Fehler

Talk about deletion:

1923 - Sam Venable grants the KKK an easement to the top of Stone Mountain.  The easement remained in place until Stone Mountain was purchased by the State of Georgia in 1958.

Source: Historic Dekalb County: An Illustrated History By Vivian Price page 49-51:  https://books.google.com/books?id=WZX25KMqgKUC&pg=PA49&dq=Venable+Brothers&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-5FFUrnILYS69QTCs4CIAg&ved=0CFgQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=Venable%20Brothers&f=false

Surely there are/were BSA patches with a confederate flag on them.  Post those pictures!

Forget bank statements and dual-signature checks.  Have the CC and treasurer both have on-line access to the bank account.  Glance at it once a week, know what the transactions are supposed to be, something unexplained gets answered in a quick e-mail. 

And in my city, shooting water guns at people gets you arrested:  http://www.startribune.com/cyclists-attack-pedalpubs-with-squirt-guns-in-minneapolis-six-arrested/304874021/

Did you know you can get FM radio on most smartphones, without cell/wireless coverage?  Its just not activated by default, because cell providers want you to use data streaming to get that info (so they can charge you money).

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/04/16/400178385/the-hidden-fm-radio-inside-your-pocket-and-why-you-cant-use-it

Hooray for President Gates, and hooray for the BSA.  Reformation is coming.

For a well-run troop of 30 boys, or a well-run pack of 50, the district is of no value.  However, to those smaller units, struggling to get started or to stem decline, districts are invaluable.  They (provided the district is run sustainably) provide activities/camporees, veteran leadership, "been there" contacts, recruiting resources/access, etc.  None of this is needed if you can get everything you need from within your own unit.  But not everyone has that luxury.

This guy comes from a Council.  How has his Council performed?  That'd be the best indicator.

I'd be more concerned by Surbough's insider status if the BSA President was an insider, also.  Otherwise, meh.

I like the loops.  When I see them on a boy, I can ask them what they did to earn it, and they can usually tell me.  With the beads, never.  And when everyone in the Pack loving the loops, making it part of the core program rather than an accessory program gets the focus back on the core.  Time well spent.

I was watching my son do KP at camporee this weekend.  He was washing the pots/cooking dishes, and got to the dutch oven.  He asked me what he was supposed to do with it.  I asked him "what were you instructed to do?".  He proceeded to wash the dutch oven with soap and scouring pad, rinse, and bleach, like every other pot.  The PL got all flustered (he's fairly new to the troop), and had to immediately instruct everyone on the proper care/cleaning of dutch ovens. 

I have my Parent/Committee meetings immediately after our Pack Meeting (Pack is 6:30-7:30, then 7:30-8:00).  It works well for us, the Parent Meeting is usually just getting names down to volunteer for jobs running next month's activities.  All the hardcore planning/budgeting on "what to do" is done between myself (CC) and our Cubmaster, with e-mail to committee members if we're spending money we didn't plan on spending, following our annual plan from last summer. 

Our Pack used to do planning meetings on a separate night, but those ended up being just two-three people (or worse, just the one).  Now I can usually count on 10-12 parents hanging out while kids run wild in the gym.

One Den Meeting a month for Tigers and Lions, two a month for Wolf-Bear-Webelos I.  Last year Webelos II tried a once monthly, two hour meeting.  Next month, we are going weekly meetings with having Webelos meet at/with the Troop (new Webelos Transition pilot program).  For the new program, we'll likely have Tigers go to two meetings a month, also. 

We also have the monthly Pack Meeting, and at least one monthly weekend activity.  If we have two weekend activities in a month, the second is usually "come attend this neighborhood event/activity as a Pack", such as Earth Day Park Cleanup last week, or Free Family Day at the local art museum in February.

For Belt Loops, I've told my Den Leaders they are free to swap in/swap out requirements that they think satisfy the "spirit" of the awards.  My Lion/Tiger Den did a trip to the Animal Humane Society and two other projects for their "Pet Care" belt loop.  Cubs/Parents working on loops at home don't have/know about this option, since I only tell my Den Leaders about it. 

Only one family really tried powering through Belt Loops on their own, and they burned out on the repetitiveness of it.  Every other loop is another damn poster. 

But to go back to your originally point, I think you would lose a lot if you went to splitting the Pack by age, both with parents that span the age break, and parents that get lost with the split from one age group to the next (as what happens too often in Webelos Transition now).  Plus you'd have the problems of having two Pack Committees where leaders have limited time.  Right now most parents starting in Tigers don't do much except be a Den Leader, and by the time they're Bears they are my Pack Committee.

Can you split the Pack by location?  Or is there another nearby Pack that could use propping up?  I've always been peeved that the "mega Pack" down the street from us (they have 70 boys less then 1/2 mile away to our 30 boys) doesn't acknowledge our existence, except when staking out territory for Popcorn Sales.

The key to avoid burnout is variety and increasing complexity in activity.  The Webelos should be doing something different then the Wolves, or at least teaching the Wolves what to do.

A properly run Lion program, according to the scant materials I've received, is supposed to be kept entirely separate from the rest of the Pack, with a once-monthly "Den Meeting" and a once-monthly "Go-see-it".  It is only through lazy/misinformed Cub Scout Leaders and parent that want the kindergartners to be included with the older Pack/older brothers that shoehorned it into pre-Tigers with a Den Meeting/Pack Meeting schedule.

This year is the first year I've had enough Lions to have a decent group of them (6, with only 2 of them being little brothers).  Of course, I also only have 2 Tigers (started with 4).  Because I've only had 1 a year for the prior three years, I've let them just be a "Tag-along" with the Tigers.  Now I have a real parent leader, and he's running a good group (but its still Den-Pack Meeting focused, but they did a few of their own Go-see-its as a Den).

When walking back from Troop Meeting last night, Son asked me how old I was when I got my first cell phone.  I told him 28.

Here is an article about a recent tragedy in my area, a young 4th grade boy missing since mid-March from a northern-Minneapolis suburb, body found by a group of Boy Scouts along the Mississippi River:  http://www.startribune.com/local/north/299455681.html

What some of my friends have keyed on is that the troop of Boy Scouts (all under the age of 13) were actively assisting/engaging in the search (after a prior sweep of the area from a group of 50).  The Scouts were doing their own search.

Not knowing what adult leadership may have been involved, would you have encouraged your troop to search for a dead body?  Maybe since the area was previously searched, did the leaders ok it thinking it was unlikely to lead to such a gruesome discovery?  The merit badge is "Search and Rescue", not "Search and Recovery".

And yes, I've seen "Stand By Me".

Heh, when I started living on my own, I bought a box of instant mashed potatos for a post-college Thanksgiving party.  I was surprised at how good hey were, they tasted just like the mashed potatos my mom made.  Then it dawned on me.

Do it as a Pack Campout, and require parents for the older boys, too. BALOO is more of a certification, not a training. As a newbie outdoors person, I found some things in it interesting. Take it, it doesn't expire.

There are requirements for camping at younger levels (attend a camp for Wolf, camp overnight for Bear). This will be hard to accomplish, unless councils/districts have more Cub Scout-level camporees in the Fall/Spring.

I disagree. It is a position of _responsibility_, not a "leadership position". If the scout is a natural leader, he will gravitate to those positions that require leadership. If the scout is not a natural leader, then he can handle the important jobs of Historian, Quartermaster, or Librarian. Maybe they'll find that being a leader makes their position easier, but it doesn't have to be. I would absolutely judge a quartermaster on the cleanliness of the Dutch Ovens. The goal is responsibility, not leadership. He'll get his chance for leadership in his Eagle Project.

My son wears BSA/troop/camp t-shirts to school, but he'd never wear his uniform. Get some nifty branded gear, pass them out free/cheap (not overpriced from the scout shop), and you have walking billboards. Make t-shirts prizes for Packs/Troops, for such things like meeting a recruiting or Friends of Scouting goal. Bump the price of camp $5 and give everyone attending camp the T-shirt, rather then making it a separate purchase.

This just in, Mississippi House passes a law allowing non-CDL drivers to operate church-owned vehicles for up to 30 passengers.

Its called the "Jesus Take the Wheel Act". I honest-to-Pasta wish this was a joke.

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/politicalledger/2015/02/05/jesus-take-the-wheel-passes-house/22931465/

What age are we talking here, Tigers (where parents are required to attend) or older? And what is the meeting area, is there a separate parent "waiting room" that they could use, or is everyone pretty much clumped together?