JoeBob

Nature! - ID plants and animals in your local woods. Bird calls, crush a sweet gum leaf and smell it, Sassafras tea made from roots along the AT. Survival skills - shelter, fire building, what critters you can eat, how to find and collect water. Simple Games that teach Scout Skills

Not wishing for it. Just acknowledging that my time in the afterlife may not be in Heaven....

Three wives in Heaven? Sounds Mormon to me. Not sure I'm gonna like it when they all gang up on me. Hey, this IS Heaven, right?!?

If every adult who will be responsible for putting away your cooking gear will make sure that it's clean and dry, buy cast iron. If not, get used to that rusty taste.

KDD: I've married 3 Catholics: Confession, Penance, Absolution. That was never the plan, but it can happen. The details are too personal to get into on an open forum; I probably shouldn't have told that. January 3rd will be our 18th anniversary.

I'm not so sure that councils make money on training. There are enough costs in food, staff, and facilities to offset the $500 ($250). What the BSA does gain in having you buy into their training is more lemmings. If you accept 'servant leadership', you're a free BSA worker forever. It's your duty to serve the boys. And your free labor helps keep Pro salaries high. *** Confession: I don't wear the knots that I could have earned as an adult. No Cubmaster, Den Leader, etc knots. I like to gauge people by their reaction to my almost nekkid uniform shirt, just Eagle. Some folks at bigger scouting events stick their noses in the air, and sniff about how WouldBadge is their Eagle. Uh huh. Then I know what to expect from them. Some folks work with you as a person, and it's always a pleasure to help them achieve good things for the boys. I like surprising people, and I hate wasting my time on ID ten Ts.

" a lifelong commitment before God between a man and a woman." No worries. I've had a lifelong commitment before God to a single woman three different times. If God wanted me to stay with the same woman, why did he keep serving up such definitive reasons to leave them? My final marriage (17 years and counting) was a huge leap of faith for me. Again? JoeBob, really? You're going to try this marriage stuff again? Fool. What is even more curious is that I've always married Catholics. Don't try that at home....

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ruger+logo&id=F955E640AA6D27A3267F9EBBF30919838E7F82B6&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=F955E640AA6D27A3267F9EBBF30919838E7F82B6&selectedIndex=0 Ruger's logo is not that far off. Good catch, Packsaddle.

I don't know, DigitalScoot, you sound awfully judgmental of folks who just want to practice their religion in their own way. I was raised Southern Baptist, but I've been Presbyterian, Methodist (twice), Episcopalian, and am now Catholic for the second time. Don't try that at home. In no denomination did I encounter an aristocracy/peasant relationship or attitude. Although Catholics are stingy with the wafer, that's because they believe it becomes the body of Christ and should be revered by believers, and they like to use it as the carrot to get you to confession. Most Christians that I know are just happy that you've found God. They don't care what flavor your enjoying. And while we're on the subject of things I don't know, I can't figure out your avatar. Is that supposed to be bat wings, or a butt hole?

Arrrg! Shiver yer own durned timbers, Mate Eeee!

Adult discipline undermines the youth taking responsibility for their own behavior. Why should the boys police themselves if the adults will do it for them? Gotta walk the fine line between being supportive and taking over.

PairlessCordblood: If you pass that button in your crap, it's gonna hurt.

Heck yes. Don't let the BSA paperwork keep the scout from getting credit for skills he has learned. His VoTech welding class has given him way more experience than the MB requires.

1- Yes. There is way too much time wasted on poor/redundant training. Examples abound throughout the threads on this board. (Why Woodbadge?) 2- There are unqualified idiots claiming to be Jeremiah Johnson who are taking young boys into the woods en masse. (My favorite example is the Eagle Scout adult from Boston who got his group lost when they strayed from a ridgeline trail.) These idiots give the lawyers justification to require the training. Instead of trying to justify the 60% increase in dues with more training, I'd like to see BSA focus on better training. 1- Teach the basic outdoor skills. Really. Passing a hatchet around a circle saying 'Thank you' does not teach you how to safely cut wood. 2- Teach leaders how to teach boys. "You may run into this..." "Boys will sometimes do this, and here's a good way to respond..." 3- Provide simplified access to games and fun ways to reinforce the scout skills during troop meetings. Where is the website that I can point my SPL to "Pick the game that you're going to use this week to improve rope skills, and let me know what help you need."? Many good ideas are out there, but you really have to dig through the weeds to find them. Acquire the skills, pass on the skills, practice. Too much effort is being wasted on avoiding liability and promoting high-minded concepts that the boys aren't interested in.

BD - You're right. Now we have to figure out what to do with about it. As SM, I'm being pulled in different directions. 1- "Toughen 'em up!" Run an old-fashioned scouting program that challenges boys who are willing to stick it out. 2- Coddle the boys with enough screen time and car-camping to keep my enrollment up. And the city-dwelling adults off my back. Every day is a compromise, but I'm weary of the right choice always being the hardest.

I thought you were talking about Irving cramming political correctness down our throats.

Heard an hour long discussion about Trail Life on the radio Saturday. At first I thought I was listening to the usual media sniping at the BSA, but then I realized that I had tuned to a Christian radio station. They were trying to sell the new program as a more pure version of what we old-timers remember from our scouting youth. If they focus on the outdoors and scout skills, they may fill the vacuum that Irving has created. Someone posted that Trail Life won't have 'Eagle' as a draw. 'Eagle' has become so dilute that I'm not sure that its value on a resume will continue to be a positive; in fact 'Eagle' may brand you as a homophobe in some eyes.

The SM Handbook on my nightstand was published in 1967. Other than advancement, it's better than the current version. Great old-fashioned scouting games, etc.

Almost every one of the 'Whereas' clauses were mostly false pablum. But I got hopeful when I read: "to increase the numbers of young men of color who are prepared for jobs and professional careers " Good, good - I can support that. But then I finished the sentence: "in the health, education, and green infrastructure sectors." What about all the other sectors with real work to do? (Apologies to Health.)

You'll have to click on the photo to make it readable. "Trained but not Housebroken" is probably too long.

And they think that's a good thing? Sorry. I just couldn't help myself...

I handled a similar problem with an eMail to all den parents: "Make sure that I have your current cell phone number. If Lil Johnny doesn't behave this meeting, I'm calling you to come get him." The next few meetings were remarkably well behaved. No parent wants to interrupt what they're doing to come get an unruly child, and they let their kids know it! Our meetings were 2 hours twice a month; might not work as well with one hour meetings. I agree with Basement, the energy you're putting into babysitting this one child is cheating the rest of your den. Make the parents deal with it. You're not trained! You tried; time to pass it on.

That mirrors my impression.

Eh, testing?

That describes the various Baden-Powell Scouts associations, except they are based on B-P's more rugged Patrol System and badge requirements, with the specific year of either 1938 or 1965. At about $1500, a VERY nice gift!