Leaderboard

I’d never heard of charging to attend a B&G, to be honest. My experience has always been a giant potluck in a donated hall with donated placemats; dens do centerpieces and nut/mint cups; pack covers plates, cups, utensils, and napkins. Making it a moneymaker would leave a bad taste in my mouth, frankly. If you need to charge, cover your costs and leave it at that.

Forgive me if this has been discussed, but I did a quick search and didn't see a thread or even a post on it. You'd think as often as Scouts go camping, there would be more cases of Scouts reporting sightings of UFOs. There was a famous (at the time) case in 1952 from West Palm Beach, FL of Scoutmaster Sonny DesVergers claiming to have been "attacked" by a UFO (see, for example, https://www.nicap.org/bhoax.htm). The Air Force investigator concluded that that particular case was a hoax. What got me thinking about Scouts and UFOs was a recent episode of "Project Blue Book" on the History Ch

Days after Apollo 11 lunar landing on July 20, 1969, our returning Philmont contingent stopped at the Air Force Museum which was adjacent to Wright Patterson AFB. As impressive as all the displays were (B-36, XB-70!), I wanted more -- Blue Book. I asked every officer I saw on the museum grounds for a real tour of Wright Patterson. At the end of 1969, the Air Force terminated Project Blue Book at Wright Patterson. If pesky scouts, like me, were a contributing reason, it was redacted from their final report. That is as close as I came to UFO's in scouts.

Now Barry, you need to stop poking us with your stick of rational reasoning. Some of us are fragile you know😩.

"It is evident from the film material that during the shooting there were breaches to the regulations and rules of conduct in protected areas: entering and swimming in the water basin of the Karakashevo lake, lighting a fire, and catching and killing an animal," a spokesperson for the ministry said in a statement to the AFP news agency. Well if he broke the rules...still I remember "frogging" at night as a scout. There were no laws against it...well maybe we didn't exactly have permission to use camp rowboat. Dark lake with croaking bullfrogs. Cut and sharpen your wood spear, flashl

Having spent the teen Scout years in 29 Palms in the fifties and sixties, I heard a lot of interesting stories and saw some odd things in the sky. But, even though I slept on our porch during the summer and watched the sky for hours, I never saw something that could not have a fairly simple explanation. On the other hand, there were a few pretty bizarre light activities that were obviously NOT from the marine base activity, mostly out over Joshua Tree and should I suggest it, the direction of Giant Rock. On backpacking trips I have definitely seen a meteor shoot along the horizon, and

This is troubling. Here we have our "chief ambassador" in the news again, but not for anything good: https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/bear-grylls-faces-fine-after-killing-and-cooking-frog-in-bulgarian-national-park/ar-BBTWcxv?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout He seems to me far too reckless and camera-hungry to serve as a deserving representative of Scouting ideals. I say get rid of him before any other scandals emerge.

I agree with Parkman that the methods are largely complementary. As far as the main discussion, what I think is we must remember these are the methods, not the aims. I think someone earlier mentioned it, but it bears repeating. For example, the goal is not leadership development even though it sounds like it. Leadership development is a means (a method) for a scout to become able to do things for others. Advancement is not the outcome, but a means to encourage a scout to plan, prioritize, make choices to do things for themselves. Adult association is not to provide safety, but for scouts to se

Locally, looking at programs with a large outdoors component, I see two separate differences in outcomes. For our local Loppet program, they have XC skiing, trail running, orienteering, and MTB as focuses. They vastly outperform the Scouts on skill development but are weak on leadership. Though Jesse Diggins' work with the XC ski folks on climate change is positive sign. Scouts is clearly better at leadership. Personal growth will depend. On the other hand our 2 local high adventure Y camps, Menogyn and Widji, both do a great job on leadership and growth. They are on par with NOLS a

And ruthless efficiency. I knew it had to be a Monty Python quote. It took a while. Well, could it be that cookies are an easier sale than popcorn? If the BSA really wants to cross a line they should start selling cookies. Give the rack a turn.

In my opinion, Personal Growth and Leadership Development are both expected outcomes more than they are "methods". So even though doctrine says there are 8 methods, I think it really boils down to 6 methods. Of those 6, I think the top 3 are the 3 most important, and when we get caught up in squabbles over the minutia of the bottom 3, we lose sight of what's most important. Just an opinion...

I was a Cub Scout earning AOL and a Boy Scout briefly in the early to mid 80s. We didnt have siblings tagging along nor did we have sisters doing the same stuff we were but not getting credit. So the girls have always been there reasoning has not been a convincing factor for me. I was against girls in Cub Scouts and Boy... Uhhh Scouts BSA. What's the logically next step for someone with my views on the subject?? Yep, I had a lenghtly discussion with my CM about laying groundwork for a female Troop in our area. My daughter is a 5th grader this year and a member in another nationa

That's ridiculous. I run recruiting for my Pack and I'd quit the job in an instant if my district wanted that much control over how we recruit. Guess I'm lucky. My DE showed up at our last recruiting night and the only time he talked to me was to just say that he was impressed with what we were doing. Beyond that he watched from the sidelines and that's exactly where a district rep belongs at a recruitment event.

I've seen this type of comment before. Some people seem to be operating under the impression they are subservient to the DE/District reps. They are in no position to dictate how you run your Pack events, or whether you are allowed to speak. Don't invite them to JSN, problem solved.

I think the best way to keep your sanity is to do it for the kids you're working with. If you didn't have siblings tagging along with you when you were a scout then ask these new scouts if they, too, don't want siblings tagging along. Keep them away from the boys if that's what they want. Do it for them, not for anyone else. My council is a wreck, numbers are down, parents struggle to volunteer, there are all sorts of reasons to walk away. But there is one reason to keep at it. The scouts I work with. So have fun with these new scouts.

Earplugs. Baby wipes. Apparently a margarita machine is frowned upon.