fred8033

In another thread, I also reflected on my disappointment with the commisioner service. My sons joined a pack that had real problems. I tried to get a commisioner to visit, but nothing happened. Eventually, I got a few council people to come and their presence helped straighten things out. Though some units may benefit from effective commisioners, I think the vast majority have never seen one, never benefitted or had a bad experience. In another thread, I suggested replacing commisioners with a unit-to-unit mentoring program. Each year, unit leaders visit a different unit and are vi

I agree. I look forward to seeing what Beavah and NJ say. I learn much from their posts. I'm betting the key is that ... we as scouts and scouters only succeed by the unstated agreement to work together. "giving orders to scouts" - Legally, we have no authority. Scouts have to be willing to accept our direction. If that relationship breaks down, our only recourse is to call their parents to pick them up or call the police because we are no longer responsibile for the health and welfare of the scout. We hand off that responsibility to someone with proper authority (parent

I hope SOAR continues to add features specifically designed for scouting. You can find our sites on the bottom of this page. http://greatrivers.nsbsa.org/Units.aspx (This message has been edited by fred8033)

In our troop, we plan that camp outs break even, summer camp too. Adults pay their own way too. We charge $75 annually per scout for membership. Standard fundraisers (wreath, popcorn, special ...). So, we'd want our bank balance (minus scout accounts) to be enough to cover at MINIMUM the next registration cycle and the next year of operating costs (not camping costs). I'd use a rule of thumb. For our troop, I'd want somewhere between $50 to $100 per scout in the troop general fund (unclaimed money). Your asking for trouble if you have more than $150 per scout in the account

drhink: "nobody is forcing you to stay." Your right. There are many scouting units I would not stay in, and in fact, my 2nd son left a troop because I did not like what the troop was teaching my son. I was recently on a many hour drive with my oldest son. Our chat included the question of what's the worst part of scouting. His comment came quick: Adults that take the program too seriously. If I leave a legacy in scouting, I hope my legacy is that more people join and stay in scouting because of my involvement. I'll trust the rest to the scouts and the program. As for the lase

We use www.soarol.com. Works great. It does cost money, but the extra features are well worth it. And no 3rd party advertising on it. Our pack and troop has been on it for 5 or 6 years. Works great!

drhink - My apologies. I should not have made the IQ crack. It was cheap. My family and our scouts just enjoy laser tag so much. There wasn't a time when we didn't leave the arena sweating and laughing and discussing all the things that happened. It's safe, exciting and gets the scouts hearts pounding from running around. And it's not really that much different then capture the flag or anyone of any of the other games that are really war based. Does the military and police use laser weapons for practice and skills development. Sure. But there's a difference between trainin

Not sure how to interpret G2SS for squirt guns ... but ... baning squirt guns and laser tag is silly. Period. It's so silly it's even hard to have a fact based discussion on the topic. Here's a few things to think about.... Join soccer, football or baseball. My eight year old's soccer clinic and team regularly had squirt gun fights after practice to cool down. They loved it. Bet he remembers that soccer camp for years. Our scouts regularly play laser tag. It's unofficial. No uniforms. Near by pack webelos often join us. Including one or two parents from the counci

jtswestark wrote: "how aggravating the part time leaders can be that take themselves and Scouting too seriously" So true! I was driving my 17 year old son to staff cub camp last night and we were talking. He said the worse part about scouts (as a staffer or a youth) are the adults that take the whole thing just too seriously. It creeps him out. I whole heartedly agree. Cozy vs formal It really depends. Formal for money (scout accounts, treasurer statements, ...), health forms, permission slips, youth protection and advancement (POR ... are we at six months or five mont

Leave the advancement legalism for Boy Scouts. It will come soon enough. For this discussion thread, I think it is important to differentiate between Boy Scout advancement and Cub Scout advancement. Though both are theoretically the same, there is a difference. "Do your best" is key in Cub Scouts. We want cubs to have a positive experience that provides growth (skills, responsibility, maturity, social, ...) but also encourages transition to Boy Scouts. So for Webelos advancement, I'd look to find a way to make the pins be a great experience and not just a check list to get done

"spirit of the law" ... great comment. That's dead on right. The BOR is to celebrate and inspire the scout. As such, we want to get the BOR's done as soon as possible after the scout requests one. Plus, the reason for committee members is that the BOR is the quality control for the troop program (not for the scout). Parents and others can serve that function too even though it's not ideal. Youth on a BOR? I'm fairly new (10 years), but I've never seen that mentioned in the ACPP. I know troops that include youth as members of their BORs. It's clearly different than how BSA "curre

INTERROGATION - As for this specific incident... Completely inappropriate. It's abusive. Period. It will be the most vivid memory of camp for all those scouts and probably the trigger to end more than one scouting experience. If the camp staffers really feel it's that significant, work with the unit leaders, call the cops or throw us out of camp. As a unit leader ... If I was feeling at all uncomfortable with what they were doing, I'd put a stop to it. In fact, I'd try to understand what they were going to do BEFORE the interrogations started. I'd hope I could re-route the process to some

Apply the Scout Oath and Law. Apply the BSA goal of being a responsible citizen. This is a classic ethics dilemma. A staffer stuck in the middle between higher ups saying to use multi-year expired food, manufacturers saying it's not good after the expiration date and a customer that depends on you. At some point, I have to ask myself if I'm being responsible, trustworhty, loyal, helpful, ...? Am I doing my duty to God and my country? Is it the right thing to do? It's also a textbook legal question. Did anyone publish a written document saying that the three-year expird food i

Last time we did Disney, it was $70 something per person. Now, if you walk up to the gate, it's $85 per person (10 years and up) and $79 (3 years old to 9 years old) !!!! But the park is always full. So I guess they can charge what they want to charge. No wonder that mouse is always smiling. For our pack, we don't charge for camping. It's free to the families except the park pass for each car. The park group site is cheap at $45 per night. Food is potluck with pack supplying $200 worth of hamburgers and hotdogs. It's a great program and we want people to come. For our troop

Lions was a positive experience in our pack this last year. Of the 10 lion cubs, we're getting all 10 back. I also agree with the view of too much coddling. I think that is where we lose too many scouts. Promise adventure. Deliver mundane. I've seen it at our family camps repeatedly. The 4th and 5th graders are bored doing a program setup for the lowest common denominator, tigers and now lions. Each rank needs increased challenges. The best advice I've seen recently is to run Webelos similar to Boy Scouts. Include youth leadership. Include youth planning. Include hikes,

IMHO ... If the scout is wearing his uniform says something 60% about him and 40% about his family. If the uniform has all the right decorations says something 30% about the scout and 70% about his family. It's the rare scout that puts his own patches on his shirt. Just my opinion. In my house, it's not unusual to have a morning hunt between five bedrooms for the right size of shirts, socks and underwear. It's common to have excitement before scout meetings trying to find the right scout shirt. Every family's different.(This message has been edited by fred8033)

Everything in ACPP page 29 about BOR uniforming is a "should". A requirement is a SHALL or MUST. For example from the ACPP ... "The decision of the board of review is arrived at through discussion and MUST be unanimous." Or ... "At least one district or council advancement representative SHALL be a member of the Eagle board of review, ...." I applaud positive encouragement, rewarding uniforming and leading by example. I just don't believe in the opposite site of it.

Stick with spreadsheets. Microsoft Excel or GoogleDocs. Our pack has $30,000 going through checking every year and we only use Excel. QuickBooks or accounting packages need dedication and expertise beyond the average volunteer. If your an accountant already, go for it. Just don't expect to hand it off successfully. I tried GnuCash. I was very underwhelmed. Keep it simple and quick. Make it easy to hand-off.

Work with your CC to make him comfortable with it. Maybe ask about what you and the ASMs can do to minimize distractions during the committee meeting. Or ... I'd rather not call it a "power play" as much as someone trying to do it by the book or someone learning the job or someone trying to find a way to run the meeting. Also, UC's (bless their heart) sometimes make suggestions that need more context to integrate. The UC was absolutely correct by the book, but it shouldn't be an issue if someone else sits in.

Scouting is generally an "open" activity. No secret societies. No hidden processes or procedures. "Normal" on-going activities (troop meetings and committee meetings) should be open for observance. Camps and other outings are generally open as long as we don't detract from youth interacting with youth. Dealing with "sensitive" person-specific issues can require privacy at times to avoid creating a larger problem, to avoid gossip and to protect reputations. With that said, why would you document who can NOT attend? Heck, most scout groups I know don't vote on things. It's mo

"Great council promotion website. Easy to use with multiple options for searching. How does your council get the word out to the community about the website?" The AdventureIsCalling.org site is promoted on every flier and anything resembling recruitment material. Also, it's been called out on TV, radio and web. Here's the best commercial that was used for it. http://www.scoutinggoodforlife.org Very touching ad. The council marketing director does a 1st class job between centenial events, jamboree events and such. My favorite was a Lego convention from last month. I was very

"Somewhere along the line deep in District Lore we picked up the notion that the Eagle Project Planning should be complete enough if the Scout could not complete the project, another scout could pick up the plan and follow it to completion" I've often wondered about this too. It's a pretty universally accepted statement. BUT, can we hold up a scout because they don't provide that level of detail even if we think they have good grasp of their project? While it seems like a good idea (documenting such that another scout can complete the project from the plan), I've never found it

If your troop is like most troops, your real challenge will not be switching to official BSA publications. The real challenge would be changing troop practices to meet the scouting program as documented by the BSA. #1 Keep it brief. Anything too long just won't be read. #2 Document carefully that which is unique to your troop - practice ---- where and when the troop meets - Money ---- dues, prorating, boys life subscriptions, ... ---- how fundraiser profits are divided ---- when money is refunded ---- if and when you pay for milage ---- reimbursement proc

ANNUAL PLANNING SESSION - Our big focus is reflection and making improvements. Similar to STOP, START, CONTINUE. What isn't working? What should we start doing? What should we continue doing. Another form of Roses, Thorns and Buds. - Much of our year is cookie cutter. We try to work in a little variety. - We try to get each den to step up a level to reflect that their kids are more mature. Webelos don't want to do the same things they did as Tigers. - We try to work in service projects during the year. One in fall. one in spring. Two or three during the summer. Make t

I think BeAScout.org is just not promoted enough or correctly. We've received dozens of calls over the years from our council unit promotion web site. http://AdventureIsCalling.org Not a single call from anyone using BeAScout.org. But then again, the council does not promote BeAScout.org and has for many years promoted the AdventureIsCalling.org site. Plus, the old version of BeAScout.org was hard to use, slow and clunky. The AdventureIsCalling.org is quick and also includes unit mapping if you punch in your home address. Try it with zip code 55125. For a map, searc