IM_Kathy

as a SUM I want to know what councils do give the .01/box to units... our council doesn't. would be really nice to have a little extra money for the unit to use for funding events or supporting the girls that need it. I also find it interesting that they really stress the girls using the money for their service projects - most troops I know do do a lot of service projects, but usually ones that are more labor than money... and then use the money for trips/camping/parties.

I often get a laugh with some of the scouts in my son's troop... the troop isn't a strict uniform troop during the summer the can wear troop shirts, but rest of the time they do wear the uniform shirt. They don't stress uniform pants, but many do have them and wear them. They don't do inspections. But the boys doing flag ceremony must be in shirt and necker/bolo. For BOR the boys must be in shirt and necker/bolo even during the summer... that's where the laughs come - there's often a boy that has lost his necker running around asking to borrow one from another scout.

it was my understanding that when there was an issue with the requirements that contact needed to be made to the facility and some adjustments may be made - like using body fat index etc... would be worth a shot at least if you do go I hope you have a great time. my son is slated to go the summer of 2011 - I won't be going, I have a bad habit that makes hiking long miles with thin air very, very hard to do.

the pack my son was with always had the parents "cross over" as well as the boys. if you think about it cub scouts is a family deal and the parents have been involved and they are now leaving the pack to join the troop just as the boys are. but having said that.... I think this should be a Pack/Troop thing... a tradition for them. so if they always have the leader cross over, then you should. if they have the leader cross over if they are going to be a leader for the troop, then you should. if they've never done this I'd say something about the fact that you're unsure of this and

the pack my son was in had potlucks for his first couple of years and ran into many of the problems mentioned. they switched to getting a catered meal and selling tickets (made them up using bussiness cards on the computer) still had problems with people showing up not having bought a ticket yet and so caterer hadn't planned for that many people. with the pack the one thing I tried to get them to do is to hire the local BSA troop to "cater" for a fundraiser for them - we moved on before they tried this so I don't know if they ever did do that. we hold a potluck with or GS unit and

the other thing to think aobut is that the MB states that it be a charitable organization. Girl Scouts isn't really a "charitable" organization. to me a charitable organization. charitable: generous in donations or gifts to relieve the needs of indigent, ill, or helpless persons, or of animals Girl Scouts is an organization - yes... but it does not fullfil the definition of charitable. charitable would be like a local food pantry, animal shelter, homeless/abused shelter, red cross... basically an orgaization that assists those that need the support of others.

something you all might want to consider... something my son's troop does and the girl scout unit I work with does... troop/unit pays the adults registration as long as they are active members in supporting the program. whether by driving, camping, etc... really stinks to ask "who will volunteer for ____" and then say "oh thank you, and now we'll need $___ from you"

the first troop my son was with - they did a campout with the webelos II right before cross over and taught the totin' chip so they started boy scouts with the totin chip in hand the troop my son is with now - they have the first campout soon after crossover and they teach the totin' chip then. For the boys that miss that one they learn it on their first campout with us. so the question of does the whittling chip carry over for us doesn't matter. but, IMO if a boy has earned the whittling chip I'd let him use a pocket knife as long as he was fallowing all the safety rules until h

not sure if it's different from council to council, but my son's pack and now troop required the money at time the order is placed. sure wish girl scouts did the same - though the only time I got stuck with cookies with her was only about 10 bucks and were a kind I loved so it was not that big of a deal LOL

you missed IOWA! LOL Iowa has tons of state parks... some of the favorites my son has hit are Backbone State Park (trout fishing), Ledges State Park (hiking trails), Maquokata State Park (caves) the list could go on but I'll stop there.

obviously a question for the MBC, but being a leader for both... if I had a young man come up to me to do community service for his MB I would tell him "thank you for your offer, but the girls take care of their own community service projects. I think you need to find a local organization that has nothing to do with scouts" and then I'd be nice and give him a couple of suggestions of organizations he could work with.

my son's troop has never needed a young man to drive himself or others on campouts and such. They will ocasionally drive to the CO location and meet up and load with the rest of the young men. We typically take as many adults as needed to drive the scouts - though when we winter tent we always take an extra adult for emergencies.

I've never hear of the Hornaday Award - what is it? how is it earned?

unless you are a pack that has all their dens meeting at the same time and same place I would suggest having each new DL pick the day, time, location that works best for them then without parents knowing which den is which, have them write down their preference 1-3(or 4) of what best fits their schedule. And also have a spot that they could write in if their son would prefer to be in a den with 1 other who would it be. Some times parents car pool to and from these things and they may not care what day/time but needs to be with Johny because he rides with him.

when I was working with my son's den as a bear, most of the boys were not ready in my book to have knives in their little hands. So I sent out info to all the parents on what to work on with their son and then he could demonstrate his skill to me when he had it down in order to get his whittlin' chip. A couple completed it as a Bear but most didn't complete it until they were in Webelos. IMO having them all working at the same time in a den setting which sometimes means a room too small for each to have a safety circle just isn't safe - I don't have enough eyes or hands to deal with it.

That's why I try to remember to say "My son's troop" it is boy led and he's a boy in it, so it is his troop.

I prefer to teach younger scouts with a lockable blade as well, but to teach proper closing it is best to have the unlock to be on the back side of the knife rather than where the blade folds in. though for my personal use I prefer the one that is on the inside because I can close it with one hand - though this is not the way we teach it to scouts for safety. now when he gets up to boy scouts I recomment a handy tool that you can snap open the plyers because it never fails that you need a quick tool to help with moving something hot. I prefer gerber as it's easy to use. Now this st

one our cubs always enjoyed was learning about how to take care of a cast iron dutch oven - cleaning, storing, using. we used same D.O. over and over for that part, but then we had enough for each station and then for enough dessert for everyone. because they then learned how to use different styles of manual can openers (the twisters for tigers and wolfs - the ones on a swiss army knife for bears and webelos) and made up cobbler that the adults would then cook up for evening dessert.

it's always sad when you lose a good kid because of a parent's idea of what should or should not be done or their own wants. I'm reading this and laughing because you are describing my husband in my son's early couple of years - though he didn't cuss and throw fits, he would just chat with me when away from the kids. He wanted his son to be a football player, and thought scouts would get in the way of that. He got to the point that he was trying to bribe our son for him to stop scouts. He was having so much fun and making great friends that he didn't take any of the bribes. And it's a

when parked CO insurance covers trailer and contents when towed it's covered by the insurance of person towing we do not have a locked parking area, but do have it well lit. we also have a wheel lock and a hitch lock

I too prefer winter camping and it's true you can always add more layers, but can only remove so many in the heat. Were I use to work I was a full service attendant - during the summer times I didn't work too often except to do cleaning because noone wanted me to pump since it was so nice out, but in the winter pretty much all I did was pump fuel. And standing outside in below zero temps for hours at a time has made it so I'm use to the cold weather. before that job I worked in a cooler with pants and short sleeve shirt, the only time that was bad is when my hands got wet. sadly this y

previous poster mentioned rain-gutter regada and worried about buying a kit. When my son was a cub we did our RGR without the kit. the boys used a cardboard quart bottle as the boat and made sails with construction paper and straws. other supplies boys might need is just some spray paint to color the boats. sponge wars was a fun game - not really a compition. played mutch like dodge ball but with sponges as balls and the buckets were at the dividing line. nature art - using only dead plants/trees they create some form of art... center piece for a table, welcome sign for thier cam

great topic - so often we are here dealing with questions of rules or dealing with troubles within a troop or council. Many of mine revolve around my son... when he was a Webelos I he was still just learning to swim (nearly drowned as a young kid and refused to let go of edges without a floaty for the longest time) but he decided that he wanted to try the red swim test which would be jumping into the deepend and swimming across and back. As he jumped in all I was praying was "please come up, please come up" and he did come up and actually made it across - just not back, but I was so prou

the thing to remember - regardless of what type of shelter and the type of men staying there is that we are talking about Girl Scouts who have a totally different set of rules in regards to men and facility usage. Right or wrong - they have their rules about sharing buildings, restrooms, and the like. Because of this the leader of the Girl Scout troop needs to check their Safty-Wise book and if that doesn't answer their question then they need to contact their council.

being involved with both BSA and GSUSA... Girl Scouts do not have a charter through anywhere but GSUSA and would be able to move to any location they chose. They would need to check with the council and safty-wise on this issue - the biggest issue would actually be bathroom facilities as men need to have a completely seperate area to use. Boy Scouts I don't think there would be any issue that I know of, and with them being across the street should really not be a problem. With them chartered with the church it would be harder for them to move - though I do know of packs/troops tha