Leaderboard

I know what I saw in January at the Summit. Why build such a massive learning center with a dining facility, huge classrooms, lodging, and an auditorium in the basement. I got the usual dumb answer when I asked about the reason for this building and was told by a guy with gold shoulder loops that "we are going to rent it for corporate use". What corporation is going to pay the cost of renting that place for a huge number of employees and then figure out how to get their employees there. There are no local airports so the only way to get there is by car, bus, or fly into the "Presidental Hel

You apparently never attended a Catholic school.

Yep, I understand why you're saying that. There are a lot of long discussions about detail that probably doesn't make that much difference to the end goal. In the OP I was more interested in how the patrol leaders were being developed, they're the most important leaders in the troop. If the SPL is helping develop the PL's then this troop(s) are better than most. If not, they're missing the same point that most others are missing. I'd rather see descriptions of different ways of doing things that all work.

My first campout as a Scout was a weekend "Jubilee Camporee" in 1960. All the Scouts in my Troop were awarded the "50th Jubilee Camporee" patch. We were told to wear it above the pocket on the wearer's right side and I saw many Scouts wear it in that location years ago. However, the BSA Guide to Awards and Insignia only mentions wearing a National Jamboree patch in that location. Does anyone know who I can ask to see if I can wear it in that location? I emailed Bryan on the "Bryan on Scouting" blog but did not get a response. Thanks a lot.

It seems to me this unfortunate national health crisis could actually be an opportunity for some positive PR for BSA among the public at large. There are going to be about 50 million parents looking for activities to do with their home bound kids over the next few weeks. They should be made aware of and invited to google "BSA" and peruse its prodigious online resources. There are plenty of cub scout activities and scout merit badges that are fun and can easily be done at home or in the backyard. Whittling animals out of soap bars with a plastic knife, making trail mix with whatever snacks you

I would say all the facts were not laid bare is a good way to put it. The original cost estimates to build the place were way off, and the BSA had put way too much stock into donations being received that had never been guaranteed. I hate to disparage the place, especially never having been there, but what they offer looks to be things our scouts can get here in New England (and I would say that is true for most of the US- there are some fantastic mountains, rivers, and zip lines elsewhere, with many guide outfits ready to work with you). If we were to think about rolling out of New E

There are very very few organizations that actually go through the effort to officially say "NO" to everything they haven't said "YES" to. Using that as your yardstick in life would be a great way to get in trouble. Your argument here is essentially identical to saying: Why can't New York and New Jersey have the same Governor if they want to? States are "linked bodies" and they work together on joint projects and when there is a governor's meeting, they always pick one person to be the "chairperson", so clearly a joint Governor shouldn't be a problem.

Great time to try some virtual Scouting with Skype or other platforms. Public Health and Emergency Prep MBs are great candidates...

I certainly concur with all of your thoughts and ideas, @Protoclete. I live in a pretty densely populated area, yet for some reason there are only a few select opportunities to take the CC courses each year - and the primary event that was planned for tomorrow has now been cancelled. In light of recent advances in technology, as well as the unfortunate spread of illness in the past few weeks, I think it would behoove the BSA to look into making as many of these courses available online as possible. They already have a great number of their position-specific courses available online; I ca

Our CO has put all the state precautions into effect. That includes trying to keep a small distance, six feet, between individuals that ARE meeting. All group gathering are postponed, including our weekly church services. Much is precautionary, but in the case of our church, half or more of the congregation is in the higher risk categories. And many groups that use the facility are already higher risk individuals such as the Anonymous groups. So here we sit.

No, I imagine it was simply a scanned copy of the published brochure. But here's a link to the "Trail to Adventure" publication, Volume 8, Issue 1. https://i9peu1ikn3a16vg4e45rqi17-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/The-Trail-To-Adventure-Master-Copy_Spring-2019.pdf This is only talking about the issue in regards to summer camp, but it makes the BSA position pretty clear. Now, let's add to those points the fact that the BSA Rules https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/membership/pdf/Rules_and_Regulations_June_2018.pdf specify that the SPL must be

I'm sure you're right. Guess I'm just getting tired of all the drama in Scouting these days. More and more I just think of calling it a day.

I want to thank everyone for their perspectives on this topic. The committee has been talking and we met with our DE. She stated she doesn't see a liability issue, but will double check to make sure. And she likes how we are working together, but still within the actual "linked troop" guidelines set forth by the council. As the youth leadership issue has never actually been addressed, we will continue with the female SPL until the next election and then have each troop elect an SPL next election. Those two SPL's will work together on linked events. As we discussed with our DE, this i

Roundtable As we have no districts, the employee-run meetings have been cancelled in the Cleveland area.

could you imagine being in a troop that met and served at the American Museum of Natural History.....talk about an opportunity that no other boys would ever get...!! I wonder how many future scholars came from that unit...?

Our schools are closed now. Because our Troop meets at the school, we’re automatically canceled. Our committee meeting was canceled as well, so I’m anticipating a lot of email upcoming. Our Crew held our last leaders’ meeting last night. We have tentative plans for a day trip at the end of March - replacing a cabin camping trip. We’ll reevaluate the week before. The church where our monthly meeting is held closes tomorrow, but we already canceled the meeting for next week. It will be a tougher call going forward, imho, to cancel bigger scout events at both local and regional levels

Our Scout County were going to have a gathering to try and break a World Record...most number of handshakes at once..."The Big Handshake". That they've cancelled it was the least surprising news I've heard today.