fgoodwin

I've learned the hard way that the recharter info is not a reliable indicator of the trained status of your adults. When I first managed a recharter for my son's Cub Scout Pack back in 2001 (I was a newly appointed committee chair), I navely went through and updated the trained status of every registered adult in the pack. I was surprised to find at our next recharter that none of that info "stuck"; I found out later that the council ignores the trained status field for recharter purposes (I hope that changes under the Centennial Unit Quality process). Talk to your district training chairman -- if you can produce trained cards for your adults, I'd be willing to bet (as a former district TC myself) that he or she will give them credit for each course for which they can produce a card. If your pack or troop has a training coordinator, it would be a good idea for him or her to keep a copy of everyone's trained cards in case a question ever arises about their trained status; this will also help for your CQUA worksheet & year-end documentation of results. It is important to remind your adults to keep those trained cards, and never leave a training course without one! Despite the best efforts of your district training team, records get lost (or never entered) between course completion and data entry by someone at the Council office. The trained card is your proof that you attended and earned credit for the course.

My son is helping at an Eagle COH in a couple of weeks; what got my attention was that the two Eagle Scouts plan to serve bar-b-que and have a dance after the COH! Bringing a dance partner won't be a problem for me (unless the wife decides to back out), but it was the bar-b-que that got my attention!

I use a Kelty Teton 2 (I'm a big guy and I need the extra room). It weighs a bit more (4 lbs 2 oz), but I'm willing to carry an extra pound or two to get the room I need. And it cost about $115 at a local outfitter.

I don't know if the Supply Division is open to suggestions, but it wouldn't hurt to ask them about an official sweater. But I suspect we'd already have one, if SD thought they could turn a profit. Back in the 50s and maybe early 60s, BSA used to sell official shoes (you could see the BSA logo stamped in the soles). I suspect they quit making them when kids (or their parents) stopped buying them.

I just updated mine, for the Nth time; I don't hold out much hope that it will last more than a few days before going blank again . . .

Barry, if you've Louv's book, you know he doesn't hold out a lot of hope that BSA can do much to get kids outside again. And that saddens me, because BSA ought to be considered the premier youth program around in terms of getting kids outdoors, and developing self-confidence and self-reliance in them, as well as teamwork, citizenship, leadership, etc. I know sports can also do some of that, but not every boy is cut out for varsity athletics. Isn't it ironic that people all around us are making much ado about global warming and saving the environment, while at the same time boycotting, denigrating (and in some cases, suing) the very organization that is best suited to instilling a sense of conservation and stewardship in the next generation? It boggles the mind . . .

Experts Now Recommend Hands-Only CPR http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HANDS_ONLY_CPR?SITE=OHCOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT http://tinyurl.com/2s8olc Mar 31, 5:12 PM EDT By STEPHANIE NANO Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- You can skip the mouth-to-mouth breathing and just press on the chest to save a life. In a major change, the American Heart Association said Monday that hands-only CPR - rapid, deep presses on the victim's chest until help arrives - works just as well as standard CPR for sudden cardiac arrest in adults. "You only have to do two things. Call 911 and push hard and fast on the middle of the person's chest," said Dr. Michael Sayre, an emergency medicine professor at Ohio State University who headed the committee that made the recommendation. Hands-only CPR calls for uninterrupted chest presses - 100 a minute - until paramedics take over or an automated external defibrillator is available to restore a normal heart rhythm. A child who collapses is more likely to primarily have breathing problems - and in that case, mouth-to-mouth breathing should be used. That also applies to adults who suffer lack of oxygen from a near-drowning, drug overdose, or carbon monoxide poisoning. In these cases, people need mouth-to-mouth to get air into their lungs and bloodstream. -- On the Net: Heart Association: http://www.americantheart.org/handsonlycpr Sarver Heart Center: http://www.heart.arizona.edu/ [excerpted]

I think declining numbers in BSA is just a symptom of a much larger societal issue. Google "Pergams and Zaradic" to read about their research on declining camping numbers at the national parks; they relate much of the decline to the impact of watching TV and playing video games -- they also note the decline isn't localized to the US -- they see the same decline overseas. Someone mentioned "Nature Deficit Disorder"; that phrase was coined by Richard Louv, who happens to be in the process of updating his book, "Last Child in the Woods" in which he observes (as many in this thread have done) that fewer children are playing outside, especially in unsupervised play situations. He attributes much of the responsibility for this to parents' irrational fear of kidnapping, fed by sensational (and constant) media reports, as well as structural problems like HOAs that prevent kids from building tree houses in their own back-yards (my son and I ran into this very problem when we tried to build a tree-house four years ago). I'm also in the middle of reading Robert Putnam's "Bowling Alone". He's a sociologist who has documented the trends of various things like church attendance, membership in bowling leagues, how many times families host dinner parties, etc., over a roughly seventy year period (approx. 1920 to 1990). In other words, he looked at the many ways we, as Americans, "get-together" either formally (e.g., PTA meeting) or informally (playing bridge at the neighbor's house), and how the number of those "get-togethers" have changed over time. It should come as no surprise that his research indicates that we are doing far less "getting-together" today (i.e., early 90s; he published his book in 2000) than we did back in the 50s and 60s. This is consistent with the observations of many that we aren't the "joiners" we used to be: membership in all types of organizations across the board, like BSA, Rotary Clubs, PTA, etc. is declining. Membership in passive "advocacy" groups like AARP (an example of a "group" you can join, but which does not have any local meetings) is increasing. So we are trading the opportunity for face-to-face get togethers for letting someone else (usually paid professionals) to do the work we once did locally in less formal circumstances. Putnam refers to this "connectedness" as "social capital" and he posits that we have less social capital today than we did 40-50 years ago. He defines it, measures it, and demonstrates how it has changed over time. Social capital increased in the early part of the 20th century, peaking in post-war 50s-60s, and then going into decline through the 70s, 80s and 90s. Its a massive book (over 500 pages), and like I said, I'm only half-way through it, but I've gotten far enough into it to know he blames TV for much of the effect of our being less-connected today than we used to be. I think he will eventually get around to making some recommendations, but I doubt if he's found a "silver-bullet" that will reverse all these declining trends. I've thought about the issue of declining BSA membership for many years, first as pack committee chairman responsible for planning "Back-to-school" recruiting nights, and later as a member of the district membership committee, coordinating the many B-T-S nites across the district. The point of this lengthy post is this: I think we should stop beating ourselves up about declining BSA numbers (both youth and adults). I still think we should recruit actively and put on the best program possible -- but the fact is, society has changed, and people simply don't "join" organizations like they used to, especially if those organizations (like BSA) ask them to actually do something, as opposed to passive organizations (like AARP) that ask for nothing more than your money. Let's offer the best Scouting program we can to those who value it, and stop wringing our hands and gnashing our teeth that others simply "don't get it". We won't be able to change everyone's attitudes about Scouting in general or BSA in particular, but we can certainly do right by the boys we have.

Arbor Day in many states is celebrated on the last Friday of April each year; this year, that is Friday, Apr 25. I know Earth Day gets much more press around this time of year than does Arbor Day -- and Earth Day obviously celebrates a good cause, but we should not forget Arbor Day in the glare of all the Earth Day media and activities. Some Arbor Day resources: http://www.arborday.org/kids/carly/ http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/arborday/ http://holidays.kaboose.com/arbor-day/index.html http://www.teacherplanet.com/resource/arbor.php http://www.theteachersguide.com/arbordaylessonplans.htm Packs and Troops should plan now to plant a tree for your charter partner in observance of Arbor Day.

I've updated my profile too many times to bother. It "takes" for awhile then disappears. Until the sys ops figure out why the records continue to disappear, and fix the problem, I won't bother. It has nothing to do with wishing to remain anonymous.

http://www.savethephillyscouts.org/

While it may be technically correct to say the religious awards are not part of the Scouting program, one might just as well ask: if that's the case, why does the Bear Book ask a boy to earn the religious emblem of his faith as part of achievement #2?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120641101055361411.html

Nick, I don't recall being at the Religious Relationships Committee Meeting that approved the UUSO award -- I might have been, I'm not saying that I wasn't -- just that I don't remember. I do have an email copy of PRAY's 1Q05 bulletin in which it was announced that BSA had approved the award -- that's what started this whole thread (thanx, Packsaddle for finding an online copy). I also have an email from Mark Hazelwood stating, without elaboration, that BSA approval had been rescinded. I don't know if he mis-spoke, if he didn't have all the facts, etc. All I know is that PRAY's online edition of the 1Q05 newsletter had the announcement deleted. I hope Mark was mistaken, but as of today, the announcement has not been restored to the online edition of the 1Q05 PRAY bulletin. And Bob, while you are correct that there is no current online documentation supporting BSA approval of the award, I hope you aren't implying that I, Nick, and others have made this up out of thin air. I can assure you, we did not.

Parenting -- Girl (Scout) on a Mission http://tinyurl.com/2jqkcw By MICHAEL WINERIP Published: March 23, 2008 UNIONDALE GIRL SCOUT COOKIES! bellowed Ayazhia Lee, 11. THREE-FIFTY A BOX! yelled Katherine Aanensen, 13. Shanna Mena was rushing by at the Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City when the words registered and she came to an abrupt halt. Girl Scout cookies? said Ms. Mena, who works at Macys. Oh my God, Girl Scout cookies. She made a sharp pivot, hurried to the booth and started picking out boxes. I need one of these, she said, grabbing a box of Thin Mints. And you know what, I need these Samoas and I need these Do-si-dos. Ms. Mena loves those cookies, but cookies arent the half of it. Its those Girl Scouts, Ms. Mena said. They just twist your heart. They know it, they know it, and no Girl Scout knows it better than Ayazhia, who sold 1,333 boxes last year for Troop 1077 of Uniondale. This year her goal is 1,500. Im very outgoing, so its very easy to talk to people, Ayazhia explained. I go up to everyone, I take cookies everywhere. Sometimes people say theyre too fattening. We tell them theyre not that big GIRL SCOUT COOKIES! THREE-FIFTY A BOX! Katherine shouted. Ayazhias sales pitch? I just basically say theyre good for you and theyre only on sale once a year and they freeze well, so theres never enough. To be a good salesman, she continued, You have to talk clearly, you have to look them in the eye. It shows respect. That way, they think you dont care about anything else but them GIRL SCOUT COOKIES! THREE-FIFTY A BOX! [excerpted]

Has anyone seen the Hertz commercial about "going green" or something like that? It involves a deer and another animal driving a car along a country road -- at one point they pass a group that looks a lot like a SM and his troop of several boys. It flashed by kinda fast, but I don't think they were in official Scout uniforms (seems like they were wearing khaki pants instead of olive green) and the SM had what looked like a green campaign cap, but I'm not sure. Has anyone else seen it?(This message has been edited by fgoodwin)

50 Ways to Get Kids Hooked on the Outdoors Feel the wind on your face, plant a garden, jump in a pile of leaves - just get outside! March 2008 By Dyanne Fry Cortez, Wendee Holtcamp and Bernadette Noll Kids don't develop a relationship with nature by watching it on the Discovery Channel. They need to feel the wind, smell leaves and wildflowers, run their fingers over rocks and make personal contact with other living things. Pristine wilderness is not required: Ask any of today's dedicated outdoorsmen, and you may find that his favorite childhood memory involves a backyard tree house or fishing in an irrigation canal. Encourage children to get outside wherever they can, as often as possible, and start building their own memories. Here are 50 [actually 48] ideas to help kids reconnect with the outdoors: Build a sand castle Walk in the rain Make mud pies Jump in a pile of leaves Look for shapes in clouds Open windows Watch fireflies Go barefoot Explore a mini-landscape Harvest fruit or nuts Have a picnic Play old-fashioned games Go swimming Go fishing Fly a kite Find art in nature Have a campfire Go camping Build a dam Attend an outdoor performance Relax in a hammock Dig a hole to China Litter scavenger hunt Sensory walk Use your inside games Make a boat Plant a little garden Go orienteering or geocaching Cook outside Use a pocketknife Target practice Bike course Sidewalk games Make a whistle from a blade of grass Build a fort or treehouse Wade in a running stream Get an early start on birdwatching Start a collection Nature treasure hunt Butterfly garden Take a hike Stargaze Engine-free travel Learn how to hunt and fish! Climb a tree Volunteer Contests! Skip stones Walking stick Go digital [excerpted; see the full article for a description of each activity, and additional resources].

US Fish & Wildlife Service: Children & Nature website Includes an outdoor activity sheet for kids, a fact sheet for parents, and a resource sheet for teachers. Don't miss the 52-page special "Children & Nature" issue of "Fish & Wildlife News" (it includes a nice article about the Girl Scouts, but unfortunately does not mention Boy Scouts or Cub Scouts).

Joni4TA: I never suggested doing nothing, I suggested using the current syllabus. Some of the boys in my troop have been through both JLT and TLT and by far they prefer the new curriculum over the old. I'm not gonna stand here and tell anybody they are doing things wrong -- that wouldn't be very Scout-like and in the absence of all the facts, would be foolish. But I stand by my comment that NAYLE and NYLT build on concepts introduced in TLT, and that boys who've had TLT will be at an advantage over those who haven't, when both go to NYLT. If that's not an issue for some SMs, so be it -- but they can't say they were unaware of the possibility. Combining TLT with JLT is certainly better than not using TLT at all. As long as the TLT material is covered, I don't see anything wrong with using the team-building exercises out of JLT. YiS

Wheres the remote http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.WOTRArticle?article_id=17570 March 10, 2008 by Jeff Osgood You may have heard the news: Fewer Americans are venturing into anything that resembles the outdoors. According to a Nature Conservancy study, the number of visitors to state and national parks is declining, and fewer people are hunting, fishing or going camping. Why are people trading in their hiking boots for slippers? The studys authors, Oliver Pergams of the University of Illinois-Chicago and Patricia Zaradic of the Environmental Leadership Program, say the culprits are high oil prices and a newly coined word, videophilia, which translates to a love of electronic media, namely the internet, television and movies. The two researchers say that high gas prices and the sirens call of the computer and television can account for 97.5 percent of the decline in visits to national parks. Apparently, any yearning to visit a wild place or national park can be assuaged by watching a steady stream of television shows -- especially now that entire networks devote themselves to wildlife and outdoor recreation. Why go searching the Rocky Mountains for the sight of a bighorn sheep, marmot or a pika when you can tune into an episode of Animal Planets Meerkat Manor to get your critter fix? Theres even something for the homebound survivalist: Discovery Channels Survivor Man and Man vs. Wild offer dueling treks into the perilous wild. We can also choose to commune with nature through the safety of our personal and workplace computers. Take a peek at any computer screen saver or desktop image, and youll likely find a serene waterfall, a reclining cougar or an Ansel Adams photograph of a snowcapped mountain range. Forget mountaineering: Web sites offer 24-hour, live streaming images of Everest Base Camp. And for animal voyeurs, theres everything from Yellowstone wolf cams to manatee cams. When millionaire adventurer Steve Fossetts plane went missing in September 2007, friends and family decided to employ the public in the search. Web-surfers could pull up satellite images of the Nevada-California wilderness search area, scan the terrain for wreckage of Fossetts plane and report any findings via e-mail. Reportedly, thousands enjoyed the thrill of the hunt while basking in the warm glow of their computer monitor. This combined getting out in nature and a good cause, too. Safety is key, since wild places can be scary. Hurricanes, wildfires, mudslides, volcanoes, earthquakes and avalanches rage out of the television set from all over the world, and a week doesnt go by without a hapless hiker going missing or some man-eating predator out marauding. This live video, flashy graphic, full-color manipulation must be convincing, as more and more of us conclude that wed be better off staying home. The manipulation is more subtle but no less pervasive in the print media, too. A typical story about the search for Fossett describes the Nevada mountains as desolate and jagged; the landscape savage and inhospitable. Over time, the media construct a reality for us thats so dangerous wed best leave these places alone. If media havent scared you into staying out of a national park or wilderness, at the least it has told you its expensive to suit up for it. Not long ago, there wasnt much of an activity-segmented outdoor apparel market. Before Lycra, fleece and sweat-wicking socks, hikers, mountain climbers and other outdoorsy types made do with wool, canvas, recycled military gear and old-fashioned rain slickers. In the era of REI and mega-stores, weve been sold on the notion that we must be properly outfitted, decked head to toe with quick-dry, ultra-lightweight, reversible, Gortex-infused apparel. Backpacks are space-age in design, and side pockets are legion. Lets not forget the gadgetry, for that bottomless backpack has plenty of room for an iPod, water bladder and mouth tube, water purifier, cellular phone, and a GPS unit for finding your way back to your sports-rack crowned SUV. It must be true: Youve got to get the gear if you want to play. So why arent people headed outdoors? The answer is easy: its easier to stay home and fiddle with that remote or mouse. Its really too bad though, because the Wests backcountry cant be televised; it must be experienced. Tube viewers really dont know what theyre missing. -- Jeff Osgood is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News (hcn.org). He lives in Niiwot, Colorado, where hes a freelance writer and stay-at-home father of four.

Sctdad, you don't mention if your Pack has a BALOO-trained leader. A BALOO-trained leader is a requirement in order for a pack to go camping. In BALOO, a leader will learn the nuts-and-bolts of planning a pack campout, but I must admit, I don't think it goes into great detail re: camping fees.

Webelos Activity Badge Worksheets are now available online Boy Scouts have been using Merit Badge Worksheets for years. Now worksheets are available for Webelos too. Optional worksheets can help Scouts organize notes, listen actively, and document their work. Leaders and parents can quickly see if a Scout is understanding. Worksheets allow group instruction with individual attention. Check out these samples of some of the added resources in the worksheets: Blank US Map needed needed for Forester Graph paper for Engineer The BSA Home Safety Checklist and BSA Energy Audit in Family Member Internet resource links are at the end of each worksheet. Free online video lessons are featured in half of the worksheets Also see the camping, hiking, and fire starting video lessons in Outdoorsman and first aid lessons in Readyman. Also look at the beginning lessons for Artist, Craftsman, and Aquanaut. They may be as helpful to a parent or leader as a Scout. http://meritbadge.org/index.php?title=Webelos_Activity_Badge_Worksheets (note that meritbadge.com is switching over to meritbadge.org) The Webelos workbooks are also offered by usscouts.org: http://usscouts.org/advance/cubscout/webbadges.asp The Boy Scout Merit Badge Worksheets are at: http://meritbadge.org/index.php?title=Merit_Badge_Worksheets -or- http://usscouts.org/mb/worksheets/list.asp Craig Lincoln (CraigScout)

mothercub, if you've looked at the current TLT syllabus, then you must know it covers much more than position-specific training. It covers the boys' vision for the troop, and how it s/b in sync with the vision of the SM. It covers the "know-be-do" of leadership, and asks the boys to review troop operations in "start-stop-continue" analysis. Would you continue to teach an old MB book after it has been revised? Or use an old Boy Scout HB after it has been updated? Would you continue to wear an old uniform after it has been updated? All I'm saying is, when your boys go to NYLT, they will be at a disadvantage compared to the other boys who have been through the current TLT, because the concepts they see in TLT will be covered in greater detail in NYLT. Good luck.

If the money is supposed to pay for a campsite, tell them they don't have a campsite since they didn't pay up-front, or send them to the park ranger to work out their own arrangements. If the money is supposed to pay for a meal, you could ask them to pay up when they show up, or if you don't have enough food to go around, point them to the nearest McDonald's, etc. But in the packs I've been involved in, the families were expected to bring and prepare their own meals -- the pack didn't do any cooking for the entire group. So what exactly is the money for?

fastbow writes:I researched this for well over a month before placing my sons scribe patch on the right sleeveI'm curious what official, written, BSA sources you consulted in this month of research? As others have suggested, the Insignia Guide clearly states the Scribe patch goes on the left sleeve. If your troop doesn't have a copy of the Insignia Guide, I suggest they invest in one and consult it whenever these questions arise.