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"They have asked me, since I am the experienced Scouter, to set up the necessary training (NLE and Youth Protection) and they are going to get as many club members as possible to take these." There is more to the 'necessary training' for Venturing then just NLE & YPT. They need to go thru Venturing Leader Specific Training AND there is a Venturing-specific YPT. Once they have done Venturing Fast Start, NLE, and Venturing Specific, they have complete Basic Training for Venturing Leaders.

In most countries the uniform (or atleast the colors) is different for each program: Cub, Boy, Senior, Rover, adult (or whatever these levels are called). And if you have Sea &/or Air scouts, they have different uniforms/colors as well.

"He mentioned something called a "brush" that one could get for a hat. He described it as a feather of different colors representing different positions or ranks. Its been a couple months, but I think he said scouts in other countries use, or have used these. Has anyone heard of this? I have done some web searches and cannot find anything. Maybe I am using incorrect terminology, but I would like to find them." The plumes indicated what program you were in (Cub, Boy, Senior) and if you were the primary leader, secondary, group, etc. They are pretty much only worn by adults. I believe

"Keep in mind that all parts of the uniform, except the patches, can be gotten from other sources. You can get similar shirts, pants, etc. And it would be in keeping with B-P's original intent that the uniform be affordable and utilitarian. " Actually, not so. The BSA uniform parts are unique. its not just the colors they use, but how the clothing items are designed. While there are clothing items similiar, they are NOT a total match, and would be quite obvious as not being official. I have never seen any clothing items, in Wal-Mart or else where, that would be a perfect m

"I was wondering more on how does the organization and the way an Explorer Post is run differ from the way a Venturing Crew is run and is organized? I know how a Venturing Crew works but have no idea on the structure and the way an Explorer Post is run. " In terms of organization, there is NO difference between the two. Venturing really copied the then existing Exploring material in this regards. Literally. Keep in mind that the Venturing program was taken from the non-vocational units of the pre-1998 Exploring program. The difference between the two programs is NOT in how t

As others have pointed out, Exploring still exists under Learning for Life. As such, Exploring is not part of the BSA. The BSA 'owns' Learning for Life, but keeps the 2 programs separate. The only real similiarity between Venturing and Exploring is they focus on the same age group: 14-21 youth (boys and girls). The differences is that Exploring is a career orientation program (examples are Law Enforcement, Law, Fire, Engineering, Aviation, Health, etc), while Venturing is avocation based (Outdoor, religious Life, Sports, Arts & Hobbies, Sea Scouting). As noted, Venturing is NO

Not only are there cards, but there are large certificates for all the awards. You can get ALL the numbers from the National site here: http://www.scouting.org/venturing/support/resources/index.html But here are the numbers also: Bronze Award Certificate 33666 Bronze Award Pocket Card 33649 Also: Gold Award Certificate 33665 Gold Award Pocket Card 33648 Silver Award Certificate 33664 Silver Award Pocket Card 33647 Ranger Award Certificate 33663 Ranger Award Pocket Card 33646 Quest Award Certificate, No. 33651 Quest Award Pocket Ca

"We played jeopardy too. Only problem was that several of the answers for the cub scout questions were wrong. For example one about the beltloops hadn't been updated to include the newer loops, but Wb staff (not recent cub leaders) wouldn't believe that this was the case! Actually we had some fun with this, "awarded" the new beltloops to them as "dangles" for their patrol flag in a little ceremony on the second weekend. " Same thing with my course, SORT OF. The problem is/was the syllabus has the old/wrong answers in it, and our course director wanted us to stick with those answers and w

I was first exposed to the "Win All You Can" game in the OA's National Leadership Seminar (WB picked it up from NLS). I found when I staffed WB, they seemed to present it a little different from what I had recalled from NLS. When I brought this up amoung the staff, the answer I got was "that's what we were told to do at WB CDC", so I dropped it. This bothered me later on, as I think most of the participants 'got it' at NLS, but there seemed to have been some confuse at WB. Not having access to an NLS syllabus, I have no way of knowing which was right.

Well, I can give you some of the events done at our Section Conference's Quest: 2004 events: Group Hug (get as many people as possible on a 3 ft square) Sand Ski Race Smoothie Delight (spin wheel to findout what 2 items will go in your smoothie) Mortar Madness (laugh items with slingshoot, must be caught by others) Labyrinth (blindfolded members with titled maze, another member gives verbal instructions) Gatorwalk Shake Rattle Roll Nerdling (4 members run course holding a 8 foot pole between legs) 2005 events Leaky bucket (fill bucket which has holes in it) Gro

My dentist is an Eagle Scout. Somehow scouting came up, and when he found out I was involved in the program, pulled me into his office to show me a large shadow box (I want to say it was about 3 foot x 3 foot) that contained his boy scout shirt, explorer shirt (one was inside the other), his merit badge sash, (OA sash I think), and medals. Shirts were folded to fit in, but the main part of the shirts were visible.

"The National Scout Museum used to sell (It is not listed there now.) a documentary, "Scouts, Rise of the Scouting Movement" on VHS." This documentary was created over in Europe, hence most (if not all) of the clips are on B-P and european scouting. Great video. Wish it was out on DVD. Also wish the BSA would do a really great video (maybe for 2010?). Guess we'll have to see what pops up in 07.

First off, please use the correct terms. "Venture" and "Venturing" refer to separate BSA programs. We are discussing the Venturing program here, which have Venturing Crews. Please don't use the term 'venture' to refer to them. As others have pointed out, Firefighting (and search and rescue) are typically seen as careers, hence most units focused on firefighting and SAR are under LFL/Exploring. There ARE some SAR Venturing Crews, and I guess there could be fire service Venturing crews in rural areas. the only problem for such crews is all the program stuff is over with LFL. See t

All- An update on my comments about 2007/2008 after learning more from those 'in the know'. 2007- 2 OA things going on: 2 "mini-NOACs" (poor term, actually), one east, one west, to prepare Lodges for the 2008 Service Project. Calling them 'mini-NOACs' is probably poor, because these will NOT be open to all members of a lodge, but only to certain key members, due to its purpose. There is apparently planning for some kind of 'OA Gathering' at the World Scout Jamboree. I have NO idea what this will be, who will be involved, etc. [i am going to assume we'll learn more about

Red berets... ugh. My troop had red berets when I was a kid (still have mine in my collection). While one might think they would look cool, the problem with them was: * the design of the berets made it near impossible to wear them like the military does. Thus, everyone looked a little different, and more didn't look that good. * they are hot. We're in Florida. A cap with a brim would have been better. A wide brimmed hat even better. What killed any enthusiasm for the hat was seeing a female scouter wear a red beret perched on the back of her head like a french beret. (

the Wood Badge site (www.woodbadge.org) has a directory of upcoming courses (if people submit it, and the maintainer uploads the info...). This would be the place to go to find a week-long course. I have heard of kosher courses in some regions. There have been other group courses, like certain ethnic groups. I believe my council had a group of Vietnemese scouters who came and ran their own WB course at our council camp. All the food was ethnic, no english, etc. I heard from some local scouters who helped out that some of the participants were tired of all the ethnic food and wante

"Herms, I guess I didn't realize that the boys could wear those (expensive!) red jackets. I think I may wait until I'm pretty sure my son won't outgrow it in 2 months before buying one of those, but it would be neat to have a little ways down the road." Yes. Look in the BSA catalog. You'll see pictures of the boys wearing the jackets. There is also a red nylon jacket that is less expensive then the wool. You can also keep an eye on eBay to get a good deal on the wool jackets. Be adviced that these red jackets should really NOT be turned into 'patch jackets'. You are really o

"There is a district committee training. In our council it is offered once a year just after all the elections are held. It is combined with a council wide coordinated meeting usably held all day Saturday." Ditto down here. Did that some time last year. Also, most people on a district committee have a certain area of responsibility: activities, training, etc. so taking all the position-specific training isn't really necessary for someone on the district committee. As someone mentioned, get the "Highlights" booklet for your specific position (if it exists, doesn't for my position),

First I've heard of another NLS. This would mean 5 years between NOACs! (only about 3 people from each lodge would go to the NLS). My understanding is the following: 2006- NOAC at Michigan State University 2007- lodge training at the region(?) levels for 08 Service Event 2008- National Service Event (they showed info on this at Jambo. Its less like the Southern Region One Day of Service and MORE like Trail Crew/Wilderness Voyage/OAOA at 5 different National Parks/Forests around the country) 2009- NOAC 2010- 100th Anniversary Jamboree 2011,2013- NOAC 2015- 100th Anniver

"I don't see a Reference for it in the Insignia Guide, but I've seen them worn on the back of the merit badge sash. Frankly, I think it cheapens the look of the sash and makes it look like crap. " Its in there. can't tell you where off the top of my head. However, a fairly active scout will get a lot more patches then could be put on the sash. Plus you only wear the sash at formal events, so why bother in the first place?

"The word is adviser; "advisor" is just a misspelling" "Advisor" is NOT a misspelling. My dictionary on my desk gives both adviser and advisor as correct terms. Advisor is the term that is used in Venturing (and used in Exploring previously) and by other organizations. Why the OA useds the 'er' spelling and Exploring choice the 'or' spelling, I have no idea.

"I think the Cub Scout WCA and the Boy Scout WCA, i.e. the "Panda" badge are slightly different. For Cub Scouts, the badge is ringed in purple. For Boy Scouts, the badge is ringed in tan. I even think there is a Venture version ringed in green." Sorry, but there is no Venture version. There is, however, a Venturing version. It has a yellow background and green border. "Don't forget that temporary badges may also be worn on the back of a Boy Scout's merit badge sash too. " Boy Scout badges, but not Cub badges. Also, if you have questions about were something goes on t

"I'm trying now to remember all the ones who fall under the Distinctive Dress policy....my Wood Badge patrol project was on the history of Uniforms in Scouting and I can't for the life of me find the files now that I had saved in doing the research for it..what I'm think I remember though are not only Venturing and Sea Scouts, but Varsity and especially the Learning for Life programs. Since the later is more career oriented, it allows them to adopt something suitable for their own branch." The only program within the BSA that has the concept of "distinctive dress identity" is Venturing.

"Invite? Did you have to be invited in the old days?" YES. When I did Boy Scout Leader Wood Badge back in the late 80s, it was by invitation. Cub Scout Trainer Wood Badge of the same time was also by invitation only (which made sense, as that was a region-run course for council-level cub scout trainers). However, I know in my council that if you wanted an invitation, you could ask (and would probably get one). Today, they say the course is by invitation only, but also make it clear if you want an invite, you can ask and get one. Frankly, since most councils are doing 1-2

"Amazing how different courses/course directors do business. Our troop had ticket approval authority delegated to the Guides! Made life on Sunday much easier. " Ditto. That's how we did it. The Troop Guides are the Ticket Counselors. My understanding is that under the 21CWB, that's how its supposed to be. The TCs should be separate people from the TGs. (in fact, this had an affect on patrol organization and TG assignments, by grouping people in patrols who were in the same geographic area, including the TG). And it is my understanding that the ticket is between the partici