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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/03/19 in all areas

  1. You can't help think this could have been avoided if the other adults would have paid attention. THAT is the real purpose of YPT.
    3 points
  2. @shortridge Amen to that. My beef with commissioners are they don't stay current with what's actually going on in the program and telling units absolutely false information which is particularly dangerous to newer units. The biggest problem of course is that there would be no one working on their Doctorate of Commissioner Science...the dumbest thing the BSA has. Also they need to hire from the outside for senior positions. Get from expertise from financial, change management and IT to fix these long standing functional and organizational issues. The Franchise model the BSA uses
    3 points
  3. If we’re thinking Big Thoughts, I’d also propose a total end to the commissioner staff. I haven’t encountered a district yet that doesn’t struggle with attracting and retaining commissioners, let alone that uses that staff to support units properly. If we have people who want to be involved in Scouting, then put them to work directly with units as ASMs or MCs, or at the district level working on camporees, training, advancement, or camping promotion - direct program delivery, not as “consultants.” Don’t waste good bodies on a vague and usually useless organizational element that very few peopl
    3 points
  4. To paraphrase Captain Ramius . Give him a thumb. One thumb only, please.
    2 points
  5. Boy Scouts in Virginia helped the Frederick County Sheriff’s office convert a van into an incident response vehicle, they also helped put together a new command post that has satellite service. Boy Scout, Jonathan Williams says this project is part of his path to becoming an Eagle Scout. “It’s really hard getting up to a Life Scout, service hours are the hardest part, but I figured this one would be good because this will help save lives”, Williams said. Sergeant Dave Ellinger helped make the project possible. He says the idea came from their 1033 program which transfers excess milit
    1 point
  6. I don't have enough thumbs to thumbs up this!
    1 point
  7. i was asked about "competition" if there is only a patrol. Compete with, camp with, hike with, other patrols whoever their charter organization. Scouting started out as a movement. B-P hoped for brotherhood even across national borders. Bill Hillcourt was "Scoutmaster to the World." Another CO is no great barrier
    1 point
  8. For almost sixty years, BSA chartered patrols. They should do so again, I think. Become a "troop' when you have enough youth for two or more patrols.
    1 point
  9. Hugely agree. I think BSA is close, but it needs to do something to simplify and get the adults to back off. Keep the passion, but let the scouts be scouts. This is huge. Of my hundred+ BSA training line items, I think very few were enabling. Though training is important, it's mentorship and experience that scouters need.
    1 point
  10. I don't think it's the money. If things were going great, membership was increasing, and volunteers were aplenty, nobody would mind that much. But it's just the opposite. Underlying all the angst is a desire for leadership. Everyone here believes in the program and if something came from national that really helped with membership and volunteers we'd be less grumpy. I'm not sure what the answer is. My gut says it's nothing major, more like focusing on making the message and program more succinct. Adapt training to busy families and a wide range of interest and backgrounds. Have visio
    1 point
  11. The scouter's camp fire. Pull up a stump and join us.
    1 point
  12. The issue is what services does National provide that we are paying to receive. National does not provide facilities for meetings, any of the District or Council paid staff, most camps any scout goes to, etc. National provides the program outline (actual program materials comes with extra cost), insurance (but not the insurance that councils provide for injuries at outings), IT systems, and administrative overhead. The actual program is put on by units, districts and councils. The correct comparison is GSUSA, Trail Life, 4H, etc. who’s National fees are much less than BSA. My disapp
    1 point
  13. @PACAN you forgot the suggestion to just get in gear and sell more popcorn to make up the difference.
    1 point
  14. Pure desperation on the OA's part. The lodge's actions are completely contrary to everything we've be taught about our Order. What would E. Urner Goodman and Carroll Edson say if they saw the OA today?
    1 point
  15. This probably should be a different topic, but, did anybody attend/view the Thrive Webinar? I was just looking at the website, https://oa-bsa.org/thrive, does it really say that in 2018 only 57% of units held elections, only 71% of those elected are completing their Ordeal, and only 30% ever come back?
    1 point
  16. I got that bit. It's just that if we knew that a candidate or group of candidates had blatantly refused to complete their ordeal, Kitch would probably not lead them into our Circle. And Nut certainly wouldnt be letting them in if he did. If the adviser chose to give them their sash afterward then that is his prerogative to do so. But he would have quite a fight trying to persuade us to do a ceremony with them present. Hazing? Heck, send 'em to sit in the mess hall and feed them ice cream. Anywhere they want. Just not in our ceremonies ring. That's reserved for them as deserve it.
    1 point
  17. The fire may indeed be dying down, but it won't be my hand that puts it out. We are still fighting to keep it going here. Last weekend we did a full blown tapout ceremony for one ( yes just one) scout who's crew had their election too late for the spring callout and ordeal. It was about 4 hours of work for 6 arrowmen to make it all happen. But they did it cheerfully. i suspect National wouldn't approve of our little ceremony, but we are way beyond caring or asking for permission at this juncture. The scouts have this deep seated conviction that the order belongs to THEM. (especially the
    1 point
  18. That is what might happen if you overcorrect to solve problems. Add to it the misunderstanding of many regarding OA and Native American cultures, and you end up with the proverbial milk-toast. I have posted before that the main issue I see is, as you put it, the gimme and no limit elections. But, it is mostly the lack of true mystique due to the fear of "secret societies"and the flack regarding regalia that seems most damaging. Pure lack of pride also often seems present to me. When we old guys were inducted, ceremonies not only had the regalia, but all of the players knew their parts wit
    1 point
  19. Eagle94-A1, I dropped out several years ago as our chapter ceremony advisor. We still were expected to perform the national OA's approved call out ceremony at one of the Friday night closing campfires for summer camp. Six weeks of summer camp, six ceremonies. Each performed by a different chapter team. I'll admit that I still have possession of all of the regalia, but I can't seem to give it away. I'm still waiting for a new advisor to take over. Anyway, yes, when the AOLs and Crossovers were removed, it took the last wind out of our sails. So, although we keep promoting the need for a ce
    1 point
  20. Not one from the files, but apparently a brand new case. An assistant scoutmaster on Long Island has been charged with sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy at Boy Scout retreats and meetings over an 11-month period last year. Jonathan Spohrer, 26, was arrested by Nassau County police at his North Bellmore home on Thursday. He pleaded not guilty on Friday to a charge of second-degree sexual conduct against a child. Spohrer's lawyer, Joseph Carbone Jr., said his client denies the allegations. https://www.foxnews.com/us/assistant-scoutmaster-arrested-sexually-abusing-12-y
    0 points
  21. The true spirit of the OA, which sustained our great organization for decades, has indeed departed. It's time to put out the campfire.
    0 points
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