EagleInKY

Sorry my comments have taken this thread a little off-topic. I'll stand corrected on the comment about the OA/BSA relationship. However, I stand by my belief that you can have a great scouting program without the OA. I'm not saying you should, but just saying that you can. For example, I have a couple of adult leaders who were Life and Eagle Scouts who were never in the OA. They didn't even know much (if anything) about it. It was obviously not a strong program in the areas of the country they grew up in. I also know that there are troops in my district (several of them) that "don't do

Wow, I was about to write a pretty harsh response and I noticed what Calico wrote. He is spot-on with his response. There were two statements that just jumped out at me from 309's last post. (The same two that Calico addressed). The statement that the TC made the decision about the campout plan tells me a lot about this troop. That is clearly the responsibility of the PLC. It sounds like we have a troop that is adult-run in planning and organization, but leaves the running of activities purely up to the boys. In doing so, you have apparently one "natural leader" who has gravitated

I don't know about scouter.com, but there are a number of free counters out there that will work with any website. On a sidenote, counters are relatively ineffective and considered very "1990s". Counters do not accurately reflect how many people visit your site, it just counts how many times a person browses to the page that the counter is on. Therefore, a person who hits your front page and immediately leaves is counted as one visit while a person in your troop that may have your calendar page book marked and checks there regularly is never counted. A third person who bounces all arou

Lots of good ideas here. With the trip being next year it limits several options.So many good fundraisers take a year or two to build momentum. We're doing a Flag Lease program that generated pretty good profits the first year, but will yield even greater results during subsequent years. For a one-time deal, rummage sales are pretty good. Also, Scout Popcorn isn't bad. I think guys get tired of selling it year after year, but if you really pushed them this one time... who knows. Mulch and flowers are pretty good fundraisers around here. I know of a couple of troops that have

scoutldr - I'll politely disagree with two of your comments. " neither the Troop Committee nor the PLC has the authority to say 'we don't do OA.'" There are several troops in our area that don't do OA. I can't speak to why. My guess is it probably has something to do with them not understanding it. If the troop doesn't want to participate in it, there's little the OA can do to force it. It becomes imperative on the OA to offer a program that attracts the boys to want to be involved. And, if parents have a negative feeling about it and fill their son's heads with that, it will be

Let me echo the applause for Barry's post. He nailed it (as he so often does). Follow your instincts. Help the dad get over the hump and he'll be the biggest help in making this happen. As SM's we always have "projects". My project has been with me since he was a Wolf (that's 7 years now). He's come a long way and he's now one of the best Den Chief's I've seen. He's a long way from a perfect scout, but he's come so far it's impossible not to smile about him. He continues to be "work in progress", but I know he's so much farther than if he hadn't had scouts. I look forward to presentin

An additional thought regarding the troop not functioning as well without their SPL. Last year I had an outstanding SPL (who just happened to be my son). Last November we have an annual overnigher with the Webelos following Scouting for Food. It conflicted with a church activity that he really wanted to participate in. I told him it was his call and he chose the church activity. (It's only fair, scouting knocks him out of so many things, this was an easy one to miss.) The campout did not go as smoothly without him. It was a learning experience for the other leaders. Some questioned why

In my opinion, this is overstepping the bounds of the Committee's function. They provide the "ways and means" to carry out the troop's program. Their only role in the program is to (1) approve the troop's annual program plan and (2) ensure that the SM is operating the troop within the rules and guidelines of the BSA and the Charter Org. While they can and should be able to voice opinions, as those providing the financial support would be expected to do, they don't have the responsibility of dictating changes to the program. With all that said, you need a good working relationship with your

Some of it is simply the uphill challenge of getting people to use the web for day-to-day information. Even though virtually everyone in my troop has access to e-mail and the web, some check it once a week at best. I echo the thoughts the others have expressed. Try to determine what your ultimate reason for the site is. Potential reasons are commuinicating to members, recruiting, or pride in unit. All of these are valid, but require different focus. You can try to meet more than one purpose, but if you try to do all equally, you end up with a cluttered site that is hard to follow.

I've seen it done. We haven't had any Eagles yet, but I'm sure they'll want to do that. We usually have a slideshow set to music at our Court of Honors.

Well put Beavah.

I've recently tranformed from a roller/folder to stuffer. I received the advice from several outdoorsmen that I hold in high regard. It's primarily for the reasons mentioned - waterproofing, creases, etc. It's also easier to teach to your young scouts, but that's another issue.

Congrats. Over the next few years you'll experience joy and frustration, excitement and depression, optimism and second-guessing... The role of SM is lots of fun, but with any position worth holding, it has its challenges. Keep your spirits, stay true to the scouting program, live by the scout oath and law and HAVE FUN.

Our troop has had this discussion as well. For Patrol-level posiitons, we do not credit the POR, nor do they wear a patch. HOWEVER, we (the PLC in conjunction with the SM/ASMs) decided that the position of QM was so critical, that we decided to treat the Patrol QMs as a troop position. In other words, today we have three patrols. Therefore, we have three Troop QMs, one from each patrol. Each is responsible for his patrol gear, and collectively they are responsible for the troop gear. It's a new concept, we've only been going with it a few months. It seems to be working out well for us.

To quote another thread... "horse hockey" This is another urban legend. Why, I had a young lad show up a Court of Honor this past summer wearing a MB Sash with ZERO merit badges on it. He'd only been in scouts for about a month. I was proud of him for taking pride in the uniform and wanting to dress the part.

1. I think this has been answered. Common sense should prevail. One option, if you have access to a bus (church or otherwise) and a couple of CDL drivers, you can usually push on for more hours. We haven't done that yet, but I know some troops that have. 3. Side trips are great and break up the monotony of the trip. Some of the guys may grumble, but historic tours are a great way to enrich the boys and expose them to some things they would have otherwise missed. 4. Sure, use the buddy system and checkpoints. Designate a first-aid location as the rally point for lost/in

I'm sure there are some folks that can give you line-by-line description from the book. In short, the DE is responsible for making sure scouting is successful in his/her district. This includes working with the district committee members to make sure they are getting their job done, working with unit leaders when they have issues, occasionally touching base with Charter Organizations to make sure things are going well and yes - raising money for scouting in their district. In general I've found that if I don't see our DE, things are going well. If I see him a lot (other than normal dis

Gee, what is it with Web parents these days. Some want to go early, others want to stay around pass their age limits. We had this issue this past summer. A 4th grade brother wanted to cross over with his 5th grade brother. He had completed the necessary work for his AOL, but didn't have the age requirement yet. He visited our troop from a pack we're not afiliated with. They asked me if he could join, and I told them that if he had earned the AOL and was the minimum age to join Scouts, he could. (I wasn't aware of the full story). The parents didn't realize that he hadn't really

It's already been well documented. This is against the rules. Explain the parents that life can go on, the world doesn't hinge around him earning his AOL. Encourage him to start Boy Scouts and take on the new adventures.

I think your SPL is doing the right thing and you should back him up. Little things sometimes help, like having an adult tap them on the shoulder to calm down. Also, I've found that often peer pressure is the key to solving this. Another idea is for you to talk to their parents. Find out what makes them tick, and what they do to reign them in. I used to have a scout with a real behavior issue. I found out that he has a hard time being told "no". But, if you tell him "no, because...", he can usually deal with it. I started doing that with him, and it was amazing how he turned ar

What Beaver said... I'm kind of a DO purist, but I still find myself sometimes lining with foil just to make cleanup easier. We love DO lasagna, but it's a challenge to clean. The foil doesn't eliminate cleaning, but it helps.

Welcome to the forum. (Wingnut, I love your clarification about his troop size.)

First, committee meetings have to be open. BSA prohibits any "secret meetings". Second, we encourage parents to attend. It's a great way to get information out and for them to hear what is going on with the troop, first hand from it's adult leaders. While we hope the boys communicate effectively to the parents, this gives us a second method to ensure communications gets through. Third, if a parent begins to attend and take interest, sign them up! It's a great time to recruit parents to be part of your committee.

Teambuilding activities can be lots of fun. Get the scouts and Webelos to work together. Let the older scouts run the event.

Welcome to the forums. We look forward to getting to know you. I hope your excitement is contagious!