baden

I got an invite about a month ago and sent it back a couple of days later. I'm attending the "Strictly for Scoutmasters" session on July 15. Anyone else on the forum attending?

GNX Guy- How old are your kids? I took my son when he was 14. He did a Mountain Man Trek while I was at the Training Center. It was the first time at Philmont for both of us and turned into a love affair for my son. He came home determined that our Troop was going to do a "real" Trek. It took 3 years, but we made it. He later became a Philmont Staffer for two summers. Interesting to me, I asked him when he was doing a lot of job interviews if anyone ever mentioned that he was an Eagle Scout? He said it rarely came up but the Philmont Staffer part of his resume was always a big topic of conversation. I strongly encourage anyone going to Philmont to take their kids and sign them up for the program for their age group. It is great!!

I meant to respond to this earlier. I enjoyed this SM minute very much and used it at our Troop meeting this week. The boys seemed to like it (except for the die gallantly part).

One of the Dads lurking at the back of the Scout Hall, waiting to pick up Jr., came up afterwards and told me he thought it was great. I did allow as how I didn't write it, just delivered it.

Ah Eamonn. Don't pay too much attention to Ranger T. I'm sure his heart is in the right place, but a little introspection is good for you.

The school where I went grades 6-12 was built in 1903 and demolished in 1971. There is a swimming pool there now. Good trade.

First. I want to thank all for your interest and input.

Second. This boy is not in my Troop. Not to say my little angels couldn't do something this dumb, but they haven't yet.

Third. I have printed out your input and given it to the involved parties. i.e. the SM and the Dist. Tng. Chair. There have been many valid points made on both sides of this discussion and I value the wisdom of the forum.

Fourth. Happily I don't know if anything happened with this over the weekend as I was camping with my Troop and have been incommunicado.

I am seeking opinions from the forum. I am involved with this situation from the outside, but have been consulted for my opinion.

The situation is that a young man in a neighboring community has been convicted of a felony. He and some friends were caught in possession of a pipe bomb. My best guess is a bunch of kids horsing around. Sounds like something I might have done in my youth. But in todays environment this is a big deal and rightly so. I do not diminish the severity of this offense.

The boy is a Life Scout. He had his Eagle BOR scheduled prior to his run in with the Law. He appeared for the BOR and was told by the convened board that they were not willing to have the BOR. He told them after 1 yr. with correct behavior and completing some counseling his record would be expunged. They told him to re schedule when the felony is expunged and with correct behavior and continued participation with his Troop he would be granted a BOR. He is 16.

The 'Utes mother is raising all kinds of Hell demanding that he be given a Board now. She is threatening all kinds of action. The SM of the Troop is adamant that he will not be a party to the boy becoming an Eagle at this time. He states that he is willing to revisit the situation when and if the felony is expunged but not now, now way. He has stated that he will resign if the boy goes over him to council or National.

What do y'all think?

Looks like some good stations for a Klondike. Schedule seems a bit ambitious to me. 25 minutes per station is cutting it close, especially if teams start to back up. What kind of distance will they be traveling on the total course? Not far if you are allowing 5 minutes between stations. Best wishes for success.

The boys in our Troop are mad for Dodge ball. They agitate to play it at every meeting. We used to play a game the boys called Nuke "Em. Basically dodge ball played with a medicine ball. We had to shelve it finally. Pretty violent, hence its appeal to your basic teenager.

I've been to probably 20 Klondike Derbies and would be happy to look at your program.

My parents had a video slide presentation done for my son's Eagle COH using photos from Tiger Cub thru 1997 National Jamboree which was the month prior to the COH. I still enjoy playing it but should probably have it changed to DVD. I don't remember all the music on it off the top of my head. One song is something about "I am the Eagle" by John Denver and another is Fly Like an Eagle I think by Steve Miller. Other similar songs but they escape me now.

I am one who traveled hundreds of miles to take Wood Badge. My reasons were, a. our Council does only weekend courses and a week long course was better for me, b. our Council does Wood Badge in the Fall and a summer course was better for me, and c. our Council does Wood Badge at our Council Camp and Wood Badge at Zastro Camp at Philmont was much more appealing to me. I attended a Pilot Course for 21st Century Wood Badge in 2000. I have since served on Staff in our local Council course and our course is not exactly what National settled on.

The real down side to attending a course so far from home is the lack of contact with my Patrol mates. We e-mailed each other for a couple of years but this has died. One of the members of our patrol was a National Jamboree Scoutmaster in 2001 and 2005. I was on Staff and spent some time with him at both Jamborees. I also ran into one of our guys at NOAC in Tenn. He has since left Scouting.

AAARGH!!!

This sort of thing drives me crazy!!!

Why would anyone bust some kids chops for wearing a MB sash?

I'm thrilled when they wear them at all.

The primary resonsibilities of the District Executive are the 3M's. Membership, Manpower, & MONEY. Program which begins with P is not one of these. Some of the biggest flops as DE's that I have seen have been people with extensive Scouting backgrounds who think that Program is their job. The position of DE is basically a sales position. They sell Scouting to prospective youth members, prospective adult volunteers, and potential donors.

Having said that, I have heard a saying from some professionals that goes something like "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. What the volunteers won't do, the professional must." In other words, whatever they can't get someone else to do comes crashing back in their in-box. On top of this they have "other duties as assigned".

The position of DE is a tough job. I was recruited by a Scout Exec. a number of years ago and declined the opportunity. I told him that as long as I was a volunteer, he worked for me. If I became a professional I would work for him and I liked things the way they were.

Jerry-

Welcome to the forum. You will find a world of experience represented here. I am often amazed at the depth and breadth of knowledge that the members have. It is great that so many are willing to share their hard earned wisdom with us.

Best wishes as you begin this new chapter of your Scouting career.

Baden

Lisa'bob-

I agree that this Mom showing up randomly is weird. It isn't every campout or meeting, but frequently. This woman used to be in the business world (banking or real-estate Maybe both, I don't recall) and since she left there to be a stay at home Mom and Home School teacher, it seems to me that her son is her career. That is just my take. Backpacking might be the answer. Her visit to Summer Camp, against my advice against it was something else. Her son was really determined to go home with her when she left. This is not the first time I have seen this which is why I recommend against parents showing up mid week, especially Moms. I give her credit, she firmly told him he was going to finish the week and she looked forward to seeing him at home Sat. afternoon. Some tears, but she stayed tough.

I'll talk to the Troop Comm. about a parental liason. Don't know if I like the idea or not. I don't like getting the message filtered through someone else's perception. Might save some hassles though.

Thanks for the input.

ZOWEE ! ! !

The plans for the Glenn Cockwell's catapult on this web-site is exactly what I need. I don't know the difference between a ballista and a catapult, but this is great. THANKS Crew21 Adv. You have done your good turn for today.

Many thanks to the forum members for their input and kind words. In answer to many questions posed by the members, the Scout in question is a fine lad, very bright. He is a Second Class Scout, transitioned last Feb. He attended Summer Camp, attends Troop Meetings almost without fail, and has not missed an outing since joining. He is close to 1st Class and at the rate he is advancing may become our youngest Eagle. I fear he may be gone by 14 when he will probably make Eagle as I perceive that his family (Mom) will pull the plug on Scouting when he maxes out on resume impact. This boy is generally well liked by the rest of the Troop and is pretty socially well adjusted for a Home-Schooler (in my limited experience).

Mom is not registered with the Troop and has no training. She was a member of the Pack committee when her son was a Cub. She is very intelligent and generally friendly which made her actions somewhat surprising. The Dad is also a bright and outgoing person, but is tied up with work a lot as far as I can tell. He picks his Son up sometimes or drops him off but seems to have no interest in Scouting. Frankly he sometimes treats me and my ASM as if we are somewhat feeble-minded, but we don't know him well. It has been asked what Mom was doing visiting the campout. She just does that. She usually pops in at outings to see what we are up to, stays for a little while and then leaves. I sense that she is some sort of Uber-Mommy. This Scout is an only child and as I stated earlier, is home schooled.

I don't know if we have achieved mind-meld, but there is a temporary truce. I called the Mom tonight and explained the circumstances that led to my debauching the youth with idleness and folly. I also explained that this is not our usual program. She apologized for being abrupt with me and for making it an issue with the Troop Comm. I did tell her that I thought she correct in going to the Chairman. So, for now-Peace in Our Time. We'll see how it goes.

In the vein of "NO good deed goes unpunished", I seek input from the forum. This weekend our Troop had a monthly campout. No big deal, Sat. overnight in a public wildlife habitat area. We did a service project for the area and the Ranger was pleased with our efforts. He was complimentary about how much work the boys got done and how well they worked together.

In fact he came out Sat. night and brought some ice cream for the boy's peach cobbler and spent some time around the campfire talking to the boys about wildlife habitat and management. Totally unplanned, just a neat thing.

When the PLC was getting their plans together after the last Troop Mtg. one of the Patrol Leaders told me that attendance might be light because a lot of the boys wanted to stay home to watch a college football game Sat. night. This Patrol Leader asked if it would be OK to bring a radio to listen to the game. He had talked to a bunch of the boys and they said they'd go if they could listen to the game. A couple of years ago we listened to a World Series game on Sat. night, but this is not our normal modus operandi. A parent came out Sat. night while we were all sitting around the campfire listening to the game. She stood there for a few minutes and then said she wanted to talk to me, so I walked her back to her car. She was very upset that we were wasting her sons time with listening to a football game when we could be using the time to better advantage. I said she was probably right, but sometimes you have to let up a little and just live. I thought that was the end of it, but oh no. The Troop Comm. Chair called me Sunday night to tell me he had received a call from this Mom and she wanted things straightened out or her son would no longer be in this Troop. She is demanding a Troop policy that there be no more listening to sporting events on campouts. As I said, this is the second time in about 3 years we have done this and I think that a policy is overkill. Another thing is that we have a lot of sports nuts in the Troop and a little male bonding around the campfire, listening to the game might be a good thing to ensure longevity in the Troop. I might also add that this boy is home schooled and apart from Church, this is his only activity outside of the home. I don't know if his Mother thinks I'm going to start making book on campouts or what.

What does the forum think? I like this kid and would hate to lose him, but my back is up a little about being pushed around. Is listening to a game a big no-no with other units?

Scott -

You will learn, with time, that the less you and your unit see of these District types the happier you will be.

When you do see them, they will be recruiting FOS presenters, District popcorn flunkies, District Committee members etc. etc. Somewhere the idea that Districts exist to support Units has been obscured. There is a group that seems to think that Units exist to support Districts and Councils. Most of their activities have little to do with supporting the program of healthy Units. In my opinion, we have become rather top-heavy. I see that this is your first post. Welcome to the forum. You will find many congenial folks here. There is a world of experience represented by the members of the forum and I have found that the answer to any Scouting question can be found here. Good luck and keep on Scouting.

I was basically shamed into it. I was Dist. Tng. Chair at the time and our Council Tng. Chair came up to me at a meeting and told me it was embarassing to him to have a member of the Training Staff that was not fully trained. He was kidding, sort of. I thought it over and decided that I couldn't stand up at Roundtable and Training events to espouse the benefits of Training when I wasn't willing to set the example. Wood Badge was a great experience and I have never regretted the time and money I put into it.

Baden

I used to be a Fox.

I'm also having the same problem and am getting the YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO VIEW THIS PAGE message.

I've found a few sketches on a couple of websites. Not much detail and no dimensions given. I can probably figure this out, but I am a huge fan of not re-inventing the wheel, so if anyone has a decent diagram of a ballista I would love to see it. This will free up my time for my normal duties such as filing tour permits, lining up drivers, nagging Patrol Leaders to give me a head count, rounding up health forms, and insuring 2-Deep Leadership.

Does anyone know where I can download plans for a ballista? We want to build one as a Pioneering project. Thanks.

The Eagle Charge used by our Troop is administered by an Eagle Scout. This is due to the way it is written and our Troop custom. I see no reason his former SM couldn't give the Eagle charge if it is written correctly. It is this young man's ECOH and I think it should be planned by him and his family, not the Troop Comm.

I think getting your Troop's vision on paper is a great idea. I guess you won't know if you have met your goal until you know what the goal is.

I think what Lynda has to say is important. Over the years our Troop has been up and down. We have ranged from 9 to 42 boys (currently 25). We have had groups of boys that wanted High Adventure. We've had boys that could care less. It depends on what they want to do. The hardest thing for me as Scoutmaster is getting them to decide what to do. We have program planning conference and I get the blank stares. It isn't long until I get the famous question, "What'd we do last year? Let's do that." Boys are very much like people in that they are lazy and hate to think. My job is to make them.

Troop level Top 10.

1. Trained Leaders

2. Boy lead using the Patrol method

3. Planned program

4. Meaningful Advancement

5. Outdoor program

6. Participation in Roundtable and Dist/Council events

7. Fundraising tailored to the needs of the Unit

8. Functioning Committee

9. Unit Leader Succession Plan in place

10. 100% Boys Life