Gone

Sorry for the extra post...here is the official guidance from my Council. Note they say this is a new national policy for 2013. When in doubt I would contact your local Chapter and ask them what they know. BREAKING NEWS CHANGES TO ADULT SELECTION TO THE ORDER OF THE ARROW FOR 2013! The national Order of the Arrow committee has modified the requirements for the nomination of adult unit Scouters as candidates for induction into the Order. The changes will increase the number of currently-serving Scout Leaders and Varsity Team Coaches and other unit Scouters who can be nominated

I've done Texas in the summer and grew up going to Goshen in VA, so the three H's (hazy, hot and humid) are familiar friends. The river will offer some relief I am sure. In Texas you can escape the 102F heat by jumping in the 84F water...yuck! No thanks! I hear good things about the camp and it comes highly recommend from folks in my area who also rated camps like Alexander, Tres Rios and Daniel Boone quite high. Hoping it is a good choice.

The adult election rule I read recently...which was reiterated by our OA election rep...was that a troop may appoint 1 adult for every three scouts elected. The SM, if not a member, may also be appointed BUT if he is already a member (or declines the offer) then you cannot send someone in their place. So for the example above, if you elected 2 youth then you can send one adult; two adults if the SM is not a member. As for who decides, I think this varies from troop to troop and I have not seen any directive from the OA. As long as the Scouters meet the same criteria as the youth then

The only thing to add to the advice above is: 1. Have a plan. Pick what aspects of troop operations you want boy-led and have an idea what you want that to look like. Get the senior boys to buy in and make sure you get adult leaders to help with keeping the plan in place. 2. Pick your battles. I tried to go more boy-led but quickly realized I needed to take baby steps. My plan was too aggressive so I developed a staged plan putting those things I wanted boy-let most in the front of the plan and so on. 3. Be open to suggestions. Even after the plan is in place re-tooling the plan

Our troop is headed to Camp Orr in Arkansas this summer. Was wondering if anyone has been there before. The Leader Guide looks pretty good but was wondering if anyone had any direct experience with the camp. Good staff? MB program? Stuff to do near by or on the way there (coming from North Texas), etc? Any insight would be welcome.

Were were there in 2010 as well. I have to say our experience was pretty similar to the above posts in many ways and in some ways different. Registration: Went fast and was well organized. Camp medics did a good job of centralizing meds distribution and is fairly well centrally located to make doing morning/evening meds no issue. Dinning Hall: Well, it's Texas in the summer so expect heat. Lots of it. There is no AC. It is an open dining hall. The process (Sweepy-sweepy, Moppy-moppy) was well coordinated. The food? Well, we had something resembling a McRib sandwich that even my growi

I suspected as much. My big concern is developing a second unit and all the hassles that go with it. We have a strong troop and already suffer, as I am sure many other troops do, from older boys being less involved or trying to distance themselves from the young boys. What I would really like is a more "Leadership Corps" style sub-unit within the troop. Something to operate as a leadership unit but allow them the flexibility for high adventure activities. I guess the Venture Patrol is the best way. Too bad the LC is a thing of the past...was always a badge of honor to wear that patch.

I was approached by some older Scouts wishing to start an "Explorer-like" unit within the troop. They were confused about whether it should be an Venture Patrol or a Venturing Crew, so I did some digging. I must admit to being more than a little confused. I get the seperation issues discussed above, understand (I think) the issues around spserate units, retention of older Scouts, avoiding cannibalizing your Boy Scout program, rivalry issues, etc. For me the crux of the issue is what (if anything) can a Venturing Crew do that a Venture Patrol cannot? Looking at the BSA activities matrix (s

I wanted to circle cback to this thread to answer my own question. I appreciate the suggestions on making our own slides, but to make 12 slides by hand that would be of "interest" from boys 11 to 17 I wanted to go with something pre-made. I did find these two companies who would custom make neckerchief slides for upwards of $3.50 each for an order of 50. The BSA website actually had a list of licensees who noted in their profile they do slides. Took a while to find but it was there. http://www.stadriemblems.com/scouting/bolos/index.htm http://www.moritzembroidery.com/cms/templates/

Our troop has long used a bull or buffalo neckerchief slide (plastic, but nice) as a way of rewarding the Patrol cook who cooked the best dinner on a camp out. However, stock is running out. I have searched the net to find anyone who has any cool slides that are under $8 or less but have come up empty. Does anyone have any links to sites that sell (preferably in bulk) any neckerchief slides?

Our troop has long used a bull or buffalo neckerchief slide (plastic, but nice) as a way of reqarding the Patrol cook who cooked the best dinner on a camp out. However, stock is running out. I have searched the net to find anyone who has any cool slides that are under $8 or less but have come up empty. Does anyone have any links to sites that sell (preferably in bulk) any neckerchief slides?

@John-in-KC... Yes, we have sent a formal letter. I feel bad for the camp ranger and the staff that were trying hard. They were left in the lurch by the director leaving and her poor hiring decisions. All that left the camp staff scrambling to cover missing program areas. Making it worse was that we were at CDB last year which made the differences in camps even more stark. I have no doubt they can fix the problems. I spoke to the DE and CE (who were at the camp taking time out of their vacation to help make things better) and they are aware of the issues and are taking proactive step

We used to do like most troops: - SMs develop the skeleton scheudle - SMs and EC have a laundry list of ideas - Scoutmaster or ASM integrates everything into draft schedule/plan - PLC reviews and votes on what to do...usually rubber stamping most things Problem was that we kept doing the same things because the parents typically drove the process. This year we were truly boy-lead. The boys were taught how the process works, shown how to break down the planning components and how to construct a proper annual plan. Then they went back home and researched what they want to do, suc

Has anyone been to Camp Orr or Camp Pioneer recently (in the last 3-5 years)? Looking for an option for 2013 for our troop that does not require a bus. We have three treks going to Philmont next summer and think our summer camp numbers may be smaller than usual...ergo looking for a closer camp to keep costs down.

Would be interested in "cooler" options less than 10 hours of North Texas. We typically go out of Council simply because we cannot find many Scouters (or parents) willing to give up a week's vacation time to go sweat-off thier extra poundage at the local/regional camps. A few years of doing the Texas heat may make you a 170 lbs triathlete, but it does not get you many tent mates to share the burden. :-) Have heard nice things about some AR camps in the mountain areas in the NW but cannot recall the names...saw the reference to Camp Orr above so will check that our. Tres Ritos we have hear

Figured I would follow up on my post from last year about camps. We did go to Gorham Scout Ranch (formerly Camp Frank Rand) this summer. Pluses: - vistas in the hight deser were beautiful - camp sites had new pads and new tents - many camp sites had brand new pavilions - most older Council staff seemed genuinely interested in making the camp better Minuses: - had lost the camp director two weeks into the summer - many of the staff seemed to be just going through the paces - hygiene was an issue in the mess hall - virus spread through camp (origin unknown but thou

We just got back from a camp in the southwest. Roughly 3-5 boys from each troop came down with vomiting and diarreah for 24 hous followed by fever and listlessness. After coming back home many more boys cam down with it despite efforts to contain it. Not sure if it was related to camp sanitation or if the troops brought it with them. The sanitation at camp was not good so that is the consensus as to where it came from. We think the numbers per troop are higher after leaving. There were few sanitation stations and too many shared buckets for cleaning tables in the mess hall.

We recently had a "reward night" where we watched a movie. The PLC selected the BBC series by Ian Hislop called "Scouting for Boys". Our guys found the whole thing enlightening as it spoke to many of the things posted above (train the scouts, give them the tools, get out of their way, be there to advise when they fail, etc.). Our PLC became encouraged and empowered, taking a much more active role in just about everything. They even adopted one of Baden-Powell's favorite sayings as the credo of the PLC: "Never do for a boy what he can do for himself". My life just got a whole lot easier. :-D

Thanks. Did that. They report no issues but have "advisories" in place. They have no knowledge of BSA issues and referred me to DHS.

I have a few questions... - Has anyone been to Big Bend with their Scout Troop? Comments? Suggestions? - I have heard a rumor that due to current border issues (as of Aug 2011) the Dept of Homeland Security has put out an advisory on visiting the park and that BSA has stated they do not want Scout Troops visitng the park. However, I can find nothing specific on the DHS or BSA site regarding this alledged restriction. Any one here heard of this?

In our troop we did a bit of "market research" to find out what the boys liked and what keeps them in Scouting. The answers, of course, varied depending on the age group. Here's what we found: - Boys 11-13 were in Scouting pretty much for the camping, challenges of new things, feeling of being on their own or being trusted with stuff, rank advancement and being with friends. - Boys 14-15 were in Scouting to hang out with friends, do "older Scout stuff" like archery/shooting, and "high adventure" stuff. - Boys 15+ were essentially in it to get Eagle or because their parents are f

Anyone been to this camp since 2009? Any update on any of the issues raised earlier in this thread?

Like the SM who started the thread, we are looking at three camps for 2012. The camps we are looking at are: 1) Ben Delator 2) Gorham SR (Chimayo, NM) 3) Medicine Mountain I have searched and read through a few threads here where Ben Delator was critiqued back in 2008. Anyone been there more recently? A local troop was there this past summer and gave it high marks; higher than Alexander. Have not found any updated reports on Gorham or Medicine Man. Would appreciate any recent updates (since 2009) on these camps if anyone has any. All I can find is stuff going back to 2004.

My Troop is in north Texas and we went to Camp Daniel Boone (CDB) this summer. Yes, it is a bit of a drive (972 miles) but we rented a bus. We usually do Alexander, Rand, Hale or Woodruff. Went out of Council this summer because, well let's face it, Texas is hotter than the surface of the Sun in June-August and after one summer at Constantin my boys were near ready to quit. Back to CDB. They were AWESOME!!! Everything from the weather to the MB program to the Trail to First Class (called Goin'g Great) was top notch. Food and facilities were good too. Against your checklist, here are my co