eagle90

Congratulations! We also just crossed over nine out of nine from our Cub Pack last week. It sure is great to see your troop grow from 20+ to 30 overnight! Our first troop meeting with the new boys went well. The room looked so crowded! All that enthusiasm is contagious! Now to get them all to Summer Camp!

Our troop has three fundraisers. We have a Rummage Sale in spring, the porfits from which go into the toop treasury as operating expenses. At our Pancake Breakfast in fall, the scouts receive $2.00 for each ticket they sell to pay for Summer Camp, High Adventure, or weekend camping. The Popcorn sale is optional, with 100% of the profits going to the scout's individual accounts, but the popcorn profits are reserved for High Adventure Activities when the scout is eligible. Seems to work well for us.

I think it is the stigma of showering naked that gets to the younger boys. How times have changed. When I was a scout, the whole troop would be naked in the showers together horsing around. In high school, our swim classes were all bare. Now the boys are petrified if someone sees them. We tell the young ones they can shower with their bathing suits on, and that seems to help. I guess it's the times we live in now. Things were simpler way back when.....

We do not use the NSP, but integrate new scouts into existing patrols. We normally put brothers in different patrols. In my many years, when I used to ask, 95% of the time its "Yuch! I don't want to be with my little brother"!

Congratulations to your son on his quick thinking and preparedness! Bodes well for a great Boy Scout career. These type of awards happen so infrequently, I would rather see a special ceremony or Court of Honor just to honor your son. He deserves a day all to himself! And I think during an AOL ceremony, your son's accomplishment might overshadow the other AOL recipients. That is a special day for them too.

Why all the documentation and leagality? To me its up to the SM who he wants to run things in his absence. Have the stones to say "I won't be here next week, and Bill is running the meeting." If the offending ASM doesn't like it, too bad! I think authorizations and such are way overboard.

We use mixed age patrols. we have tried NSP a few years, and it just didn't work in our situation. We find the young scouts look up to the older scouts, and our older scouts actually enjoy working with and teaching the new scouts. They enjoy the new blood in the patrol. Hazing is non- existent. The new boys are not just randomly put in patrols though. I consult with the Webeloes II leader and find out who is friends with who, who should not be put in the same patrol due to some baggage in the past, etc. For us it works.

Great suggestions so far. I also think it is beneficial if one of the dads of the new crossovers is able to go to camp with the former den. This gives the new boys someone they know, someone they are familiar with, not just these "new strange" leaders.

Let him go at his own pace! As funscout said, the natural aging process will slow him down eventually - high school, sports, band, girls, cars, etc. I have seen it both ways - Had a scout earn his eagle at just over 13 years old. A real go getter. Was even the keynote speaker at our council's Eagle banquet at age 14. Stayed on till he was 18. His brother got his eagle at 15, and we never saw him again after that. You never know what's going to happen. Just roll with it!

At our camp on Wednesday evening there is a leaders Ice Cream Social and all of the counselors are present with their records. The leaders can go over all of their scouts and see who is progressing and who is not. See who has been ditching classes. Who needs to complete a project. Who is already done with the badge. We then go back to camp and hold a "counseling session" with those who need it. Just a simple reminder to go to class, finish, requirement 8, etc. It seems to work great. It also gets the leaders a little one on one time with the staff too.

I am fairly good with names and faces, so yes, I get to know the names of all our members an their parents. I also try to find out and remember what their occupations and hobbies are if I can. It may come in handy some time in the future when a need arises. I sympathize with Michelle too. We had a set of identical twins join us for about a year, and I never could tell them apart!

Our troop owns 15 Eureka Outfitters. We spent a whole day a few years ago numbering each piece (tent, fly, bag, pole bag, stake bag). It is remarkable how, after one campout, tent #5 has bag #6, fly #12, pole bag #1, etc. It's like these things move around by themselves! We are going to ATTEMPT to reorganize all the parts again this spring before we start the camping season. Wish us luck!

On sewing of patches - check with your local cleaners/tailor. We have a local merchant who is sympathetic to Scouting and will do a complete Boy scout uniform shirt for $10.00. What a bargain! I hope the guy never retires!

We give our new scouts a customized Troop neckerchiefwhen they join, but very few of them are worn to meetings. We do wear them to COH's, uniform inspections, and Summer Camp/High Adventure.

We will be attending Lefeber Northwoods Camp near Laona, Wisconsin for Summer Camp, and have a crew for Florida Sea Base in August. I'm ready right now!

Pardon my geographic ignorance, but where is the Yough located? I'm not familiar with that one. Thanks!

Well 9 pages is better than the one I have seen while surfing the net. It was a combination by-laws and parent's information sheet - 37 pages long! If I were a new parent and was handed that document, I would be out the door and never to return!

I'll second EagleinKY about the New River. We have done this twice and you are right about the Keeney's, Double Z, Greyhound, and some other rapids whose names I don't remember. With the right outfitter, your scouts can earn the Whitewater MB.

Amen to Eamonn. Do not start a new troop out of anger or spite. We had two new committee members (less than a year's experience) disagree with some troop policies. They both also had a power-trip mentality and bolted and started their own unit rather than learn and work to improve a 50+ year old unit. Now two years later these two, who were good friends, are now enemies, the new unit is on their 3rd Scoutmaster in 2 years, is down to low single digit members, and all of the original committee members have left. In talking with one family who left, they said, "We never knew how much work and time is involved in starting a troop. We should never have left". The saddest part is that most of the boys who left are no longer involved in the program at all.

I also think there are too many troops in our suburban area. It seems to be the policy that whenever someone is upset and complains to the district about their present troop, the answer seems to be "Well, start your own", instead of working thru problems for the betterment of the units and the boys involved. I have had a few of these people tell me later, "I never knew all the work invloved in a troop. We should never have left to go on our own". We have seen his happen, and those troops fail miserably. Also with so many troops at crossover time, I have said I feel like the college football coach during recruiting season, trying to "kiss up" to boys and parents, while trying not to intentionally bad mouth other units. But that does happen too. I would much rather see 4 good, active troops of 30 boys rather than 10 troops of 12 boys struggling to get adequate leadership and attendance.

We are now 52 years old and have 37 Eagles. At our 50th anniversary two years ago we had over half of them present.

Congratulations and good luck to you. Please come back when you are through with this adventure and let us know all about it. Sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime! Dale

We have had great success with a spring Rummage/Garage Sale. We fill the school gym with rummage from our families. The only expense involved is a few classified ads. We net close to $2,000, and our families get to get rid of those unwanted treasures they have collected over the years. It's amazing how much stuff you can accumulate from year to year, and also amazing what people will buy!

I am getting a pop-up beforethe site comes up asking me to enter my username and password for an upgrade to Scouter.Com. I Haven't done it yet, as I am always skeptical of these things. Is this legit? Thanks! Dale

May I add my Holiday Greetings to all of my Forum friends. Merry Christmas and may 2006 bring us all the best Scouting year ever! Dale