Eagledad

>>Maybe instead of presenting it in the church basement with powerpoint slides and bought pizza it would work better at camp or at least at the park and the boys cook their own lunch? just an idea to put the outing back in Scouting

>> Yah, first you need to get documentation from dad, and perhaps ask permission to speak to the treating physician/psychologist. This has nothin' to do with rank advancement, this is so that your adult (and key youth) leaders understand the boy's condition & medications enough to be able to help, support, and keep him safe on trips.

>>I no of NO ONE who uses flag signalling anymore, and that includes a couple of Fourth World threat nations.

Of course many have read my opinions of the Venturing Patrol and older scouts in general in the Troop. Im glad you mentioned the Cub Scout program and its effects on future Troops Eammon, that tells a lot about your insite learned from your experience. When the BSA change the Tiger program about 5 or 6 years ago, I was curious if that was going to negatively effect the Troop numbers. I am not involved enough to know, but I wish more folks would at least understand how little changes can make big waves. I agree with you that older scouts 16 and older are difficult for the troop program. I

>>And if an completed blue card came back without my signature I would have to question the Scout as to what he learned & why he switched counselors.

>> If the MB has the final word what is it the SM is signifying with his second signature? Remember the requirement for Star is to EARN 6 merit badges not obtain 6 merit badge application cards signed by an approved MBC.

John-in-KC ask some good questions, and if everything is on the up and up, the short answer is the MB Counselor has the last say. The SM's signature is first on the card before the scout meets the counselor, the counselors signature is last after the scout completes the requirements. If the SM feels the counselor isn't doing a good job, he doesn't have to approve him/her the next time. Barry

This is really interesting. A small council next to our council is offering a non-Sunday Wood Badge, mostly intended for LDS, but anyone was invited and welcome. It is completely full. Now it is a small council and they only offer WB once every two years, but everyone is amazed because it fill up so fast. And the course I'm on this Spring may benefit from that course because there is a long waiting list, so they just may hop over to our course instead of waiting two more years. Great letter that was fun to read. Barry

My gosh, you guys cant imagine how much my heart cheers for you and your programs. Since my phrase motivated this thread, I feel I need to tell yall the bad news and the good news. First the bad news is, all of you are in the Box Seat now sitting in your easy chair. The good news is all of you are now in the Box Seat sitting in your easy chair. A few weeks ago, I cant remember the subject, but one poster said, Calm seas do not make good sailors. A guardian cant be someone who stands in the background guarding someone elses vision. You are there now, you are in your moment of glory because

Good responses by Longhaul and Ma, and I would like to add that the SM approval is also a nice requirement for scouts, or worse, parents signing up their sons without the Troops knowledge. It is a delicate situation, but the scoutmaster requirement can be a safety value for the council to find out what is really going on. Once in a while it was a SM who just didn't care and the Scout just wanted more training. That gets tricky also, but you can learn a lot by just talking to the SM. It's more of a council judgement, but I think SM signiture is good to have. Barry

Gotta say Scoutmaster was best for me. I think the reason is because the Scoutmaster has the best view of the vision becoming reality. Its like being on top of the hill; you have the gods-eye view of everything. Unfortunately, along with a great view comes a heavy burden of being guardian of the vision. When I was ASM, I willingly gave up some of that view because the sacrifices required for a Box Seat ticket can be great. But once a person commits to shouldering the burden, they learn to balance the load, and relish game. Saying all that, I admit working with older scouts is a very close

>>The new leaders seem excited about being trained, but trying to get the people who are experienced to come is like pulling teeth.

>>Started doing that some 50 years ago when I was breaking and training horses. That is how my dad made us break in our boots. Never have had a pair of boots that gave me blisters.

We had four years in a row with almost that many new scouts and we learned a lot. We didnt handle it right our first year and lost over 50% of the new scouts in the first six months. A lot of how you deal with this situation has to do with the number of scouts you already have. If your new scouts out number the rest of the troop, consider the troop brand new because the troop dynamics will have to change to keep up. This is a great time to have an adult leader meeting to review the troop program, the vision, mission, goals and so on. Then have a PLC meeting that includes adults to get e

Sounds like an impressive young man and I guess we adults must be doing a really good job if those are the kinds of suggestions youth wants adults to hear. However, that was not the kind of suggestions I heard from older Scouts at JLTC. I'm not sure what I called the scouts, but I know my heart was to treat them with same respect as I did adults. Scouts can tell when you're patronizing no matter what words you use. My philosophy about scouts feeling good about themselves was for them to earn that feeling with a job well done and by serving those around them, not from anything an adu

The BSA has an age requirement for JASM (16), but we ignored it. For us, JASM was an indication of maturity, experience and attitude. To put an age requirement would be restricting some really good scouts. Our JASMs were scouts who wanted troop responsibilities, had mastered the leadership skills developed in the seniour scout postions like SPL and Troop Guide, and were ready for the next step of advising scouts, not leading them. In most cases, the scout choose what he could offer or do for the troop. We had JASMs helping the Advancement Chairman, the PLC, CheerMasters and Grubmasters, JLT an

>>I use a pair of knee high womens nylon stockings ($.99) first, then a pair of Kmart mens nylon dress socks (3@$3.99) followed by a pair of Kmart mens polyester dress socks(3@$3.99). The nylon allows my foot to move slightly and eliminates blisters, for me. The nylon dress socks wick perspiration and the polyester socks cushion to a degree.

Wow, Been there and done that, threw away the T-shirt. It's hard to imagine that we adults don't think a like. It's even harder to understand that the adults don't think like me. Later on when the emotional cloud burns away, you will see that it's not really set back because the boys got it. The adults probably never did. But!, the boys got it. I have always spouted that our every step forward was preceeded with three steps back. In fact I sometimes wonder if our struggles were by design so that I could later get on some national forum and start out with "been there and done that".

>>The troop has made a number of trips to NT and they say anything less will not fall apart by the 2nd or 3rd day and will get sucked off in the moose muck, leaving you shoeless for the rest of the trip.

I'm not so sure. I think what hiking boots have over other types of hiking footware is ankle support. But I think that applies to rough rocky trails or a lot of stream crossings. Philmont is pretty much packed trails with just a few stream crossings. Our Trail Guide a Philmont wore Teva hiking sandals as well as many of the other Trial Guides. And some just wore tennis shoes. Those guys/gals put in a lot of miles each summer. My 45 year old adult partner at Philmont had blisters so bad by the third day, he was considering quiting and leaving the group. He decided to first try out his

>>Works great, unless you're a very small troop.

>>I then immediately had a talk with older brother then about how it "appears" when family members sign off on requirements (especially for 2+ ranks!!) and requested that he not do that anymore.

>>At our last jamboree there was a mild epidemic of dysentary.

We once had a cook burn supper while playing cards. After that, the new rule was the cook swills the cook pots. Never had a burned meal again. By the way, did anyone look at the scout Handbook to what they suggest for cleaning dishes. Not that it is the best, because I found it does conflict with the dept. of health, but I still rather send a scout to find the informatin than sit debate about it. I don't have the book next to me, but I think it suggest sanitizing second then rinsing. Dept. of health reverses that. Barry

>>The adult leaders do retest the boy's on some of the more difficult requirements just to keep them honest.