the BSA does not define "Duty to God."
    1 point
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