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WORCESTER ,MA – Boy Scout Troop 54, founded in 1915, has the distinction of being one of the oldest continuous troops in the United States. But, it may also hold claim to another remarkable accomplishment. This weekend the troop based out of Epworth United Methodist Church at 64 Salisbury St. is embarking on a campout marking the 120th consecutive month of at least one overnight campout. While camping is somewhat synonymous with scouting, ten consecutive years of monthly campouts is a rare feat. Scoutmaster Joshua Froimson said there are no statistics kept on scouting camping trips.

Aren't Scout Spirit and Scoutmaster Conference two different requirements? Couldn't you do the Scoutmaster Conference to set up expectations for the boy and what is required to complete the Scout Spirit requirement? Requirements for rank advancement?

I can understand disagreement with goofiness, but religion (at least in the sense that BP saw Scouting as practical religion, aka good deeds, etc.) is a centerpiece of Scouting. It's why churches sponsor us, and it's why religious people like myself participated. I enjoy the scoutcraft as well, but religion (i.e. practical religion) is a centerpiece of things.

These days this violation is relatively minor. Plus, youth are affected by societal changes. States are legalizing. Current culture openly shows contempt. Youth are bound to be caught up in these changes. I find it hard to blame him any more than a 1950s youth that experimented with smoking when he comes from a home where a mom and dad smoke. Generally, I think your focus is wrong. If he is a member of your troop, he deserves the right to have an advancement path forward. That's part of being a member and one of the core scouting tools. We as leaders do not lay in the weeds wait

Hmm, so who dictates which laws are ok to break. Parents, SM, CC? Do the authority’s really care? Barry

The weed was only the latest. Selling weed INSIDE of a school is not good. He has plenty of other offenses, including a profanity-laced tirade against a ASM. Poor kid has affluenza since Daddy is a bigshot. He will get his conference. I will not sign his Eagle paperwork. I have two Eagle Scouts threatening to return their badges.

As a Camping MBC I feel if a scout and his troop can't find 2 of the 6 options to do then they aren't trying very hard. A 4 mile backpack can happen just about anywhere all it takes is a little planning. My troop did an urban backpack around a small city then spent the night in a local metro park that let us camp the night. The same can be said for the 15 mile bike ride, a neighboring troop bikes along a foot/bike path beside a major interstate, no lunches or bathroom worries they hit a fast food place at an exit when needed. Whether the scout is a good rider or not isn't the issue - he can im

Hi everyone, this is a reminder that this thread was about goofy cubmasters and has morphed into a whether religion has a place in scouts. Let's get back to legislating over goofy (kind of ironic, don't you think?). If you'd like I can split this thread but we've beaten the subject of religion in scouts to death plenty of times and nobody has changed their minds. I personally like goofy cubmasters. At that age it's what scouts react to. It is about the scouts, after all. People who think that eight year olds want to sit in a serious discussion about ethics the whole time are not looking a

We had a scout arrested on a Friday right before an outing for trespassing into a closed factory. Obviously he missed that outing, what with being in jail and all. Scout was a Life Scout, this was his first offense, the legal system worked the issue. He had been and continued to be an active scout. The Scout did seem to gain lessons from the arrest. During the Eagle SM conference the issue was discussed, what he had learned from the arrest, what he would have changed and what he needed to take forward from the incident. IMHO - Key is you as the SM may need to have the conversatio

It was never a big part of scouting when I was in scouts. About the only time we really encountered it was when we went to a regional event with other troops. I was not raised with a faith, and neither are my kids. This is becoming more and more the norm, and I expect that eventually Scouting will catch up with it to stay in existence, like they have with girl Scouts and gay members and such. Religion is rapidly fading in the United States. By 2035 there will be more people who claim no religious affiliation than people who claim a Protestant faith. And by age, it's even st

Periodic species surveys - what trees we are losing/gaining California Nursery Historic Park Tree Inventory In the summer of 2006, members of Boy Scout Troop 143 (Fremont,CA) surveyed and identified trees within the California Nursery Historic Park in Fremont California. The Troop identified 412 individual trees comprising 112 different species. In addition to identifying the trees, they also secured ID tags to a majority of the mature trees present. This is an important civic project that would not have been accomplished without the time, intelligence and effort of the Scouts.More

To know which trees are best to hunt under. Persimmons and locust bean pods early in the season. Red oak acorns next. White oak acorns once they start falling, the whitetail's favorite mast.

I wonder if the group here could collaborate to produce something better which we could all use? I am sure we all already do something quite good, but perhaps putting all our good together might become something great?

@qwazse, I've seen this presentation, it doesn't cover what's important. It doesn't talk about the change from adult to boy led. The challenges of doing as your PL asks you to do. Failure as a tool. Having to solve some people problems on your own. Eating burnt food because the cook is learning to cook. Adults not jumping in and saving the day. How the parent can best help their scout with frustrations. This is how the calendar is created and how your scout can influence it. Conflict happens, this is how your scout resolves it. This is the boundary between the scouts and the adults. The t

I'm afraid if you "dumped" religious, Scouting would have absolutely no foundation. Once religion is removed from Scouting, it will cease to have any power whatsoever to do good in the lives of young people. Baden-Powell himself said the following: Now let’s look at the BSA National Office for some additional clarification on this subject: I believe this 100%. And I think the "slap-stick" in Cub Scouting is often a distraction from this. I have a wonderful time as a Webelos Den Leader with my boys. But, while we are always engaged in meaningful activities, NOT EVERY

With these options - b. On any of these camping experiences, you must do TWO of the following, only with proper preparation and under qualified supervision: Hike up a mountain where, at some point, you are at least 1,000 feet higher in elevation from where you started. Backpack, snowshoe, or cross-country ski for at least 4 miles. Take a bike trip of at least 15 miles or at least four hours. Take a nonmotorized trip on the water of at least four hours or 5 miles. Plan and carry out an overnight snow camping experience. Rappel down a rappel route of 30

5. Identify trees and parts that are "useful" for bushcraft/backwoods activities. e.g. birch bark, pine for resin or needles, for fire lighting.

More info just announced... Not sure how you get added yet. In anticipation of the Scouts BSA launch on February 1, 2019, families are already looking for units forming in their area. To help youth join scouts, the BSA has added new functionality that allows councils to display “Coming Soon” units in BeAScout.org.

Actual this partially true. Chartering of new Girl Troops is underway. If girls are to join Feb 1 you need to have a lot of work complete by then. See attached for an example of a plan. Note the contact names will be different for your council. I’m sharing this from a private FB account that is supported semi-officially by Nationals. I recommend searching Facebook for “BSA. Family Packs/Girl Troops” and request to join. There is a lot of info there. Note: This isn’t official and just one example from a leader. Scout BSA New Troop Kit.pdf

Exactly, which is why I posted Parkmans quote. In fact, how a scout responds to imperfection is the foundation of the program. The more bad decisions a scout makes during his scouting career, the more likely he will develop habits to resist bad choices in his future. But, nobody is perfect all the time. We have to be able to justify our decisions to the community as well as ourselves. We have to be gatekeepers to the prestige, honor and idealism of the Eagle, but that doesn't mean fight to the death with our personal convictions, biases and experiences. There is a lot that has to be consi

The committee members would have been none the wiser had it not been revealed in a Reference Letter submitted by his sister, praising him for being such a good Dad. Like I said, I think they were more upset at being "blindsided" by the SM who thought it wasn't worth mentioning.

Well, I've been there, so I understand the conflict of integrity. Saying that, I can't help but feel your comment is just as judgmental. Barry

Baden-Powell understood some Scouts did not learn well from simple verbal instruction or even from demonstration. And hands on repetition practices do not always teach skills enough for it to "stick." Early on B-P had Scouts doing skits as another way of learning skills and communications. Skits might be "campy" or "corny" but when everyone is laughing at everyone it takes a lot of anxiety out of the situation for many of the cubs and some of the adults as well. If you and your son have a different sense of humor that's ok, much humor comes from "tribal knowledge" or environment. But you shou

benefit of skits and such is it helps some kids get used to performing in front of others, also helps the shy kids who are always in the background to break out of their shell a bit, scouting shouldn't be all about skits, but skits and performing is 1 element that should be explored,

I keep going back and forth on attending. In fact my current line of thought is that I'm not going to attend and even leaning in the direction of finishing out and after my Den completed and is awarded Wolf I am going to be finished myself. I have it seems bought into the notion everyone has to go through WB to be a good leader. If i can't do it I might as well quit now.

My comment was critical of people who are being judgmental by applying their religious standards to an Eagle BoR. This is BSA, not a church. I am also criticizing those who decide which sins are intolerable and which are not.