Eagledad

Hi There is nothing that really says that the SM conference requirement is intended to be the last stop before the BOR and I think your situation is the reason why. If it was written that way and a mistake was made, then there would be additional administrative hoops to jump through to get everything straight again. As it is now, nothing is required except to wait for the scout to complete the time in service requirement. Barry

>>the Scoutmaster does not get veto power over nominations or the boy's choice for SPL

Hi All My Webelos den meeting agenda started with the Webelos running an opening ceremony (about five minutes, then 15 minutes talking about assorted subjects, two skits for the next pack meeting being one. WE then spent about 40 minutes working on two activity badges followed by a 20 minute game that usually involved running. We finished the meeting with a closing ceremony, which included awards presentation of completed activity badges. The way I was able to do this agenda was by going to two 90 minute meetings a month. I had sixteen Webelos, so I divided them up into two groups.

As I got better at this scouting stuff, I became offended with the idea of adult authority. I think it gets in the way of pure scouting. After every new election of youth officers, I told the PLC that if I could not support or give logical reason for anything we did in the troop, they could throw it out. I did that so that I didn't make scouts do anything just because I was the adult and had the authority. It is one thing to ask boys to do something because you know that it can better their future. It is something different to tell scouts to do it because that is what you want and you ha

Yes, I commented on another thread that the scouts in our area would relate to that video. Barry

>>For me it is the direction scouting needs to go. Brian

>>I've had luck just saying that "The Go-See-It for this month will be ________ to fulfill a Tiger rank requirement. I need someone to help out by contacting ____________ to set it up."

>>For some parents, just registering with the BSA is traumatic enough. You have to be flexible or you could lose them and their boys for good. Give these parents "little" jobs, but no more.

>>So I too cheer those that become great citizens without choosing to complete requirements for Eagle.

While reading the responses in this thread, I enjoyed thinking back in my days of watching M80s and Cherry Bombs blow up milk carton and gallon coffee cans to smithereens. To be fair, we were only trying to send the coffee can to the moon. Who knows, maybe the desire to build a can strong enough to withstand the thrust generated for a Cherry Bomb (1/4th stick dynamite) is what drove me to be an Aeronautical Engineer. Every December dad drove our family to Grandmas in Laurel Mississippi for Christmas. At that time, fireworks was a common way of celebrating Christmas and my cousin always took th

I have a friend who over the past 40 years as been a Council Commissioner, District Commissioner and Unit Commissioner. He started each of his UC's with a successful unit and a not so successful unit so that the UC could learn from the differences between the two programs. He did not give them units in different sections for the reasons already being mentioned here. However, my own district will give you what you are willing to take because they dont know how to recruit and dont have near enough UCs. If a new inexperienced UC wanted several units in different sections, they would get the

>>Are the Troops making it too easy to skip meetings and campouts, in order to keep them at least minimally involved in Scouting? Does patronizing to these marginal Scouts hurt the rest who show up consistently?

I understand what you are saying, and you give a good explanation of how some parts or our culture are handcuffed to the addiction of fat government. I just happen to work for a government agency that gives out lots of grants for research. The reason scientists rely so heavily on government grants is because the government is so willing to give them without a lot of accountability. Not that we dont need some of the research, but if scientist really think the research has value to our society from the research, they dont need the government, they just need to work differently for funding. Trust

>>Secretly I think, only if we can get the right wing politicians to stop obstructing stem cell research.

Hi All These are very good questions. Looking at these questions from both the CM side and the SM side, I learned that scouts mostly needed the confidence of meeting and participating in activities with strangers, learning new skills and camping overnight in a tent with other scouts. I know that sounds very simplistic, but I found that Webelos who had the most exposure to standing and performing in front of a audiences had the most confidence to joining a Troop where just about everyone is a stranger. Most of the Webelos that I found afraid of the Troop program were afraid of campin

>>My opinion is that it isn't a good match, and I told Mom that as well. Am I correct that the Pack decides the assignment, provided that the den leader is willing to take on the den chief? Is that the Committee or the CM? Of course the SM would need to approve as well...

>>The reason for a prohibition on fixed-blade knives is some ignoramus doesn't understand how to do real risk management.

MarkSs reply is right on and exactly what I was going to say. This is a difficult age for boys to take on this kind of responsibility and I think made worse because most of his patrol is the same age. I doubt really that your son is the problem as a leader, but instead the patrol dynamics is the problem. It may be mixed age but if most of the scouts are only 12, likely the patrol isnt very mature. I think this is one of those situations where along with guiding your son as a leader, there needs to be some coaching and guiding of the patrol as a whole. Just getting someone to sit do

>>Eagledad, you are of course correct with the use of acetone instead of alcohol

>>Not to excuse inappropriate behavior - the boy needs some clear limits - but let's work on the adults rather than tossing a disruptive first grader out without some serious effort first to deal with the problem.

I've done this ceremony many times and it is always a hit with the scouts and parents. I do agree, practice, practice practice. Here is a copy of the Post from where I got the ceremony from way back when forums were just starting. Oh, I used a Hiking Stave with clothes pins instead of the two hangers. Let us know how it goes. ------------------------- Magic Neckerchief Graduation Ceremony Script This Ceremony is written for Webelos Graduation to Boy Scouts. With slight modification, it can be used for any level rank advancement. It is written assuming severa

Actually I thought we lost those Webelos. After Sunday service, our Troop typically works on a service project, advancement for those who want it, and a PLC meeting. Then we break for lunch, break camp and do a game or two of Capture the Flag before we load the cars. But the Webelos and their leaders were so exausted that they left after Sunday service. I was nervious we ran them in the ground. Some of the scouts could barely walk to their cars. I ran into one of the leaders the next day and all she could say was they were all still trying to recover from the weekend. I thought we lost them bu

>>Many studies show that people without insurance are therefore more likely to postpone medical care until their problem becomes severe, because they want to avoid the 100% out of pocket expense. This ends up being economically inefficient in the long run, both for individuals and for society as a whole

>>The pack leaders are meeting this Sunday and we will discuss this issue.

This is a wonderful post WDL Mom, thank you. I think parents in general underestimate their own kids. I am struggling with this right now with my 16 year old daughter. She is teaching me through a lot of humility to ask first before I assume. I only want add that at first as a SM, I didn't really appreciate the Den Chief experience very much. It was hard for me to monitor their performance and I had some issues with them when I was a Cubmaster. But we started to observe that every scout with Den Chief experience was consistently a better Patrol Leader in their first few months of s