Kristian

that about sums up what the actual members want from a de. and also of course to help out/offer guidance when problems arise.

they should be doing that, but it rarely seems to happen.

use a proper real knife. something comfortable in size for each individual scout to actually use. those plastic knife and soap demonstrations aren't teaching anything useful and will not represent real world needs for a knife.

Any scoutmaster should be fine.

Some might possibly be made in the states but the vast majority of things sold in the scout shop are made in china. For any of the groups i have worked with we order from companies that produce in china when we expect the lowest price and have sufficient lead time to order them and in the states when we are more pressed for time and don't mind around double the price. I personally order patches produced in Canada or the uk but in those cases i need something very specific and willing to pay a significant premium.

Once the project is done, its done. It sounds like he did raise all the money, some came from fundraising and the rest is absolutely a donation from the parents. If the scout wasn't going to be accepting of family donations the project should have been delayed until other funding sources could be found. In many organizations those leading the fundraising or the board will personally make up any difference between what was raised and what might be necessary to fulfill some task if they can afford it.

I believe they have something like this around here too though not certain about it yet. It does sound like another complete waste of time and money. The eagle workbook explains all of this already and if you have a question after actually reading it talking to your sm is free. I find it hard to believe that no one in your troop would have enough knowledge to be able to assist a scout needing help.

at the venturing/troop level at least you can schedule the campout somewhere that you must hike into and miles from the parking lot. that will eliminate extra family members pretty quick.

"for more than a century, the Boy Scouts of America has been a leader in conservation - from stewardship to sustainability" if this is true why are their significantly more cases of bsa properties being sold off to developers to be turned into office parks, housing developments, and golf courses then preserved as open space.

well your son shouldn't be wearing athletic shorts anyway because that definitely isnt part of the uniform and would just look too stupid.

and that is the problem here. what many of the venture scouts want is just to run their program and organize the activities they enjoy as they see fit. advancement is much less important than actually having an enjoyable program. of course this would conflict directly with the corporate types that see the lack of advancement and awards as contrary to their JTE statistical disaster.

a 10mile backpacking trip isnt something i would ever recommend for scouts that haven't already had sufficient hiking experience already. proper gear selection is something that they will learn in time but its not likely to happen on the first or second trip.

i would define success as a trip that the scouts were actually able to complete, and also one that they were able to enjoy doing, though learning something also would also be a great benefit for some. distance is something that will vary greatly depending on the terrain, weather, elevation and many other things. i dont believe i ever said 5-8 miles inst enough for anything. i would see this as something most scouts would reasonably be able to do per day.

having witnessed a troop hike where several of the scouts weren't truly successful in hiking just 5-8 miles on a good day carrying just water/food i dont have much hope for them ever doing a 3 day backing trip. if you are doing monthly or so backpacking trips i would say you are doing pretty well as a troop. I agree with the above posters that these trips should be the lead up to things such as winter backpacking, and the more difficult and longer treks.

I would prefer they have skills beyond soliciting funds from either the scouts or outside orgs.

It is an official uniform and if its what she wants certainly wear it. Have thought of doing something like this myself but its quite difficult to get decent examples of older uniforms in the size i actually wear.

LDS as a whole has enormous power over all aspects of bsa. With this power they are able to control or at least attempt to control everyone else. As many also see lds policies as contradictory to their own and likely the oath/law as well conflict will continue to arise. Locally there really arent all that many lds units and since they seem to stick mainly to themselves to avoid conflicting values with the general public. Dont particularity care what these lds units do at their own meetings as long as they arent trying to hurt anyone else.

It's what the CC was doing to the SM. I would strongly encourage the CC to back off. Save the heavy hand for real bad kids.Any organization that maintains strict standards of control over its members behavior like fraternities, bsa, military will always be popular sources of bullying/hazing. Their entire organizational structure is centered on control and what one level of member can demand of another with relative impunity.

havent seen the changes yet either but just like in the past if the co can kick out members of its church for being gay/living gay lifestyle. naturally once these people were out of the church they wouldn't be welcome in any of their churches activities or groups anyway. CO's have had the ability to limit membership in their scout groups to their particular organization since roughly around the beginning of bsa in this country.

For those that start spending significant amounts of time over many years the required training will become a burden. Many of these courses do overlap to the point that the only additional information for the next course might fill only one page or less of new material. other than additional bsa provided forms. Combined with the national level courses as philmont, and other national bases, ncs, the online courses, and the council run mandatory courses your probably getting really close to 100 total. Then of course there are council run courses to teach something specific like their particular

I dont see why anyone would think trusting a bsa site with being responsible for things like calenders, contacting members or having accurate information would actually be a good thing. Seems they just want more and more personal information from all the members/parents and really arent providing anything new or particularly useful. Scouting needs less bureaucracy not more.

all past history with bsa national suggests they would always support the pro's in selling off land donated for scouts actual use.

"The Cape Cod & Islands Council responded last week with a lawsuit against 10 of Nantucket’s Boy Scouts leaders alleging fraud, conspiracy, unjust enrichment, and stated that the deed transfer was illegal, invalid, and “essentially amounts to stealing the land.†- I await the day these scout leaders countersue the council for these identical charges, it would seem the only ones who will monetarily benefit from this sale at all are the pro scouters. Thats just the way it always seems to happen just like it happened in my own council with multiple sales of scout prope

Same as Any Loaded Vehicle any Trip...Especially ones without Roadside assistance..Car with No Extra seating do not help if ones breaks down any ways as someone who has gotten stuck in the snow, mud, ditch, flat tires often at odd hours in areas way out of cell range relying on a single vehicle would be a disaster.

im also voting crazy. there is no way owning a bus makes economic sense as a scout group. some of these trips discussed here seem less and less like an actual boy scout activity and more like a cub scouts. likely looking at some patrol method deterioration as well. i would also have to agree with the fact that buses just aren't conducive to camping. most forest roads are small, winding and some aren't paved. you will go off the road and will not get that bus back on easily. finding a place to park that buss in the woods isn't going to go well either, trailhead parking lots are notoriou