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Mike F

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Everything posted by Mike F

  1. Kamakamelian, Welcome back to the campfire! As I once heard Gen Norman Schwarzkopf say, "When put in charge, take charge!" You're doing that. Your troop has a mess on its hands and you're the perfect guy to help untangle the ropes. I would have a chat with friendly Unit Commissioner so you can let them know you are working this challenge. You might have the UC be there for your first Troop Committee meeting. The UCs and District Staff don't want units to fail. They will help you. I would also begin immediately to sign up any other possible members for your committee.
  2. Moose - darned forums - it's hard to hear the tone of voice! #26 has a definite element of truth to it, but I would phrase it differently. Your story is sad. Hope prison scared him straight.
  3. Eagle732, I have to disagree with your last recommendation: "Where does the WDL say we should go? Then that's where we should all go!" Just as every boy has his own personality, so does each troop. When there is a good match between a boy and his troop, he is more likely to stay in scouts. I know his Cub/Webelos friends seem important now, but there are many adventures and changes ahead as he moves from 5th grade through the end of high school. He is going to be making many more friends. Some boys do great in a large troop where they like the huge events and general high level
  4. I have taught lashing and pioneering skills for many years. This is very cool - THANKS!
  5. In the troop I serve, when a Scout earns First Class, he's earns the right to wear whatever sheath knife he wants to strap onto his belt. Many will start with something huge and later figure out that small-medium works fine for almost everything and is more practical to carry. When I carry one, it's a big honkin' one made in Russia. They also know that if any scout - much less a First Class or above Scout - messes around with a knife, then he's in big trouble. We have never had any trouble. There are some BSA camps which don't allow them. Fine - our guys keep them packed or leave the
  6. Ours are held periodically on a meeting night. All scouts are expected to be there and most show up. Getting parents there is another challenge. Keep it snappy. Don't let any leader (youth or adult) get long winded. Consider special things like slideshow from the last few months of activities. Parents and boys love to see this and it includes all the guys - not just the ones getting awards that night. Snacks and social time are a great time to recruit more volunteers to help with a little project to get them involved.
  7. DeanRx, You may decide not to promote it or include it in program in any way, but if a scout earns it, it absolutely should be awarded to him. If you decide to withhold it, at the same time you are required to tell him his options for appeal to the District Advancement Chair. If they press, you will lose and draw into question the methods you are using in your unit. It's not worth it. Give the kid his belt loop. Maybe after he gets that one, he'll be inspired to add more.
  8. Cut and paste error: I wrote: "Large Troop PROS - Lots of guys potentially lots of friends. - Can provide lots of different opportunities. - With fewer resources, finding volunteers for merit badge counselors, etc. can be a challenge" That last one should be: - Bigger troop has more resources, typically more MB counselors and opportunities for experts and involvement.
  9. rj, My opinions to your original question follow. (You can search on similar discussions in the past.) Small Troop PROS - More individual attention, boys don't get lost in the shuffle as easily and have a greater sense of belonging - Complexity of running the troop at all levels is within ability of many experienced scouts - Level of chaos is lower (few boys = fewer problems and less noise. Many things get exponential with size.) - Easier to mobilize the troop for activities (number of vehicles/required adults/campsites/etc.) - Attrition: In my District I have data for 5
  10. Platypus, First of all, congratulations! You are a leader and it sounds like you're a wise and experienced one. The fact that your official position in the troop is OA rep does not mean you have a small voice and responsibility as a member team. Your troop and your friend need you to stay engaged - and you're doing just that. I was in a similar position many moons ago - even had to break in my new SM. Your friend is the SPL and he has access to SM by virtue of his position that others don't have. Don't let the chatter get to him. He should set up regular, weekly tagups with t
  11. To answer Cubby's question, yes, the troop I serve limits recruiting to keep our numbers at about 33-35 scouts. We do it by putting out the word how many we have room to take. Those who are interested find us early. It's not a Frat Rush process (or don't think so - never experienced that), but I have recommended a few guys check out another specific troop if I think it will be a better fit for him. If they come back a week or so later, we've held the spot for them. We're blessed to have 7 troops in our immediate vicinity, so there are lots of options. Every boy has a unique personali
  12. Eagle732, It sounds like you have all the program stuff in place and you are actively working on outreach, so Id like to probe more along another line of thinking. Do your guys really want to recruit? Do they want to grow the troop? Are they ready, willing, and able to take on a bunch of guys without experience? Are the willing to go through that initial phase with lots of enthusiasm, but immature outbursts? Do they look after the troops newer guys right now as if they were younger brothers who they like? If any of these are no, you need to work on a culture shift fir
  13. Stosh, I feel your pain. Our local mega-troop has horrible retention numbers, but those are ignored because they are - well - big, therefore must be successful and have a lot of stroke at District and Council. Instead of digging in to understand some meaningful measures of merit, like percentage of 3rd year boys remaining who recharter, or percentage who join who eventually make Eagle, we publish (publish!!) total numbers of Eagle by troop. "Troop A has 150 Eagles, they must be good!" Nevermind that 15000+ scouts joined that troop and didn't make it to Eagle. Cripes - it's not about Eagl
  14. Eagle732, Get all of your guys to buy in and engage. They have friends with no scouting background who would love some dangerous adventure. These have been some of our best recruits. (We're closing on another one to help fill in gap from low-recruiting years.) All the best, m
  15. Eagle732, Sounds familiar. Were holding strong at about 30-32 with 3 patrols for years, but recruiting slowed for a few years. We hadn't had any internal problems and retention was very good. It burned me to see local mega-troop bring in literally 30-50 boys per year, then lose most of them. Our 3 patrols shrank to 2. Then those two patrols were getting pretty slim with about 14-15 members in the troop. We got into a discussion about the future of the troop during semi-annual Troop JLT. Through discussion, the guys came to understand if we didn't change some things, there wou
  16. Welcome back to the campfire, Bluejacket!
  17. I've seen it done such that SPL and ASPLs stayed in original patrols for meals and some activities, but it's a mistake. Definitely need to keep senior leaders (SPL/ASPLs) out of PL's hair. Senior staff tents in same area as SM Staff, eats with SM Staff, etc.
  18. Once upon a time, we had troop tents and liked the uniformity, neatness and sharing of parts. We had all the problems you mention and it was a big headache - mostly for adults. We transitioned by telling the older guys they could bring their own tent if they wanted to use it instead of troop tents. They loved it, found ways to buy their own or asked for them for birthday, etc. Younger guys started getting their own, too. As the number of functional troop tents decreased, so did the demand. After 2 years we had 2-3 experienced scouts using troop tents and most of the first-year guys.
  19. Irsap, Beautiful! But don't resign from the troop too quickly - they need good leaders too - just give your son room. Maybe take off a few months to let him get used to you not being there. Then go back and help those other boys - perhaps some without a dad at home. I tell my leaders on campouts two things: 1. We have no parents on campouts - only leaders who are there for all the boys. 2. A casual observer should not be able to determine which boy goes with which parent. Boy Scouting is not a parent-child activity and parents on campouts are not there to be parents. They are there t
  20. The troop I serve brings in transfer scouts every year. As SM, I meet with them first to make sure they seem like a good fit and I talk to them about the program they are leaving as compared to ours. Some jump in without missing a beat. Some struggle to catch up with troop norms and appear on the outside to stagnate a year or two. I know they are growing to catch up. If parents will trust us, we will get them there.
  21. SSS - thanks - I am laughing out loud. All - thanks for clarifying my thinking. It's time for a cup of camp coffee. (But Earl Gray works, too!)
  22. Thanks again for your insights. When they originally left, I didn't broadcast the reason. None of the boys and minority of the adults knew the full extent of the behind the scenes drama, nuclear emails, etc. About 2 months ago, I received an email from one parent about visiting with intent to transfer back after Eagle. After agonizing for days, I told them NO its not in the boys best interest to transfer back and forth. I found out last night they have made several visits to recruit for the upcoming Eagle project and chum around. These visits all took place when I was out of to
  23. I appreciate your thoughts. More info. There are two big issues. 1. Family was highly combative about any perceived issue with scout. One parent served on TC and drove off a number of other volunteers with harsh attitudes and outbursts. Actually seemed clinically psychotic at times. When parent quit TC in a rage and email barrage, continued to come to all troop meetings and stalk angrily around the parking lot spewing anger to any who would venture near. Over the course of time, I spent 40-50 hours on the phone and in the home of this family trying to calm them down and re-explain ho
  24. We had a scout transfer to another area troop over a year ago. With many problems at home and in his past, this lad desperately needed Scouting. Unfortunately, his time with us was filled with problems with parents hateful emails, late night phone calls, angry public outbursts, and formal complaints to Council. Most of the problem centered on our advancement program. Since leaving, the family has been vocal about son not liking the new troop, wants to have nothing to do with them, and has only been on one campout in a year and a half. The scout has come back to our troop to recruit help
  25. We have had a few scouts transfer to other units and I always give the receiving SM a call to fill him with my insights - both positive and negative. I am always clear these are my impressions and I hope the boy finds the new unit to be a better fit. For boys with a history of problems, I believe this information could be very useful for the new SM to help the scout family (scout + parents) adjust into his new home troop. If he was expelled from the troop I serve for something serious, like violence, I would personally consider it negligence if I didn't let the new unit know.
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