fred8033

Couldn't resist posting this article here. Easter is canceled in Colorado. Aggressive parents force egg hunt cancellation http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j3CX4Jgq3-Gj_qyZ02f4E5BDtGnA?docId=dcb20046c6734c4a9aa9dfe03ceffd86

The pack still has to be organized. When I was a den leader, we emailed the list of advancements to the person who purchased advancements. Now, we put it in scouttrack.com. SO your pack lets the advancement chair know what to put in PackMaster. then, that person prints a report from PackMaster. I don't see that much of a difference. The reason I was okay with the paper chart as a den leader is that cub advancements are not critical to the future advancement path. Councils don't track belt loops or any of the lower cub advancements such as world conservation, etc. They only track

Call your state DNR, fishing group or talk to fishing organizations. I know our pack (best at den level) has had a group come in and teach fishing to the scouts. All for free. It's part of their promotion of fishing and fishing licenses, etc.

(sorry... been traveling...) Good discussion. One minor point. Very minor. And it's probably resolved by coordination between a SM and his troop's committee memebers. Perhaps, some troops coordinate such that they use the SM signature as proof that requirements are all complete. But, that's not an automatic. The key point is that a checked off scoutmaster conference is not a guarantee that all the requirements are done. A good SM will discuss previous rank requirements as part of having a conversation with the scout. But, it's the explicit responsibility of the BOR to c

The original poster asked if we have meetings every month. I'm not sure 100% what is meant, but if you use the traditional concept of meetings ... no. We use the traditional meeting structure in Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Apr & May. BUT ... we have at least one "pack" event every month. Feb is our B&G. Similar to a pack meeting but much bigger. March is pinewood derby (another big event). The key though is that every month we have something at the "pack level" available. I think we target two things a month at the pack level. Often a combination of meetings, service, c

Okay. Not to speak heresy as Im often pushing the technology envelope BUT as a den leader I really like the simple $1.99 2x3 paper advancement charts sold by the scout stores. Cub scout advancement is very different than boy scout advancement. Pack Master isnt really needed. Tracking all the ugly little details wasnt really needed. And it was nice to just have it up and visible during den meetings. It helped the parents see where their sons were with advancement. Then, I just emailed our advancement chair what was needed for the next pack meeting. Boy Scouts is a very differe

Been there. Really cool experience. Nothing like tent sleeping where at 2am it's 90 degrees with a 85 degree dew poitn.

Interesting discussion. Only a few comments... #1 SMC - It's not the scoutmaster's job at the SMC to make sure every requirement is done. Scoutmaster can do that if he wants, but it's still the BOR's job. Just saying it because as a BOR I would not use a completed SMC as an indication the requirements are complete. #2 BOR has several key focuses. One is that the BOR is the checkpoint to verify that requirements are completed. IMHO, that means also to verify that paperwork is clean and ready to go. But IMHO I view that as a cooperative co-responsibility of the scout and the troo

"2 signatures won't stop everything, but its still a good procedure." Agreed. For our unit though, it's a moot procedure as multiple leaders see images of the checks thru emailing the PDF bank statements and those statements have images of each check. IMHO, the solution is transparancy.

IMHO, two signatures on every check is never really that great of protection. In our units, the protections are #1 someone other than the treasurer gets the bank statements; #2 we email a PDF of the bank statements to four or more different families and #3 the PDF bank statements include an image over every check written. PDF bank statements with check images is a service by our bank. We love it. Strongly recommend it. I hope everyone reads it. but even if they don't, at least there is transparancy if someone starts questionioning what's going on.

No chit. Have adults guide and coach the youth leaders and the youth. For electronics, teach youth leaders common techniques for dealing with electronics such as waiting until it's put away to continue or asking the person to step away or other. It's our job as leaders to guide the youth and to teach youth how to leader other youth. I've never cared for the "If I see it, you lose it" approach. I wouldn't respect a boss who did it to me and I suspect scouts roll their eyes at such threats. A phone is a tool just like an ax, knife, stove, tent or rain coat. We warn parents

basementdweller wrote: "wingnut you have never been a victim of roundtable or camp adult snobbery." LOL. Been there ... way too many times.

Eagle1973 wrote: "This Scout may have to come back and "finish" his SM Conference." That just creeps me out. Taking an appropriate BOR response to an incomplete advancement requirement and applying it at a SMC to hold up the scout. SMCs happen. No pass fail. Once it happened, the scout has had his SMC and the SM is to help the scout get his BOR. There's no re-convene two weeks later after you've refreshed your skills. But it's your troop and you can pretty much do as you want. The only way I've seen scouts held up at SMC is when the SM reserves the "scout spirit" requi

Beavah wrote: "Yah, I've never understood this claim. Are yeh really saying that by the time a boy comes up for rank advancement, the Scoutmaster doesn't know the scout?" I think you know better. It's one thing to know the scout, but another to have had an extended private conversation about scouting experiences and goals. I'm a CC and I focus on the adult side of the troop; redirecting the scouts to the SPL or SM. But I still know all the scouts, their personalities, likes, dislikes, etc. But I've had few private conversations. And even fewer have I had a heart-to-heart conversat

Pack - 80 - Just lost 10 Webelos 2 at the B&G Troop - 45 - Just received 15 Webelos. Had two bad recruitment years.

I'll confess. Over the last ten years, I've handed them over periodically. Not that often. To recharter, you already have to visit with the CO executive. As such, we've already had a recent conversation. Probably the same conversation that happens each year. Starts with the church secretary ... "Who are you?" ... "Why do you need a signature?" Followed by a "Huh?" The charter paper comes a few months later. We've already had the conversation. Time in front of the congregation is pretty limited. The other CO is a PTO and we don't really want to raise visibility to

Beavah wrote: - "I think what evilleramsfan and his fellow scouters are tryin' to say is that the boy in question really hasn't done this, at least in terms of learning and meeting BSA advancement expectations. Fair enough. I read evilleramsfan posts very differently. I saw where evilleramsfan wrote:" "This boy was one of the ones who got a bunch of items signed off because he went to two different summer camps. As a result, most of his First class was signed off and just needed time to happen. He did not earn First Class, but received it anyway." But it really didn't connect wit

Eagle732 wrote: "I just try to balance the overall numbers of the patrols. I ask the new guys which patrol they want to be in and try to work it out so everyone is as happy as possible. I think it's important to let them have some say in where they go." Cool. Very similar to our troop. We do initially put scouts in new scout patrols. They elect a patrol leader at the 1st meeting. Troop Guide helps them with the 1st meeting, 1st PLC, 1st camp out, etc. The Troop Guide knows to slowly wean the new scouts of needing his advice. But if they want, they can join another patrol. Or s

RememberSchiff wrote: "Give the units with an absentee COR the right to select another representative to attend and vote at district and council meetings. " Great answer. When the local councils merged, the COs were given the vote. They had no clue. It was a laugh at the district round table with scouters rolling their eyes. ............ I like the current model of BSA providing the concepts, rules and materials for a program to be owned and run by the CO. BUT changes are needed to address key weaknesses. I'm not sure what solution is, but the problems are recurrant

shortridge wrote: "By emphasizing advancement and quality control and making that your priority, you're implicitly telling Scouts that they need to focus on checking the boxes and reading the rules. That's a skewed focus. "The emphasis should be on program and outdoor adventure, not advancement policies and procedures. Advancement will happen naturally in a troop that has a good outdoor program, almost accidentally. There's no need to worry about retention of skills, because the Scouts are using them every month. "It is harder to do, especially in a troop with lots of aggressive pare

For the last eight years, we've been pretty consistent Weekend - tent camping - 8 or 9 (Mar - Nov) Weekend - cave camping - 1 (Dec - Feb) Weekend - cabin camping - 2 (Dec - Feb) Weekend - outdoor winter camping - 1 or 2 (Dec - Feb) Week long summer camp - Tents - 1 Extended adventure - Tents - High - 1 or 2 (Jun - Aug) Extended adventure - Tents - Moderate - 1 or 2 (Jun - Aug) If you did every overnight activity with the troop, you'd have around 35 to 38 nights. No one does it all, but a good percent of the troop has 30+ nights yearly.(This message has been ed

Beavah ... Mellow out. All the kids know him. He's an active parent in the troop and effectively a committee member. He has helped our events and we've helped his sheriff's department events (forming snow blocks, etc). In the last eight years, we've only had one scout who we've asked to be visit with the troop committee because of behavior. We had talked with the parents before and they understood why and we worked out how to handle the situation. Visiting the troop committee was almost a formality to impress the seriousness of what was happening.

raisinemright wrote: "I had a little incident with a municipal youth group I used to help lead. We caught a kid with some pot, disposed of it and set up a meeting with his parents with the intention of letting them handle the punishment, besides being kicked out of the club. The other leader was a cop but the kid didn't know it. He showed up to the meeting in uniform. Seeing the kid's look of utter fear, I had a hard time keeping s straight face." That's an absolutely great story. We have an active parent who's a deputy sheriff. He helps our troop and our troop helps some of his

Beavah wrote: "Yah, but in the end, what did the boys learn from that? Maybe somethin' about the fickleness or fears of adults, but certainly nuthin' about managing safety, exercising judgment themselves and all the rest." We never said no. We just said they should make sure they had adults to go with them and to find a few to commit early. They asked a few but could not find any willing to commit. It's a brutally tough hike with all your gear in good weather. But Feb can be -20F and I'm sure snow can drift above your head on the trail. Controlling a sled would be really hard. Plus

Just reading more what BSA says about scoutmaster approval. GTA does say scouts can have any number of partials, use multiple MBC per badge, no time limit, etc. BUT with approval ... ???? GTA IS CLEAR AS MUD GTA section 7.0.0.2 ... It tries to be explicit with statements such as "Although it is the Scoutmasters responsibility, for example, to see that a counselor is identified from those approved and made available, the Scout may have one in mind with whom he would like to work. He may also want to take advantage of opportunities at merit badge fairs or midways, or at rock-climbin