Eagledad

>>I hope that homophobes will eventually realize that their fears are in vain and their hate is unscoutlike.

I believe that we lead our lives by dodging our fears. In fact I usually tell leaders that adult fears are the limitations of boy run troops. Usually the more boy run, the more the adults have trained their scouts past their adult fears. Naturally Boys usually learn the limits of their fears by their natural drive of pushing themselves in physical actvities. Whether it is using tools, going as high as we can and then coming down as fast as we can, jumping in to test the waters and pushing ourselves to go as fast as we can, we boys are driven to it by instinct. Women on the other hand hav

Yes, I understand. I used to be the Council JLT Chairman and most of the people I communicated with from the National all the way down to troop level use JLT generically for youth leadership training or developement. We used "Troop or unit JLT" as the term for unit level training. National issueing their TLT course seems to have muddled the water a lot. I know of a lot of troops that called their unit level training TLT long before National called did. And the TLT they used is not the TLT or JLT you are refering to. In fact, many of the unit's courses I've seen came from scaled down Brownsea o

>>But those of you who have taught TLT (and I have) will spot the problem here: 95% of the course isn't position-specific.

>>I see no problem with a Troop having the expectation that the boys will go to training because it is the right thing to do. But if the leaders do not sign off on the requirement and deny them their Star rank (or other rank) because they did not attend a non-mandatory training session then that is wrong.

>>You need to talk to the CC or Advancement Chair about your concerns, so that they can have a conversation with the SM if they think it's appropriate. Or you can have an informal conversation with the SM if you have a good friendly working relationship.

>>I commend the SM for wanting to have the boys all trained but I can't imagine making a boy sit through Troop Guide training every six months for as longs as the boy is a Troop Guide.

>>However the Pack Committee sees nothing wrong with the CMs actions.

>>You're either religious and a Republican or you are not religious? Where did that come from?

OK, do I understand right, you are considering taking the course that you have already staffed because the course may not make? This is a new one on me, but I can't help feel the time would be better spent helping a struggling unit or district committee. I'm really courious to read Eamonn's (WB guru) opinion on this. How would the CD pick a patrol for a person with your experience? Barry

>>Hi! I'm a religious person on the left. And there are a lot more of us. We just don't tend to wear it on our sleeve.

>>The few times that gay marriage "won" was when it was legislated from the bench -- one wonders how exactly *that* is supposed to square with hearing from both sides?

At one time we took a count and found that four of our families had three brothers in our troop, and eight other families with at least two. I could never bring myself to ask these families to buy more than one subscription of Boy's Life. Barry

Ah the memories. Anyone who is a scouter in Oklahoma understands that the University of Oklahoma/TEXAS game is a holiday weekend of which nothing is planned unless the activity is within five feet of a 25 inch or greater TV. I've been told is required by state law. The PLC of my troop as a boy made the error scheduling our campout on that weekend. It quickly became obvious that there wasn't going to be any adults unless something was done, and a generator and TV showed up on that beautiful Oklahoma fall day as well as the usual dozen or so adults. Barry

>>Then it was Wolf, Bear, Lion, Webelos/Arrow of Light. The Lion/Webelos book was combined. WeBeLoS stood for "Wolf, Bear, Lion, Scout".

>> Eagledad, Thanks for the inquiry about who I am, but that is irrelvant to the message.

GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY! What a great marketing theme for the BSA. Maybe the BSA could start a movement. Imagine a series of 2 second video clips of scouts hiking, climbing, rapelling, biking, scuba diving, sailing, cooking, backpacking, canoeing, building a fire, singing by the fire, on and on and on. Imagine a series of pictures of the same thing in the local paper. Just Do It! Nike Go Outside and Play! Scouting Barry

Hi Brianbuf. What is your scouting experience? About how old are you, give or take? What does Brianbuf stand for? Thanks Barry

>>But you CAN pull all the parents together to explain your vision, and how it will benefit their sons. And acceptance that everyone sees things differently, and conversations are the only way for the group to learn from past and agree on steps to improve in the future.

Me, Me, I've been in almost the exact same place except we went from 16 to 35 the first year and 25 more the next. You are in a very challenging place and that you are asking about it shows how you are trying to get ahead of the game. I think beavah gave great advice you need to use, but it doesn't apply to the first six months of your next new group. Lets face it, your program is going to change. It has to just to keep up with the numbers. So start pow wowing with the adults and prepare for it. We were not prepared and lost 50% of our new scouts in four months. We just weren'

>>But it was not until one chilly autumn night with the smell of wood smoke in the air that I heard the Eagle Patrol singing in the distance and something "clicked." For the first time in my life I "understood" the Patrol Method. This was not a theoretical understanding.

I love that song. My favorite part is the silky tights part. So, what critter did you get? Barry

>> Other than that, they are great DL's. Regardless, what we have is working.

>>then a troop of 100 lukewarm, middle of the road, could care less, speed through the dorkiness, quit as soon as my parents let me, scouts.

Our Troop is in the habit of giving staves of onor to scouts and scouters for such ocassions. Barry