Gutterbird

Last year, our troop had several fundraisers to purchase all new tents. It has been our policy that at the end of a campout, if the tents are still damp from dew or rain, that a scout will take the tent home to dry. The scout AND the parent have been briefed on this policy and asked to please lay the tent out to dry that same day and return at the next troop meeting. On occasion we get a tent back with a little mold due to the tent not being dried thoroughly. This past week, we opened a tent to use and there was a significant amount of mold on the tent. So much mold that the tent is unusable. The prior campout was very dewy and apparently this tent was not dried by the scout or parent!

We need to address this issue. How do other troops deal with wet tents and does anybody know how to clean mold from a tent?

I was suprised to still see reply's after a year. I had to go back and read my original post because I forgot what is was. Long story short, we have stayed with our original CO. A meeting was held with the church, there is a new executive officer and COR. They both have been great and we now have 100% support from the church.

Thanks for all the great ideas. We went with the church option and found a church near Madison that will let us crash in their basement for the weekend.

For all those troops that have used churches in the past, let me ask you this: Come Sunday morning, did your troop stay for their Sunday Service as a good gesture or did you just pack up and head home? We will plan on staying and placing an offering during their collection, I'm just curious what other troops do.(This message has been edited by gutterbird)

Our troop is planning a ski trip in Feb to Cascade Mountain, just south of the Wisconsin Dells. We want to make a weekend of it and are looking for a place to camp. Preferably cabin camp since it is still winter. We were planning a Boy Scout Camp near Janesville but they are booked solid. Any Ideas?

Here is my situation, I am a scoutmaster for a troop, committee chair for a pack, and advisor for a crew.

Granted, not all those positions by choice. The crew advisor just up and left without a word and I felt bad for the kids so I stepped up. For the troop and pack, at one time I was running both because of a lack of leaders. Two years ago we found a cub master but she left, last year, we got a new cub master but one of the den leaders did not like her and forced her to leave due to the headaches caused by this den leader. This den leader then stepped up to the top position. Fast forward two months, a decision was made to find a new charter organization due to lack of support. Everybody agreed and we met with another church in town that was willing to meet our needs and support us 100%. We moved forward with the arrangment for the move, however, this same pack leader changes her mind and no longer wanted to change organizations. So we put everything on hold and discussed the issues. So, here we are at the same organization because she did not want to make the move, which is fine. However, here's the kicker, now she is quitting the pack and all the other leaders are pissed. She and her husband kick and scream about making the move, now she leaves. It is to late to make a move now due to telling the other organization "never mind". We have one week till recruitment night and I have been getting phone calls all day from other leaders wanting to know what's going on with the recruitment and the start of the pack year. I did not realize nothing has been done to prep for the year, so I took the bull by the horns to get things going and get things ready for recruitment. I have been accused, by this leader and her husband, of overstepping my boundaries and being to controlling. I only over step my bounds when I get calls from den leaders needing to know what is going on because the cub master failed to call them. The pack only has me for a committee and I am doing my best to now run three scouting units!! I know we are only volunteers but how can anybody just say " I wash my hands to all of you and I quit". How do you face the kids you are leaving and the other leaders that you have thrown all this on? I guess I am just being the fall guy because nobody else wants to volunteer or fulfill the obligations as leaders. No other leader wants to step up. We do have the COR and the district helping us out. I am just lost for words and frustrated over the whole situation.

I did talk with the boy and his mother, I did tell them about both units and what each one has to offer. the mother was asking me for my recomendation, it is a tough call, it would be truly up to the boy as to what he wanted to do. I just wanted to see what others thought.

We have both a Venture Crew and a Boy Scout Troop, we have a new scout wanting to join either unit, he is 16 years old and will not make Eagle if he chooses to go into the Boy Scout side of the house. So, what do you think, join Boy Scouts or Venturing? What is everybody's thoughts?

All that sounds like some good ideas. Maybe I can get the SPL to officiate a renewal of the vows and I can rewrite the vows to make them scouting vows. I also plan on calling ahead to a local resort about getting some roses.

Here is my situation, this summer we are taking the troop on a 7 day camping trip to the Canadian Boundary Waters. The same week of our trip is my 20th wedding anniversary. The wife is going with us on the trip, since she is a Committee Member. Since we really cant be alone on this day, I have been trying to think of some celebration I can do boy scout style but coming up blank. Anybody been in a similar situation? Any ideas?

Thanks for the input. Our final destination are the boundary waters on the Canadian/US border straight north of Duluth. I am thinking we will take 94 to Eau Claire then head north towards Duluth and the boundary waters.

Our troop is heading up to northern Minnesota in a few months for a week of camping. It will be a multi-day drive for us and we are needing a place to stop for the night. We're planning on the Eau Claire Wisconsin or Rice Lake Wisconsin area for the overnight. Does anybody know of a camp site where a group of about 25 scouts and scouters can camp for the night in the above listed area's? I have also heard of church's opening their doors to scouting units for the night, any thoughts? Any help or ideas would be great.

John-in-KC - "What do YOU think your chartered partner is not doing, according to the annual charter agreement?"

Bullet points 3 and 4

"How did you invite your IH/COR to attend? Letters, email, personal visit? Have you talked with your unit commissioner about this?"

We have made personal visits to the CO AND sent formal invititations for Blue and Gold. Unit Commissioner? What Unit Commissioner?

BSA24 - We fall under your first category, we are pretty much use the facilities and get them to sign whatever needs signing.

However, one of my goals is not only increase the size of our troop, but to increase the size of the scouting community within our city. I want to bring scouting back into this community which at one time had 2 troops and 4 packs. Now we have only one of each. I may be wrong, but I think that having a CO that will support the current troop/pack, provide the leadership necessary, has a good reputation with the community, and is willing to provide the resources necessary, will allow us to expand scouting throughout our community. Case in point, I was vital in getting a Venturing Crew started. I approached an organization that was well known throughout the city. I talked with their director, brought in the DE and a council suit, got them on board as a CO. They have been an active part of the Crew ever since, taking a real interest in the program, providing the support needed to grow. Gives us space in their newsletters, and lets us have fundraisers on their property. This is what I am looking for with the troop/pack. I would like to use this same CO for the troop/pack. But they do not have the space for all of us.

I do not think the current CO even knows what their obligations are. I have talked with them before and we all feel that the troop/pack is being held back due to the lack of a strong CO.

Our CO is a local, non-denominational church who is basically a CO on paper only. The COR, a minister, is there only to sign the paper work, (recharters, adult apps, etc.). We have invited them to numerous banquets and COHs and Pack Meeting but never come. When we have fund raisers we ask if they can put it in their weekly bulletin, they dont. They even told us we are on our own to find our own leaders. The only support they give is the use of the rooms and gym. I will say, they have been very accommodating when it comes to the use of the facilities. I would like to find a new CO. I have another church in town that does have the faculties and they want a troop/pack. They have had one before but it has failed because of lack of leaders. Now they can have two ready made units.

I strongly believe that this church will give us support; in addition, this church has an even greater presence in the community than the current CO. So, are we, the troop and pack committees, within our rights to seek out a new charter organization. How do we approach the current CO regarding this issue? Has anybody ever had a similar situation? Any advice?

So where do we buy the ALPS brand tents with the 45% discount? Website?

Thanx

Did a little research and found a couple tents that may work. One of the things I was looking for was an enclosed vestibule so the scouts can store their gear and park their shoes outside the tent. In addition, we need to keep the cost around the $100 mark per tent and plan on purchasing 10 - 12 tents. The two we found are:

Coleman Hooligan 4 http://www.coleman.com/coleman/ColemanCom/detail.asp?CategoryID=11070&product_id=2000001591

Coleman Trailblazer http://www.coleman.com/coleman/ColemanCom/detail.asp?CategoryID=11020&product_id=2000000281

Does anybody use these tents? If so, how do you like them? Where did you purchase them from that gave you a good price?

Thanx

Our troop just completed several fundraisers; our goal was to raise enough money to replace some old, worn out tents. We have discussed somewhat, the kinds of tents we want. We want a good quality tent with heavy duty zippers; can withstand the impact of boys, and something that will last. We recently were at a Camporee and saw another troop use larger tents for their scouts. Each tent slept 4 scouts. We are now considering that same idea. Purchase less tens, but bigger to fit more boys. Are there any troop out there that is doing this same thing?

I am looking at the "more but smaller tents" vs. "less but bigger tents" pros and cons.

Any recommendations on brands or locations for purchase that give scouting units a discount?

I think you hit the nail on the head with that last post. Safety of the boys are my main concern, I am very nervious about taking them on weekend campouts and more so our weeklong summer camp. There is no way I can supervise these boys 24/7 while at camp. Losing a boy for an hour on a recent outing confirms my concern. I really do need a parent to step up and assist.

That is good information, thanks for the reply. How do you handle the suppervision issue on campouts? I am getting concerned with summer camp just around the corner.

I have several young scouts who just joined or will so be crossing over into Boy Scouts with learning disabilities such as ADD or ADHA. Some are on meds while others are not. The issue that I am having is that these boys can not sit still, do not listen to directions, or become fidgety. I set simple goals for these boys (baby steps) and work with them to help them achieve these goals. It takes constant adult supervision when working with these boys. My big concern is camping trips and outings. I do not believe I can leave these boys without any type of adult supervision. We teach them the buddy system, but how fast they forget. On a recent day outing, we had a scout with ADHD decide to go off on his own. His buddy stated he was here a second ago. It took us an hour to find him. At some point I feel more like a baby sitter than a scoutmaster. My SPL, PL, and Troop Guides have been awesome working with these boys, but are getting frustrated. Several of the other adult leaders are feeling the same and can not spend the entire weekend baby sitting. I do not want to exclude these boys from any activities and I will never give up on them. I feel like I am to the point though where I have to talk with the parents and tell them that they must be present on our outings and weekend campouts.

How do other troops and scoutmasters handle kids with ADD, ADHD, or other types of learning disabilities?

Has any troop ever camped at Illinwek Forest Preserve in Hampton Il near the Quad Cities?

Just wondering if it was a decent place to camp.

We just recently held a PLC and the boys wanted to put some events on the calendar. They decided they wanted to try something different this year and thought it would be neat to take a River Boat (Steam Boat, whatever you want to call it) on the Mississippi River. I said lets do it and put it on the calendar. We do not have a hard date for it yet but we are thinking late April. We will make a weekend of it and do a campout with the River Boat Ride. Has any troop ever done this? Can anybody suggest a good camp ground near the Quad Cities? The boys prefer the Iowa side, this way they can say they went out of state. We are looking at a few River Boat Companies in the Quad City are and think this would be a cool adventure. Our campout will take on a Huck Finn theme.

I have been asked to do a SM Minute at the closing of a Blue and Gold Banquet next month. The banquet's theme is the 100 yr. anniversary and I am wanting a SM Minute that would go with this theme, but I am coming up blank. Anybody got any good ides?

What seems to work for teaching Leave no Trace? Some of our boys just don't get it yet. Boys will be boys, and boys love to climb tree's and break branches in the process, it is human nature for a young lad. Other things I am seeing is walking off pathways and tearing up the land. Whatever we say or do goes in one ear and out the other. I know our troop is not the only one that has this issue, I have been at camporees where boys from other troops just destroy the area around them. I can also say that I have seen troops with boys that learned to respect nature and take care of it.

So, how do you teach Leave no Trace?

The pack will be holding thier Blue and Gold Banquet next month. We are trying to come up with some ideas for the banquet. The theme of the celbration will be the 100 yr anniversary. Any idea on what we can do to make this banquet really stand out from past banquets?

The pack is having their Pinewood derby and I am looking for an easy way to keep score of the races to determine 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. I have downloaded 2 excel spreadsheets from various web sites and have used these in the past but they seem to have a few errors in tracking final scores. Are there any other programs out there that work for the Pinewood Derby? How do other packs keep score?

Thanx