Knight

I learned lots, made great friends and had a true "mountain top" experience. Sign up for it - you won't regret it!

Our troop does not have much money, so no, they did not pay for WB. Some companies pay the fee and/or give paid time off - the training is applicable to work as well as Scouting (Ok, my boss does frown on me singing "Back to Gilwell"). I was at a different employer when I took Wood Badge. It was a disappointment when I presented the course to my bosses, what with all of the extremely good leadership training and the application of concepts leanred by putting into usage in ticket items - and I was turned down for reimbursement and had to take vacation days to go to the two Fridays. But th

I had the exact same questions you are asking before I took Wood Badge. As I progressed through each of the days of the course, the answers to my questions were answered by the course content. As you go through the course, you'll see ideal troops (packs) and you'll naturally think - hey, that is something we could do at our troop/pack. Jot it down - that could be a ticket item. You might get ideas / suggestions from other participants or staffers - jot them down. You might see ideas for how your adults interact and do - or don't do things. Write down your notes and observations and how

A ticket item is simply one of the five goals you have to complete to finsh your ticket. You "work your ticket" by accomplishing your ticket items.

By the way, Bob White, I'm just offering this as a light-hearted item with your name because people seem to like to give you a hard time for being able to correctly follow the rules. Hopefully, it provides a few chuckles to you and others. I highly value all of the great insights and advice I receive from the information provided by you and others here. It is immensely helpful.

"Damn the Rules! Call it an experiment!" - Lord Baden-Powell Quoted from "Footsteps of the Founder" page 147.(This message has been edited by Knight)

I dredged up this old topic becuase I'm sure many folks are having crossovers soon. We built the very nice, and easily transportable bridge (it breaks down into pieces) shown in the link below. We have a crossover ceremony that is based, in part, upon the script in that link. Look for the sketch about 2/3 the way down the page. The ceremony is above the sketch. Thank you York Adama area council - we used your idea! http://usscouts.org/bbugle/bb0301/bbad.html Building the bridge was partly Webelos Craftsman projects.

A couple of more observations: AOL - Yes, if boys earn AOL early, have them keep going in the Webelos program. Again, I think if the program is being done correctly, you will naturally end up with the boys completing all 20 in 1 1/2 years. Cross over / Troops - The Webelos program should involve visits to several troops. If you are doing that, you should end up with more than one troop at your crossover. If every single Webelos cross over to the same troop, it may be that the leaders have not really provided the boys with good introductions to different troops (assuming there are sev

I've seen that, if the Webelos program is done well, the program will be a full first year of activity badges for the boys and then the second year is doing a some more activity badges but increasingly doing Boy Scout-related activities. In order for the boys to earn all 20, they must go above and beyond by doing some activity badges with their family, over the summer, etc. Traveler is the most obvious choice for that. Our Webelos II den just had their final den meeting tonight. This weekend is the B&G, then next week's pack meeting will have AOL and crossover. If we could do it

I was talking with my Wood Badge course director the other night. He has one of the older WB neckers that are small. I did not realize that some WB neckers were of the smaller size. I like the large size much better.

Gulf Stream Council is planning a big camporee and also some sort of Scout reunion.

At our Roman Catholic Mass we did the following: Troop and Pack flags at church entrances. "A Scout is Reverent" foam display boards with Scout Sunday and various religious patches at each entrance. Scouts wore Class A uniforms, including merit bade sash. Scouts and Scouters greeted people at entrances and held open the doors. Prayer for Scouts worldwide during prayer of the faithful. Scouts brought up the gifts. Just before the end of the Mass, the Pastor called up all Scouts and Scouters to state the Scout Oath and Scout Law before the congregation. Very simple and rev

Every six months when the boys change offices, we do like SSScout describes. The SM gives the oath to the SPL, the SPL then does it for the ASPL and then the PLs. It was adapted from the Wood Badge course. Examples: SPL: I promise to do my best to be worthy of the office of Senior Patrol Leader for the sake of my fellow Scouts in Troop 999 and in the World Brotherhood of Scouting. PL: I promise to do my best to be worthy of the office of Patrol Leader for the sake of my fellow Scouts in my patrol and Troop 999 and in the World Brotherhood of Scouting.

I'm sure this issue is happening acros the country: Almost all of the the boys and parents here think that the black belt that comes with the new pants is a permanent part of the pants (and cannot be removed). They don't realize that there are two temporary stitches in the back of the pants that are holding the belt in place. Has anyone else figured this out?(This message has been edited by Knight)

What are your groups doing for Scout Sunday or Scout Shabbat?

If you have the interest in going as far as northern Georgia, there are outstanding state parks there that are extremely good for families. Our family has gone many times camping in cabins and tents.

The picture shows the boys at the entrance to Camp Sawyer today. We try to imagine what it must be like to go camping in the snow. http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn32/BayOfThePirates/CampSawyer011809.jpg

This year's January camp (this weekend) is at Camp Sawyer in the Florida Keys. High 72, low 60, small chance of rain. No chance of freezing here.

Our Scouts down here in south Florida talk about how they wish they could go camping in the snow. The campout that still gets the most discussion is one from one year ago - Fort Clinch, Florida - on the border of FL and GA. We had snow flurries. It rained like crazy the first night and day - heaviest during the set up of the camp - but they did everything well and got things set up despite the cold and the rain. Now they look back on it as the greatest campout ever.

We had a Webelos den visit us tonight - and our troop did great. They did not plan a special meeting - the boys just planned and carried out a regular meeting but with a focus on things the Webelos might be interested in. They did some map and compass skills things, etc. The ASPL and SPL had an agenda written out and had done a little planning with the PLs also. What was really good was Scouts planned and ran the whole thing. It started great: The SPL and ASPL standing silently at the front of the room with their Scout signs up while the Webelos, Boy Scouts and parents were tal

I almost joined the society - but being a thrifty Scot, I decided to postpone it...

Two words: Popcorn sales

Thank you for your info. As far as the limit on patrol size, I can tell you for a fact that whoever at BSA national handles this does make exceptions. My course had got approval for eight patrols of up to eight members each (ie, 64). We ended up with 57 or 58.

My son worked very long and very hard last year to collect, mount and correctly classify / name 50 insects along with all of the other requirements. He saw the new requirements and said he was glad he completed his insect study merit badge under the old requirements.

How does a Raven patrol come about? Obviously, it is not part of the "usual" eight patrols. Where does it fit in in the standard Gilwell order of patrols? ..I've always wondered...