Aquila calva

Welcome. You ask a very good question in your first post. Who asked you to take the Scoutmaster position? Take it only after you feel there is a consensus of the leadership. This includes getting a clear idea from the parents of the new scouts how they feel about it. Hang back for a while and let this jell in its own time. You will probably be scoutmaster, but get a consensus before you actually say "yes." The job of recruiting a new scoutmaster ideally belongs to the chartered organization and the troop committee, even if that doesn't happen often in the real world. Let us know how this turns out. Have fun scouting.

"...a chance to boss volunteers around - with little consequence." Oh brother! Pardon me for getting involved in this thread and possiby encourging such an unfortunate tirade.

Yah, sure, ya betcha! Minnesota, hats off to thee... but let's not get mixed up... This happened in Idaho over a long period of time, but it could have happened anywhere. Below is a link to the index of this story, sad as it is. Some of this story goes back to 1988, some of it goes back to 1997, and the award-winning story was written in 2005. It is a story all Scouters should read to help us recognize perpetrators and help us be compassionate toward and understanding of, victims. One point that hit hard is the perpetrator is an Eagle Scout with five palms! He is now 33 years old. The other young man, as a 14-year-old, who had the conviction and scout training to Recognize, Resist and Report (as is taught in the BSAs excellent youth protection program) was never able to complete his Eagle. Truly sad! Here is the link. http://www.postregister.com/scouts_honor/index.php (This message has been edited by Aquila calva)

The letter being sent probably amounts to some kind of ultimatum. Time for everyone involved to take a deep breath and swallow hard. Since the first troop is playing hard ball with the cash, then its time for the second troop to say finewe look forward to joining you at summer camp, and we are looking forward to having lots of fun. This will get the scouts and leaders(maybe) to camp, and get some advancement done. The people who cant deal with this solution need to take a long hard look at the scout oath and law. Of course, this is just the second troop calling the first troops bluff and everyone needs to be willing to follow through with it. There will be more to this story. Tell us what happens.

Minnesota Methodists endorse gay marriages The approval of gay-rights petitions are recommendations to the national church. Pamela Miller, Star Tribune After passionate but resolutely civil debate, Minnesota Methodists voted Thursday to urge the national church to fully welcome gays and lesbians and to support gay marriage and the ordination of gay clergy. A majority of voting delegates at the annual state convention in St. Cloud approved nine petitions on gay-rights issues, said Victoria Rebeck, communications director for the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. About 500 lay people and an equal number of clergy are at the conference, which wraps up today. "The biggest news is that we had a good, respectful discussion of these very emotional issues and people really listened to each other," Rebeck said. The Minnesota decisions are recommendations to the national denomination, which will decide whether to change language in its governing Book of Discipline at its General Conference in 2008. The closest vote (358-356) came on a petition to change language about marriage from "a man and a woman" to "two adult persons," and to cut a sentence supporting laws that define marriage as between a man and a woman. Issues surrounding homosexuality have fostered heartfelt debate among Methodists in the 150-year-old state group and nationally, as they have in many Protestant denominations and the broader culture. Bishop Sally Dyck presided over the discussion, which employed a method called "holy conferencing" to ensure civil, balanced discussion. Dyck said delegates approached the issues "as Christians in the best sense of that word -- loving and humble, trying to be careful with each other." The Rev. Carl Caskey of Northfield, part of a caucus of retired clergy advocating for change, said, "We think the future is with us" in the push for greater acceptance of gays. "Many of us are greatly concerned about the direction the [denomination] has taken toward exclusion," he said. "We'll keep putting the pressure on." The Rev. Phil Strom of Elk River United Methodist Church, who has argued that homosexual behavior is sinful, said both sides "feel grief and sadness, because the vote reminds us of how deep this division is, how irreconcilable." "It's important to note that the vote doesn't change a thing," he said, because the current Book of Discipline language stands for now. "We'll continue to stand for what we think is right." The Rev. Dan Johnson of Good Samaritan United Methodist Church in Edina said, "The half-dozen biblical references to homosexuality do not reflect what we understand today about loving relationships. This is an identity, not a sin." Johnson said supporters of greater inclusion were especially pleased that delegates favored deleting a 1972 addition to the Book of Discipline that says, "The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching." The Rev. David E. Brown of St. Croix Valley United Methodist Church said he had a strong sense after the vote "of living in a paradox, where our state conference would vote as it does, but the denomination's language is very clear in the opposite direction." He said he does not believe the denomination will follow in Minnesota's footsteps. The Rev. Daren Flinck of Grace United Methodist in Fergus Falls said that as a lifelong Minnesotan and United Methodist, he "suddenly feels like an alien in my own land." "Like those on the other side, I wish we could get beyond this issue to do the things we're called to do," he said. "We are united on issues like serving the poor and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ." Dyck and Johnson echoed the concern that non-Methodists will see the denomination as focused solely on gay issues and as deeply divided. "We're a church that has a lot of other things going on, from social justice work to church dinners with Jell-O," Johnson said of his Good Samaritan congregation. 2006 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. http://www.startribune.com/462/story/467336.html

'Boy' problem an overblown backlash against women's movement Caryl Rivers and Rosalind Chait Barnett I t was the early 1900s, and boys were supposedly in crisis. In monthly magazines, ladies' journals and books, urgent polemics appeared, warning that young men were spending too much time in school with female teachers and that the constant interaction with women was robbing them of their manhood. What boys needed, the experts said, was time outdoors, rubbing elbows with one another and learning from male role models. That's what led -- at least in part -- to the founding of the Boy Scouts in 1910. Now the cry has been raised again: We're losing our boys. The media have been hyping America's new "boy crisis." Boys, these reports lament, are falling behind in academic achievement, graduating from high school at lower rates than girls, occupying fewer seats in college classrooms, displaying poorer verbal skills. This time, some experts are calling for a complete overhaul of American education based on gender, saying that boys are wired differently from girls, learn in different ways and may need their own classes and schools. One high school student in Massachusetts has even filed a federal lawsuit claiming that his school is biased against males. But are American boys in academic free-fall? Not really, if we look closely. Nor do they need boys-only classrooms to teach them in ways tailored for their unique brains. The boy crisis we're hearing about is largely a manufactured one, the product of both a backlash against the women's movement and the media's penchant for continuously churning out news about the latest dire threat to the nation. And the subject got a big boost last year when First Lady Laura Bush announced that she was going to turn her attention to the problems of boys. But those "problems" are hardly widespread. The alarming statistics are rarely broken out by race or class. When they are, it becomes clear that if there is a crisis, it's among inner-city and rural boys. White suburban boys aren't significantly touched by it. On average, they are not dropping out of school, avoiding college or lacking in verbal skills. Among whites, the gender composition of colleges is pretty balanced: 51 percent female and 49 percent male, according to the National Education Association. And in Ivy League colleges, men still outnumber women. When it comes to academic achievement, race and class completely swamp gender. The Urban Institute reports that 76 percent of students who live in middle- to higher-income areas are likely to graduate from high school, while only 56 percent of students who live in lower-income areas are likely to do so. Among whites in Boston public schools, for every 100 males who graduate, 104 females do. A tiny gap. But among blacks, for every 100 males who graduate, 139 females do. Still, a peculiar image of the "typical" boy has emerged in many media reports: He's unable to focus, can't sit still, hates to read, acts up in class, loves sports and video games, gets in trouble a lot. Indeed, such boys exist, but most research indicates they are not typical. Boys, in fact, are as -- or more -- different from one another as they are from girls. Nonetheless, some are advocating boys-only classrooms. Many, perhaps most, boys would be bored to tears in the kind of classroom that is now being described as "boy-friendly" -- a classroom that would de-emphasize reading and verbal skills and would rely on rote learning and discipline -- because it is really a remedial program in disguise. That's great for boys who need it, but most boys, especially those in affluent suburban schools, don't. Still, some educators "are reviving an old idea: separate the girls from the boys." We may see a rush to single-sex classrooms that won't really be good educational policy. In fact, according to a 2001 Ford Foundation report, the academic success of both girls and boys is influenced more by small classes, strong curricula and qualified teachers than by single-sex settings. Of course, this solution costs money, and has none of the sex appeal of the trendy single-sex-school quick fix. Obsessing about a boy crisis or thinking that American teachers are waging a war on boys won't help kids. What will help is recognizing that students are individuals, with many different skills and abilities. And that goes for both girls and boys. Caryl Rivers is a professor of journalism at Boston University. Rosalind Chait Barnett is a senior scientist at the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University. This commentary was first published in the Washington Post. 2006 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. http://www.startribune.com/562/story/457980.html

At the risk or stepping into fgoodwin's territory, here are two articles that may be of interest to this forum. The sentence that jumbed out in this article is "According to the Census Bureau, one-third of young men ages 22 to 34 are still living at home with their parents..." As scouting searches for more (and younger) male adult leaders, one-third of younger men are still living at home with their parents. Yikes! ************************************* The trouble with boys Citing an American "boy crisis,'' some researchers argue that too many male children are falling behind in school. Leonard Sax I n the romantic comedy "Failure to Launch," Matthew McConaughey plays a young man who is affable, intelligent, good-looking -- and completely unmotivated. He still lives at home and seems to have no ambitions beyond playing video games, hanging out with buddies and having sex. In desperation, his parents hire a professional motivation consultant, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, who pretends to fall in love with McConaughey's character to motivate him to grow up and get a life. I was struck by how this theme matches what I see in my office with greater and greater frequency; a son goes off to college for a year or two, wastes thousands of dollars of his parents' money, then gets bored and comes back to live in his old room. Now he's working part time at Kinko's or part time at Starbucks. It is a phenomenon that is getting a lot of media attention as part of the so-called "boy crisis" and one that cuts across all demographics -- rich, poor, black, white, urban and rural. According to the Census Bureau, one-third of young men ages 22 to 34 are still living at home with their parents -- a roughly 100 percent increase in the past 20 years. That is not true of young women. Why? Before growing into unmotivated young adults, boys are more likely than girls to be diagnosed with ADHD, be in remedial classes and become dropouts. Boys are now significantly less likely than girls to go to college. Race is certainly a factor; for boys of color the impact is more harsh. An African-American boy is more likely to go to jail than to college and his chances of dropping out of high school are higher. White boys are more likely to graduate from high school, but then many of them attend college for a year or two and never earn a degree. They become the rudderless McConaughey character. So what's going on? Maybe it has to do with changing school curriculums, environments that are less boy-oriented or a workforce that offers fewer blue-collar jobs. Maybe it's some combination of all of the above, or other factors we haven't yet identified. Whatever the reason, it is clear that gender gaps are wide and growing. A National Endowment for the Arts study that spanned over 20 years found that girls read for fun far more than boys. What was once a small difference has grown into a chasm. Part of the source of that discrepancy lies in the shift in reading curriculum over the past 25 years. As the authors of the NEA study observe: In 1980, students were commonly assigned books by Ernest Hemingway or John Steinbeck. Today, students are more likely to be assigned books by Toni Morrison or Julia Alvarez. But "For Whom the Bell Tolls" is a boy-friendly book in a way that "Beloved" is not. During visits to predominantly African-American public schools around the nation, I've learned that many black boys would rather read "For Whom the Bell Tolls" -- a book without any major black characters -- than anything by Morrison. In reading, as in almost every other aspect of education, gender runs much deeper than race. Boys have more in common with one another than they do with girls of the same racial or ethnic background in terms of what they like to read, how they like to spend their spare time and how they learn. And though boys' issues have been the buzz lately, education for girls still needs attention, too. We must address different gender needs without resorting to the victimization game, where "boys' advocates" and "girls' advocates" quarrel about whose group is more oppressed. One obvious alternative is single-sex classrooms, an approach that has worked in dozens of schools. Boys who were once labeled "learning-disabled" became enthusiastic learners in all-boys classes where they were free to jump up and down, more consistent with their learning styles. At the same time, just separating the sexes can fail when teachers don't properly use the single-sex format. If you still ask boys to read Morrison -- or teach girls physics with stories about colliding football players -- then it probably won't work. For too long, we've assumed that by ignoring gender differences, we'd eliminate gender gaps. That hasn't worked. Now the challenge is to use our new understanding of boys and girls to broaden educational options, customize learning to individual children and move beyond the gender wars. Leonard Sax is a Washington, D.C., area physician and psychologist and the author of "Why Gender Matters: What parents and teachers need to know about the emerging science of sex differences." He is executive director of the National Association for Single Sex Public Education. 2006 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

Here is the complete interview with Mr. Cronk. Link is below. For new head of Boy Scouts, mentoring is key Updated 5/23/2006 10:04 PM ET The Boy Scouts of America will soon be under new management. Rick Cronk, retired president of Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream and a lifelong Scout, takes over as president of the 96-year-old organization on Friday. USA TODAY's Vicky Markovitz spoke with Cronk, 63, on what the future holds for Scouts in America. Q: How is membership? A: We've got about 4.6 million kids in Scouting. Basically the same number of kids as it has been for the past 10 or 15 years. We ought to be serving 10 million kids ... but we're working on that. Q: What kind of things are you doing? A: We work really hard at reaching out to inner-city kids and, in an ever-growing sense, to the Hispanic community. ... We do a pretty good job, but we need to do a perfect job. We're spending a lot of research money and time talking to kids of different backgrounds and their parents to figure out what gets those kids excited ... and what parents want. The people in the program already enjoy it. It's a matter of introducing ourselves to these constituents. Q: What are the biggest issues for today's youth? A: The world is much more confusing and it moves very fast. For boys in Scouting, the male mentor is often not there. That is the value of having good role models. Q: How does Boy Scouts of America try to help kids? A: In Cub Scouting, they don't know they are learning a message. In Boy Scouting, it is much more direct. In a Scout meeting or troop meeting, the Scoutmaster ends the 1-hour meeting with the Scoutmaster's minute ... talking directly on one aspect of the Scout Law (such as being trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, etc.), or on respecting people of different backgrounds. If you hear these one-minute presentations 40 or 50 times a year, you start to say, "There must be something here." It becomes part of their value system and part of their soul. (The Good Turn for America initiative) is focused on these kids actively participating in community projects. ... (It) was founded 100 years ago and is still a big part of what Scouting is today. Q: The BSA has been criticized for not allowing gays and atheists to participate. Do you agree with these policies? A: You have to distinguish between members and leadership standards. Scouting has its own values, and you teach and train kids to be courteous of kids who have different values. We don't expect everyone to agree with BSA, but we are proud of what we do. When it comes to standards we use as identifying leadership and mentors, we don't quiz anybody. But if somebody and these are virtually always adult leaders in Scouting avows publicly a gay lifestyle, we say to that leader, "It violates our standards, and we prefer you offer your services to some other organization." When people use the word "membership" you think of kids, and Scouting asking kids if they believe in God. ... We don't ask those questions. Q: Hypothetically, if a boy were in the Scouts, and he came out about being gay, would he still be allowed to participate? A: That's a situation that I don't know has ever happened. I think if a Scout were to say to a Scoutmaster, "I think I am gay," I think the Scoutmaster would say, because he cares about the Scout, "I think you ought to talk to your parents about that; you ought to talk to a minister if you go to church; you need someone to help you through it." These are kids that are 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. As you get older, maybe (you start thinking about these things), but we're talking about an event that may not have ever happened. It's an intoxicating subject to talk about, but it's not relevant to a large extent. Q: On March 9, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the BSA, and other non-profits that don't comply with government anti-discrimination laws, may be refused subsidies. Do you think other cities or states will adopt the same policy? A: I hope not. They shouldn't. ... If they do, we'll be just fine. I don't mean to be arrogant about it, but (they) are not going to change a program that is 100 years old. There are so many organizations that understand the challenges kids face today and support the BSA. Q: How is the BSA working to prevent sexual abuse within the Scouts? A: We do obvious things with not having adult leaders one-on-one with a Scout. Some of the more recent things are criminal background checks. They are not perfect, but it's one step. There is also online training. If you live in the remotest part of the country, you can go online and be trained. Find this article at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-05-23-cronk-interview_x.htm

The jamboree model is good, 36 scouts with four adult leaders. This makes a ratio of nine scouts to one adult leader. BUTa national jamboree leader (at least is this Council) is a highly trained and experienced scouter who has gone through a careful selection process. Also, a scout needs to be at least 12 years old to go to a national jamboree and most are 14 or older. These scouts and scouters attend several pre-jamboree training sessions for plenty of team-building experiences. So the typical jamboree troop may have a ratio of nine to one, but this is an exceptional model, made up of scouts and scouters who are really connected to the scouting program. Summer camp troops often have plenty of first-year scouts and a corresponding number of first-year parents and new registered leaders. With a troop of 30 scouts going to summer camp, with one-third of them first-year scouts (11-year-olds), the ratio of five scouts to one adult seems to work well. This will include four well-trained scouters and two new registered adult leaders. Parents can come and visit and stay over-night in the camps family-camping area, which is about a five minute drive from the troops campsite. Anyone who stays in camp for more than 72 hours needs to turn in a completed health form. Have fun scouting.

More is required More is required than being swept along All the currents pulling me Easy and wide in a long, slow drift Without rudder, floating backwards, now to the side. What can one person do against a sucking tide? I coil like a bow; I gather like a fist; I forge like a rudder And I lean into the wide, slow drift. I tack and veer by Gods own will. I raise my voice against the silence. My voice alone until a chorus joins. Love Love is the pure energy of God: pray for it ardently. Be grateful when it comes into your life: give of it generously. Lavish it on others: even the undeserving ones. Cultivate friendship with care: it is the best love of all. Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ

Will the Boy Scout (and Girl Scout) tent-camping experience soon become, one-person, one-tent? Possibly? Probably? Inevitably? The scene set is a campsite full of individual tents.

Hmmm. First line = "About two years ago..."???? Wasn't that Supreme Court decision in June of 2000? So, that would be "About SIX years ago...." Bad editing, perhaps!

The Spanish translation of The Star-Spangled Banner posted above was found by way of a Google search on the internet. This translation was published in 1919 and is attributed to Francis Haffkine Snow. There are at least three other Spanish translations available on various sites. One particularly detailed site begins with //usinfo.state.gov/esp etc.... Since this discussion had gone on for more than two pages over several days, it seemed helpful to at least post what it is was being discussed, or at least one version of the text. While this translation comes to us from the year 1919, the English (American) poem (written in 1814), was adopted as our National Anthem only in 1931. So, at the time this translation was made, it was not the U.S. National Anthem. This post comes to you from someone whose grandparents came to the U.S. from Poland, Germany, Ireland and Luxemburg (by way of Canada about 1895). But today is May 5th so. Viva! Cinco de Mayo Have fun scouting!

Que? In espanol, por favor. Scouts can learn so much on this thread. A little Spanish and a pick-up line for the next time they are in a gin-joint.

La bandera de las estrellas [lyrics] Verse Amanece: no veis, a la luz de aurora, Lo que tanto aclamamos la noche al caer? Sus estrellas, sus barras flotaban ayer En el fiero combate en senal de victoria. Fulgor de cohetes, de bombas es truendo, Por la noche decian: "Se va defendiendo!" Oh, decid! Despliega aun su hermosura estrellada, Sobre tierra de libres, la bandera sagrada? Verse En la costa lejana que apenas blanquea, Donde yace nublada la hueste feroz, Sobre aquel precipicio que elevase atroz, Oh decidme! que es eso quen la brisa ondea? Se oculta y flamea, en el alba luciendo, Reflejada en la mar, donde va resplandeciendo. Aun alli desplego su hermosura estrellada, Sobre tierra de libres, la bandera sagrada! Verse Oh asi sea siempre, en lealtad defendamos Nuestra tierra natal contra el torpe invasor! A Dios quien nos dio paz, la libertad, y honor, Nos mantuvo nacion, con fervor bendigamos. Nuestra causa es el bien, y por eso triumfamos, Siempre fue nuestro lema: "En Dios confiamos!" !Y desplegara asi su hermosura estrellada, Sobre tierra de libres, la bandera sagrada!

Perhaps this thread should be called "Too powerful of a Scoutmaster's wife and daughter?" And the Scoutmaster's son (a patrol leader) regularly hits another scout? Yee gads! This is definitely a topic for the troop committee. This is called abuse! Find a new troop, or start one. And bring along your son's scout-aged friends. Good luck. Have fun scouting. (This message has been edited by Aquila calva)

Here is a reference from 1998... found using Google. Someone apparently took pictures of a statue in Japan relating to Boy Scouts. You might try the contact in Seattle. Interesting Scoutmaster's minute. Hoping it is true. http://listserv.tcu.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9804&L=scouts-l&T=0&P=82181

The American Red Cross (another example in the news now) The common scenario: Volunteers (often in the form of a non-profit Board of Directors) put a lot of time and effort into a program and reach a high level of success. They feel the program needs professionals to keep the program going at a high level. Professionals get expensive because they are talented and can get higher-paying jobs in the private sector. Volunteers find other interests when they feel the pros are doing OK. Professionals can't do it alone because program is founded on volunteerism. Everyone gets tired, or finds other jobs. The program collapses. It happens. It doesn't HAVE to happen. Good luck to the Honolulu Boy Choir, and all the others. Volunteers (all of us), pay attention, or our great programs will go away.

A Persistence of Scouters A Leadership of Scouters And for the ship, how about A Scud of Scouters

Just curious...and propelled by enthusiasm. The "Thank you" would have been sufficient for that last post. Thanks again, Trevorum. And thanks for making the raw data available.

Trevorum, Thank you for doing this survey. If it isn't too much trouble can you tell us the political leanings of those 34 Eagle Scouts who responded? Also, how many of those Eagles have participated in Woodbadge? Also noted, there were 53 respondants who were Boy Scouts and 34 of these were Eagle Scouts, or 64%. Thanks again.

Beavah, You hit the nail on the head with your post. Other things to add that are "new" over the last 35 years and that make things different now, are the many well-developed and well-run community-wide athletic programs, especially the team sports. These can demand almost total time commitment from youth and their families. Competition for our children's time is enormous. (And, yes, this subject has been discussed in other threads.) These team sports can be demanding but they also can be a lot of fun. Bring on the new! We can't stop it. We can help by leading our children down the Scouting trail, and help make the journey as fun as we can. Have fun scouting.

For one place to start here is a link to the Cub Scout Leaders Library. You can buy these books at your local scout shop. The first one listed The Cub Scout Leader Book may be most helpful. http://www.scouting.org/cubscouts/library/index.html Give time for a worthy cause (with eagerness) and you will be worthy and richly rewarded. ~W. Clement Stone When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt Corrected the link. (This message has been edited by Aquila calva) (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

It is curious how the concept of dues just doesnt register with a lot of families these days. It seems we just want to know what the thing (or activity) is going to cost and then we decide if we will buy it or not. This is very much the American Way. Whats the price? If the buyer doesnt like the price here, theyll go someplace else and buy it, or do without. This is the way it is with athletic teams, musical organizations, commercial summer camps, buying a car or house, etc. Then the subject becomes Scouting and a few adult leaders start talking about dues and everyones eyes glaze over..Oh well, here goes. Boy Scouts (Cub Scouts, Venturers, etc) pay dues to help support their units. Scouting is a dues paying organization. That is, scouts pay dues to help support their unit programs. (Say something three times and people start to listen. Is it true?) Make a budget(easier said than done!)Figure out what it costs the unit to operate in a given year. Then divide the total by the number of scouts in your unit. Every member should be asked to pay the same amount of dues. (Try to be fair.) Sign up an adult leader who knows how to make a budget and handle finances. This is your unit treasurer. Now, this is where you start getting into activity accounts for individual scouts. If the scout sells $200 in popcorn, then the scout gets a credit of 35 percent of sales (one example). This is a credit of $70. If the unit sets the annual dues at $70, then the scout who sold the $200 worth of popcorn has just earned and paid his dues. The scout who sold no popcorn still owes dues of $70.00. The parents will be happy to write a check..or not. And, yes, you can also do it any number of other ways. Figuring out how to make it reasonably fair, and communicating the fairness to your group needs open and honest communication. Have fun scouting.

Below is one example of a troop "activity fund policy." Important to remember that all the money belongs to the troop (and by extension it belongs to the chartering organization, the tax exempt entity). The Troop Committee acts as stewards of the funds and makes decisions on how it will be(can be)distributed for the benefit of scouting. Normally, for sales projects, we try and price the items so the members can earn a credit of 35 percent of the sales. This corresponds to the amount earned on scout popcorn sales. In checking the reference to the national scouting website listed below, it turns out that national has recently changed their language. So this needs to be updated again..... If you do a cut and paste this will fit on an regular sheet of paper. Hope this helps. To the Scouts, Parents, Guardians, and Leaders of Troop XXXX, Below is a copy of the Members Activity Fund policy for Troop XXXX. It was adopted and approved by the troop committee at the February 2006 meeting. Please let me know if you have any questions. XXXX, Troop Committee Chair, telephone # ********************************************************************************** Boy Scout Troop XXXX Chartered by____________________________________ Approved February 2006 Members Activity Funds Policy Boy Scouts are encouraged to earn money whenever possible to pay their own expenses, and they also contribute dues to their troop treasuries to pay for budgeted items.* In order to help scouts accomplish these goals, and to encourage every scout to participate fully in the scouting program, Boy Scout Troop XXXX conducts approved money-earning projects during the program year. The Troop has established individual activity fund accounts for each member of the Troop. The member Scout earns credit for his activity fund by participating in these approved money-earning projects. A percentage portion of the members sales will be credited to the individual accounts. The Troop Committee is responsible for approving the acquisition and distribution of all funds in these individual activity fund accounts. Money in these accounts belongs to the Troop. The Troop Committee encourages the Scouts and his parents/guardians to use the credit in the activity fund primarily for Troop-approved dues and camping activities. Earning money for dues and camping is the priority. The credit may also be used for other activities and expenses that are part of the Troop XXXX or _____________________Council program as listed here. Approved uses for Members Activity Funds: Troop dues Weekend camping trips Summer resident camp (such as ________________) Philmont Scout Reservation, Northern Tier, and Sea Base National and World Jamborees Scout Fair Tickets Other Scouting activities approved by the Council or the Troop Uniforms, patches, scout books (with receipts only) Other equipment purchases necessary for the Scouting program (with receipts only) This list will be reviewed at least once a year by the Troop Committee. Changes can be made only with the approval of the Troop Committee. The funds must be earned before they can be used. No negative balances are allowed. Reimbursements require a receipt approved by the Scoutmaster or Committee Chair. Any balance in these accounts will be carried over from one scouting year to the next. When a member leaves scouting, any remaining balance in the account goes into the Troops program fund. When a member transfers to another scouting unit, any remaining balance, at the request of the Scouts parents or guardians, can be transferred to his new unit, provided the new unit will accept the transfer of the money. All transfers of money must be approved by the Troop XXXX committee. *Quote is from the National BSA website: http://www.scouting.org/nav/enter.jsp?s=ba Click on Scouting information. Click on Fact Sheet: Boy Scouting? Go to Who Pays for It?