Leaderboard

In my experience there are several factors as to why young adults do not stick around. College is indeed a big one. One issue I faced when I was under 25 was that other adults refused to view me as a fellow adult with the same knowledge, abilities, and skills that they had. As a 21 year old OA chapter advisor, that was a big issue with others on the district committee I sat with. I was either told I don't know what i'm talking about, or ignored all together. I had to use my allies on the committees to get my ideas across fro the benefit of the Scouts. Worse case was the SM who wanted me t

Several of the BSA surveys I've responded to over the years have used design mechanisms that can skew answers. Many surveys do this and it's why you have to be skeptical of survey results. When BSA issues a survey, they are generally looking for data that will support some marketing message they will eventually spin out.

Et. al, You've heard me state my Rule #1: Don't ask for a rule. You'll get one. That holds here! What I feel is useful is understanding. The incident reviews constitute a great step in this direction. What are some of the issues with Cubs and more than one consecutive overnight campout? Resident camps may have something to offer in terms of risks observed after night 2 vs. night 1. Maybe the Risk Management talked to some psychologists and there's something different when a pack spends time in the woods vs. a couple of extended families. Maybe, historically, BSA has wanted councils to ow

Didn't you mean - Twenty-seven 8-by-10 color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was, to be used as a Guide to Safe Scouting – even including some aerial photography.

Sound advice, although the situation being referred to took place 14 years ago. 😀

Read Green Bar Bill Hillcourt's books. That will help

One of the issues that will be relevant is the payment of property taxes. If the property isn't held for exempt purposes, the annual taxes will have to come out of someone's pocket. It would probably be worth speaking with a tax lawyer to figure out how to get around that part, then decide where to go from there.

We don't live in an area that has a strong cultural support of Scouts. There are individuals who will pay/buy anything of course; but as a rule we wouldn't have a chance of having a single Scout selling $1,000 worth of popcorn. We definitely have that opportunity with the candy and meat sticks we sell instead. I lived in a different Council when my older kids were in Scouts. In particular, we lived in an area that had a stronger support of Scouting than the general area the Council covered. We participated in popcorn sales but didn't earn enough to make a dent in our yearly fundraising g

This is a big deal because it directly contributes to weaker Cub Scout programming. I served in a pack where 80% of our camping trips were two nights. Occasionally we'd have a one nighter for some reason or another, but it was rare. The reason to have a two night camping trip is that it allows for a single, full day at camp. A Cub Scout wakes up at the camp, get's ready at the camp, has breakfast at the camp, does a day of activities, and so on. When you turn that into a single overnighter, then it decreases the time available for the Scout to grow more comfortable in the outdoors.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. There is always room for improvement and we spent less time on the packing lists when we wrote the web site. Great enhancement suggestions, which we will make. Do not be discouraged about your start-up process -- this is not easy stuff. Your first year will be your start-up and as long as you have a good contingent go to summer camp and have that important bonding experience, things will go a lot more easily. Until then, ask questions and be as cheerful as possible. Our formation group knew up-front that we were pooling a lot of talent and exp

I would not worry about it. National screwed this up when they changed over to green on tan numbers. Besides National did say uniform items from the old uniform and new uniform are interchangeable. While white on red numbers are suppose to be for Cub Scouts and Venturers, Scouts wear green on tan and Sea Scouts wear white on navy now, National did state in 2009 when the Centennial Uniform (CU) came out that uniform items of the Oscar de la Renta (ODL) Uniforms were interchangeable with the CUs. So you could wear green numbers and loops on the ODLs and vice versa. Many units, especially

That's thrifty!

Check out the first link. Aged based categories and a youth is pictured, I was always taught a Scout is TRUSTWORTHY, and the folks who wrote the FAQs were either ignorant of BSA's approval of the game, or deliberately lied. Now that it has been shown that it once was approved, they took down the offending page, but have not corrected the FAQ. Owell's 1984 anyone?

Just to clarify this point: