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fboisseau

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Posts posted by fboisseau

  1. NJCubScouter

    In response to your statement that follows:

     

    "Of course, these people wouldn't have to go through all this effort and trouble, and get into a public spitting match with a respected organization like the United Way, if the BSA did not insist on excluding qualified leaders, who live by the Scout Oath and Law, on the irrelevant ground that they happen to be openly gay."

     

    I have the following to say the reversal is even more true. The problem would not exist if the United Way did not try to use it power via the money to control the policies of the organizations that they support. Another way to look at it is how would you feel if the United Way would not support your group because they did allow homosexuals as leaders. The fact of the matter is if the United Way is going to act as a clearing house for any charity money then only criteria they should use is how well a charity uses the money and not the policies of the charity as the base of it will support a charity or not.

  2. sst3rd,

    Your story reminded me about a story told to me about my great-grandfather, who I called Papa Joe. The story does not have anything to do with Scouting, but it does have to do with honesty. Papa Joe lived in a town near a river and on the river he had a shack where he kept his fishing poles. When he was not using his fishing poles he allowed the local hobos and bums to use them to catch fish. Well one time he when to his shack and found one of the poles missing. He let it be know that one of his poles was missing and if it did not return by that night he would not allow them to use his poles anymore. That evening he returned to find serveral brand new poles had been purchased to replace to one that was stolen. I think about this story sometimes and think about how much has changed.

  3. The two suggestion I have is first the lenght of stay should be about 3day (or just under the limit required for a class 2 medical form). The second and most important consideration is that the boys have a chance for advancement. Up until last year our council held the Webelos/Cub camping at the Boy Scout camp. The program for the Webelos include alot of chances to work on advancement. If your den schedule their program correctly they could get their Readyman, Outdoorsman and Aquanaut pins in the time they were at camp. This year they opened our new CubScout camp and changed the focus of the from advancement to fun. The boys did have fun, but were disappointed that they did not earn much towards rank.

  4. I do not care how you cook the turkey, the best thing I have found to making a good turkey are two things. First you should brine your turkey. This will make it moist and allow you to get alot of flavor in the turkey (brining is also good for pork). The second is to get ignore the pop up timer and cook the bird to tempeture. The best recipe that I have found that I use as a base is off of the "Good Eats" tv show on FoodTV. I have include the link here.

    http://www.foodtv.com/recipes/re-c1/0,6255,8865,00.html

     

  5. My advise to you is to not get distracted by the activity pins. Keep in mind that they are a means to an end which is moving the boys to a Boy Scout troop. In order to make that transition successful the boys need to work on their arrow of light which just requires 8 pins and only 3 are required. So introduce about 1 badge a month and focus on these other items in your den.

     

    1) Moving the boys from looking towards their parents for advancement and to others by you or your assitant(s) signing off on requirements.

    2) Visit and camp with as many troops as possible as many times a possible.

    3) Use the Boy Scout Law and Promise in your den meetings.

     

    My advise is in addition to all of the training you can get along with any resources you can get. And last of all do not forget the following KISMIF (Keep It Simple Make It Fun).

  6. I am going to address two items that have been brought forward in this topic.

     

    First Dr. Laura.

    I listen to her as often as I can and I do not always agree with her (sometimes I think she is too soft on the callers). She has mentioned those items that have been brought up in this forum and her response has always been the same. When she was younger and a feminist in the liberal state of mind she did some things that she now realizes was wrong. She is very clear that she sinned and made mistakes in her past. These are not things she would do today or approve of today and is very clear on that. As she has told parents that have called in with the problem of talking to their kids about the sinful things they have done in the past you are only hypocritical if you are currently doing those things and also preaching against those same things.

     

    Second is the question that OldGreyEagle asked about people of diminished capacity and if they have free will.

    The answer to that question is yes they have free will, but the choices they may make are tainted by their medical problems. This taint does not let them off the hook.

     

  7. kwc57

    In your situation what I as a Den leader would of expected is a note from you as the parent stating what was done and I would of signed off in the book. I know this is a minor difference and may seem to be a extra step, but what I need to be teaching the Scouts is to take responsiblity for getting their requirements taken care of. So in your situation what happened is the following:

    1. You showed your son how to do something

    2. Your son did the item

    3. You signed off in his book

    4. He showed his book to the Den leader

    In my case what would of happened is the following

    1. You showed your son how to do something

    2. Your son did the item

    3. You wrote a note stating what was done

    4. He showed me the note and I reviewed it with him

    5. I signed off on the item

     

    As I said it is minor difference, but it is to get the Scout started in thinking in a different way about how he handles and thinks about requirements getting done. I am also not saying that what the Den Leader did was wrong, as the leader we have the option on what we except as proof that a requirement was done outside of a meeting.

  8. From what I can see on the Packs web page who actually charters the organization is not clear. I suspect that the actual holder of the charter is an organization of parents on the base that wanted the Pack to keep going. Keep in mind that a lot of times the leadership of Packs and Troops do not see a distinction between the actual chartering organization and the supplier of facilities that chartering organization works with and also supports. For example a lot of Packs are chartered by PTA/PTOs, but if you ask the Pack who charters them they say the school that the PTA/PTO also supports.

  9. ScouterPaul,

    From what I understand a non-leader parent can on thier own take care of another child durring a campout. That parent must have their own tent and the Scouts must share a tent. What I tell leaders at training is that this is allowed, but not recommended and should only be done if it is the only way for a Scout to attend a campout. I would also not get involved in helping a parents in getting together. One other thing to keep in mind. The Webelos/Troop outdoor activities do not have to be a campout. A Webelos campout and a troop outdoor activity are two seperate events that can be combined, but do not have to be. This means that a day trip to where a troop is camping out to participate in the daily activities or going on a day hike satisfies the requirement for a Troop outdoor activities.

  10. For the most active den, to keep the lost of Scouts to a minimum and to allow all the Scouts a chance to work on things in the den. I recommend that you hold a meeting every week that you do not have a Pack meeting. I have tried having meeting only a few weeks a month and making sure everybody is on the same schedule is very hard.

  11. Scouter659 and Dd

    Dan is correct. Webelos are allowed to go camping with the troop, but the Webelos den(s) need to follow the rules for camping for Cub Scouts not Boy Scouts. This means that each boy needs to have at least one parent or guardian with them on the campout. Also keep in mind that there are activities that are approved for Boy Scouts that Webelos can not take part in. If you are inviting the Webelos to a campout that includes one of these activities make sure that there is a activities for that period that the Webelos can take part in.

  12. Did you try a garden shop. Not one at a department or hardware store, but one that specializes in gardening supplies, that is where I got some last time I needed it. I do not know if regular charcoal will work, I think that the activated charcoal has a different structure to increase the surface area to present to the water.

  13. Yaworski,

    The way I see it is that Bob White is on this forum to make sure that everybody is aware and to encourage them to following the rules as they are written as closely as possible. There are enough people out here that are telling people to ignore the rules, change the rules if they do not agree with them or giving out the wrong information. One thing that I have always believed in is that before you break a rule make sure that you know the rule and the reason behind the rule, and then only break the rule if you a very very good reason to do so. What I see from you and others in this forum is more of I do not like this rule or this rule does not make sense to me so I am going to ignore it. Also even worst is I see people recommending that other ignore a rule because you do not agree or it was hard for you to follow it. I will admit that I have not always followed all the rules that I should of exactly as they are written by BSA, but I was aware of the reason for the rule before I broke it and I would never recommend that someone else not follow that rule. What I suggest to you and others like you that do not like some of the rules is that instead of breaking and telling others to break the rules, try harder. I have not found a rule or recommendation in the BSA material that I could not follow if I did not try harder to do it that way. I would also recommend on this forum that instead of attacking Bob White answers to questions, instead ask him to help you delivery a better program by giving you suggestion on how you can do a better job of following the rules. I also know that you are going to come back a bring up the few times Bob White has been wrong. From what I have seen those times he was wrong, he has admitted that he was wrong (maybe with some excuses) when presented with the source material. So my advice if you want to go up against Bob White on the rules of BSA get your documentation, do your research thoroughly, and ignore the way you have done it in the past.

     

    P.S. There have been times that I thought he was wrong, but did not reply because I did not have the material before me. In those cases he was later proven to be right or someone else pointed out his mistake first.

     

  14. From my limited understanding (this comes from guess on my part and some information I got from Bob White) the primary purpose of the Pack Trainer is to provide training at the Pack level to the leaders and parents of the pack. I am doing this in several ways.

    1) I am showing the fast start video, basic of YP and guide to safe scouting and explaining how the pack is structured to all new leaders in the Pack.

    2) I am writing an article for our Pack newsletter on various subjects, such as YP Basics, uniforming, and the Pack Structure for the parents.

    3) I am also trying to get all the training material for all the positions in the Pack from district so that I can make sure that I am teaching the program according to BSA. The best way I have found to do this in my Council is to be on the District Training staff.

     

    The main thing to keep in mind that you are there to make sure that all the Leaders in the Pack are getting the CORRECT training and they have a resource they can goto to get the CORRECT answer to their question.

  15. Sctmom,

    (Again I am assuming that this is about what I posted)

    I agree with you that everyboy in a patrol is important. I expect my Scout to go on every campout that does not conflict with soccer. The only thing I am saying is that there are different levels of commitment and we as leaders should be aware that there are going to be other things in a Scouts life that call for a higher level of commitment. For example Sctmom, if you as a leader had a council Cub/Webelos camporee scheduled for the same weekend as your aniversary which one would you do. I know that what I would do is make sure the Scouts in my group, that were going, were taken care of and spend the weekend with my wife.

  16. Bob White

    Again if you were talking about me, to answer some of your additional question. Yes every person in the troop that needs a POR has gotten one. We are using the Patrol method and are the best troop in this regard in the local area (both the Webelos and Troops got special mention at the last Webelos/Scout camporee for using the Patrol method). My son will be taking on a POR when he completes his first class as a Den Chief, as this will not conflict with soccer. I also forsee that he will be taking on other PORs in the future because he is that type of kid.

  17. Bob White,

    If you were writing about me, I think you misunderstood what I was saying. My son did not choose soccer over Scouts, we are both very involved in Scouts (actually he has just about finished with his first class and he just crossed over last June). What I was saying was if he had to choose between going on a Scout outing or playing a soccer game, I would expect him to play the soccer game since he had a greater commitment to the team. If it ever came to a point that we had to choose between to the two, I would push for him to stay in Scouts and drop soccer. What I have a problem with is a Troop/Pack saying that in order for a scout to be active they must attend a certain percentage of scout function and meetings. To me this against what Scouts is about and that is creating a well rounded citizen. By putting this type of requirements on a Scout means that they lose the chance to experience other aspects of their life. I have also said the only exception to this is if a Scout as a POR, in that case they should put Scouts first since other people are relying on them to help make the troop run correctly.

  18. kwc57

    I do not disagree with you. I believe commitment is very important, it is just that I believe you can make choices to your level of commitment. In my sons example his commitment to the soccer team is more important then Scouts, because if his patrol knows that he will not be there they can plan accordingly and no harm no foul, but not being there for the team, means they might lose. This also means that I would advise him not to take on a position of responsibility (POR) in the troop that would conflict with soccer (such as patrol leader), because he would not be able to guarantee that he could provide the level of commitment that is needed. My view is not that a kid should blow their commitments off, it is just that when it comes to his current commitments, his commitment to his team is more important, because they rely on him more then the troop does. And this holds for all the scouts in a troop unless they are in a POR.

  19. My scout is on the local premier soccer team for his age group. This means 2 practices on weeknight and games on the weekend. My feeling on this issue is that as Scouting should not interfere with what a Scout wants to do. A scout will get out of scouting what they put into and as long as their lack of attendance/participation does not affect other scouts scouting experience, I am fine with that.

  20. First you take the youth leader aside and ask him if he thinks he is doing a good job. If he says no then work with him to improve, if he says yes then you take it to the next step and talk to the members of the patrol/troop and find out what they think. If they think all is okay then you can not do anything, they are happy. If they say no then you offer suggestions of what they can do the fix the problem.

  21. A lot of the discussion in this topic has been on how Scouts and Scouters are embarrassed to wear their uniforms in public. This weekend something happened that made me think about that. My wife and I went to a Renaissance Faire. We had to get directions to the park that they were holding the fair, so we stopped at a local supermarket and there in line were two attendees of the fair in full costume. Talk about standing out in a crowd.

  22. Chief Decorah,

     

    Webelos are still in Dens, they just have the option to adopt a patrol name and emblem as kind of a status symbol. For example a Webelos den could be Den 2 aka the Bear Patrol. They are not really offically the Bear Patrol.

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