GKlose

I just brought up a Facebook profile a few weeks ago, and it's been amazing how many old and lost friends I've connected with since then. Friends that weren't easily connected to via LinkedIn or MySpace. I haven't run into any of the problems that some of you have run into yet, but then again, my kids aren't on (I think they're too young) and the only nieces and nephews I've connected with are the ones that requested it. It took me a few days to figure this out, but there is a certain "creepy factor" that has to be worked around with older folks on Facebook. I'm finding the "fan page

Had lunch with our DE yesterday, and told him that although we have a healthy FoS goal for this year (and only met about 60% of last year's goal), that the economy will be affecting things. He countered with the mantra of the SE -- "philanthropy has increased every year since blah, blah, blah". I'll bet they'll see the hit not only in FoS, but also in high-ticket things coming up -- camp attendance, WB signup, the council Philmont contingent, the centennial Jamboree contingent, etc. I also told him that although I don't fret about it, because it is way beyond my control, I have no idea ho

We do Scouting for Food on a council basis -- I didn't realize that national had dropped it. In our district, I'd estimate that half our units participated. In our town, 8 units, I'd guess that only 2 or 3 participated (ours was one). The "feeder pack" CM and I traded some email. He said that he didn't have time to take on a new project. I suggested that he just send out email to the pack and just do a collection from those families. He thought that was a good idea, but I don't think it happened.

Last spring, I tried mobilizing the four troops and four packs in our town for a town-wide service project (annual town cleanup, sponsored by the town's "solid waste advisory committee", for Earth Day). I even tried contacting the local GS Council (who wouldn't give me contact names for the units in our town). I'm thinking this is a really easy service project. The committee provides supplies, tools, water and snackage. Pick an area of town, show up, fill some trash bags, transport them back to the dumpster. What I got was crickets chirping. Not a single taker, including my older son

Stosh, that's interesting. Just a thin layer of coals? Above and below? I'd imagine there is a tendency for the bottom of something to burn.

I bought a minimum order of 12 (2-digit patches), which I think came out at around $29. Individual numerals are $1.19, I think, which means getting the custom numerals was fairly close to the same cost. I covered this in another thread: with the new digits, the font of the 2 and the 8 don't match (and it really bugs me!). So getting the custom insignia was my only choice. Guy

I received a PM asking me about the rustic camp with patrol cooking that I had mentioned. I found it listed on the council's website, in northern Indiana, and I checked out their website. It now lists, as a feature, an "air-conditioned dining hall". Just as a side note, I was probably around 7 summers as a scout. I remember going to summer camp at the council camp twice and doing summer camp on our own twice. One summer I was working on the council camp, and one year I think we skipped because the troop went to the national jamboree (I think I still went as a day camper, with another scou

Buff, maybe it's the minority opinion and maybe it's not, but at a troop visit last year, I heard an SM say "the troop owns the crossover ceremony." I think his rationale is that once the pack awards AoL, the troop takes over. In fact, the troop did it at one of their functions and didn't attend B&G banquets in order to do it. Again, maybe he's the minority opinion, but I think it goes to show there are different ways of viewing the process. My younger son's pack invites all troops who are receiving crossovers to participate at the B&G. The CM then hands a script to the adult

This is just pure speculation on my part, but when I hear something like "Webelos are not sure about joining a troop" I read that as "parents are not sure if they want their sons to continue with joining Boy Scouts". Not long ago, at a troop-sponsored Webelos open house (I'm the membership chair of the troop), I had pulled parents aside while their sons were being involved. I was hoping only to keep them for a few minutes, but with questions, our session dragged out the full length of the troop meeting. Cub parents are not always hip to what the Scout program is all about. I stressed, wit

Here are the requirements, as listed on usscouts.org: 8. Faith After completing the rest of requirement 8, do these (a, b, and c): a. Know: Tell what you have learned about faith. b. Commit: Tell how these faith experiences help you live your duty to God. Name one faith practice that you will continue to do in the future. c. Practice: After doing these requirements, tell what you have learned about your beliefs. And do one of these (d OR e): d. Earn the religious emblem of your faith* e. Do two of these:

I have the cotton blend shirt, and I like it much better than the old blend. I bought it a little larger than I should have, but the short tails are an issue. A DE I know has complained about two things -- he has the nylon version, and says that it amplifies B.O. (reminds me of an old joke: "I smell something awful!", and the other guy says "You sure do!"). He also doesn't like the way the patch pockets sit on the portly types. Guy

"When you go from having zero utensils to wash to having 400 forks to run through the washer, three times a day, that changes the job substantially." 400 forks isn't so bad, at least not in the dishwasher we had (an autofeed system). Forks, etc, would have been loaded in small baskets, loaded onto a special tray; pre-rinse with a sprayer, and then fed onto the track into the dishwasher. Popped out the other end and it was left to air dry. The hard part was plates, bowls and serving dishes. If that had some kind of gloppy food, that had to be removed by hand. We were on a septic syste

I don't know...I'm not the least bit offended by Kudu's comments, and I took them as sarcasm. As an overly-sarcastic person myself, I know firsthand that good, biting sarcasm always has at least a bit of truth in it. He's got a point, but on the other hand, there are hundreds of scout camps that have dining halls and kitchen staffs. I was on kitchen staff back in the 70s, long before WB/21C Police were around :-). After my last "tour" at camp, I visited another camp in an adjacent state, to see some old friends. I stayed for a good portion of the week. That camp was much more rustic

Come back to Boston! If you limited yourself to the Freedom Trail, you missed the Emerald Necklace, a 7+ mile-long series of interconnecting parks, laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted. There's always D.C. too. This time of year, you'd hit a bit warmer weather than the northeast! Guy

A year ago, prior to becoming involved with a troop, I didn't understand how important training or going to roundtables is. Want everyone on the committee on the same page with respect to the unit? Push training. I've found lots of adult leaders have a preconceived notion on how things should be run, but it might be an enlightening experience for them to hear directly about the program. The online training is quick and painless (Fast Start, Youth Protection). New Leader Essentials and Position-specific training takes either a couple of evenings, or one weekend day. In our council, th

"I do not like the idea of staff swimming and shooting while scouts are in program areas." At least at my old camp, that didn't happen. Which was the foundation of my complaint. There was one staff break time, from 4:30pm to 5:30pm where staff could visit those program areas -- campers were in their campsites, or at the trading post. My complaint was the kitchen staff didn't get equal treatment, while putting in longer hours. My son's present camp (and I'll be there for a week this coming summer) has a "siesta" time also in the late afternoon. This year, I heard the description that

"Also never really liked staff heading out to other program areas to shoot, swim, etc. Some of my young Ecology staffers would want to go away often. I reckon staff should stay in their own areas and provide the best program/services to scouts and scouters." I understand, but the camp where I worked (and the camp my son goes to), built in a staff rec time from roughly 4:30 to 5:30pm every day. Scouts would migrate back to their campsites, and staffers were free for this one hour. Staff swim time, or range time, was arranged on request. The problem was that the kitchen staff didn

shortridge offered this: "Seventh, be kind to the cooks and kitchen crews, if you have a dining hall program. Lend them a hand from time to time, and hang out with them when you get a chance. When you're out doing the glamorous stuff like putting up the flags in the morning, they're sequestered inside slaving over eggs-from-a-bag and mixing the umpteenth vat of bug juice for hundreds of (usually ungrateful) campers. Never complain about the food! Thank them for what they're doing, and maybe suggest to your boss that you open up the pool late one night or early one morning just for the sup

My advice is something you probably don't want to hear. I've been in a similar position where my older son transitioned to a scout troop last year. His younger brother, of W1 age, but with a 10th birthday just a few days after 4th grade started, is mentally done with Cub Scouts. He doesn't enjoy it any more. It took a lot of extra work on his part -- he did 1st and 2nd year Webelos activities, not only with his den of 4th-graders, but also with the older den as well. At this point, he has finished everything for AoL, and will receive it next month at the pack's Blue and Gold Banquet (this

About a year ago, I had virtually no idea what my district was all about, other than I knew the DE. I asked him if our town had a UC that covered units. The answer I got was "well..." and then an explanation of how the district is in a rebuilding process. I also received an invitation to join the district committee. Having been on the committee since last June or so, and being part of a unit committee, while also being closely associated with a Cub Scout pack that my youngest belongs to (my wife is more actively involved with that unit -- they meet on a night when I have a regular conflic

Back in the old days, weren't there national high adventure areas in Maine and Cumberland Gap? (I know for sure about Maine -- I was there in '76 -- and it still exists as a council-run base, with some of the same staff). I was gone from the program from about '78 until early this century, so I missed when both were dropped from the "national" high adventure program.

Just a simple thought, but maybe it doesn't always need to be such a big event. What about a simple potluck outdoor picnic? Games for Cubs and siblings. Nature hike? Also -- and I've heard this from some packs that don't have summer programs ("but it's so hard to coordinate summer schedules with everyone going on vacation") -- try not to get so hung up on finding a date where everyone can make it. Maybe 10 families will be around, rather than the whole group. It still might be a fun function for those that are around.

I'm starting to wonder if this was a troll. The kicker for me was the statement "I was going to sit the child down...". The other clue is the "1" post and not showing up since. Guy(This message has been edited by GKlose)

SSScout, we had a similar event (MassJam '08) last Columbus Day weekend, in the northeast. I don't recall the total number, but I think it was around 7000 scouts, not including staff, at a fairgrounds on Cape Cod. Surprisingly small, to me, event area. Five councils or so, covering at least MA, NH, CT and RI. I was skeptical at first, but honestly it was an extremely well-run event. I had two small quibbles about things, but neither of them had much to do with the organization itself.

I don't think it's so tricky, but I can see how some get confused. Excerpted from Webelos Badge requirements: # Be an active member of your Webelos den for 3 months (Active means having good attendance, paying den dues, working on den projects). Excerpted from Arrow of Light requirements: # Be active in your Webelos den for at least six months since completing the fourth grade (or for at least six months since becoming 10 years old), and earn the Webelos badge. My thought is that the AoL requirement doesn't say: "earn the Webelos Badge and then be active for six months", it