John-in-KC

Based on what I understand, Ponzi-- since the late 1960s. Thank you, Lyndon Baines Johnson.

My son is Large Extra Long. Supply Corporation could not fit him for a red jacket. Bemedji Woolen Mills could and did. They are an approved supplier to Northern Tier's trading post: http://www.bemidjiwoolenmills.com/ His jacket is better than mine. I unconditionally recommend them.

I think the program as developed is designed to produce a standardized product. I also think that the franchise/license/charter system means there will be variance. We aren't McDonalds or Subway, nor are we "The UPS Store." We don't put huge resources into compliance. Protection of the Eagle Scout brand is one area where we do put an effort at compliance. Why else do we have a minimum of a District guest at an EBOR? Why else does the District Advancement Committee approve ELSPs? Why do we tell MB Counselors "do not add to, do not take from" requirements? I am a product of 1960s era Scouting. It was a good program. It needs specific tweaking for the 21st Century: - LNT vice browse beds! - Use of signalling mirrors and emergency fires when isolated in the backcountry, vice semaphore and Morse. Further, use of data communications in the 21st Century. - First aid techniques of today, not of then (tourniquet, anyone?) Those are small things. The big things ... independent, capable Patrols, Troops which form microcosms of society, and give youth a lab of life, units which practice the Methods of Scouting ... including Outdoors, that were there in the 60s ... need to stay there.

Like shortridge, I cringe if a unit leader has to say, let alone bark, let alone bellow SIGNS UP! Starting with Cub Scouting, youth and families should be taught when the sign goes up, their sign goes up, their mouth goes silent, they settle down, and pay attention to who is speaking!

This is where you send your IH/COR to the District Committee meeting and have them publicly confront the District Chairman and the Activities Chairman. Tell them the program was unsat, and look at the DE and say "I have expenses I expect you to reimburse my unit." You can have them try the friendly cup of coffee, if they've not been down that trail, but this is basic franchise agreement stuff: The Council is supposed to provide quality program. Period.

N, Remember the content of "Eagles Soaring High."

If a Cub Scout attends Day Camp... If the Day Camp PD pays attention to advancement matrices in designing activities... If a Cub Scout has the opportunity to and attends a Council Resident Overnight Camp ... then, I see very little problem with Bear by November. It can be done.

2) is a crock. Now, YP is a condition of joining, and currency is a condition of re-registration.

Woapalanne, Hmmmmmmmmmmmm ... That other Arrowman understood the meaning of "Cheerful", as in Brotherhood of Cheerful Service? I think not. That other Arrowman understands the points of the Scout Law: Friendly, Courteous, Kind, and Cheerful? I think not. Sorrty this happened to you

E92, What does your Registrar say? My son was a school year behind his age mates, malice aforethought. As others have said, seek the parents input on where they want the kids to be.

When my son was a Cub, the Pack standard for Den meetings was blue jeans ILO blue slacks for Den meetings. Otherwise, Class A, unless the DL specifically called for an activity uniform (and there were reasons). Den meetings were generally immediately after school. Trips? Class A less medals and other things that could be lost. Pack meetings? Class A.

The Council I took WB from, not my home Council, offers it once every 2 years. Why did I go out of Council? I wanted to be exposed to different Scouters doing things not exactly the same as my Council did it. It was a perspective thing.

We've gone back to a Council level Scouting for Food. 1) Team up with the regional food bank service. Also team with the Chartered Partners which have internal food pantries. 2) Organize, organize, organize: Get inside the Chartered Partner decision cycles: Get the Chartered Partners to tell units this is a MUST DO. 3) Pair off Packs and Troops: Packs drop bags, Troops pick them up. 4) Publicity, publicity, publicity: SE/Council President/Area Food Bank chairman on the radio/tv/major papers. Units in local papers. Coordinate internet publicity. Ask unit members to forward Constant Contact and other forms of broadcast messages to non-Scouting friends. 5) Who is going to donate the shopping bags? They help!

As I understand it, the broad policy is one participation in the curriculum per edition of the course. If you do not complete the applied phase (ie, the ticket), too bad, so sad, your problem. Now, have/will individual course directors' vary from that? You don't know if you don't ask. Qualifications to enter the course are in the CD materials, maybe a present/former CD can enlighten us.

@ Bando, If they drew the mp3s from the Armed Forces, Retreat and To the Color go together. Retreat gets everyone stopped, the flagpole pack howtizer fires, and To the Color brings the flag down. Reveille is actually what sends the Color up at the beginning of the day. First Call rousts the troops from the rack.

"National can make all the rules they want, enforcement is impossible. What are the penalties gonna be????" At the extreme: Informing the Chartered Partner the relationship with Scouting won't be renewed? Informing the unit there won't be a new charter for it? Someone else hit it: If your $50 solicitation means the $1000 solicitation the Community FOS campaign planned falls on its face, it's not at all improbable the Key 3 will be having a business meeting (not a friendly cup of coffee) with the IH, COR, and CC. It's happened in my neck of the woods. The SE/DFS/DD decision was "With friends like that, we don't need enemies." Fortunately, the Chartered Partner and the units got the point! The key point of this: Play nice, especially when talking about money.(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

Just use Julian date (last digit of the current year and todays ordinal number in a 365/366 day year). Today is 0300.

Moose, Those are not our new Scouter numbers. At RT, I train MB counselors. My average load is 12, my high has been 20, and my low was 8. This is Scouting runs higher in the fall ...up to 20. YP is all over the map... Our belief is real simple: One stop support for the unit serving Scouter. He/she does not have to go/send people to 3-4 different meetings to get things done; they come to ONE. Consistency. It helps.

moose, I think this is an exception to the rule. We've had lively Pow-Wows and UOSs for a decade. jh, My district RT does "This is Scouting", YP, and MB Counselor training as standards each month. These are done at the RT site, but are under the training and advancement operating committees. Our RTs, since we moved to Cerner Corporations training center, attract about 300 monthly between Cub and Boy programs!

I am in Shriscov's Council. We are one of the experimental Councils for mandatory direct contact leader training. The change year over year for our UOS is the push coming into recharter season (All Missouri districts are already in recharter cycle, all Kansas district start feeling the love in 2 weeks). I've seen the list of untrained leaders. I've told a COR (per instructions of the District Director, Council Registrar and District Commissioner) that his charters will be withheld if they submit untrained direct contact leaders. That is the short version why "Back to Basics." Shriscov ... to quote Mitch Holthus, our voice of the Chiefs, it's time to put the HAMMER DOWN!! ETA: We have in district training a couple times each year. We do SM Fundamentals at both Scout Reservations during Boy Scout Camp. We do Cub Scout leader training most every weekend during the fall drive. The issues are: a) New Scouters who are told with a straight face "You can do this, it's only an hour a week." b) Records maintenance of Scouters ... Too many of the old ASMs out there first registered as ASMs when we used papyrus for accountants ledger paper.(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

Stosh, OK, CAP youth squadrons, being an official auxiliary of the US Air Force, are wearing their uniforms under the approval of the Secretary of the Air Force. When they co-charter Venturing Crews, the experiences I've seen (and my local VFW did that for several years) is that the BSA charter is for access to BSA facilities, not to use BSA program materials. On the Army, I can cut to the chase quickly: There is nothing in neither AR 670-1 nor the Common Tables of Allowances authorizing BSA to use Army uniforms. The word SCOUT is mentioned once in AR 670-1, and that is in reference to wearing unique Infantry items.

At the risk of invoking someone, here is an extract from the Rules and Regulations, Article X, Section 4, Clause 4b: "Imitation of the United States Army, Navy, or Marine Corps uniforms is prohibited, in accordance with the provisions of the organizations Congressional Charter." To me this says two things: SUPPLY GROUP: Don't draw your designs from the military. UNITS under charter: The current military uniform cannot be your basic uniform. (Stosh, I'd say a re-enactment uniform, older, would be OK ... but I'd be leery of the just departed BDU era.). BTW, I wear Cabela's and Bass Pro patented civilian camouflage when in the field, for appropriate activities. :-) Nothing wrong with wearing camo, just not DOD's current camo. If you want DOD uniforms, go with Pappy and join the Young Marines.

Here is Tenderfoot Requirement 10: 10. Record your best in the following tests: Current results Push-ups ________ Pull-ups ________ Sit-ups ________ Standing long jump (______ ft. ______ in.) 1⁄4-mile walk/run _____________ 30 days later Push-ups ________ Pull-ups ________ Sit-ups ________ Standing long jump (______ ft. ______ in.) 1⁄4-mile walk/run _____________ 10b. Show improvement in the activities listed in requirement 10a after practicing for 30 days. http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/tenderfoot.aspx The requirement is to baseline, PRACTICE for 30 days, and then re-baseline, with improvement. I'm not going to say 3 years is beyond long. I think if it had been my son, we'd have had a talk long ago, and he'd have been in a new Troop, long ago. Now, if your son is doing nothing towards physical fitness at all, that might be another story.

Rick, I have never staffed WB. To cut to the chase, your facts are in error. My simple assessment is, your rants and diatribes are off-putting in the extreme. You have so much angst and animus against what the current program does. You maliciously insult people who give their time and energy serving the youth, and you think nothing of it. More than a few of your ideas are good, but when you have to parse them out from diatribes, the effort becomes more than the the added value. I have better things to do with what time I have. Fare thee well.

In addition to printed resources, your Council should have a Special Needs committee, which is formed of interested and caring people who are resources in and of themselves. Call your Scout Office...