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Just one, huh? This is kind of like eating potato chips. Proposal #1: refocus every member (employees and volunteers) of the BSA to the core principles of scouting - having fun in the outdoors as a means to develop responsibility and good character. Support #1: The program is the most critical aspect of scouting but it has been watered down because of a lack of focus. Rather, there seem to be silos in the BSA that are diluting the focus. There is advancement, popcorn, making money selling scout stuff, scouting-as-a-way-to-a-better-career, JTE, leave no trace, STEM and just a really b

Two VERY exceptional proposals that should absolutely be part of the org that comes out of the other side of bankruptcy. I would only add in your first one, for emphasis, "let Learning for Life be Learning for Life, and let Scouting be Scouting. It confuses the marketing of Scouting when Posts and Labs are suddenly considered part of the same program as Scouting in marketing materials, when they are not."

The dues increase last fall--and its ham-fisted implementation--was an eye-opener for many unit level scouters and parents. It boils down to "What value am I getting for my dollar?" I think the common answer is "not much." In summary, this is the perfect storm: the loss of membership, financial hemorrhage, bankruptcy, legal fees, budget tricks like mortgaging Philmont and not telling the oversight committee, The Virus, unemployment, local/national/world events, and the list goes on. Crisis can bring clarity. Many people are realizing that when it comes to the resources that are e

Philmont Scout Ranch Update: May 15th Philmont continues to forge ahead with a July 1 opening date. Philmont is monitoring to monitor the recommendations from the CDC, NM Governor Lujan Grisham, State and local health departments, and the American Camp Association. May 15th updates are below: As we prepare for opening on July 1, we know there are potential barriers such as spikes in new cases that could affect this opening plan. Any changes regarding the July 1 opening will be announced no later than June 1. Philmo

Sadly the quality of council rise and fall with the leadership of the SE. I have seen great SEs, and mediocre SEs, and unfortunately poor SEs who should be behind bars for some of the shenanigans they were doing (some have been caught, but not all). Lately I am seeing more and more of the latter 2 categories. I wish that instead of focusing on money, they would focus on service. I wish they would provide a quality, challenging summer camp programs instead of summer school where MBs are given away. I wish national would focus more on the number of camp outs a unit does rather than how man

MERS and SARS are caused by a Corona virus. They spread around the World, reaching the U.S. There were no shutdowns. and no vaccine. SARS was notably fatal - about 10%. Yet normal life activities continued.

The Summit has been a dining hall operation. First in elaborate tents and now in a proper inside dining facility. For this summer I do not know if they will offer patrol cooking or "hot pack". I will know I a few days and will share that information.

Northern Tier has an update for today. Canada locations closed for the summer due to the border closure. Swim test is pretty much if you've passed in the past you're good. Part C health form expiration extended. WFA not required. Guides will be trained. http://www.ntier.org/Covid-19/

Yeah, 7+30 drive time from Philly area, plus stops for meals/restrooms and gas? 35 Scouts? No, thanks 😵

Not just separation but cleaning becomes the larger issue with shooting. IMHO, handgun shooting should be doable, just clean handgun. Rifle shooting with cheek weld on stock, bench rest setup, prone mats...a lot of National and regional matches have been canceled.

The Summit will open. It is a good bet because the BSA has a great and trusting relationship with the state and local governments there. It also has very advanced medical clinical facilities and emergency transport capabilities because of the Jamboree physical arrangements. Single tenting of Scouts is easy given the broad fields to camp in and program facilities (such as shooting range and rock climbing faces) are massively over-built for a summer camp. They can easily spread the Scouts by using every third or fourth program position. If there is any facility that can handle it and any po

Sorry you are having a bad day. My unit and I will continue our work to deliver the Promise, with or without help from up the chain in spite of Chapter 11, GSUSA trademark suit, covid-19, ticks (bumper year), weather, ... Never said they were "evil". If I could get Council to do their part with EBOR and paperwork for our end of year, even answering our email beyond replying with a donation form...something. My $0.02,

This really could be the kiss of death for a lot of people. Scouting is supposed to be that low cost year round family activity. Our camp card sales really took a hit this year due to the virus and our council came out with some virtual Entertainment book thing. Its $20 not too sure how many people will pony up that money. 1/4 of the sales go to the scout as opposed to 1/2 that we get on camp cards. I was unable to fulfill my 2019 FOS commitment due to my husband having open heart surgery. Loss of income and medical bills took away that money. I didn't like that I failed to hono

I see increases coming at both the National and Council levels. National is losing members left and right. and with 18% of the membership gone, that is a huge amount of income that national no longer has. Then I am seeing more and more councils implementing council service fees. I see this happening with my council. Depending upon how much of a fee they charge, will factor into the members the lose. I can tell you family FOS is down in my district because the volunteers are not seeing any benefit. DE is not visible, let alone supporting the volunteers who do step up to the plate to help. Servi

Scouting will continue with or without National, Councils, or the BSA. While National became an uncommunicative legal and financial burden, local units remained trustworthy and thrifty. While Councils responded to covid by closing offices and camps before the CDC and state health guidelines were released and attempting virtual quick delivery of the advancement and the outdoors, dedicated volunteers waited for those health guidelines and planned smaller, safer summer adventures. Smaller as in patrol or family hiking and camping - perhaps part of our new normal. Virtual did not delive

That’s almost word for word identical to the message my council just sent out as well.

Sadly I think National is more about getting Eagle than anything. National has modified the Tenderfoot through First Class Rank requirements so that you can still get FIRST CLASS FIRST YEAR, even if skills are not properly learned. Also they have been so focused on Eagle, they not only promote the "One and Done" mentality via training, but also have allowed folks to receive Eagle who should not have. I met a Scout whose Eagle BOR discovered major issues with his advancement, and followed BSA policy to create a plan that would rectify the situation. When appealed to the council, the Council up

So... units with different COs cant get together and do an activity because that becomes a council event? That's kinda insane. ♦ Q: If my summer camp is cancelled, can my unit get together with other units and have our own camp? No. Chartering organizations play an important role in the program and activities for their chartered units. Chartering organizations promote well-planned unit program for the units they charter and encourage their units to have active outdoor unit programs. Chartering organization are not authorized to plan, promote, and deliver programs for units ou

...an earlier draft of the one-page document on camps obtained by the AP asked organizers if their program would limit attendance to people who live nearby. If the answer was no, the camp was advised not to reopen. That local attendance limitation was dropped and was not in the version posted Thursday (5/14/2020). https://time.com/5837094/cdc-decision-tool-coronavirus/ https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/14/856483424/cdc-issues-decision-tools-to-guide-reopening-of-schools-businesses-transit Today 5/14/2020, the CDC released some of their long-delayed gu

Part II: Let's talk turkey: is the BSA an organization that values outdoor adventure or isn't it? Scratch the surface--right below the rah-rah school talks, glossy summer camp flyers, and our high adventure base advertising--there are very few units that have an outdoor program that resembles anything that Baden Powell or Green Bar Bill would recognize. Or anything that would inspire an outdoor-minded boy or girl to join. Or stay. If the BSA is primarily concerned with "character building" via constant adult supervision, virtual meetings, badge collection, backyard camping an

These National committees, and many at council level, operate in a vacuum. As stated earlier, there are no organizational charts, no rosters, no contact info. The committee members solicit minimal input from the field at large (but perhaps from select like-minded sources), and when a poll is conducted, it is almost always ignored. Yet these committees make recommendations and decisions that impact the entire BSA, publish no minutes, and offer no explanation for their actions. And I'd go so far as to say that until recently, said committee members experience no accountability for their acti

MAKE ANY ANNOUNCEMENTS ON REGISTRATION INCREASES NOW INSTEAD OF WAITING UNTIL AUGUST, OR WORSE STILL, LATE OCTOBER!

My son's troop is not in any of those counties, and they are heading to a Circle Ten summer camp, so even if you interpret "local" to mean a council, they are not trying to accomplish that. I think the CDC left "local" vague so that it could appropriately be defined for every situation. That unfortunately assumed that a person working towards the same goals was doing the interpretation. In some areas, local = city is too large. Consider the area and population of Houston. In other places, you could put several counties together and you wouldn't reach the population in one neighborho

It IS in your lane to say “If you have any contact with youth, your youth protection must be current. Please attend to it, I’d hate to have to remove you from an event for it. “

THIS IS THE ANSWER. As CM, you have that as an option. You should also reach out to your unit commissioner.

First, be kind. Every person you know is fighting a great battle. Including you. What is their battle? Present them with facts and ask them to follow through. Offer to help only if you can (don't put another rock in your own rucksack). Focus on behavior, not the individual. "You said you would do X by the end of March. It isn't done. How can I help you complete the task?" A word of caution...make sure your own house is in order first... I am constantly managing our Committee Chair, but events in his personal life are understandably distracting him. We have no functio

Scout leaders friends and family- We are Just Leaders . We are not experts. We're your next door neighbours. We're not perfect; we are just parents like you. We don't have anymore spare time or energy than you do, we all work full time and juggle our families and our schedules and try to keep it all together as best we can. The only difference between us is that we believe in what Scouting has to offer. So much so, that we contribute our time, our miles, and our talents to help our children and your children grow in Scouting. We complete authorization forms, budgets, and reg

Go to your COR/IH. Committee Chair at the Pack level is the position they appoint, and cubmaster is appointed by them, so you are unfortunately not on equal footing here to deal with it yourself. Not having valid YPT is not okay.

In remembrance: Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder (Eagle Scout) who died May 4, 1970 in Kent, Ohio. William Schroeder was a Scout from Lorain, Ohio: https://www.kent.edu/alumni/news/kent-state%E2%80%99s-may-4-visitors-center-celebrates-life-%E2%80%9Cbill-all-american-boy%E2%80%9D-exhibition Others inured that day: Alan Canfora, John Cleary, Thomas Grace, Dean Kahler, Joseph Lewis, Donald Mackenzie, James Russell, Robby Stamps and Douglas Wrentmore. And remembering Scouter Bernie Miller who lost a son that day: http://thescoutpatchauction.com/

I just got this email. It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that, after a thorough review, the National Capital Area Council has decided to suspend our resident camp programs at Goshen Scout Reservation, Camp William B. Snyder, Camp Airy, and the Day Camp program for the 2020 summer season. We know camp is an important part of every Scout’s summer, and this decision was not made lightly. This is not the end of our summer programming, however; NCAC has assembled a team of volunteers who are designing a fun, exciting alternative program that provides advancement opportunities for our

Well said, @Eagle94-A1. I'm seeing the same dynamics in my part of the BSA. As I've mentioned before, I was an ISP scout (unwillingly!), red beret and all, and the dreadful program elements you mentioned did occur. I was fortunate that despite being a military brat, the four troops I was in all had traditional programs (camping one weekend a month, twice in December, summer camp and high adventure) and emphasized the old school patrol method. I can't think of any peers from those years that took the easy/ISP way to Eagle. Everyone was experienced in scout outdoor skills and had t

The virus and its victims seem to get the bad press. Biogen the "superspreader" of the corona virus in Boston and then elsewhere did not get the bad press I would have expected whereas some of their employees did. Personal responsibility of those who failed to notice or report symptoms?