Eagle732

Several years ago when I was a CM our pack always recruited at our local school. We had the school to ourselves and almost every boy that went into Cubs from that school came to us. All the schools in our district had a similar arrangement, one pack to one school. Then one year our DE decided that boys should shop around for the pack that best fit them. It was decided that packs would recruit from several schools each year, all packs on the same night for each school. End result, more nights spent recruiting for the leaders who weren't too happy about that. But the worst part was that time after time parents with their sons would come in, talk to the different pack leaders and leave not being able to make up their minds. They just didn't have enough information to make a decision and never joined for fear of making the wrong decision. Our numbers we steady but many packs lost membership. Our district has lost almost half of the total units it had from 10 years ago.

Journey To Excellence 2013 new category: Troop owns and maintains a troop trailer. Bronze - Unit owns 1 trailer and uses it at least three times a year. 75 points Silver - Unit owns 2 trailers and uses them on 80% of their camp outs or at least 9 times a year. 150 points Gold - Unit owns 3 or more trailers and has the BSA decal along with what council they belong to on at least 2 trailers. 300 points Add 50 points if all the troop's Eagle Scout names are on the back door.

No need to buy those over-priced backpacking meals, Google "Freezer Bag Cooking". There's lots of food you can buy right off the self and cook using the FBC method. Lipton Knorrs rice or pasta Stove Top stuffing Couscous Tortellini Mac and Cheese Add some foil packed tuna, chicken or (my favorite) Spam. If you have a food dehydrator you can make just about anything a backpacking meal.

The reason why we have Webelos III in the Troop level is because packs have Cubs 4 & 5. I see absolutely no transition or preparation to move to the BS level. We invite Webs from our neighboring packs to attend some events but the best we usually get is a short visit during a local outing. I think it all starts with the Den Leader at the Tiger level. A parent wants to be a DL and signs up. Then next year they're the Wolf DL, then Bear and Web leader even though they might have zero outdoors experience or skill. I've said that if I ever was a CM again I would find the most outdoor experienced person (maybe me) and make them the full time Web 2 DL, year after year. I bet that would be a battle! No wonder so many Webs never last long in troops, what a shock it must be. They hit the door here and the next thing they know they're backpacking, canoeing, hiking, responsible for themselves, etc.(This message has been edited by Eagle732)

Do you mean that the "those that don't" think there is only one kind of Scouter or many kinds of Scouters?

I think that everyone here wants the best for their units and Scouting as a whole. It's just that we all have different ideas on what that is. We need that in our program to appeal to a wider audience.

I'd trade in all our trailers for an old Ford Model A like Lem used!

Feel free to bring up anything you want. We should all try to remember the Oath and Law when responding. I've seen the discussions get rather rude and personal at times.

Always willing to help but you won't get much camping gear in one of our a canoe trailers.

Consider yourself lucky you weren't accused of running a Webelos 3 program. Some people think their way is the only way.

Just wondering why Philmont wasn't real backpacking. I went as a youth 40 years ago and I recall it being a great backpacking trip, even with external frame packs and heavy tents. I know things have changed some but for boys today it might be the only chance at a long distance backpacking trip. If you mean by real backpacking a trip planned and provisioned by the scouts then I would agree that Philmont is not that. But what Philmont does (or can do, depending on the crew) is to get the crew out actually planning and doing their own trips as shake downs. We are planning at least 10 shake downs from over nighters to a 5 days/4 night final shake down on the AT's Roller Coaster in VA, known for it's 13 consecutive steep ups and downs. The crew will have the opportunity to earn Hiking and Backpacking MB and the BSA 50 Miler. Not bad for a bunch of kids that for most, up until now, didn't even liked backpacking. As far as my skills and experiences, of the trails you mention I have only hiked some of the BMT. I have hiked over 3,000 miles of the AT including last years thru-hike from Georgia to Maine. Buy the way, the entire 5 months was done in trail runners.

You might learn something.

My troop has four trailers and looking for a fifth.

What exactly would you call real backpacking?

"Boots boots boots......Before you leave always check their foot wear and send the boy home in converse or keds.... No traction or protection. " There's a lot of choices in footwear between Keds and boots. Trail runners are fine for backpacking and I recommended them to my Philmont crew.

"EBOR are handled at the unit level." Not everywhere. District oversees EBORs here.

I was always quite happy to see a group of scouts while I was on my thru-hike last year. I would usually visit and tell stories of my adventure, they seemed fascinated and had lots of questions. But that was me, many of the others did not like scouts. Too many kids, too noisy, stayed up too late, took over the entire shelter, no supervision and made a mess of the camping area were just some of the complaints I heard.

You might need one more day hiking. Depends on how close a drive it is, how early you can start and how late on the last day you can hike. How much hiking have your guys done? Best way to turn a new kid off to hiking is to push them too far with too much weight. Also weather (hot or heavy rain) will slow you down so don't plan your time too tight.

I did that section last year (along with the rest of the trail, GA - ME). I think you made a good choice to stay out of GSMNP. You need reservations at shelters and they discourage tenting unless the shelters are full. I would recommend buying the AT Guide book by David Miller to help your scouts plan their hike. To plan parking and trail access check out this site: http://appalachiantrail.rohland.org/ There's some nice scenery through that stretch, Siler Bald, Wayah Bald, Wesser Bald and you pass through the Nantahala Outdoor Center. There are fairly steep climbs up and down out of NOC. You can ship a food drop to NOC which is about your half way point. Then you won't have to carry more than 3 - 4 days of food. Plus there's a nice store there where your guys can buy snacks and sodas. How many miles per day do you expect to hike? I'm thinking for scouts maybe 7 or 8. I recommend you have your guys go as light as possible to make the hike enjoyable. I can point you to some references for that to help you. I'm going through that with my Philmont crew now. If you need more info PM me.

I'm a Canoeing MBC and am holding a canoeing course next month for my troop. I set requirements to participate in my course which include Swimming MB and obtaining and reading the Canoeing MB book.

Some councils require proof of advancement and some don't. My council requires an advancement report to purchase rank patches and merit badges. Our neighboring council requires no proof.

I don't find that online Merit Badge Application form from usscouts.org on either the BSA or my council's website. Could it be that it's not an official form? The Application For Merit Badge form number 34124 (2008 edition from BSA), AKA the "Blue Card" only says the "Applicant will turn in this portion to his unit leader for record posting". In out troop the Advancement Chair dates and initials this portion of the card and also records when the badge has been awarded. We keep this card for our records. We do not send these cards to another unit in the event of a transfer. The unit's copy has been used to clear up mistakes in the record when the Applicant portion of the card has been misplaced by the scout. Nothing on the official Blue Card says a unit has to keep their part of the card or that the unit can't give it back to the scout. On the scout's portion of the card the scout is directed to "Retain this copy..." and on the Counselor's part "It is suggested" they keep their copy. Nothing says the unit must, should, shall, or will keep their copy. The Scout doesn't necessarily get this part of the card back, he gets the Applicant's Record part back for his record.

Lisabob, I use Staab Agency out of Jefferson, Maine. Here's their website: http://staabagency.com/ Legal? It is in my state, your state may vary. In Maryland you see lots of trailers tagged from Maine. There's a reason for that. Out troop's 4 trailers are all registered in the state of PA where small trailers are relatively inexpensive to tag. By the way our trailers are all registered as being owned by "Troop 123, Hometown, PA", not in the CO's name. The troop pays all insurance on the trailers too.

"So, not trying to condemn any one person or say there is an absolute line in the sand about right or wrong, but........do we look at ourselves the same way we look at scouts when certain behaviors or levels of acceptable behavior are concerned?" I notice that there are some here who appear to be very quick in assuming the worse and are quick to pass judgements on others. I've seen it many times in the past but I thought the comments made on a recent thread were over the top. Questioning wether someone is living up to their Eagle Charge (an unofficial ceremonial element which was not part of my ceremony 40 years ago) and questioning their integrity is totally disrespectful and uncalled for. I'll site a few other examples of disrespectful posts in the hopes that maybe in the future we can be a little more considerate of others. Once when a Cub mom asked about where to place patches on the uniform and she was rudely told to go look it up by more than one poster. She left swearing she would never post here again. What a great first (and last) impression we made. Some may recall probably one of the longest running threads where there was a two year discussion lasting over 100 pages about a scout appealing his Eagle BOR to National. Many assumptions and many derogatory statements were made about the scout, the mom and the SM involved. I weighed in since I actually knew all parties involved personally. I found it humorous to read how this situation was all a lie and that there is no way an appeal could last two years the day after I had spoke with the SM involved at a council dinner. When I posted that it was in fact still going on I was basically called a lier too. I was actually told repeatedly by a poster here that I should follow the Scout Law and be "Obedient" when I called and questioned Philmont's policy of requiring Wilderness First Aid training and not recognizing any other certification like EMT or Paramedic. I see that they recognize many different types of medical certifications today. I think that's an improvement and am glad in that case I wasn't "Obedient". Maybe I've been guilty of being judging others in the past too but I do make a conscious effort not to. I find myself deleting some of my comments before hitting the submit button in an attempt to remain courteous. I'm pretty thick skinned and none of this bothers me personally. I do think that Scouters being disrespectful to others is not beneficial to this forum or Scouting in general. We should be setting the example and practicing what we preach to our own Scouts. That doesn't mean that we all have to agree but we should all try to respect each other's opinions. I subscribe to Scouts-L where this type of personal disrespect is rarely seen. Maybe it's because on Scouts-L people post under there real name and so there's some accountability in what you write. I think it should be fairly obvious that if you're spending time here you're a dedicated Scouter and that you want the best program possible for your Scouts. One of the great things about Scouting is that the programs are as diversified as the units providing them and there's room for everyone. Maybe we can think a little about what we're about to post before we hit the submit button. This is just my opinion.

So now I should be kicked out of Scouts and stripped of my Eagle? And I thought I was just being Thrifty