AlFansome

I always use this link to get the latest posts (sorted with most recent activity on top):

http://www.scouter.com/forums/search.asp?action=today&sortby=lastpost&order=desc

Without the 'order' parameter, the posts are ordered in a less-than-useful way and it makes it hard to track things.

I've never seen a problem where there are new posts missing from the list, though.

If you put a single quote in the subject of your post, then it will get rejected by the software, since it doesn't handle single-quotes correctly. You'll get a SQL error from the database because of a syntax error, as I recall.

So, if you original subject was "1920's Eagle Scouts", then that single quote is what caused your problem.

This has been seen before but hasn't been fixed as of yet.

Yep...and National and our local Council can't even get their training records merged into one place. From our district training chair regarding training records: "The council has their own system and that system does not link with National's record system."

You'd think that (at the very least), if you enter your member id number in your profile for on-line training, that National and your local council would be able to get your on-line and in-person training records merged into one location and be able to print it out for you on request. Apparently not.

Nationally, all "top leaders" (i.e. Scoutmasters, Varsity Scout Coaches, Cubmasters, Venturing crew Advisors, and Sea Scout Skippers) will be required to be fully "trained" by the end of this year in order to be able to be in that position at recharter time for next year. For SM's, for example, "trained" means the usual online (Youth Protection, This is Scouting, Fast Start) plus Position Specific Training plus Intro to Outdoor Leader Skills.

All direct contact leaders (Den Leaders, Asst. Scoutmasters, Asst. Cubmasters, etc...) will need to be "trained" by the end of 2011 in order to recharter for the following year.

John-in-KC is most likely in one of the 20 "pilot" councils that are one year ahead of the National rollout.

For more info, check out http://www.scouting.org/Training/TrainingUpdates.aspx and in particular, some of the back issues under "Archives" and also the "FAQ to Pilot Councils" on the lower right.

Here in Northern California (Bay Area), we get the same treatment when rain comes. "Don't forget, the roads will be slippery", "Slow down when driving", "Bring your umbrellas", "Prepare for power outages" (if windy), blah blah blah. And there are always teases throughout the prime time hours and at the top of the newscast for the weather report that comes 15 minutes in.

Since it only rains here in any great amount from typically December through March, they also always send a guy up the interstate to the Sierra for the snow "report". He/she is always at Blue Canyon at about 5000 ft, which is the highest point that still has a direct line of sight back to the Bay Area for their mobile transmitters. What follows is the typical snowball fights, unprepared/clueless drivers, chain installers, and North Face jacket wearing correspondent pretending to freeze.

Like clockwork, every year, always the same.

(This message has been edited by AlFansome)

Technically, no, the COR does not wear the unit number. A couple of reasons:

- as stated above, the COR is a council scouter and council scouters don't wear unit numbers

- if a COR is the rep for multiple units (pack, troop, crew,..) with different numbers, which number does he/she wear? (I am in this position, with 5 units with 4 different numbers).

- if the COR is also the committee chair or a committee member, then wearing a shirt with either of those 2 position patches and blue/green/red loops is certainly appropriate.

That being said, if a COR is a rep for only one unit and wishes to wear non-silver loops and unit numbers, it would make total sense regardless of the technicalities.

"Some have argued that CORs are neither technically members of the district committee and do not wear silver shoulder loops."

Axeman's post at http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=265939&p=2 should be enough to put the issue to rest, since it clearly references a document that state that the COR is a member of the district committee and also references a document that states that the COR is a council scouter. Members of the district committee and council scouters wear silver loops. Therefore, the COR wears silver loops.

Latest update from Scouting Magazine's Facebook page as of an hour ago:

"Rumors that the BSA's historical merit badge program is being canceled are not true. Officials in charge of the program want to make sure all of the pieces and parts on the Web are ready before the rollout happens. Expected rollout is "any day now," we're told. We'll keep you posted."

OGE-

We had our council's Annual Meeting last night. Our Council President makes a point of recognizing the CORs in attendance near the top of the agenda and has us all stand up. Out of 540 units in our council, there were 8 or so CORs present. That's more than last year, btw.

Our typical council Annual Meeting consists of:

- each of the 10+ Council VPs prsenting 2 or 3 slides on the past year's accomplishments and next year's goals

- the Treasurer showing us the actuals from the previous year plus the budget for the coming year

- the incoming and outgoing presidents plus the SE saying the typical things you'd expect them to say

- the announcement of the Board for the coming year

- typical, legalese resolutions about conflict of interest, name of the corporation, etc...

There is no discussion, debate, or any real input from the floor. Just lots of head nodding. Any votes are the all-in-one-breath "motion-second-all-in-favor-AYE-opposed-(silence)-so-moved" type of thing.

Is this typical in your Council?

Now, mind you, our Council is a well run, Quality Council with no financial issues or general turmoil, so maybe a rubber stamp, feel good annual meeting is fine as most of the work is done in committee and by the staff.

"Additionally a COR wears the loops of his unit and not the silver council loops, he has a vote during council committee meetings but he is not a member he is a Representative of that units CO."

Nope.

COR is a council position and as such wears silver loops.

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Media/InsigniaGuide/10B.aspx

Selling cookies is a totally optional thing for GS Troops. In fact, the GSUSA website list other options and ideas for fundraising at http://www.girlscouts.org/program/gs_central/money_earning/

The money going to the GS Council is pretty typically spent in the same way as for BSA Councils. Property maintenance and upkeep, staff salaries, publications, computer/back-office stuff, insurance, etc... I don't know the income mix for a typical GSUSA council vs. a BSA one, but I would imaging that it's very possible that cookie sales are a higher percentage of revenue for GSUSA than popcorn is for BSA. For example, FOS is a much bigger source of income for BSA than the equivalent donation drive for GSUSA, since it's way more formal and "pushed" by the BSA all the way down to the unit level.

What you're experiencing is quite typical, unfortunately. Clearly, there are very involved COs and CORs, but very often, it's an on-paper-only type of deal where you need to seek out the COR to get a signature on a recharter or adult apps. Tonight, we have our Council's annual business meeting and I expect about 4 or 5 CORs will actually show up in addition to the usual cast of characters (the Council Board members and staff and some very involved Scouters).

I'm a chartered rep for 5 units (3 packs and 2 troops). Since I'm also a scouter at the unit and district level, I am probably more invovled in scouting than 90+% of the other CORs in my area. Given that, I'm probably also more involved as well. Obviously, with 5 units, there aren't enough evenings in the week to do all that's possible, but I attempt to sit in on Committee Meetings when I can, attend Blue and Gold dinners and Courts of Honor, and in general oversee things via e-mail when there are top-level leader changes in the units. Luckily, most of the units are doing just fine, although I have one new unit and one old unit that need some work.

The one thing that the Board of my Kiwanis Club (the CO) does want me to do is watch out for liability issues, so I make sure to pass along any new G2SS changes to my units (like helmets being required for all snow sport activities, for instance) and I've also mandated Tour Permits and am attempting to improve the training cultures of the units.

Other than that, I do not attempt to involve myself in day-to-day operations unless I see something running off the tracks in a really big way.

On the other side of the coin, you as a unit leader should try to engage your CO whenever possible if you wish to improve relations. An old thread with some tips can be found at http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=257086

Yep...GSUSA units get a MUCH smaller percentage than BSA units do.

This past year, my son's pack sold $20k of popcorn and kept 37% (plus the prizes).

My daughter's troop is selling cookies for $4 a box and keeps $0.60 per box plus prizes. If each girl sells on average 200+ boxes, it goes up to $0.63, for around a 16% commission.

Well, if he can find a Scoutmaster who will give him a blue card after the fact, and an MB counselor who will sign the blue card after the fact, then he gets the badge once it becomes available, IMHO.

Until then, not much you can do...

Who was the Scout's merit badge counselor and who signed his blue card letting him know that he could start work on the badge? Sounds like maybe the cart was put before the horse...

That being said, if the process was followed (even with the "unofficial" requirements being met) and the Scout did all the right things, I would think that awarding the badge when they eventually come out would be appropriate. (Assuming the requirements haven't changed from the "unofficial" ones that were floating around).

I find that using Google instead of the scouting.org 'Search' box is more effective at finding things on the National web site.

Go to Google and enter the following (for example):

belt loops site:scouting.org

...and you'll only get hits from scouting.org that match the search terms.

One addition about serving in multiple roles (unit, district, council) from http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Commissioners.aspx:

"Commissioners must not be registered simultaneously as unit leaders. Some commissioners may be registered on a unit committee because they have a son in the unit or because of previous personal history in the unit, but their principle Scouting obligation should be with commissioner responsibilities. Commissioners may be currently registered in only one commissioner position."

Now, the doesn't apply to members of the District Committee (unless they are a commissioner), and in spite of this, I would doubt that someone volunteering to be a commissioner while also serving as a unit leader would be turned away in most districts.

Here's another resource from our recent LEAD (i.e. PowWow) training...a bunch of good ideas to point you in the right direction.

http://www.bsa-mdsc.org/training/lead/handouts/CUB410.pdf

As a Chartered Org Rep, I should also add that BSA liability also covers the CO quite fully as well. From the typical (standard?) Charter Agreement between the Council and the CO, we have that the Council agrees to:

"Provide primary general liability insurance to cover

the chartered organization, its board, officers,

chartered organization representative, employees

and volunteers currently registered with Boy Scouts

of America. Coverage is provided with respect to

claims arising out of an official Scouting activity with

the exception that the coverage is excess over any

insurance which may be available to the volunteer

for loss arising from the ownership, maintenance, or

use of a motor vehicle or watercraft. This insurance

is only available while the vehicle or watercraft is in

the actual use of a Scouting unit and being used for

a Scouting purpose.

The insurance provided unregistered Scouting

volunteers through the BSA general liability

insurance program is excess over any other

insurance the volunteer might have to his or her

benefit, usually a homeowners, personal liability,

or auto liability policy."

Note the bit about "unregistered Scouting volunteers". My read is that if someone is volunteering at a Scouting outing or in service to the unit (especially if a member of the CO), then they're covered.

From a post by the owners of the offical Scouting Magazine page on Facebook as of an hour ago:

"We just spoke to the team leader in charge of the historical merit badges. The group is finalizing some requirements and will go live with the special Web site soon. They're planning to include scans from the original merit badge pamphlets with each historical merit badge. These scans will be annotated with explanatory call-out boxes to explain the early-20th-century terminology to modern-day Scouts."

So, as of now, it seems that any website that claims to have "official" requirements is mistaken.

Regarding trefoils and the BSA...

From the new Scout handbook, 12th edition, page 31:

"The Scout badge is shaped like the north point on an old compass. The design is also known as a trefoil (a flower with three leaves) or a fleur-di-lis (the French name for an iris flower). It is the basic shape of the badges worn by Scouts in other countries, too."

Never seen any BSA doc reference a trefoil before. Could this be an early indication that BSA and GS are merging? :-) :-)

From the Adult Leader Application at http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/28-501F.pdf:

"No one may register in more than one position in the same unit, except the chartered organization representative (who can multiple only as the committee chairman (CC) or a committee member (MC)) and the ScoutParent unit coordinator (who may multiple as chartered organization representative (CR), assistant den leader (DA), assistant Webelos den leader (WA), assistant Scoutmaster (SA), assistant Varsity Scout Coach (VA), mate (MT), and leader of the 11-year-old Scouts)."

As ScoutNut says correctly, however, there is a difference between "registered" and "serving as".

(This message has been edited by AlFansome)

The first place to look would be on the recharter paperwork and see what the Council database thinks. Upper right corner: "Tenure xxx months".

If a unit has been continually chartered by the same chartered org, it should go back the right amount. If there was a break or perhaps even a change of CO, then it may have reset.

Council merges and splits shouldn't change thing (you'd assume) unless unit numbers change and the unit was re-created under the new number. Even in that case, I'd hope that the tenure would reflect the correct amount of time.

For units as old as you're talking about, there may have been alot of factors that affect the time given.

Came across this today:

http://lasteaglescout.com/

It should provide some fodder for the forum....

As a 4.5 year Cub Leader (TDL, DL, CM x 2, and Pack Trainer) who's son just bridged to a troop last week and who's given alot of thought to what to do next, here are the things that I think are important to be a good SM:

- a generosity of spirit that allows you to commit a realistic amount of your time and energy to your troop, while still maintaining a balance at home.

- at least in my case, a realization of the growth and development that your own son is going through and a sense that the changes that are occuring in your relationship with him are similar to those that happen when you move from Cubs to Scouts (i.e. need to step back, allow more independence, less dictating, etc.)

- an ability not only to communicate very effectively, but also an incredible amount of patience, as LisaBob says.

- finally, the mindset that you don't know everything and that there is a great deal of learning that you as SM must do before you can be an effective mentor/guide for your SPL and PLC.

Cub leaders per se aren't any better or any worse that non-Cub leaders...it's more about who you are than what you've done. Some Cubbers have "it" and some never will.