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infoscouter

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Posts posted by infoscouter

  1. My most effective FOS presentations are 1) short & 2) personal. The council may give you lots of facts and figures to spout. Know the most important two or three points. Let the brochure or handout cover most of the rest of the stuff. Tell a personal story about how Scouting and camp have had an important impact in your life, or that of your son. Let that story talk for you about why your families should support Scouting. Keep it to ten minutes - max. Tell them you'll be glad to answer questions at the back of the room. Do try and collect the Cubmaster's or Committee Chair pledge card in front of the families, so they can see that the pack leadership supports the campaign.

  2. It won't help for this year, but next year, phrase it as an "early bird discount". If they have the fee in x amount of time the price is "discounted" to whater it really costs per Scout. The "regular" price includes the late fee. Somehow, telling them they're getting a deal makes people more willing to get things in on time (somtimes).

     

    Other things to try - "save the date" type reminders 4 or 3 months early. Time speeds by for people - it feels like things you know to expect (like annual dues) sneak up on you. Make sure dues/recharter deadlines are on the annual planning calendar, and published where parents can see them.

     

     

    Some years we offer payment plans, allowing parents to pay in installments, but they pay a premium to do so.

  3. In "BSA Speak" family camping is a council or district operated event, run by trained staff. It's not taking your family camping :D. If your council runs a "Dad and Lad" or "Mom and Me" or "Fun with Son" weeked end - THAT's Family Camping, in BSA's parlance. Our council also runs Family Camp at our two long-term Boy Scout camps. This is a staffed camp, with program elements, BSA swim and health form requirements for a week. Usually its the spouses and families of Scoutmasters who attend, but doesn't have to be.

    http://www.manypoint.org/content/family-camp

  4. From the Official Policy: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33066_Section1.pdf "While wearing the uniform is not mandatory, it is highly encouraged. The leaders of Scoutingâ€â€both volunteer and professionalâ€â€promote the wearing of the correct complete uniform on all suitable occasions."

    Now, having stating this, I have no issues with folks using blue pants bought at K-Mart, etc. They look just as good in pics, and cost a lot less. I do have issues with jeans and cammo pants (i just don't like the look of jeans and cammo is just wrong).

     

    I have bought uniform items off ebay and have purchased and donated items from Goodwill on more than one occasion. There are ways of getting uniformed and saving money at the same time, you just gotta look :-).

    The Cub Scout who showed up in purple, gold and black Zubaz with his uniform shirt finally pushed me over the line. I started encouraging "generic" blue pants.
  5. I'm sorry, I have to ask......

    Why do all of these "original scouters" go by three names?

    It was not uncommon for "society" women, such as Daisy Gordon Low, to use maiden names as a way of keeping a connection to a prominent family. Now days you see it with many prominent women in government and industry - Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Among the women who attended my all female college is is also a convention. I myself use my maiden name, and my married name as my legal name. They are not hyphenated - just three names.
  6. Is there NO HOT WATER at All..Or could the facilities just not handle the Demand of 40000+ visitors at one time? I am sure that they can install Solar Hot Water Heaters or Boiler Type Hot Water Heaters before the Next National Jambo. I don't see lack of hot water Crippling the Expansion of SBR. Honestly do you think 40000+ people took showers ever Single Day? And What Kind of Expansions are Needed at SBR other than What is Already there?
    The idea behind the ambient temperature showers was part of the sustainability of the Summit. See:

    http://www.summitblog.org/so-whats-the-story-on-showers/

  7. Our council (Northern Star) moved from the pilot phase of this program to full implementation last year. More than 75% of our packs have a Lion Cub Den. The program is very much like the old Tiger Cub program. There is one den meeting and one "Grand Adventure" (field trip) each month. At this time, Northern Star is the only council officially offering this program. I do not know if there are plans for a national implementation.

     

    More info: http://www.northernstarbsa.org/YouthPrograms/CubScouts/LionCubs.aspx

     

    http://www.northernstarbsa.org/Forms/Membership/LionCubsProgramFall%202012Info.pdf

     

    Thanks for the information! Have you participated in it any specifically? Any significant issues you've run across so far? (Yes, I'm nosy.) :)

    We had our first successful Lion den last year, after a previous attempt which didn't 'gel'. I generally like the program. Its low key enough for five year olds, and the materials incorporate solid direction for parents on how to be involved with their son. Our Grand Adventures took awhile to take off, but I know of other packs who were more successful with them.

     

    We converted a parent to a Tiger leader for this year, who has committed to taking training, so I'd say it was a good start.

  8. I guess one boy just has to stay home. :) Not one of 19 scouts slept in the tents the other week, they all slept outside, by choice. I have not seen any National rule on two to tent either. I think the camp may have a rule that if you have 13 scouts they are not going to provide your troop with 13 tents. Sometimes adults just can't think rationally, happens to scouts also. :) So what is this adults plan ? Place the odd man out in a tent with an adult ? Violate the 30 square foot requirement and shove three in a tent ? Moron. Get him out of your troop and don't waste any more of your time with him.
    The camping standard which referenced a minimum number of square feet is apparently no longer in force. I just had this discussion on another list, and took the opportunity to look at the newest standards: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/outdoor%20program/pdf/430-056.pdf. There is no reference to size of tents.
  9. Our council (Northern Star) moved from the pilot phase of this program to full implementation last year. More than 75% of our packs have a Lion Cub Den. The program is very much like the old Tiger Cub program. There is one den meeting and one "Grand Adventure" (field trip) each month. At this time, Northern Star is the only council officially offering this program. I do not know if there are plans for a national implementation.

     

    More info: http://www.northernstarbsa.org/YouthPrograms/CubScouts/LionCubs.aspx

     

    http://www.northernstarbsa.org/Forms/Membership/LionCubsProgramFall%202012Info.pdf

    • Upvote 1
  10. We actually see this milestone as three separate events. 1) the Scouts who are eligible receive their Arrow of Light 2) all Scouts "graduate" from the pack 3) those Scouts who have chosen to join a troop cross the bridge and are greeted by their Scoutmasters and SPLs. We have both used and not used the bridge for our graduates who are not moving on to Boy Scouting. They are still passing out of the pack and onto another stage of life. We had their parents meet them at the end of the bridge.

    • Downvote 1
  11. We have recently received guidance from our council, based on IRS "private benefit" rules. This is what was printed in our annual Program Planning Guide:

     

    "Some units allow youth to accrue portions of funds raised in an account under their name, rather than billing families that don’t participate equally in the fundraiser. To prevent violation of IRS “private benefit†rules, the youth member should not

    earn more than 20% of the total net profits from a fundraiser; the funds may only be used for Scouting purposes reflected

    within the scope of unit activities; and the criteria for how much “credit†they have earned should be based on Scout spirit

    and participation in all activities, rather than how much a Scout raised in the fundraiser. If a youth transfers to another unit,

    such funds can follow to the new unit, but must be transferred directly from one unit to another."

     

  12. This is from the Guide to Safe Scouting (it is point 10 under Leadership Requirements for Trips and Outings:

     

    Single-room or dormitory-type accommodations for Scouting units: Adults and youths of the same gender may occupy dormitory or single-room accommodations, provided there is a minimum of two adults and four youths. A minimum of one of the adults is required to be Youth Protection–trained. Adults must establish separation barriers or privacy zones such as a temporary blanket or a sheet wall in order to keep their sleeping area and dressing area separated from the youth area.

     

    So - the answer is, bring tarps or blankets to establish a partition between the adults and the Scouts.

  13. Our Council has a couple day camps where siblings are welcome, but I believe they are grouped separately from the Cub Scouts. It's not a "Tot Lot", they do the same things the Cubs do (with age appropriate program), but they get patches, lunch, etc.

  14. The achievements that are counted towards the badge can't be counted towards arrow points, but some electives have spaces to show where they can be done multiple times, this may be where the confusion arose. Check the books, but I believe you'll find spots to intial multiple times on some pages.

  15. Anything you make with ground beef can be "healthified" by subsituting ground turkey or ground chicken. Once ground turkey is mixed with taco seasoning/chili seasoning/spaghetti sauce, the taste and texture are very similar to ground beef, with much less fat.

     

    Substitute Canadian bacon for pepperoni or use turkey pepperoni. Or turkey sausage instead of beef sausage. You can also get whole wheat pizza crust. You can even get low fat cheese.

     

    Make sure there are nutritious sides. Carrot chips are a big hit with Scouts at our events.

  16. Anything you make with ground beef can be "healthified" by subsituting ground turkey or ground chicken. Once ground turkey is mixed with taco seasoning/chili seasoning/spaghetti sauce, the taste and texture are very similar to ground beef, with much less fat.

     

    Substitute Canadian bacon for pepperoni or use turkey pepperoni. Or turkey sausage instead of beef sausage. You can also get whole wheat pizza crust. You can even get low fat cheese.

     

    Make sure there are nutritious sides. Carrot chips are a big hit with Scouts at our events.

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