John-in-KC

ScoutBox, http://www.tac-bsa.org/Home.html You're in the Rheingold District. If you do not have a Unit Commissioner assigned, your UC is the District Commissioner. His name according to the website is Grant Hamberg, but there's no auto-email. Your District Chair is Dave Hulteen, filofox@critternet.org, and your DE is Brian Raymond, brian.raymond@tac-bsa.org. You might ask the other two of the Key 3 for assistance.

Congratulations This is only the beginning of lifelong service to Scouting

I will echo one of E92's comments: - Where there is a good Stake President, there is good Scouting. I've seen a District in my neck of the woods turn around when the Stake President put a priority on Scouting. People came out of the woodwork from the wards, because the word was out: "I am keeping book on this." - I've seen a District out west where the Stake President said "God gave us the Sierra Nevada, let's use it." He also actively encouraged Scouting, but he did it by example: He was an ADC in his home District. From what I learned, he was also willing to be a little less "Law" oriented in having youth and leaders still camping on Sunday. As I've learned so often these past few years, so very much of what we do is all about the people we're with...

Steve, I am so sorry for what you described. All I can say is take your time and ask the questions you need to before you bring your grandson to visit the Troop with you. Again, this may be where the networking comes in, if you have time before your grandson is ready to move across. I've found this past decade that leaders with strong outdoor programs and strong use of the Patrol Method do stand out from the rest of a District. Good hunting!

Steve, I cannot imagine any Troop in Idaho not having a string outdoor program. You're in one of the areas of our great Nation that God designed for recreation :-D Even so, I think your target is spot on! I think your other criterion, of a Troop that has strong, working youth leadership, is also spot on. Finally, I hope you also find a place where the boys are genuine friends to each other. Enjoy the second round of taking a kid through the program.

Remember: When you pay for a Council operated resident camp, you are paying staff salaries! That right there is your expense delta.

E92, The Scout Reservation we use for Cub Camping is now inside the urban area...indeed, it's an island of wilderness being encroached upon by suburbia. I will caution you we have enough problems with 1/1 ratio even on an overnight/2 day program. Do the kids have enough energy to make more than a 32 hour camp? That's a huge question. Are the parents willing to give time for a 32 hour camp? That's a big question. I've seen 8 year old exhaustion meltdowns abetted by hot humid weather during Heat Category II. They aren't pretty. Consider the limits of your audience...

Steve, By primary leadership, I meant that you want to go to Jambo as either a Scouter in the Council Contingent (SM/ASMs) or as Staff to the Jamboree. If you want to do those, as I understand the rules, then retaking WB is not an option, it's a must do. Does that make more sense? As far as the beads go, just have a quiet word with your SE/CD after the camps: How bad does (Council) want my FOS donation next year? OK, here's the cost of my FOS donations: Shall we say nothing more about this?

Welcome to the Forums. Staff will always uniform in accordance with the (insert Scout Reservation Name here) Staff Manual. While every camp in the Nation encourages full Class B uniform (with Class A for certain occasions during the Camp) since there is no requirement in the UIG to own a uniform, youth members and Scouters will be all over the map, both for daytime and for Class A appearances. Troops encouraging full uniforming will be fully uniformed, Troops not emphasizing the Uniform Method will be less. So ... how does your Troop uniform now?

First, you are Wood Badge trained. If you don't want to/need to go to Jambo in a primary leadership role, then there is no need to retake. PTC is always a grand week to recharge your personal batteries If you've got the management theory, WB21C is a review to plowed ground: Sometimes that's good to have. The one true reason I will advocate re-taking is your Scouting network. Only you can assess how strong it is right now. If you've got a good network of folks currently active in your District, Council and in neighboring Councils, there truly is no real need. OTOH, if your network has aged, and you want to re-connect, WB is a good course to do it. As far as your ticket, I remember what my TG told me, after we had our completion conference: This is only the beginning of your lifelong ticket. You know, as well as I, that in taking a UC position, you're still working your ticket :-) Godspeed. I'm sorry I've not been more helpful, but if I've given you points to ponder, that's enough for today. I used to be an Owl...

Remember that procuring supplies for program, and thus perhaps program, depends on what's available year to year within your budget ... in my Council the Ranger is also the procurement officer for the Reservation.

OK. What level program are you talking about? Our Council has BEAR CAMP. This is for youth entering Bear year. It's a 2 day, 1 overnight event. 1/1 parent to youth ratio is required by National Camp Standards. There is a suite of NCS for Council operated programs. As far as program goes, here is our model: Day 1: 8AM Gates open, units check in. (Camp capacity is 240 in 4 sites, so 120 youth, 120 adults) 1015 AM Opening ceremony at the flagpole, rolls into lunch. 12-1, 115-215, 230-330, 345-445 Program hours: - BB Guns - Water Park (we have a custom built water park, all area is Non-Swimmer rated) - Castle (games) - Fort (toolbox, rope making) All activities are matched to requirements in the Bear Advancement Plan. 5-545 Dinner 6-8 Free Time (Trading Post open, water park open, faith talk for Achievement 2, other stuff. 815-Walk to campfire 830-930 Campfire 10 Lights out Day 2 730 AM breakfast 815-915, 930-1030, 1045-1145, Program Water Park (yes, on a hot day it's that popular) Leave No Trace, leathercraft, and an age appropriate low ropes challenge game (oh, the COPE people were mad about that...) Archery "The Lost Mine" Physical acvitity, storytelling, games 12-1 Lunch 1-2 Last program hour 2-4 Belt Loops opportunities 4-5 Closing 530 Campers gone. HTH. If you need to, contact me on FB, and I'll point you to the Camp Director. She's been doing it for 6 years, so she has it down to an art and a science. Webelos Camp: Can't help you so much, havent' worked it in a while.

Semper, Welcome to Forums, Jarhead, from an old DAGBY (if you have friends who were Marines/artillerymen, you'll know DAGBY). You can have one registered position in one unit at one time. Your Council, and National, will not let you be a Member of Committee and a DL at the same time. The only dual position is Chartered Org Rep and Committee Chair. Now: - You can be registered in more than one unit at a time - You can be registered in unit service and in District service at the same time. You just cannot be in two positions in one unit at the same time. Your first duty (and yes, I used that malice aforethought) is to deliver the very best program to your boys. After that, if you choose to serve and assist in other ways, you certainly may. Enjoy the trail. KISMIF. Where are you in the State? There are several folks from God's Country here on Scouter, some in Springfield, a couple here in KC, and at least one from St Louis.

Stosh, As I've said, CC and SM have to have each others back. When I became a CC, I was selected in part because of Scouting experience. I also knew Job 1 was to support the SM. Oh well. Do talk to the SE. That DE has potential to damage his entire District. You don't serve your volunteers by caving to parents.

This is a sad object lesson in communication. I will say it until I am blue in the face: The SM and the CC must have common vision and goals, must be talking regularly, and must communicate the vision and goals to the parents. My perception is the parents did not know the meat of the program, and thus were unwilling to invest in it. In fact, they withdrew their investment in the program. The CC and the SM have to communicate with the parents. Period. Not-negotiable. The parents have to understand the what and the why of the program their kids are going through. They have to buy into and support what the vision and goals of the Troop are. As for the DE, Stosh, I think a long talk with your IH (since you said the COR is a zero) and the SE is in order. You've been treated badly, and that is wrong. Any removal should thank the SM for his past volunteer service.

Beavah, You obviously never had my Sainted Mom's fried chicken, which was her standard offering to B&G. Nor did you have Mrs. Smith's chocolate cake ... it's been 45 years, and I still remember how good that was... We were more formal, even in having fun, 40 years ago...

Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures (the 2009 edition) is back online at scouting.org: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33088.pdf You have to wonder how National decides what to upload and what to sell anymore. This was a Program purchase item, now it's a free download. OTOH, the Philmont Devotional "Eagles Soaring High" and its more generic National version, while having bin item numbers, are "Pay to buy." Sigh.

What Stosh and BadenP have to say has merit. Certainly I thought it harder to make First Class in the late 60s than my son found it in 2003. BUT... One thing that has been done for the better is to organize the trail a tad. When I was a youth member, I had to have 1 Eagle MB for Star (of 5) and 5 for Life (of 10). That meant Life to Eagle was still an uphill climb. Now, a youth needs 4 Eagle MBs of the minimum 6 for Star. A youth needs 7 Eagle MBs of the minimum 11 for Life. That means he's probably on the downhill slide in terms of MB attainment when he makes Life Scout. That is not a bad thing at all imo.

Here is the current year RT planning guide: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/511-942.pdf From the publication: "The mission of the Boy Scout roundtable is to provide quality resources, knowledge, and skills to unit leaders to enable and motivate them to deliver an outstanding program to their Scout troops. Roundtables focus on program highlights for upcoming months, not on the current month." In other words, it's supplemental training to support unit serving Scouters in making their programs happen. Personally, I think the new Tour Plan process is a big enough change to program implementation that it deserves to be part of RT. So does my District Key 3. We're doing something at the March RT. I do think, though, since we first started discussing Tour Plans a few weeks ago, that you should have been onto your DE and DC asking for time then and there. Lining up resources takes energy from volunteers, like you and I ... and yes, HIM. Even in my District, unless it's a Key 3 "This trumps everything" decision, a change to RT a couple weeks out is going to be responded to with "Can you do some paper and a 1 minute announcement?" We all have to play nice.

I know an LDS family who is 15 miles from their Ward. They decided they didn't want to haul son that far every week. Their son is a member of a local (2 miles to meeting place) non-LDS unit.

Yep! I have Lion on my youth Cub uniform too

Feedback is a gift. Bad news does not improve with age. Don't wait, invite her to the house for a cup.

Acco, If a 16 year old comes to me as a Scouter and says "I'm sexually active", period, we're going to be having some hard heart to heart talks. I'm old skewl... sexual activity comes when, and only when, you are ready for lifelong committment. Gender and orientation do not matter, to me, especially for children under 18. The other reason your posit is a non sequitur is that orientation can be a limiting factor in membership to the BSA (although as we discussed in I&P, youth members get a fair bit of slack, as long as we're not risking a reportable YP violation ... and statutory rape is reportable). A woman Venturer, OTOH, is a valid youth member of the Boy Scouts of America. She may well have as good or better mastery of the skills to be a First Class Scout than many (most) of the youth undertaking an Ordeal. If I ever win the Big Powerball, I suspect lots of green in a business discussion will change things rather quickly... until then, the wheels of the gods grind slowly and to little purpose.

The Committee Chair and the Scoutmaster absolutely, postively, must share a common vision and goals for the Big T Troop. There may be division of labor (you work the adults, I work the youth), but common vision and goals must be so. The best CC's and SM's I've seen visit each others homes, talk things over a beer or cuppa, and figure out the direction they want the youth to go. We let the youth pick the particular trail, but we have the idea of the destination, including the sinkholes and bogs on each trail they might take. I recall reading a comment about you saying that sometimes you don't worry about what the Committee is doing, you have a vision and you're running with it. That implies divergence of vision and goals. Is there a point of friction between you and the CC about where the Troop is going? Gung ho, in the Chinese, means "Work Together-Work in Harmony." It describes and prescribes how adults serving youth have to be. If you look at the program materials of Scouting, the technical lines are the SM reports to the Committee Chair. I look at it more as a peer relationship, with both the SM and CC accountable to the COR for results. I'd look closely at what Barry and Beavah said. I'd look, hard, at your working relationship with your CC. Oh! What does your IH and COR say?

Trump is... The Weakest Link!! Good-bye!