Mister T

It is not pushing the boundaries, it is looking at the requirements and wondering how to count it, because they are not clear on this. Incidentally, if I have a quality unit I don't really care if I get a patch that says so and if I don't have a quality unit I don't want a patch that says I have one. That said, if there is an award why not wear it? So I'll count 2 nights as one trip, and let chips fall. I'm asking because I like 2 night trips better than one night trips. They are better, so a quality unit should take 2 night trips more than one night trips. Mister Tim

"Short-term camping: The troop conducts short-term or weekend campouts throughout the year." "Conduct four short-term overnight campouts(bronze)." "Conduct 10 short-term overnight campouts(gold)." If a unit camps out 2 nights in a row (one campout, overnite friday, overnight saturaday), does that count as one short-term campout or 2?

100% if the boys in my troop have arachophobia. No more camping, along comes a spider and frightens poor Jimmy away.

Great, I just printed out a dozen of the old "new health forms" Tim

Did he meet the requirements for the Eagle Rank? If he did, then he earned the Rank and should have it. Can he meet requirement 2? How does he answer this question? Tim

The requirement includes the words "a troop program." Why not ask your PLC to set aside some troop time to have the scouts talk about the dangers of drug use? T

That didn't work. How bout this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haRXvrzz8Mc&feature=related

www.youtube.com/watch?v=haRXvrzz8Mc&feature=related This one?

After one particularly harsh dressing down, the Company Commander said to me, "I bet that when I die, you'll pee on my grave." I told him, "No Sir! When I get out of the Navy, I'm never going to stand in line again!" Tim

I posted this on our troop's website: Don't ever be afraid of making a mistake, A Pope once said, "to err is human." Another guy (Peter David) said, "Knowledge may be gained from books, but wisdom can only be gained by experience, and mistakes are the greatest granters of wisdom. If one is afraid to make mistakes, then how will one stretch the bounds of his world? One should not simply walk gently into walls; one should run into them at full speed." (A Pope is Alexander Pope) Tim

Apparently, the joke needs a disclaimer: No child was actually abused in the telling of this joke. Tim

Sorry, my mistake, adults do need to meet the 15 day camping requirement.

Just to clarify, Adults are selected to OA to assist the youth. There is no camping requirement for adults to become OA members.

It asks for your password and the forum password. You may have done like I did and got the 2 reversed. Tim

Right, Boy Led and Patrol Method go hand in hand. This should be stressed in SM training. "A Troop without Patrols is arguably not a boy scout troop at all", I entirely agree. If no patrols, what is being led by the boys? So how do we get to worthwile training that is not the "Happy Path"? On the Bright Side, My son's new troop is going backpacking this weekend, 2 patrols, my son's patrol and a brand new scout patrol, the Scouts decided where they wanted to go. A real boy scout troop. Tim

Wow, I read through this thread with interest to say the least. My son has had nearly the opposite experience in scouts as your son. I was his Webelos Den Leader and we visited two troops and camped with one of them. His best friend was in one of the troops, so that was the troop my son decided to join. I volunteered to be an Assistant Scoutmaster (ASM) and got the Scoutmaster Training (thinking that at least one leader will be trained!). The Scoutmaster was planning a major camping trip, to Philmont Scout Ranch, in New Mexico. Philmont requires boys to be 14 before they can go to,

Well, that was easy. We are now a year round troop. Mister T

Thanks for all the replies, I'll post back after I discuss this with the SM. LisaBob, I understand the concern about leader burnout, but I'll be totally available to help throughout the summer. Mister T

OK, Good. I just thought this was the way troops are. There are 2 troops in the area and they both shut down for summer, except council summer camp. I'll bring this up to Mister J tomorrow. Perhaps we just inherited a bad habit. Hi Beaver, yep, its a Troop, not a Pack of Cub Scouts. ScoutNut, why did you decide to shut down for summers?

Well, my son has been in the troop for a year and its nearing the time that we will break for the summer. My question is: Why do scout troops break for the summer? Because the school does? We are not school. Isn't summertime a great time to be a scout? It's tough to go camping here in the far north in the Cold Season, but summers are fantastic, just when it starts to get warm enough to go outside, we put the troop on hold until it gets too cold again. Does anybody go year-round? If so, how did you bring this subject up to the Scoutmaster?

When I was a Webelos Leader, I had them crossover as soon as they earned the AOL, which was exactly 6 months after they had completed 4th grade (they had all the other requirements done). This caused a lot of irritation and confusion in the Pack as they believed that no scout could ever crossover before the Blue/Gold and recharter in February. But the boys were more than ready to crossover, they knew exactly which troop they were going to. It was much better for them, than if they had to wait. One of them is earning his 1st Class Rank tonight at the Court of Honor. Mr T

I have to respectfully disagree with JTS. You may lose some boys over the next year, but don't plan to lose them. You need 2 new patrols, because a patrol can have only 8 members, 6 would be ideal. You have 12 new boys coming in, so 2 new scout patrols of 6 each would be just right. Have the whole troop elect a SPL and have the boys choose their own patrols and their own patrol leaders. Trust that the patrol method works. Tim

Hey KB: You said, "this is really a great place to find all of the answers, and most of them are right" So I have a little question. How do you tell the right answers from the wrong answers? Usually the answers that sound the most convincing are wrong, but other than that I have no idea how to tell the difference.

Thanks Guys, good coffee

yeah, that's a real problem. Hi OldGreyEagle, I've been lurking awhile and decided to sign up. There seems to be a lot of knowledge here.