Hawkrod

If you live within a council that funds its program through patch sales you would understand! LOL

Dan, I see where you are coming from and definitely agree about how immature Webelos can be (which is why I oppose early bridging as noted in the other thread). Unfortunately I do disagree on making it a seperate program solely because I think it would fail. The point of the Webelos program is success. The boys are the big fish in the pond and serve to drive enthusiasm in younger cubs. They do service and gain recognition, they become leaders. If they were in their own programs then many would be Lone Scouts or the units could end up with just a few boys. My unit has taken in Webelos from othe

The actual section from the "TROOP COMMITTEE GUIDEBOOK" Troop Committee Meetings The committee meeting is attended by all committee members and the Scoutmaster. Occasionally you may want to invite guests such as your chartered organization representative and unit commissioner. The Scoutmaster is not actually a member of the troop committee, and has no vote. The committee should not forget that its primary responsibility is supporting the troop program. The importance of mutual cooperation between the two groups of leaders is critical for the smooth and successful operation

I would be very leery of putting charcoal directly on a conductive surface that is placed on concrete. Where you live can have a huge impact on what may occur. If there is a high moisture content then spalling will occur as the moisture boils off. Localized heating can also cause fractures if there is a large variation in base material temperature. Basically what I am saying is that your local conditions may affect the results and I think it is best to err on the side of caution and keep the heat away from the concrete if at all possible. JMO

A Scout is thrifty.... A 55 gallon drum cut in half and two old truck rims make a great pair of dutch oven cooking rigs. Drop the bare steel wheel on the ground and place the solid side of the drum on it and it is off the ground, won't burn the grass and keeps the wind from killing the coals. We use them camping and at home. Try and get some newer wider steel wheels as older wheels tend to be narrower and allow the heat to scorch the grass. I made 4 of these for $25. Hawkrod

perdidochas, you make a very good point. Often the decisions we make can effect others. I sat on an EBOR recently that had us walking away shaking our heads. The boy sat and told us how his SM had created the project, supplied all the materials and labor and how, when he was about to start, the SM decided to split the project in two to make two identical smaller projects so that another Scout could do his Eagle. We discussed the scope of the project with the boy and I know that a couple of us were very concerned by what we were hearing. We did end up passing the boy on the basis that the proje

I guess that I am partly to blame for this discussion (if not mostly) so I will apologize for being frank but as you guys clearly note, "This is not a place for Woosies.". I can understand where you may have had issues and there are several valid points being made but I think it really is important to keep a perspective. This is supposed to be a resource for Scout related things and so the majority of new members will be trying their best to be good Scouts. I would like to share my story (abbreviated) to give some perspective to this issue. I think I am an experienced Scouter, I have been

Basementdweller, I am happy to say my experience does not mirror yours. I personally know dozens of active Eagle Scouts that I interact with. I have not yet known a boy who has gotten his Eagle that has dropped out although I am sure eventually it will happen. Part of my sons motivations have been boys that are Eagles that are still with the units day in and day out. My oldest son has been motivated by quite a few boys that he knows well that have their Eagles and continue on and set a great example for the rest. By the time my son was a Webelos he knew approximately 2 dozen active Eagles incl

Great list, To add to it: BALOO Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation (Cub Leader) OWL Outdoor Webelos Leader training IOLS Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills (Boy Scout Leader) LOL Laughing out loud (indicates jest or a joke)(Internet) IIRC If I remember correctly (Internet) AFAIK As far as I know (Internet)

That is a very good point and I have had boys stay in Webelos until the second June. I also dislike a boy getting AOL on the day he bridges. I think he should get AOL when he is eligable and wear it on his uniform while he continues in Webeleos until bridging. If the AOL is the end goal of Cubs then why should Eagles continue after they have earned their rank? JMO

Please note that I simply concuring with another members observation when they wrote "Forgive my ignorance.....What does COR stand for. For that matter PLC, TC, CO. I have an idea but ahhh I am not sure". There are definitely those that feel uncomfortable not knowing what the abreviations mean and have been viewed as less knowledagable or experienced because they do not understand an acronym. I have a slightly different issue than many because I have Aspergers which often limits my ability to interpret (I read things VERY literally and nuance is easily lost) but there are others who also fail

You are correct, it is very clearly "or". To earn the AOL the boy must: "1.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". Which I think is is pretty clear. If the boy is in fact active for six months as a Webelos after turning 10 and has completed the requirements of AOL they are able to bridge even if they are in the 4th grade. Around here that would be unusual because we are used to boys turning 10 in the 5th grade as they start Kindergarten at 5. Here, it would be

Wow, that is a question that has a lot of answers! LOL Why are people not coming? Is it because the program did not offer anything? If yes, look at making sure you have program. Our Cub Round Table is suffering right now but we have a couple of guys that are knocking everybodies socks off at Boy Scouts by having a ton of useful info and they have been doing Dutch oven cooking at each meeting. It takes a lot of committment to do that but the guy running it is amazing (My wife and I nominated him for Silver Beaver and he was accepted so he is an "above and beyond" kind of guy). Our OA lodg

I see this come up a lot and the BSA does have a plan and program in place for transition. One of the more useful tools is http://www.scouting.org/filestore/CubScoutMeetingGuide/PDF/Appendix/511-807.pdf which shows parents and leaders the BSA plan. The first time I saw this was at a Philmont class about transition and retention for Boy Scouts and the person conducting the program (a national person) explained that early bridging led to loss of retention. Unfortunately I did not see any documentation of this but in my own experience that has been true. I do believe that Webelos should be an 18-

In defense of lilizard62, the internet can be a tough place to try and discuss issues. I managed to make quite a mess out of trying to get help. I did not really want to go beyond very specific facts but a lot of people had the same reaction as I see in this thread. Fortunately my SE has become involved and a lot of the issues cleared up very quickly. Had he not been willing to help I do not know where I would be but the reactions I got from people here were disbelief. Just because we have not run into the issue does not mean it isn't happening or that the person is trolling for attention. I c

I do know for a fact that the IH can't be the COR because I was the COR and then was elected IH and as soon as we tried to recharter the system kicked it out so we had another board member be COR during my tenure as IH. The funny part is that some issues came up while I was not COR but I still managed to catch all the blame even though it had nothing to do with me! I still shake my head about that one! LOL

I agree with Scoutfish, a COR may have more than one of the same type of unit due to various issues. For example, I do know that there are large Packs out there but for us 50-60 kids is about the limit for our effectiveness. We got around 80 a couple of years ago and it became almost unmanageable and the DE and I discussed splitting the unit. We did make it through the year and bridged a couple of dozen Webelos which brought us back down to manageable level but we decided that if we ever had 100 registered youth that we would split the unit. I know that there are plenty of units with more boys

I guess that is where I am confused. As an active COR you are part of the unit and as a voting member you are representing that unit and your vote is based on being the COR of that unit. You can't be a COR if you don't have a unit right? TIA

Eagle92 wrote "COR = Charter Organizational Rep. that's the person who sis suppose to represent the unit on the district and council level,i.e. is a voting member of both bodies, wears silver loops and no unit number if in uniform, etc." I did not want to hijack the other thread as this has nothing to do with the issue but I have never heard anything about the COR not wearing unit numbers. Because a COR represents specific units why do they not wear the numbers? TIA

I am sorry ScoutNut, you wrote "Well, obviously. Trust me, no one is saying your program is better because you charge so much. When folks make comments about how they are undercharging it is meant in jest. You know - sarcasm" and unfortunately I read that to mean what it says, that the comments were jest and sarcasm about what I wrote. I am sorry that I am not able to follow along. I do have Aspergers and it can make it very difficult because I take a lot at face value, I assume that what you write is what you mean. Either it is or it isn't. You said it was so I accepted that as a mistak

Unfortunately I did not recognize it as sarcasm so I am glad you pointed it out but also be aware that the fact that I did not recognize it and it was aimed at me means that there will be others who also do not recognize it. I will reitterate that the programs need to meet the needs of the membership. In our Troop, our costs are relatively low because the fees are just the actual basic costs but our Pack has been built upon for decades and draws people based on what we offer. For many it is far too much but that does not make it wrong, it just makes it a poor fit for those people. I was expose

I am a little concerned by what I see people posting about not charging enough. I think it is critical to understand that you should be charging based on what your expenses are not what other units charge. Our expenses tend to be higher because we both do so much and we live in southern California which drives expenses. For example, we use a local facility for many of our events and it is over $450 to rent it for 3 days. We try and trade service for facility use but that does not always happen and even when we trade for service we still have to pay for porta potti's (it is a requirement to use

ScoutNut, we have an extremely active unit. There are usually at least a couple of big events every month. We had to buy an extra Pack flag just so we would have one when two groups go to different campouts (it happens a lot). We also have a hiking program that recognizes quite a few boys every month and many other events. One of our more recent and also expensive events was we took a large group of Cubs and spent the night on the USS Midway down in San Diego (it's a fantastic experience, I would go again in a heartbeat) yes, it can be a lot. We also have over 50 boys (after the last discussio

Wow, I see a lot of variation here! What we charge changes annually based on the previous years fundraising and our expenses. The committee decides what we need to stay solvent and the IH approves it (or not). In this most recent year, we charged $150 for Pack renewal (new registration is sightly higher as there are extra expenses such as a shirts) and $55 for Troop, Obviously the Cub program is much more expensive but we also include a lot. Our Cub program cost over $300 per boy for the previous year and the balance is made up by the IH, donations and fundraising. I would love to say pop

SeattlePioneer wrote "If knots shape a Scouter's behavior to achieve them by completing the requirements honestly, they are a VERY cheap way to motivate Scouters to do useful things for the program. " and I like the way it sounds. If it works as you have written then yes, it is an excellent and inexpensive tool. Obviously if the knots are achieved any other way then the point it lost.