John-in-KC

Almost 40 years ago, in my Lodge, there were three ways to know a Scout was an Arrowman outside attendance at a Chapter or Lodge function: - The Universal Arrow device. - The flap - The Lodge neckerchief patch. We were rationed on Lodge flaps, able to get something minimal like 1 every 5 years. It did not matter we had long and short sleeve shirts. We were rationed. Period. We were rationed even worse on Lodge neckerchiefs. We were allowed to buy 1 per lifetime. That patch, in 1970, was $50. That was more than it cost to go to Scout Camp or on the trail. Guess what I did not buy as a youth member? Now, we have urinating and defecating contests over colors of flaps representing membership levels. What a crock. You who are under 30 just do not know how good you have it. Sorry not to be as kind as I often am, but this is getting to the whining and whimpering stage. We're here to instill an ethic in the youth members, and then to pledge ourselves to living that ethic lifelong. Everything else the Order does supports one of those two goals. Everything. Now, depending on where you are, your Lodge does special flaps for NOAC, Jamboree, construction of an OA building at Scout Camp, or Council Capital Campaign. The voting youth members may change the basic lodge flap simply because they think the current design is dorky. Other lodges have necklaces, aka coup thongs. So you're upset your Lodge can't have its way. I have a simple answer: Deal with it. Quit complaining. Better yet, seek Sectional, Regional, and National office. Change will not happen from below.(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

The H Roe Bartle Boy Scout Reservation, Heart of America Council, located on Truman Lake, MO: http://www.hoac-bsa.org/Camping/BoyScoutSummerCamp/Bartle.aspx One of two homes for the Tribe of Mic-o-Say. It's a 10 day camp. The Geiger Scout Reservation, Pony Express Council, located near St Joseph, MO: http://www.ponyexpressbsa.org/Camping/BoyScoutCamp/ The other home for the Tribe of Mic-o-Say. It's a 7 day camp. EagleSon has attended and likes both. So do I.

At recharter time you can swap positions around as part of the process. The rest of the year, even one day after the charter is turned in, ... new, complete Adult Leader app. In other words, what eisely and BuffaloSkipper said.

Don't compare a Troop to a Crew. They aren't the same. It's more like a school club. President is youth program officer. Assorted VPs, Secretary, Treasurer ... whatever offices the youth determine are needed. May I suggest you take Venturing Fast Start and Venturing Leader Specific training?

What Eagle92 said. This is mentoring by the District Commish and District Chairman time.

We're thinking on the same terms then. Even a data dump from ScoutNet is going to have some logic in how MBs are listed. I think that is user-configurable, but most DE's and Registrars are going to leave the defaults be. Personally, I prefer date earned on the app. Cleanest.

Dreamer, Welcome. Hal gives one possible option for you. When you relocate and transfer, Scouting's National Advancement guidelines are your actual rank and merit badges move with you. Troops have the option of accepting work in progress. As far as I can determine, this includes Merit Badge partials, POR tenure, tenure for Scout Spirit... the whole kit n kaboodle. You're moving to a new Council, Counselors do not have to accept work they've not seen. I wish you well, welcome back to Scouting. As Kudu says, find a unit which gets in the outdoors a lot ... often using backpacking. It really is fun to explore a wilderness that way. At the same time, jerks and bloody fools are a part of LIFE. Not everyone honors the Scout Oath and Law in the real world. Learning how to manage Mr Scoutmaster, as Hal suggests, is not the worst idea in the world, no matter what Rick says.(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

IF your Troop (meaning YOU!) is properly submitting advancement reports (online or in hardcopy)... AND IF your Council Registrar is timely processing these advancement reports all the way to ScoutNet (not always a given) THEN THE IMPORTANT THING... the date earned for the MB, should be the same no matter which database he uses for the Eagle app. When (if) Council is doing what it's supposed to, then Troopmaster is a secondary internal record only. Your son will simply need to keep that record for when he earns Palms. Having been a unit advancement coordinator myself, I'd say learn the lesson and don't lose sleep over the difference BTW, what's this about a pre-filled out Eagle app????????? Had not heard of that before. Am calling my DD for more info...

CP, I just re-read the Brotherhood Ceremony. There is reference there to our duties to our Lodges. Even so, I agree with the fundamentals of your argument. The first time I heard the term pocket rocket was the reference to the mini-sashes, some years ago. Have a great day

Calico Penn nailed it. While there are two sides to every story, we adults should be able to play nice. If Mr SM or Mr CC cannot look a parent in the eye and say "We're sorry, but we really do not want Billy in our Troop anymore, and here's why", then... they are the ones lacking Scout Spirit. After all, a Scouter is... Loyal Courteous Brave Among 12 points of the Law...

Oh. Never mind the theme. Get with your DE and promote Day Camp at RT and other District Cubbing events... including Trainings. Photos of Cubs having FUN are at least as important as the annual cartoon. Get copies of the existing forms. Scan them in. Change the dates and prices as needed. If Council is unreliable, bypass Council.

1) Wood project. 2) Cooking something. 3) For a noontime special, ask the fire department to send a ladder truck. Have it spray the kids from high deployed position. 3) Don't worry about the theme. Everything can be fitted to the theme. I have a good friend who has not only PD'd, he's been CSDC NCS staff a couple times. I'll ask him if he's willing to share with you by email.

There is nothing in BSA Advancement literature which says the Troop must use internal MB Counselors. My thought is Mr SM should find a MB Counselor for First Aid outside the Troop and direct the youth there. That would reinforce Adult Association, vice Mr CC, who the kids should see at most every BOR. OBTW, Mr SM should have a friendly cup of coffee with Mr CC and tell him to find CPR trainers who will do the training for the youth inexpensively. My thoughts.

Back in 1968-9-70... It was OK to dig fire trenches (we did it most every campout) It was OK to make browse beds by cutting branches and saplings. Trapping a couple rabbits for your Patrol's supper was OK. It was OK to climb up a signal tower without head protection. Morse Code was a fast means of communicating messages great distances. A Scoutmaster could address a miscreant Scout starting with "YOU WORTHLESS SON OF A #####" all by yourself. All of those statements are no longer true The first three are outside Leave No Trace; want a lawsuit, have a kid fall without a safety line and head protection in place to a signal tower; a 56KB modem is orders of magnitude faster than Morse; and Heaven Help You if you cuss at a Scout even under two deep leadership. Yes, leadership principles are immutable. The training techniques to teach leadership principles can and have changed. The hard skills of the outdoors, used as a training vehicle, can and have changed. (As a concession to Stosh, mastering Morse is still fun, and still has some use in the US within the Military Affiliate Radio System) Whether each of us consider the skills changed for better or worse can be debated until the cows come home, but change they have. My point? Look at each and every product critically. They are, as Beavah often says, program tools, not the Holy Gospel (or the Holy Grail). Use to your units' best advantage. If something does not fit your circumstances, evaluate it, and change within the corners of LNT, the Oath, and the Law. Is that really that impossible to do?(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

ALLELUIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm doing the HAPPY DANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you want to know how I really feel about this? I hope this is true. We never should have had the )(*&^%$$#@! pocket rockets. The Universal Arrow Pin and Ribbon were good enough for us youth member Arrowmen of the 60s and 70s!!! They are DARN good enough for you too. I have made it a point over the last several years, when friends entered our Brotherhood, to give them a present of the Universal Arrow. (This message has been edited by John-in-KC)(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

I'm going to use lower case scout spirit for this, because to me this is the "cheerleading" part of Scouting. Yes, the trail is supposed to be joyful, and have plenty of fun and laughter along the way. If meetings and outings do not have fun and laughter, then something isn't right; as boomer said, tackle those 1 or two bites at a time. Now, if people are not living Scout Spirit (walking the walk all the time on the Oath and the Law), then there are bigger problems in the Troop, and the SM/CC/COR/UC need an adults "Thorns and Roses". The same folk then need to listen to the PLC in their own "Thorns and Roses", Finally, look to see what's common between the two sets of people. Those are the big problems which need work.

Rather than run the "First years take this set of classes, second years this..." How about "Mustang Patrol shoots in the morning and attends Cooking MB in the afternoon." Unfortunately, that often breaks down at Lakefront, where scarce resources (boats and counselors) require rationing, and that rationing comes from age groupings.

Wanna bet that a bunch of kids lost/confuzzled their leg extensions?

4 way business cup of coffee here: - CM, as the Program Officer - CC - Treasurer - Chartered Organization Representative Questions to be asked: - Does the Treasurer have the resources to do this? You may need to buy him/her a license to Quicken or some other tool to do the record-keeping. - What are the events for which individual funds may be drawn? Remember, if it's not money from the Cubs parent, it really is Chartered Partner funds assigned to the unit. - Do we have all the program resources we need? If your Pack does a fair bit of Cub Family Camping, and you don't have stoves/lanterns/kitchen gear, then a better use might be obtaining unit equipment. - What happens at -- Transition, Cubs to Boy Scouting? -- Family relocation? -- Boy drops out of Scouting while a Cub? -- Boy does not continue to Boy Scouting? There are certainly more questions, and others will add to this list. Even so, Chartered Partner buy-in on this is essential. Remember, the adult side of Scouting works by consensus, not as a working democracy.

BadenP, EagleSon, in HS, was a member of Teenage Republicans. He knew quite well who his Representative was, and in fact, worked on his re-election. The next summer, he spent a week at Scout Camp with his state Senator. The others knew the Congresscritter as well. Ya gotta understand: Scouting is part of who people are in western Missouri. Ike Skelton may be a Democrat, and Sam Graves may be a Republican. They are both Eagle Scouts and both Tribesmen of Mic-o-Say. They go to Scout Camp, not to do a grip, grin and run, but to touch base in their roots.

Another option, bring your MB sash, have it with your ELSP book. Wear your OA sash. Depends on what's important to you in your heart and why. Wear your Philmont belt, and wear it with pride BTW, if I were sitting your EBOR, I'd be asking a lot of questions about your Trek, and about the times you had on it. It's a memory worth keeping YIS.

Find out what your Governor and State Legislators issue. Missouri issues framed legislative resolutions honoring and congratulating the kids. Your Congresscritter may be willing to do a speech honoring him, and have it in the Congressional Record (they do these about once a month, and recite each kids achievements in a formula).

From my experience, playing a "Hobson's Choice" or "Monte Carlo" game is rarely a wise thing to do without well-formed teams, and without superior game leaders and observers. We plowed this ground before a couple years ago. I cannot find the threads, but they are out there. xl, you're being asked about your experience because frankly, many of us wonder about your credibility. Most of us enjoyed our WB course, are proud of the patrols we're linked to, and have strong Scouting friendships as a result. I personally do not like the game because we've just spent a couple days forming Patrols and teaching cooperation (with a bit of competition), then we tear that down and go for the jugular in the game. John I used to be an Owl C-40-05

EagleSon's favorites are three: Our State Senator did a "Courtesy Resolution", printed and framed by the Missouri State Printer. Since our senator is an Eagle Scout and a Scouter himself, that means something. Our State Representative did the same thing. Our Congresscritter is also an Eagle Scout, and an active Scouter. He did a floor speech in the House. Told the youth (there were 6) when he was going to be on C-SPAN, and they all got to see it.

Has anyone ever done an achievement by achievement, elective by elective crosswalk of the advancement plan for Cub Scouting? I've not yet seen one online. I'd start with a crosswalk of Wolf and Bear, since those two ranks use a common advancement system (rank Gold Arrow point, multiple silver arrow points). Then, fold in the Webelos badge and its activity pins. Finally, roll back to Tigers and roll their 1/1 (parent and child) Go-See-Do (?) system in. I would leverage the monthly Cub Scouting themes; they provide some program commonality. Have fun with all this