MattR

Sounds like cabin camping to me. If a scout doesn't have to deal with the possibility of bad weather, then no. If a scout isn't going to cook on a fire or stove he had to bring with him, no again. That said, a night on an old aircraft carrier is a lot of fun. I once camped in a WWI graveyard with scouts. Just my 2 cents. You could ask your local OA.

Is dorkiness how others see someone that is wearing a neckerchief or how someone sees himself wearing a neckerchief? These scouts are not dorky. They are having fun. I find it strange that it's difficult to find pictures on the internet of BSA Boy Scouts having fun in a "full" uniform. I think the dork factor comes from the adult perception of scouts. The whole attitude around the uniform is serious and the only thing the scouts can push back on is the neckerchief. A shirt that's called a Field Uniform, costs anywhere from $37-$45 and needs to be ironed is not shouting fun. Shirts

I don't have much time for this so: 1) I told my committee that since I'm leaving they should change things the way they want and more importantly they should think about what they want. They all said they came to our troop because of the way we do things. They are asking me to teach them. Since I'm stepping down in 3 months I have no problem trying to ensure a quality program sticks around. 2) The aims and methods of scouting along with most of the training in the BSA is poor. Consequently new Webelo parents need a lot of work. It doesn't matter if they were Eagle scouts before. Also,

Well, I guess I'm glad that everyone has a different view on how to describe scouts. Maybe that just means it's worthwhile. @@Col. Flagg, After rereading your original post about different types of statements I thought some more about what I'm trying to do. It's really about rewriting the aims and methods to both better explain what scouts is about and also explain the why behind the how my troop does things. I guess that would be a values statement. Trying to boil down the aim of scouting into a phrase is not just a sales pitch so much as just trying to get it down to the essence of sco

Hmm, doesn't exactly grab me. I will teach you to fail? I knew someone was going to bring up sports is more than just winning, but competition, at it's very basic level, is about winning. I agree that good coaches at the secondary school level don't focus on winning. And yet, at higher levels it is all about winning and big money. I know what that means, you know what that means, but your average parent can't relate to it. A picture is worth a thousand words, so this fails my brevity test As David CO would say, try again. How about: We'll teach your kid to

No, the title has nothing to do with the other threads (they honestly seem fairly good). But you have to admit it caught your attention and that's what I'm trying to get at. The challenge is to come up with a tight description of why someone should not only put their son in scouts but also volunteer. And by tight I mean just a few words. I'm a lousy salesman but one thing I've learned is that a short succinct message, even if it's not completely accurate, is worth a lot more than a rambling committee based mash up. Take sports as an example. The short message from coaches to parents is

How about a lion themed patch? I'm sure there are lion patrol patches you can order online. Sock puppet lions? It's something they can play with, which is all they probably want anyway. Or maybe a lion themed helium balloon. Just call it a really big patch and it will be just like the big kids.

That's a great idea. Cheaper. Includes a tightener. Much easier to sell to the scouts. Easier to walk on. We can use it as a regular slackline at another event.

Any opinions on rope size for the main rope of a monkey bridge. We have 1/2". Was wondering if 3/4 or 1" would be better. It's probably harder to tie but I was going to put an eye splice in the end and use a come-a-long to tighten it. We're thinking 20-30' for the span between the frames. A website I found https://scoutpioneering.com/2012/12/27/double-a-frame-monkey-bridge/said 1/2 or 3/4.

How about using squirt guns? I know, the BSA says yada yada and I had a patrol get their skit pulled in the middle of the skit because they used a pillow but then the summer camp staff used a wig for a damsel in distress. How prudish are the people at National if they won't let a kid stuff a pillow under his shirt and act like a woman in labor? I can guarantee you that any woman that has been in labor would not consider it sexual. (This skit is writing itself. How about a skit where the scouts poke fun at National for not allowing them to portray pregnant women!) I'm not making fun of

coarse language: sure, but the occasional dab nabbit can be used for character development. disparage a certain demographic: what about idiots? I understand not making fun of minorities, but the best slapstick usually makes fun of idiots. Or country bumpkins. There's a great skit where two cops end up moving a dead guy from one spot to another because they didn't know how to spell the first. cross dressing: there are hilarious skits involving damsels in distress or pregnant women. A pair of socks or a pillow adds to it. The guy in the doctor's office that collects everyone else's ailme

One of the struggles with cub scouts is most den leaders are figuring it out about a week in front of their scouts whereas in boy scouts the adults tend to have years of experience. So while the DLs are trying to keep their heads above water the SMs already know how something is going to play out because they've seen it a dozen times before. Better training for DLs might help but training is not a strength in the BSA. The only thing that works is seeing it done right. For all the comments about too much cub scouts. I agree. My son and I took 2 years off in the middle. I was waiting for

Hmm, or is this an example of one really extreme situation being blown way out of proportion and broadcast everywhere to the point where all sorts of people think this is normal. How many girls sell cookies? How many get robbed at gun point? Is it worse than the odds of being struck by lightening? Is it getting worse? If not, then maybe this is just sensational news used to get more clicks. You know, the same thing that's keeping kids from enjoying the outdoors.

I keep seeing this quote and I need to clarify. I never said move the second webelo year into boy scouts or change any of the rules about parents going with their son. I just said have the webelos meet with the troop. I agree that having parents with more ideas and doing a better job would be great, but most webelo parents are burned out and don't understand what boy scouts is about. So moving the webelo den near a troop helps train the parents, it shows the webelos what their future might hold, and it gives the webelos a way to ease into boy scouts, not just one day we're at cub scouts and

I don't know, @@blw2. I understand the time constraint. I also see a lot of parents pushing their kids to get scholorships of all sorts when learning how to run your own business, even if it's just spreading mulch or raking leaves, can make a bigger dent on college expenses. I agree it doesn't have to be a troop event and it certainly shouldn't be the parents doing all the work. But something that encourages and teaches the scouts how to make some money would be better than the Personal Management MB.

No, boy scouts doesn't start until normal and the webelos still do their program. It's just that the webelos do their last 9 months much closer to a scout troop so they can see what the future holds. They still go camping with a parent and maybe it's just 4 campouts instead of 10, but they see the boy scouts getting ready for 10. Webelos was always supposed to be a transition from cub scouts to boy scouts but it's just another cub scout den. All I'm proposing is put that den at a troop. If the troop is doing patrol method then it should fit just fine. For a discussion about scout burno

Eagledad, I was thinking of something related to this. Here are some problems: 1) Webelos are bored to tears 2) Webelo parents are bored to tears 3) NSP for a year is too long 4) New scout parents don't understand the scout program So how about taking the 2nd webelo year, keeping nearly the exact program, and just moving the webelo den into a troop as a NSP? They keep working on the cub scout program but it can be less about pins and more about getting ready for boy scouts. It is a den, so they don't need a PL. Troop guides or Den Chiefs can be used to teach the scouts how to do rea

What is meant by "adapt to the world?" Here's another way of asking that question, what is it that keeps a scout around until he ages out? And is the BSA moving towards that? For what keeps a scout around I'd say they need deep friendships, they need to make decisions that matter, and they need room for improvement. An adventure will create friendships. Just know different people have different definitions of an adventure. Knowing that you're truly responsible for others, and being able to handle it, will create purpose. Growth will always come from a deep enough problem. At the same time

I respecrtfully disagree. And by respectfully I mean I respect your opinion, but I don't think it's the right time or place to fight that battle. There are two sides to this issue and both are claiming the moral high ground. Just as much as I don't want anyone else telling me what my religious beliefs are, I shouldn't tell anyone else what theirs should be. We have differences. I'm okay with that. Maybe I'm right or maybe they're right. I think it's time the BSA let someone else decide. The thing is, nearly all the decisions I make regarding scouts has nothing to do with this issue. It's not w

Yep. My first response was Oh, facebook should manage content, not create it. Anyway, Google "facebook auto tagging" or try this mess: https://www.google.com/url?q=https://vtldesign.com/digital-marketing/social-media/nh-facebook-marketing/how-to-disable-facebook-facial-recognition-photo-tagging-nhmarketing/&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwi6iuKL-JfSAhVmwlQKHdLGCtEQFggcMAI&usg=AFQjCNE5LUNasKw2ypmPKGMkiUa0NA9New

This is an unusual situation but I've seen where a parent doesn't want their children's photos online. In this case it was because the dad was stalking and threatening violence. Mom was scared enough that a restraining order was not enough. I'm not saying it happens often, but just that there are reasons. On another topic, I've noticed FB will automatically ask if you want certain people tagged. It's doing face recognition, knows who a person is in a photo, and asks you if you want that person tagged. What I don't know is who gets those messages. I see them for pictures that I don't post.

I'm not a fan of lots of programs. I'd much rather see one program that's flexible enough for the leaders to modify. A 10 sizes fits all strategy is just another way of micromanaging what the adults can do. In software this is called feature creep and it never works. A clean simple model is always better. I'll tell you one thing scouts has that none of these other programs have, and it's the ability of the parents to have fun and participate with their kids. Everything else is just the parents standing on the sidelines and watching. STEM would be boring for me and I'm in that business. The

Since I'm bored with coed scouts... I think the early biblical writings would be the Torah Actually, I got curious. In the dead sea scrolls the name of God is not blank, but it does use a different alphabet, or maybe it's just a different font. Anyway, the YHWH, called the tetragrammaton, is from the hebrew יהוה or Yud Heh Vav Hey, which could be translated as "he" plus the root of the verb "to be" and likely comes from Exodus where Moses asks God for his name and God says something that can be translated a dozen different ways (He is who He is, I am what I am, I shall be what

But venturing always was coed, so girls can't be the reason for the drop. I think the drop in venturing holds the key to the problems. Two things I can think of is scouting in the US is seen as a way to stuff your college app by too many people. Imagine boy scouts without Eagle. How many scouts would drop out. Another other issue is friendships. They develop early on, before age 14. That doesn't explain a drop in venturing though. I'd be all for lowering Venturing age to 11. Whatever it takes to solve the venturing problem will surely help the boy scout side. The outreach prog

So bearess, are you saying boys need to be around boys to learn how not to be idiots when they grow up and are not around women? I never thought of that. Skip, the problems your wife has with credit cards would never happen where I live. The bill is always placed in the middle of the table. There are plenty of cases where the fact that I'm married means nothing. I can't even ask about my wife's medical info without her written permission.