fuzzievohs

Troop Committee approved it.

Expanding it and inviting other units to play.

Rules are very simple, and vague, intentionally.

1. Start with BSA Pinewood Derby Kit.

2. Car starts at the finish line, in center track.

3. You cannot push the car.

4. No pyrotechnics.

5. Car can't leave the track.

Winner: Furthest up the track. If a tie, fastest time. Still tied, we run them until there is a winner. No maintenance in between runs.

I can't wait to see what the patrols come up with!

Got any other suggestions?

I got a very decent price quote for embroidered name tags for the entire troop.

The Troop Committee nixed any name tags for scouts over Megan's Law concerns about predators seeing a scout in uniform and calling him by his last name.

No good deed, right....

Hovering at 18" in my hammock,

Fuzzie

We've been doing this for a long time.

Troop uses PayPal. The fees are not too bad.

http://carlisletroop189.com/

The Council has a Authorized.net account.

http://newbirthoffreedom.org/

Both have been a good experience.

Hovering around 18" in a hammock...

Fuzzie

Gotta love the Scout Handbook app...searchable scout handbook. A lot lighter than the paper version. Made us rethink the "no-electronics" rule.

I have just about every SM resource electronically, including the SM Handbook. Bought it, scanned it, put in on the iPad. Same with most MB books, troop policies, SM Conference worksheets, etc.

We don't use troopmaster...Instead, we use an application called Troop Record Book, which we customized for our troop. Works perfectly on the iPad.

At the council level, we've been using Eventbrite for class registration.

Now, if I could just find an electronic version of the Field Book...preferably the version from when I was a scout...back when we used to camp in 5' of snow, year round, hike 5 miles for water, 3 times a day, slay rabbits and squirrels to make stew.

Hovering at 18" from a hammock...

Fuzzie

Troop22,

I don't disagree...

We've chosen a different course right now, but that could change.

Our CO is a limestone church...those thick walls take care of the issue for us during meetings :-)

Our usual camps are out of cell range; Mother Nature solves the problem.

For those camps in cell range, a couple of leaders built a Troop solar charger (external outlet, with a solar light glued to it, strapped to a tree), charging $5/hr to charge cell phones. So far, no scout has been duped...but I regret to report at summer camp last year, no less than 5 scouters saw me with my laptop "plugged" into the solar charger and commented on how cool that technology was. I bet their troop committee meetings are fun!

Hovering right about 18" in a hammock...

Fuzzie

Our troop used to ban all electronics. Annually, we have an Electronic Camp, which the scouts see as a reward system where each member of the patrol gets to bring one electronic device. We typically have a contest prior to the camp, and any patrol reaching the goal is also permitted to bring a 6 outlet surge protector.

Now, don't laugh, but we've had patrols bring a tv, game system, ipod, heater (it's our January camp), and the like. They have a blast. We get near 100% participation.

I say they see it as a reward camp. As SM, I used it to transition the troop from an adult-run to boy-run troop. After the first year, I sat the PLC down and reviewed the incredible amount of teamwork that went into it. I told them my expectations for each camping trip were the same--patrol teamwork!

Fast forward a bit. We have struggled on other outings with scouts sneaking a cellphone or ipod. It really made the whole "A scout is Trustworthy" bit challenging. So, we are considering the Tech Chit.

http://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/award/tech_chip-2052.asp

It hasn't been put into place yet, so stay tuned.

Oh yeah, in case you wanted to read more about Electronic Camp, see this:

http://carlisletroop189.com/electronic-camp-recap/

http://carlisletroop189.com/electronic-camp-update/

I wish I could fly at 300'...

Hovering right about 18" in a hammock...

Fuzzie

Alright Eagle92, I just had to clean the coffee from the screen...LOL!

Just think how the scouts are going to react, if you guys are getting excited.

We tweaked the rules a little, and added: "The vehicle can not leave the track." This might limit the rocket use.

I can't wait to see what the patrols come up with! I'd better get Inventing and Model Design counselors ready to attend.

Oh, and in case the scouts weren't in cubs and don't know what a Pine Wood Derby track looks like, the entire troop will be attending the Pack Derby, in full uniform, to see it first hand (and support the cub scouts)!

Because I enjoy this virtual campfire so much, I had to post this:

We are batting around a new patrol competition - a reverse Pine Wood Derby, where the only main rules so far are:

1. You must start with a Pine Wood Derby block of wood.

2. The car must start from a dead stop, and travel up the ramp, from the center track.

They can build/create just about anything they want. As long as it fits on the track. The furthest car wins. In case of a time, the fastest, furthest car wins...in case there is still a tie...we'd run them until there wasn't.

The race will be outside, in case some patrol opts to use rockets.

Have any of you ever tried something like this?(This message has been edited by fuzzievohs)

We just got a quote from www.MilitaryUniformSupply.com. Our troop is looking at these very closely. Maybe not for the scouts, but for the scouters.

Right now, none of the scouts or scouters wear any name tags. We just assume everyone knows everyone.

Do you scouts wear name tags?

Why do you need nametags?

I think the leaders need to have name tags so new parents and scouts can easily identify who they are talking to.

Mail to that domain gets returned as undeliverable...is anyone using that system?

Not sure if this is in the right spot or not. If not, please tell me where to post it.

Our Council used to use doubleknot for our merit badge class registrations at camp. We have moved our website to a Wordpress-based platform and are looking for a new solution to the merit badge class registration process.

We just used EventBrite for two Merit Badge College programs. That seemed to work fairly well.

We are looking at myBSACamp for the summer camp merit badge registration, and we are also looking at having a Wordpress plugin written that would work with our existing website.

So, couple of questions:

1. What process do you use?

2. What do you not like about it?

3. What would you like to see it do?

YiS,

Chuck

I'm almost ready, for adults, to dump everything off the shirt, period. One hang tag ... Name, position & unit, council. That's it. No OA, no Jambo, no Silver Beavers as though they were the Congressional Medal of Honor, no WB beads and necker...

I think I am there too. I might leave the SM POR on it (it will be hard to take the Eagle knot off, but I am leaning toward that).

Recently, our council merged with another council. A new CSP was born...I took that opportunity to get the CO to buy the new CSP for each scout. I bought one for each adult I had seen in some sort of uniform...and enclosed a letter, summarized as: "Please sew this patch on and wear your full uniform to set an example for the scouts; don't just wear a part of it." I haven't seen a shirt-only scouter since; and most of the scouts are always in full uniform.

Didn't see that.. I need some sleep.. just got home late from a business trip.

Back from PTC?

This knot seems to be going in the right direction.

I only wear two hats right now: VP and SM. I thought Velcro might solve the problem of wrong POR. I even went so far as to make green/silver shoulder loops (cut them in half, sewed them back together).

In the long run, it doesn't work for me. But it might for others.

For it to work, I would need Velcro for the numbers, OA Flap, some square knots, and a non-approved Old Goat Patrol patch (please no lectures from the patch police). It just got too silly.

So I have a couple of different shirts: Wood Badge (don't wear anymore because WB21 doesn't want you to), VP (don't wear too much, just large District or Council events), SM (have 3 or 4 that get a lot of wear and tear).

For sale: matching set of green/silver shoulder loops, only $25 plus shipping and handling!

Only my 2nd Post here, so please ignore and don't read any further.

This Thread ought to be mandatory as part of the registration system. "Thanks for visiting, enjoy your seat at the campfire, but you don't get to speak until you read this thread."

Every volunteer who goes through IOLS without needing it just spent 2+ "volunteer days" doing something other than working with kids. Every volunteer instructor who teaches a class to people who don't need it just spent his or her "volunteer time" doing something that didn't help kids.

Amen to that...how about this simple test: Ask the scouts which leaders in their troop know their scoutcraft?

(This message has been edited by fuzzievohs)(This message has been edited by fuzzievohs)