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Returned from Camp Baldwin, OR couple weeks ago. I am sold on patrol cooking at summer camp. Okay yes it is harder but its better. Our troop is on the path from being 'troop method' to being patrol method. I'm certain patrol cooking at summer camp accelerated the improvement. The older patrol needed no assistance whatsoever and we received no complaints from them. The younger patrol was consistently 'in the weeds'. From cooking and KP to making their merit badge classes on time, talking over each other and giving contradictory orders. Always just shy of disaster. The older scouts swooped

Just back from Wood badge. W1-604-19 100th anniversary. Bobwhite Patrol. My friend got his Silver Beaver this year and landed in the beaver Patrol. And He is working on a scout camp's pond for me during an OA weekend. Seems he's stuck with the Beaver as a personal scouting totem lol.

Awesome! The scouts got to experience "camp life" as BP explains is very different from "living under canvas" which he didn't care for. From Aids to Scoutmastership, " Any ass, so to speak, can live under canvas where he is one of a herd with everything done for him;"

The only reason I would have ASM assign to a patrol would be in an age based patrol and then only for the first months. In our troop the ASMs are given specific responsibilities - one is our adult QM who helps the QM purchase items (adults have credit cards). He also will help the QM set a goal for his 6 month term and to set goals per month. He then reviews those goals on a monthly basis. The other ASM helps with the logistics of the camping program when the committee has not provided what is needed and he also is my backup when I am not present. Both help keeping new parents

Whoa..How did we get from "...how to be a great CM?" to "how to do FOS presentations effectively"?

While most do, it is not required for a Lodge to have Chapters. Most that have them set it up as each District has a Chaper, but I have seen some that have a Chapter for every two Districts, or divide it entirely unique from the District division.

You could make e effort to have a chat with him as to what he has against the uniform. Has he had a negative experience from pompous windbags? Does his son not like it? When does he think it should be worn? Or you could tell him to that it's just the way it is and say next time you'll have a loudspeaker ready so he can let even more people know what a jackass his son's CM is.

A lot of what you do depends on your personality. I’m a big picture person and for me pack success depended on the den leaders. So I supported the den leaders by listening to them and helping get what ever they needed. Each has their own personality and style, so there isn’t a one size fits all answer. It sounnds like a lot, and can be the first month as everyone is starting. But if you nip problems in the budd, your pack will be on cruisecontrol by November. As for pack meetings, make them an hour of pure fun. Move announcements to a news letter and never go more than a minute without gi

First, welcome to Scouter, @dabears. You are the ringmaster of the Pack meeting! Keep it simple, make it fun! - A den does the flag - A den (dens) does (do) the skit (skits) - A den (dens) does (do) the song (songs) - Your advancement guy and you give out all the patches. - You be Akela and tell a story with a moral. The Pack Committee does cleanup. Theres a National Theme for the month. Two months out, you pin the tail on the den leaders. as Chief of Program, your task is program. Your CC makes sure you have the support you need. You get

YPT, and their response nowadays is scorched earth. Anyone with a touch of involvement: scouts, scouters, and parents, goes, no shades of gray.

When I was Scoutmaster I signed off on rank requirements and SM conferences for all three of my sons. Whenever somebody questioned whether I should do that or not, I said "find me somebody in our troop who knows more about Scouting, the patrol method and Scout skills than I do and I will be happy to have my sons meet with them." There wasn't anybody. My older son told me one of his friends once said that he is lucky to have his dad be the SM because its easy. My son replied "Yeah, well you don't have a SM conference in the car after every meeting or campout asking how things went, what went we

My troop uses them. On paper they are supposed to serve as an advisor for the patrol leader, provide the adult 2-deep leadership required for patrol meetings and outings, and make sure that all scouts stay safe on patrol outings. Unfortunately, In practice, they end up as serving as the de-facto patrol leader because the youth in my troop are conditioned that if they don't do something, an adult will always bail them out and do it for them. (yes that is a bitter tone that you detect 😞)