NE-IV-88-Beaver

While they seemed to focus on the Venture Scouts on the float, it was hard to miss the 300 Eagle Scouts marching with it. They got a good deal of play as well. It's a shame that the flyover cut the coverage short. Another good plug for Scouting in general were the Scouts from all phases acting as standard bearers before each unit in the parade. All in all, a very positive day for Scouting in 2010!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh......to look back to when I was just old and feeble, what I now call the good old days!!!

"The boy did not "fail" the BOR, they only postponed their decision to give the boy more time to work throught his POR. Had they "completed" the BOR, even if he "failed", they would still have to award the rank." If he failed, why would they award the rank? That doesn't make any sense. Why bother to have one if that is the case? Have it, they fail, give them the reasons, outline the steps necessary to satisfy opportunities for improvement and give them the time to do it! I thought that was the way it was supposed to work. "There is a reason why the SM isn't in on the BOR's. If they f

"Actually, no. Not in our district. The chair asks, "anyone have any concerns?". " And isn't that a method of voting?

A "good" CC should be able to read his committee and realize whether or not there is consensus on an issue or that a vote may be needed to determine everyone's position. Often, taking a vote will bring a debate to an end and the meeting can be put back on track. It also eliminates the possibility of confusing which side of an issue that someone is truly on. My committee may go for several months without having an issue contentious enough to require a vote or there may be a single meeting where several votes are necessary. To say that a committee can't vote is mind-boggling to me! We vote

If they completed a merit badge at camp, there should be a signed off card for that badge. In answer to your question about first aid, they need to see a counselor to get signed off. The counselor may elect to accept the certification for meeting some of the requirements but is not required to.

Always great to see this type of publicity as opposed to the kind out of New Hampshire last week.

Unbelievable!!! Nominations had to be in to the committee just 9 days after BHO took office. I'm hard pressed to remember the specifics of that period that warranted this honor other than just his being inaugurated.

From kittle - "The question asked of the Cub Master was only if their Pack met during the summer, which the answer was yes. Then was asked if my son attended those meeting, which the answer was yes. I am an ASM with the Troop and have been helping this new Pack get started and going strong as they are a very small Pack from a very small town. I went to any meeting with him that I did not have to work. Part of the problem is that the SM never wrote down in the records when my son started as Den Chief." Obviously we don't know for sure what the problem was, but from the above I would be wil

OGE - I'm in agreement with you on Social Security. Just some rough calculations show that they're giving me in one year what I gave them in three years. So I have to collect for at least 13+ years to get my and my employer's contributions back. Now I'd like to think that if I'd saved it myself, and invested it half-way wisely, it would have earned at least enough in interest or dividends to buy me another 5 years. So now I'm up to collecting for at least 18 years before I'm getting any money that wasn't mine to begin with. Somehow, I fail to see how that qualifies as an "entitlement", ei

"didnt the President, while on the campaign trail, have solutions for most if not all these ills? Can't he just put into place the solutions that he promised?" OGE - That's kind of the point, isn't it! What happened to all of those solutions? Just call some of dem good ol' boys in from the Hill, tell 'em what the fixes are and get 'em going. That's the "change" that we were looking for, so now's the time to deliver the goods. Stop blaming the other side for blocking the Prez's plans when he hasn't really told us what they are. I'm still waiting for the first detailed plan to emanate

Aw right Gern, you got me! You're right, he should multi-task. Let him pick two problems and get them solved! That would seem to be better than just using a scatter-shot approach in bringing all of these problems to the forefront without putting forth any concrete solutions. And yes, there must be some priorities established. What issues cause the most concern to the American people, you know the people that all of da folks (sorry, Beav) in Washington are supposed to be representing?

President Obama seemed to be swept into the highest office in the land with his cry for "Change, Change, Change". What would be a real change would be if he rolled up his sleeves, took the bull by the horns, actually came up with a real plan for change on his own and then put together a group to actually see it pushed through. So far, IMHO, it seems that all he has done is identified obvious problems, that we all see, and asked for the "clowns" in Congress to come up with a plan to correct them, in a lot of cases the same clowns who passed the legislation that either created the problem

Went to one a few years back that had a number of the original Norman Rockwell Scout paintings most of which had found their way onto the cover of Boy's Life. I found it very worth-while. I think you will too if you enjoy that type of artwork.

I think that you got the gist of my message correctly, fighterpilot. That is an important distinction that some units miss. And a belated wecome to the forum as well!

They can only be registered in one position in the troop, even though they could in fact fill two roles. Registration would determine whether or not they are actually committee members. ASM's are tricky at this point because as an ASM they can't serve on a Board of Review whereas they could as a committee member. An important point to remember so an advancement report doesn't get rejected.

Good post, John-in-KC. The opportunities are there if we look for them. I'm a firm believer in having the Scouts work out the learning process on their own. The official position is Merit Badge Counselor, not Merit Badge Teacher. IMHO a counselor's job is to review the requirements and clarify expectations, point them in the right direction, give them some coaching when necessary, and review what they have done to fulfill the requirements, not teach them and lead them through the whole process, step by step. As Merit Badge Counselor Coordinator for my district, I unfortunately find that t

"Adult uniformed leaders" is not a very descriptive term. As Committee Chairman, I'm often in uniform. Scoutmasters and Assistant Scoutmasters can not serve on the Troop Committee. They may attend the meetings but can not vote.

meschen - The DE doesn't recruit or assign Unit Commissioners, that is the job of the District Commissioner. It has been suggested that MamaCM contact the District Commissioner and that would be a good move on her part. Another point that hasn't been mentioned is that many districts have a group of trainers that are ready and willing to step in to lend assistance when a pack is in trouble. The District Commissioner should be able to tell MamaCM whether or not that type of assistance is available to help her get her group organized since she is starting with very little background in the

MamaCM - Some packs do have individual Scouts accounts for their boys, normally giving them some portion of any fund-raising dollars that the boys have raised. It is not unusual for the monies in these accounts to be transferred over to the troop that these Webelos join. This is based on there being a formal plan in place though, not just being done on a whim for a particular group of boys. Before these three boys leave with $1000, you should be shown evidence that a formal plan was in place and that there are, in fact, individual Scout accounts established. This is important information

Thankfully all chapters are not like that!! Like most chapters, we often have more adults than youth at our chapter meetings ............. but the Chapter Adviser gets a minute at the end of the meeting, other than that, the officers are running their meeting. Note - their meeting, not ours! I enjoyed attending chapter meetings particularly while I was District Chairman. I was sure that I wouldn't be asked to say anything, unlike any other meeting that I attended during that time. If you are a member of a chapter like the one described by ntrog8r, please invite the offending adults o

Many council camps have put pavilions in each campsite for safety reasons. The reason given in my council was that they were to be used as a gathering spot during thunder storms. In the past, with severe lightning in the area, they had tried to gather everyone under the main dining pavilions which could get quite cramped for space. Getting everyone under a pavilion also gets everyone out of their tents to prevent them being struck by falling tree branches during the storm, obviously tents don't offer a great deal of protection. The pavilion in the campsite takes the place of tarps that we

Excellent thoughts, Hal! I'll join you in saying that prayer.

If my memory serves me correctly, the original expansion of the Webelos was to a full two-year program. It was then found that the number of boys bridging over into Boy Scouts was dropping off. National then scaled the Webelos program back to eighteen months and encouraged bridging to be held between December and February. This change would allow the new Scouts to be fully indoctrinated into a troop before summer camp, enabling them to attend this sometimes daunting experience as seasoned Scouts. In districts and councils that made this change, the bridging and retention numbers went up.

Apparently our old Wood Badge beads (got mine in 1997) aren't worth a lot in today's Scouting program! I looked up the requirements today to be able to serve on NYLT adult staff and they state that you must have taken WB21C or served on WB21C staff, not just be Wood Badge trained. Doesn't matter that I've served on Brownsea JLT staff for over 20 years. Requirements for SM and SA for the 2010 Jamboree stated that they must have taken WB21C. I feel so worthless! If our training was so pathetic as not to qualify us to staff any future programs, why did they take our name, beads, woggles, and