Hawkrod

I agree, because he is already past the 4th grade he is good to go at 6 months. The LDS program actually works that way. Too many people assume Webelos must be more than 12 months but it just makes it a better experience, it is not a requirement. The LDS do a 1 year program as often noted but it is important to recognize that they don't have 9 year old Webelos, they start when they are 10 (or at least they do around here, I assume that is the national program?). The LDS program is age based and so they are basically a year behind community groups which is part of why we can have the longer Web

Balancing on the head of a pin! I have actively spent the last 8 months trying to reduce my committment so that I can spend more my time with my sons. I have had two days off from Scouting in the last two weeks and it looks like it is only getting worse! LOL I know it is only because my son is on an OA ceremony team so when AOL is "over" we can get back to normal but normal is 5 days a week anymore! Don't forget summer camp is coming and I have to go to camping school and then its weeks at camp etc... Fortunately as the activities chair for teh District I am very lucky to have committe chairs

Thanks for the heads up

Our unit just had a tour plan denied to go to the Council camp because we did not have a Baloo trained leader going. I talked to several people at Council and nobody knows what to do because they told me that we are not required to have a Baloo leader at resident camp but the form is kicked out if you don't have one. The worst part is we have had several people who scheduled to take Baloo but the district trainer kept cancelling the class (one time the participants said they were already there to take it when they found out it was cancelled!). I like the new form but hate that we still have to

Excellent post CalicoPenn, the only caveat I would suggest is sometimes people say "We tried that before, it didn't work so let's not waste our time" because they really tried that before and it didn't work so it would be a waste of time! LOL I am not saying it is always true but that is one I would certainly look into a little deeper before I discounted it completely! I have had a couple of suggestions over the years that have come up and we have tried it (sometimes more than a few times) and it still didn't work. Some things we actually tried again only because people kept suggesting it even

Thanks for posting that, would never have seen it otherwise

Loss of youth is difficult even though it is also expected. For all of the reasons given, and many more, we have to expect that at some point, someone will not move forward. I remember when I was a WDL, I had one boy who just hated being a Scout but mom forced him. His dad had promised that if he finished Cubs he could quit and not become a Boy Scout. I tried everything in my bag of tricks. I know he had fun and enjoyed every bit of what we did but when the time came he dropped and walked away. I actually felt like I had failed him. I still see him and he has since told me that if his mother h

This a timely and good thread even if it is an older one. It brings up a lot of confusion and misconception about bridging and since we are doing a lot of that right now it is good to see these things. To be clear, AOL does not equal Tenderfoot, it does "almost" equal Scout and I think that although a retest by the SM is not unreasonable along with completing the two points that AOL does not address (Outdoor code and YP booklet), awarding the Scout patch is pretty reasonable immediately. As noted by the BSA: "Arrow of Light The highest rank in Cub Scouting is the Arrow of Light Award. Earning

What a conundrum! We are going through this right now. My wife was the CC for the Pack but knowing that my youngest would bridge by B&G she tried stepping down and training a replacement. She started about a year out and went through a couple of candidates. Nobody really wanted to step up to do a job that had been done for them for the last 6 years. In the end she had to pack it in and walk away and there were some very bitter and angry people who felt that she abandoned them which is very far from the truth. Fortunately a couple of mentally healthy people were rational and realized if som

For those that may not have seen it, here is the official BSA time line for the Cub program. Notice that Feb/March of the second year is the goal in the timeline for bridging: http://www.directservicebsa.org/pdf/13-027.pdf This timeline came from years of experience and thousands of units success and failure in retention. The idea is to get the Boy into Boy Scouts from Cubs at the right time to insure his success. It gives time to integrate with the other boys and learn the basics he will need at camp with a Troop as opposed to car camping with a Pack and also is not too early where he may "ge

One point I would make about interaction between OA and Cubs is that there is a need even if it is not always recognized. For example there are ceremony teams that do AOL but I think that is minor compared to promotions. Camping promotion needs to be done with Cub units just as it is done with Troops and also the OA members can make a lasting impression on the Cubs that can foster the desire to aspire. Our chapeter advisor came to Cub summer resident camp a few years ago and gave a talk about Scouting and the outdoor experience and inspired my son to the point that OA became a goal. He was tap

While that is good in theory I am afraid that in real life it may not work quite so well. As I pointed out already, the inspection sheet is not the perfect tool but, rest assured, if asked to prove it the person will pull that document out and say "if it isn't on here it isn't official". Sometimes having the correct information upfront can save you dealing with it later. Asking them to prove it is fine but also be ready if they have an answer that looks good on the surface as it may not be a complete answer and that may not be recognized. It is obvious from many uniform issues here amongst exp

This is a great "get to know you" thread and I should have joined in earlier. My first car was a 59 Chevy El Camino. It was sitting on the street in front of our house when a guy came around the corner and plowed it. I never even got to drive it! Soone there after I got a 59 Studebaker Hawk (hence my screen name) and for my 16th birthday my dad got me another 59 El Camino. I still have the second El Camino and a 59 Hawk! The El Camino has 46K original miles and was special ordered with almost every option and I am the second owner. It has a 348 Tri-Power, 4 speed and posi. It has dual spotligh

ScoutBox, while I do understand your point about BadenP's bringing it up. I actually think it may serve a purpose in the long run although in the short term it does come accross a bit brusque. The problem is a matter of some of the history regarding leader awards and leaders who are not in it for the boys but rather for themselves. I do understand the concepts and I know that there are people out there who participate in Scouting solely for their own personal gain and as long as the boys still benefit then it will continue and that is okay but there are also individuals (I have known seve

jblake47, I am sorry but I am going to have to disagree with part of your point. The appropriate uniform inspection sheet only defines the basic uniform and does not cover a lot of optional official uniform items. The Insignia guide specifically lists jackets as "optional wear" and specifies what patches are to be worn and where. If the item were not official there would not be required standards. The uniform inspection sheet is a tool to allow units to set a basic standard but it is not as specific as it could be as there are variations it does not cover (I believe due to lack of manpower spe

I am with the other guys, "you had youth just start participating?". Do you mean in your Troop or as a Webelos? The AOL requirement "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." is a bit specific. If the boys have been active Webelos and have just started working with your Troop then cross them as "candidates" until they complete the requirements. If they have just become active cubs then send them back to the Pack. JMO

I think that the point about a black and white name tag is specific because it is refering to the item number from supply. There are other name tags but specifically #20100 is the black and white one so the context is critical. I believe that it was the only youth tag at one time and I also think that it is listed that way as a convenience not as a requirement. Same thing with only having one diagram. It is very often a case of changes and the illustrations and documents are not absolutely specific to the nth degree. If it were there would be no confusion.

You are probably right but I was looking farther back than the 60's or 70's and I was thinking more in terms of basic skills. For example, when I was growing up, most Scouts had to "know" knots not just learn it and test only to forget later. It just seems that so many get fed info and test and then they are done with it and if you had to retest them they would fail. I was doing a MB with a youth recently and one of his answers to why something was needed was "Really???". He actually seemed to think that there was no reason to explain why something was needed because he felt it was obvious. I

I will say that in my opinion it is now probably easier to get Eagle than it used to be to get 1st class. Like everything else in the world today we keep dumbing down our program and I am begining to see 1st class as a basic expectation not an achievement. The requirements are pretty basic so I just don't see it as a huge accomplishment anymore. I really do think that in many ways the program has become far too easy and too many skills are being lost. The expectations are lower and everybody is a winner. I think first class is just a step towards the goal of the program and not a big enough on

An extremely important point is to be sure to use non dairy topping rather than cream. It also comes in tubs or cans but it does not turn and smell awfull in the time it takes to get home and shower! Ask me how I learned that one! LOL

I think you are misunderstanding me and I guess I did not present it right but my point was what he said he was going to do and what I suggested that he do (I only suggested to him to try to do three MB's but not the ones he did) were different and then what he actually did was far different from our previous discussions. I have no problem with him only earning three merit badges at Jambo, he can earn merit badges anytime so that was really not a important concern of mine, just that some of the MB's being offered at the Jambo were being run by people who were amazing and the experience may hav

A couple of minor points: First, Beavah, I think your math does not work. It may be 5.6% X 4 years but in those same 4 years it is also 900,000 members X 4 so the percentage should remain contstant, we are not really seeing 22.4% attain Eagle if I am reading this correctly. Second, I personally believe that the percentage of Eagle is higher because the volume of boys had diminished. These days you are more likely to find somebody in the program who has the goal of getting Eagle than you did in years gone past that the goal was to be a Scout. Although we do still see boys who do not w

I see a storm on the horizon. You do realize that the if the Troop CC becomes the Troop COR then by default they become the Pack COR. You can't have different COR's for units under a CO. The system does not allow it. When the change to the Troop COR is input into the system they usually just change it for all the units but some Councils will call back and tell you they can't do it. Anywho, to suggest it is like a back room coup. Hawkrod

I am sure that the American Idol crowd and many members of the current generations would be proud. On Idol, don't they tell the participants to put their own spin on a song and make it their own? She certainly spun it her way and I am glad I don't own it! On the flip side, she is taking a horrible beating and you have to feel a little bad because if it was a mistake, and she lost where she was, as she is claiming, it will haunt her for a long time and who among us has made no mistakes. I regret each and every one that I have made. It is true though, I don't get paid millions to not make those

SeattlePioneer, I think you may need to reread what was written. I think you have taken the comment about loyalty out of context. In both this thread and the other, the loyalty part was not about a boy going to the Troop from a Pack out of loyalty, the loyalty comments were about loyalty to the boys own needs and loyalty to the CO by the units working together both of which I find appropriate. I did not see anywhere where loyalty was used to suggest that a boy needed to go from a pack to a Troop chartered by that same CO.