Marty_Doyle

I agree with NJ. If He Who Should Not Be Named wasn't "dealt with" by the moderator, his compulsion to post would, in two to four days, have led him to seek another forum. Where they are enduring their own "Recent Unpleasantness".

I thought Sir Bob and the Boomtown Rats were from the other side of the Irish Sea from Eamonn.... NJ - "Recent Unpleasantness"? Is that what we are now calling it? The "benefit" that we can get from some of postings in Issues and Politics is that there are people like Merlyn out there, who have contrary views of BSA. We, as leaders, need to be aware that opposing viewpoints exist, and (apologies to Ed) sometimes are more defensible and palatable to the general public (or Supreme Court) than BSA's. We should be able to articulate responses (Hunt had a fairly good summation on the fo

scoutldr Here is the article, from the Lawrence, Kansas Journal-World: Derby crash exposes mercury, cheater Cub Scout's father blamed for incident that closed school, cost $5,000 to clean up By Mike Belt, Journal-World Sunday, January 25, 2004 Scouts' honor went out the window at the annual Pinewood Derby race trials conducted by Cub Scout Pack 3072. Somebody cheated. During practice runs Friday evening prior to the competition at Quail Run School, one of the racers crashed and a vial of liquid mercury placed inside the car broke apart, splashing the toxic

WIth this year's Pinewod Deby rules, I attached a copy of a newspaper article (I may have gotten the link from this list) where one PWD car broke open and spilled mercury - added inside the car body to change the center of gravity as the car moved down the track - all over the school gym. It pointed out to parents the somewhat absurd levels some people go to for a $4.95 plastic trophy. As for design, we award a first-second-third medal in each rank, and a first-second-third trophy for the Pack. After much heated discussion in the Leader's meeting, it was agreed that there would be no li

True Yankee fans would probably stone him. SR540Beaver, your post does bring up another issue, that is sort of related to camoflage. how do units verify, if at all, that a Scout does need the financial assistnmace he or his parents may ask for? Does a $40,000 SUV preclude any assistance? (I agree with your point FOG. I also think your descriptions related to it are getting more entertaining).

I thought ending up in the "gift" shop was now a design requirement for museums and theme parks (ala Disney).

I think fear of "failure" in front of one's child is a concern voiced to me a couple of times. Fits into EagleinKy's # 3. My biggest problem has been overcoming the effects of a previous "bad" leader. The previous CM ran his own business, and that mindset flowed into how he ran the Pack. He did everything, and rarely asked for help. When he started announcing his eventual retirement (2 years in advance), it was delivered from this POV: "being CM is a lot of work, but if someone doesn't step up soon, the Pack will fold". He wasn't "bad", but his management style was not appropriate for Cub

I am planning on attending Sept-Oct. 2004. (I got knocked out of last summer's WB first weekend by the great blackout. SWMBO felt that it was not a great time to be away from the family for three days - right after being stuck in the city for one night).

In our Council, units can get 30%-35%-40%, depending on whether or not they use Trail's End prizes(no, 5% more) and whether or not they meet Council's perfomance goals (attend Popcorn Training, submit a unit budget, submit a unit calendar, turn in popcorn money on time, etc)-(yes, 5% more). The Council gets a cut, up to a total of 73% (less what the unit gets). They have all the hassle of ordering, co-ordinating, warehousing, getting prizes, etc. It's an easy win-win. (And sometimes, the little monsters are cute). (This message has been edited by Marty_Doyle)

Everything FOG said, with bells on. Our Council had four districts last year, and decided to split into five, by taking a piece of district b and a piece of district d. The new districts would be more in line with local school districts, so there was some logic behind the decision. The problem was and is staffing. No professional was on board until September, so the new district calendar still isn't finalized. (Not the new DE's fault). Most Boy Scout and Cub Scout district events are staffed by the same twenty or thirty people. Splitting two districts into three means you

I am of two minds on this. If it was a Scout with some organic issue, that was a contributory factor to the disruptiveness, I would try and see if there could be some accomodation reached that would allow the Scout to participate, without causing too many problems for every one else. But in other instances, maybe the Scout would need to go home. And both of these may relate to the real world circumstance we are discussing. Maybe that "Scout" was less able to endure five days of "time-out", and moved on to another troop. (This message has been edited by Marty_Doyle)

Our Pack sold popcorn for the first time this year. Total sales exceeded $5K, and the Pack got commissions close to $2K. We ended up fourth in sales in our district. Another Pack, in our same town, sold over $15K (and netted over $5K). There are three other Packs in town, two who also participated in the Popcorn sale. So the "market" exists. My daughter's troop sold about twice the dollar amount of cookie sales as we did popcorn sales. But they netted less (we were eligible for 40%). An important consideration from the unit level. Partly because the cookies require a higher % to go to the

All in all, approximatley 111 hours wasn't too difficult.

I would say the fact that both The Adventures of Tom Saywer and The Adventures of Huck Finn consistently make the American Library Asssociation's list of top 100 challenged (to be removed from library shelves) books each year. Plus a number of court cases to remove them from public libaries in various venues across the country. A suit by the Pennsylvania NAACP to remove it, based upon Twains' use of certain "when published acceptable" colloquialisms to describe Jim, etc. would qualify it as non-PC. I don't agree. But much of America might.(This message has been edited by Marty_Doyle)

I think my son has read most of the "current" popular books - Harry Potter, the Baudelaire sibling's Series of Unfortunate Events (the audio books narrated by Tim Curry are really enetertaining for long car trips). But he has also raided my boxes of old books still stored in the attic, which leans closer to what FOG mentioned. Jack London, R.L. Stevenson, Mark Twain, Jules Verne, the Hardy Boys, Ivanhoe, Three Musketeers, Man in the Iron Mask, some Horatio Hornblower, some Rafael Sabatini, Robin Hood (supplemented by a video of the Errol Flynn movie), and so on.... Mom now requires some prior

Congratulations! Immediate recognition is not just for the boys.

FOG's post regarding a new version of "Every Boy's Library" notwithstanding.... 48 hours plus 48 hours and counting. 24 days to go.

Ed - Cub Scout leaders, in addition to YP, are supposed to take NLE (New Leader Essentials) and PS (Position Specific) Training to be considered "TRAINED". PST is really 5 different courses (Tiger Leader, Wolf/Bear Leader, Webelos Leader, Cubmaster and Committee). Together (NLE and PST), they are about 8 hours of training. BALOO is supplemental, designed to train a person in the Pack leadership how to plan for Cub Scout age appropriate outdoor events (not just camping). It is fairly specific to the course objective, and usually runs around 7-8 hours. Very little of what is covered in BALOO

Thanks, Terry. I second Eamonn's suggestion. 48 days, or two fortnights, whichever is longer. Of course, I fear some might take the time to compose really long posts that can be cut and paste into a thread when the Issues and Politics section re-opens....

Our council Scout Shop requires the advancement reports for purchase of all Cub Scout rank badges and all Webelos activity badges. (The DE says that WABS do ot require an advancement form, since they don't get entered into any database by Council, but the Scout Shop still requires the form). When I took over as Cubmaster, I inherited two boxes that contained enough rank badges, arrow points, WABs, and belt loops to get me through the next two years. My problem is the reverse. I hand in advancement reports, but buy no badges. This confuses the manager of the Scout Shop no end. The former CM

Ya know, amazingly enough, I agree with Bob, too. I am not advocating Cub Scouts going on long hikes deep in the woods on unmarked trails, where orienteering and compass skills are a necessity. At our district Akela Calls camping event last year, I know of a Bear leader (from another pack in town) that had decided to take his boys on an early Sunday morning hike around the pond (to see ducks and other birds). He had bought a map of the Scout Reservation at the camp store, which had the trails marked. You know what's coming. He didn't really know how to read a topo map. He didn't real

Bob - This is a theoretical exercise about what do we think could be added to a BALOO type course to avoid the false impression that "now you can camp" that someone might walk out of BALOO with. I've taken BALOO and thought it was very good in what it was supposed to impart. What Laurie asked in the initial post was what could be added that could improve a BALOO type course. And recall the original genesis of the thread - someome who took BALOO and thought it meant he (or she) could take a den camping. There could be something in between BALOO and WLOT, that addresses many of the issues

I said, paraphrasing, some kind of basic first aid and something like the Hug-a-tree program should be offered and required. Map/compass/GPS should be offered for leaders, but may be overkill, given where our Cubs usually camp. I don't think it would need to be required. But, one of my den leaders did get lost going from Westchester to Yankee Stadium (when we gave out fairly detailed maps and driving instructions, for a 25 mile essentially straight drive), so I would be a little concerned if he decided to take his den for a hike on the council's Scout Reservation. But that's just me. And

Based on past experience, and wisdom gleaned from these forums and a couple of lists, I planned this year similar to what TwoCubDad said. FOS at B&G in February, early in the evening, before skits, awards, entertainment. Over the past four years, there have been three FOS clunkers and one good FOS presenation - last year, by the brand new DE, Kevin. He is an Eagle Scout, in his late 20s. Could relate to the kids easier than a 50s something Scouter. Brought coffee mugs for the IH and COR. Had some award to give to the Pack - Summertime? Taught the boys a cheer. And had a funny, short sp

Shortly after taking BALOO, I participated in WLOT (Webelos Leader Outdoor Training), followed by attending Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat, and then a basic First Aid course at the Red Cross. In my council, there was more of an emphasis on the planning of an event, with some pratical detail, at BALOO, which was one 8 hour day. WLOT was a two day training event, with an overnight camp out in between. There was much more information about the practical realities of camping with Webelos (which would also apply to Packs) in the two day course. I try to get the leaders to take both in tand