AvidSM

Uniform Shirts (all short sleeve old style): 1 for District Commissioner 1 for District Committee Member 1 for Scoutmaster (retired) Uniform Pants: 1 pair long, old style (almost ready for retirement) 1 pair shorts, old style 1 pair long, new zip off, cargo style, cotton/poly blend 1 pair long 100% wool, button fly, USA issue (I use them for Klondike - not official, but close enough) Belts: 1 official BSA webbed, old style 1 official leather with Wood Badge buckle 1 official leather with Allamuchy Scout Reservation buckle Plus: Lots of old style socks Lots of neckers and slides

A unit should be using their CO's Tax ID number when the unit needs to make a valid unit purchase of a taxible item. A CO should understand that a unit needs to use their number and should not have a problem with it or need to be informed of every purchase. Non-profits should not have to pay taxes and the charter agreement makes a unit part of that non-profit organization. Also, Council does not want units using their Tax ID number. So a unit really does not have any other option for tax-free purchasing or for opening a unit checking account. I have a unit in my district that has been told by their CO that they can't use their Tax ID number to open a unit checking account with a bank. They were using a checking account which was with the CO. They are at the point where they have to find a new CO.

In order to get people to support scouting, not only do they have to know about it, they have to care about it. Some people simply do not care about what we do. They may hide behind their ignorance or tune us out when we try to inform them. It frustrates me that there are people like that - whether they are CEOs, foundation board members or parents of scouts who won't give to FOS.

I think there was a point in time where the majority of the people didn't need to what scouting was about, they just knew it was a good thing. But, we are now in the "Google Age", where information about anything you can imagine is available at your fingertips. It's getting very hard to hide behind your ignorance. The people who have no idea what scouting is about, don't want to know, and certainly don't want to pay for it.

Very good information from Ohio-Scouter. The only thing I can add is to use graphite lubricant in the socket of the handpiece (the wooden block that the upper end of the spindle rotates in). This would be in lieu of inserting a glass knob, as suggested. Keep adding the graphite until you get a shiny dark gray coating built up. This greatly reduces the friction between the spindle and the handpiece, which avoids burning it out and makes it easier to bow.

I don't know if they are going away, but what's the purpose of the bellowed pockets? What use are they to those that wear it? I don't have a new centennial shirt, but in my old pockets I usually put my reading glasses, pen, merit badge cards and a very small notepad. I've yet to see a boy scout stuff one of these pockets full. I think they are meant to look stylish and are not meant to be filled. The only group I have heard complaints from are the female scouters and female scout shop employees. Their comment is that the new pockets are not very flattering on certain females.

I heard our Council Commissioner say that National will be shifting it's policy of one UC for every three units. That the new policy will require so many visits to each unit in a year and that I doesn't matter how many UC's it takes to do this. I think that National finally got sick and tired of pushing for UC recruitment when it just was not happening. The goal was too high and was not realistic. There is a policy that UC's should not also be unit leaders, but that one is not strictly followed in my Council. I have several UC's on my staff who are also either a SA, CC or even a CM, they just can't serve as a UC from their own unit. If a UC is doing their job right, there is really no reason to rethink it. A UC's focus is to be a friend to a unit and help it succeed. For units with rouge leaders, a UC could be seen as a spy, but there is nothing that can be done about that.

There seems to be the same three year term limit in my Council. I don't know if it is an offical thing, or just an informal rule-of-thumb. Our Council Commissioner has told me that he only plans on serving a three year term. The previous CC did the same. My guess is that this prevents burnout and brings in new blood. So far, I have been impressed with my Council Key Three - they are focused and very professional. To get people like that to serve more than three years would be asking a lot.

The District Executive or Director is a paid professional. He or she reports to the Scout Executive and represents the intrests of the BSA. The District Chairman is a volunteer. He or she is a member of the Council Executive Board and I believe reports to that body. The DC runs the district committee. The District Commissioner is also a volunteer. He or she reports to the Council Commissioner and runs the district's commissiner staff. These people make up the district Key Three. They coordinate with each other as partners to run the district. They work with, but don't report to each other. I am sure if you Google these job titles, you can get more information about their specific roles and responsibilities.

I guess it must be a Council or District thing. For camporees and other events in our district, participates normally get a patch and that's it. I am going to start giving out honor troop ribbons at our next Klondike. We used to give out a prize to the one troop that got the most honor troop points. A leader suggested that more than one troop should be able to achieve honor troop, based on reaching a certain number of points. I agreed and will be giving out the ribbons to all the troops that earned it and a prize to the troop with the most points. I think giving out ribbons is a good thing, but it's something they have to earn. The leaders who run these events have got to want to include these in their budgets as an incentive award. Its a detail that is easy to forget, given all the other things that have to be done.

Anne - it sounds like you have a good handle on how to serve your units. It may be that what you have been doing in the past is exactly what you should be doing now, execpt you have a different title. By the book, an ADC temporarily assumes vacant UC positions and helps the DC fill those positions. In reality, there are always vacant UC positions; it's a role in scouting that is not well understood or supported. Try your best to find the right people to be a UC and in the meantime serve your units the best you can. You should focus your efforts on the one's you know that are in most need of help: low membership, not meeting, no leaders, etc. Also, by the book, ADC's are administrative commissioners and should not be serving units. If you feel that your best talents lay on the administrative side of commissioner service, then divest yourself of unit service as soon as you can. The best advice I can give you is to talk to your DC about how you should be serving your district. The position of "acting ADC" should not mean "UC with more units". Does the "acting" part mean you become a full-fledged ADC when you recruit enough UC's? Find out where you stand with this - it will help better understand your role in scouting.

I think what Eamonn is talking about is the possibility of the training and program functions moving from the District Committee to the Commissioner's Staff. The committee would then essentially be left with membership and finance. If the functions get moved, then I would think that the people doing that function would be moved also. This means committee members would become unit commissioners, helping the 3 to 1 ratio which is hard to attain. Would these people agree to this move? Could I then assign units for them to visit? I heard it said that there are only about 100 volunteers in my council. No matter how you spread them around or what job title you give them, it's still 100 volunteers. The stuff that matters will get done first, the rest either waits or does not get done at all.

Although a widely accepted means of keeping track of merit badge partials and completions, there is nothing preventing you from copying them or coming up with your own process. There are software programs, such as TroopMaster, that print out the completed cards for you. If you do come up with your own design, just be aware that the councelors outside your troop will need to be told how to fill them out.

I've had a few boys at star rank leave and come back. I'd say 1 in 10 odds.

Anne, With an ADC, it's mostly learn-as-you-go. You're biggest challenge will be finding UC's for the units in your assigned area. The problem with finding good UC's is the people most qualified probably already have a job in scouting - you can't "steal" from a unit's leadership corps. You can try asking a unit for names of adult leaders who used to be active in a unit and have stepped down from their position, for whatever reason. You might even find some people who were UC's at some point in time and are looking to get active again. Good people skills is a must for a UC. If you pick the right people, they should be able to serve any unit without any issue of whether they fit or not. The UC has to treat the leaders with respect and try to help them any way they can. Don't rush into naming UC's, if the area has gone 20 years without, it can wait a little longer. Keep stressing the basics, focus everyone on the same goal and you will make steady progress as an ADC.

It's not that white gas is not allowed by the BSA, it's just not permitted for use at some campsites. I think it might be for insurance reasons. So if you are looking at the G2SS as a reference, it's the "... only when and where permitted." part of the guidline that applies. And, it's that particular BSA camp, state or county park that is not permitting the use of white gas. Safety and insurance reasons aside, it's much easier to teach a new scout how to light a propane stove. But, I agree that there is an advantage to using white gas when backpacking or in cold weather. The reason that propane does not work well in the cold is that in order to go from a liquid to a gas, the propane draws heat from the environment. That's why you get frost built up on a propane can when you use it. The colder it is, the less heat there is to draw and the less gas you can generate. White gas uses a generator tube which passes through the flame and picks up heat there to vaporize the liquid.

My district keeps roundtable attendance using a spreadsheet program. The merit badge councelor's list is maintained by our Council. Most other date is kept on ScoutNet, so it makes no sence to maintain and update a separate district database.

From page 120 of the Scoutmaster Handbook: "The Scoutmater Conference ... is held each time the boy completes the requirements for a rank." This what I meam by a Scoutmaster Conference for advancement. From the same source: "The Scoutmaster Conference can be used as a counseling tool at any time and for a variety of other reasons." This is what I mean by a Scoutmaster Conference not for advancement. I you have one of these with a Scout, you are not meeting a requirement for advancmement. Nowhere does it says I have to sign off on any requirment if I have one of these SMCs. I am not adding to the requirements by having another SMC once he is ready to advance. A SM can have as many SMC with a boy as needed, as long as he lets the scout know it is not for advancncement and his book will not get signed off. You can't ignore the Scoutmaster Handbook and take a litteral interpretation of the requirement, as stated. It makes no sense.

When a boy came to me and said he was ready for his SMC for advancement, the first thing I would say to him is, OK - go get your handbook and I will have a look at. I would then check to see that he had completed all the requirements. If I saw something missing, I would try to see why that was and who's signature was needed. After checking the handbook, we would go over Scout Spirit and I would sign off on that. Then, I would start the SMC for advancement. My advice is don't start a SMC for advancement with a boy unless you know for sure that all the requirements for that rank have been met, except for the conference and the BOR, of course. If you do this, then I agree that there is no issue about passing, failing or adjourning the conference. You just participate in one with the scout, the requirement is met and then you sign off on the requirement. The SMC for advancement is not the time to evaluate the boy and see if you feel he's "ready" to advance. In whatever way you think he's not ready, that's the requirement you should have not signed off on - before you get to the SMC. My only question about click23's quote from the guidebook is, if a boy who has a "negative" SMC demands a BOR and is granted one, has he met all the requirements for advancement? Does a "negative" SMC mean that the SM did not sign off on the requirment? If not, how has that requirment been met? If the SM conference is not for advancment, then there is also no issue of passing, failing or adjouring - it is not held to meet a requirement and there is nothing to sign off.

I find that if a boy does not like something, he will think of every different excuse why. And, when a boy likes something, he will overlook every flaw, like the down side of youth leadership. Most boys who are a loners seems to fall in the first catagory.

What I would do is find out why the Scout does not like camping. I would "peel back the onion" to get to the core of what his problem is. For example, ask him why he does not sleeping in a sleeping bag. He may answer, that it is uncomfortable. Then, ask him why it is uncomfortable - and he may say, because the ground is too hard or cold. Then ask him why the ground is too hard or cold and he may say his sleeping pad is too thin or you may find he doesn't even have one. This is now something specific that the troop can address through skills instruction, instead of the nebulus, "I don't like camping." You may find out in the end that he just doesn't like camping - the whole package deal. But, at least you tried. Its one of the methods of scouting and its tied a lot of requirements for advancement, which is also a method.

From what I hear, the BSA's association with NASCAR is expiring next year and they now are looking at Baseball, the NFL and the NBA. Brady's picture on the front cover of BL is just the beginning. I guess they are willing to overlook his behavior off the field. Humans are not perfect beings - not even "almost perfect". NASCAR is somewhat of a joke here in New Jersey. It's hard to get excited about a sport that looks like the traffic on the NJ Turnpike during rush hour -a little slower and without the advetising, of course.

Chippewa, based on your post, it sounds like the lack of uniforming is the least of your problems. You have to solve your discipline, retention and recruitment issues first. You are right in that the time has come to change how you are doing things in the troop. But, I would not start by sending scouts home if they do not have their uniform. You need to encourge the good behavior and be a positive role model. This kind of negative reenforcement will not work - Scouting is not run like a sports team. If I were you, I would start by reading some of the other threads in this forum that have to do with the problems you have. Get some ideas on how to solve them from people who have been through it. Get some training if you are not already. Contact your Unit Commissioner, if you have one, and get his/her advice. And, most important, talk with your SPL and the PLC and see what they think the problems are and what should be done about them.

The minimum level of support from the CO is spelled out in the Annual Charter Agreement. Part of this agreement is to "Provide adequate facilities for the Scouting unit(s) to meet on a regular schedule with time and place reserved," and to, "Encourage the unit to participate in outdoor experiences..." In order to adhere to this agreement, a CO at a minimum should provide a place to meet and a way to store camping gear, either a storage room or a trailer. I actually know one troop in my district that meets outdoors all year under a picnic pavilion - no heat - no walls. I don't know where they store their gear. There are a lot of mixed relationships out there between units and their CO's. If you as SM are not happy with the facilities, you need to work with your chartering organization representative (COR). If your troop does not have a COR, then its a good idea to meet with the rector, with the goal of getting one assigned as a committee member. Perhaps there is a parent in your troop that can fit the bill? A good COR knows the other church leaders and can be a liaison between your troop and the CO. You, as SM, and the troop committee should be working with this person to get the support that the troop needs. And, yes, it will be easier to work with the CO you have as opposed to finding a new one. The CO owns the troop gear and the unit number and may choose to not let you have neither if you decide to move on.

It all starts with the SPL - he has to know he is 100% in charge. You have to show him and the rest of the scouts this. You have to let him and his PLs make all the decisions no matter what. If you or some other adult steps in every time someting goes wrong, you are undermining his and the PLC's authority. Then, once he knows he and his PLs is in charge, then let him make mistakes and create some chaos - this is a good thing. Let no other adult do this. Have a "mini PLC" after each weeking meeting where the SPL asks the PLs how things went. The SM should attend and encourage these mini PLCs to happen. If the SPL or PLs do not recognize where they need to improve, the SM can step in and guide them by asking questions - the "Socratic method" as metioned in another post. Make sure the youth leaders are aware of what needs to be improved and that they are the one's to take action - not the adults. Make them responsible. Support the SPL and his authority to lead. Keep on him and the PLC to do their job. Make the boys learn from their mistakes. This is how you maintain the patrol method and a boy run troop.