LeCastor

Yeah, I think there is more relevance-maintenance and control hungriness in Scouting that we would like. But, hey, that's why we have capable GTA looker-uppers like Hedgie, quality trainers like Eagle94, and mentors like Stosh out there to guide us along the way.

I agree with Stosh on this one. Our Troop operates in the same way with PLs signing off on their Patrol members' advancement. This wasn't always the case, though. When I became SM it was very much like how Renax describes in the OP. Some adult volunteers prefer to keep a tight grasp on the sign-off pen. However, if the PL, JASM, or TG feel confident a Scout has completed a requirement I am perfectly comfortable having them sign it off. As for the SM-specific syllabus, I doubt it says in there that adults have the sole power in the advancement trail...

Confirmed. I don't have them now on my iPad either.

Moosetracker, try clicking the little black arrow at the top right of the text box to expand the bar.

Being married to a library professional, I know there's a continuous weeding of out-dated materials that takes place in libraries. In fact, she likes to share a librarian blog with me that showcases some really humorous books: http://awfullibrarybooks.net/ Some of these would most likely not be in a church library, but I bet they have their fair share of titles to weed out.

Yeah, that's definitely something I suggest to the Scouts. And if there's a nice family or another Troop camping within vicinity our ours I suggest inviting them over for some fellowship..and snacks. Otherwise, coolers and food totes are emptied on a table in our meeting room and the Scouts divide it up among themselves. Unfortunately, some of the perishables get left and, being the last one at the church, I tend to "inherit" milk, eggs, cheese, etc.

Yeah, this happened to me, too. I just kept showing up and they asked me to be district membership guy. And since I'm always at roundtable I was a good fit for Boy Scout RT Commish. It's not bad, though. I enjoy it but we ALWAYS need more volunteers! There are too many of us who wear 3-4 hats and as Desertrat once said, you'll want to keep all the plates spinning in the air and neglect one or more of the other jobs while taking care of the the other one...

Welcome back to the Scouting life, mgood777! I, too, took 15 years off and realized there was a giant Scouting-shaped hole in my life. Over the past four years I've filled it with camping, hiking, and lots of mentoring. It's great! BTW, I love that pic of you in the flannel shirt. Very 1987.

It's been just a tad over 20 years since my Ordeal ceremony but I remember it was dark and I had no idea where I was in a camp I otherwise would have been comfortable navigating. What I really remember, though, is being so hungry and so tired that when I got to the dining hall I couldn't even eat and when I got to my tent I couldn't even sleep. The Lodge I am in now has recently started doing the before-sundown Ordeal ceremonies and following dinner with the Brotherhood ceremony. The reasoning (and I don't know who decided) is that the Ordeal guys will be able to eat dinner and hang ou

This is an interesting question because it came up just recently when Scouts were discussing their eligibility for election to the Order of the Arrow. They were counting up their days/nights and including a lot of indoor things. Obviously, I didn't think the electronics lock-in at the church was appropriate. Where it got iffy was the winter cabin activities. The OA team gave their okay and the Lodge Chief was there and he said "sure". Personally, when we go to the cabin activities I bring along my tent and pitch it outside the cabin. The first time I did that I got a bunch of crazy

oh, snap!

As a unit leader, I do write short articles and provide images of the Scouts in action. We get a few inches in local free community papers. It's free advertising. As district committee membership chair, I'd like to get the word out about Scouting in our community from a more general perspective. I encourage all units to do the local write-ups as mentioned above, but I am trying to find a way to promote Scouting in the district as a whole. I am fully aware that we have no budget so it's got to be grassroots stuff. Will just keep my wheels going and come up with some marketing ideas.

We also give each new Scout a handbook as they crossover into our Troop. The parent(s) is/are paired with veteran parents to learn the differences between the Pack and Troop. ScoutingMom, As for the uni, your son should remove the Cub Scout insignia and ask his patrol leader or senior patrol leader what the proper placement is for the Troop. Stosh, I sent you a private message.

Oh, and I didn't write this Op-Ed, btw. It was just an example of something I saw and it got me thinking about how to get the word out in the community.

No way, dude! I'm going to take you out for coffee one of these days.

Sorry, all...The link didn't seem to work as posted. Here is the article from the GazetteXtra: "Our Views: Boy Scouting develops leaders, deserves support “On my honor, I will do my best “To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; “To help other people at all times; “To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.†â€â€Boy Scout Oath Boy Scouts of America has an image problem and a membership problem. The first affects the second. Some people think Scouting is for troubled kids or “lose

I've been wondering if it might be a good idea to start writing in to the big-hitter newspapers in our respective areas to start talking about Scouting in the US. If enough of us start writing regularly to the papers and start to get published, will we make an impact? For example, just this week an op-ed piece was published in a smaller WI newspaper: http://www.gazettextra.com/20150310/our_views_boy_scouting_develops_leaders_deserves_support It's relatively neutral on the issue of discrimination towards homosexual adults but states that Scouting is important and deserves supp

No, not sure what that was about.

Just an interesting quick story... This weekend we had a Patrol doing service to help local homeless families and we were all in field uniform. A man who was present during the project came up to me and asked, "so are the Scoutmaster or a you just wearing that patch?!" It sounded pretty accusatory and I didn't quite know how to react. But we ended up having a conversation about Scouting and it turned out he was a Scout years ago. Perhaps now that he's seen our Patrol out doing service (in uniform) he might go out and spread the word in the community.

No, perdicochas, you shouldn't to that because it is, after all, a Scout Troop. She has trouble recruiting when she says that Scouting ideals are a part of the package. I hope you didn't think I meant she didn't include that part in the Troop's day-to-day business. We're talking about how to make Scouting visible, so I just wanted to say that advertising Scouting as a place to help train upstanding citizens (I'm talking about to parents here) people sometimes balk at that...Why? I guess it's about how they want to be the ones to do that for their children...Maybe?

Stosh, when you get the hiking trail and campground set up I'll bring a Patrol over so they can set up an extended resident camp there for the summer. Shouldn't be too far of a drive and while we're checking out the driftless area from the cars we'll be all psyched up for your hospitality!

Excellent idea, Q! Thanks!

UPDATE: At the end of our Boy Scout break-out session at Roundtable last night, I read a few passages from this book that pertained to Scouters and how we have the power to keep youth engaged with nature. For the most part everyone agreed we have a duty to keep the outing in Scouting and encourage youth to get involved. There was one fairly strong critique of the book and the argument being weak. (I wondered if it was Packsaddle's proxy .) The next book on my list for discussion at Roundtable is the Roadside Geology of Wisconsin. I'm hoping to get a better grasp of the physical geogra

I have been called naive twice in the span of seven days! Seattle, you are entitled to your opinion--and we certainly know your opinion by now--but to call people "fools" and suggest that dishonesty is the best policy is, in my opinion, contrary to what we're trying to accomplish in our Scouting movement. I want a governor who is honest and I want a president who is honest and if that makes me naive so be it. As for continually calling out "liberals" on this forum perhaps it would be more constructive to refrain from name-calling and finger-pointing. I don't think that gets us an