Leaderboard

I was going to write something about council camps and management and all that good stuff, but I stopped. There really is only one problem that needs to be solved at the council level. The person running it (and this includes the board as well) needs a very unique set of skills. For one, they need good, real experience running non-profits. Balancing budgets, hiring good people, replacing bad people, working with volunteers and poorly paid employees, drumming up donations, solving problems and, most importantly, making a positive impact in the area of the non profit. This does not come fro

IMHO, camps should be independently owned and managed by a camp alumni trust, thus the camp is shielded from the financial misfortunes of the Council or National. This trust rents out its camping facilities and storage to cover its operation and maintenance. The camp neither owns nor maintains program inventory (archery, baskets, STEM, kayaks, whatever) that is Council's cost and responsibility or whatever group is renting the camp for their respective program. My $0.02,

It would be desirable in my.scouting.org to see your registration status and items needed for re-registration. Imagine if... you could go in, see that you needed to re-do YPT and it has a needs to be done by date. if you needed MBC training, it had the link to the training. If there were other forms needed - such as a local council MBC form - it would be available there online, you could fill it in live, and then hit submit. The form would go to the correct district/council person who would receive it and hit accept. A district person could see the list of peo

Tort reform would certainly help. If you have deep pockets, some lawyer somewhere is trying to think of a way to take your money.

And when you're taught how to right a swamped canoe, turn your flannel shirt into a life preserver, make tea from the bark of a sassafras tree, and read animal tracks, cairns and trail signs, you're gaining the confidence that you'll be able to adapt to whatever life throws at you. That's still relevant, not at all anachronistic. Boy Scouts needs to confront its painful past. But it might also be true that in the past it finds its future. ~ Michael Dobie , Newsday editorial board https://www.newsday.com/opinion/columnists/michael-dobie/michael-dobie-boy-scouts-of-america-bankrup

I worked on tort reform as a national public policy issue some years ago. Nothing happened then, nothing has improved since. It's only gotten worse. In parts of Europe and Canada, the legal liability system works differently and organizations like scouting don't have the same kinds of issues and challenges that we have here. We would have to change our system and also our cultural outlook. Americans like to sue. It's why I have always carried a very large personal umbrella policy. I don't like a lot of the changes National has made over the years, but I can understand why some of them happened

Alarms go off in my head when I hear of Council board members who work in real estate.

I don't know why. Many of us have been saying for years that the BSA insurance coverage was probably insufficient to adequately protect us. We recommended buying your own insurance policy. I certainly did. My Chartered Organization did as well. Insurance companies still sell insurance. I would suggest that scout leaders contact a good insurance broker. He/she will be able to help determine the amount and type of insurance needed. Much better than asking for expert advice over the internet.

I often wonder why our aspirations as a movement as so low. My council probably covers a metropolitan area of 2 or 3 million people. How hard can it be to setup a fund to protect camp forever? That takes what - 5 million dollars? Hire a professional endowment company to guide you through the process and make it happen. I see stuff like this happen regularly in the religious and university communities. Time for major improvements at church - let's raise $2,000,000 dollars. Let's grow the university endowment to $250,000,000 dollars.

In trying to visualize a more decentralized future for scouting, one of the things that keeps stopping me is liability insurance. Even if we are no longer BSA, if we are anything scout like, I wonder how we are going to be able to obtain affordable insurance. The liability insurance crisis isn't limited to scouts. In every sector I work or volunteer in, everyone is trying to avoid or reassign risk. You can't stand in front of a supermarket, use school or town facilities, or do just about anything else without a COI. Any insurance experts out there with thoughts?

Liz: Remember that your recruitment commission (what? The SMS didn't tell you about the commission for every Scout you enlist? Well. let me get my tongue outta my cheek) does not depend on ONLY AOL/Webelos crossovers. Make sure you have some notoriety in the middle schools . The School Counselors should know of your existence. Take home flyers? Ask about the backpack requirements and see your DE about getting some flyers printed up. Post cards for your Scouts to hand to their friends with an event invitation. Campfire hotdog roast, flag retirement, nature hike , something like that, e

@dkurtenbach - thanks for bringing up back to the original topic. I believe that in looking at what Councils do, we need to weigh an important factor. What are our members willing to pay for the Scouting program? To start, we need to recognize three important points about councils: Most services a council spends money to provide are not visible to Scouts and families. Most programming the Scouts receive from councils is done at a fee to Scouts. Unit support from a professional is usually the least cost effective way to provide that service In addition to my minor p

I would like to find another troop that has a "Honor Guard" within there troop like ours. Maybe exchange ideas. When I say honor guard it means just that. The boys that take it the extra mile to present our nations color the right way. We march and drill just like the military. We even do flag disposals too. We have performed for the St. Louis Cardinals baseball game and the Canadian National Anthems. Did the first opening baseball game in Marion Illinois of the Marion Minors team. We have done camporees and all of the OA Lodge flag ceremonies. Even our Adults appreciation banquet

My troop did this regularly when I was a boy. We opened conventions at least monthly, presented the colors, and frequently led 1000+ people in the pledge of allegiance. I remember working very hard to make everything right, but no one ever complained. I found out later that we would receive honoraria of $100-$500 almost every time we went which no doubt provided camperships, uniforms, etc. as well as equipment for the troop. A troop near me has started doing colorguards as well with great success. They have help from an ex-marine (yes I know, Once A Marine. . ., but he's too young to