EagleInKY

We just had a tragic situation with one of our families. They lost their home in a fire about two weeks ago. The dad is a very active ASM and the son is one of our senior leaders. They lost almost everything they own. Everyone in the community rallied around them and took them food, gave them gift cards, took them shopping for clothes, etc. I have no idea how much was given from our troop members, but it was a lot. After a few days, and the shock wore off, I realized that they had lost all their scouting stuff. Uniforms, patches, certificates, etc., not to mention camping gear an

It's a lot of fun to sit on a EBOR, especially if you knew the child or had an impact on him when he was younger. I like the questions suggested. The idea of giving back the troop is a hot button right now.

I'm not sure, but it does seem more pronounced than it used to be. I see two types of issues - and we've spoke about both of them in recent threads. 1) Webelos that are just "older Cub Scouts", that don't have an appreciation of the outdoors. They spend lots of time completing their 20 Activity pins, but don't spend a lot of effort transitioning to Boy Scouts. A lot of these kids still fear camping and the outdoors, and certainly haven't interacted that much with their troop. 2) Webelos that go ahead and do "Boy Scouting" on their own. I've had a few come up and say, what's the b

I received mine a day or two after first reading about it on this forum. I think it was in December, but don't remember for sure.

I was at PTC in 74 (as a Webelos) and we had them. I was at base camp in 79 and they had them there as well.

It's not out of the question, it depends upon the ability of your boys and whether it is approved by your CO and the council. One concern I see is that you may be taking business away from people who actually do this for a living. If so, it may not be approved. Please read the back of the Money Earning Application to verify whether it is legitimate. Our troop recently did road cleanup as a fundraiser. I know it sounds like a service project, but our state had given a grant to our county to get highways cleaned up. The county offered the funds to non-profit groups. They paid us $

Frankly, I don't think the cost of the uniform is that bad. Band hits us up for $900 for a 4 month season, and a big chunk of that is covering uniform costs. Other activities charge for activities and uniforms. A complete scout uniform is around $100, and that's with a pretty decent quality switchback pants that makes it a more year-round option. The other thing to remember is that you seldom have to replace everything at once. Generally you'll have to replace an item every two years, which if staggered, isn't that bad.

Welcome to the forum! We're glad to have you at our campfire.

Geez, I hate those things. Not because are necessarily dangerous. Not because they aren't fun (they do look like fun). It's just that I'm always seeing kids rudely running into and around other people (usually adults). I was at the airport last week and a brother & sister were riding theirs around in a big circle. Travelers with their laptops and carryons were having to avoid them. Mom and dad did nothing. At our PWD, a boy kept wheeling from the start of the track down to the finish line every time he raced. He ran into other boys a couple of times. I was waiting for one to go fl

You are doing nothing wrong. Challenge the DE to get the other packs to raise their own bar. "Rising tide raises all boats". Improve the program district wide and you'll all be doing better. We limit our recruiting to "our" school and our CO. We've had a few cross over the boundaries for whatever reason. I've sometimes been asked if we were recruiting them, which we never were. I've never been told it's a problem. I was told once that if we came into a neighboring school to recruit, they would then show up at "ours". We decided the self-imposed boundaries were fine.

Welcome to the club Hops. It can be an awkward transition. Take your time and enjoy your newfound freedom and responsibility.

Double D, welcome to the forum. I think it's true that most CORs don't exactly take an active interest in their role. On the other hand, most of us would welcome our CORs taking more of an interest. So good luck to you and your unit.

Side question to the topic of Webelos evaluating troops. A council (I don't remember which one) had a Webelos Troop meeting visit evaluation spreadsheet that I thought was pretty good. I lost the printed copy I had and have not been able to track it down over the web. If you know of anything like this, I'd like to hear about it. If you have it, PM me and I would like you to send it to me.

This is a topic near and dear to me. I've been on the good side and bad side of this crossover process. Let me first say I agree with many of the comments, especially those about educating the parents being one of the keys to success. Our history - we started a new troop 4 years ago with seven crossovers and two boys who had previously crossed over and dropped out of other troops. We decided to do the "group thing" and all go together in order to start the troop. The good news is that 7 of these 9 scouts are still active in scouting. The two that are completely out should probably ha

I've been hearing the rumor about the action shirt replacing the uniform for over a year now. I was told we'd hear something in 2006, then 07... latest I heard was 07 or 08. The only difference to the rumor that I heard was that it was replacing the uniform altogether and that they were looking to "Dress up" the action shirt a little more (rank insignia, patrol insignia & position insignia) and possibly an optional necker for dress wear. I'm not sure what would happen with things like MB sashes. I guess I'm evaluating the ideas before really weighing in. I really would like to d

Yeah, we use all types. I've got the big multi-function headlamp and the small single LED clip-on. I still use the old fashion flashlight from time to time. Don't know why, just sometimes they find their way into my hand or pockets. Old habits, I guess.

Ours are organized by the District Advancement Chair. He provides 1-2 people and the troop committee provides 1-2 people. He often tries to bring in someone with a background that fits the candidates interest. For example, if he knows the candidate is interested in the military, he might get someone in the military to sit on the BOR.

I've succesfully recruited two boys back into scouting. Both crossed over into other troops before ours was formed. One lasted about 3 months and the other lasted about a year. When we were starting our troop, I happened to run into the one that made it about a year. I asked if they'd be interested in being in on the ground floor of a great new troop. Since they knew me (I was the CM of the pack when they were in), they were interested. That boy is a Life Scout working on his Eagle Project. Sadly, the other boy dropped out last Fall after making Life. He was a year away from Eagle and

The 70% requirement is still mind-boggling to us. We've had several conversations, and no one really understands what the measure is supposed to be. The way I read it, 70% of your troop/pack must participate in at least one outdoor activity each month. While we routinely have very high participation, it's an unrealistic number. In January, for instance, we had one outdoor activity, our District Klondike Derby. 9 of 23 boys are on the school wrestling team and they had a mandatory tournament. Voila, we've already missed the 70% mark in the first month! Of course, others had dif

Welcome to the forum. We look forward to getting to know you. (Even if you are a fox).

No, the SM cannot bump a boy back in rank. However, the SM should have the ability to apply some measure of discipline on an unruly scout. In our troop we say that first and foremost, our discipline policy is the Scout Oath & Law. Beyond that, however, you do need some guidelines. We have a stated policy on what can constitute kicking a boy out of our troop. I've had to do it once in four years, and that's one time too many. I'm also assuming that this SM wasn't doing this in a joking way. I've been guilty of this a few times. You know, the Star scout that can't tie a bowline.

You are asking about two distinct activities - the annual planning process and the individual activity planning. Our troop does a great job at the former, and not so great job of the latter. We're continually trying to improve how we do activity planning. Annual Planning As for annual planning, I think we have a good approach. We do it twice a year. We hold a planning session in August, as soon as the Council/District calendars are out, and again in December. In August, we plan out the school year (through the next Summer Camp). We make sure to have fairly detailed ideas for ev

I don't know how you can do a trek at Philmont and not end with a trip across the Tooth of Time and then down the mountain to basecamp. It's an awesome experience. I'm sure others would disagree, but I can't imagine a more fitting way to end your trek. I've done Baldy as well. It's a tough hike, but a spectacular view. Don't take younger, inexperienced crews up there. You'll never get to do everything you want to do. So, prioritize what you want to do, determine how tough a trek you want, and choose accordingly. Best of luck!

The Denner is a position assigned to a boy in the den. It's usually rotated every month. The Denner has whatever responsibility you wish to give him. He could be responsible for leading the pledge, setting up the meeting room, helping you hand out items, etc. It's a way of starting to teach boys responsibility at the younger ages.

We had a bad weather experience at Klondike with Webelos a few years ago. After that, we've decided to offer it more as a day visit for the Webelos (unless they really want to go and we feel confident in their skills). The district doesn't want us bringing Webelos, but we think it's a good chance for them to see something cool in Boy Scouts. As for the decision, I believe you made the right one given your circumstances. We've pulled out a day early out of Klondike for four straight years - 3 of which were weather related. I put up with some of the other troops giving us grief, but I w