ATCprofesr

ScoutNut (and any others)

Just so that I clearly understand... and please correct me if I am wrong;

If the scout completes his Star Rank BOR on Jan 1, 2006, the tenure for his Life Rank can follow consecutively and begin on July 1, 2006, even if he has not been afforded the opportunity of a BOR? And subsequently would the same follow with Life to Eagle, regarding tenure?

I truly am not trying to 'split hairs', just trying to clearly understand the rhyme and reason.

All

Many, many thanks for the input, suggestions and advice... especially the quote from BSA document 18-625. This is precisely the support that I had hoped for. All of your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks Again

Ticket was complete before reg revocation.

CO refused to revoke reg and was supportive of Leadership.

Long story short: New Scout Exec, flexing muscles, asserts unjustified allegation of "fundraising impropriety", through a Charitable Golf Tournament that our unit was assisting in. In a money mongering approach, Scout Exec threatens that either the unit allow the Council to run the finances or have our charter revoked and entire leadership removed. Unable to comply, as this was not 'our' event, we advised that our unit would unfortunately be unable to provide any form of assistance to the Charitable Org. Scout Exec pushes issue and immediately revokes registration. In spiteful act, also removes my wife whom, to this day, has not even met the man. Appeal sent to "Good Ole Boy Region" office. After admittedly not even taking the time to read the appeals package, returns letter three months later, indicating that "no evidence was found to overturn the local Council's decision". Appeals process now forwarded to National level, on behalf of wife. I currently am unsure that I even want to be involved in this organization any longer given the Political Potentate in power. Apparently 12 total years is the council imposed 'term limit' for one that serves the boys. If only I didn't enjoy working with scouts!

That's it in a nutshell. Please feel free to ask any questions. Blunt is best, in my opinion. I'll be happy to answer any and all.

Thanks.

I asked the same question. Apparently it 'takes too much time to set up' and they have decided to only have BORs, quarterly.

A bit of a conundrum... need your clarifying assistance, please.

Completed Wood Badge. Completed Ticket. Scout Executive executed unjustified revocation of BSA registration. Approached WB Troop Leader and WB Scoutmaster who agreed beading should be persued. Scout Exec advised that 'over his dead body would that ever happen'.

Experiencing severe consternation over this injustice. Looking for clarity and reassurance that the BSA has not truly diminished to such a petty, political abhorration.

Thank you for your input.

Hypothetically...

A scout has met his tenure requirement for his Star rank and is ready and desiring to begin work on his Life, however, he has been advised that he may not count his time for tenure (for Life) until he completes a Board of Review. Problem is... the next BOR will not be held for at least 3 months. The Advancement Chair, CC and SM have been the sources for this advisory. The scout is in the process of completing all of the required Eagle MBs, and wishes to continue unabetted in his advancement. How can this situation be resolved, amicably... hypothetically speaking.

Your suggestions and advice are greatly appreciated.

Hey All!

I'm trying to collect the various World Crest patches, having recently completed the BSA jigsaw puzzle of the like. The problem is, how can I acquire contact info on the various international scouting organizations? I've tried a web search but have found that, for example, the German site is a bit difficult, as I don't "sprechen zee deutch".

So, anyone with innovative ideas, please speak up.

Many advanced thanks.

The Professor

And the whirlwind continues...

See, this is exactly the type of debate that has been taking place around here for the past three years.

A few specifics:

-Our entire council recharters by 1/31 every year.

-Unfortunately, our council is "understaffed" and thus new subscriptions to Boys' Life are often times handled in a lacadasical manner. This causes our boys to not receive their new "gift" for at least 2-3 months - post payment.

-We hold our Pinewood Derby in March/April, every year. We make a specific point of discouraging the purchase of PWD kits until appx 3 weeks prior. Should the kids have kits in hand longer than this duration, parts and pieces end up missing and cause a great deal of strife for the parents.

-Our Pack only asks for the initial registration and insurance fees ($11 regardless of date of reg), ONE time. As long as the family maintains an active status with the Pack, the Pack assumes all further fees for the scout, IE:recharter, insurance, all badges and advancements. These funds come from the Pack budget.

-This Pack promotes "year-round" recruiting via monthly newspaper articles, school visits and flyers at no cost to ANY other entity.

-A cost breakdown of school recruit night was requested / demanded last year. The council flyers that were distributed to the various schools (by our Pack leadership) indicated a number of untruths that I found to be unacceptable for an organization committed to "Trustworthy..." morals. For example, the flyer indicates that the boys should come to recruit night, sign up and receive their "FREE" tickets to a sporting event. Keep in mind that the requested cost breakdown indicated "promotions" as a charge included in the $20 reg fee. This does not equate to a "free gift". This is just an example of the types of falsehoods that continue to take place here.

-When a cost breakdown was requested this year, I was advise that, because of my refusal to pay for certain items, last year, a justification of costs would not be distributed. UNACCEPTABLE!

-This year's registration fee is to include: 5 months reg fees, $1 insurance fee, 5 months Boys' Life, "free lunch box", "free PWD kit", a deceptive 10% discount on the purchase of an entire scout uniform - to be purchased only at a scout shop approximately 1 hour's drive from our community, and a "free pair of tickets" to a local MLB game.

Mr. White, I have had the priviledge of monitoring your postings in the past. Mostly as a quiet observer. I must admit that your loyalties appear to lie on behalf of the paid professionals and council actions. I do appreciate the limited amount of assistance we receive from these individuals, and empathize with the demands made on many DEs.

In short, I strongly disagree with the manner in which school recruit night is being handled. 4 years ago when our county closed the schools to BSA, this Pack personally initiated a rapport with, literally, a dozen schools. This was not a pathetic, cold telephone call. This was a personal walk-in, handshake and discussion. The way it should be done. As such, we take a great deal of pride in our program and constantly look for ways to improve. We consistantly recruit and RETAIN a total of 100+ scout families. We service six public and four private schools in the local community. We have run numerous district events. We have a strong reputation, and take great pride in setting standards. The time has come for some accountability in our council. I've come to a point where the "because I said so" approach of our "key 3" is insufficient. My intent is to OFFER two options to our prospective parents:

-Option 1: $20 to include the above mentioned items.

-Option 2: $11 standard Pack registration and insurance fees. (Pack submits prorated reg fees and insurance fees to council, and retains remainder in Pack account.)

I have been assured by our Key 3, that any registrations submitted without the mandatory $20 fee will not be accepted. This should be interesting.

Oh yeah, we DO make a point of sending each of our new recruits, as well as any visitors that just stop by our recruit night display, home with something in hand. No, not just a receipt, but a variety of tokens of scouting and our Pack. Again, these are Free of Charge, with no cost being incurred by anyone other than our Pack. And happily so.

A pleasant evening to all.

ATC

Ok all, sorry for the extended delay, but I've been a bit busy dealing with a hurricane down here. I promise to respond with more details (as requested)by the end of the day. I believe that a few eyes will be opened by the conclusion of the next email. Thanks for your patience.

ATCprofesr

So here's my question/discrepancy. Our local council has decided to augment our school recruiting night to include a "council fundraising effort". Long story short, every newly registered scout is REQUIRED to pay $20. This fee includes the prorated reg fee, $1 insurance fee, a "cute" (sarcasm) little lunch box, a pinewood derby kit and 5 months of Boys' Life mag.

Again, this fee is mandated. We have been told that there are no "ifs, ands or buts". Personally, I detest this approach and have fought this effort every year they (council) have proposed it. This event should be to promote Scouting and maximize our efforts to recruit new members.. not fundraise for Council.

One mitigating circumstance includes the fact that, although I appreciate Boys' Life magazine and its content, when my new registrants submit their subscription requests at our recruit night, it typically takes at least 3-4 months before they receive their first magazine, followed shortly by a request for subscription renewal. We have brought this difficulty to the attention of Council and Boys' Life. Each blames the other, and no progress is made.

I guess my question is, to what extent can councils create/enforce potentially exhorbinant registration fees, etc? What form of recourse, other than our refusing to collect/pay fees above and beyond the prorated reg fee & insurance fee.

Any suggestions, advice or other comments are greatly appreciated.

Frustrated Cubmaster

Hey MN!

A fellow scouter from the great white north! Loved the idea of the alternate award. Will research and attempt to work it into our upcoming year. Thanks.

TCD

I can understand your point and would concur that items available within the current Tiger book seem inadequate. I'm not so concerned about my current Tigers, as the year end is about here, but more so about our 2004-05 program. We are constantly looking for ways to improve or embellish our current practices. With the advent of "Good Turn for America" we have taken a more in-depth look at the capabilities of every rank of our scouts.

Just looking for ways for each of our scouts to participate on a level field and receive the acknowledgements they have earned.

Thanks again for the input. As always, this forum method has proven invaluable.

ATCprofesr

TwoCub

I appreciate the response, and please forgive my potentially arrogant response, but I can't seem to accept that finality. If our Tigers can earn beltloops, provide community service, earn the "Leave No Trace Awareness Award", earn the "Emergency Preparedness Award"...etc, etc.

Then why, exactly, would there be no opportunity to earn the World Conservation Award? Curious.

Ok, I know that I have seen information on the WCA, regarding requirements for Tigers. There must be a readily available list of requirements for me to use for our Tigers. Can anyone please advise me of such a resource? Thanks.

As the Cubmaster of a very active and camp driven Pack, I have been investigating the possibility of recognizing my scouts/scouters with this award. However, it appears that the directives apply specifically to Boy Scouts, with just a hint of grey area. Might someone be kind enough to clarify this discrepancy of mine? If all else fails, I simply have a custom patch created, for recognition purposes. Feel free to chime in. Thanks.