Eamonn

The JLTC course is a Council course in our area.Two years ago we were unable to find a Scoutmaster and were very grateful to Greater Pittsburgh Council who made room for our guys on their course. Last year we managed to find a Scoutmaster and the course ran with 32 participants. In years gone by we have had two troops but found at times the competition between the troops got a little out of hand. Eamonn

As a Council we have a system that somehow is supposed to work. Or maybe it did work at sometime. We have four Districts, for the most part all the Units in our District start with #1. 101,102. ... And so on. Don't know how but we have a 378 a 474, and 472. The other Districts are #2,3, and 6??? New units are asked to pick a number in the 100's. Where possible I try and get them to fill in the blanks. At present we have a 101 ,102,104 and a 111. So unless there is reason we will try and make the next new unit 103. Not that it is any big deal. Eamonn

Hi No real big changes on this side of the pond. Every now and then one program or another gets a little update. How did the change from Venture Scouts to Explorers go? A friend of mine is the GSL of the 2nd Cuddingham, he said it was a little bumpy to start but seems to be working out fine. Looking over some of the new books that you have I am really taken with the idea of the Balanced Program (Programme.) What position do you serve in? I was Scout Leader for the 17th Fulham(Pioneers) for almost eleven years. From the reports I'm getting Scouting in London is taking a big hit. Great to hear from you. Eamonn

As a District I like to think that we spend a fair amount of time ensuring that we are meeting the needs of the units in the District. The Unit Commissioners have been asked to attend a unit meeting of some sort each month. It can be a committee meeting or a pack, Troop or Crew meeting. It has been made clear that attend doesn't mean phone or bump into one of the leaders at Wal-Mart. While there has been problems in the past with Commissioners who thought that they were part of some elite group or force. We have that under control. The Commissioner is first and foremost a friend to the unit. He or She is also the go between letting the District know what we might be doing wrong and also reporting the strengths and weaknesses of the unit. If there is a weak spot that the Commissioner can act on straight away, more power to him. The commissioners hold a monthly meeting where they report the health of the units. However if there is a big problem lurking on the horizon, they will contact their Assistant District Commissioner, who will deal with it or pass it on to the District Commissioner. He will deal with it and report it to the other members of the key3. We hold a District meeting every month. The District Commissioner gives a report on the health of every unit. We use a color code,green, yellow and red. Green means that everything is fine. Yellow means that the unit needs a little help and red means the unit has big problems. Of course none of this works if the Unit Commissioner hasn't attended a unit meeting or doesn't attend the Commissioner meeting. I have asked our District Commissioner to make sure that somehow, someway to get a report from every unit. For the most part this is working. We do have one Crew that seems to go MIA for a few months and then turn up. If you are in a unit that has not seen a warm bodied member of the Commissioner Staff for a while. Get on the phone and call the District Commissioner or your Assistant District Commissioner and tell him or her. This year our District has no dropped units and over 80% of the units are quality units. This is in part thanks to the Commissioner Staff. As a District we are going out of our way to get the chartering organizations involved and on board. We mail reminders of the District meeting to all the charter Reps. We mail minutes to the head of the Chartered Organization if the charter rep wasn't at the meeting. Still unit leaders come to me and say that their Chartering Organization is not doing anything for them. Of course my first question is "What are you doing for them?" We have a good number of units that are chartered by churches. I think that it is odd when I pick up a church newsletter and see not a mention about Scouting in it. How long would it take to write a few lines and have it included? I see the paper work on a lot of Eagle Scout projects, very few have anything to do with the chartered organization. While the packs in the District are doing a fair job working away on the Religious Awards.We see very few from the troops. We have units chartered by the Elks who have an Adult Leader Award, as yet not one has ever been awarded. The VFW have Wood Badge Scholarships and money available for Eagle Scouts to attend college, very few units are even telling their Scouts that it is there. We want to help and support all of our units. At times it might be that the district needs a kick in the pants. Eamonn

Thanks Alan Great to have Phil on board. Eamonn

I have just read over this thread and I'm sat sitting here wondering what would have happened in the District in which I serve? The $64,000.00 question is where was the Unit Commissioner? I expect to have a full report to the District Committee every month on the health of each and every unit. If there is no Unit Commissioner the buck gets past to the ADC Scouts or the District Commissioner. It seems that no matter what the SM was doing wrong the troop has grown under her leadership.However I would think that all this stuff didn't happen over night. I would have hoped that the DE would have met with the chartered Organization and maybe got wind of what was happening. The leaders in our district are not shy when it comes to picking up the phone and giving me a call. So far we have never had a situation like this one. If nothing else it shows what happens when there is a brake down in communications. Eamonn (Dude)

Hi Phil. Had a look at the web site. Things are looking good. Sad to say most of the troops on this side of the pond would need a lot more notice. We also have the National Jamboree coming up in 2005, so there are a lot of Scouts saving up for that. My one sister just moved to Chelmsford last year. She was going to a Elton John concert last year at what will be the site of the World Jamboree. If I am over at the time of the Essex Jamboree I will look in. It is nice to have another Brit in the Forum. It would be great to hear how all the changes are working out. Welcome to the forum. Eamonn

What happens when you use pasteurized eggs with a food grade wax covering? Eamonn I love the line "Butts are something that they can grasp"(This message has been edited by Eamonn)

TwoCubDad Hits on a lot of good points.Still I like this system and use it to fill positions that need filled on the District Committee. Believe me most of the people who serve on the nominating committee are well versed in the "How Too" of Scouts and Scouting. Like a good number of us I found myself not by choice having a unit leader position "Dumped in my lap." One minute I'm a happy Cub Scout parent chewing on a chicken leg the next minute I find out that the new Cubmaster is me. I can smile about it now. But I do feel that I was tricked into it. Then I went about building a pack committee. I had never heard of any plan and took it all on myself. We went through three Pack Committee Chairs in row years. I wasn't selecting anything all I was looking for was a behind that would fill the seat. There I was in a pack chartered by the only Roman Catholic Church in the area, a church with nearly 700 families that regularly attended mass. A church with its own school and parents association and while I knew a few families and had been active on the parent association, I never even looked at these groups. I was too busy trying to do it alone. As I grew wiser I asked the chairman of the Parent Association to sit on the selection committee. His knowledge of the capabilities of people in the parish who might want to help was far greater then mine.His sitting on the committee opened a door that had never really been opened the pack was now mentioned at their meetings. I like the idea that we take time to look at the Job Description of the position that we are trying to fill. How many adults quit when they find out that it does take more then an hour a week? The list that the selection committee generates is a useful tool for future use. Of course there are names on it that are of people that are busy doing other stuff and might not be suitable for the job that we are trying to fill but even these busy people can be approached to do a "One Time Only" job for the unit. When we don't use the system and don't involve the chartered organization in the selection process and we don't get the approval of the CO isn't this the start of alienating the Scout Unit from the CO? How are they supposed to interact with the unit leaders when they don't know anything about them? I also like the idea that three people arrive to inform the selected person about his selection. He or She knows that this isn't something that is off the cuff. It has been given a lot of thought. Eamonn

Not so long ago I was having a friendly chat with the fellow who is the Camp Commissioner at our Summer Camp. He said that he was shocked at the number of Scouts who use the bathroom and leave without washing their hands. This is at a camp with hot and cold running water. So I can only imagine how bad it is at camps that don't have running water in the bathrooms. He thought that the lack of hand washing was a factor in a lot of the upset stomachs, which campers were blaming on the camp food. I'm not sure if that is the case. It might be a good idea if a small bottle of antibacterial soap was added to the equipment list for personal use and a couple of bottles were in each patrol Cook box for the cook to use before food prep. Eamonn

Our Council operates two camp sites. One is very primitive and not used for long term camping. This site has only a couple of wells that provide drinking water. The toilets are all out houses. The other where we have our summer camp program has all new shower houses, with flush toilets and hot and cold running water. The hope is that one day soon we will up date the other site. The only thing needed is money. Eamonn

In our Council we give a patch and certificate along with a tie pin for the James E. West. This is for a donation of $1,000.00. You have to pay the money before you receive the award. Your name is added to a plaque that hangs in the Service center. The Heritage Society, if I remember right is for a gift of $2,500. This doesn't have to be donated all at one time and it can be in the form of stocks, bonds or an insurance policy. For this you get your name on another plaque and an invite to the annual Heritage Society Lunch. Eamonn

HI and Welcome to the Forum. From what you have posted it seems that the parents are keen and to have this Lad in the troop. There is no mention of what he wants. As he is only Second Class at the present looking forward to the requirements for Life and Eagle seem to be a bit premature. I'm not sure what you mean when you state that they want to check of the requirements. That isn't how the system works. Just because the parents of this Lad are pushing him is no reason for them to push you. I would hope that you would treat this Lad no differently then you do the other Scouts in your troop. You would do well to lay it on the line of how things work and inform the parents that is how it is. It could be that the troop has such an exciting program that the Lad never misses a troop meeting attends all the camp outs is elected as SPL and all these concerns fall by the wayside. Eamonn

It looks like a very comprehensive list. Some ideas you might want to consider: Supplemental Training's: Here you could look at courses that might be offered at your local Community College,First Aid, CPR,that sort of thing. Maybe look at what is going on at Philmont. Computer Software for your unit. Religious Awards. International Scouting at the unit level.(Jamboree on the air, Jamboree on the net.) Good Turn For America. I only recently found out that this is running till 2010. Selection of Quality Leadership. And last but not least How to be nice to the District Chairman!! Eamonn

Bob you are so right. Very often "We District types", only show up when things are not going well. We need to do more to catch people doing things right and let them know it. Eamonn

Absence must make the heart grow fonder I had two and a half stars before they went. Eamonn

Looking at the Fact Sheets on the UK Scout site the other day.I found a Recruiting Packet, very much alike to the Selecting Quality Leadership that the BSA has. Near the end of the fact sheet it said that they did a good job of recruiting but not so good a job of retaining adults. I don't know about other parts of the country but I tend to think that in the District that I'm in we don't do a great job of selecting or retaining. It seems that the Units that get it -get it, and that the units that don't seem to struggle for a very long time. Many of the new units that start have a long and bumpy ride. Sometimes we luck out and a white Knight comes along and saves the day or much as it pains me to say the unit falls by the wayside. There hasn't been very many new troops started over the past few years. In fact the new troop on the block is six years old and due to the untimely death of the Scoutmaster, did have a rough time. Thankfully there was a ASM who also had a son in the troop who stepped up to take the SM position. He is the new kid, all of the other troops have SM's that have been around for very much longer. In the past ten years we have only lost one troop. Our problem seems to be with the Cub Scout packs. We seem to get a lot of interest from the parents when their son signs up for the pack. But we don't seem to move fast enough. We end up with Cub Scouter's that are wearing too many hats, and this really hurts the program when they move on. Or we have dens the size of small packs. Yes, I have seen Dens with as many as 18 in the Den. Everyone seems to be aware that this is not the way it ought to be and I hear all sorts of excuses and reasons. At times I think that there must be a big black hole. Every year we see about 80 new Cub Leaders at training's and then we never see them again. I have been on the District Commissioners back to get him to stress the Leadership Inventory with his staff. So we know ahead of time where the problem areas are going to be. The Round Table Commissioners are doing a better job of making the new faces at the Round Table Meetings feel more welcome. We are not taking unit leaders away from the unit to serve on the District Committee. But still we seem to lose a lot of adults. Is this going on in your area? What plans do you have to retain new people? Eamonn

To OGE Okey Dokey. From You Know Who ... Dan Wear a red rose and carry a copy of the London Times

Wondering if the Scouter's in the District seen me at Wally World trying on female shoes would think that I was a cool Dude? Just Joking. I did march in our local Halloween Parade a few years back wearing a tutu in order to win $100.00 for the FOS. Eamonn

In another thread I posted about 30 day goals. I'm not sure if it is nation wide, but in my neck of the woods if you don't want to get something done you form a subcommittee. One thing that I learned while serving as a District Commissioner, was that if you don't set goals and make people accountable for meeting them - Nothing gets done. You would never believe how long it took me to work that out. Month after month I would get reports that such and such a unit was a Red Unit, having such and such a problem and there was no action. Nothing was being done to fix the problem. Just the Commissioner informing me that they still had the problem. I agree that a Search Committee that drags its feet is not going to be very effective. Depending on the position or positions that need to be filled I would set dead lines. If we were looking for a couple of people to strengthen the troop committee maybe the 30 day goal would be OK. If it was a unit leader and the pack troop or crew was going to be without a leader I would think that 7 days would maybe be too long. Eamonn

As you can see Mrs. Smith, Some of the forum is 100% for these bylaws, while there are others, me included that don't think that they are needed. Last time this was discussed there were all sorts of scenarios put forward, some real and some imaginary. Some of the exchanges of ideas got hot and heavy and at the end of the day everyone seemed to be where they started. In the District that I'm in there are troops that have Bylaws, Guide books call them what you like. These troops seem to just fine. We also have troops that don't have them and they seem to do just fine. I am not in favor of them as I think that we deal with each situation as is needed and each Scout as an individual. I don't feel the need of a book of rules to back up my leadership. But that is just me. I hope that when a Scout is not behaving in a Scout like manner I can remind him of the Oath and Law that he has promised on his honor to uphold.Better yet is to have him remind me. Many troops have rules to do with the property of the chartered organization, some of these have come down from the chartered organization and need to be known. You might be able to search the net and find troop sites where they have their troop bylaws listed. As far as I know the BSA does not have such a list. There is the Guide To Safe Scouting and other BSA publications that offer guide lines and there are BSA policies that have to be followed. As for the Popcorn scenario. If you feel that none of the other Scout Laws fit try Obedient.

Next week the NRA is holding its conference in Pittsburgh. While I am not a member and don't own a gun. I have in the past been invited to a couple of NRA dinners mainly to have them present a check to the Council. Over the years they have donated enough money for the rebuilding of the Scout Rifle Range at our Summer Camp site and the building of a Range at the Cub Scout Camp. In all they have donated about $10K. These NRA members really do want to further the idea of shooting sports and I really like to meet an organization that will put its money where its mouth is. I'm not sure but I think they also help out with the cost of running the rifle range each year. Eamonn

As you can see by the postings of the Cantankerous Overweight Gent rules can get in the way when you have a bylaw for everything. Once you start where does it end? "No elephants to be taken into the meeting hall" Of course if there are going to be hard and fast bylaws I suppose that there ought to be hard and fast penalties. I for one have never seen my role in Scouting as being the person who is in charge of punishment. As for the examples that the Cantankerous Gent has offered it might be a good idea to ask the Scouts in your troop which Scout Law they think covers the example. Eamonn

Back home we had a Patrol Of The Month. Points were given for attendance, proper uniforming and inter-patrol games. It worked well Patrol that won got to wear a gold necker for the next month and had name added to a plaque if they won the most months in a year. Scouts seemed to like it a lot. Draw back, if you can call it a draw back was that standards had to set and consistency had to be maintained. PLC did at one time discuss taking points away for un Scout like behavior. I explained that wasn't the way things worked that we work on becoming better not chastise for being not so good. Depending on how competitive your patrol leaders are, it can at times get a little more competitive then I would have liked. Of course once you start it you have to keep it up. We went through a lot of discussions at the PLC and made changes as they saw were needed. Eamonn

If you do a search looking back over Troop Rules and Bylaws,you will find that there are some forum members who are very much in favor of Troop Rules and Bylaws. Then there are those who like me feel that the Scout Oath and Scout Law cover everything that is needed to be a good Scout. It goes without saying that each group feels that the other group is wrong. If you look at the Mission Statement of the BSA, it states that we are about helping youth make ethical choices. This to my mind is not the same as following a whole bunch of rules that once laid down can only keep growing. Eamonn