fred8033

I've reviewed and signed 300+ eagle project proposals. I've been on EBORs and helped many scouts. My personal opinion is that all the requirement "hoops" are guidance to create a quality program. Focus on the quality and the program. Opportunities for advancement can naturally occur within that structure. Get these scouts out doing things. Camping. Volunteering. Exploring opportunities. There is no "ideal" scout path except individual paths that keep the scout active. Make sure these new scouts get a big activity every year. Maybe a few big/moderate activity every year. Eac

I'll add a few that I think are key Weight when empty - Gear only adds more weight. Our trailer is 6x12 or 7x12 and must be 1500+ pounds empty. So even empty, vehicles are affected by the trailer. On one camp out, we rented a low profile UHaul aluminum trailer. We had that thing packed tight and you could still not feel it behind the car. Wind drag - How high and what shape is the trailer? Some trailers will pull easier than others just because of shape and height. Steel or aluminum - This directly goes to weight but also affects cost. But, a light weight trailer wil

"If I could go back in time to when I started scouting" ... I'd do what I saw another troop do that I thought was really cool. They found an old broken down medium sized pop-up camper. The gutted it. Removed all the heavy weight junk until it was just a shell. Then, they re-sealed the base and used it as one big portable storage box. The low profile reduced wind drag. Even a minivan could pull their scout trailer. The pop-up camper top was still in-tact. A scout on each end could lift the cover and lock the roof up so they could access the insides. The openness of t

Fully agree. The only limitation I'd have is if the troop really has special unique rules. Such as if the scoutmaster requires service hours to be pre-approved or done within a troop coordinated event. If that's the expectation, I'd fully document it in advance. Same with eagle project proposal approvals. ... but I'd argue ... units just don't need to create special rules. Keep it simple. Keep it fun. BSA has lots already documented and laid out. The scout is already carrying around his Boy Scout handbook. I would not expect a scout to carry around bylaws or have to read a committee

I fear this is more a threshold issue than any specific oath or law issue. Also, as a leader, I try to avoid hard line responses as you can only do that so many times before the scouts stop coming to you. I'd approach it more as being smart and having a conversation of equals and not a adult-leader-telling-youth conversation. I'd approach it as this is an age of youth-protection where there have been abuses. We are also in an age where people can easily mis-interpret. Even more, people are actively looking for gotcha opportunities to prove how politically correct they. So, many may

I agree. Filling PORs with scouts teaches our scouts a bad lesson and can lesson the perception of scouting's value because scouts are checking boxes and getting credit for a title instead of doing something. This reflects a comment that I wrote and removed earlier. Too often leaders get caught up teaching leadership as if it was the only benefit of scouting. There are lots of benefits. But those benefits are benefits, not the core focus. Focus first on the promises of scouting. Adventures. Friendships. Learning new things. Being part of a gang of friends. If troop leaders foc

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Model the desired program early. Don't wait. Doing anything else creates a program that's not scouting. Get the scouts ... AND THE ADULTS ... accustomed to scouts being in-front and driving the program and the adults in the background. ... If you have 10 or fewer scouts, then you don't need a SPL. Just have a PL. Or if you have 10 to 15 scouts, have two PLs that coordinate with each other. But somewhere after the second patrol is created, the scouts should choose a SPL. A brand new scout may not be as effective as a fifth year SPL, but that's not the point. If you want effective

I'm not sure how much news this is. Our many years of Cub Scout camps were very much family camp. Some families had both parents there. Family camp may be just a re branding that the scouting program so desperately needs.

Tatung42 ... My apologies. I never meant to infer you did not know or that you were unreasonable. I fully understand and I've been there. I was in your situation 12 years ago with my second son. I had taken him on long canoe trips. Overnights on a local slow moving river with my father-in-law. I think it created some great memories for both of us. Then, the den wanted to go on a canoe trip as part of their fun. But we did follow BSA's rules and we grumbled quite a bit about it. It seemed ridiculous that an outdoor program put such tight restrictions on their members. On BS

Did you find "gently flowing water" here? https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/HealthSafety/pdf/680-685.pdf I always first refer to the Guide To Safe Scouting. https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34416.pdf Page 15 says "Cub Scout activities afloat are limited to council, district, pack, or den events that do not include moving water or float trips (expeditions)." I fear BSA's internal documentation has internal conflicts way too often. Their age sheet says it's okay for wolf and above. Their G2SS Safety Afloat says no. BSA really needs to gear up their quality

This is more an issue with approach than unclear definitions. Though these sentences are worded as they are for a reason, BUT the more important point is our attitude when working with scouts. Arguing legalities means we are not supporting the scouts in a friendly constructive way. Worry less about legalities and more about being supportive and helpful to the scouts.

Two more syllables. Otherwise, "demonstrate" infers a bit more "doing" than "show". Dictionaries say both "show" and "demonstrate" are about displaying, but "demonstrate" is about displaying the method of doing something.

I assumed you were making a point that I missed. Partials have no expiration except the scout turning 18. BSA Guide To Advancement, Section 7.0.3.3 Partial Completions ... "Partials have no expiration except the Scout’s 18th birthday."

EBORs will never see the physical blue cards unless the scout chooses to bring them. I've been on many boards and never seen them brought or people ask to examine. The EBOR wants to see that BSA national has a record of the MB being earned. That's it. The rest of the record keeping is between the scout and the troop. With scouts and MB counselors, we need to keep our "procedures" flexible and supportive. If you want to find the procedure details to implement, read BSA's Guide To Advancement, Section 7 The Merit Badge Program. That's what's expected and that's what we can hol

Qwazse was right and well written. Deal with the scout as an honest individual who can represent himself. Be friendly, not inquisitive. Looking for understanding, not laying down the rules. My area of emphasis would be different though. I'd ask ... Why do you have the blue card? Give it to the scout. Incomplete MBs are the scout's responsibility, not yours. Maybe take a picture just in case the kid loses it. That's just being helpful. The point is incomplete merit badges are between the scout and his counselor. If that counselor is now gone (MB fair or summer camp), then help

I've often seen biased judging too and I rarely like camporees competitions, unless we win. But except for the physical size, I don't see much advantage by older scouts. Younger scouts often benefit from more recent teaching and being a little more focused. Older scouts have size, but have often forgot or are not as committed to the competition. My experience is few older scouts really care about the competition.

I just don't see the issue. New patrols can very easily win a camporee competition ... if they prepare and are motivated. The SM should always be inspiring and encouraging the scouts to grow. But that's different than always setting the direction and the specifics. The skill is knowing how much, how far and which direction. Inspiring a four year patrol to win a camporee can often alienate scouts. Camporee competitions are good for scouts in their first few years. After that, it's a been-there-done-that situation. So then we look for the next growth opportunity. Adult lead

Putting temporary badges on the back of the sash is per BSA uniforming guide. Page 11, "Excess Insignia" ... "Scouts may wear only temporary patches (no badges of rank) on the back of the merit badge sash." I know scouters can posture on many different issues, but this is really one that we should celebrate and not ridicule. There are way worse uniforming creations than what is worn on the back of the sash. I have my hot button ones too, but our role is to celebrate the scouts and not look down on them.

I fully agree. I'd also suggest developing your own plan for camp. Such as ... bring two or three large books to read. Or bring wood carving supplies for yourself. Or work on your schoool lesson plans for next year. Or a sewing kit. Or take lots of naps. Create a plan for yourself so that you are busy. Maybe there are courses at the summer camp for adults to become trained adult leaders. I've seen that too. But make your activities boring for your son so that he goes off on his own with his friends and grows.

I had this and several other issues with the centennial uniform. I did returns and received new only to have similar issues. It really killed my excitement for uniforming sharpness. It's hard to be enthused to show a quality uniform when the source doesn't provide a quality product.

Voting only helps if that is the personality of the unit committee. Otherwise, it's best done by consensus. That's my experience. Your mileage can vary. Leave details to those taking responsibility for doing the work. I'd practice a few ways of politely saying that in the committee. I'd ask the questioning parent ... as relaxed as possible ... something like ... "is that a show stopper or can we leave the details to the blue and gold chair?" ... "are you volunteering to help the blue and gold chair?" ... It really depends on your personality and whether you can say it politely with

Sensitive subject to me. I've had three Oscar de la Renta uniforms. One for pack. One for troop. And one that flip flopped. Worked well for ten / twelve years. Then came the centennial uniform. I was enthusiastic. I bought four to switch over to support the update. Then, the pants tore (never had trouble with the previous pants ... in fact previous are still good). The new belts all broke. Never had trouble with previous belts. Letters fell off the shirt. Seams gave. etc etc etc. That really really broke my enthusiasm for investing in sharp uniforming and definitely

I fear BSA's writing is a feedback reflection of the common reality. It's not the best practice, but it's a common reality. I've seen the details of five local troops. All those troops brag about how they are boy-led with the inference the others are not. They all brag and argue about how to ideally structure patrols. But all those troops only created troop level plans for camping, activities, skills, learning, competitions, etc. ... except my first two or three years in 2005 to 2007, I never saw any scoutmasters encourage patrols to create their own activities or camp outs or unique ide

I don't understand the issue. BSA's 404 error reflects a web-site with content changing with re-writes to for gender. And, it's not going smoothly. . Nothing I've seen indicates patrol method is at all being eliminated or slighted. What I do see is BSA's literature is largely unchanged. I like the 1950s wording better, but it's largely the same concept adjusted for after 2010 youth protection. But, the concept has not changed. Looking at the 1950s Boy Scout Handbook, the description is largely the same. https://archive.org/details/officialboyscout71967boys/page/82 .... page 88