AlFansome

It's more complex than that. Just because a group is tax-exempt or non-profit doesn't mean that contributions to the group are tax-deductible. For example, my Kiwanis club is 501©(4) not 501©(3). Donations to it are NOT tax deductible by individuals (except perhaps as a business expense). Likewise, donations to the 5 units we sponsor are also generally not tax-deductible even though we are a non-profit group. We are in the process of creating a foundation and converting over to 501©(3). In addition, if a chartered org is hesitant to allow a unit to use it's EIN/TIN, then it's

Our Pack's website is primarily a vehicle to communicate to parents already in the Pack, and is used to help recruit and give background to prospective parents in May when we sign boys up for the following year. So, pretty much anything and everything that you need to communicate to parents is fair game. On our front page are always any upcoming (within a month or so) events or outings, along with any PDF files that may include sign-up forms, handouts, directions, announcements or whatever. Add to that info on recent past events (Pinewood winners, toy drive results, leader recogn

Our setup: ========== 6 lane track Perfect-N rotation among all boys in the Pack 53 boys racing this year Started racing at 9:40. Done with first round, finals and awards by 11:45. We used to do lane rotation on a per den level, but the big downside is as follows: If you have 6 tigers in a den and you have a six lane track, then a boy will race against the same boys 5 times in a row and pretty much know exactly where he's going to finish after the 1st or 2nd race. In addition, once a den is done, the boys can really lose interest fast unless you have a good MC or other t

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Most likely, BL gets the pics direct from Mom/Dad/Cubmaster once the story comes in. His pics isn't that far off compared to the pics in "The Electric Company" story... Bear hats with Tiger neckerchiefs with not a single patch anywhere on the shirt (no CSP, Unit #'s, etc..). It is what it is...many packs do the best they can with what they've got. I did notice this month that the drawings in the "Scouts in Action" section about lifesaving are now using Centennial uniform (green) shoulder loops for the Boy Scouts. That's new this month.

Two choices: - either walk away (as the Chartered Rep and CC seem to be doing) and let the troop be what it is going to be - or you're going to have to roll your sleeves up and get back involved on an active level as either the SM or CC or Committee Member at the least. If you're willing to do that (and have other adults on your side who are also willing to be on the Committee), then go to the Chartered Rep and get him to toss the SM (and the whole Committee if necessary) and replace them all. He and the head of the Chartered Org own the program and approve (and can replace) the vo

Taking what you say at face value and if it's as bad as you say, why hasn't the Committee Chair and/or the Chartered Rep removed the Scoutmaster (or started to consider doing so)? You haven't mentioned the Committee Chair in all of this. What is his/her position on the issue? You also say "due to the Scoutmaster shuffling committee positions and removing anyone who does not just fall into to his line ...". Well, the Scoutmaster doesn't have the power to do any of that. He is selected and appointed by the Committee Chair / Chartered Rep, not the other way around. If things ar

In particular, the soon-to-be out-of-date Insignia Guide makes pretty good distinctions between "Scouter" and "Boy Scout" throughout the section at http://www.scouting.org/media/insigniaguide/06F.aspx. For the Den Chief Service Award, only "Boy Scout" is listed.

Yeah...I noticed the off-center Summertime Pack Award, too. The reality is that the inspection sheets (and even the insignia guide) don't really address all the pin possibilities on a Cub's right pocket, which could include multiple Summertime Awards and Wolf Track pins (for subsequent earnings of the Outdoor Activity Award).

Capt. Sully and his family live on the other side of town. His wife has spoken at our Kiwanis club about her work with guide dogs for the blind. Once the dust all settles and life gets back to relatively normal, we'll hopefully have him speak as well. Of course, it goes without saying that he'll also get an invite to be in our 4th of July Parade, if he wishes. If I get any info, I'll pass it along.(This message has been edited by AlFansome)

Yeah, I guess "Centennial uniform shirt" isn't the official name of the "new" uniform shirt. The "official shirt" vs. "official uniform shirt" terms are used a couple of times, but of course don't make any sense (in good BSA style) since an "official uniform shirt" is by definition an "official shirt"! The intent is pretty clear in that they are distinguishing the old and new shirts, but the terminology is terrible. Regarding the unit numerals (and the commissioner arrowhead), I assume (perhaps naively) that they will be addressed in the Insignia Guide. (This message has

It's official ... the "Trained" strip goes on pocket flap. Here are the links: Boy Scout: http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/images/pdfs/34283.pdf Scout leader: http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/images/pdfs/34048.pdf Cub Scout: http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/images/pdfs/34282.pdf Webelos: http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/images/pdfs/34760.pdf Still no new Insignia Guide either orderable or online, and the Forms section on scouting.org hasn't been updated yet, either.

It really doesn't matter about the past...that's history and will just confuse the issue. Read the Eagle Scout Application at http://www.nesa.org/trail/58-728.pdf and it will be 100% crystal clear that Venturers can earn their Eagle rank. From that app: "AGE REQUIREMENT ELIGIBILITY. Merit badges, badges of rank, and Eagle Palms may be earned by a registered Boy Scout, Varsity Scout, or Venturer. He may earn these awards until his 18th birthday. Any Venturer who achieved the First Class rank as a Boy Scout in a troop or Varsity Scout in a team may continue working for the Star,

You have an interesting perspective on the recruitment/transition process. In the 4 years that I've been to Roundtables, Troop Nights, troop visits and have talked to Troop leaders, I can say that "patrol" is not something that I've heard at all in the context of recruiting and new scouts coming on board (other than maybe that the new scouts will be part of a NSP or somehow integrated into existing patrols). While I can clearly see that there are many troops that use the patrol method internally as a core part of their program, it seems that most/all troops in my area really don't emphas

stosh's last post just came through as I was typing mine... I agree with everything you said. Having an SM-only invite and sticking to it, doesn't seem to serve any good purpose. In my experience, the more the Cubs see and interact with the Boy Scouts, the better. Ideally, it's the SPL, PLs, older brothers or other scouts that would be handling the receiving of new scouts into the troop.

"Patrol", "Patrol method" and "adult-led" are not typically in the vocabulary of any Cub leader unless they are experienced Boy Scout leaders, or have read alot of non-Cub-specific materials, or have gone on Boy Scout leader training. In addition, from the Cubs and their families' perspectives, the boys are bridging/crossing-over from a Pack to a Troop, not from a Den to a Patrol. This crossover is the "graduation" from Cubs to Boy Scouts and any mention of a patrol/troop distinction would be lost on 99% of the parents and boys. At least with the troops we deal with, formally assignin

If you look at http://www.scouting.org/Media/InsigniaGuide/10D.aspx?print=1 it will list which service stars are available to be worn with which uniform. In particular, note that the 5 year star says "all members" instead of "Boy Scout, Venturer, or Scouter". That would mean that it's OK for Cub Scouts to wear. This is the closest I've ever seen to an "official" word on the 5th year star.

Sarge- Note that the Cub Scouter knot is not exclusively for den leaders. Any registered adult in the pack (Cubmaster, Committee Chair, Committee Member, Pack Trainer, Asst. CM, whatever...) can earn the Cub Scouter knot. From the requirements: "Complete two years as a registered adult leader in a Cub Scout pack." This means any registered adult leader in any position in the Pack.

In our Pack, we award service stars at the last Pack Meeting of the year along with new neckerchiefs and handbooks for the new Wolves, Bears and Webelos. We have a bridge the boys walk over and receive their items on the other side. We also do a 5-year service star for boys bridging out of Cub scouts, assuming they've been in since Tigers. The reason for this is that we do our recruiting and applications for new scouts in May/June right after kindergarten graduation. So, technically our scouts are scouts from May before 1st grade to February of 5th grade...4 years and 9 months...close

From http://www.scouting.org/Cubscouts/Awards/Boys/index.b.aspx: "Pack members who take part in all three events are eligible for the National Summertime Pack Award pin, to wear on the right pocket flap of their uniform." My addition ... if the boy already has the Outdoor Activity Award patch on the right pocket flap, then just pin the Summertime Pack Award through the Outdoor patch. My son has 2 Summertime Pack Awards plus 2 of the Wolf track pins pinned onto his right pocket. The Wolf track pins are earned for the 2nd, 3rd, ... earning of the Outdoor Activity Award.

Top left: piece 2 (rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise) Top middle: piece 8 (rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise) Top right: piece 5 (as is) Middle left: piece 7 (rotated 90 degrees clockwise) Middle right: piece 3 (rotated 90 degrees clockwise) Below that one (bottom right): piece 1 (as is) To the left/under that one: piece 6 (rotated 90 degrees clockwise) To the left of that one: piece 4 (rotated 90 degrees clockwise) Hope that makes sense!! Can't resist puzzles...was a member of Mensa!

Here's the info from scouting.org at http://www.scouting.org/BoyScouts/GuideforMeritBadgeCounselors/RankAdvanceFAQ.aspx Question: For the Star, Life, and Eagle Scout ranks, how is "Be active in your troop and patrol" defined? Answer: A Scout is considered to be active in his unit if: He is registered in his unit (registration fees are current). He has not been dismissed from his unit for disciplinary reasons. He is engaged by his unit leadership on a regular basis (Scoutmaster conference, informs the Scout of upcoming unit activities, through personal contact, and

GMitch- Thanks for the kind words... Real functioning CORs are few and far between in our area, apparently. When I asked my pack's UC (whose also the Council registrar) which meetings I should be attending as COR, she was taken aback since no CORs ever attend the Council board meetings (non-voting) or the annual meeting (voting). My issue (as always) is time. My son's pack is in a different district than my 5 units and there's no way I have enough time for 2 roundtables, a district committee meeting, and unit leader meetings in addition to all my pack stuff and that little thing

Actually, I'm CM for my son's Pack which is not one of the 5 units that I'm COR for. My primary registered position is as CM for my pack. My COR duties were something I picked up last year after seeing the amount of neglect our CO was exhibiting to our 5 units. 3 of the units are in fine shape with good leaders and strong programs. 1 is a troop that needs to "get with the program" as it were and the 5th unit is a Venturing crew that's small and not too active after a bunch of boys went off to college. Right now, I'm dotting the i's and crossing the t's on YP, training, leaders

I used them for my son's Cub badges that I knew were never going to be taken off of moved. For that, it works great....if the corners start to curl up or whatever, a few stitches and you're good. It's definitely not "permanent" but for little cubs who will outgrow their shirt relatively quickly, it's a good thing. Washing is no problem at all when I used it. At most, the corners started to come up and I'd go back and sew when necessary. It also works well to keep badges in place while sewing them on (especially those arrow points), if you happen to be anal like me about positioning.