Gone

Crisco is da' bomb. Works great. Does not go rancid and conditions REAL nice!

We do a few meetings where we have a menu planning game. The SPL gives the patrols a sample meal to plan and they have to develop the shopping list for a group of 6 Scouts. They have 10 mins. When done they see the answer (i.e., how many boxes of pasta, ounces of sauce, slices of bread, etc.). Then they go outside and cook it.

Replies as colored text....

Odd bug. Cannot post two capital letters in a row in a new thread subject line. Posted using and iPad and have not tried a PC. Does not seem to affect the body of a post, just the subject title in a thread. Not a big deal, just odd. Made sure auto-correct was off.

My current SPL actually quoted (via look up) the GTA a few weeks back when addressing a planning and sign off issue for our new scouts. Has the Sweet 16 on PDF on his phone. Future lawyer.

With the conversion to the new software we lost this thread. I found it very helpful. If you posted to this thread before -- or have new thoughts -- please re-post how your unit handles patrol KP. Is your KP centralized? Decentralized? How do you handle sanitizing (e.g., Steramine, bleach, vinegar, let the dog lick them clean)? How do you heat your water (e.g., turkey burner, fire, etc.)? Who heats the water and when? Use the "three bin system" or something else? Walk through your process in your response. Address these and other issues and how you solved them. Differentiate between b

Agree on Scouts (Instructors, JASMs) signing off on early rank requirements. They're pretty stringent. Leader-specific instructors like to push the SM/ASM sign off, quoting "BSA Policy". When pushed to show in the GTA or other docs where that's stated, they can't. The only section addressing it is the one above. I think that's left over adult control freaks just trying to stay relevant.

- Having a per scout budget before the camp out really helped us control costs. - Educating scouts on quantities and portion allocation (slices per loaf, ounces per person, etc) taught the boys better purchasing. - Completing the menu 2-3 weeks ahead of the camp out gave plenty of time for reflection and focuses shopping. - Discussions around values shopping (buying low price, high quality goods) helped keep costs down. - Making more Dutch oven or one pot meals keeps costs down. - Making the "bail out" date the Wednesday before the camp out allowed us to make sure the per person cost s

SPL started a program to reward patrols for the most efficient use of food (e.g. fewest left overs). During menu planning the older Scouts help the patrols validate that they are not over purchasing. We have a list on our menus which help the Scouts quantify how much to purchase (1 loaf has 20-26 slices, 8 oz of fluid = 1 serving, etc.). Taking the extra time on planning has helped lead to less waste. Then when we get back they review the food stores to see who had the fewest left overs. Perishables go home with the cook and are used in a "dish" to see who can be the most creative, which is br

Just like a BSA online service.

@Eagle94 I see nothing wrong with your approach. Honesty is always best. So is some competition.

From the stories I hear the competition is rough. So much so that units cutthroat each other. Not all, but the big ones do. It is not very Scout-like.

You'd hate my brother's district. Thirty three (yes, 33) Boy Scout units within a 35 sq mile area!!! Packs are out of schools mostly, some aligned with churches. Most are not affiliated with any unit. Recruiting is a total free-for-all!!!

You missed highlighting the clearest statement made in the FAQ: "Times when a tour and activity plan must be submitted for council review include the following: When conducting any of the following activities outside of council or district events: Aquatics activities (swimming, boating, floating, scuba, etc.) Climbing and rappelling Orientation flights (process flying plan) Shooting sports" That's pretty clear BSA expects you to fill out the tour plan when you are doing any of these activities even if it is at a Council camp UNLESS it is part of a council/district eve

Hmmmm, the BSA website (second FAQ questions) would seem to contradict this *IF* you are partaking in the type of high risk activities were were discussing. My council is pretty anal-retentive and follow this directive by the book. If you are going to council camp (or not) and partaking in any of those activities you must complete a tour plan. In reading the language it did not sound optional. Given that it doesn't take long to complete the plan, our unit does it anyway AND completes a corresponding permission slip. Based on feedback from national (sent in a question when I posted this th

I'm late to this party, but this is our reply to district and council. After decades of being the unit that drove their support activities (with no consideration or thanks), this is our response now. Awesome, healthy unit and happy boys who run everything. Was asked by a district rep why we don't participate in district, told them we focus on our kids because our boys like it that way.

Agreed. My point was that where BSA makes distinctions (e.g., in the tour plan) so should the units. I take it your council does not require your activities to match your tour plan?

I would think so, but not for OA or Camping MB though. We try to limit the number of indoor "camp outs" just because our focus is on the outdoor program.

This being purposely obtuse. I was obviously calling out the same activities that the online tour plan asks us as leaders to call out. For the record, no BSA obviously does not ask us to spell out camping, axe use, fires, etc. It DOES ask us to note any shooting sports, water sports, flying, back country and other things. That was my point. I then married that point to what my council has required of our units with regard to the tour plan. Let's not be argumentative for the sake of doing so.

The number of adults a unit can nominate is based on the number of Scouts elected each year. If you have 3 Scouts elected you can send 1 adult. You can also send your SM if they are not a member. If you have 6 Scouts you can send two adults, 9 Scouts = 3 adults, and so on for every three Scouts elected.

Our problem was (is) that the districts were staffed by a tight circle of people who rarely let people in. This made folks who did volunteer to help, or who were asked by these folks to help, feel like they didn't belong. After they volunteer -- and doing an exceptional job -- they were thanked but not made part of that inner circle. Observation tells me these folks who run (my) district love being big fish in the pond and don't like anyone on staff who will show them up. Many run district because they couldn't run anything else in the real world.