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Showing content with the highest reputation on 08/27/20 in Posts

  1. My gut tells me that in this climate, if a group could articulate a mechanism for a lone scout program to work and coexist alongside traditional patrol based programs then it's a possibility. I've been around enough high level Scouters to know that the door is open for all kinds of innovative activities right now. The challenge in things like this is knowing how to talk to the right people about it. You call up your DE or local membership chair and start talking Lone Scouts and they'll go tilt. They are generally not going to have the right opportunities in the organization to even know ho
    2 points
  2. What I found from wiki. Membership numbers are fuzzy but @David CO seems correct. Lone Scouts of America (LSA) was a Scouting organization for American boys that operated from 1915 until it merged with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in 1924. The LSA was founded by W. D. Boyce, publisher of the Chicago Ledger and the Saturday Blade and one of the founders of the BSA. Boyce felt that the program of the BSA did not help the rural boy who could not find enough other boys to form a troop or a patrol. James E. West, the first Chief Scout Executive of the BSA, disagreed with Boyce's concept, be
    2 points
  3. You know what? This summer I have seen the closest thing to the way I, and it sounds like you, grew up. Yesterday driving around town I saw multiple pods of kids on bicycles, with fishing poles, hiking around parks and skimming stones in places I usually never see kids. It's not as bad out there as we think. The problem is BSA has no idea on how to reach these kids or any mechanism or true desire to modify its program in order to do so. I'm not a kool aid drinking scouts person. I got involved with scouts because I want to see kids outdoors, because that's what I love and is what I think is go
    1 point
  4. @David CO Thanks for the clarification. In the litigious and risk-averse society of today, I don't know that such an organization could exist as a practical matter. But it reminds me of my friends and I, half a century ago, hiking all over our small town, nearby pastures, and in the little bit of woods we had, defeating invasions by imaginary hordes, building huts and treehouses, digging tunnels (a la "The Great Escape") in backyards and vacant lots, building campfires, and riding bikes 14 miles on a two-lane highway with semis roaring around us in order to get to an old mine to explore.
    1 point
  5. The lease deal and the Shared Services Agreement is an interesting twist. When I first saw this was the setup for Summit, it did seem like an accounting exercise in order to keep assets off of some register. Not saying it had ill intent, but it may be the most transparent way to spend $750 mm on strip mine. In many many businesses there is the company that runs the business and one may think they own the business. When you peel the onion back you find a much more complicated view. An example of this is Eddie Lampert and the KMart / Sears - Sears Holding. His group bought Sears then
    1 point
  6. I don't know if scout units would be interested in these but I had proposed putting them together for some programming I was working on for our local schools and parks department. They were green lighted but then we lost funding so I can't give feedback on how they worked: - Bird study -- cheap binoculars, field guides, and Audubon and Cornell University educational materials. There are also some free apps you can download so printed instructions for those. Everything laminated. - Water study -- nets, buckets, specimen boxes, field guides, educational materials from local watershed
    1 point
  7. They are council employees.
    1 point
  8. I seem to recall there was an appraisal/study of the amount Bechtel could be sold for. This move seems to indicate they are cleaning up any claims in order to offer it up for sale to settle claims. One down, three to go?
    1 point
  9. Insurers respond... CENTURY AND HARTFORD’S MOTION TO COMPEL THE ATTORNEYS REPRESENTING THE ENTITY CALLING ITSELF THE “COALITION” TO SUBMIT THE DISCLOSURES REQUIRED BY FEDERAL RULE OF BANKRUPTCY PROCEDURE 2019 https://casedocs.omniagentsolutions.com/cmsvol2/pub_47373/842905_1164.pdf 42 pages Century and Hartford Argument Points: RULE 2019 REQUIRES ANY ATTORNEY WHO REPRESENTS MORE THAN ONE CLIENT TO SUPPLY, AMONG OTHER THINGS,THE IDENTITY OF EVERY CLIENT HE OR SHE REPRESENTS THE COALITION’S 2019 DISCLOSURES ARE DEFICIENT THIS COURT SHOULD ORDER CLAIMANTS’ COUNS
    1 point
  10. Not to forget those who were first to step in line... I am concerned that National will do something similar with camps - an essential camp list presented to court sorted by 2020 attendance figures and capacity...look at all these local council camps with low attendance and capacity, sell them first! What about member feedback, program, cost, and convenience? Oh, "Due to the rapidly changing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on councils and their camps across the country, the BSA is accelerating the annual timeline for councils to submit their “Intent to Operate” for the 2021 long-te
    1 point
  11. And now services are being cut at National and pushed down to councils...with no resources to support. I spoke with our Registrar today, and she ain't happy... btw, I think Registrars are the most under-rated, under-paid, and under-appreciated positions in council service centers... https://scoutingwire.org/transitioning-member-care-to-serve-and-support-bsa-council-staff/
    1 point
  12. This sounds like a wonderful program - even in today's uber connected world of 2020. I don't know why this is an either/or scenario. You want the lone scout experience - join up that way. You want patrol method Scouting just a Troop. Both can exist can't they? I'm on board 100% - what do we need to do?
    1 point
  13. I don't think so. I was a Lone Scout, and later a member of the Lone Indian Fellowship, an alumni organization made up of former Lone Scouts. I had many opportunities to speak with men who had been amongst the first group of Lone Scouts. If, however, you are speaking of my distorted eyesight, you would be absolutely correct. I had an eye doctor appointment last week, and I need new lenses. Old age is not for wimps.
    1 point
  14. Sounds like a cool building. Anyway, a couple of unorganized thoughts: Your title might give you your answer. What do you think about "scout reach?" If you're looking down on that then don't do it. If you're unsure about what scout reach could be then you're not ready to answer your question - time to do some research. Is it possible that you are tied to the building more than the scouts? If so, that's a warning sign. What kind of help are you getting from the church? Does anyone know these kids and can they help you? Are there any other adults around to help that have a lo
    1 point
  15. Reminder that being a SM is in fact a job. Not paid, but it is a job. You will need to evaluate this as one might a job. Are YOU able to contribute AND more importantly, does the position satisfy what you are looking for. Many times when one takes a new job it looks really good, recruiter says the right things, the people you meet say the right things...but then you get smacked with reality. The job is not a fit. At that point you are faced with the decision to endure the mismatch in the job OR move on to look for something new. Only one person can make that decision. Not the i
    1 point
  16. People get into bad relationships. They think if I work harder I can change my partner and then things will be perfect! Or, if I work harder I can change myself to make my partner happy and then things will be perfect! Both scenarios are a lie and disastrous for both party's health. Now it's possible for the parties to find compromise to save their relationship but it requires change from both. That's the question you have to answer with regards to the Scoutreach unit. You have invested in the relationship and are struggling because your partner doesn't seem interested in changing to me
    1 point
  17. I did not have the maturity at your age to be a good Scoutmaster. However, a mentor who I copied much of our program was a SM at age 20 and recently retired from the position at around the age of 60. I don't know if you are even ready, but I will say that I believe the position to be be more of an idealist guide than a adult teacher or leader. Your two examples are extreme opposites, but I wonder which would be more satisfying in developing as a successful program. As a 40 year old father of three kids and two Boy Scouts, I took the safe route (safe being I started a new troop with my Webelos)
    1 point
  18. A few random tidbits ... ... I've always said that scouting is good for all youth (used to say boys), but not all youth are good for scouting. I'm not sure if you are in that situation. ... OR do you just need to re-think expectations. Do you really need the youth to show up with book and uniform ? That's the ideal, but you can still have a big positive impact. How about just making sure there's a fire pit, marshmallows, a Frisbee, a football and some good fellowship. Maybe each night you could share a really meaningful SM story with them. ... It's not your job to go do
    1 point
  19. You simply are over reacting. I'm not sure where it was created, AND I don't care. Origination has nothing to do with you wanting scrap the current patrol method program. AND, you haven't yet given a good program example why Lone Scouts would be a good replacement. You just sound angry. Barry
    1 point
  20. Great question. The original vision of Lone Scouting (Lone Scouts of America) was that the organization registers the boy, not the unit. The boy can join or quit a "patrol" or "unit" or "council" without any change in registration. The boy chooses his companions. They are not chosen for him. Lone Scouts did get together to go camping. The patrol method was used. Lone scouts were expected to be more self-reliant. They were expected to pay their own way. Very little in the way of fund raising. Very little physical infrastructure. Lone Scouting was more like pick-up-games tha
    1 point
  21. Give up discussing ideas and opinions simply on grounds of supposed futility? Yet your statement itself expresses why we do it: Weariness over the status quo, certainly, but also hope that somehow the potential of the forum can be achieved. So it is with discussions about BSA and Scouting topics that appear to be beyond our control. We want to express frustration. We want to find out if others share our views. We want to test our views to see if the premises are valid, or if we are missing something. We want to see if someone can tell us something to help relieve our concerns or offer h
    1 point
  22. This is incorrect. I have attached the official BSA Lone Scouting guidebook for reference. https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/boyscouts/pdf/511-420.pdf Here is also an article from Bryan on Scouting that helps explains the origins and reasoning behind Lone Scouting: https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2015/09/28/what-are-lone-scouts/ I don't believe the BSA has a distorted vision of Lone Scouting. It actually may be you have a distorted vision. Hope that helps. Thanks.
    0 points
  23. Scouting, by design, is most effective when in a group setting. (i.e dens, patrols). Lone Scouting is an absolute last resort option if traditional unit can't happen. I HIGHLY DOUBT there are councils out there that will refuse to register a Lone Scout, ESPECIALLY when there is declining membership. I'm not sure what you mean when you say the "structure" of Lone Scouts is better. There is no structure....that's the point. Unless that is your argument.
    -1 points
  24. You seem to be using registration as reasoning for how Patrol Method is used, that is not the case. Patrol Method is team actions actions intended to force each scout to make decisions based off the Law and Oath. Lone Scout was created for boys in rural areas where meeting as a group is not practical. Meeting a few times a year as a group is not a reasonable application of patrol method because the scout doesn't make enough decisions to develop habits of good character. I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just questioning why. Since Lone Scouts wasn't intended for using Patrol Method, w
    -1 points
  25. I thought you wanted an organization where the Chartered Organizations ran everything? Why the sudden shift in heart?
    -1 points
  26. It's not like I made anything up. I literally provided official BSA sources. And David suggested Lone Scouting started in an urban environment. You and I, based on your wiki source, actually agree that it didn't
    -1 points
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