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Alex's unit is an independent unit (not chartered to a synagogue) operated under Jewish auspices (Sabbath-observant, Kosher). He needs a liaison to the council Jewish Committee on Scouting.

I don't mind the proliferation of neckers for each year group but would prefer a pack/group necker (esp if the pack feeds a troop at the same CO). However, the slides and hats need to stop. When I was a cub (90-93) it was wolf hat/slide (generic cub scout) and webelos hat/slide. No need for a slide a year (besides they should make their own).

18 in a den was way too big and in fact should have been 2-3 dens from the beginning (national guidelines: 6 to 8 boys in the den). I see a few options here: 1.) you can request via the cubmaster or the committee chair that the pack transfer your son to a different den. 2.) You can step up and offer to assist your den leader, especially with his own son (leaders often tag team to deal with each other's kids). 3) as a last resort, transfer to a nearby pack, which may be more difficult as packs are often tied to schools and your son's friends may not be in the new pack.

Split the younger program up like most other countries do, but group the younger years together ina European style scout "group." Put the Tigers and Wolves into Beavers. Keep the Bears and up in Cubs, make Cubs more like Webelos. If you want Kindergarteners, call it something else (I hear "Squirrels" being used in Ireland for a sub-Beaver age group). There's a similar discussion going on today on SCOUTS-L.

I know he'll have a great time. My cousin (venturing/district) and her husband (Eagle/scoutmaster) are active in your district and their son and daughter are on staff at Cherokee.

That's very true. Going at it from the outside (council coming in and asking a congregation to host a unit) is not going to work. We're not the UMC where the United Methodist Men love scouts and will willingly host a unit that doesn't even include members of the congregation. However, there do seem to be synagogues, where if a parent comes forward and says, "I want a pack here for my son and his friends and I am willing to lead it." gets results. This happened in my council, we had a Jewish pack come online at a Conservative synagogue in January 2012 because a dad wanted it. How

1.) I love your policies and accommodation of all levels of observance. As a JCoS chairman, I try to accommodate all levels as well: I won't email the committee on Shabbat, I won't hold a mandatory event on Shabbat, and if we have a lunch meeting, it'll be at a Kosher restaurant (except there are none with in my council's territory, we duck into a "border city"). On an individual basis, I will email/call particular committee members on Shabbat, put out a table at a Council event on Saturday, and have a planning meeting with a vice chairman or my council's Membership VP and staff advisor at

I actually got approval to hold a Friday night Scout Shabbat (joint GS/BS) from the shul president via the 2nd VP. They seemed pretty enthusiastic and supportive. I have heard a Reform rabbi echo some of your comments especially the Duty to G-d in the oath. He felt it was exclusive of non-monotheists. It's not, obviously, as we have emblem awards for Hindus and Buddhists. Last year we had two egalitarian Conservative congregations host Scout Shabbat and religious emblems workshops. I plan to continue that and add another Congregation to the mix as my rabbi has a new synagogue s

Uh Basement, since when has Aquanaut ever been required for Arrow of Light? If the kid can't do Aquanaut, no big deal. Earn another badge. I never earned Aquanaut (couldn't swim until 5th-6th grade) and in my day (Webelos from '91-'93) there was no push to earn all 20 pins. The fundamental standard of cub scout advancement is "Do your best." That said, I think getting in the water and attempting to complete some of the requirements would be expected to qualify for the badge.

I agree with Alex. The 990N covers all organizations receving less than 50k a year. It does not including any financial reporting, other than a declaration your organization made less than 50k. Do PTAs usually receive more than 50k a year? Does your Pack receipts push the PTA over 50k? If not you're worried about nothing. Now I have seen quite a few organizations run afoul of the new 990N reporting, losing tax exempt status over not filing for 3+ years. Mostly Alpha Phi Omega chapters and alumni associations.

True,the all-boy nature of scouting (at younger ages) does seem to also pose problems with egalitarian synagogues. I'm not sure even local option (short of full inclusion) will bring them back into the fold. Though marketing it as "Make sure that your synagogue's troop is one of the welcoming ones" might work. Reform would be the easiest to deal with in terms of religious observance. They could host a unit for the community (just like the Methodist Men), unlike a Conservative synagogue which would probably insist on full observance, even though the bulk of Conservative laity is non-observ

I don't think it's all that common. I've been in 3 lodges (412, 104, 43) and never saw it happen. On paper every lodge has an adult selection committee to review nominated adults. In most cases a steady stream of adults is needed to serve as advisors. They can't wait for all the aged out arrowmen to return. The nomination process is usually rubber stamped, but I remember hearing one case on here where the lodge did kick back a lot of nominations and were then surprised no adults were nominated, as units stopped submitting paperwork just to have it rejected.

I'll keep this short for now but may expand upon it later. If Private Messages worked,, jasper18, I'd send you my contact information as I'm glad to commiserate and share advice. I'm chairman of my council's recently restarted Jewish Committee on Scouting (they suckered me into it). Jasper18: I've pretty much seen everything you say and more. The reform movement's been quite hostile to us over the past decade plus. I'm ex-Reform myself, switching over once the condemnation policy came out during my college days (just switched which room at Hillel I sat in). With few exceptions,

Alex, where are you located? I'm a council JCoS chair and just happen to have a few Lion pilots still running in my territory, although my council isn't enthusiastic about this like the Minneapolis-St Paul Council. I know of at least one Jewish Lion cub next year (his brother is a Maccabee recipient). I may even create a religious "emblem" (temporary insignia patch) for him to earn.

After googling through pages about stock options, I found this: http://www.oa-bsa.org/resources/lodge/bestpractices/OrdealPlanningBackdater.pdf So he wants a 1 yr out do these planning steps. 3 months out do this. 1 week before... day before...

There are no requirements for an ECOH. I would expect presentation of the medal and badge along with mom/dad/mentor pins. The Eagle Charge is a nice touch. A regular opening with pledge, oath and law would be nice.

This was being discussed in another thread but I felt this topic should be its own thread. Now I'm injecting my own opinion here but I always saw AHG as a way for Boy Scout leaders who knew the BSA system and saw GSUSA as foreign (lack of chartering organizations, outdoor program, etc.) to create an alternative program that was also more religiously conservative. Also since BSA and GSUSA don't usually play nicely. This partnership allowed BSA COs to have a parallel program for girls under their organization that would allow families to find a program to accommodate their sons and daught

The leader knot is an individual effort. Record your progress on the corresponding tracking sheet, get your committee chair to sign off on it, then submit it to your district (your DE will know who should receive it). That said, packs should be promoting this program as a way to recognize their leaders.

Old news, please see page 2 http://www.scouting.org/filestore/commissioner/newsletter/pdf/063644_complete.pdf @Neal: yes. Although if the CC is the CR, it would be key 2. Heck, I've seen District Key 4's and 5's depending on how many DEs are on staff.

Current rules: all scouts eligible may be elected. To be elected your name must appear on more than half the ballots cast. Each voter may vote for all, some or none of the candidates. He can also decline to turn in a ballot which doesn't count against anyone. Until about '97, scouts could only vote for up to half the slate: 5 or 6 eligible meant no more than three elected. If you had six voters, two eligible and it was a 3-3 tie, I think they went to another round of ballots before decarling no one was elected. Adult rules just changed this year: Scoutmaster may be nominated if h

Welcome fellow New Jerseyian!

Awesome idea! I taught "Duty to God" at University of Scouting for my ticket. The previous instructor had "Gone Home" and we couldn't locate his notes. I was inspired by the services we had done at Wood Badge. I don't have anything specific in mind, but if you message me your email address I will send you a few resources that may be useful. I'm sure you can cherry pick something that's cub appropriate. ---- Edited: I checked out the link above and found a few of the resources I would have sent you including: http://www.ctyankee.org/fs/page/001682/scoutworshipservices.doc

My sources within Alpha Phi Omega have alerted me that the council in/near Zanesville OH is looking to hire a DE by January.

I was at University of Scouting yesterday and took the cub scout STEM-NOVA class. In our council (which was a pilot council before it launched nationally), mentor registration is via a form and handled by the council advancement committee in the same manner as merit badge counselor applications.