John-in-KC

I've seen several Council Annual Reports. I'd LOVE TO SEE a fully audited Council Fiscal report, done to GAAP (or non-profit equivalent). For that matter, I'd love to see the same for BSA National.

I have to agree with KS: Some of the very best COHs are the ones with a potluck and family participation! LisaBob: Anarchist, yes, I am talking about boy scouts, not cubs, and I do understand the desire to have a dignified award ceremony. However, what I've noticed at all 3 of these that I have been to so far is that the BOYS (and especially the younger boys, but not only them) seem bored too. They sit in chairs facing the stage and listen as one adult after another and an occasional PL or the SPL talks. By the end of the night they're squirming all over the place and they're not li

What both SueM and Don said. Lots of Eagle Leadership Service Projects are "designe, resource, and build object X for non-profit agency Y, so that people Z can enjoy activity A." The lasting value is the object itself and its relationship to the facility or piece of Nature in question. For cerebral projects such as "plan an organ donor information and sign-up campaign", more thought is needed: How will the information get out? Who will he furnish copies of organ donor forms to? Who will be the receiving agency for completed forms? I strongly recommend your SM/Advisor tal

Here is some info from the Guide to Safe Scouting on Cub camping. Bottom Line: Generally a 1/1 experience, with the adult being a parent or legal guardian. BOLDFACE material is BSA mandated, in other words, follow the rules or you won't get a tour permit: III. Camping Age Guidelines The Boy Scouts of America has established the following guidelines for its members' participation in camping activities: Overnight camping by Tiger, Wolf, and Bear Cub Scout dens is not approved, and certificates of liability insurance will not be provided by the Boy Scouts of America. Tiger Cub

I am going to agree with LisaBob here, for both of the Scouters who need help in this thread. Her reasoning is smack-on. If there is one lesson I've learned in life, it's "be exceptionally selective about when, where and how you burn your bridges. You never know when you'll need that bridge again, and ... 8 of 10 times, you will." Stepping away with dignity, grace and compassion really does reduce the amount of loss in a lose-lose ... which is what someone leaving a CC or CM (or any primary Scoutering job) at mid-year does ... to the youth. Lessons to be gleaned: 1) If y

Ms Boxie Lady, I second what both emb021 and Backpacker have told you. We are mostly volunteers like yourself. We have access to some resources, and we are gladly willing to share those resources with you. We are NOT a substitute for your Council SE, your DE, the Commissioner Service, Training Committee or the Venturing Officers Association. All of those folks are local to your home. We've provided resources to find as well as expressed specific reservations and concerns ... BASED on your input to us. We've tried to give you feedback by first confirming we're attacking the q

I just completed my 90 day post-course meeting yesterday. What our Scoutmaster said was he'd like 2-3 weeks lead time on beading ceremonies from the time the candidate (me) calls my TG and we confirm completion. That said, the Council WB coordinator for my course said they've gotten calls from TGs on Sunday, saying the candidate called and confirmed completion, and could the beading be Wednesday? To me, 3 days of lead time doesn't feel like "A Scout is Courteous." John A Good Old Owl C-40-05(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

Eamonn, To me, the anecdotes are the canary in the coal mine: I suspect there is a statistically valid, systemic issue out there; I posit this hypothesis: The "de la Renta" uniform no longer accepted or acceptable to troops out in the Councils. Units are electing to procure uniform parts of appropriate color outside the BSA supply corporation system. It's up to National to do the necessary sampling to prove/deny the hypothesis.

I've said something very similar to OGE in a different uniform thread here. Some points I'd like to add to his post: - FABRICS should all support use in the outdoors. There is no reason for permanent press cotton poly that retains cold in winter and heat in summer. - The FABRICS should additionally be environmentally friendly. We do practice the Outdoor code around here, do we not? Wool, cotton, and RECYCLED polypro (vice new polypro fibers made direct from petroleum) I do not expect the boys competing in a contest to make material decisions ... though some older Scout

Agree with both Torveaux, SemperParatus, and LisaBob: $2 a week is not an unreasonable amount to cover supplies and snacks for a den. I do believe a Pack Treasurer should have the books set up for ongoing receipts and distributions from Dens. I also believe Den dues are immediate operating funds, although they can be used as "Christmas Clubs" to help the Cub save for camp or Webelos camp throughout the program year. If there is a youth whose family is in genuine financial straits, then it's the CM's job to approach the COR and see how the unit and the Partner can work together ...

I second all the great advice you've received. I will say this: You owe no loyalty to any "feeder" Troop. Your loyalty should be to your son. Join the Troop which he, and you, believe will best meet his needs over the next several years. THAT SAID: THE FEEDER TROOP owes loyalty to its Pack. Den Chiefs should be sent down. An ASM should be co-chartered as one of your ACMs, to take your program needs back to the Troop. The Troop should be offering support to your Pack without it having to be asked for. If all this is happening, great, then I'll get off my soapbox. If not,

There is a vital point to szekany's note, though ... maybe more than 1. The points are systemic to training programs, vice specific to the training content.: TRAINING DISTRACTORS are a TURNOFF. The JOB of the TRAINER IS TO GET AND KEEP THE GROUP ON TASK!!!! KNOW THE MATERIAL YOU'RE GIVING AS A TRAINER. I walk out of classes where I get the slides read to me. I walk out of presentations where I'm being asked to give a decision, when I get slides read to me. Do not insult the people taking training; it's completely unprofessional. They can read. Reading the slides to them shou

I think, before I made the final decision about sitting or not sitting the Eagle BOR, I'd have a talk with the candidates Scoutmaster. There is not enough information in Eagle WB's post to tell us WHY the candidate does not have a uniform. Asking a few questions and gathering a few facts will get a lot more mileage than just deciding not to sit the board, or voting no. YIS

Problem is this: BSA emphasizes a maturation process. Football camp, band camp, baseball camp, space camp, not to mention swimming camp and soccer camp all emphasize skill development. Very, very few of the specialty camps I see pay any more than lip service to "the whole man." Parents have choices. BSA is ONE choice on the plate for a summer camp experience. Parents expect the program their child attends will produce results. No results, don't expect the parent to let the child return the following year. As far as fixing the attitude described above, I wish I knew...

Welcome to the forums! Blue and Gold is the Cub Scout program celebration of the birthday of the Boy Scouts of America. That's exactly what ScoutNut said, and it's true. It's supposed to be a REALLY BIG SHOW in the program year. Cubs make placemats, centerpieces, and other arty (read fine motor skills) objects. Dens put together their very best songs and skits. If there is ever a night where outside the Pack entertainment comes in, B&G is usually it. Advancement SHOULD happen, even on the night of a B&G. Leaders, particularly the CM and the B/G coordinator, though,

Our TG had several notebooks with his presentations set up as a deskside sales pitch for patrol presentations. PROBLEMS!!!! 1) The bloody plastic of the document protector created substantial glare ... especially if you were more than 10 degrees off the perpendicular of the notebook. 2) BSA's "woodbadge" background is NOT conducive to a deskside pitch. Better to delete the background and show the pitch in good old black and white. John A Good old Owl

Mr JG, Welcome to the forums. It'll be interesting to see how this SW cross-platforms to/from ScoutNet. BSA has a very comprehensive basic database. It should, to my 1KB of flesh/blood RAM, be a no-brainer to port over info by BSA number and then add in Arrow-specific data. HOWEVER: Having gone through Internet Recharter a year ago, and finding out there are substantial changes to the Internet Recharter this year, I trust the National Office as much as I trust Texans to drive on back ice (I don't).

Thank you for your service to our Nation. May the young men and women you trained and served alongside remember the lessons you imparted them. May the Warrior Ethic of selfless service to the Nation reside in them until they hand over the sword to another generation.

Right now, it's Footsteps of the Founder, which is a compilation of quotes, edited by an Italian diplomat for the World Scouting Movement. Downstream, I'd like to find a real (vice web) copy of Lessons from the Varsity of Life. John A Good Old Owl Too C-40-05

What ScoutNut said sounds to me like a liability issue run amok: - Claims against the BSA liability policy for cold weather injuries or lawsuits against the Council for same have the attention of the Camping Committee and the Executive Board. OR - Someone on either the Health & Safety or Camping committees (or an attorney/insurance guy anywhere in the Executive Board) does not trust the Chartered Partners, leaders, boys, and the Council training committee.

Since reading a book by B-P is one of my ticket items (a *for me* item as a backup to one of the primary 7), I'll keep researching Even if I don't find the exact quote, I'll still find good stuff! John A Good old Owl

Ms Boxie Lady, OK, here is a problem: You wrote: 'I know myself and my husband will be all geared up and ready but the Charter Rep is not wanting anything to do with actual meetings(Unless necessary), outings, events, etc. She just wants to handle the go between only and I just needed to know if that was ok.(She is also going to hold Commitee Chair)' You will not be able to get the new unit app past your DE or Council Registrar. BSA standards are the COR and the CC be two different people. ScoutNet just will not let it happen. That your prospective COR has the att

Kudu, I think you will find "The Game with a Purpose" goes straight back to a fellow named Robert Stephenson Smythe Baden-Powell, Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell. Two specific quotes, found in the 1919 edition of Aids to Scoutmastership, are: FROM THE FOREWORD: "The term 'Scouting' has come to mean a system of training in citizenship, through games, for boys or girls." FROM CHAPTER 3, SCOUTING: "SCOUTING IS A GAME for boys, under the leadership of boys, in which elder brothers can give their younger brothers healthy environment and encourage them to healthy activities such

Eamonn, You put a LOT of meat on those bones To my way of thinking, the biggest single problem we have in the LT camping system is the DINING HALL. Why? Simple: When Scouts eat food prepared for them, they don't cook. Now, cooking, in the current BSA program, is as close to an afterthought as anything I know. Pioneering is probably the second closest item in that regard. Once upon a time (1960s and early 70s), when the Green uniform and the overseas cap were de riguer, the Cooking MB was required for Eagle. Requirements for Cooking have not changed a lot over the

Ms Boxie Lady, I'm on a Crew Committee; I'm also going to be a COR as of recharter for our units. So, I'm going to take a stab at your questions: "I would call my DE but we do not have one at the moment and our FD is a busy man. I will try to reach him later for more in depth info that I can't get here." As emb021 said, is there a Commissioner in your Council who is the "go-to" person for Venturing? Is there a Venturing Officers Association, with youth who are "leaders of leaders"? These folk will have more "street smarts" on the program than your DE or FD "1. What a