Eagledad

>>Somehow I find a degree of questionable honesty in some of these approaches to bending the "rules".

>> And then a heated discussion would take place here as to whether not approving such an arrangements would be adding to the requirements, because there is no rule against holding two POR's simultaneously? Just want to liven up a Friday - :-)

Well Im not going to get into shoulds, should nots and even assuming why National doesnt have text in their books. Boy, I wish our government could function under these expectations. However on a practical level, I found that the hardest skill for me to teach scouts was "delegation". New SPLs tend to try and do everyones job because they know how to do them and they dont trust the ones who are new to the position. The SPL may only have one official position of responsibility (SPL), but in practical reality, he takes on several jobs at one time or another. My challenge as a Scoutmaster was to help him develop the skill of just doing only one job. I love this scouting stuff. Barry

>>Would it be wrong for me to rename them to dens like Dragon, or raven instead of the Webelos 1 and Webelos 2.

This fairly common in Oklahoma. One popular campfire method is to use lanterns. We used three lanterns at my last Wood Badge Course set up in a triangle around the fire ring. You can come up with some really clever ways to display the lanterns, but it works really well for us. As for the flint and steel, I would do what John suggest and learn the exact limitations in the restriction. You might be able to do it under a pavilion in big barrows or even off the ground in barbeque grills. There might be a building or shelter with a fireplace in your camp. We have them at our scout camps. That is a really cool event, so I would try and find a way to make it work. We've been experiencing heavy winds in the state for the last month, so Im sure the scouts are still having to come up with cleaver ways to do a campfire. Barry

>> Boots give extra ankle support which is nice when descending the nice rocky trails coming down from either Baldy or Tooth of Time.

>>I will veto if I feel it goes contrary to scouting policy, or the aims and methods. (I would not let them vote to abandon uniforms, of course, but I would lit them pick uniform pieces, like a troop hat, or non standard patrol patches).

I had 16 Webelos and randomly divided them up into two groups during our activities. As a Scoutmaster, I wanted new scouts who didn't feel they had already been there and done that. While I like to give Webelos some taste of a troop experience to get them excited and confident, I didn't want them to thinking they were boy scouts. I love this scouting stuff. Barry

95% of the Philmont trials are basically smooth trails packed down by thousands of backpackers. Barry

The sharpest uniformed troops tend to be more adult run.

For me a troop is real life scaled down to a boys size. THat being said, can an adult handle two jobs in real life? Depends! Does he have the skills, time, abilities, ambition and desire? Does the situation require a few people to take on multiple responsibilities? We had an SPL who also held a office position at school, very active in band and very active in OA all at the same time. He was such a good SPL, he was elected for a second term. He certainly could handle multiple jobs at the same time. I wanted scouts to be challenged in their responsibilities so they would learn. It just make take to jobs for a scout to feel challenged. Barry

>>Bob- so the committee makes the vision or the SM and teh committe provides the vehicle for getting there

>>So often we are so anti-megatroops that we forget that maybe if the boys are having fun the BSA/BP recommened sizes aren't the issue.

>>Or are we really talking about making the call to insure that as many $10 registration fees are collected as possible?

>>How can a DE "fix" the fact that a bunch of parents are more worried about easing their burden or a pack or troop are looking to make their task easier by depriving these boys or the program designed to "transition" them from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts?

Happy Scouting All >>This may sound a bit dumb, but I think of a round plastic sheet full of water which is held up by 12 lines. If you slack off on one, you will lose a little water. Jim

>>Just curious to know if we are beating ourselves up over dates and ages when it does not really matter.

You know I was thinking about the good ol days and when I was a Cub. And I understand about following rules, setting an example and doing the right thing. Still, not to long ago we had a discussion of why scouting is loosing kids and, at least to me, we came to a general consensus that parents are too afraid to let their kids venture out anymore. It is safer in our minds to keep them close playing video games all day and know where they are then let them roam off somewhere to organize a neighborhood football game. Here is an example of adults getting creative and doing a fun activity, safely I might add, and yet it is against the rules. They could have done it exactly the same way and called it a bunch of friends lock-on or overnighter or even a sleep over. Im sure they had a great time as it is, and changing the name wouldnt have changed a thing. But, because it was a fun cub scout Bear event, we have to rethink the whole thing. At least it was a great time for the boys to be a Cub Scout. So, to answer chuckst8ers question; no, there isnt really a way of accomplishing the same activity and appease all the legals. I know that there will be many more discussions of why the BSA numbers are dropping. Sadly it seems, we have nobody to blame but ourselves. Barry

>>Although I agree with him, I think many of us consider these concepts to be unequal and it was my intent to demonstrate that inequality.

>>I fear that once this kid comes out from under all this oppression he won't be the same kid. I'll write about this when it happens.

>>The boys are quite aware of the 'hot buttons' we recognize as adults and a question about 'thrifty' is not the same as one about 'reverent'.

Great Monday All >>I would have expected any adult leader not only be permitted to attend but also contribute to the meeting.

>>There are a very few scouts in my area that aren't Christian, and I worry that they won't get a fair shake at their EBOR, if only because a well-intentioned board might not have a broad enough perspective or be open-minded enough to accept that some faiths are very different from Christianity, and that the job of the EBOR is not to determine a faith's "acceptability" through the lens of of the DRP.

>>There are plenty of places that don't require the use of fossil fuel to cook on. A #10 can makes a great stove that will still work on natural fuels rather than carrying flamable liquids into the forests. A #10 stove can burn wood, charcoal and wax. I'm not talking campfires here, I'm talking cooking fires/stoves, limited, and confined.

>> Doesn't that really indicate a training problem rather than a patrol make-up problem? Shouldn't the leaders in the troop be using the Leading/Teaching Edge principles from NYLT (Explaining, Demonstrating, Guiding, and Enabling)