frankpalazzi

Duplicate posts.

Duplicate post. (Like RABBITS, I tellya!)

Duplicate post.

Duplicate post.

Baseballfan: Why "unfortunately"? Are your committee members also members of the CO? If there is an incident where someone is injured, or worse, it is the CO that gets slapped with the lawsuit. The CO is ultimately responsible for the actions of it's leaders, and should exercise it's responsibilities accordingly. In your situation, I would think that the CO had a very good reason for doing what they did. It is not their obligation to tell you why, either. As the COR for my units, I have a local police officer run a check on each new adult applicant before I sign them. If there is any questionable activity, or I simply do not feel comfortable for whatever reason having this adult as a leader, then its a NO GO. My job is to protect the CO, select and approve QUALITY leadership, and no one is owed an explanation as to why I sometimes have to make a difficult decision. Hope this helps.

Just more "make work" stuff during a slow period. *yawn*

Agree with Krampus a million-fold!!!! No registration, no advancement. If this is not a written policy in your troop, make it one NOW (NEVER assume everyone will just automatically "know" this--case in point: this mom didn't.) No tickee, no washee. As for the current situation, if the council wants to finagle this: fine. It's out of the troop's hands at this point.

The requirement says "show improvement," right? Well, 0 to 1/2 a pull-up IS an improvement, in my interpretation of the requirement.

More make-work projects for someone to justify their job. I'm giving this one my "OH, PUH-LEEZ."

All this change accomplishes is to close a perceived "loophole".

I have just read two very good pages of reasons NOT to utilize individual accounts. The bookkeeping is an absolute nightmare. Been there, done that, and have the battle scars under the T-Shirt! We have our 2-3 fundraisers per year. Those who participate will benefit. Those who don't participate will "pony up". Period. Making out monthly statements for each boy, (a committee decision) and then having them questioned by parents (even though the statements are totally accurate) could (and usually would) take up an entire troop meeting, if not more. Guess who had to sit and explain little Johnny's account to each parent? That's right, the treasurer. (That was ME.) The hassles greatly outweigh the benefits. It turns into a liability for the troop, not to mention the CO. As COR, this is one of the things that I definitely use my veto power for, because I've had the bad experiences. It's a scout troop run by volunteers, and the books are kept by volunteers; not Ernst & Young. We've been using this system for years, and it seems to work. The BSA has laid it all out for us. It's called the Unit Budget Plan. Try it! It works! http://www.scouting.org/filestore/magazine/524-426.pdf

"Reminds me of a true story from a Camporee in the mid-80's. We were serving up spaghetti for lunch and a group of Webelos came through the line ... being handed a bowl, one of them pronounced, "I don't eat spaghetti without parmesan cheese". The person serving just said, "Fine" and dumped the bowl back in the pot and said "Next!" The look on the kid's face was priceless." Simple problems are solved by simple solutions. I wish more folks would go back to that.

Two emails, and two phone calls is what the inactives get. If there's no response, they're dropped at the next recharter. I'd rather have 5 enthusiastic, participating Scouts than 20 slackers. (And both have happened!) Keeping inactive boys on the rolls year after year only accomplishes a few things: Makes your unit look bigger. (and, who cares?) Makes your DE look good. (Is HE paying for reregistering the "dead weight"??). Oh yeah, and gets you those nifty patches for your sleeve and ribbons for your flag. (Whooooopeee ding!) Quality always wins over quantity, in my mind.

Not that I'd recommend doing it this way but... Years ago, we had an ASM who had a little confrontation with an "Eagle Mom". The Scout was going along fine at his own pace, and Eagle Mom got to the point of being obnoxious. The ASM finally told her that if she'd like the Eagle badge, he could get her one tomorrow for $3.50. Her son, however, would have to earn it. Surprisingly enough, Eagle Mom transferred to another troop, (Oh yes, so did her son) and I don't believe either of them made Eagle there either. Although the ASM's method might be considered "unorthodox," I did later congratulate him on his "testicular fortitude". (This message has been edited by FrankScout)

Polaris said: "Several of our leaders feel we have done our fair share to support Council and want me to tell our DE, "No thanks." What's the answer? I haven't been around long enough to know." "No thanks" is EXACTLY what you tell your DE. Your pack has more than done it's "fair share".

As far as the safety of my units are concerned, I stand by what I say. If you really feel the need to have someone "packing heat" on a camping trip, recruit a Police Officer as a committeeman or an ASM, and have him carry his weapon on the outing; which is completely within the scope of the G2SS. I have such a person on my committee,(mainly for the purposes of the CO desiring background checks before council/national "gets around to it") and there has never been a need to utilize his services. If an area is in doubt, we leave it out. Unfortunately, tragedies happen, and nut-jobs are everywhere. We have no way of predicting when or where--we can only do our best to protect the youth in our charges. Having firearms on a Scout outing, discreet or not, can lead to disastrous consequences. Thanks to the news media, paranoia abounds.

I see no reason to have firearms on a Scout outing, other than part of an organized program run by a certified range director. If there is any doubt about the safety of a camping area, simply don't go there.

Why not present the badge early (at the BOR or next troop meeting) and the rank pin/parents pins/card at the Court of Honor?

SPL is 100% correct and "by the book". Mom wants to pull her misbehaving sons if she/they don't get her/their way? My response would be: "Where shall we send their records?" Never, EVER, fall victim to what I call "parent bullying". It affects the morale of the whole troop.

ANY adult contribution toward Scouting is admirable and should be appreciated, regardless of time or monetary value.

"Do other units out there have annual meetings between the COR and DE?" Well, I WOULD, if our DE position weren't a constantly revolving door. It's pretty embarrassing to be asked who the DE is, and not being able to provide an answer, or to give the name of LAST month's DE.

It's time to seek out corporate donors that have traditional, wholesome family values. And...time to sell more popcorn. If the Good Ship BSA goes down, this Scouter is going down with it. Proudly.