Its Me

John-in-KC, your argument appears weak. Some how the youth participants in the game of scouting will have their character and development go into a downward spiral if a group of adults sign a song or give an occasional cheer. I disagree. And most who don't like the adult patrol tend to exaggerate the amount "patrolness" that an adult patrol will have. From my understanding the adult patrol's net effect can be a positive influence on the troop by: setting an example, collecting and organizing adults (see the April 2007 thread on PL leader sleeping with parent), providing a bonding exper

Beavah, I would take your oath but I think I read somewhere, or maybe it was at a training event that someone got sued for taking an unofficial Boy Scout pledge and they weren't covered under the insurance. Its a liability issue.

Lisabob I can see that your SM is trying to engage the scouts in a dialog. Maybe your SM finds it difficult to get the boys to express their goals and reflect upon their accomplishments so he is looking for keys to engage the boys in discussion. The SM should prep for the scoutmaster's conference. Have all key troop activities and dates before him so he can discuss these with the boys. That should bring out some good discussions. The SM should do the write up not the boy. Most of my scouts would prefer that Scouting be a writing free zone.

The Obvious and not so obvious Finding the right charter. Getting records from the old troop. Opening a bank account. Fundraising for patrol boxes, flags, and seed money for campsite reservations.

I found 1/4" manila rope from Grainger (you need a business account) was the most economical. Its cheap and does not stretch. I bought a 1200' roll and used it all for a Pioneering tower. I got my poles from a farm and fence supply store. My poles are 3-4" pressure treated fence post at $2.48/ea. At 6.5' long they are sufficient but are not handsome by any stretch of the imagination.

Sometimes I feel like a plant, other times a bird. Too often though, I feel like a plant wishing I were a bird.

I have played many games of laser tag and I thoroughly enjoy the game. Team work is key to obtaining the objective. The same can be said for paint ball which I have also found as great fun. If BSA took a poll I would vote both as allowable. The game of laser tag is not dangerous. Funny how an organization founded by a military hero, patterned off a military patrol, with military uniforms including rank insignias is worried about a game being too close to the fire of paramilitary.

Bob White, I don't know what your backpacking skills are, but the complexity of selecting the capacity, frame-type, packing, choosing what to take and properly fitting a backpack to a scout's back goes well beyond the technical skills of a patrol yell and raising a flag in the Tenderfoot rank. goes into. Heck

Bob White, I am guessing that you have recently accepted the position as ASM for a new scout patrol. If so congratulations. I believe you have a lot to offer. However, you don't have 90 minutes at a troop meeting to teach skills. By the book (Program Features, meeting planner) you have 20 minutes for skills instruction. Opening-closing ceremonies, patrol meetings and inter patrol games consume the rest of the time. On a separate patrol outing on a Saturday or Sunday and sure 90 minutes of instruction can be held. I would still break this up with some games and stuff. Bu

Good point. I believe that in general we "society" are much more involved in our children's development than in past generations. We now find purpose for what would have been simple pleasures before. Sports is done to build fitness and understand team cooperation. Karate for fitness and self discipline. Chess club for math skills. 4-H for economics and animal responsibility. For communication speech is a required course and our school has a forensic club where students complete every 6 weeks or so in speeches. Adult association; there seems to be a lot of adult involvement in our ki

Yep Boy Scouts is looking more and more like Cub scouts, where divisions are based on age and adult leaders are training the youths.

We do not have an adult patrol but the concept is intriguing. The adults should eat, camp and to some extent socialize away from the boys. I can see the biggest value for an adult patrol is meal time at a campout. Right now my young patrol is struggling to feed and cook for itself. Add four hungry men to the table and the burden on the new patrol is high. Add a guest adult and its scary. Now I don't think anyone is saying that the adult patrol is taken too seriously. In that they don't line up and compete in the bucket brigade race at the troop meeting. I can see that the adult pa

Bob White, the Program Features outlines for the PLC, at most the exact events for a particular month's focus at minimum the method to plan for a month's worth of activities. All these monthly Features include new scout development. The way you describe the system the the New Scout patrol in an inferior patrol not allowed at the table. That's just wrong. Plus the whole troop and especially the older scout will have a hand in training the new scouts in the skills they need for advancement. Again your description sounds like an adult does all the training thus depriving the older sco

I noticed!

We formed a new troop in October with 8 active scouts and we have what I consider a boy run troop. From the start we have been committed to implementing the full the program. We have monthly PLC meetings, annual planning, monthly campouts, summer camps and courts of honors. Money for troop equipment has been a steep climb. We have held fundraisers and still seem short on cash. Registration fees, flags, patrol boxes and badges all add up. Trailers and troop tents are pipe dreams at the moment. The five year plan as Beavah laid out is sound advice. The first year or so it will b

We pay as we go. The Charter is an American Legion post but they are in no position to financially help us. We get a meeting hall that adequately meets our needs. No Complaints. In Follow Me Boys, Troop Hickory is given a multi-million dollar piece of land and building on a Lake. Sigh! I have Lem envy sometimes. (This message has been edited by Its Me)

I have way more important things to do than reply to this thread.

Sign-up for WB Your training will be more important to the Pack than being there the first night. Besides the first Pack meeting of the year, especially for tigers is just sign-up. It takes a couple of weeks or longer to sort out den leaders and meeting nights and places. Signing up den leaders and getting parents involved over the course of a couple of weeks is why you get paid the big bucks. Schedule a committee meeting or leaders meeting two weeks after sign-up. This will be a far better way to communicate pack functions than at a pack meeting with kiddies running all around.

Why do we dwell so much on the purpose of scouting and not on the fun? Because the purpose and program of scouting is far more complex and difficult than manufacturing Fun. On any given Saturday when we have finished the scheduled program or skill that we were working on, the boys simply go off and make their own fun. Some play, some yak away the hours. There is no problem. I don't have to draw up a fun procedure chart. There is no "official" chief merry maker reporting to the ASPL. Fun happens so much that at about five when dinner needs to be prepared the boys typically have to b

I agree with you, that a scout who can't lead a flag ceremony will have a hard time leading an eagle project. He has moved too fast. If you aren't careful his father and noy him will lead his Eagle project.

The Tours and Expeditions, No. 33737 publication is in the transportation section of G2SS. It is unlikley to contain additional clarification on the required sleeping quarters for a Pack outing.

At our annual planning meeting we were looking at a similar situation. We had a big, one room facility. We decided that the lone female would be in separate quarters if she set up a tent within the building and slept in that. In the field, a 3 foot gap and two pieces on 3mm of nylon constitute separate facilities. Separate should have the implication of privacy, not bearer.

For goodness sake just leave. Its a youth program run by volunteers; not all will be well run. You didn't enlist your son in a five year program with this guy. Have a meeting with the disgruntled parents, seek out other troops and leave. If two - three other boys go to the same troop you and your son choose, great. If none come, they will after a few months. Boy Scouting is a product. Its meant to train, develop and entertain boys. If these things aren't happening at your present troop then the product your son is receiving is defective. Seek out a new boy scout troop where the en

Gateways are the Pink Flamingos of the camping world, unnecessary, out of place and out of fashion.

Somewhere in the woodbadge and training forum is my post on my Powder Horn training experience. Powder horn is the training for venture crew leaders. From what I gather, Venturing is all about the outing. Advancement is a much lower priority. Youth led seemed even lower. In venturing BSA has recognized that in order to complete with well developed church youth groups, they had to diminish the emphasis on advancement. Make just fun and they well come. Character development and adult association still occur but its less structured. To be Fair venturing has its advancement program