firecrafter

For those that missed it, there is an update above. A few other interesting facts... Someone asked about the troop this family came from. We called everyone, from District Ex. to Scoutmasters, in their community/district, and although they were very forthcoming, no one has ever heard of these people. Mom is a mystery too. As far as this man being allowed on outings. He has never been on an outing except to arrive early Sun. morning to pick his own son up. We only allow registered scouters on outings. You must understand that these things happened over a series of months. So a

Just wanted to thank everyone again for your thoughts on this and give an update. CC made the call to Dad to let him know he was no longer welcome at meetings. Next morning Dad shows up in the office of our charter's IH, VERY loud and unpleasant. So much so that security was alerted to trouble in the building. The IH stood up to Dad in a tough but diplomatic way. Dad left angry and unsatisfied. Needless to say IH was in total agreement with us, especially after his encounter with Dad. Dad then went to council, which is his right, with no success. The Scout Executive (a woman, which did

"One question I have not seen here. If this man is so unstable, and verbally abuses (and terrifies) adults and scouts alke, what about his own son? Has anyone seen any signs of abuse in his son? Has anyone looked? You should consider checking out BSA's online YP training to see what your state's requirements are." First of all...IF? This has every adult leader in our troop rattled! No one questions that the man is unstable. And maybe that's not how you meant it, I know it's sometimes hard to tell meaning online. I know you aren't seeing things first hand, so it's difficult to unders

First thank you all for your replies. I appreciate each response very much. The appropriate conversations have taken place with this man about his past actions. He does not see things as a "normal" person sees them. Both the CC and SM have given explanations about how, and why, we do things the way we do. He becomes angry, argues, and is unreasonable. I don't know how to put it except, he comes at each situation with some very odd notions. Case in point: A scout was giving a skills instruction on winter camping last week. During his talk about the importance of headgear, he mentioned

I'm here again to "ask the experts". I feel good about the level of experience and common sense I always find here, and am looking for some objective opinions. I will try to lay out as many details as I can. At weekly meetings, we have a room where parents sit if they'd like to talk, so as not to disturb the scouts. At a recent meeting, one father came in to ask the Advancement Chair questions reguarding his son's advancement. The Advancement Chair answered, and another leader (a woman) offered additional information, as she was sitting right there. This was just casual chatter, nothing o

Thanks to everyone for your wisdom in this matter. I have already showed your responses to the SM, & he is in agreement about getting the IH in on this right away. Your thoughts are much appreciated, thanks again! firecrafter

Hello to all! I haven't been here in a while,computer problems. I'd like to hear your thoughts on a situation in our troop. We have a Troop Committee of about a dozen people, including the treasurer. The treasurer is someone we all know well and has a good reputation. This person has served as treasurer for the past two years with no complaints. They keep track of deposits, expenditures, and some petty cash, giving a report at monthly committee meetings. That report goes into the official minutes. We have always required two signatures on all checks, and have three members allowed to sign c

John-in-KC I assure you, all this and much more, where this "scouter" is concerned is true. The ASM in question was removed from his position by the IH of our charter. He remains in scouting, determined to push or drag his pain-in-the-rear son, to eagle. Out troop has been without a UC for quite a while, so no help there. The DC is part of our troop, so is aware. He is full of bluster but does not follow through. DC is also a firm believer in NEVER expelling a scouter from a troop. Most of the problems with this ASM were swept under the rug by troop CM, even though the SM asked many tim

Our troop had a similar situation not too long ago. It involved a renagade ASM who was signing his name in the SM's stead, even after he had been asked several times not to do so. In our troop all SM conferences are done by the SM, except in the case of his own son. The scout in question knew his SM probably would not sign off the scout spirit requirement, as his behavior had been an issue. So scout goes instead to Renagade ASM (who is also the father of his best friend). Advancement Chair is the brother of renagade ASM. Together, they put this scout through a SM conference and BOR, befo

We recruit. We train, and we still have commitment issues. Our troop has ONE adult leader that can be counted on. We had two, but the continual whining of parents finally drove the other one away. He rarely attends anymore. The other adult leaders will help ocassionaly, but are in general not reliable. They "forget" when they have a job to do, or just don't show up. No phone call either. Their sons seem to "forget" too. Go figure. I think we do a decent job of communicating. We do a monthly newsletter, a phone tree, emailing, and have a troop website. I gave out a newsletter last meeting

Lets hope the SM has better judgement than allowing service hours for a clean bedroom. The concern was originally brought up by a parent. I don't understand why they are concerned. If SM is doing his job, no problem. I must admit the concerned parent is sometimes, in my experience, just another name for pain in the rear. Sorry, but that has been my experience. Our SM does allow service hours for some troop fundraising to be counted. We do not have individual scout accounts, so all funds go to the troop program. We find that not every boy or his family helps with unit fundraising. T

As usual GREAT ideas & information! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts everyone! firecrafter

IMHO the key phrase here is "approved by his Scoutmaster"...this is something the SM decides with the scout. I know I'm a broken record on this, but the SM runs the program. Seems like something that he & the CC might discuss and reach an agreement on together. Present it to parents, Advancement Chair & CMs and you will get as many oppinions. Bottom line...does the unit trust the SMs judgement or not? firecrafter

One of our ASM's proposed a high adventure trip for next year. He estimated the cost at $2000 per person (excluding travel expences). We would travel about 22-24 hours to arrive at our destination. Most of our families cannot afford this kind of a trip. It was brought up that the troop would need to do funraising to pay for scouts to go. Is this viable in a troop of 25 scouts-I'd estimate 15 regularly attend most events? Does the entire troop do the fundraising or only the scouts going on this particular trip? Has anyone else found creative ways to pay for a trip of this kind? Ideas please? Th

I think minimums are a bad idea. My boys have sold very little popcorn over the years (mostly because we live in a rural area), they do however generate (& tote) MOST of the donations for our troop's major fundraiser, a garage sale. You will always have various levels of participation from each family & scout. Some parents camp frequently, some help with paperwork, some serve in committee positions, some provide troop transportation. Some sit on the side lines & gladly let others do the all the work. I know it's frustrating when the few do the most...but where does this end? I