Baseballfan

ugh, this one really ticks me off. I am so glad they have finally allowed some way of recourse for when you know the Scout did not do the work. My younger son badly wants a dog, and the dog care badge, but he will not be getting a dog until he can work and pay for it himself.

Ronald McDonald??? John Lennon, are you quite certain??

our Troop only has one ASM who was a Troop Eagle... the one who had his BoR well after his 18th birthday. He had the BoR at camp because he was shooting sports director and didn't want to take time off. Unfortunately most of our Eagles "Eagle out" and are not seen again, at least not very often.

I used Simple Man (along with 2 others which escape me) at my son's second to last Den meeting. Kleenex all around.

We Used to Wait by Arcade Fire.

Free by Phish Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles Road Man by Smashmouth (GREAT for Scout slideshows) Fearless by Pink Floyd ​Born to be a Scout!

Eureka tent is the first thing that pops to mind. 15 years of about once a month, including plenty of heavy rain and several snowstorms, never been wet. I have had 4 Eurekas 2 Keltys and one Coleman. (embarrassing) and the worst that happened in a Eureka was a pack of gum in the corner of the tent got wet. My fault anyway because I had put on the fly wrong, leaving a little gap of unprotection. I also love my Eureka 15 deg bag... it has a nice high footbox so that even if your zipper is down your legs and feet are still buried pretty good, and is longer and fluffier on one side for a good pill

when we did snack at T/W/B Den meetings, which was with all Dens I've been involved with, it took 5 min., the last 5 min. of the meeting, while the Den leader talks to the parents about upcoming stuff/ due dates/ whatever. In my current Webelos Den, we have a snack if *I* fail a Scout-given uniform inspection. Water is always given on demand, though. My old pack never had food at pack meetings, my new pack does... each Den is responsible for a different meeting and again the snack is at the end while the parents are writing checks, asking questions, cleaning up, socializing, etc.

I use them in all the ranks... near the beginning of Tigers we have a foosball tournament and the winner gets to be the first Denner, after him they go in alphabetical order. Beginning in Webelos, they have elections instead... I strive to make the duties fit the boy. All Denners, though are required to either lead the flag ceremony or ask someone else to, and to stay until cleanup is finished. The other thing I usually ask of them is decision making. Many things that I want the Scouts to decide, I ask the Denner for either a decision or a suggestion on how to decide. Hope this makes sense. De

haha, yes I've had plenty of cases of the same... on one very hot and humid hike a year or 2 ago they were all moaning that they couldn't make it, etc., ... but near the end of that hike there is a playground and within minutes they were chasing each other around fresh as daisies while I sat and recovered in the air conditioned car! Also last summer on the AT we had a hard day hiking in the heat... again a playground about 100 yards away from our campsite called to them.

the big controversy comes from the literature on this award and, I believe and hope, this award only. Somewhere online it clearly states that summertime activity awards are given for the rank just completed. Which makes no sense and that's why nobody pays attention to it.

I started having occasional unannounced uniform inspections in my Webelos Den this year and it's really working... they voted amongst themselves to ask me to wear a leader necker (never have in the past for Cubs) and they want to know what happens if it is ever a 10-way tie, lol. I give pretty good prizes... they have a lot of questions about proper uniforming and it has turned into a good learning experience for them which is not what I expected. Also, the inspection is the first thing after the flag so if you're late you;re out of luck.

lol! That is so funny/

in my council, the limit is 7, with a max of 3 Eagle-required. I think it is a great policy.

Thanks everyone. He does fine with his finished cards etc. as he learned from his procrastinator brother what not to do haha. Brother only earned the mandatory MBs plus a few from summer camp, never once completed a summer camp partial, and passed his Eagle board after his 18th bday. This second son is determined to not let any of that happen. Appreciate all your comments!

Hi, my son asked me to help him find ideas on how to best keep track of his open merit badges. Does anyone have any tips they have used successfully? He has a bunch open and is having a difficult time with the details. thanks.

It's difficult because the Den leader often has no idea what is expected, and what type of responsibilities the DC should be expected to handle. And the SM or other Troop leaders don't have a good way of knowing what's going on there. I was very fortunate to have an amazing DC with my younger son (older son's DC was a big brother who just came and hung out with us occasionally). He set a great example and now younger son is a successful, respected DC. He is very involved in running activities and meets with the DL a couple times a year to plan... and yes he takes the opportunity to use his wor

Any one event.

when I took over as CM we got the outgoing CM a professionally carved walking stick, and all the boys signed it in Sharpie. My older son's CM, we got him a pretty big gift cert to a nice steakhouse in the city... mostly to thank his wife for her patience and longsuffering lol.

stOut717, Wolf, Bear, and Webelos, if I'm not mistaken. Well not to be the rank, but to earn the badge.

We always hike, and often play sports. This past weekend we played soccer and badminton, and a made up volleyball/baseball hybrid, went on 2 different hikes, and made pinwheels at the nature center. Campfire games, card games, searching for "fossils" in the sandbox, playground time, climbing up the lighthouse. And they spent hours watching/following a praying mantis- birds- deer- groundhogs. Our "program" was intended to be a full weekend of sports beltloops and pins, but... it didn't turn out that way. More power to your Scouts if they "only" had fun and didn't "accomplish" anything! MY goal

Stosh, why? We occasionally go out to a bar after RT or a committee meeting. Why is that bad in your book?

I eventually gave in and bought extra shirts, it is nice to have an option when I need to wear it several days in a row. Last night my Webelos did a uniform inspection on me and busted me for wearing my district uniform to a Den meeting.

Scouter99, it isn't an illness, just an extra chromosome, and he is a "regular kid". (Well at this point he's a regular adult) Also, he did not get diagnosed until a year or 2 after the pullup req... my point being just because a kid is physically weak does not mean he is not fit, or that trying harder would help.

Well, Basementdweller, during his last 3 years in Cubs we (either the Pack or just the Den or just all the Webelos) had some sort of campout or overnight every single month. All of his Crossover ceremonies were conducted as part of a tent camping weekend at our council camp. We did resident camp at our council Cub summer camp, weekends in tents at the same place, lockins at the church hall, science center, and gym, weekends at state parks and privately owned campgrounds, and winter cabin camping at the next closest council's camp. The single night in my backyard was asked for by the boys when