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ElyriaLeader

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Posts posted by ElyriaLeader

  1. A technique I learned in the military for positioning insignia, use double sided tape placed in a couple of strategic locations to hold the patch in place while sewing, then just before closing out the edge, use tweezers, or needle nose pliers to remove the tape from under the patch. Finish sewing. Works great, no mess.

  2. our UOS had some youth from a crew do a class on "venturing from the youth perspective" that was enlightening. another class that was offered was "Venturing awards & recognitions" unfortunately both classes were at the same time so I didn't go to that one, but a couple of the other venturing leaders that did said it was really good.

  3. Did they attend the pack meetings or any outings, where they in contact with the den via phone / e-mail / in person, or did they cease to exist during those months? I had a similar problem with some webelos when I was in the pack, I felt that if they were doing their best, completing all the projects that all the others did and attending what meetings they could and staying in contact with me,then I had no problems and I had some hardcore sport players baseball,soccer,basketball,hockey,football, sports camps...you name it they were at it, but they made the effort to stay connected to the den, so in summary-if they're just disappearing completely those months and are not in contact at all then no AOL, but if they are turning in stuff and making an effort...then they earned it.

    I will now relenquish the soapbox to the next speaker.

  4. Ignorance of the correct way to do things is still not the answer...it is our responsibility as leaders to know what we can, and cannot do with the scouts. As far as smaller groups leading to higher quality instruction, you are absolutely right that you should have smaller groups with shooting sports, our council camp limits the number of attendees to the camp each week, but runs more than one camp week. (oh, and day camp attendees have a parent/guardian with them, it's not a drop off/pick up thing) So the maximum a range officer and his/her helpers will face during a shooting session is 25-30 kids (with attendant parents), 4 sessions a day, and we shoot from under a fly so the kids aren't getting baked. At council events there are 1-2 range officers who arrange the cubs into groups, and do all the safety instruction before the boys get to the firing line (being run by the head range officer), again small groups getting quality instruction, after 1 or 2 events or camp sessions the cubs all know who the range officers are, and great them as such (hi archery Dave, BB Bob...). all of the things you said were good (and they are!) but still being done in the correct manner. If you have 300 kids being rushed through, then perhaps there is a problem with the way the program is being run. but I digress, my point was that ignorance of the rules (just like the law!) is not a valid excuse, nor is the good 'ole boy... wink,wink,nudge,nudge network where you have people in charge allowing activities to go on that are in contradiction to published guidelines.

  5. Wow, Basement....so glad that the packs in your area are teaching the scouts to completely disregard the rules put in place for everyones safety right from the start! oh yeah...and with the knowledge of the DE...nothing like starting them out young....and then wondering why they won't listen to us later on.

  6. My wife questioned me one time..." I thought it was supposed to be just one hour a week " she said, to which I replied deadpan "it is....one hour a week per registered youth in the unit....for each unit our kids are in....so that's what?...52 hours per week...no biggie right?"

    She left the room with "that look" on her face. ;)(This message has been edited by ElyriaLeader)

  7. Lisabob, You said you were told "point-blank that telling these adults they could not attend was out of the question"...by who?

    If it's the SM then what is his reasoning for this? if it's someone else...by what authority are they making this statement? have the VP boys brought up their concerns/wishes to the VP advisor as a group? this would seem to be a good starting point to try and sort this out.

  8. Lisabob, maybe I'm running a little thick this morning but....why do all these parents want to go with the VP? If it's for supervision of the patrol then I would suggest the adults and the patrol arrange certain meeting places/times along the trek where the patrol can "check in" with the heliparents. If it's because the parents just want to go on the trek then fine.....they can go as an adult gaggle....and are not permitted to get within 100 yards of the VP at any time. I HOPE that the scoutmaster is not actually going to allow the adults to dictate any of this to your VP.

  9. "the parents voted to keep all the boys together" WOW.... so much for the boys signing up with the troop of THEIR choice, did the parents ask the boys which troops they wanted to go to? Who knows...maybe you'll get a couple of them later on when the shine of the MEGA troop dulls a bit.

  10. Eagle92, thats not scripted in my book, but well planned, that's the kinds of things we did with the troops...with the boy scouts doing the teaching, it was good for the boy scouts to teach and fun for the webelos to learn, while this was going on the parents who attended were talking to the scoutmaster/asst sm about what they wanted to know about. The scripted show I'm talking about was rehearsed speeches, a ceremony welcoming the webelos to the campout, hearing some asst sm's talking to boy scouts "I don't care if you don't like these kids, just do what we told you to" (I actually heard this myself!), mostly a bunch of pomp and puffery,SM talked TO the parents, played some good dodgeball with some of the answers. To a one, none of the boys wanted to go on another outing with this troop (the only one they didn't), so no...your outing has all the makings of a wonderful way to introduce your troop to the prospective webelos dens..congratulations on a job well done!

  11. I still like the carbon - fiber car that was entered last year....dad swore up and down that his son made it!, no one wanted to believe him, but the son was able to explain the layup process and the dad did say that he had made the mold the son used to do the layup in,interesting...led us to add the rule that you must use the BSA supplied kit parts.

  12. Gunny.. I hear you about the scripted show for the Webelos, that's why I talked to the scoutmasters beforehand when making the arrangements for the outing...."be yourselves" was the rules we lived by, both the troops and Webelos did this and it turned out great. After going on SEVERAL outings with EACH troop, I happily bridged my boys to ALL the troops that we partipated with (big B&G!!)

    but I think we'll be less likely to lose any.

  13. I don't see a problem with the boys crossing over in Feb., if the Webelos II leader was doing things right, they should have already been on at least a couple camp outs, and other joint activities with whatever troops the boys are looking at crossing to since they were Web. I's. So the gaining SM's should already know the boys and where they stand maturity wise. It's only when the Packs/Troops wait until the boys are Web. II's before getting together that you get this "shock factor" about camping with the troop. By the time they are ready for AOL they should know what troop they want to go to and have gone on outings with them, know the troop leadership, interacted with the boys that they will end up in a patrol with. Instead of trying to cram all the Web. den/troop activities into the last few months start working things when they become Web. I's, it makes for a smoother transition, and guess what....No surprises!(This message has been edited by ElyriaLeader)

  14. If the boys in both dens don't have any problems with each other, and it's just a parental problem, then there isn't a big problem. It's all about recognizing the boys for their acheivements, as such it should be one ceremony with the pack, and if the offending parents cannot be civil, and show the proper scout spirit for the evening, then ask them to drop off the boys at this time, and pick them up at this time, the parents are not welcome under any circumstances if they continue to be so petty that they cannot let the boys feel appreciated by their peers on their night of glory! Sometimes it makes you want that 2 x 4 for a "goal alignment conference" with the parents.

  15. A couple things are missing from the original post, the boys age, his grade. Is this pack outing going to be prior to the B&G? Is the mother a registered leader "that is going to make some other Webelos hike with her son" that statement gives me a really bad taste in my mouth. Here's the litmus test -

    The scout must be active in the den for 6 months since completing the 4th grade OR, The scout must be active in the den for 6 months after his 10th birthday, if he does not meet one OR the other of these requirements then no matter what other requirements he has accomplished he is NOT eligable, end of story.

  16. Wow..I can't believe everyone forgot the little metal medallions that you attach to your walking stick, you need the Cub scout emblem, Webelos Emblem, and don't forget to have a unique one for the camp in stock, I know a good number of scouts that take pride in having as many of these attached to their walking stick as possible.

  17. Perhaps, seeing that the poster mentioned that these were an older, retired couple that they are still using the eagle application from prior to 2000 (which I believe did not have the provisions for a venturer) and this is why I'm pretty sure (haven't seen one in a while) the new ones have a statement that says something like "forms prior to 2000 are obsolete" or "do not use forms dated prior to 2000"

    or something along those lines.

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