Eamonn

Hi Lisabob, While I really do think that of all the skills we pass on to our Scouts, cooking is the one that they will use about the most in the years that follow. (In fact thanks to learning to cook as a Scout led to me becoming a certified Executive Chef.) However having said that I do think that we need to look at what we are doing and why we are doing it? A bunch of young Scouts are going on a canoe trip. I''m guessing that a lot of stuff in new to them? The "Big Thing" is the canoe trip. Anything that takes away from that is kind of a distraction. Being as they are young maybe using lightweight stoves will be new to them? Even through I''m sure you have practiced how to use them and the Scouts feel fairly comfortable using them, when it comes to really cooking on them; -This will be new. Having them understand the limitations of what can be cooked on one or two small burners can be hard. Getting used to transporting food that is going to have a rough ride and can''t be kept under refrigeration is also hard. There are of course some really good dehydrated foods available, but these tend to be a bit costly. I think I''d try and steer them toward meals that have a fairly high carb content. Maybe some of the Knorr /Lipton Pasta sides? You can add some sort of a protein to this. Tuna Fish (Yuck!!) Canned meat (Corned beef) or Chicken. Add a few candy bars for dessert. For lunch our Sea Scouts have gone mad on soft Tortillas, they wrap all sorts of things in them, mainly peanut-butter and honey, that along with some trail mix (Try Wal-marts!!) and fresh fruit and they are good to go. Breakfast can be hard, no one wants to spend a long time on clean up, but they do need to eat. There is precooked bacon that doesn''t need to be refrigerated and instant oatmeal along with some hot chocolate which only requires heating some water. We tried adding beef jerky to the Lipton pasta sides -The Scouts said it was good, but I didn''t like it. Eamonn.

"The Boy Scouts of America prohibits the use of alcoholic beverages and controlled substances at encampments or activities on property owned and/or operated by the Boy Scouts of America, or at any activity involving participation of youth members." http://www.scouting.org/cgi/gss/viewall.pl. This information does need to be shared with everyone connected with the unit. While back in my CM days we did have a problem with some parents thinking it was OK to sneak a cold one at a Parent and Son weekend, after the Scouts had gone to bed. (In a State Park where alcohol isn''t allowed!!) I have never seen or heard about anyone coming to a meeting with a can of beer or bottle in hand. I kinda think that unless someone had a really bad addiction, they are not going to do or use their drug of choice at the meeting. The BSA is not a drug enforcement agency. Before I''d go about talking about someone using illegal drugs, I''d need to be very sure of the facts, in fact I''d need to be certain. Once I was certain I''d have to decide what action I''d want to take. Do I call the police and report the illegal drug use or not? This really has nothing to do with the BSA or the policy''s of the BSA other than that the BSA would never condone or support any illegal activity. If you really think someone is using illegal drugs it is up to you to report it, not as a member of the BSA, but as a law abiding citizen. If this parent or parents have been found guilty and convicted of using illegal drugs? They should have had their day in court and if found guilty, will have suffered whatever penalty the court chose to impose. While this might be grounds that would prevent them from serving as leaders or being adult members of the BSA. In my view (And that''s all this is!!) It in no way should prevent them from playing an active role in the life of their child which hopefully will include Scouting activities. However if you are sure that the illegal drug use is still going on? It is up to you as a citizen to report it. If anyone turns up for any sort of BSA meeting and seems to be high or stoned they really have no business being there. With as little fuss and as little commotion as possible they need to be asked to leave. If possible maybe someone could drive them home. Just because someone seems stoned or high doesn''t automatically mean that they have been using illegal drugs, there are 101 reasons why they might appear to be that way. This really is a case of fixing the problem (Someone who shouldn''t be there!) And worrying about the reason later. I think someone would need to wait a day or two and visit them and discuss what happened and explain why it isn''t acceptable. At this time you might find out more information? Maybe they seemed that way due to just coming from the dentist? As too : "Do you require the parents of the other children who will be exposed to them to be informed" If they are adult members of the BSA, the incident does need to be reported to the Pack Committee Chair, the COR And the SE (Not the DE). Once it has been reported they will come up with a plan of action. You might not ever know what the plan was!! But you will have done what is required of you. I really think anyone who starts going around informing parents will do more harm than good. "What if your Den Leader is a law enforcement officer?" I would hope that he or she would be the first to report or take any legal action that is required by law. If the BSA were to try and have policy''s on everything the Guide To Safe Scouting would be a very large book!! At times we have to do what is required of us as law abiding members of society. The BSA doesn''t have a policy on what to do if you witness a murder!! You have to do what is required of you as a citizen. We all of course do not want to do anything that might endanger any of the youth we serve. Doing what we can to prevent anyone who is for any reason impaired to drive is a given, even if it means calling 911. But I''d be very careful about using terms like "illegal drugs". If for any reason you are wrong you could be doing a lot of harm, not only to the parents but also to their children. As someone who had several operations to my lower back I have at times been prescribed some heavy duty pain medication. Which made me seem stoned. Of course I didn''t drive or attend Scout meetings while I was taking it, but I didn''t have a young Lad begging me to take him to his Den Meeting. Eamonn.

In our area it seems to me that most of the Council Summer Camps are focused on merit badges. I''m guessing this is because what sells? As others have posted there are of course High Adventure Camps, but many of these only allow Scouts over 14 to participate in the HA programs. The $64,000 question is what does the PLC want to do or get out of a Summer Camp? They have a lot of options open to them. A week long hike? Bike hike? Canoe trip? Back home in the UK, we never had the Council Summer Camp. About this time of year the PLC would come up with a list of ideas about what they wanted to do. From that list we would make another list of where we could go to do that activity. Where possible we would visit these places, looking for a place to camp. Either at an established Scout Camp or in the field of a friendly farmer. At Easter the PLC would camp at the site and we would look at and for places to get what we needed, maybe the local swimming pool, the Fish and Chip Shop!! At times the PLC opted to visit a place just to visit and we would fill in the program from there with different activities. I do strongly urge you to have a full program worked out and down on paper before you leave. The idea of having a "Restful -Do nothing time" really doesn''t work. Strange thing is how much and how many Merit Badge requirements can be met on a camp like this without the Scouts even really knowing they are meeting them. It does mean a lot of hard work for the adults with equipment and feeding problems (Someone has to go to the store for the food!!) Eamonn.

I really enjoy a good campfire. Years back Gilwell Park offered a Campfire Leader Programme, which I attended and had a lot of fun at. Most of the people in our Council know that I''m willing to join in the fun of a Campfire and do a better than fair job of running one. Not sure if the Scouts pick up on it? But I''ve never had a problem with Scouts wanting to participate. We also have a lot of fun just singing. When we are driving I''m happy to let the Scouts plug their i-pods or whatever into the music system (Just spent over $600.00 updating!!) Man you should hear us belt out Bohemian Rhapsody !! Seems that every year at summer camp one song seems to be "The Song" last year it was Ring Of fire. Not sure how or why. Have to admit that I never did get into Patrol Yells, in fact I think they are a little silly. Even at Training''s they tend to come off as being a bit of a joke. As I have posted before I''m not keen on the idea of Adult Patrols and the idea of a group of adults having a "Patrol Yell" Just seems really silly. Must be one of my little quirks. As for the idea of some music being above?? And some being below?? I can see that I''m not going to sing along with Gun runners by 50 Cent. I do however wonder if a song like Chamillionaire''s "Ridin''" is making a statement? Is this the way inner-city African-American see the police? While many of us might not like the lyrics if we choose to not try and understand them and why they are saying what they say will we ever be able to be as diverse as we want to be or should be? Ea.

Back when I was a Lad, one of my Mother''s favorite put downs was telling me that I didn''t have the sense I was born with. Common Sense is a strange commodity! Seems to me that if you become good at something, there comes a time when you lose the understanding that not everyone is as good as you. I do think at times we are guilty of maybe taking things a little bit too seriously. While of course matters of safety and the welling being of the kids we serve do have to be taken seriously. But even this can at times go a little too far. A while back in these forums we had a Leader who posted that she thought that the SPL at Summer camp should maintain a record of the Scouts BM''s!! I can just imagine that conversation!! Some people do seem to suffer from doing more silly things than others. We had a Den Leader who was like this. She would call me then remember that she had turned the dryer on, but forgot to put the clothes in it, half way through our conversation she''d remember. She made the local news one night. She had placed her baby girl who was in a car seat on top of her van and drove off with the baby sill on top of the van!! I wish I could say that I never had done anything daffy, but not long ago I spent hours "Fixing" this computer after installing a new music program which refused to work, only to find that I''d muted the volume. One good thing about Scouting is that many of the things we do that might be seen as lacking in common sense do become legends, they are retold around campfires, embellished and laughed about. Not in an unkind way, but retold just because they are funny and make other people laugh. I really think that a good Scouting program is one where people are allowed to make the odd mistake and while any form of hazing is never good at times if you know who you are dealing with some good natured leg pulling is maybe in order. Ea.

Please, Please Do Continue to use all the forms and fill out ALL THE PAPERS NEEDED. While I''m unsure what use Tour Permits serve. If God forbid something should go wrong. - Maybe just maybe? By following the rules you if nothing else do come off as looking like a responsible trained leader. Maybe just maybe? These do serve some real purpose, that maybe we just don''t know about. I''m interested to know how you overcome the signatures if we start filing these via some electronic/computer method? Ea.

Not sure about what happens in other Councils? Sadly in our Council keeping track of adult training''s has never been a strong point. The volunteers who present the training''s do what they are supposed to do. All the paperwork is completed and send to the Service Center. Where it must go into some kind of black hole, never to be seen again!! Back when I was Council Training Chairman one of my "Big Things" was to have an inventory of trained leaders. The District Training Chairs worked their tails off to make me a happy little Eamonn. I know it doesn''t sound like a big job, but when you try and deal with units that never take anyone off a charter it was a real chore. Once we had all the information, the girls in my office put it all together. We had copies for just about everyone you can think of, in just about every format known to man. We had it on paper and on floppy disk. Still when the charters came out nothing had been entered or changed. It seems the Registrar didn''t see this as being part of her job, as it happens nor did the next two!! I''m not for a minute saying "Don''t file the paperwork!!" But I do feel or would feel better knowing why? And what good is it? I think the world of the Scouts in the Ship. I''m not going to allow them to be driven by some nut who doesn''t have a valid driving license or insurance. I know the people who offer to drive and don''t have a problem asking them for a copy of their license or insurance. No one has ever given me a hard time for asking or had a problem with my making a copy. While I''m not a great lover of on line training (Other than the fact that it doesn''t have the myths) I almost gladly am willing to give up the time it takes to complete what ever is needed. I do keep my First Aid and CPR up to date. I have to for work and it seems that CPR changes from minute to minute. When we attend an event outside of our Council, I''m happy to provide what ever tour permit is required. I have no idea what they do with them? I''m happy to meet all the requirements, I want the Scouts to be safe. Doing the paperwork is not hard and I''m not fussing about the time or effort it takes. But if most of the information can''t be verified -What real use is it? Ea.

We had borrowed from a local theme park (Idlewild) a Garfield the cat outfit. Over the weekend I had talked OJ into wearing it and we visited every Elementary School in the District taking his photo as an ad for School Sign-up For Scouting night. This was in the days before I had a digital camera. So I had taken the film to a one hour possessing drug store. On Monday I had gone to the offices of the local newspaper to get the pictures in that weeks paper. I had no idea that anything had happened. I was talking with the girl in the newspaper office and she said that a light plane had crashed into the Trade center. Next to the newspaper office is the offices of my insurance agent. A real nice fellow, who is a Mennonite and as a rule is not very excitable. He rushed in ranting and raving about "Rag-heads" and this being war!! I went home and was home just in time to catch the second plane crash. The plane that went down in Pa went down about 40 miles from where I live. My friends and relations back home were worried it might have been closer, but couldn''t get through on the phone. I went to work. TV''s were on all day, but I had the radio on. I really wanted to turn it off but was scared to do so. The early estimates of how many had been killed were really high. Someone estimated how many kids had lost a parent. I cried. The very thought of them children returning from school to an empty house was more than I could manage. A good friend of mine who was having marital problems said that his wife and kids had moved back to his in-laws home close to where flight 93 went down. His daughter then about seven years old asked "Daddy is the ground going to shake again tomorrow?" After the 2001 Jamboree we had managed to get a VIP tour of the Pentagon, we found out later that two of the young men who had been our guides had been killed. OJ came home and said "Dad we were there not long ago." I lived through the IRA terror campaign and the bombings in London. We should have been in Harrods the day it was hit. But I was never so scared as I was on 9/11. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families that were harmed. I do try to be a forgiving soul, but somehow I just can''t find it in me to forgive the people who did this. I know that God has the final word about what will happen to them. My great hope is that we do all we can to speed up the process. Rightly or wrongly my view is that I hope they are damned to hell. Eamonn.

Her Who Must Be Obeyed still teases me about our wedding. We were married in London. She had her parents and six friends come over. We had a reception for 650 people. As we left the church the Scouts from the Troop formed an honor guard. I still have the photo in our wedding album. The Scouts did this on their own with no adult interference. I look back and can''t help think what a great bunch of kids they were. I truly do love this Scouting Stuff!! Ea.

I do use Tour Permits. At times I''m very late getting them into the Council Service Center, thankfully the staff in the office are very helpful and with a working fax machine we can do what needs to be done in a matter of minutes. The rules about Tour Permits in our Council are not very clear. At one time the Council stated that they were needed for every trip that was not outside of the regular meeting place. The Council Service center was unhappy when the volume of tour permits went through the roof. Every Den that was going to the local Post Office or fast food restaurant started sending these things in. Then the Council President made it known that they were only required for trips that were 50 miles or more from home. My big question is what use are Tour Permits? I do see and do agree that as a tool for planning they are useful. But... In our Council one of the office workers takes care of Tour Permits. None of the information provided is ever checked. In fact a lot of the information can''t be checked. Never once has anyone ever asked to see the permit in order to leave a comment. I was once told that a tour permit was useful if something should go wrong. I''m unsure how this might work? 99.9% of the trips we take are at weekends when the Council Service Center is not open, if you call you can leave a message on the machine, which isn''t going to be checked until Monday. Most SE''s only provide the phone number of the Service Center, so trying to contact them would not be easy. At the end of the day just about everything comes down to me (As Skipper) making sure that everything is done. All the drivers do have valid diving licenses and insurance and that all the needed training''s have been completed. The permit does remind me what is needed, but if no one is checking?? There is supposed to be a time and distance when the National Jamboree is going on when permits will not be issued. The parents who came to visit us at the 2001 and 2005 Jamboree said they had a hard time finding motel rooms because the motels were full of Scouts. They had a hard time using the swimming pools because the Scouts were there, with no Lifeguard on duty and at times no adults to be seen. I go out of my way to be nice to the girls who work in our service center. They have an Eamonn File. In it I have all the training''s I have taken and I update them as needed, they have the information about all my vehicles and insurance, a copy of my driving license along with the information about the people who do most of the driving. If someone else is helping I send them that information and it goes into the file. I do this because we are supposed to do it. I''m just not sure why? And what real use other than a planning tool a Tour Permit really is. Of course I''ll continue to do it. I don''t want to set a bad example to the Scouts and maybe? Just maybe there is more to this than I''m understanding? Ea.

I have never taken the time to look it up in any of the good books. But as a rule I wear the loops that go with the patch that shows what position I''m supposed to be in. (Right now I don''t wear any loops, as they don''t go on the Sea Scout uniform) Still when I was serving as Commissioner or on the District Committee I wore the silver loops. When I wore the shirt with Area Committee I wore the gold loops. If that shirt wasn''t clean, I wore the silver loops on the District Shirt. For Wood Badge when I was wearing a Scoutmaster patch I wore red loops. I''ll admit that even though I''m no longer a Boy Scouter, when I go up to attend an OA weekend I wear a field uniform with red loops. While of course these little tweaks to uniforming are not hanging offenses, there is a lot to be said for a uniform, uniform. We have one Troop in the District that for some reason has started wearing the orange loops on the shirts of the older Scouts. I''m not sure what that''s all about? Eamonn.

Please don''t for a minute think I''m in any way saying what is right or what is wrong! I''m not. How anyone spends their free time is up too them. Everyone has their own reasons for doing or not doing what they like. Back home in the UK,when I was living there, Packs didn''t have Dens or Den meetings. The Pack met weekly. It was broken down into Sixes, with one Lad being a Sixer and another being a Seconder. The adult leaders all had Jungle Book names and only the Cubmaster was Akela. Cub Scouter''s didn''t as a rule follow their son into the Troop and a good many were Cub Scouter''s for life. Seeing parents follow their son from the Pack into the Troop was new to me, as was the number of adults it takes to operate a Pack. As with the Cub Scouter''s nearly all the Scoutmasters were what might be called "Lifers". Many had been involved with one unit for a very long time. Here in our District and Council, we don''t see a big turn over of Scoutmasters. Our District is small in fact there are only something like 92 Troops in the Council. The District has about 20 Troops. Of this 20, one has a new Scoutmaster, one is a new Troop;only five or six years old. The rest have Scoutmasters who all have over ten years in as SM''s, some a lot longer. ASM''s is a different story. A good many Dads do seem to cross over with their son, but very few seem to really understand the program and even less seem to be willing to acquire the skills needed to be good all round outdoor Scouter''s. Looking at OJ''s old Troop. This past Summer they attended the Council Summer camp with 21 boys and 16 adults. Of the 16 adults only about five have any real Scouting know how, the rest were just there to watch out for their kid. Some did run extra night time merit badge classes. Sadly I have watched this over the years and the "Life Expectancy" of these guys is about 3 years. Sure they are useful when it comes to driving Scouts to and from camp, but somehow they never really get bitten by the bug. If they are busy and can''t attend a Troop meeting then junior isn''t attending. When being a ASM becomes a little too much for them, they seem happy that Junior''s Scouting career has come to an end. Maybe I''m a slow learner? I became a Scouter thinking I was God''s gift to Scouting. There I was a Queen''s Scout, Gold Duke of Edinburgh recipient. I rushed off to attend Wood Badge, but still it took me a good five or six years to really understand what Scouts and Scouting was really about. Heck it took that long for me to grasp the Patrol method. I was lucky that I had been in a Troop that had given me the skills that I knew the outdoor skills, still it took some time to master a way of passing them on to little Lads. While as I say everyone is free to do what they will with their time, it does seem that over the past few weeks there have been a few threads that are saying "My kid made Eagle. - What''s next?" I would ask these people to give some thought to not leaving the Troop. We do need you. We need people who have been around for a while and do have the skills and understanding of the program. If you have five or six years in, you are just starting to understand the program and are worth your weight in gold. Ea.

A couple of months back I was in Lancaster County PA. Hanging out in Bird In Hand and Intercourse PA. Unexpectedly I found an English Tea Shop!! I loaded up with McVities Cookies, Black and White Puddings, English Sausages, Birds Custard Powder. English Potato Crisps. Boy did we have a big breakfast!! Last Sunday we were in my favorite Italian Deli. They have a great international selection of cheese. I loaded up with real English Cheddar and an entire wheel of Stilton. To-night at our house we are having Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding, I have a leg of lamb in the freezer and I have some fresh mint in the garden, thinking about having Roast Lamb with mint sauce, with potatoes and asparagus with some hollandaise sauce. That Italian Deli makes the best crusty bread (Not cheap at $4.58 a loaf) But along with the cheese the bread, pickled onions and chutney and a glass of real ale!! It''s a ploughman''s lunch to die for. I also have a Spotted Dick in the freezer and will soon be thinking of making a real English Christmas Cake and Christmas Pudding. Need to get them done soon so I can feed them!! Boy this thread is making me hungry!! Eamonn.

Communication is a big problem. Not just at the unit level. I was invited to sit in on the last meeting of the District Committee and a few older members were having a moan and groan saying that because they don''t have computers /email they don''t get any information. The Ship has a Yahoo Group page, this seems to work about 50% of the time for 50% of the Scouts, parents are invited to become members. Most don''t. Open two way communication starts when the youth joins the unit. Taking the time to visit his home and meet his family gives everyone a chance to get to know each other. Knowing that the "Skipper" is a real person not just a name?? Does help break down some of the barriers. The members of the Quarterdeck are into texting each other, this does seem to work. Sadly I''m not a good Text-er!! E-mails do at times get lost or just don''t get read. Sadly the cost of postage makes sending letters home very expensive and I only use the USPS for very important stuff. Announcements at the end of meetings do seem to fall on deaf ears. What works for me is phone calls and talking to the person I need to talk with -Not the machine!! Most of the homes do have caller ID so they know it''s me!! If I need to talk to a Scout and I get Mum or Dad, I do tell them why I''m calling, we have a chat, but I do ask that they have the Scout return my call. If they forget I call back. Ea.(This message has been edited by Eamonn)

OK, if we take Kevin Ryan''s word for it, the Lads are at home watching the telly, stuffing Twinkies down at an ever increasing rate of knots. Mean while what are the girls doing? Walk around any school yard and there are just as many overweight girls as there are boys. Where I live we have local teams that play baseball, softball and soccer, come sign up time the boys outnumber the girls by about two to one. The local Girl Scout Council in our area shut up shop and moved 200 miles away!! Having at one time many years ago been a Lad, I kinda like to think I know more about boys than women do. Having been brought up in an education system where "Men were Men" and women were viewed as being the "Fair Sex" and in a home where Dad was the bread winner, while Mum looked after the house. I''ll admit to maybe having a hard time accepting females in what I at times seem to classify as male roles. I''ll admit to thinking a women working on a construction site, looks out of place.But having been around HWMBO for 30 years I know how tough women can be. Having worked with female Sea Scouts for going on 3 years I know that girls can do just about anything I ask of the male Scouts. I also know that they can be at times just as big a pain in the neck. Spending time worrying and focusing on Boys not being boys is a waste of time. Surely we''d be better off fixing what the problems are for both sexes. Ea.

Having never served in the military, I don''t know much about that chain of command. I do know that if the adults follow the job descriptions as they are laid out in the Cub Scout Leader Book, things tend to work and work well. Unfortunately my copy is in garage and I''m too lazy to get it. If standerson is the Webelos Scout Den Leader, his role is to lead that Den. This isn''t rocket science. What goes on at the Pack Management Committee has nothing to do with him. What happens to the Cubmaster is none of his business. If he is sending Pack related emails to people who are not in the Den or have nothing to do with the Den. He is over-stepping the mark. If Mr Cubmaster is interfering with the Den he needs to be asked to leave. But as far as the Pack Meetings and Pack Ceremonies go that really is up to the Cubmaster -Even if it does last 3 hours!! It is up to the Cubmaster if the Crossover and AOL are done at a Pack meeting. Planning and running the Pack meetings are up the Cubmasters job. Most packs in our area make this part of the B&G banquet program, but some have two separate ceremonies. The time to plan and talk about this is at the Annual Planning Meeting. One way to avoid all this silliness and so called drama is for everyone to just do their job. Eamonn.

I can''t help but think moving from being an ASM to become a Venturing Advisor, is really jumping from the frying pan to the fire!! Reading between the lines and maybe seeing something that isn''t there? I get the feeling that you liked things the way they were and could it be this Venturing idea is a way to hang out with the Lads who were the "Old Troop"? While finding your replacement is not your responsibility, most of us are guilty of not wanting to leave our co-workers in the lurch. You need to sit down and think about what you want to do? What time are you willing to put in? What do you like doing and not like doing? Once you have your ducks lined up, find the right time and place to have a chat with the SM. Make him aware of your feelings and what you are willing to do or want to do or what you dislike doing. If you have a role that you think suits you and that you would be good at, make him aware of that. With any luck, he might be able to have you work with someone who might like to take on your Troop responsibilities and over time you can hand over more and more of these to the new guy. Very often when someone wants to spend less time working with the youth members, they take on something which has needed done for a very long time, but no one had the time to do it and by doing it life is better for everyone. (OK I''m think about Troop Quartermaster, but other positions are not hard to come up with.) Going back to the Venturing idea. I would warn you that working with older youth is at times far more frustrating than working in the Troop setting. They youth have a lot more going on outside of Scouting, their parents are not as involved as the parents of younger youth are. The Sea Scouts we have in the Ship have caviar wishes and a beer budget. - The activities they want to do are not cheap, but trying to find and have them participate in fund raising is hard, at times because they think it''s boring and at times because they are so busy. Maybe a Venture Patrol might be a better idea? Ea.

Lisa, A while back there was a thread about the shelve life of packs (Started by me!!) I don''t know why? But packs do seem too have times when for some reason, a group of people come together and do a really good job. Then it seems that things start to fall apart. I have to admit to feeling very smug, when I moved on from the Pack. The ACM couldn''t wait to take over and the Committee was hard working and "By the book". Tim, the new CM did a great job. The pack grew and was one of the best in the Council. Tim went on to start a Troop, with boys from the Pack (16 Webelos Scouts) Ed who had been his ACM, took over. About this time cracks started to appear in the Pack Committee. Committee Meetings became joint meetings of the adult leaders and the Committee, meetings became less frequent. Ed moved on to the Troop with his two boys. Mary who had three boys in the Pack replaced Ed, her best friend became ACM, her husband was a Den Leader. About this time the Committee became non-existent. No meetings, no real people doing real work for the Pack. Then sadly Mary and her husband had problems. He moved away. She started dating, her best friend wasn''t happy and they all quit!! Wearing my District Chairman hat. I met with the person who was named on the charter as the Pack Committee Chair. In fact we had a meeting with everyone who seemed to have an interest in the Pack. The Chair was very upset!! She said that she had been told that she would never have to do anything only have her name on the charter. Ed had got an old pal of his to act as COR for both the Pack and the Troop. While this guy was a member of the Church, I think he was one of Ed''s drinking pals more than anything else. The Parish Priest was sad to hear that the Pack wasn''t doing well!! But wasn''t going to do anything. Today there isn''t a Pack. As for a "A district-wide plan in place" Looking back. I see the big problem was that we (The District types!!) only ever looked at the number of youth members. We were blind to what was really going on in the pack. There was a real break down in communication between us and the CO. Kind of a "If it ain''t broke don''t fix it" mentality. Sadly the truth is that a District can only offer the people who are willing to do the work help, advise, training and a pat on the back. I tried sending Commissioners into units to step in until someone comes along and it just never worked. Of course a good UC can prevent and help things from going down hill at times. The big tool we have is the rechartering packet. If the steps that are listed are followed everyone should have a good idea about what is really happening. Still at the end of the day we can only help the units that are willing to help themselves. Ea.

Seeing a unit that once was a good unit fall apart is never nice. Units don''t come "Undone" over night. Maybe if the Unit Commissioner had made the District Commissioner aware of what was going down? The District Commissioner might have informed the District Committee (The Key 3?) and something might have been done to bring in the Membership Committee or a plan of action could have been put into place. Having served as District Commissioner I know that one thing I never had was a waiting list of adults on the side lines waiting for me to call them and offer them the opportunity to come onboard and serve as leaders. For a unit to survive, a group of people connected to either the unit or the CO have to want it to survive and be willing to do the work that is needed. The first thing to do must be to find out if there is such a group? Districts just don''t have the manpower to be able to provide leadership for every unit that is failing. In any case if the unit really is to survive it needs a firm foundation that really only ever comes from having a good relationship with a working CO (I''m talking very long term. -Sure an active group can get a unit up and running, but how many of the group will still be around in ten or twenty years?) Saving the unit might be as easy as gathering enough interested people to form a nominating committee and helping them follow the steps. A lot of times people who are willing to serve on such a committee are also willing to volunteer!! It might mean looking over old charters and contacting those who were at one time the movers and grovers!! Laying a "I''d hate to see everything you did in the past be for nothing" on them does sometimes work. But if there really is no group willing to step up and do what is needed? No matter how much the District or Council might not like it, the unit is going to fold. For a unit to stay alive people in the unit /Co have to want it to and have to take on the responsibility. Ea.

While OJ only turned 19 this past July, I really haven''t played an active role in his "Scouting Career" since he crossed over from the pack. He was on the Ship''s charter for a while but his heart was never really in it. In part due to him being so active in the OA. I spent about ten years serving on the District, Council and Area level. As District Commissioner and District Chairman most of the people I worked along side were people I selected or played a part in having selected. Most were about my age, but many had married young and their son''s were older than OJ, some only had girls!! The guys on the Area Committee were all a lot older than me and many were very successful business men. (Read wealthy!!) While I wouldn''t dare to judge others!! In my opinion -For what it''s worth!! The people who work the hardest in Scouting are Den Leaders!! Followed by people who serve at the Troop level. Some Commissioners do go above and beyond, while some can never be found. The people who served on the District Committee had specific jobs, some only needed to be around for a few months each year, while others were needed to serve year round. Attending meetings just to attend is a waste of time!! Many of the people who served on the Council Executive Board, seemed to have no knowledge of Scouting and only turned out for meetings every now and then. I think this was due to the Board being way too big and this was so in the hope that they would support the Council finances. The guys on the Area Committee, did know their stuff and many served as active members of Council Executive Boards. The meetings were held quarterly. I was unhappy that the meetings always seemed to be so far from home, but the truth is that many of the members traveled twice as far as I did. There are a number of ways of serving the BSA after your son is no longer active. I was glad when my term as District Chair. Was over (We have a 3 year term limit.) I enjoyed being District Commissioner, but still have a hard time eating chicken, which seemed to be on the menu for every B&G banquet!! I really enjoyed being the Council Training Chair. I held that position when all the then new training''s came along. Wood Badge Staff is a lot of fun, but does eat up a lot of time. The big danger is that if you are not careful you end up attending meetings nearly every night of the week and spending a lot of time out of the house. At one time Her Who Must Be Obeyed kept track and I was out Scouting 22 days in a month. Whatever you do, be very careful that you don''t end up over doing it!! Some people find that doing one thing and doing it well works best for them and for the Scouts. We had one female leader who did a great job with Day Camp, that''s all she did for about six years. HWMBO has been the chair for the Council Volunteer Recognition Dinner for a very long time (She missed last year.) That''s all she does and it seems that everyone is happy with what she does. You need to think about how much time you want to spend? Talk with your wife and try and have a meeting of the minds. At times when HWMBO was upset with me she would throw "They are not even your kids!" At me and it hurt!! Do you want to work in a program area? Or maybe help with finances or some sort of administrative post? Do what makes you happy!! There is lots of opportunities. Ea.

While OJ only turned 19 this past July, I really haven''t played an active role in his "Scouting Career" since he crossed over from the pack. He was on the Ship''s charter for a while but his heart was never really in it. In part due to him being so active in the OA. I spent about ten years serving on the District, Council and Area level. As District Commissioner and District Chairman most of the people I worked along side were people I selected or played a part in having selected. Most were about my age, but many had married young and their son''s were older than OJ, some only had girls!! The guys on the Area Committee were all a lot older than me and many were very successful business men. (Read wealthy!!) While I wouldn''t dare to judge others!! In my opinion -For what it''s worth!! The people who work the hardest in Scouting are Den Leaders!! Followed by people who serve at the Troop level. Some Commissioners do go above and beyond, while some can never be found. The people who served on the District Committee had specific jobs, some only needed to be around for a few months each year, while others were needed to serve year round. Attending meetings just to attend is a waste of time!! Many of the people who served on the Council Executive Board, seemed to have no knowledge of Scouting and only turned out for meetings every now and then. I think this was due to the Board being way too big and this was so in the hope that they would support the Council finances. The guys on the Area Committee, did know their stuff and many served as active members of Council Executive Boards. The meetings were held quarterly. I was unhappy that the meetings always seemed to be so far from home, but the truth is that many of the members traveled twice as far as I did. There are a number of ways of serving the BSA after your son is no longer active. I was glad when my term as District Chair. Was over (We have a 3 year term limit.) I enjoyed being District Commissioner, but still have a hard time eating chicken, which seemed to be on the menu for every B&G banquet!! I really enjoyed being the Council Training Chair. I held that position when all the then new training''s came along. Wood Badge Staff is a lot of fun, but does eat up a lot of time. The big danger is that if you are not careful you end up attending meetings nearly every night of the week and spending a lot of time out of the house. At one time Her Who Must Be Obeyed kept track and I was out Scouting 22 days in a month. Whatever you do, be very careful that you don''t end up over doing it!! Some people find that doing one thing and doing it well works best for them and for the Scouts. We had one female leader who did a great job with Day Camp, that''s all she did for about six years. HWMBO has been the chair for the Council Volunteer Recognition Dinner for a very long time (She missed last year.) That''s all she does and it seems that everyone is happy with what she does. You need to think about how much time you want to spend? Talk with your wife and try and have a meeting of the minds. At times when HWMBO was upset with me she would throw "They are not even your kids!" At me and it hurt!! Do you want to work in a program area? Or maybe help with finances or some sort of administrative post? Do what makes you happy!! There is lots of opportunities. Ea.

While OJ only turned 19 this past July, I really haven''t played an active role in his "Scouting Career" since he crossed over from the pack. He was on the Ship''s charter for a while but his heart was never really in it. In part due to him being so active in the OA. I spent about ten years serving on the District, Council and Area level. As District Commissioner and District Chairman most of the people I worked along side were people I selected or played a part in having selected. Most were about my age, but many had married young and their son''s were older than OJ, some only had girls!! The guys on the Area Committee were all a lot older than me and many were very successful business men. (Read wealthy!!) While I wouldn''t dare to judge others!! In my opinion -For what it''s worth!! The people who work the hardest in Scouting are Den Leaders!! Followed by people who serve at the Troop level. Some Commissioners do go above and beyond, while some can never be found. The people who served on the District Committee had specific jobs, some only needed to be around for a few months each year, while others were needed to serve year round. Attending meetings just to attend is a waste of time!! Many of the people who served on the Council Executive Board, seemed to have no knowledge of Scouting and only turned out for meetings every now and then. I think this was due to the Board being way too big and this was so in the hope that they would support the Council finances. The guys on the Area Committee, did know their stuff and many served as active members of Council Executive Boards. The meetings were held quarterly. I was unhappy that the meetings always seemed to be so far from home, but the truth is that many of the members traveled twice as far as I did. There are a number of ways of serving the BSA after your son is no longer active. I was glad when my term as District Chair. Was over (We have a 3 year term limit.) I enjoyed being District Commissioner, but still have a hard time eating chicken, which seemed to be on the menu for every B&G banquet!! I really enjoyed being the Council Training Chair. I held that position when all the then new training''s came along. Wood Badge Staff is a lot of fun, but does eat up a lot of time. The big danger is that if you are not careful you end up attending meetings nearly every night of the week and spending a lot of time out of the house. At one time Her Who Must Be Obeyed kept track and I was out Scouting 22 days in a month. Whatever you do, be very careful that you don''t end up over doing it!! Some people find that doing one thing and doing it well works best for them and for the Scouts. We had one female leader who did a great job with Day Camp, that''s all she did for about six years. HWMBO has been the chair for the Council Volunteer Recognition Dinner for a very long time (She missed last year.) That''s all she does and it seems that everyone is happy with what she does. You need to think about how much time you want to spend? Talk with your wife and try and have a meeting of the minds. At times when HWMBO was upset with me she would throw "They are not even your kids!" At me and it hurt!! Do you want to work in a program area? Or maybe help with finances or some sort of administrative post? Do what makes you happy!! There is lots of opportunities. Ea.

". Leave em at home and they'll love you all the more when you get back." This worked for years with Her Who Must Be Obeyed! He said as he ducked!! Ea.

Maybe it's a good idea to take a look at what the Guide to Safe Scouting has posted on the scouting.org web site? "The purpose of the Guide to Safe Scouting is to prepare adult leaders to conduct Scouting activities in a safe and prudent manner. The policies and guidelines have been established because of the real need to protect members from known hazards that have been identified through 90-plus years of experience. Limitations on certain activities should not be viewed as stumbling blocks; rather, policies and guidelines are best described as stepping-stones toward safe and enjoyable adventures. In situations not specifically covered in this guide, activity planners should evaluate the risk or potential risk of harm, and respond with action plans based on common sense, community standards, the Boy Scout motto, and safety policies and practices commonly prescribed for the activity by experienced providers and practitioners." It goes on to say: "Scouting $$$ Pay Liability Claims The BSA general liability program is not just insurance. In fact, insurance plays a very small part. Our greatest efforts are spent on safety and injury prevention. BSA self-funds the first million dollars of each liability claim. This means that almost all money spent on a liability claim is Scouting money, not insurance money. Accident and sickness insurance pays regardless of fault as long as the accident occurred during an official Scouting activity and the unit or council has purchased the coverage." Hope this helps! Eamonn.

I love dogs. I like to think that my dogs are well trained. Lord knows I spent enough money on training. If you come to my house, chances are that you will leave with some dog hair on your person. I however would never dream of taking them with me to a Scouting function. When I go away Joe is happy to stay home with HWMBO, Rory goes to the Pampered Pet Palace. $12.00 a night!! He was there in June, OJ booked him in, the nice kind person asked if we wanted him to have a bath? OJ said "Sure!" The bath cost $23.00!! I'm happy with a $6.00 haircut. Eamonn.