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awesome1_in_cc

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Everything posted by awesome1_in_cc

  1. I guess we should be thankful that we are ahead of the "curve" as we have both of our Troop's Leaders selected, the two Troops are full (all online registrations done and approved, deposits paid, etc..) and we have about 6 alternates already. We have already had our orientation meeting a couple of weeks ago with the Scouts & parents for those selected and have them started on a payment plan to make the cost easier to handle. Trust me this is a major feat for the council as in 2005 we where picking up scouts from other states at the last minute to fill slots. I think our new coun
  2. Onehour, My Prayers go out to you, your family and your community. I hope you all weathered the storm O.K. and that life will return to normal as soon as possible for you. I think your explanation of the whole event being surreal is an accurate one. We live about 5 miles from the coast here in Corpus Christi and had to go thru the process of collecting the valuables we could carry in the car on Tuesday and Wednesday when the storm was projected to hit here in preparation for the evacuation. Needless to say it was a very emotional experience trying to cram as much stuff as possi
  3. I have the one that Troop_dad posted the order form for but instead of the name on the side it has my Eagle Scout year. Mine was a gift from my Pack leaders & parents when I stepped down as Cubmaster to cross-over to a troop. Dang, I hope they did not spend that much for it!!
  4. t4eagle137, I have to agree that the open house approach will probably not give you the results you are looking for but I wont go into the numbers on retention and the like as I think that has been covered pretty well here already. The only numbers I will give you are 300% & 18. The two numbers I listed above represent our troops increase in youth membership (300%, 12 to 40 scouts) and the time frame in which that increase occurred (18 months). That increase in membership comes from two recruiting efforts: The first is our Scouts Teaching Scouts program which is a struc
  5. I have no ideal what my troop parents do while we are away to camp? I know the Scoutmasters wife (aka my boss) really seems happy when we leave though. I know she and some other mothers get together a lot and go out to dinner, shop and what ever else they do. Our troop has two sessions of camp every year for our scouts, one of which is designed for the experienced Scouts (out of Council) and the other for our first years and less experienced campers (in Council) although both are open to all our scouts. Every year we have a parents orientation meeting in May where we go over some of
  6. svendzoid, I do not want to offend you in any way or squash your enthusiasm but I suspect that if you did manage to get on the CEB that you would not be "welcomed with open arms" by the current members. Maybe I'm speaking from my own personal experience with my local council's board and the way they operate but they appear to be an "ol boys club". Just last month I was asked by our new SE to sit in on a popcorn "steering committee" to brain storm how we could continue the sales increases we have been lucky enough to have over the last several years. My invitation was extended as I wa
  7. ManyHats, Tell your husband to stop worring about it. Yes, in my neck of the woods we have leaders with a chest full of knots but I promise that doesn't mean they are better leaders than those of us out in trenches. I hate to say that because adult leader reconition is important but around here some of these guys are refered to as "Man Scouts". These are guys that jump into jobs, earn the award and move to the next job, whatever it is to start working on their next knot. I have to confess that I have been presented several "knots" myself and many more I refused to sign the pap
  8. DugDirt, I completely agree with you that the FOS campain needs to be more wide spread and not just directed at the current membership which it does in most Councils I know about. Most FOS campains that I have seen have serval phases where they target a specific market in each phase. The Unit presentations are almost always the last "market" they try to reach but it is also the only one most volunteers see. Let me also applogize for my "over the top" remark about "keeping your mouth shut". That was out of line and comes from 5 years of watching and fighting the effects to the progr
  9. DugDirt, If you are ashamed to hold an FOS presentation every year then DON'T DO IT!!! But please keep your mouth shut when your local camp is falling down around you, there is no staff to support you and your local programs are basically junk!! The BSA takes MONEY to operate just like any other buisness. What other organization can you join for $11 a year? Sure lets stop FOS and charge everyone $75 per quarter to be members, that should rid us of the nasty ole FOS. Downside is membership will also be null!! Please don't get me wrong, giving of your time is VERY VERY important a
  10. As the son of a professional, I can tell you that FOS is a critical part of the job for the DE's and meeting or not meeting their goals can have good or negative impact on their careers. That said, in our district the presentations are handled by volunteers and most of the time the DE's are not even there. I have had the "we don't want to hold the FOS presentation" discussion with my unit leader leaders every year for they last 5 years as Cubmaster and now as a Scoutmaster. Most of these unit leaders feel the same way as Gold Winger in that they already give a lot of time and
  11. Trevorum, So you don't believe that ACLU and other organizations by their actions of fighting the BSA in courts all over this country to have us removed from DOD installations, removed from schools that we too help pay for, taking our chartered sponsors to court to stop them from chartering BSA units is not trying to shut us down? Once a charter is lost, do you believe these organizations give a hoot if those kids find other units to join? The BSA and our chartered sponsors are spending tons of money each year to defend themselves from these "attacks" by those who disagree with our m
  12. Trevorum, Maybe the word "attack" is strong, but that is my belief. There are outside sources that wish for the BSA movement to either conform to their wishes regarding membership or they want us shut down. Thats is the simple truth as I see it. (This message has been edited by awesome1_in_cc)
  13. Merlyn, I could not agree with you more!! Since you see it as your right to membership based on the BSA receiving tax payer money for the program, then I agree we should work harder to procure private funding. Once we do that for councils nationwide, you will have no argument left. Sincerely, Awesome1_in_cc (This message has been edited by awesome1_in_cc)
  14. WOW!! I just stumbled on this thread and couldn't believe what I was reading. IMHO, Merlyn does have some valid points regarding how we get funding as an organization. We (the BSA organization as a whole) have to be above board and honest in our dealings, otherwise it undermines the whole organization as what we stand for. I'm sure we all know that: A) The BSA is a "private" organization who has the right to set its own membership requirements. B) As a result of point A, we really should have no dilutions of getting funding from State or Federal sources but will need to rely u
  15. Knight, Great story!! As unit leaders, moments like that seem few and far between but are none the less sweet. It just goes to show what kind of impact we unit leaders can have (both good and bad)on these young men's life.
  16. Ekmiranda, I too went thru something like this at the Cub Scout level several years ago. Granted, it was not nearly as UGLY as what you have recently had to go thru but the goal was the same. Get me the HECK out of there after years of personal sacrifice, blood sweat and tears. Being unappreciated for your efforts on behalf of not only your son but all those other scouts in unit whos parent's are too busy to help is one thing but it is really hard to take when they outright come after you thinking they can do it better. My only advise to you is this, remember why you did
  17. DenZero, I strongly disagree with your statement "It's probably time I give up and stop wasting my time" As you noted " the program this year is much better than last year. Despite the low numbers, it's not that much worse than the average pack, we are trying to Do Our Best" Just keep doing what you are doing and build the most fun Cub Scout Pack in town and "they will come". As long as you have enough members to re-charter don't worry about the rest. Trust me I have been on both sides of this issue and there is nothing wrong with having a small yet well run pack. I was th
  18. Beavah, Reading between the lines in Sources post I see the issues they are having as these: First, the Assistant Scoutmasters and Scouts are frustrated by the fact they feel that they have no say in their Unit. This I believe is a result of the emotional attachment the current SM has to the unit that he started. This is totally understandable as it takes a lot of time, energy and emotional investment to start any kind of new unit. This often results in a don't "touch my baby" attitude. My basis for this is the following comment: Basically it is a He started the troop, he
  19. Source, It sounds to me that your SM may have a bit of a "delegation" problem and is trying to do it all himself including making all the decisions. Been there, done that and it didnt work to well for me. My Assistant SM's came to me and asked why I even needed them if I was going to do it all myself and didnt want their input. Honestly, this got my attention pretty quick and we had a "re-alignment" of responsibilities for the unit leaders. As part of this, we now have a monthly meeting of the SM and all the assistants to discuss the "educational opportunities" that may exist i
  20. Joined Cub Scouts in 1977, earned AOL, Crossed over to Troop in 80, Earned Eagle and aged out in 87. Stayed involved in some capacity ever since. Only son joined Tigers in 2001, and I servered as DL, CM & CC (not all at the same time) until last February when my son, crossed over to Troop. During his Webelos I year, I volunteered to help the Troop that he had picked to cross over to and was asked to be SM of Troop in February. Wow, it didn't even dawn on me until writing this that I have been involved in Scouting in some way for 30 years now. Still having a blast!!!
  21. BrentAllen, I probally need to clarify the situation a little. The scout in question earned his Life in February of 2005 and after doing so completed two terms as our SPL and also 1 term as a troop guide. During those times he was more then active with the troop by any standard. I certainly feel that he has more than meet the requirement for "the first requirement for Eagle is be active in our troop and patrol for at least 6 months as a Life Scout, with a reference to page 169." No where in any BSA literture does it say that a scout has to attend 70% (or whatever number)of your troo
  22. Gunny2862 We are putting on a program for all our area Webelos I & II's that includes teaching the Webelos 4 activity pins. Long Story short, we have two of our sessions as indoor (at troop meetings)and two as outdoor camping experiences spread out over 3 months. What I have learned over the last two years is that you need to put in just as much effort into marketing to the Den Leaders and parents as you do providing a program for the scouts. The sad fact of the matter is that no Webelos can drive himself to the meetings so you have to sell the parents on why you are their
  23. adanecito, The problem as I see it with putting such requirements into a "bylaw" or other hard/fast form is that it takes away the leaders ability to judge each case individually. I guess you can go with an excused or non-excused absent but then we are back to a judgement call which is basically the way it is done now. I do wish you guys luck with what you are trying to accomplish as it is a noble goal. I also sincerly hope that some Scout in the future won't get wrongly caught by these bylaws like what almost happened to your son.
  24. Just my 2 cents by our Troop has stayed away from the bylaws although it has been brought up many times as Im sure it has in most Troops. Typically I see that new leaders in my unit are the first ones to bring up attendance requirements for the Scouts in the Troop. I as SM am dead set against it and prefer and agree that Scouts should be treated as individuals and each case looked at on its own merits. Case in point, I have a scout right now that is close to Eagle and is running out of time. That said, he doesnt attend many of the Troop meetings because he has a part-time job trying to ea
  25. LisaBob, Maybe it is just me but I really fell that any Troops best recruiting chance will come from the Webelos Level. Yes, some Scouts will recruit their friends but if a Troop depends on that method they are in trouble. IMHO, most Troops need to do a better job of interacting with their local packs and providing joint activities for the two groups. I really hate that you worked so hard and did not get the response you had hoped for. On the other end of the spectrum our Troop held it''s first session of a program we call "Scouts teaching Scouts" last night and had close
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