mikecummings157

Our troop is having an upcoming monthly theme of "Tin Can Craft". We did this when I was a Boy Scout, so we have some ideas.

The monthly campout will definitely end up with the boys having to cook with something they've made rather than the standard cook kits and stoves.

What have other troops done for something like this, other than the good old "Hobo Stove"?

We announce tham and tell the boys to see the Scoutmaster for Blue Cards and sign-up info if interested. A few boys take them from time to time.

I resisted taking Woodbadge for many years, as I observed a lousy leader who went through the course, disrupted our troop in the quest for beads, and promptly disappeared after he was done. I also heard many of the same arguements that some folks on the board posted for not attending.

Upon taking over as SM of my son's troop, our Assistant Council Executive suggested I take the course. I decided to go for it and keep an open mind. Even through I have been in corporations for many years and had been exposed to a lot of the concepts, I though the course was worth the investment in time and money. It helped reinforce some things, made me look at some things differently, and I met a lot of great scouters.

Bottom line; will it make a bad leader a good leader- No. However, you'll get out of the course what you put into the course.

Our troop does both; we support council with popcorn in the fall and start candy bars after the holidays.

We do much better with the candy bars (and bottle drives) than the popcorn, but we do need to support council.

I present all ranks up to Life as part of a brief, meaningful ceremony at a scheduled COH. There are a lot of them on the web.

Our troop tradition is to have the Eagle COH as a seperate event.

We call it "Adventureland" in Central NY, but it's the same idea.

One of the best events we did when we were in Cubs was making and racing "Walnut Racers". We got this from Insane Scouter, but it's probably elsewhere.

Materials needed:

Walnut shells,

marbles,

markers,

wiggle eyes,

felt,

yarn

glue.

Pry the walnut shells apart carefully. Clean the walnut meat out. Smooth out the surface of the inside

of the shell. Glue the marble inside the shell. If it is a deep shell you may need to add a foam

piece so that the marble clears the edge of the shell. Decorate the outside of the shell to make

your creature unique. Find or make a slanted surface and race the creatures. The marble inside

the shell allows the racer to slide easily.

The links worked fine. Thanks!

Quick update- 1 of the 4 who was reported to be crossing over to our troop by his Den Leader actually decided on a different troop and his mother invited them to the Blue-n-Gold directly. The CM and Pack Committee Chair, who were planning the Blue-n-Gold, didn't find out until a few days before that they had another troop attending.

Out of the remaining 3 that crossed over, only 1 showed up for the 1st Troop Meeting. Time to start making calls, but I'm not optimistic that we'll see the other 2.

We are running a Lion program in our Pack, which is in the same council as CNY Scouter, who originated this thread. It's just about the same as the original Tigers.

My question to the forum; does anyone have any recognition ceremonies for these boys we can use? We have a Blue-n-Gold coming up and we want them to feel included.

Last fall, after several years on declining numbers in our affiliated pack (resulting in few cross-overs for the troop), we found out that the CM had decided he didn't want to recruit and was going to fold the Pack after his son's Den crossed over. The entire Pack was six Webelos 2.

Several of us in the Troop, with Commissioner guidance, met with him and offered to support recruiting and get the Pack going again. After some resistance, he agreed to accept our help and even stepped down as CM to focus on his Den.

One of the Troop Committee Members offered to be CM, another Committee Chair, and several of us Committee members. We also moved the meeting night and location for the Dens to the same as the Troop so we could offer support as required.

We were able to attend several school night recruiting events and recruited 18 boys. We got them into Dens with leaders and got them going right away, including a fall Cub overnight. We have since had several boys transfer in from other Packs they weren't happy with, increasing the numbers to 25.

Last weekend the Troop participated in the District Klondike Derby and we invited the cubs and parents to be our guests for lunch and dinner. The boys from both units had fun interacting and we had a great chance to explain our program to the Cub parents over lunch, planting the seed for the future.

If you have access to a place to do it, build a fire. Maybe sing a few goofy or gross songs, roast marshmallows. Guaranteed satifisfaction!

Great points from the last 2 posters. The Den I commented on earlier will soon be no more and the new Cubmaster & Committee and building the Pack back up from near extinction, with our Troop supplying whatever help they need, including adult leaders and a Den Chief.

I was part of the original thread that this was spun from. John suggesting placing a DC in the Bear year. As a former Den Leader, I fully agree. A lot of folks have made the point that this an extra commitment for the DC in addition to his troop activities, which is very hard for a lot of boys. Monday is "Scout Night" and the other nights of the week are filled with other extra curricular activities.

We have pursuaded 2 boys (out of a troop of 12) to fill this role and the Den Leaders have been very understanding when they can't be there every week.

Eagle 92 commented on one of my observations; the Den Leaders have to know how to use them, in order for the DC to have a good experience. As SM of our troop, it's important for me to follow-up with the Den & Pack to make sure it's a symbiotic relationship.

I think of my scout skills whenever I see someone driving around town with something large "lashed" to the top of their car and barely hanging on;-)

Wow! I'm on the Troop side of an equation like this and started a thread yesterday ("Cross-overs"). The AOL isn't an issue, but the disinterested parents and WDL (ex-Cubmaster) as it relates to crossing over into a troop. We're going to do all that we can to sell our program to these boys and their parents before they cross over and bring them in.

I just found out to my delight that 4 Webelos from our "affiliated" pack are intending to cross over into our troop next weekend at the Blue-n-Gold. These boys haven't visited our troop at all, so I was pretty surprised.

I still haven't met with them (which I intend to do), but asked some of the other leaders in the Pack what was going on, as I haven't been able to get in touch with the Den leader. I was told that they are intending to cross-over into the troop, but may continue shopping for another troop or just not continue with scouting.

I've been doing this a long time, but never ran into such a casual attitude about picking a troop. Our Troop also invests into a neckerchief, slide, and shoulder loops for the new scout. This may be a waste of money, but I think the only option is to cross the boys over and sell our program to them and their parents.

Anyone else out there run into anything like this?

Lot's of great ideas!

Yes, CNY Scouter, you can be the Emperor!

Our Troop is hosting our district spring camporee. The PLC has decided that they want a snazzy theme to attract participation from local troop and have settled on "Gladiator Challenge". We have some ideas for evenst and activites, but we'd love to hear ideas from folks on the board.

No, we can't feed any scouts to the Lions:-)

Folks- again, thanks to everyone for the feedback. I've received new ideas and reinforcement for some of my own thoughts.

Just to fill in a few blanks, we do not allow any a parent to sign off his son's book, so in this case dad did not approve any requirements.

We do run patrol method and have an active PLC that plans and runs the troop program, under the guidance of myself and the ASM's.

Also, this is the 1st BOR this scout had gone through with this troop. He had transferred to our troop after a few years in another troop in our area. It is possible that the other troop had a slightly different approach to BOR's. However, he clearly should have been able to stand on his own two feet, as someone pointed out, during this BOR.

The biggest issue is how to learn from this and move forward. I did speak to our District Commisioner last night and he agreed with one of the suggestions that we conduct some training on BOR's within the troop. As SM, I can only suggest this, and there may be some resistance from some of the longtime committee members.

Thanks for the great feedback.

In response to Shortridge: "How upset was this kid? Breaking down into tears? Getting angry and loud?" The answers are yes and yes. This was the primary reason he was turned down at this time, as he should be able to stand on his own two feet in front of a board of review without getting rattled.

Is response to John-in-KC: No, I don't think the CC or the COR have my back. They were both part of the BOR and argued against my insistence that we provide the scout prompt feedback in writing.

Update- I met with the Scout and reviewed what he needed to do in order to move forward. He said he understood what he should have done differently and I believe he did based on the conversation. However, he did tell me he was strongly considering transferring out of our troop.

His feedback on the BOR was that he was never made to feel welcome and was continually asked the same question over and over until he got upset, since his answer wasn't accepted. His father also noted that when his son became upset, the BOR wasn't stopped at that point nor was there any effort to get either himself or I to come help his son. The scout was just sent out of the room to wait for the board's decision.

We discussed his options for staying or going and that any issues he had wouldn't go away by moving to another troop. He agreed to let me know.

I received an email yesterday stating that he was going to transfer to another troop. This really hurts, as I've had this boy since he was a Tiger Cub. This also costed our troop one of the few experienced ASM's we have (his dad). I wished him well and told him that if he needed any help on his path to Eagle he could still come to me.

Now I have to tell the Committee that we've lost this boy and provide them the feedback as to why. I fully agree that "feedback is a gift", but don't expect much from most (not all) of the Committee other than defensiveness.

Has anyone out there been through something like this? It is the season for giving, so I'd love some feedback!

Folks- Thanks for all of the great feedback. Here are a few more details requested.

1. He was turned down for not taking responsibility for his actions as a Junior Leader in the Troop and also for not showing respect to others, specifically the BOR members. I'd rather not disclose the details on the board. These are areas where myself and the ASM's working with him for the last few years also.

2. He was called back into the room and was given the reasons for being turned down at this time, but was very upset and left without saying much.

3. I spoke to his dad, one of our ASM's, and he stated that his son didn't understand why he was turned down. This is understandable given how upset he was.

4. I asked the BOR to put their findings in writing to make sure it was clear exactly why he was turned down at this time and what he needed to do in order to appear back before the BOR. I'm not trying to act like an HR dept, as someone mentioned, but rather want to make sure the message he gets is consistent. After some resistance, I did receive the letter, which is very well written and should make it clear to the scout.

5. His father & I are going to sit down with him and review this to get him back on track. He's a great kid and a future Eagle in my mind, he just hit a bump in the road he needs to overcome.

Our Troop just conducted a Board of Review for one of our scouts for Life and he was turned down. I now have to help the boy move forward (I'm the Scoutmaster). I'm interested in what process other troops follow to notify the scout he's turned down and how to help him become eligible to appear in front of the BOR again.

BTW- there is no issue with either myself or the parents disagreeing with the decision.

If he's having one on one contact with youth, report it per your council's Youth Protection policy. Let them sort it out.

We drive our boys hard all year long to Patrol cook on weekend campouts, so the Dining Hall @ summer camp is a great change of pace. The camp we attend has a very spirited staff and makes the dining hall experience extra special.