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A lady I know has a daughter who teaches at a small, indigent elementary school outside one the Navajo reservations in New Mexico. When I heard about the difficulties they have gathering resources and helping the children who attend that small facility, my heart went out to them. So when I heard they had almost no books in their school library, I put on a combined book drive with five other packs to collect gently used books they could enjoy and use for their education. I set a date for the book drive to coincide with our monthly pack meeting, and then sent information to everybody on every ro

My son's ECoH was on Friday, and he's now officially an Eagle! I understand that he officially became an Eagle the minute national rubber-stamped his forms, but it doesn't seem real until the patch is on the uniform. He said it seemed rather surreal standing up there having the kerchief put around his neck and the medal pinned on, but pretty quickly it just seemed normal. We're incredibly proud of him, needless to say. I attached a picture below that I just love. We had a slideshow running the entire time, which featured my son's moments in Scouting. Our friend caught a picture of him st

I started doing a Webelos/Troops acquaintance coffee gathering each Fall just to get the troops to themselves to the Webelos leaders. We gave everyone calling sheets so the Webelos leaders had number for when they were ready to visit. But, the visit was really intended to get the lesser experienced mostly female Webelos leaders comfortable with the more experienced mostly male intimidating Troop leaders. It was very successful. Leave it to free cookies, donuts and coffee to get adults standing around for an hour to talk. Barry

I guess part of what I'm getting at is that simple awareness of dietary restrictions is a skill I think Scouts should learn. Sometimes that's going to mean "Don't forget to wash your hands after a peanut butter sandwich, but the allergic kid cooks his or her own food," and sometimes it will mean "Maybe we could make quesedillas on corn tortillas instead of grilled cheese sandwiches so the wheat-allergic kid can eat the same thing as the rest of us." It's shocking how few people have even a basic understanding of allergens and cross-contact. In a Facebook recipe group I'm in, someone aske

I think that there are many better places to wear that parent pin. When you are in uniform everyone knows that you are supportive of your daughter, the Scout. What about when you aren't in uniform? How do you express it then? My dad was an ASM the entire time I was a scout. He later was SM for many years after I was gone. I never felt like he didn't support me because he didn't wear a pin on his uniform. I was super proud when he had his pin on at church or work though. Lastly, I would ask that you think about your role when you are in uniform. When you are in uniform you are n

In #14, it mentions activities where participants shoot/ throw objects AT each other. In frisbee, baseball, etc, you're not throwing the object AT another player. You are throwing the object TO them. The goal is not to hit them with the object, but rather for them to catch the object. There is a difference in throwing something AT someone instead of TO someone. And yes, according to GTSS & YPT, if you are a registered leader, you'd have to cancel the sleep over if a 2nd registered leader is not present. Then consider the implications if your 8th grade son is in a Troop.

I think I should have worded this differently. I didn't really mean "serious"; I meant "values-instructing." A skit with a moral can certainly be amusing, entertaining, or even outright funny. My real point is that I think that there should be a resource where skits-with-morals can be found (and to ask if anyone was aware of the existence of such a thing), and, moreover, that Campfire culture be changed so that skits and songs are normally presumed to have something to do with Scouting values, with the "pointless and silly" variety that currently makes up essentially 100% of Campfire skit

Calion, your point is well taken. What might be sought is a good story teller. A Scout Aesop, or Chief Longinthetooth (as he was known back when). Or even Mr. Scouter. Many the time, we heard a story recited from a Native American background, or the Campfire Ash Tradition, told from a history/ecology/memory perspective. Ernest Thompson Seton recorded many "stories with a moral" that are written long, but can be shortened by a talented story teller. Anansi the trickster of west Africa makes a good moral lesson story. Look to your library for these. A Scouter walking before a c

Our troop takes (took) pride in running good campfires. The scouts learned and will tell you that pulling off a funny is A LOT after, as qwazse points out, a long physical day. If, someone has the skills to pull off serious at a campfire, they are certainly very welcome. But, it's rare. I will say that guitar will make a serious song go a long way. My patrol leader as a youth played the banjo and entertained with serious songs. But, he knew the important difference between serious and boring on a campout. He was started with a fun story about his county cousins. The one I remember was tal

Sons previous troop was exactly as you describe, and had evolved to that starting in about the few years before he joined it. Patrols are kept together, and touted as "they are all going to be the group of friends they will have long after their time in scouting is over". Well, except for the kids who quit because they just weren't friends with their patrol mates after a time, but were not given an option to move to another patrol. Many of those kids who left had just grown apart from the other kids, there wasn't any actual animosity. A few went on to go to other troops, but sadly, many ju

Wow, s'mores cheesecake in a dutch oven and chicken thighs with a pomegranate sauce. Pretty impressive, but if scouts are ever going to even consider cooking lunch, maybe something more along grilled cheese and baloney sandwiches with chips and fruit. Quick and easy with almost no mess. Barry

I'm not sure why those even exist. Unless there are people who like to dip them in frosting or something. Gah!! We had a similar offense committed in our troop at the last camp-out. The scouts planned "Oatmeal" (which usually tends to be Apples n Cinnamon, Maple & Brown Sugar, Cinnamon & spice) but the food buyer showed up with a couple boxes of the "Peaches/Strawberries/Blueberries n Cream". Most of the boys ended up eating either Ramen or just fruit.

Congratulations to your son and you!

We do make clear (usually in an aside meeting with the parents while the Webelos are doing activities with the boys) that we leave patrol assignments up to the boys. We try to keep cross-overs together for a couple months while a troop guide shows them in basics and we get them to attend a couple of campouts. During this time they may elect a PL and demonstrate that they are a cohesive patrol. But, just as often, a few of them tell us that they think they would like to be in an established patrol. Based on their wishes and the observation of the TG, the PLC decides how to configure things.

That was fairly typical even back in 1995. We stuck to our guns with our program and eventually the reputation was our marketing tool. But in the leaner days before the reputation, the Webelos watching our scouts in action was the sell. For some reason, most troops change their troop program to a Webelos recruiting visit program, while we just keep doing our troop program with the Webelos in tow. The Webelos liked what they saw and took the risk. We went from roughly 20 scouts to 100 scouts in about 7 years. And that was loosing at least that many from rocky starts. Boys like advent

Our Webelos Den of 13 scouts took over a dying troop of 7 scouts. The SM took us on his last camp out as a scoutmaster to kind of give us an easy start. Sunday morning at 8:00am, the SM opens the flaps on the tent and tells us to start breaking camp so we can get back to the church parking before church service ended, thus preventing chaos in the church parking lot. I ask, "Breakfast?". He throws, THROWS I tell you, a box of Pop Tarts at us and said, snack on them as we pack. That was the first thing we were going to change. I'm shocked at how many troops don't ask their scouts to co

That's wonderful news!!! Congratulations

Congrats to all involved!!!!!

EAGLEDAD3 ?😎

If having bread-sticks on the tables as decorations is enough potential gluten to require avoiding the table, wouldn't just eating things that came out of the same kitchen pose the same risk? I mean, I've worked around kitchens before, and even when the staff are making an effort to avoid cross contamination, the best you are going to get is a quick brushing off of the surface before they start pulling the next food item out of its container and the likelihood of the staff washing their hands between handling the gluten rich and gluten free items isn't going to be anywhere near 100%. Even if

The habit would be at least tolerable if the DL put some effort into the kids. Neglect is the worse sin here. I'd get in touch with the parent who stepped up. Ask him/her to take more training.

Smoking in the presence of Scouts is unacceptable. Fine a new Leader.

I've become fond of tri-ply cookware for campfire cooking -- stainless steel with an aluminum core that goes all the way up the sides of the pot. Distributes heat well enough not to burn on the irregular heat of the campfire, but can be put in the dishwasher when you get home. (Not reccomended by the manufacturer for campfire cooking, but seems to do well, and I bought a cheap off brand.)

Very true. My youngest child is sensitive to cow's milk, both the protein and the lactose. She gets tummy aches and eczema. She does fine with butter, as well as sheep and goat dairy products of all kinds, and I don't worry about trace amounts of milk in ingredients for her. But last time she convinced my oldest kid who was babysitting that it was OK for her to eat her sister's goldfish crackers, I had to listen to her moan about tummy aches for a week. 🙄😂 As for me, if I get a trace of gluten in my food I may very well miss a week or more of work over it. Other than a SMALL stash of snacks

I've had Celiac for more than 10 years and after extensive research I've pretty much memorized the major brands I can count on to list gluten in their ingredients if it's present. I would pass on a generic brand with the same thing in the ingredients list, but I'd buy McCormick.

Dealing with kids and dietary restrictions, it is important to get adequate information out of families. "I avoid milk" might mean "Well, actually I drink lactose-free milk, and I have no concerns about cross contamination" or it can mean "I have a history of anphylactic reaction after being splashed by milk".

If you attache the 4 diamond awards with a basting stitch, it won't leave any marks. On the off chance that a few of the holes don't seem to want to close on their own, if you scrub the stitch lines with stiff bristle tooth or laundry brush, it'll push the fibers back into shape. I've resewn patches onto the same shirt many times that way. The only time you really end up with a problem is when you use a very tight stitch to apply the patches. P.S. When you get to the point of applying "Position of Responsibilty" patches on the shoulder, I strongly suggest just sewing a 2"x

2 more tips: Select a campsite with a breeze. A point on the lake, a ridge in the mountains. You can make repellent last longer and work better against chiggers and seed tics by spraying the insides. Before putting pants on, turn them inside out, spray repellent, let it dry, reverse pants, wear. Avoid repellents that react negatively with your skin.

the Webelos Diamond patch has been discontinued and the diagram you are using is old, pre-2015. Here is a link to the current info https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33066/33066_Cub_Scout_Insignia_WEB.pdf Basically she doesn't wear any rank until she gets her Webelos oval.

I guess, but I think those are pretty ugly.

The look and feel of merit badges has evolved quite a bit since scouting first began in the early 20th century. In the beginning, merit badges were embroidered on a square piece of cloth. Later, the edges around the embroidery began an inexorible process of shrinking, and being rolled up along the edge. It wasn't until the 1960s that merit badges which looked like the kind we give scouts today started to emerge, with no cloth background apparent and a neat twilled border all the way round. The different stages of merit badge evolution are identified as "Type A" through "Type K".

I'm actually trying to keep two steps ahead of that by starting to address this NOW. I'm letting families and leaders know that I will be collecting any and all uniform items after December, and I'll collect and catalogue all of it for other units in the area to use as a resource until it's all be donated. I know it's only a small gesture, but I hope it will help alleviate some of the loss for our district going forward since we represented a significant portion of our area's population and funding. I estimate I'll be able to get enough uniforms to fully supply at least 40 - 50 Scouts.

Oct 4 EEE Update from Southern New England Narragansett Council. All overnight camping at Council properties is canceled until the first hard frost. This includes tents, cabins and shelters. Activities during daytime hours (after dawn and before dusk) are allowed. More details at source: http://www.narragansettbsa.org/EEE

Because my first SM was Council Training Chairman for Life (11 consecutive years High School Teacher of the Year selected by students and faculty- Wood Badge at Gilwell Park while in Army overseas), I got to see lots of Patrol Method Scouting. “[The patrol members] interact in a small group outside the larger troop context outside the larger troop context, working together as a team and sharing the responsibility of making their patrol a success.” B.S.A., Scouting.org (2018)[emphasis added] “Patrols will sometimes join with other patrols to learn skills and

If you like good news, I have some to report. The patrols in our unit are much stronger now. I nudged a little, and the SM and ASMs were quite open to the changes. There was a reforming of the patrols along the lines of natural gangs I spoke of in my original post. The patrol with the older boys chose to keep their old patrol name. The patrol of younger guys created a new patrol with its own new identity. There is now no question who is in what patrol. No more going to the list at the back of the room to check. There is now a patrol meeting during each troop meeting. These ar

A moment of silence for the starry-eyed young scouter who evidently didn't survive the game of life.

Well then, this is one of the few times in my life when I've been glad I don't have any kids of my own yet. This is perchance a bit too complicated for a simple soul like me to fully grasp.

Youth Protection and Adult Leadership Scouting’s Barriers to Abuse The BSA has adopted the following policies for the safety and well-being of its members. These policies primarily protect youth members; however, they also serve to protect adult leaders. All parents and caregivers should understand that our leaders are to abide by these safeguards. Parents and youth are strongly encouraged to use these safeguards outside the Scouting program. Registered leaders must follow these guidelines with all Scouting youth outside of Scouting activi

@Eagle94-A1, the organization dare not admit that this was a sanctioned part of the program lest 20 years from now a class of injured files for reparations. Far better to pay lawyers to delay discovery ....

Oh gosh, you can't have a SOCK FIGHT? We had a cub scout indoor snowball fight, using brand new socks. Socks were then washed, packaged and donated to homeless shelter. We got over 800 pairs of socks and not a single person was injured by cub scouts throwing socks at each other.

GREAT! Now can you remove the sentence that is incorrect fro the FAQ?

I agree 100% of this with Mike Rowe. I've found myself guilty of some of the safe space stuff back when I was an ASM (primarily on backpacking trips, where I knew medical help was hours away), but tried my best to let the boys take risks and govern themselves. I had problems with a fellow ASM in our troop--an ASM who wasn't with the boys nearly as often as I was (I'm not sure I ever saw him on a campout with us), but his son was about to age out (and had completed all but his Eagle Scout project and one or two merit badges years earlier), and he had work circumstances that didn't

You have a valid point there, almost all of the summer camps around here do indeed have permanent structures. But as I read the rules, in the case of a 10pm thunderstorm, we are required to get the scouts up,dressed, then march them 400 yards to the mess hall (that was the distance at last years camp) in the pouring rain. Then back to camp in an hour or two. Then quite probably repeat the process in another hour. I lost a good friend to a wayward lighting bolt at Philmont years ago. I've been 50 yards from a massive ground strike, the resulting shockwave knocked me righ

Hopefully, you're camping deep in the woods, and not in an exposed field with only scattered trees. In a forest, you're generally at fairly low risk of a lightning strike. Even still, you do best if you camp under a cluster of lower trees (not the tallest trees in the forest). The power of prayer should not be underestimated... The more secular technique I teach is this: 1. Crouch down as low as you can. 2. Put your head between your legs. 3. Kiss your butt good-bye.

According to the Guide to Safe Scouting the pavilion was not a suitable safe building. "Safe Building—one that is fully enclosed with a roof, walls, and floor, and has plumbing or wiring." As far as I can tell the Guide to Safe Scouting only mentions the recommendations of the National Weather Service. It does not say it is a requirement of scout units. But I would not want to take chances with scouts. The Hazardous Weather Training would be something good to review as well.

That would be nice. While I am concerned about Scout safety, some of the rules are getting out of hand. I have given up trying to get scouts excited about lashing since we can't make much that is exciting. When I was 10 I went to camp and helped make a 40 foot signal tower. It captured my imagination and drove me to learn knots which I had previously struggled with. I learned to deal with water because I had so much fun canoeing. They need to look at the hard reality that scouting is NOT seen as relevant to more and more youth and parents. The fact is that the world doesn't care what us

Do we need to start telling National to stop making it more and more difficult to deliver a program that even resembles Scoutimg?

Yup. We had a at least one outing when I was 18-20 that I counted as the second adult. Old enough to go die in war, work , but not old enough to count as an actual adult to supervise a group of teenagers camping with another trained adult. It's no wonder young adults don't continue on in American Scouting very much. There is no critical role they can do when they turn 18. Why stay doing something you aren't needed for?

>Two registered adult leaders 21 years of age or over are required at all Scouting activities, including meetings. Hmm, that will be a problem for me as SM when the PLC has their meetings once a month an hour before one of the regular Troop meetings. Since no other adult leaders are really invited to the PLC meeting, usually I show up and open the door to the church for them to have their PLC meeting, and sit over in the corner of the room while they have their meeting, unless I am asked a question, or feel the need to ask a question, and then I say a few things at the end. This all

One of the first times my SM volunteered to come to a crew event with me, he volunteered to transport ... thinking that he'd wind up with a car full of the boys ... since they basically knew the drill and he was, after all, their SM. (As you might guess already, I'm not to map out these details in advance.) Well, sure enough, come departure time (which involved the complexity of roof-top carriers, etc ...), the boys piled in my car and the girls in his! The terrified look on his face was one of those precious crew advisor moments that will stay with me forever. It wound up being one of his bet