andysmom

Our SM bends over backwards to do whatever a scout needs. He is at the church an hour before troop meetings to accommodate merit badge sessions, working on advancement and SMC. He is meeting with a different Scout tonight for an Eagle SMC who has other commitments this month on meeting nights.

We don't always have ASM or MC at troop meeting. 2 weeks ago it was just the 2 of us (SM and myself) at the meeting. The boys go off and do their own thing in separate rooms at the church, but we wander around just making sure everything is going ok. We can't do on demand BOR because we usually don't have enough adults at a meeting.

Honestly, our committee is a disaster as far as advancement is concerned.  Old CC held the position for 18 years and let everyone know it.  No training beyond the committee challenge 18 years ago and youth protection.  He was a smart man and could read up on the advancement changes, but interpreted them how he wished.  When he "deferred" a scout's advancement for what turned out a month because he wanted to see"some leadership qualities" and commented that he "isn't ready to be a star scout" it caused a very un scout like conversation when I stood up to him at the BOR.  He wanted to produce "the best" Eagle Scouts and held scouts back at Life if they didn't fit his criteria.

New CC as of last April has has no training other than YP, was a SM atleast 12 years ago and has been on the committee ever since.  I had been on the committee for 3 years before I even knew who he was.  He also sat on the "deferred" board and the first thing he did was hand the scout a rope and told him to tie a knot.  He backed the old CC every step of the way that he knows what and Life scout looks like "bla, bla, bla"  He cant describe it or explain it to anyone, he just knows.  New committee chair was of course approved by the CO because he was recommended by the old CC, no one on the committee even knew he was leaving until he announced the new cc.

We have SMC anytime a scout asks for them, depending on the rank it could be scheduled for the next week, but the SM is available an hour before every troop meeting for extra things like SMC, advancement needs, questions from parents, etc.  Committee does not hold a BOR the same evening as a SMC, the following week at the earliest depending on if there are enough committee members present at the meeting.  A general email goes out to the committee when a SMC is held for anyone under Life.

 Life Boards of Review require 2 weeks notice so anyone who wants to attend can since, in the words from our former committee chair of 18 years "because it is our last chance before Eagle to be sure they are ready". Eagle BOR require 2 weeks notice so anyone who wants to take part can, seriously, there were 10 people, not counting the scout at a recent EBOR.

4 days before the committee meeting his family expressed their wish that he have his BOR in Feb to insure that paperwork would be complete and they could plan a COH for  before his brother had to go to college and because of the scout's schedule conflicts in March.  CC wouldn't schedule the BOR because when he was pressed at the committee meeting it would be 13 days notice, not 2 weeks and noted that "we just have to have it done so he can have a COH before the middle of August and that he doesn't like this "push for younger and younger Eagle Scouts"

After our last troop meeting called to ask if the BOR was happening at the next troop meeting (the last one in Feb), I told her no and I would let her know when it would be.  Family is frustrated.  and tells me that the scout wont be able to be at any meetings in March because of other commitments and the further it gets pushed back the less time to plan for a COH that they want in June so there will be scouts to participate before vacations etc..  I am frustrated because I don't know why it couldnt happen in Feb because CC was notified on 2/2 that paperwork was good.  I contact CC and explain new details to him and he said that we all are busy and "we will do our best to accommodate" his schedule.  At this point I think the best we can hope for is a March BOR.

In our district Eagle Boards of Reviews are held by the units with the district advancement committee member who signed off the scouts project proposal present.

Our Committee Chair schedules Eagle and Life Boards of Review.

Our troop's policy is that we give atleast 2 weeks advance notice of Eagle and Life Boards of Review.

Our current committee chair only schedules Eagle Boards of Review on nights that we have troop meetings.

SM, CC and AC get an email 2/2 that an Eagle Package is ready to be picked up after being checked by council.

Should it reasonably be expected that the BOR be held by the end of Feb?

Lacrosse tryouts and Confirmation classes take up every troop meeting night in March. 

Should it reasonably be expected that the BOR be held on another night in March when the scout is available?

Other information:

Eagle Candidate in question is 15 years old, probably the youngest in our 104 year history.

How are Boards scheduled in your troop?

Troop does the Eagle kit, necker and slide or bolo and name on the Eagle Plaque.  The last couple SM have given a personal gift, last one gave a framed Rockwell print, current one gives an Eagle Scout pocket knife.

The Only time a leader does Not have to fill out a new application to change positions is at Recharter. Since the Institution Head signs the charter, they are giving approval for all adult positions.

 

I do not remember if it is stage 2 or 3, but you can edit a leader's information, including position.

Interesting, I've always thought a new application was required to change positions as well.  We will be doing our recharter in a couple of weeks, will have to keep this in mind.

Here's one of the two new buildings.

 

 

Wow!  We have nothing like that. 

Our "camp offices" do have indoor plumbing with a room designated as the "Scouter's Lounge" that is air conditioned but it is reserved for Scouters and Sr Patrol Leaders.  The health lodge has indoor plumbing as well, the campmaster uses this cabin during the off season at one of the camps.  The "Training Center" we have at one camp is literally a trailer with a fireplace, if another camp is used for training it is done in a regular cabin that troops can use for camping.  They are very basic, bunks, disgusting stove and refrigerators, no running water, outdoor latrines.  One of our camps has a county requirement that the building must be heated, so they have propane heaters but the rest have fireplaces.  The camps of course have lean tos and tent sites.

I can understand why you don't want to fund your council if they are building things like that instead of working on the camps.

I was able to see our council's annual report including the budget on their website.

OK, I am seeing this from the perspective of our council.  The office is in a modest building that also houses the scout shop.  I believe there are 4 paid employees (in the office), the executive, a book keeper, the person who processes all the advancement paperwork and a recently added part time receptionist.  There are volunteers that help out.  We have 2 scout camps that run summer camp programs and a cub scout camp that, until this year, ran cub day camp and webelos arrow of light overnight camp.

The council gets no money from National, yes, they exist for the units but how are they supposed to pay for the services they provide?

The fees charged by summer camp is enough to offset that cost.  They pay councelors, for food, for program.  Not sure they could charge enough to offset taxes, year round property management and camp imporvements and have anyone afford to go to camps.

Our council is doing better and managing their money, they paid off our debt and have come in at or just under budget for the last 3 years, but again they have done no maintenance or upgrades on any of the camps.

Our district had roundtable last night with the council key 3, the VP of Programs and the camping and properties chair.  One of these 5 is a paid professional, the other 4 are volunteers.

Much of their visit was to speak about plans for possibly selling one of our camps and money.

This year our council did away with FOS.  They have implimented a manditory $24 "activity fee" on every registration instead.

Councils need money for staff (bookkeeper, paperwork processor, etc), to run training and to maintain camps (taxes, maintenance, improvements, etc.)  Without councils we couldn't function.  All of that money comes through fundraising and FOS.

In our council less than 12% of families participate in FOS, only 50% of units participate in popcorn sales and less than 10% of units participate in the sale of nuts.

We have 3 council run camps, only 1 of which makes money, between the 3 camps council suffers a net loss of about $75,000 a year and they have deferred maintanance on all the camps for the last 7 years.  It is very sad when a scout camp has to be sold but councils cannot run loosing money when they are not getting support from the units.

Just another perspective.

My son is on the spectrum and has been involved in scouting since he was a tiger. He is currently a star scout. Being in scouts has done amazing things for him and it would be a shame for someone to turn a scout away just because they have special needs. I do think choosing the right troop is key.

As a leader you should have a frank and honest conversation with the parents so everyone knows what, if any, limitations the scout has. I would strongly encourage his parents to get involved, so they understand the program and offer support to leaders and their son. We have several boys with different needs in our troop, in fact, many have come to us from the troop down the street who are not as accommodating.

Wow, 2eaglesons, my heart is breaking for your son.

I agree with gumbymaster, this SM has issues and they should be addressed by the COR and the DE.

That is NOT how scouting works.

In our troop the Eagle Scout and his family write the script for the ceremony and ask whoever they want to play the various rolls.  Thye only imput the troop has is providing links for ideas and proffreading the script.  They generally have someone read a poem or the ranks to Eagle, the Scoutmaster usually presents the rank, (honor guard escorts the parents to the front and presents and puts the new necker or bolo on the scout, Mom pins rank on, Dad presents certificate, parents pins presented, hugs and pictures all around and parents are escorted back to seats),  One of oyur scouts had his Eagle Scout grandfather in uniform pin his rank badge on, that was cool.  Eagle  Charge and Oath are generally done by a leader, but our tradition for this part is that before giving the oath, the presenter calls to the front all the Eagles from the audience and they state their name, the year and troop they earned their Eagle in.  They stand at the front and repeat the Eagle Oath as the new Eagle does and are the first to Congratulate the new Eagle Scout as they exit the stage.  That is my favorite part of the ceremony for some reason, maybe its because you may not know that someone is an Eagle Scout or maybe it is knowing that the Eagles on stage, from the newest to the oldest, have something in common that they earned, I am not sure.  The CC gnereally reads letter of congratulations .  The Scout usually has someone say a few words about the project and someone say a few words about the scout, benediction, colorguard and food.

Food has been as simple as cheese and crackers, mast families just do finger foods or salads, we had one scout do giant submarine sandwiches.  One family did make your own sundaes, that was fun.

Our Courts of Honor are usually held in the church with the food being set up in the church basement, but the church (our CO) doesn't want us to use the sanctuary during the months of November to March now so it will be interesting to see where ceremonies will be held.  My own son has said that if he makes Eagle he would like his ceremony to be in the dining hall at our local camp.  It is a huge A frame building with a wall of windows, it is beautiful, but the significance to him is that is where he was awarded his Bobcat badge as a cub and he thinks it would be a great place to earn his last rank badge.  I tend to agree.

I was a floral designer before my son was born with medical issues and I became (and currently am) a stay at home Mom.

My husband is the manager of regulatory affairs in the northeast for a large power generating company. 

Our local camp want scouts out no later than 11:00.  They have volunteer campmasters.

Before any of our scouts get too far into their life rank I print a copy of their advancement progress from internet advancement, as that is the information that council and natiol sees.  If there are any mistakes I can correct th right then.  When a scout is ready to fill out his Eagle Application I again print out the advancement progress reportgive it to the scout.  I tell him to be sure that he uses thes in internet advancement on his application.  Those are the dates that council will be looking at when the approve the application, not the date on the blue cards.  We have had no issues with Eagle applications at council since I started this procedure.

Our scouts are told that it is their responsibility to keep track of their blue cards as proof that they were earned if ag should happen with the paperwork.

After I submit the merit badge date in internet advancement I scan the blue cards and keep them in that scout's file on my cloud storage device at home.  It may sound excessive but one of our scouts lost his home 10 days before his project.  He lost everything including his signed proposal.  It could have been rebuilt but having that copy saved a ton of hassle.

I am a councelor for Family Life.  Most of the boys, but not all that I council are in troop. 

The training I took was at our Pow Wow/University of Scouting event.

How does fundraising work in your troop?

Who organizes and runs the fundraisers?

Do you do the same things every year?

Our troop has not done any fundraising in several years other than popcorn.   The troop earns whatever percentage of the sales and the scout earns a percentage of that for their scout "account".  Our biggest popcorn seller Eagled and aged out.  He sold half of our total sales, most boys don't even participate, it is easier for Mom and Dad to write the big check to cover dues.

This year we raised dues and still expect to be about $500 short of our projected expenses.  A bottle drive was proposed, but no one volunteered to run it.  Someone said that it is boy lead troop, let the boys do it.  Now, I am all for paying your own way, but it is the committee's responsibility to be sure funds are available for the program, right?  I agree that the boys should participate, but the boys who will can't drive to pick up bottles at drop off locations.  Who should decide where the locations are going to be, when the drive is going to be, how everything is going to work?  Is that something the boys should plan or is that something the boys should participate in but the committee should run?  It has been suggessted that any money raised goes right into the troop treasury and individual scouts that wor on the drive get nothing in their accounts.  Mykid will be there but I don't know how many other scouts or parents will step up if they don't get a direct benefit of it especially since none of the scouts in the troop now have ever had to do any kind of real fundraising.

At crossover we give new scouts a handbook, necker and slide, and epilauts.  Class B shirts and caps are required but must be purchased after crossover.  Our dues are high (according to some) but include patches, all camping and most food fees ($5 per scout for food on campouts, troop supliments up to an additional $8 per scout).  For Eagles we provide the kit, necker and slide or bolo and a cake.  We have had parents say they would rather pay higher dues and have no fundraising.  We do popcorn but honestly not many boys participate.  We need to supliment the dues this year with a fudraiser, a bottle drive aparently, but no one has stepped up to run it, so we will see how that goes.  I pushed for a fundraiser to help directly offset dues but the committee wasn't interested.

As with everything there are good districts and there are bad districts, in districts there are good committees and bad committees.

Many of our district volunteers have moved on from troops after their boys have aged out or have been recruited to help because they have a particular talent or interest.

We currently do not have a DC, but if the old one wasn't a personal friend I don't know if I would have known him.  Our UC has been around a couple times, but our unit functions pretty well so we don't really need him.  I do know that UC and our DC have saved some packs and troops who were struggleing, but if a unit is doing well I am not sure they are needed.  Our new membership chair is great.  He brought new blood and fresh ideas in and is making a real impact.  Our advancement chair sucks.  Our activities committee puts on fun and unique camporees.  I am a bit biased about our trainig committee, but they do multiple courses in different locations around the district.  Our DE seems to always be around and has actually helped our unit out when BOR were not being done properly.

We provide new handbooks to our crossovers. It has been suggested that we purchase new books for the entire troop since there are new requirements that aren't covered in the current handbook (cyberchip, more knots, etc). How can older boys teach young boys things that they don't have in their current handbook. Thoughts?

In our council the troop committee secures the reference and summarizes them on a form provided by council. The summary form is signed by the committee chair and goes to council with the application, proposal, life statement, etc. I am the one who handles it in our troop, I have a form letter that I email out. I make 3 attempts to acquire a reference by email or phone call.

I provide the letters and summary to the members of the board of review and they are destroyed by myself after the board.

Interesting, our troop "budget meeting" is tonight.  All parents have been invited.

When I first joined the committee we carried a balance of $9000 or so.  We didn't think that we should be just sitting on that large of a balance because it was money the boy's raised.

We started charging only $5 per campout per person for food and the troop would reimburse up to $7 extra per person.  Site rental has always come out of the troop's operating budget.

We have only done the popcorn fundraiser for years.  Now, after very lax record keeping from a former treasurer our bank balance is suffering.  We suspect several scouts have gone years without paying dues and probably overpaid our "fair share" (or whatever it is called) to council.  Our top popcorn seller has aged out so we are going to be hurting there, he made over 1/2 of our total sales.  We get donations of bottles from a couple businesses that bring in about $900 a year but no one has volunteered to help with that so I am the only one taking care of them.  We have been talking about other fundraising options but no one wants to run them.  It will be interesting to see how it all goes tonight.

We use Troopmaster.

We have a google website (which I hate, I would love to update to something with more features)

Facebook

Twitter

Looking into instagram and remind

we email, alot

There is another thing to consider, you have to get people to take the training.

Even if they know it is available, even if you make it inexpensive, heck, even if you offer to give it to them in their own home, there are people who won't do it.

I would trust nearly everyone on this board to take my son on a trek because you recognize the need to be trained and you want to be trained.

What do we do about those "one hour a week"ers who don't care enough to get trained?

I know I said I was bowing out, but this is a problem in our area.