koolaidman

Welcome to the forums Lance. Thanks for your service to our country and our cub scouts!

Glad your son found a troop agreeable to his tastes.

How many cubs are we talking about here? Do the adults listen and follow directions? Is there one person in the pack agreeable to taking on responsibility of overseeing the entire swim operation?

Not to go off on a tangent: As a father of a four year old, who recently graduated from potty training, every time I see this thread pop up I immediately think of the pull-ups (the diaper kind) instead of the exercise.

We bring a flag. We have two nine foot closet poles, overlap them about 3 feet and use round lashings. Use two half hitches and tautlines on three guylines attached above the lashings (so the ropes don't slide down the poles). It can be set up with as little as two scouts (maybe even one), but works quickest with four. (add an eye screw, another rope, carbiners and flags, and you have a nifty flagpole). When done properly I've seen ours withstand 15-20 mph wind gusts. It is a fantastic team building activity, as the scouts really need to communicate and work together to get the pole standing up straight. We take it with us when space (in vehicles and campsites) allow. Currently SM and I are racking our brains as to how to make it smaller (as in packing light, not shorter). Anyone have any ideas?

Our old pack had boys crossing over in December. Right at the 6 mo. mark for AOL. A lot of thumb twiddling between September and December. Well, that and trying to have make up activities for one scout whose parents just didn't seem to care all that much. Oh, and troop visits. We made 3-4 troop visits as a den/patrol.

"Primary" sounds like an administrative contrivance or convenience, or what an IT guy thought up so his coding would work, once faced with dual registration issues in databases. Per GTA, as you stated, the only thing that needs to happen is a decision has to be made between the scout, his crew advisor and his scoutmaster. And then they are just deciding who's signature goes on the books. The question seems to be as significant as "Did Adam have a navel?" I'm pretty sure National/Council can deal with a scout earning Eagle under his "secondary" registration. Districts? Well, the jury is out there I think you will find it difficult for people to give you references for something that doesn't exist. Its probably buried in administrative policies and procedures and not meant to weigh down us volunteers in the field. So, it seems customary here at scouter.com to raise questions to the OP when you think his premise is false. I feel obliged: The scout really cares that much about who is signing his book, or does he think one unit leader will be "easier" than the other? Why isn't his active and POR requirement signed off yet?

Smaller packs have some benefits. Making sure people understand you is one of them. With a large pack you're pretty much guaranteed to have to send out the same message multiple times, announce at meetings multiple times, email multiple times, then still have folks who didn't get the message, ignore the parts they don't agree with, or ignore inconvenient parts. Just in my own den, explaining that air guns, or boating isn't allowed at pack campouts per G2SS, was an uphill battle.

Mobilizing a pack of 100+ scouts is pretty difficult. Our pack was in a neighborhood, better off than most, bust still middle class. Many other activities from sports to music lessons, etc. Many marginally interested parents. Fair weather seasons being the only option. Other rules I wish our pack communicated: Watch your kids, don't let them roam through other campsites uninvited. Teach your kid which cooler is yours and tell them not to raid other parents coolers. Don't feed kids you don't know unless you have permission from parent. Teach your kids not to run through campsites, not to throw rocks, not to have stick fights.

Looks like you can designate another dad to look after your lad. See page 4 last paragraph on the left, continuing on the right hand side: https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/english/young-men/35814_scout-handbook_eng.pdf?lang=eng This looks to be helpful info too: https://www.lds.org/callings/primary/leader-resources/scouting-in-primary/eleven-year-old-scouts

That's awesome LeCastor. I think that's a great way to discover similarities and differences between cultures. It may lead into the scouts trying new things!

mozartbrau: Tread carefully. Watch the sales pitch. Per BSA guidelines it needs to go a certain way, which may be at odds with the legalese devised by the scout lawyer. review for substance over form.

Hey bobinbako, Welcome to the forums. A bit of context here may help others answer your question, as in why do you need this info. If you are looking to charter a new unit, it may be a moot point, as many councils are not accepting charters with Parents of/Friends of organizations.

An alternative is volunteering to help the den leader and make it a more positive experience. Other than that, maybe visit other packs in the summer and decide for September. Beware, there are gung-ho ("get all 20") Webelos dens/patrols that won't cover certain activity badges they have deemed to be covered in summer/day camp.

Harassment: Recognize - looks like you did Resist - I can't tell Report - COR, IH, SE Program: You COR, IH get together and find a new SM. If the COR and IH don't want to, just walk away...

Summarizing for everyone: tonkatim: 3 tablespoons oil per 1/4 cup corn (based on memory) 3 tablespoons is almost 1/4 cup, so you're at about a 50/50 ratio there mozartbrau: 1 tablespoons oil per 1/4 cup corn (derived from 1/4 cup oil to 8oz popcorn) blake47/Stosh 1 tablespoons per 1/3 cup corn The ratios mozartbrau and Stosh suggest seem right to me. Try a 1:4 ratio of oil to corn and adjust as necessary.

Not to take away from the seriousness of a boy's death. A lot of "accidents" like this can be prevented by liberal amounts of LNT. Sure, pick up a stick or rock to study it, but put it back where ya found it. Picking up sticks for light saber/ninja battles, rock throwing, log rolling, tree riding, alligator taunting, deer chasing, hole digging all violate LNT. As far as prevention goes: When "You're gonna poke your eye out fails", LNT can sometimes win.

Currently our troop has an unofficial attitude of "no see, no foul". I'm starting to lean to embracing and teaching proper/use etiquette. Much like a knife, it's much safer if used properly. I'd much rather a scout learn how to handle a call/txt during a meeting sooner rather than later. If a scout is using it as a reference point, that is good to see. Perhaps a friendly competition to encourage knowledge retention would make better use of these loved and hated smartphones. Give the patrols some free night time during an astronomy camp out, then a constellation/planet pointing contest (now without phones) and score it similar to boggle. <==spitballin' here

A new thing I am seeing today are a couple of blank topics in "today's posts"

Bravo Stosh! Well said and well written! What I wish I could have written, but I'm too impatient with my composition skills.

What ScoutNut said, then a conversation with CC explaining that the committee is not responsible for the program, the SM is. When the CC won't agree with you, have a plan to leave for another troop. Don't spin your wheels too long trying to convince or change other people. I've been with a new troop for almost 2 years now. It is extremely taxing for a new SM/ASM to start up a new troop. Try to find one to your first. Good luck!

Sharing the love for troopwebhost....

Lenae, I can tell from your conscientiousness that you are going to be a great assistant den leader. I think you're well on your way to a rewarding experience.