MattR

The track is really cool. (Hope they have a big place to store it.) I also really liked that they had a build day. Every scout can at least have a reasonable car and it's no more than a few hours. That brings back the fun.

@Eagle_Chris, welcome to the forum.

For one, we talk to each other. While they're showing you no interest might not be bad, communication can head of surprises. One thing you don't want with your CO is a surprise. We also did service projects for our CO or just helped with their projects. Again, that's part of the communication.

Just ask. I fixed the not now typo

I think this is the wrong way to look at the problem and is the source of a lot of angst here. Rather than ask for a specific failure rate that is acceptable, after which everyone can say there is no longer a problem, it would be better to use methods that continually drive down failure rates. Look at air travel. Back in the 70's there were enough crashes that all the parties involved (manufacturers, airlines, regulators) got together and decided that air travel was both important and dangerous. They started measuring death rates in deaths per billion passenger miles traveled. I think it start

Rather than give any money to the council I'd suggest going to one of the camps, ask them what they need that's worth about $250 and go buy it for them. They will be thankful. Do not give them the money and do not give it to the council saying it's for the camp as the camp will never see it. This is my experience. In the meantime, tell the guy that told you the 40% fable that the deal is off the table because they lied to you. Nobody pays 40%, not even for popcorn - that has a built in 33% that goes to the council. <end of rant>

I'll add my 2 cents about camping. One reason scouts say no about anything is they don't have a fun idea to grab onto. If someone asks if they want to go camping they could easily say no but if they're asked if they want to go on a campout, spend the morning playing a new game that covers a few acres, have a Dutch oven dessert competition and hang out with their friends, they might be more interested. It is boy led, but also adult encouraged. They may need help coming up with good ideas.

I was going to send you a PM but the image, that had nothing to do with the topic, was the problem as we've posted that images that are more sarcasm than useful commentary will be removed. I would have just removed the image but that's all there was. All these images do is raise the temperature without adding to the conversation.

Dad is shouting at the scouts about how to vote and the son doesn't get the votes needed. I suspect this is a case of the acorn not falling far from the tree. When I asked scouts why someone didn't get in the common response was "that scout is a very different person when no adults are around." Just a hunch but maybe the son also yells at the other scouts.

That's not very specific. That is. I agree with the SM, and the program in this case. Something tells me this is getting closer to the problem at hand. Can you give us a bit more information? This sounds like new parents that don't like how the troop is run. Could it be they still like the cub scout model and don't understand the scout model? If so, this is a common problem.

This seems to be a common problem throughout the BSA - how to explain the fundamentals succinctly. I hate to admit it but as SM it seemed to me that the primary purpose of the OA was to propagate the OA and get summer camp ready. If I were a better leader I might enjoy rebuilding my chapter to be a place to help scouts take useful skills back to their troops. I've just never seen it done this way.

Hi and welcome to the forum, @OaklandAndy.

It's still a great project. At 16 it was gear to grow food. At 22 it was that plus teaching people how to grow food. Clearly not a typical scout.

As we all are. Election doesn't make you an OA member, completing the ordeal does. As said before the term election isn't very accurate.

I like the nomination process because it worked in my troop. Scouts knew the other scouts better than the adults in my troop. It was never a popularity contest in my troop. Every time I disagreed with the scout vote and started asking questions I was corrected. The biggest problem was that the scouts had long memories. If you were a butt it would take a few years to change that perception.