eghiglie

Having sibs, older, younger, girl or boy is unavoidable in cubs. The program is for families.

So long as the sibs have activities to keep them busy then it should be OK.

It would be an extra burden to require babysitting for them.

In the Den's I've led, we even had the sibs participate in the activities but any additional expense was borne by the family.

I've read the pubs also and there are no min hour rules

That said the Asst DAC I know requires a boy to invest at least 100 hours of time

These rules are just to hold kids back.

True story for me:

When I was in high school I was paid by the school to water the baseball field 2 days a week during my senior year. This consisted of going to the field, turning on the sprinkler and waiting 45 minutes. This occurred six days a week, 3 people a year. The hard part was making sure that all the heads went back in the ground. BTW, I was a hockey player.

The school knew I needed money for college as did the others.

I guess a scout could count time watering plants as hours.

My troop is only 2 yo, and our first trip in Sept 07 had a very similar problem.

We had the group site with the covered pavilion, having paid more for it. When we arrived another troop had squatted there claiming 'they did not know'. We camped right in the same spot on the other side of the pavilion. The next morning the SM from the other troop complained about us to the ranger. After the ranger looked at the paperwork he wanted them leave the park for violating rules.

I told the ranger that the punishment was more than the crime deserved and that they were now my guests. The other troop was flabbergasted that we would do something so nice. The other troop thanked us by making and sharing dinner with us.

On Sunday check out the Ranger credited our fee back to us. It wasn't a lot of money but it did boost our spirits.

From then on though we send an advance guy who can take off earlier on Friday, this has solved problems twice since then.

Every year I look at the budget for the city and county I live in and see that they do the best they can. They tend to spend right on budget with very little pork. The County Chairman is a member of the BSA board and is a great person.

The state budget could use some trimming on many things but they also do a decent job.

In the state I live in we decided on term limits for the legislature to match the governors limit. Since then the budget has been late every year and full of pork.

One state senator came to visit our troop meeting and explained that term limits are actually bad. It takes 3 years to really learn the job, and they can only improve the skills for 5 years.

So lobbyists and professional staffers move in and write the bills.

In my troop we teach the usage of all kinds of knives. Most boys wind up buying inexpensive non locking knives with a 3 inch or so blade. The local flea market sells these for about $8. The G2SS is confusing and lacking in detail (my opinion). It would be great if it talked about the use of quality blades that held an edge longer instead of making blanket statements.

I carry a victorinox rucksack with a 4 inch locking blade. I've gotten cut a few times whittlin. However, my preference is for a 4 inch sheath knife. As they are easier to clean and lighter.

Our patrol box has a number of long knives for kitchen use, none of them fold.

Now the funny part, our local council camp does not allow sheath knifes for anyone.

bacchus

My spelling, even with a spell checker, makes me chuckle.

Thanks!

My son will be allowed to get a DL with or without eagle.

He is not getting a car till he grads HS, more because he must focus on school than a job to support a car. He will be allowed to use the family cars with a lot of rules.

We pay him for good grades, he gets 4 report cards a year, All A's is worth $150, A and B's is worth $100. Passing the state promotion test every year is worth $100. Last year he got about $600 from me.

In my state these suspensions occurs on a regular basis.

My son's school is overcrowded.

Fishing is a popular past time here and most tackle boxes have a knife. A girl on a drill team got suspended for the fake drill rifle she forgot in her car

This is not right, but the school officials are only reacting to what may happen and they want to avoid liability. The argument in my kids school is 'what if another kid got a hold of the knife'. Every time the school board gets sued our taxes get raised to pay the lawyers.

A few years ago a kid was killed by cops because he pointed a BB gun at them. Go figure what they were thinking. The cop was told it was just a BB gun by the way.

In talking to one of the school chiefs he told me about the incredible pressure that a majority of parents put them under for lots of things. State law doesn't protect the school admins.

Bottom line, if a student is aware that a knife on school grounds was not allowed they should follow the rules.

I wonder what Washington, Jay, Adams, Jefferson and Franklin would think of this

to me an arbitrary rule is one that is implemented and enforced on a whim

We have rules about water bottles, sticks, candy and cell phones which we have to regularly remind the kids about. The kids bring their own tents so if they damage it its on them

The other regular rule I had is that Sat Breakfast and Sat Dinner must be hot. However the last three camporees in a row give us 1 hour or less for breakfast. Someone likes to have 7AM opening ceremonies, so we removed that hot Sat Breakfast rule for those events. This had impacts but no big deal

I recall those bear days fondly

Start with Ivory soap, sharp pen knife and make a simple boat or canoe

After the 1st one of soap, do a balsa wood wagon wheel, its a simple template that you can make

Buy some 1/2 pvc pipe couplers, not the slip variety but ones with threads.

Then hot glue the wagon wheel to the pipe coupler to make a necker slide

capella

Sorry to hear you are in such a predicament

Our council has made this very easy for all the units, we simply are not allowed to ask about God or Religion during a SMC or BoR and if accidentally hear a religious comment we shall not base any advancement decision on such comments. They are gracious enough to let us stop bickering based on religion though. If the local council has to step to allow a boy to advance over a religious issue the scout will win PERIOD.

Just the other day, I was talking to a boy, Star Scout, who is very close to Life, he had no idea where to do an Eagle project. I suggested his Church, but not until the day he makes Life Scout. His answer was 'I find it hard to believe in God, because a good God would not invent confusing services where all you do is sit, stand or kneel. So I stopped going to church. My parents don't either'

I then suggested he approach his school........

I wish us all the best of luck with this issue

packsaddle

The Eagle age came up today. I was talking with a work colleague about my son who is 14 yo 3 mo will be going for his EBOR in two weeks or so.

She told me it was illegal to make Eagle before 16 yo as it was a National rule. Of course I laughed at her and asked her to show me the rule.

Her troop by laws have the written rule and she believes it comes from National. In her Troop she states that a boy is not allowed to do an Eagle project till all the MB's are done, again a National rule.

For me that is still a mystery. The LNT Trainer course I've taken was 2 days long.

None of the kids in the Troop I'm with have little interest in a course that long.

For most rope we use dental floss

For rope 3/4 or 1 inch we use kitchen string that has been waxed by running over a candle

For the actual whipping we use sailmakers whipping. This weaves into the ends of the rope and lasts a long time

I heard a statement from DC that the great rescission is over, sadly this is a depression and recovery will take a while

In the city I live in, many of the subdivisions platted in 2006/2007 now have less than 50% occupancy.

We are also enjoying cleaner air because many people have left the state.

deanr

I have a thick skin for most of the stuff directed to me or I overhear, except on uniforms

For the past year when someone points out a uniform issue I kindly ask them to show me there official BSA Uniform Police Badge.

The only thing on the uniform that not allowed is a bobwhite patrol patch given to me at woodbadge.

From what I see its a myth to do it in 12 months or less. 18 to 20 months seems to be the norm

I had one boy who did it in six months, he was 12 when he joined and hunts and camps with his dad a lot. He already knew cooking and first aid, he learned the knots and lashing real quick. From the first camp out he can always repack his tent into that tiny bag the fastest. When he was patrol cook his menu had the fastest meals and he used the least amount of gear that needed to be clean. Literally one pot and one spoon. He even taught the adults a few things.

Right now he is Life scout and working the badges.

Yes people have gotten less nicer to each other and people are not as united to each other any more.

Most likely many reasons for it.

cubpilot and jblake47

Your very lucky, in our locale all the packs seem follow the myth of cross over only at B&G.

Your also luck to have feeder packs!

the patch has the cat # 18185 on the back, but so far its not on scoutstuff

This is a POR patch, Leave No Trace Trainer is in Green letters surrounding a center graphic of 3 pine type trees with purple mountains, birds and fish jumping from a stream along with a white fleur d lise

I'm in the OA and its a good organization

Like all organizations that are volunteer run it has its up and down and levels of quality can differ.

In our Troop if you have met the requirements you are eligible at election time. I have seen the kids who deserve it not get in though.

I also have seen a few OA boys think they are better than others because they are in the Honor Society and so and so isn't. I ignore them as best as I can, but I imagine that they can ruin things for everyone else or send a wrong message.

hendrickms24

Good point

What does Eagle material mean? I imagine that of the 2 million Eagles there are a number that are troublesome. There was one at Camp Shands over the summer that got his Eagle revoked.

Likewise there are a ton of Life Scouts that age out and become valuable members of society.

Dad should not dangle a car to a kid just because of a badge.

If the disruptions impact the troop you do have the position to not recharter him. Its a tough action to take, but like a drivers license, being a member of an organization is a privilege not a right.

Does the kid have any interests that the Troop can leverage?

Good luck with this one.

When I started the troop in 2007 I was told by Council that I should have a FYE to get boys to FC in 11 to 13 months because advancement was a priority.

We did plan it, because Council 'said so'. Reality was different, boys would miss meetings, forgot to get things signed, forget what they were taught when they went to get tested or left the book home. Quite a few would do it wrong and want it signed off anyway.

Most boys stay in a rank for six months (give or take) so we decided to abandon the plan because it was a lot of effort.

Every other month the PLC plans an early rank theme. Like first aid for the month. The other months are merit badge themes. Works much better for us.