mich632

thank you.

Just finished submiting our paperwork for venturing crew 123. It is a spin off from troop 123.

We used our District Exec, our unit commisioner and the Troop guide from woodbadge.

It was a ticket item from wood badge.

Next thing we are doing is basic training for crew to explain organization, then hold elections.

We will then establish bylaws and uniform.

Then let the fun begin.

good luck.

I went to philmont this year 703-D Trek 29. Great time. At the closing campfire there was a great song. I believe it was from October Sky. Does anyone recognize the name and or song? AND if so where can I get a copy of it. Thanks.

While at Six Flags, a couple of boys reported to one of the adult leaders that one of the boys was bragging that he had taken a candy bar without paying.

The boy was immediately taken off to the side and talked to. He has no history of problems and he denied it. Have no proof, only the word of one boy vs. others.

No other boys or adult saw him steal anything and am not sure if he did or if he was bragging to make himself seem important.

We interviewed all the boys, and passed on all "facts", no rumors to the parents.

Advice?

Here is an exact quote from Connecticut Rivers Council that is attached to our tour permits. Can't say if other councils are the same.

" As you know, the BSA provides primary liability insurance for registered leaders participating in Scouting programs that are conducted within the policies of the BSA"

IE our council provides primary liability. Don't have to use homeowners.

It continues.

" Submitting a Tour Permit Application less than 14 days of an activity does not comply with BSA policy and depending on the nature of the lawsuit, could adversly impact the liability insurance available to Scouting Volunteers."

IE our council has warned us that failure to follow BSA policy could limit their coverage.

I have read the G2SS, I carry it with me on trips. I follow it for the scouts protection, but more importantly for my protection.

Had boy break thumb during ski trip.

Had x-ray and cast at local hospital.

Had MRI and then surgury back home to reattach tendon.

Council insurance payed for any portion that was not covered by families insurance plan.

As the SM I signed paperwork to allow intial treatment based on permission slip. I also provided insurance info to hospital. It's on permission slip.

G2SS says that you have to notifiy council of injuries. That is how I got accident report and got council involved in paying for expenses not covered by insurance.

Check out http://www.scoutdirect.com./

This is a small company in the middle west, the owner used to be the president of Kelty brand.

He formed this company to offer equipment directly do boyscouts. He also sells equipment under the name of Alps Mountaineering.

They sell tents, sleeping bags, backpacks etc.

They will ship any thing they sell to you for inspection and testing. We had them send us one of every tent they made for backpacking. Got them tried them out and sent back those we don't want.

I have a boy who meets all the requirements to join our troop. Just completed his arrow of light. He would like to join our troop. HOWEVER, his weblo II den is continuing to meet till the end of school when the pack does the crossover. The boy would like to join our troop but still be able to participate with his buddies in the den.

QUESTION: Can a boy maintain his registration with the cubscouts and register with the troop?

What did BP say, " train them, trust them, let them lead.".

You can not expect a boy to lead without our training. Imagine an adult situation. Your given a box by your boss and told to open it up and put it together. You have no idea what it is or how to put it together. SO you fail.

Your boss then says, you have failed at your task.

You have a boy who is new to the position as PL. You tell him to lead. He has no idea how to do that. So he fails.

You say, "I have a new PL who has shown practically no leadership at all over the last two months."

YOu are not born with leadership skills. YOu must be taught. When boys are unsuccessful, the first question is: Have I given him the tools and skills to succeed.

Once he has been taught and knows what to do, if he still does not show leadership, that is a different story.

Hardest thing is to have a person who is attending west point who was a member of your troop. If you don't have a scout attending west point you can't go. PERIOD

We have had two boys attend West Point, so during their time we were able to attend.

It was great. Now we have no one and can't go.

My troop.scouter.com website has not been opening for a couple of days.

I can't get into an other troop web sites.

Is there something wrong.

Thanks Eamonn

But we must keep saying it.

Fun with a purpose! Fun with a purpose! Fun with a purpose!

If it's not fun, they won't come. And if they don't come it doesn't matter what you are teaching.

It has to be fun.

If you are trying to fiqure out how to compete with sports.

Or why the older boys aren't coming.

Or why attendance is down.

Remember if yours is NOT the best show in town, they won't come. They will go to where they can have fun.

1. Does the person know what the rules are/ what is expected behavior? You can't assume they do. You know what the word assume means?

2. Probably a good idea to refresh entire group. SM minute at end of meeting. Lay out your expectations. What is correct behavior.

3. Talk with PL/ASPL/SPL have them enforce the expectation

4. When they are unsuccessful, then the SM should get involved. You really should give the boy leaders an opportunity to establish leadership. COntrol their group. SM should only step in when that isn't working.

5. SM conference unsuccessful. Time to bring parents into discussion. Possible at a BOR.

What's the rush to get into boyscouts?

I'm sure it's physically possible to get a boy thru the arrow of light program in a very short period of time. But it's not just about advancement. Don't be in such a hurry. There is plenty of time for them to be boy scouts.

Why do you think BSA set minumum age or grade requirements.

Here is my experience. And it's only mine. Boys are not ready for the challenges boy scouts presents at 9. They need some maturity. But again, that's just my experience.

Bottom line, the one boy CAN NOT cross over until he is 10 and has arrow of light. And I think if you cross the other boys over without him. You will lose him.

Here is my recommendation. Keep the boys together over the summer, work with your den chief and troop. Plan some activities to will challenge the boys. HAVE SOME FUN.

There will be plenty of time once they all are 10.

University of Scouting.

Designed to "train" district and council positions.

Turkey in a trash can

http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Field/8864/turkeycooking.html

You can cook a 20 lb turkey in about 2 1/2 hours.

If you do a web search you will be surprised at the number of hits on "turkey in trash can".

We do turkey in a trash can for our scout master fundementals. It's great.

How long should a eagle project approval take?

It never takes more than a couple of days in our district.

WHY? We do not submit an eagle packet for approval unless it's been reviewed at the troop level and we are confident it will be approved.

We have an adult who has seen many eagle packets. He provides advice on how to write up the project so that it will meet the district's requirements. The leader does not plan the project, just gives advice about things that should be in the write up.

Example: You don't have a discussion about how much the project is going to cost and how you are going to raise the money. You need that before it is submitted.

We also require the scout to call and talk with the district representative. Tell him about the project and discuss what his plans are. That one phone call has really helped.

After the discussion, many boys have modified their plans.

The old goat patrol (adults) decided to use our cooking as a challenge to raise the quality of meals to get the boys to cook something other than eggs in a bag and hot dogs.

Each campout we plan meals that stay within the $10-12 range and they are great. Pot roast, deep dish pizza, turkey in a trash can. The boys come over and you can tell they want our food.

We show them how to cook it. We let them "taste" it. We have made a old goat cook book of items we have done. It even has an estimated cost for the meal.

We now have patrols planning more detailed menus.

AND they can be done for under $12.

Bottom line, there are some great meals that can be done on a campout without it being Lobster or Primerib.

His parents were interviewed on CBS the other day. They had a final funeral service. No body was found. They said MANY people searched. And continue to look.

I'm origionally from just across the river from St. Louis, Cahokia Mounds Council. I was in scouts from mid 60-mid 70's. I also have a community strip from my town.

National has a form that can be used to determine how much to collect for dues. It's called the Unit Budget Worksheet.

Many councils also have it available on line.

Here is one to try

http://www.pacsky.org/resources/unit_finances/budget.html

read defense #1 which is bold

"who is trained in and committed to compliance with the eight points of BSA Safe Swim Defense."

You must have someone trained in safe swim defense to go swimming.

I have seen many discussions recently about text that is "BOLD" being rules and text that is not bold being guidelines.

Can someone please quote a resource that tells me that rules are "BOLD".

I keep hearing this, and I would like to go to the source docuement and learn.

Thanks.

assess and evaluate. Facilitate learning and growth

My words.

Offer encouragement and suggestions to handle things that did not go well.

Fast start words.

I just signed up for a web page in scouter.com. It's nice to be able to have a small free web site for scouting.

Thanks.

Question. They only thing I want on the webpage is our calender with links. If you click on the activity it will take you to a permission slip or packing list or other specific form.

Can someone help explain how to create a page that looks like a calender?

Or can someone give me a scout webpage hosted by scouter.com that has one so I can talk with the webmaster?

Thanks.