GKlose

I counsel seven merit badges, based upon my vocation, avocation and hobbies/interests. Signed up 3 years ago, and was trained (twice). I've gotten calls on most of them. In order of popularity: Music (about 10 scouts, 5 within the troop) Genealogy (1 outside the troop, 4 within the troop) Disabilities Awareness (4 within the troop) Computers (2 within the troop) Cooking (several starts, in and out of the troop, but only one from outside the troop has finished it) Photography (1 within the troop) Engineering (none) My guess is that calls are fairly random...most of the Mus

Barry's post: "Great post and I'm glad to see it working. I am curious to how you are getting the adults to change. Your above comment is 90 percent of the problem of changing the troop culture. Its not that adults don't want to change, they just don't see where to change, and don't know the steps to getting there." Barry, I wish I had some sort of magic formula that has worked 100% of the time. But I'm stumbling through it as best I can. I've figured, first of all, that I can't step on toes in the process. So I'm careful about what I say. In committee meetings, at first, I'd make comme

Our troop is smack-dab in the middle of a culture shift -- there are lots of reasons why we ended up where we are, but I think the important thing is that we're (finally) making step-wise progress. Just after my son joined, and I asked about the patrol method, the SM responded "we're working on that." But in reality, everyone was fine with the status quo, which was adult-led troop method. I decided to take on the challenge, and it hasn't been easy. Everyone says "never attempt to take on a culture shift" but I'm hard-headed and I did. I started with the troop committee. I didn't acce

I've always wondered about "drop and curl up" -- presumably, that wouldn't work too well if you've just finished eating a meal of grilled salmon, with your hands, and have happened to wipe your hands all over your clothes? :-)

It's funny, but of the five guys that I know that use a CPAP, not a single one of them is significantly overweight (well, one could lose about 10 lbs, but the others are all fairly lean). One of those guys didn't tolerate CPAP well, and had his entire jaw realigned, tonsils shaved, all sorts of things. After it was done, he said that he wished he hadn't done it. There is an old thread, as others have pointed out -- one example was a CPAP machine that uses rechargeable batteries (the "Everest" model), and another example was a portable/rechargeable battery (made by Black and Decker) connec

I recall earning T-1C prior to the '72 program revisions, and have no recollections of boards. I do have vague memories of boards after that, with committee members (and not other Scouts). Our troop, until recently, was having a Scout sit on boards every now and then (the chair also had turned boards into "grilling sessions" that were routinely failed). I'm not sure when the practice started, but when I was chairing a Life board last year, there was a recently-minted Life scout that started to sit in on the same board. I thanked him and told him "we've got this." He said "okay" and left t

I find it interesting that the Western Mass document points units to camps in both NY and CT (and not to other camps in MA). Granted a couple of those are probably closer, but Rochester, NY certainly isn't. Since I responded to this note, about a year ago, I've researched our local camps in much more detail, and I've come to the conclusion that it is a buyer's market. From where I sit, in NE Mass, I can think of at least 8 camps that are less than 90 minutes away, and I may be missing a couple. After several years of going to our council camp, we broke ranks this year and went to an

Thanks -- in all my years of playing (I moved from a tbn 12C to an 11C years ago) I never knew there was overlap in the numbering. Guy

pchadbo -- I just sent you a private message. There is also a really good online forum called cpaptalk.com, and there have been quite a few discussions about camping with a CPAP. There's also a story from someone who has tried using, somewhat successfully, an oral appliance called a PM Positioner. Guy

I know this is unsolicited advice, but here's a view on the receiving end... Two years ago, our Boy Scout summer camp promotions were done at roundtables by a Scout that was very nervous at making presentations. Things got much worse when he pulled out the video. It was like it was done by 10-yr-olds for an audience of 10-yr-olds. That isn't so bad, but when it goes on for 10+ minutes, that is too much for an adult to endure. I wasn't the only one that left the room for a few minutes. So even though I thought that was bad, this last year was much worse. There was a more organized eff

There are units that do pay for their adult leaders' training, Woodbadge included. Mine didn't, but then again, I didn't ask. I expect to become a CC someday, and I plan on implementing the policy. If we have an adult leader willing to make the commitment for Woodbadge, the course fee is a small price to pay. Guy

We use SOAR for our troop (along with Troopmaster), and have been quite happy. In fact, the biggest complaint I have, as the adult who brought in the idea and have set it up, is that our parents and scouts don't seem to want to deal with account names and passwords (but want the security -- go figure). I have to constantly remind parents of their accounts, and either give them instructions to reset their passwords and provide them new ones. Anyway -- customer support. I've not called them. But I have sent them email multiple times, and I doubt I've ever waited more than two hours for a re

In the old days, we had ways of dealing with moms... :-) There was a relatively new scout, but he was jr high school age, that joined the troop. His name was Chuck. One spring, a couple of days before a scheduled outing, there was an iffy forecast. Springtime in Ohio can be like that. Our SM was a schoolteacher, so he didn't get home until after 3pm. Chuck's mom had tried calling him at home, that Friday afternoon, but didn't get through to him (there were no home answering machines in those days)...Chuck's mom started calling around, and what started with "is the troop still camping

At least Mom didn't confront the SM, and demand that Timmy be put back in the other patrol!

My son was sort of in the same boat (except that we didn't hold him back -- his age fell just a couple of days after the cutoff date for Kindergarten, therefore he has always been one of the oldest in his class). When he reached his "Webelos I" year in 4th grade, he turned 10 just after the start of the school year. We could tell that he was mentally done with Cub Scouts. I asked my son if he wanted to compress the Webelos years and earn Arrow of Light by the time the second-year group was crossing over (about 7 months out). I told him it would mean extra work, and that he would have to d

Way back when, when my troop would backpack, we had small "cooking groups" of 4 Scouts...one group would use one stove, and backpacking meals were sized for 4 people (I have horrible memories of the Maine Nat'l High Adventure Area, which used a certain brand of pre-packaged food that said "feeds 4 young campers" in fine print -- we went very hungry that week, as a group). When we went to Philmont, we became one group of 12, as I recall. I think we used our SM's Optimus stove. So, a patrol of 8 having two backpacking stoves? That really isn't unreasonable. JetBoil now makes something

I'm going to amplify what perdidochas has said, only because I think it is very easy to be dismissive of the problem (which is becoming a much more common diagnosis) -- There is a sort of test that one goes through before being diagnosed with sleep apnea -- a series of questions, really. One of those questions is about sleepiness while driving. There are others: afternoon sleepiness, not feeling refreshed upon waking up, irritability, waking up with a headache (from lack of O2!), waking up frequently, nocturia (nighttime urination), snoring, lack of dreaming (because you're not getting in

(this is an insider's note!) SSScout -- you might have a little trouble fitting a Bach 12C into either a trumpet or a bugle :-). Might want to consider something closer to a Bach 7C, right? Guy (who has been using an 11C, but not on a bugle, for many years)

An interesting thought -- years ago, one of my friend's dads (a Scout dad, even) pointed out to me that a natural place for those sticky name tags was above your right pocket, so that when you are introduced to someone, and shake hands with them, the eye is naturally drawn to that side. But we scouts shake with the left hand! So wouldn't a more natural place for a name tag be on your lefthand side? :-) Guy

I recently ran a weekend patrol leader training for some of the "mid-level" scouts in our troop (not the oldest ones, who are virtually done, and not the newest ones, who are still learning how to be patrol members). I did exactly what everyone has suggested (find the old course, search online, keep it outdoors, etc) and I think it went fabulously. I got tremendous assistance from Bryan Spellman on this forum, who had remapped an entire JLT (the old program) curriculum and the newer TLT into a weekend event. I learned a few things along the way -- we needed plenty of break time, just for free-

Our council is about ready to offer our fourth University of Scouting (same day, Nov 6). After enjoying the last 3 of them immensely, I decided this time around I'd offer to teach a session (I'm covering one on the internet and creating unit websites). Our "Dean of Studies" has been careful about reading evaluation forms from past events, and he's decided to switch up a few of the less popular courses this time around. Just about every course I've attended has been great. If you're interested, you can see our course catalog here: http://www.yccbsa.org/Training/University/EMUoSCatlog2010.p

Last year, at our council's University of Scouting, I attended a session on getting parents to volunteer. Not that our unit has particular problems with volunteers, but I've seen the problem in prior units. When the instructor entered the classroom, he asked someone if they would hand out the stack of papers he was holding, as he got set up. Then he asked someone else if they could circulate a piece of paper, so everyone could write their name and email address on it. Then he asked yet a third person, saying "I always have trouble keeping track of time, so could you keep an eye on the clo

First: Reading (my mom was in training to be a librarian, so she set me up with a counselor at the local library). Favorite: Atomic Energy. One of my troopmates asked me if I wanted to work on it with him, and our SM found us a counselor -- a scientist at a local air force base research lab. He was very patient with us, and taught us a lot over the course of several weeks. We visited his lab, and he had the two of us do separate projects. I think my friend did a reactor model, while I built a geiger counter (which was really cool), using parts that this guy supplied us. I also sent away t

Not that I would suggest our troop as a model, but as a data point... We meet separately from troop meetings, once a month, and sometimes committee members will discuss things in either email or off to the side at a regular troop meeting. Our SM only misses committee meetings when he's out of town. In the last three years, I can't recall having a vote on anything -- we run on a consensus basis, and I don't recall any cases of dissension. Guy

Thanks, everyone -- I really appreciate the input. The online description of the program sounds great. I figure if I were to sign up, I'm looking at 2 or 3 years from now, so I'm hoping the course is good enough to stick around. :-) Guy