GS-CS_leader

I'm guessing that the "Stitchmagic" Gunny2862 is referring to is either a glue or a iron-applicable fusable webbing. Girl Scouts used to sell a glue that was a lot like clear silicone caulking (complete with toxic fumes), and then replaced by the iron-on mesh stuff. Neither of those products worked that well. But the "Badge Magic" (badgemagic.com) adhesive sheets do work quite well. It is BSA-approved and sold at most council shops and scoutstuff.org. They even have kits with the badge shapes pre-cut, although if you cut your own shapes out of the plain sheets you can cover more badges per she

>>>I have told my son that if he becomes an Eagle he will need 22 merit badges as the one merit badge he earned from old SM didn't cover all of the requirements. He seems OK with this. I expect more from my son than I do from other kids and I don't expect them to do the same thing. Given that the official record says that your son earned the MB, that you are not proposing to revoke the MB, and that you are the only one holding your son up to a higher standard, couldn't your son just properly do the requirements for the badge that he didn't do before? If the requirements are not

Yes, you could integrate sewing requiremtns into the current "Textile" MB. For requirements, see: http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php?title=Textile I agree that some components of sewing could (should?) be added to the Textile MB. After all, a piece of canvas or other fabric is not very useful before it is cut and sewn into something else. And I also feel more specific "home ec" skills should be required in the "Family Life" MB. Some boys probably do these things as part of the "home duties" or "chores", but I think that specifically household chores should be mentioned separate

I like scoutldr's suggestion to make sewing on a badge a rank requirement. That way any time after that rank, there would be no good excuse for badges stapled on, although these days with Badge Magic perhaps that doesn't happen as much. I sew on my own badges (just earned a Leader's knot ) and the badges of my Cub Scout son (I'll teach him when he crosses over to BS), but even after teaching my GS, I have to admit that when I found out about Badge Magic, I told my GS families about it and collected a group order (along with my CS den families) to buy it directly from the manufacturer for a so

Maybe "Tailoring" would sound less "feminine". That reminds me of the son of one of my mother's friends who was an amazingly accomplished tailor before he was even in high school, sewing many items of clothes for himself. Since he was a small, skinny kid, it allowed him to have the clothes he wanted in a size that fit. I expect that he also altered store-bought clothes, but it was hearing about the suits that he sewed himself that impressed me. However, this boy hid the fact that he sewed his own clothes because he was afraid that other boys would make fun of him if they knew that he sewed. So

I've spun off a new thread about the idea of a sewing merit badge: http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewthread.asp?threadID=171435 In brief, I think that sewing can be seen as an outdoor skill and thus relevant to Boy Scouts.

In discussing the required merit badges for Eagle, a poster suggested the idea of a sewing merit badge. I think that it's a great idea. Here are my comments: I agree that there should be a sewing merit badge. Before I mention my Girl Scout troop, let me say that I'm also going to discuss why how a sewing merit badge is relevant specifically to the Boy Scouting program with its outdoor activities emphasis. I had my GS troop work on a sewing badge when they were bridging to the "Junior Girl Scout" level. They got new vests, so I taught them how to sew on badges (two techniques dependin

Hi, Lisabob! You gave me some wise and understanding advice a year and a half ago when I was trying to find a new pack for my den. Now that the scouts of my den are second year Webelos, maybe I can offer you the perspective from the other side of troop recruiting. I am very much in the process of trying to arrange for my den to visit Boy Scouts for the Arrow of Light requirements as well as speaking extensively with SM and visiting three different troops to try to find the best one for my son. I think DonM has a good suggestion for attracting Webelos. I recently learned how much "fu

Excuse me, Torveaux, but you seem to have been so anxious to lecture about bedtimes that you didn't bother to read the original posting carefully. The meeting was only moved to *7pm* so it is almost certainly finished well before 9pm (I'm guessing by 8pm which is why I suggested that the girl could just be picked up a little early). And the members seem to prefer the slightly later time too since they are now getting to the meeting on time. Anne doesn't say that anyone else is complaining or not coming. So why do you say "nobody comes"? I agree that 10pm does sound like a late bedtime, but it'

I didn't subscribe to Scouting when I was in our old pack, but the new pack just buys a subscription for every member out of the annual fees it collects. I was just going through the Sept 2007 Scouting magazine before tossing it into the recycling bin and I found some great information for new leaders. Turns out that you can get the "program helps" in other ways besides as an insert in the Scouting magazine. The current, next, and past months are available in pdf online at www.scouting.org/cubscouts/resources That webpage also has a lot of links that would be very helpful for you, especiall

DenZero, Now I understand why you would rather have a small pack. Nearly 20 boys in a den does not make for an ideal program in my opinion. I truly sympathize with your situation, having been in similar situations myself. Like your pack, my current small pack has a nearby very large pack. However in our case, the big pack at a neighboring school has not been nice in the way they have aggressively tried to recruit from my pack's main school. They got some scouts from my pack's school a few years ago when my pack had problems and have let our CM know that they think it is inevitable t

Denzero, is your pack a relatively new one just trying to get off the ground or an old one that has fallen on hard times? And if the pack has no den leaders, then what adult leadership does it have? I notice that your profile says you are a CC. Does the pack at least have a really good CM? However, regardless of what other adult leadership the pack has, you really can't have Cub Scouts without DLs. You can get by without ADLs, and you can even get by with a DL who is also CM (my son's current pack is like this), but what you have won't really be CS without DLs. And I think that without DLs yo

You are absolutely right, Jayne. I came close to burning out myself in the first few years until I realized that I couldn't be everyone's mother. I do feel sorry for children whose parent(s) are so unwilling to go to any effort for them. These parents are often so self-centered that they resent even spending a few minutes to take their children to scout meetings, so they certainly do not take their children to museums or sports events or do crafts with them---which is why their children tend to benefit the most from scouts. This same self-centered attitude causes them to expect that sched

Jayne, in my 9th year as a Girl Scout leader, I sure appreciated the chuckle your GS leader phone answering system gave me! Anne, I've had my share of difficult parents over the years. Sad thing is that it's usually the girls with the difficult parents that you feel would miss out the most if they left GS, so you tend to bend over backwards for them. But if you bend too far, you'll break, and give up being a leader at all, and then all the other girls will miss out too. I agree with the person who suggested that you respond to unreasonable complaints by telling the parent how sorry yo

Our district usually has an annual "Webelos Woods" in which troops camp from Fri-Sun and Webelos are invited for Saturday (with den and/or parent) and optionally Saturday night (with a parent). I was not able to attend that event last year, but my ADL's son did with his dad, and that experience pretty much sold them on our pack's affiliated troop whom they camped with. I attended our council's 100th anniversary Camporee with my son two weeks ago. Most Webelos visited only during the day on Saturday, but my son and I stayed overnight. It was certainly interesting for me to wander around t

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Northeast Illinois Council's 100th anniversary Camporee with my Webelos son. An organizer said that there were 1700 people registered for the event. Not bad considering that a number of units did not attend although they had planned to be (such as a troop that I had wanted to check out)-- a SM said there were some conflicts with high school home-coming weekends. The event ran from Friday night through Sunday morning, with Webelos scouts invited for Saturday and optionally Saturday night. Based on the large number of cars arriving on Sat which were gone by Satur

This is a story from my husband's Philmont trip with his troop in the late 70's. One night the cooking of the main dinner dish was assigned to a scout who was nice guy, but not too bright. The directions for the "Turkey Good and Hearty" said to add water to the "yellow powder" for the gravy. The scout dumped together ALL the packages of yellow powder, obviously without reading the labels because some of the packages were for banana pudding! So they had sweet banana-flavored turkey stew that night.

"While I personally have not found anything that dictates Girl Scouts are prohibited from using BB guns, I have been told by many people in our school that they were told they couldnt. They were also told they could not participate in archery as well as several other items." From the GSUSA "Safety-Wise" book (c. 2000): BB guns: I think BB guns would be considered to be "firearms". For activities involving firearms, written authorization is required by their Girl Scout council, and GS councils may not authorize these activities for GS under age 12 Archery: "Archery is not recommende

" From what I've read, males are actively discouraged from being primary GS leaders" National GSUSA literature explicitly provides for male leaders, however some individuals impose their own predjudices. There is the example of a male GS leader in my community (Eagle Scout who luckily has daughters because as an openly gay man, he would be banned from BSA memberhsip). He has been warmly embraced by the parents of his scouts and other GS leaders in the community. He was so enthusiastic and volunteered for everything that no one else wanted to do in our Service Unit. The council SHOULD have

Scoutnut: >Yup, in GSUSA, the council owns the Troop, it's money & it's equipment. And in BSA the CO *technically* owns all of the above. I have to say that from my perspective it is ludicrous to suggest that GSUSA is more controlling than BSA. However, the BSA/GSUSA debate, which I do not wish to continue, belongs on another thread which you may start if you want. I probably should never have mentioned my GS council experiences on this thread in the first place, but I was trying to explain why I was expecting the worse and showing that I had already dealt with scouting staff who a

MarkS: >There is no reason any pack you want your boys to join should say no. This thread is admittedly too long for most people to want to wade through. But there are indeed issues explained in previous posts. >However, the Committee Chair of the unit you want to join has to approve >new leaders and their needs may not be consistent with the job you want to >do. If only all packs were so lucky to have multiple volunteers for the >same jobs. As stated in previous posts, Pack B has NO DENs at the level of my son or the other den in our pack. Pack B doesn't h

Newbie Den Leader: >I was going to suggest that you consider being a Cubmaster for your Pack, but it sounds like you >have your hands full being involved in both Girl Scouts and Cubs and that may not be feasible for >you. > >In many situations, with a Pack size of 10 boys, you can be both CM and den leader without a >problem. This would save your Pack and allow the boys to finish out their Cub Scout program >before they crossover to Boy Scouts. You might even pick up some recruits along the way. With >your experience and care, you can provide a quality prog

John, >- If I understand GSUSA at all correctly, the Council and the service unit are the direct owners of >the units. While they partner with local community organizations, GSUSA has far tighter control >and responsibility over an individual Girl Scout Troop than does District/Council over a Pack, >Troop or Crew. Sorry to disagree, but I believe you are incorrect in general (based on what I have read in official national GSUSA documents), and certainly the above does not describe my own GS council. First of all, the Service Unit is ALL VOLUNTEERS. It's basically

t158sm: > GS-CS I'm sorry but you worry too much! Now that you mention it, I realize that I'm probably over-reacting due to being treated so badly by our GS council when I was the Service Unit Manager. A council staff person, whom I feel is unprofessional and just plain nasty, asked me to attend a meeting with her and her supervisor up at the council office. So I took time out of my work day and drove 20 miles so that they could chastise me, hold me accountable to things that I had explicitly said that I would not take responsibility for (I only volunteered to be an interim "co-SUM"),

scoutingagain: >GS-CS, I'm very sorry to hear you would drop out of scouting unless you can officially >"merge" your pack with the other. I've looked into other packs. Most of them are not suitable for one reason or another--wrong religion, schedule conflicts, den leader who is dad of the bully from my son's Hebrew class who got other kids to gang up on him, etc. I suppose there are at least couple of other packs in the neighboring town that I haven't looked at closely that could work out for just my son, but I don't want to "abandon" the other scouts, especially the family with