Liz

They're planning to focus on camping & hiking, with a major trip each summer to a national park or similar distant location. I'm not sure what type of organization would be particularly suited to that unless it's a business like an outdoor outfitter shop (Hmm. That might be worth approaching, too if the other doesn't work out...)

Yes, I have thought about that. We could either go "smaller" and officially have just one of the Area churches on record as the CO, or we could go "bigger" and have the Yearly Meeting (made up of all the member churches in OR, WA, and ID) as the CO. It would be easier, politically speaking, to get Area approval because it's a smaller group, but the other options may work too. You're probably right that a conversation with the DE is in order to find out whether we need to be a legal organization, or whether being essentially a sub-group of a larger organization would be good enough (becau

Thank you so much for your input, and yes there is so much to consider. I think our Portland Area Friends group would be a good CO even though they don't really have financial resources available. We are essentially attempting to revive an old tradition of what used to be called "Quarterly Meetings" (many Friends groups still practice this tradition, but we've completely let it slide for the last 20 years). It would be nice to have something -- anything -- for us to rally around, especially something that would potentially give our young adults something to do (either as crew or advisors)

The parking lot would have been fine with me... I do understand that space is limited, resources are limited, and everything... Really, the only real accommodation I was asking for was for someone to talk to me (since I've never been to the camp) and help me to devise and execute a plan which would leave little or no impact on their staffing or facilities. The RV was just what came to mind as making the most sense to me and the other adults in my troop I talked to about it. A bonus for me personally is that, being pregnant, I like to be a few steps away from my bathroom. But that's not a deal

Hmm. That might be an option as well. Good to know.

I don't even know who our DE is, but I also don't know how many people at the Council level are ticked off at me right now... if you want to know why, you'll have to go back and read the thread this was spun off of. All I know, or at least suspect, is that they've been intentionally avoiding my calls for the last 3 days because they lost some paperwork I submitted and I want them to help me solve the problem they created by doing so. I already have current YPT and most of the other adults who have signed up do, too, although not all. Those who don't can take it online pretty easily. Actua

Hah... we'll see if the DE is even willing to talk to me. ;-) I think I'll send my son to do it. He doesn't share my last name and I don't think they'll make the connection. ;-) Besides, this crew is HIS baby. We're just there to offer advice and a little supervision along the way to make sure they don't hurt themselves...

To start off, my son has a group of youth, some young ladies, some young men who have aged out of his Troop, and himself (he's 16) who want to become a Venturing Crew. But they do not have a CO. They do have applications filled out from enough adult leaders (including my husband and me) so that when they find a CO they have everything ready to submit. I was wondering whether anybody here knows much about what the minimum obligations of a CO might be for charting a venturing crew? The reason I ask is because I have a possible CO in mind which may be interested, but they have very fe

John, I fully agree with you, unfortunately the kids are pretty attached to their friends within the troop. My older son actually probably doesn't give a care, since all his closest friends aged out last year (he's heading up a new Venture crew and looking for a CO now), except that he's ASPL and feels obligated to step up to SPL position this coming year. My younger son I don't think would consider switching unless all his friends switched, too. And his friends' parents are, for the most part, the adults that are the troop leadership that is such a problem. Both kids are awar

My unit will not be willing to make waves. And I do not believe our CO will be willing to make waves on our behalf either, even if we were to ask them to. I just talked to the other kid's mother, and she is pretty upset with me for even talking to them. I was the one who talked her into filling out a special needs request form in the first place, her son is willing to just starve all week, and she doesn't believe in, well, doing anything. And she's our Chairperson. Even though I have made it abundantly clear to them on every occasion that I am not speaking on behalf of their family,

YAY! ZACH CALLED!! They're safely across the border. Zach has chosen to go ahead and accept the refund and just come home. I didn't try to influence him either way... told him I'd be happy to put together a food box and a cooler for him, but he said not to bother. I think he's probably had enough of food compromises in the last two weeks and his body probably needs some real cooked food. And next year, whether they're at Baldwin or some other camp, the whole thing should be much easier. If they're cooking in their own campsite, it doesn't matter WHAT the camp brings them to co

Luvtahike -- Well, it's good to know we're not alone. My Celiac is bad enough that I can't use pans or mixing bowls or things that have had gluten in them, either unless they've both been thoroughly scrubbed and are made of a non-porous material (glass, stainless, etc.). So for example even if our troop did have dutch ovens, I wouldn't be able to eat anything cooked in them. My son is less sensitive than I am and can manage if everything's been washed. But it's my only real big food issue (other ones like my allergy to cucumbers and melons simply don't come up as often). I find that even

She didn't say she was told propane was not allowed. She said "I'm fairly certain they won't allow a camp stove", but did not ask. She said day of camp involves patrol cooking in the campsite, so the answer seems an obvious "yes". ** I have been told that in the past. Either the person who told me that was wrong, or the policy has changed, or the policy varies from one camp to the next within the Council. The day the camp cooks in the campsite is all open campfire cooking, so it has nothing to do with fuel. But I will send the camp stove with Zach if he chooses to go under these circumst

It would have to be a camp in a different council, but oh well. The reality is that he has many many opportunities to go to various camps this year -- all of which will be more accommodating. Other than Boy Scout Camp, the summer basically looks like: 2 weeks in Mexico 1 week at a church conference (whole family activity -- and I'll be cooking) 1 week of "High Adventure" camp through our church 1 week of camp at the beach put on through our regional church organization 5 days or so on a 50-mile backpack trip with the troop Not to mention that he needs to find some time to go

Lisabob -- Thanks for your sensible suggestions. You're completely right that the kids are able to cook for themselves, if allowed the opportunity to do so. I already know the other boy won't. There's nothing I can do about that. I can suggest all I want to that the SM talk to him about it, but unfortunately the dynamics of our troop aren't the healthiest anyway (in my humble opinion) and I'd be downright shocked if it did any good. So he'll just have to fend for himself. I won't be his Mommy and tell him how to do it, although I'd be happy to offer him guidance if he needs or wants it.

Finally got a response from someone... This is the response, along with my comments WHICH I HAVE NOT SENT YET marked off by *****. I probably need to cool my heels a bit before I send anything. Input is appreciated. I have omitted the name of the other scout who isn't my son, just because, well, he's not my son. On Jul 2, 2010, at 4:06 PM, Akin Blitz wrote: Dear Ms. Price, Matt Devore, our Scout Executive, very much regrets his inability to communicate with you personally. He and the other key Council directors are on site at various camping properties this

But to be fair, it's a non-working *email* for the food services director. When he calls me, the caller ID is blocked. He won't give me his number and neither will the council. I asked.

Yes, our council is a hack job. There. I said it.

I did call. Only option is to forward a message, which has been done. I will call again, though, since I haven't heard back. (Update. Called again. Left another voicemail. Hah. Also realized son won't be stateside until tomorrow morning so I can't talk to him until then).(This message has been edited by liz)

Thanks for all the posts... here's where I am now... ... I'd love to talk to the Camp Ranger, but the council refuses to give me his contact information or even his name. All they will do is forward a message and let me hope he gets back to me. I have a feeling that talking to the Scout Executive this late in the game is going to be nigh on impossible. ... The ASM who was supposed to follow up with this is friends with the camp ranger who was there last year... but (1) last time I asked he wasn't sure if he was still the camp ranger this year, and (2) he dropped the ball (albeit due

You are right that this whole thing would be solved if it were a camp set up for the campers to cook their own meals. Unfortunately, NONE of our Council's camps are set up like that. They are all dining-hall based. I agree that the kid who is afraid to stick out because he's different needs to grow up and take it. It's not as if the other kids are going to pick on him. He actually just earned Eagle this year and is the SPL and easily the most popular kid in the troop. I'm a little floored by the "I don't want to be a bother" attitude he has, except that I think it's really coming from hi

Ok, I looked up all their stuff on their website and read the ingredients lists... None of the dried Knorr products (soups, side dishes) are wheat and dairy free except for the "Long Grain & Wild Rice" Sidekick dish. And no local store around here carries the Sidekick line as near as I can tell. All their sauces, gravies, and soups, which are available locally, have either wheat or dairy or both in them. I think my son can probably manage... miserably... on rice, rice noodles, and pouches of chicken for a week, but I hope they'll have enough adults to cover for the week be

I do have a few bags of shelf-stable chicken. The flavored items usually have wheat and/or dairy in them. All the Knorr brand products I've ever looked at contained gluten and/or dairy, although I admit I haven't looked at them all. If I had more time, I could probably spend a few days sitting in a grocery store reading labels, but I really don't have that kind of time. If we're allowed to bring a camp stove, I think we'll be OK. And yes, we're 3 out of 200 people, which is exactly why I was trying so hard to come up with a solution that would require absolutely NOTHING f

* Although it may be possible to rent a small fridge, I don't know where I'd find one on such short notice. Any ideas? Still don't know where I'd plug it in, though. * Last year, my son was not yet diagnosed, so he ate the regular camp food. The other kid pretty much starved as long as he could, then was reduced to things like trying to get the corn coating off the corn dogs because he was so hungry he couldn't take it anymore. Which isn't an acceptable solution, of course, because even if he's lucky and the hot dog doesn't contain gluten, the flour from the batter has cooked into it and

If I remember correctly, they do not allow things like "fuel" (i.e. propane or any similar product) in the campsites. Only wood. I know the adult leaders have griped about this in the past because the kids aren't allowed to bring their backpacking stoves. But I will check tomorrow when the Council office opens back up. I can probably manage cooking over the open fire if I have to, but I am not sure we'll have enough firewood available to cook every day. And again, the biggest problem here is not that I "can't" come up with another solution, it's that it's such short notice. Many easy