gwd-scouter

Yep, this thread pops up every now and then. I've been SM for our troop for six years and, yes, I am a female - the only female SM in our District and I think currently in our Council. In our case, the Troop would no longer exist if I hadn't stepped up six years ago. None of the men were interested. It certainly wasn't easy in the beginning. Three guys quit the troop immediately after the announcement that I was going to be the new SM. Lots of grumblings and weird looks from some of the old guard scouters. Eventually, though, folks and boys and parents came to find out that I was trying h

I'm in the same council as Packsaddle and while I've never had the experience he describes in sending in the Eagle app after the 18th birthday, ours does not require letters. Frankly, I'm not even sure they bother to check the references the scout puts on the application.

Still would visit the other Troop. In the end though, go where the boys want to go and where you think is the best fit for your son. I want to emphasize best fit for YOUR son. While it's nice that all the boys in the den want to stay together, many times folks find out after joining that they may have preferred a different troop rather than the one the group picked. Boys are different, troops are different. Some boys thrive in a large troop, some do better in a small troop. Some are well suited for a troop with a backpacking emphasis, others maybe will do better with more car campin

Do invite the Den Chief along. The Den Chiefs we've had over the years loved going on campouts with their Dens. He will be a great asset to you and the boys will like having him there, too. What better way for those Webelos to see what a Boy Scout does than to have one along on the campout - setting up his own tent, taking care of himself. Marvelous!

Wow, my old post revived from 3 1/2 years ago? Amazing.

The older guys staying as far away from the younger scouts as possible, playing Magic and D&D, doesn't sound much like Scouting to me.

Thanks Pack and OGE - I really needed a laugh today. Snorted the soda right out of my nose when I just read your posts. Not very feminine at all. Hey Mikemeyer - welcome to the forum. I used to live in Gaithersburg. Lovely area of Montgomery County.

Perhaps Lem will be replaced by a female SM? The boys in the town won't be a bunch of wayward fellas looking for mischief, but a group of affluent overly-scheduled guys whose parents want to make sure they can add Eagle Scout to their resumes. Or, maybe, the court scene will not be about a "senile" old lady that wants to give her land to a bunch of scouts, but rather about a lawsuit filed over the Boy Scout's exclusionary practices. Oh yeah, so much new material since the original.

"effete impudent snobs" Oh, I like that one so much I'll cop to it. Heh heh.

kcs-hiker - are you from my town? Speaking as another "liberal" in a very conservative small southern town, yes, you can still be a leader. You may find out to your surprise that there are a lot of other like-minded (but silent) folks such as yourself. The reason I put liberal in quotes is because that is how I've been labeled here. Some of the things I've been accused of believing are, quite frankly, unbelievable. A long time ago I encountered that same kind of behavior among some adults on campouts. Not being a shy retiring type, I just spoke up and asked if that's the kind of con

The planning weekend lays out the calendar for the upcoming year. It is mostly just what they want to do for a particular month - rather broad idea. Then each month, the PLC gets together to make more detailed plans for the following month's campout. A typical month in our Troop getting ready for a campout. I'll use the upcoming December trip, already decided during the annual planning weekend to go to our council camp. An adult sends in the reservation form for that. PLC decides what activities will happen on that trip. Orienteering is a great activity when we're there so that

Hate to say it, but if your older scouts have that attitude, it will be very difficult to change. When I became SM in our troop, I focused on the younger guys and changing the culture of our Troop. Started training the next generation of junior leaders and building the expectation among them that it is their troop and they will be responsible for planning and carrying out campouts and other activities. It took several years, but here we are now with those once 12-year-old scouts working on training their replacements and getting ready to hand over the reigns. Have an annual planning weeke

My favorite patch is the National Camping School Patch for Cub Scout Resident Camp Director. I was director for five years and those were without a doubt the best times I've had in Scouting. I have a lot of square knots, but my favorites are Dist. Award of Merit, SM Award of Merit and Silver Beaver because those are given by nomination and the vote of others. Favorites for my sons: Though not a patch, older son values his Den Chief Service Award above any other award he has received. Next would be his Vigil Honor, because it took three tries before he was even elected into the O

50 weeks a year for our Troop, we don't meet for two weeks during Christmas to just after New Year. Hot here in South Carolina in the summer. Oh yes, we meet every week during the summer, but we generally do not camp in July and August unless the boys plan a white water trip to the mountains. Summer camp is in June. The guys like to go caving in July - always cool in the cave. August we may just have a family picnic and pool party. We usually have one Saturday when we empty out the trailer, clean out all the patrol boxes, set up and check out all the tents, inventory and reorganize. Anoth

A couple of our new ASMs just did the New Leader Essentials training and were told that training would become mandatory. The trainer said it came from National, but I am wondering if it's just our Council's attempt to correct our rather poor training record. Wherever the mandate is coming from, in our troop the expectation is set up front that any new leader must be trained for his/her position. It has certainly become a lot easier with all the online trainings offered now. Interestingly, one of our new ASMs, now fully trained, was talking with another of our new leaders who signed up as

I will respectfully disagree with Frank's approach. I've seen that done in many troops as a way to keep the older guys interested. Separating them from the younger scouts. Nothing wrong with it a couple of times a year to give the older guys an adventure of their own, but taking them away from the younger guys on a regular basis, takes away their opportunities to teach, mentor, and lead those younger guys. Former SMs in our troop tried that approach, setting up a Venturing Patrol. Problem was, those guys essentially checked out of the troop and involvement with the younger scouts. That led to

My response to parents when they ask me about advancement in our troop is that our program is not advancement driven, rather advancement comes along as a result of being active in our program. The more a Scout participates in weekly meetings and the patrol activities, attends campouts and does his assigned duties, demonstrates his skills to his patrol leader and gets them signed off, that scout will just naturally advance in good time. Rather than asking the SM, perhaps you first should figure out what kind of advancement opportunities you want for your son. If you are looking for quick a

I would start by asking them what they want to do. Our Troop now has the Awesomeness Patrol, made up of the SPL, ASPL, Quartermaster and JASM. These guys set up their own campsite, somewhere between the adults and the patrols. They plan the campout activities depending on the theme for the month. They may set up an orienteering course, plan a nature scavenger hunt, plan and run the campfire program, games. The adults stay out of their way and they really do like being the take charge guys. They provide challenges and competitions for the patrols. They also have the opportunity once

We work very hard to keep costs low. Annual registration fee: $30 Summer Camp: $185 - each scout that sells popcorn can use his profits toward this Monthly campouts: $10-20 depending on where and what. Usually no cost if backpacking. Once a year we have a relatively expensive adventure (skiing, caving, etc.) that runs about $60 cost to the scouts as we offset the remainder with troop funds Troop T-shirt: $5

John Boehner (sp?) was interviewed by CNN John King over the weekend and asked repeatedly about why the Republicans have not submitted their own bill. His answer, over and over, was that people need to go to GOP.gov website where there are eight or nine points listed that would work to reform healthcare. No, it's not a bill, but a series of individual bills that have been presented. My question is: if these eight or nine points are so great, and as the Republicans continue to say they have the real answers to healthcare reform, why don't they put their own bill together, have it scored b

Funny how what one person may dislike about the new uniform, another likes. Me? I like the roll up sleeves. Maybe it's because I have scrawny girlie arms instead of bulging manly arms like oldsm.

Every Scoutmaster runs across these guys. For me, I try to find out WHY the scout is dragging his feet. That can make a big difference on how I may motivate, pressure, kick in the pants, his efforts. Although we haven't had any of these types for several years, if a Scout is mostly absent from the Troop since earning Life and then suddenly reappears six months before his 18th birthday and announces he wants to make Eagle, I more than likely will not bend over backwards for him. Of course, there is always the likelihood that he's been absent because of family, school, sports, work, whateve

Hi Luvtahike and welcome to the forum. I think it would be terrific to award the DC award at your next Court of Honor - don't forget the group photo of him and "his" newly crossed over Scouts. I don't have an opinion on the square knot issue. I will say, however, that older son received the service award rope and wore it until he was 21 - he worked on summer camp staff and wore it with the Venturing Uniform. Now, as an almost 23 year old camp staffer and ASM with our Troop, he still says he wishes he could wear it. He prizes that award over his Eagle. Younger son has also serve

Oh for goodness sakes, just sew the button on tighter. Back to your usual programming.

"Been there, done that." It would be helpful if you give us the DL/CM response to your request to visit a Troop. Why not volunteer yourself to take the Den to meet with a Troop?