Leaderboard

After years of watching her 3 brothers have all the fun, my daughter has decided she wants to join Scouts BSA. My wife and I (both WB trained) have marshaled enough support in our community to start a non-linked Scouts BSA troop for her and her friends... We turn in all of our charter paperwork on Thursday, and I will officially be the Scoutmaster of Troop 19. Wish me / us luck! -DK

Hi everyone, There was another request for a sub forum today and I'd like to suggest another way of doing this. The problem with sub forums is it's slower than you might think to set them up (mainly because the moderators can't set them up). Further, while there are several sub forums many are not used very often. At the same time, the advantage of sub forums is that you can quickly find threads that you're interested in. Here's a suggestion on how to get nearly the same benefit as a sub forum with little help from the moderators. Any thread can have tags added to it (and moderators

The thing that I see that destroys troops faster than anything else is when you have an adult that whats to be the center of attention. They want to boss everyone else around and create a storm of drama. Anything going on has to be refocused on themselves. Scout outings can ONLY happen on weekends that their son can go. If you look at them wrong, use the wrong tone of voice, use the incorrect wording, do not pay enough attention to them then there will be hell to pay. These adults are not interested learning about how scouting is suppose to work, they have their own ideas based on things out

Thanks all for your kind words. I have been working with the new leader, and while there are a few pack issues that he will have to overcome, he has been well-prepared to keep the flame going. Meanwhile I need to keep my personal flame lit, and you have all been very kind with your thoughts. Thank you!

Well ... over the holiday break I spent the better part of two weeks in the hospital's intensive care wing after a severe illness and other incidents left me unconscious for five days. I survived the ordeal, and I feel much better now thanks to the miracles of modern medicine, but it did leave me in a seriously weakened condition, and for a few months I will be dealing with a rather delicate constitution as I work towards restoring my health to what it was before the sickness. After much prayer and consideration, it was decided that I should let go of my duties as Webelos Den Leader for a

To everyone on scouter.com, Now that girls are already in the cub program and they are about to enter the scout program it's time to welcome them. That's a nice way of saying stop complaining about girls in the BSA. Every thread that is about girls entering troops has gone off the rails. There have been complaints about how the decision was made, the negative impact on boys, what's wrong with the BSA, and just a lot of anger. I understand that people want to complain in general but we can't have complaints about the decision to include girls any more. The reason is simple. No scout should

Email me at glaacshootingsports@gmail.com with your questions about anything for Venturing Scouts or Adult Advisors.

That's correct. In my neck of the woods there are a number of existing Troops (5 in the immediate area), but none fall under our CO. Our CO does however have a cub scout pack. While "linking" to my son's troop would have certainly been easier (and I think the CO would have supported it), the scouts there are overwhelmingly against having girls in the BSA in general, and most certainly against sharing meeting space. Rather than force it, I feel being non-linked gives these girls the best chance for success without having to worry about ruffling any feathers...Little extra work on my end

@John-in-KC This is morphing in the direction of a discussion of new leaders for linked troops. How about a Forum or Subforum devoted to Linked Troops? 3 days till we start. I expect that we will all be learning as we go along, and being able to pool experiences here will be helpful --- and it will be even more helpful if it is easy for people to find the posts relevant to linked troops by having a Forum or Subform for them.

I've been is Scouting way too long. So long that some of my Eagles are now Den Leaders, and one or two are even ASMs in their son's troops. So I have a lot of experience. But I still learn new things everyday. And I relearn things all the time too. One of the things I relearned from this is TRUST YOUR GUT FEELING! (emphasis) I was district training chairman once upon a time, and I would like to say I did a good job. I helped a lot of new Scouters with those classes. One of the troop I was particularly proud of was the troop I intended to join 7 or 8 years ago because I trained their SM a

It’s your lack of training and experience that makes you feel patronized....😬

mashmaster, you are fine! I don't think they were referring your response as being scary. Your input is valuable to me and I don't think you offended anyone. They were just referring to the "Thread" on why my son was suspended from the troop for 6 months. You are cool!

OK, the son needs some support navigating a difficult situation, and for whatever reason, Dad is not that interested or involved, so Mom is going to help out. Of course the kid still has a dad. But if the kid wants to do Scouting and Dad isn't interested, then he will form other relationships with other Scouters.

You say that your husband may have Asperger's. So, he might not. We don't know. Asperger's is very difficult to diagnose in adults. Either way, your husband is still the boys' father and cannot be replaced. Scouting is not about finding a replacement for Dad. I sounds like you and your husband disagree. You need to work this out between the two of you.

Yes, I agree, some of these responses are scary. Already knowing from your previous post what happened, I think the punishment was quite drastic and severe. I don't know any Troop that suspends a Scout without having District involved. Most problems are handled in house and based on the Troop Guidelines, there should have been at least a warning and discussion with the Parents. Being removed from Camp early is also a punishment. My question would be was the camp notified about the removal? Was your District and or Council notified? If not, that is another problem. Maybe this Troop is n

+1 You call the Scoutmaster and get the update on what exactly happened and where things stand for your son's membership in the Troop at this point in time. I would tell the Scoutmaster that my son would like to continue his membership if possible, and that at this point in time, you (mom) are the main contact for your family. See what he says, and go from there. Offer to talk through any concerns and a process for your son to come back under good terms. Try to make friends with the Scoutmaster and ask if they need any adult volunteers to help out -- so you can find a place in the Troop

As a Bobwhite, my favorite cheer was; "Bobwhites! What? BOBWHITES! What?" "A QUAIL!" "OOOOOH!"

No doubt the boy has been punished enough talk to the SM. We don't usually suspend kids for thier first "lord of the flies" offense and the period beteween ages 10 and 12 are pretty big for charactor building.

Wow! Some of the last few post are kind of scary. To answer your question, call the SM first to learn exactly where the troop is with your son. Then you can discuss better the future. Barry

I'd like to insert a new thought into this discussion. You know the saying. "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good". I'd also like to point out that when the first Boy Scout troops for boys started, a hundred or so years ago, none of the scouters had grown up in the program as youth. What if the choice is between a troop with inexperienced adults who at least think they want to learn, and no troop at all? (This may be the case for some of the new girls' troops.) We have youth wanting to be in Scouting and use the BSA program. Do we offer them a troop full of inexpe

You never have to lie or mis-represent, but neither do you need to explain things in detail. The best separations are short and gracious. AND, even more so if you are upset with each other. If you feel the need to share, do it face-to-face. Use it as a chance to heal and to re-build a connection with the other person. But if your intention is to not heal and re-connect, then just don't do it.

I have never seen the purpose in this infrastructure of commissioners. Scouting is not a college degree program. I would just like to see commissioners who actually are current on the programs. When you have a "Doctorate" who doesn't know about the Eagle Project process they have no value added to units.

Ingredients 1.5 lbs. ground beef 1 oz. packet taco seasoning mix 0.5 c. sweet onion, chopped 4 green onions, chopped 8 oz. package cream cheese 1 c. salsa 12ish small tortillas (we usually use wheat) 1 c. pepper jack or Mexican blend cheese, shredded 2.5 c. green enchilada sauce 4 oz. black olives, sliced (optional) Directions 1. Brown beef. Add taco seasoning and transfer ingredients to a large bowl, reserving drippings. 2. Cook both kinds of onions in the hot drippings until tender. Add to seasoned ground beef along with cream cheese and salsa. Stir the mixture

"How Bear Lost His Tail” (and why the Big Bear in the heavens still has his ). (As told by the Iroquois) (( **Practice with appropriate motions and sounds and voices**....)) If you look up in the night sky, you will see pictures of the Great Bear, and his Cub. They both have fine, long tails. But if you go to the zoo, or walk thru the woods, you may see a REAL bear. How long is his tail? Not very ! Why this difference? Here is the truth of the matter…. Oh, my beloved:: Hear now the story as was told to me by one much wiser than I. Long

Establishing a "club" with initiation "trials" is defined as "hazing" and is strictly prohibited (except for Order of the Arrow which is sanctioned by BSA and strictly monitored by adults). While I would have handled it differently, I will not second guess the adults who were there.

Well, I'm bummed now.... because of Asthma medicine my son takes he and I are out for the Scuba trip.... 😞