LauraT7

we use two man tents. that helps alot. it REALLY does. With the younger boys, who tend to leave stuff out all over - we do a walk-thru the campsite and have them put stuff away at about 10 pm - often they dissapear into their tents, putting stuff away and are too tired to come back! (or they don't come back fearing other 'job' assignments -LOL!) Most of our boys get up at an unGodly early hour - 6am or even earlier! they get the message early on that it doesn't pay to stay up - crabbiness is not allowed, either! our boys ARE allowed to stay up as long as they wish - if there

We have also started encouraging the boys to try new things - one of the ways we do that is have great meals in the adult patrol - and let the boys have the leftovers. this does two things - 1 - it gets them to try new things 2 - somebody always either doesn't like what's being cooked or doesn't get enough - it uses up our leftovers sometimes the boys 'forget' a major ingredient (hey, they're learning!) and their meal turns out bad - this gives them an example to reach for and something to eat if its really a disaster. Our last campout was kind of cute - Sat dinner t

Why would you want your son to go to camp with this troop? Despite his having (some) friends in this troop -knowing kids, the attitude the leadership has towards him will filter down to the kids. the kids will treat him as the group scapegoat and your son will be miserable. Why would you want to set him up for such treatment? this is the time when it is the parent's obligation to exert their parental perogative in protecting their child and take him OUT of this troop. don't ask him - tell him. Give him a choice of other troops, or make him a Scout in an individual program (can't r

CONS: - I have never been an adult leader of a crew, troop, pack. So? you also don't have any pre-conceived ideas to re-train. Inexperience is not a problem - keeping and open mind is more important. learn & work the program - and let the kids do as much as they want to take on. Guide, don't "lead" - I am just now getting back into scouting after an absence during my youth. I left scouts at 15 and am returning now that I am 26. related to above - take the good and useful stuff you remember, learn the new program, and your young age will probably benefit this Crew!

Thanks, everyone - I thought it was right to wear the uniform sash to such an event - I'm going to talk to our SPL and our SM and see if we can get them back on board - I've noticed ALOT of sloppy habits cropping up - especially in pants and shirts that look like they just came out of the laundry basket, patches half torn off - etc.

y'know, now that you mention it - i think most boys's favorite scouters are crosses between Grizzly Adams and Santa Claus! My friend Scot fit that description, including the beard - as does our current SM - but without the beard. I think that 'image' appears more approachable from a boy's point of view - or almost anyones, for that matter.

Dale: I'm sorry if you mis-understood me - or if you took offense at my flippant answer - I was being kinda silly and tone is hard to convey in writing. My brother is asthmatic - he is 10 yrs older than me and I remember many, many nights when I was a child when he would be up at night because he couldn't breathe. the inhalers, the medication and rushes to the emergency room - I certainly don't take it lightly. But there are many degrees of many illnesses. Many, thought not all, can be helped by various interventions - medication, diet, etc. Allowing those affected to live v

Another ASM in my troop and I were discussing how our boys never wear their badge sashes - not on Scout Sunday,not at outings, not at camp, Even to COH, where they are being awarded badges, they 'forget' - on purpose, i suspect! but I found that many bring them - they just leave them in the car because they don't see other boys wearing theirs. Some of the more vocal scouts will actually tell the others that it's not appropriate to wear them! They think they are "bragging" if they wear them! I don't remember "Modest" or "Humble" as part of the Scout law, so why have them if not to

I agree with KWC that taking off the uniform etc for dinner, etc is nuts. - but it isn't the uniform that's the problem there - it's the camp policy. One camp we go to wants dress uniform for flag, breakfast and dinner. By the end of the week - even the neatest boy's uniform is so dirty- it can stand by itself! Another camp we go to has a more practical bent - each TROOP decides when to wear uniform and what to wear - so we usually opt for full uniform for dinner and evening flag - and troop t-shirts for daily wear. it just is not practical to have more than one uniform for boys

some of you may remember back after Scout Sunday, When I posted that my friend, Scot had been found to have brain cancer. Scot lost his fight Friday morning, slipping quietly away at home with family. Scot was a scout himself, years ago, the kind of scout who didn't make Eagle becasue he was too busy helping the OTHER boys in his troop. Attached is part of the memorial page we are starting for Scot on our troop site: Today we all said Goodbye to a friend who exemplified all the best ideals of Scouting; who shared unselfishly with our sons his wonderful humor, brilliant mind

this is something I havenot heard of - I visited mackinac on a vacation a number of years ago and it would be a great place to take scouts - our troop LOVES bike trips - and island with bike and horse only transportation would be right up their alley! what do they do there ? is it some kind of program they sign up for? can someone e-mail me a link or information on it? tlaurat7@hotmail.com

A related problem we have, is that we can't seem to get the boys to plan or commit more than the meeting ahead of a campout. This means every time they are rushing to plan meals, do shopping, and end up packing the day of the outing. Every time they say "we gotta plan earlier" and every time, they wait until the meeting before. I am the troop activities coordinator and I coordinate for the two summer camps we are attending this summer and will serve as SM for one of them. I asked the PLC last meeting to plan time for a 'camp orientation night' for the parents of the NSP so we could have

The other 6 will not go (to camp) because of one or more of the following: they heard it is hot, yeah? so don't they have a lake or a pool? Besides, isn't it hot EVERYWHERE in Texas in the summer??? the latrines are dirty, Well, yeah - but how much time do you plan to spend in the latrines, anyway? (at least they're not MOMS and don't have to SIT in 'em! LOL) their parents can not go because of work, My best vacation time is with my son at camp - where else can you get a good health spa for that kind of Money? i probably loose at least 10 lbs there every year! th

Recruiting non-scouts? or recruiting from cub packs? We have also recently put a recruiting effort on - in both areas in the last year - as we don't have a "feeder pack" and it worked! We've gotten 3 new boys - 2 non-scouts and a transfer, and 8 new crossover cubs! Or Troop determined that we would do an ongoing effort to recruit and get the Webelos / non-scouts in to things with our troop multiple times in their two-years as webelos - rather than just fill the cub requirement of attending ONE Scout meeting and ONE activity for their AOL. our boys figured that if the cubs did thing

This is not scout related - or maybe a troop could chip in and make this a service project by or including this as part of patrol trip? Going to springfield might help with one of the citizenship badges.... but let me explain.... In addition to scouting, my son and I are involved with Golden Retreiver Rescue of Wisconsin - which also services Northern Illinois. Breed specific rescue groups like ours take in dogs of their breed specialty from county shelters, strays and owner relinquishments. The dogs are placed in foster homes with families while they recieve medical care, trainin

Duh - i didn't mean to do that ..... How well is "well enough"? You are dealing with two things here - the BSA requirements for participation and the parent's perception of their son's abilities - apparently THEY want more protections in place for their son? For BSA - is he First Class? has he passed the BSA Swimmer Test? has he passed the other requirements for attending Canoe Base? What requirements does the Camp /Troop put on this activitiy? What kind of training are they going to give the boys at Base? What is his canoeing skill level compared to the other boys in the

A young boy, going to canoe base, still can not swim well enough. The parents are insisting on having other stronger swimmers be in the canoe with him. Or they have also suggested hiring a lifeguard to go in his canoe.

i had a hard time finding out about wood badge in my council too, at first. and they do have a veil of secrecy over it - mostly it seems you have to commit to it 6 - 8 months in advance, without being told enough details to plan for it. I actually signed up for it once - and had to cancel, because i lost my job and am not sure I will be able to get the necessary friday's off for the two weekends. That's another confusing thing - some people told me that the friday of the weekends starts AFTER working hours - others told me it was three FULL days - starting Friday AM both weekends. mak

Our troop does not have a tie and slide. a few of the boys wear BSA hats. We encourage, but do not require BSA pants. We ask for khaki green, jeans or tan pants. Sweats and camoflage are not acceptable. most of our boys have a few pairs of khacki green pants that look great with the uniforms - many are zip-offs. Except at summer camp - every boy must have at least one FULL uniform - BSA shirt, BSA shorts & socks, plus a belt if we can find one to fit. if he doesn't have them - he can 'check them out' for the week from the troop uniform bank. (He can check out extras, too) no cost

your troop and the rest of his family are in our prayers, too. laura

Dan - you said "The ASM for NSP which are mostly 2nd year leaders do not believe in the NSP program." it's really tough to sell something you can't believe in yourself. is there any possibility that YOU could take a NSP yourself and SHOW them? change is tough for everyone - especially the adults! We also re-structured our troop in the last year, and have our first NSP of 8 - it's all new to us, too - but because we have a dedicated core of three - our SM and two ASM's who BELIEVE in doing things the "scout way" it is working WONDERFULLY! all 8 new boys, & 2 older

A) the program theme for the next month is canoeing. Hawk has opening ceremonies for the month, panthers agree to do closing ceremonies. The troop is going canoeing on the last weekend. They boys have heard about a river 5 hours away that they have never canoed before so they decide to go there. 1. Listen 2. if they don't bring it up - mention, Safety afloat - do we have the appropriate requirements met, equip & leadership avail, etc - if not, how do we meet them? or how must we restrict the trip to meet those criteria (maybe make it a trip for tested swimmers and trained boys only?

As a badge counselor, ASM and parent of an ADD child in a troop with LOTS of ADD boys - I am very much aware of the lack of 'organizational maturity' many of our boys have when they first come into the troop ADD or not! for advancements, the handbook makes it pretty easy - they have a checklist and you go right down it - the problem is getting the boys to remember their books, and then remember to get them signed off when they complete a requirement. With our new scout patrol, i tell them - "go get your books NOW and lets sit down and go over what we've done today." until they get the

We have one who is suddenly RE- interested in scouting in order to get his Eagle in - luckily, he 'tuned in' with enough time - he just turned 17 in Feb and has been skating thru the last two years in the troop with minimal attendance, etc. but he still wants something for nothing - I'm a Badge Counselor for Camping Badge - the other night at meeting he asked if I could go over his blue card with him, as he had all the requirements done. Sure! - so we went through them. he hadn't even read the pamphlet! he thought he could answer them all right off the cuff and i would give him cred

As it states in the book - you can't add, modify or take away requirements - except under a disability clause. i think someone in your troop has WAY too much time on their hands if they are figuring percentages of attendance on different meetings /events / activities! Can't you give them something more usefull to do? like counting the forks in the supply room? We don't have a 'formal' policy in our troop - but if a boy misses out on activities more than a few times without calling his patrol leader, the SPL or one of the adults to let them know WHY he is going to be absent, he wi