ASM162

Themis, Our Troop has gone to Valley Forge a few times. In the visitor's center, you may want to purchase the guidebook for scouts. It is a map and compass route, and a very good exercise for boys working on advancement. The map and compass route, IMO, is somewhat of a challenge. I have hiked the trail a few times, with different scouts, and each hike was slightly different than the last. It is very easy to miss a turn, as many of the trails are not marked, and at various points on the route, you are not even on a trail. The scouts must use their map and compass, as well as their eyes and

A scout in our Troop wants to take Swimming MB next year, at camp. When he did the swim test, he passed, but was exhausted, even after the rest while floating on your back portion of the test. When he asked if he could take it, He was told that we'll see what next year brings. He really wants to earn the MB, but in reality, he just dosen't have the stamina yet.

I don't necessarily have a problem with the local council sharing in the wealth. I do not know how any other counciloperates on the distribution of the profit from the popcorn sale, but my council doesn't take the 70% profit and split it 35%-35%. It is more like a 40%-30% split with the 40% going to the council. I would be more agreeable to get on board if this was reversed, with the 40% going to the unit. Afterall, the unit is doing the legwork. Yes, I know that the council provides support for the popcorn sale, but is that support really worth taking the extra 5% from the unit? Now there i

hicountry - That $20.00 donation will go straight to the unit. This is much better than buying the $25.00 trail mix, and the unit only getting the table scraps after the council takes its cut.

"The device also emails a receipt to the buyer after the sale has gone through. So if your worried about fraud, you have a receipt for what was paid for." So, do you have to request an e-mail address from the prospective buyer to provide a Credit card receipt?(This message has been edited by ASM162)

"We came out of THAT discussion with the understanding that we should use the card reader as a last resort, to save a no sale, because the money comes right out of the unit." First let me clarify that I hate selling popcorn. The above statement really isn't motivating me to sell more popcorn. If anything, the 2.75% should come out of the council share. The units are doing all of the legwork, and while the district/council is providing support, the bottom line is that, without the units, the council gets nothing. I am also curious as to what"bugs" will need to be worked out.

Hi Moose, The summer camp that our Troop attends requires the mobilization plan, which the Troop does have, and it gets updated after every Troop election. It is essentially a telephone tree list, but the PLC is toying with the idea of a text system, since most of the boys have their own phones. Each scout also is required to have their own mobilization pack. As far as the family emergency kit, the scouts need to know what to include in such a pack and to include any medication and to not forget about any pets, and what is required for their proper care.

I saw this last night, and I was pleased to see the scouts and Larry laughing and carrying on. Larry is a great jokester, and the kids seemed to enjoy his humor. Plus, the show did showcase some of what the BSA is all about.

I was just going to post something along the lines of what Abel just posted. How useful is this tool if potential scouts are not even aware that it exisits? IMO, it still comes down to advertising. To this day, I do not understand why BSA does not spend some $$ on advertising. All of these online videos are good as a source of info, but if the target audience doesn't know that they exist, let alone know how to access them, then they are useless. Open houses and school visits are good tools, and right now probably the most effective methods of recruiting, but the folks at national can do

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Abbott_(Indian_Army_officer)

I think that I would keep Eagle Projects just as they are. There is a protocol that must be followed by the Life Scout to get the project approved. This helps with adult association, and project management. The Life scout has to keep the benefactor of the project updated concerning the approval process, and come to an agreement as to when the project can start. Also, he must determine how long the project will take, and come to an agreement with the benefactor as to what constitutes completeion of the project. We must remember that the average age of the Life Scout, at this point in hi

Moosetracker - Where I live in Central PA, the county parks are great resources, and surprising, at least to me, is the fact that they have scout programs already in place. We worked on the Forester and Naturalist activity badges concurrently, and were able to complete the requirements for both in one very long day. We were outdoors most of the time, so it diddn't SEEM to take all day. This was something that I had come across in my search for help with these badges. The Geologist Badge, I found a local cavern (tourist attraction), that had a WEBELOS program already in place. Again, with

When I had a WEBELOS den many years ago, I did alot of my own research for Forester, Naturalist, and Geology. The Outdoorsman badge seemed to be related to getting the boys out camping. Now, while I certainly appreciate the outdoors, I do not consider myself very knowledgable when it comes to plant and animal identification. So, with that in mind, I found places to take the WEBELOS scouts and had the folks who are knowledgable in things related to Forestry, and Naturalist and Geology instruct and guide the boys. For Forester and Naturalist, I found a nature center that catered especially

UCEagle72 said: >>>>And to some of the other comments -- I know that the UMC I attended "up north" has a requirement that anyone working with youth -- from the nursery through high school -- was required to have a background check, and fingerprinting done -- and that was started back in 2000.

>>>>Trying hard not to hijack this thread

SP and BP - I can understand the church not wanting to recharter to avoid liability issues. Just be up front about it. Don't adopt restrictive rules at the drop of a hat, if the real reason that you no longer want to recharter a scout unit is because you are concerned about liability.

I belong to a Catholic Church that used to charter a Cub Pack. Things were OK until the sex abuse scandal hit. Once the Catholic Church youth protection and volunteer screening requirements came about, I believe that the parish priest used that as a springboard to not recharter the Cub Pack; as he put in requirements that ANYONE WHO HAD ANY CONTACT WITH THE YOUTH OF THE PARISH HAD TO GO THRU THE SCREENING PROCESS! (Not screaming, just emphasizing). This included any and all family members who would attend a B&G banquet, Pinewood Derby, etc. Since it was, in the opinion of many of the

Scoutfish said: >>I learned that the (husband/wife) CC and CM burnet through $3,000.00 in 3 weeks. What did they buy?

>>>>Your Council probably doesn't need to know, but it'd be good information if your District Finance Committee is looking over it. They're far more apt to take into consideration everything you're doing to see if you're overkilling it.

The Troop that I serve has just begun using this form when we do unit fundraisers. I too, question the need of the council to know how much we have in our treasury, and what our dues are, etc. We sell popcorn, and as a unit, we might sell $1000 worth of the stuff. After the council takes their cut, the scouts get very little for their own scout accounts to help pay for outings and summer camp. Therefore,we have an annual sub sale,so that the boys can actually make some decent money, and help pay for summer camp. We do this every year, and time it so that boys who need camperships, kno

JMHawkins said: "On a more serious note, a CEO needs an understanding of what the organzation is doing at the delivery level a lot more than he needs an airport and a net connection. Frankly, I think your idea is fantastic, at least once in a while he ought to do it." A Scout is Thrifty. I do agree with the above statement. It certainly couldn't hurt for the CSE to spend his time at the local councils when he is travelling. It is certainly much less expensive than paying several hundred dollars a night for a hotel suite. He could also get a better overall feel for what is happening "i

"Then change the perception. Point out that (in our council any way) 70% of the cost of popcorn purchase stays within the council (or state in our case) Most people will look at the price of that $10 bag of pocorn differently if you explain $3.50 stays within the state and $3.50 stays within the pack (our council YMMV)" You say change the perception - OK then where to you draw the line? I mean can you sell popcorn for $20 a bag? $3.00 to Trails ends, $8.50 to council and $8.50 to the unit. $30.00 per bag, $40.00 per bag? Will people still purchase popcorn at this price, even th

Personally, I think this type of option does a disservice to those scouters who gave up a weekend to attend the scheduled course, as well as those who are on the training committee, who generously give of their time to staff the IOLS training. Our district just completed two consecutive weekends of IOLS, to accomodate nearly 100 scouters who "needed" the training to register as SM's and SA's for the upcoming recharter. Now, I would venture to guess that about 75% of those in attendance these past two weekends, have enough experience to "opt out", if they so desired. My guess is that there wi

I used to be an Eagle and a good ole Eagle too, But now I've finished Eagleing I don't know what to do I'm growing old and feeble And I can Eagle no more So I'm going to work my ticket if I can. Back to Gilwell, Happy Land! I'm going to work my ticket if I can. NE-IV-164

Eagle 732, Try this link: http://www.vftroop73.org/ The campground is for Scout Troops only. We have camped there, as it is in close proximity to the National Park.