eagle90

I HAD A SCOUTING-FREE WEEKEND!!!! A MIRACLE!! But the next three weekends are Scouting-full! Dale

Lisabob - Great answer! My thoughts exactly! Dale

CubsRgr8 - Sounds like a good program. If you are in Milwaukee, one year you should try your council camp, Lefeber Northwoods Camp in Laona, WI. They put on one of the finest programs I have seen in 40+ years of scout camping, and have great physical facilities as well. 2008 will be our tenth year at this Out of COuncil camp for us.

Gwd - I know where you're coming from! Last month we had a campout and invited the Webelos and dads from our associated pack. 13 nine and ten year olds and their dads! We did have 17 of our scouts with, but unfortunately we hit Homecoming weekend at the local High School, and out of 7 junior leaders, only one went camping! He sure had a challenge as did our assistant patrol leaders. It was good experience for them tho, but you're right, the adults do work harder when the older scouts aren't there! Dale

Congratulations Chippewa. I understand exactly how you feel. A few years back we had a scout join who we believe suffered from fetal alchohol syndrome, and while he was extremely intellegent, lacked the social and physical skills needed. We made his dad come to all camnpouts with us to supervise the boy. He loved scouting, and to our scouts'' credit, they treated him very well. Yes, he also made it all the way to Eagle. Not the greatest Eagle or best leader(his POR was Librarian)but turned out to be a great scout. He has since graduated magna cum laude from college in THREE YEARS and is now enrolled in law school! That indeed is why we do this Scouting stuff!

We send out a monthly newsletter to all families. It''s normally 2 pages long. We highlight upcoming activities, review past activities, make necessary thank-you''s, a bit of trivia, and try to personalize it a little (birthdays, get-well wishes, etc.), and a written SM''s Minute. We pass it out at a troop meeting and mail the ones that don''t get picked up. It is also available on our website. We''ve gotten great feedback on it. They are archived on our website (www.troop90bsa.org) Take a look! Dale

I agree with Hops. You have a surplus? Good for you! Save it and use it wisely. Eventually troops tents wear out and have to be replaced. The trailer is now too small. We need two more dining flys for summer camp. A new patrol was formed? New cook kits and chef kits are needed. Running a troop takes money, and troop equipment is expensive. Don''t leave yourself short by finding frivolous things to use it on at the end of the year in order to show a zero balance.

I can not see what the big aversion is to filling out a tour permit. It takes less than five minutes and I understand that soon we will be able to do it totally electronically, eliminating the paper totally. I fill one out for everything outside of a normal meeting. NO BIG DEAL!!

We have traveled throughout the country on High Adventure trips. Whenever possible, we try to arrive at the venue, or at least the immediate area, the day before our trek is to start. Even if we have to sleep in a hotel overnight, we then get to the base on time or early, and quite refreshed. The first day is usually so hectic it helps to be there early. Many HA bases will accomodate you early, but you may be responsible for your own meals until the trek officially starts.

Summer Camp should not be the first experience for crossovers. Our troop has 3 outdoor campouts in spring after crossover, and we require the crossovers who are going to summer camp to attend at least two of the weekend campouts to get accustomed to how the troop operates, the patrol method and procedures, and to get to know the other scouts and leaders much more than they can do at a troop meeting. We also hold a mandatory Shakedown Training Day where we have classes in patrol method, fire building, cooking and sanitation, equipment, knife & ax safety, tent pitching, flag ceremonies, etc. It''s a one day blitz of information but gets them into the Summer Camp mode.

There should only be one criteria - Do what you like doing! If you enjoy working directly with the boys, stay at the unit level. If you prefer working with the adults, go on to a Commissioner or District position. Above all, do not let anyone pressure you into taking a position you do not like. Thats where the burnout and disinterest starts. Good luck to you! Dale

DDibben - I salute you! You are one of a kind! I wish all of our COR's were that dedicated and involved.

We have had many scouts do Pulp and Paper MB. Of course our summer camp was located in the north woods of Wisconsin where paper is a big industry. I do r3emember them making paper and the camp also arranged a tour of a nearby paper plant that made most of the cereal boxes for General Mills and Kelloggs.

In the Chicago area it's got to be deep dish pizza and Chicago-style hot dogs! YUM!!!

DDibben - If you have. or ever find, a COR who is doing all of those things you listed, sign them to a lifetime cvontract. In over 40 years, I've never seen a COR do even 1/4 of that list! And being someone who is temporarily "retired" or in between jobs, where do I sign up for the paid position?

I'm an avid reader, especially mysteries - Parker, Kellerman, Patterson, Hoag, S. Brown, Clark, Paretsky, Roberts, etc. I probably read one a week.

Good luck to you and Congratulations. While I was in college my beloved Grandma finished every letter to me with "Have Fun, Learn Good". Dale

We did the Keys Adventure in 2006 and will be doing it again in 2008. It is a great overview of what is available. You get a day of sailing, snorkeling, fishing, sailing,sightseeing in Key West, and canmping out on Munson Island. Breakfast and Dinner are at the base, Nights are in A/C dorms. It was an outstanding experience.

I have a 6" porcelain statue of Snoopy dressed in a Class A uniform and campaign hat, with "Beagle Scout" etched in the base!

I agree with JBlake. As a SM, I am there for the boys and will do a SM conference whenever and wherever we can. We have the fourth troop meeting of the month set aside for SM Conferences, but if a scout is ready, I will do them at any meeting. We just returned from Summer Camp and I did 16 conferences during the week. Just today we returned from a Whitewater Rafting trip to West Virginia, and I did a SM conference sitting on a log in bathing suits on the shore of the New River. Let's stop making things harder than they are and making our scouts jump thru unnecessary hoops. Seems to me all the rules and regulations would tend to frustrate the scouts. Let's remember why we are here. Dale

Beavah - In a troop of 36 scouts, I would say the average time to Tenderfoot is about 3 months, and First Class 12-15 months. Of course there is always the go-getter who will skew the averages.

Good Timing! I was just working on partials from camp earlier today. I send the partial card along with a local counselor's name and phone number to the scout, encouraging him to finish the badge ASAP. We will remind them again once we start regular meetings in September, but really pretty much leave it up to their own initiative to finish the partials. Unfortunately the percentage is not usually very good.

A few years ago we were returning from a rafting trip and were spending the night in Dayton, Ohio. Upon checking in to the motel we were starying in, the propreitor said since we were scouts and in uniform he gave us a 20% discount. That was quite a savings, as we had reserved 5 rooms! It does pay to travel in uniform.

We have had to remove a few scouts from POR's. One was a SPL who had a run in with the law and would not be a good role model for our younger scouts. He understood and was OK with the decision and did continue on to earn his Eagle award. At our first PLC meeting of the year we let our POR's know what is expected of them in terms of advancement, attendance, uniforming, leadership, etc. If they don't measure up and do a good job, they will be replaced. You can't let the entire patrol or troop suffer.

I too am having problems. I got the Chinese message yesterday and keep getting "Done, but with errors on page". The site is extremely slow to the point of freezing up my computer. Let's hope the management can fix this situation soon.