Nike

As ADC are you in a position to, on a yearly basis, inform the current troop COR & IH that they are losing boys to the other troop due to a program that simply isn't being run the BSA way? And they might be in danger of losing the charter if things don't improve? (Admittedly, this could be a dicey strategy depending on if the CO wants to keep the charter.) Hopefully, if Madame CC leaves your troop and tries to start a crew, your DE and our friends at Darby will not issue a charter to a CO which has her as a crew advisor based on past experience. I'm not holding my breath, but.

Well! Good thing Duke rejected me as it seems I would have wasted 80K and never met my husband. Go 'Hoos! I've just finished reading the paper Lisabob linked to, but didn't see any assertion that leadership roles in high caliber extra-curriculars during high school lesssened the chances of acceptance at a highly competitive university or college. Maybe it's in a different paper?

The Scout Camp on Catalina island is moving to shipping container architecture. It looks really cool. Here's the website: http://inhabitat.com/shipping-container-cabins-designed-for-boy-scouts-on-catalina-island/

Not unless it is part of the program, such as ice cream after the rain gutter regata or a Fear Factor theme. Our pack meets at 6 pm, so most eat dinner at the PX right before or dash over right after.

Just to update: The 200 person cake was chocolate-strawberry cream-yellow, gorgeous, and delicious.

Here's the reality and what I would tell a leader in our area: 1. It's May. Have a meeting about behaviour and what consequences will be if lines are crossed. Put it in writing. Follow through. 2. Gut it out through the end of June. I'll be at every event if that is what it takes. 3. Document, document, document. For next year: Tell the Service Unit Manager (SUM) or paid staff Director of Membership (DMM) in no uncertain terms you will not lead a troop with this mother-daughter combo in the membership any longer and that most of your 5th graders won't commit to Cadettes due

It depends. For our pack, our CC and Treasurer were spouses, and they felt it negatively impacted everyone else's time at the monthly leader/committee meeting since they had to bring the children. If you have enough parents, I believe it's time to reach beyond the "usual suspects" and involve adults from more families. It also means there is more group buy-in, hopefully, from the parents who are writing the checks.

Thanks all for your suggestions. Looks like I'll be looking for a Tinker to test out.

Great. And I ordered the 200 person cake for our shindig on May 22.

Does anyone have recommendations for small pocket knives in the $15 range? Currently our GS committee has a set of #7 and #8 Opinel single blades. I'm open to buying some #5s and #6s, since some of our Daisies and Brownies have really tiny hands, but looking for suggestions.

Scoutbox is in Trans-Atlantic. We have districts that cover multiple countries. It can be hard to deliver training here since most training is located on military installations, but we have lots of troops in other large cities. It's very Germany-centric, even though the head office is in Italy. Back in the states our district in CA covered the Monterey Peninsula part of a huge agricultural county. I never went to training there. I didn't even know there was training. In NC, we had two districts covering one county--rather medium sized as counties go I believe, but with a huge Ar

My son's troop has one V2 for every patrol. Only needed two tomake scrambled eggs and hash browns for 50 at a camporee where they were doing troop cooking. Hooked up to propane, it was almost just like cooking on a gas stove.

I've never understood cooking eggs in a ziplock. Why not just boil them and move on?

Thanks for all the replies. I've got a shopping list now. I do have a Big Agnes, but I'm thinking I need more insulation on the bottom. We've got the pack campout coming up and hopefully I'll be better equiped by then, Military Postal Service willing.

Your advancement chair may have some extra on hand or might be able to order them for you. My #2 son's Bobcat, Tiger and Wolf are also looking a bit ratty. When he gets his Webelos badge, we've decided to get him a tan shirt.

Yes, it was barely getting down to 40 degrees, damp, and bit breezy this weeekend, and I nearly froze to death at night. Luckily, my daughter curled up on me, and I was able to get warm. I feel like I've tried all manner of bags of varying weight, contruction, and pads plus different sleeping clothes, socks on/off, hats, etc. Ever since I gave up the 20 lb Coleman canvas and flannel camp bags, I've been cold on every non-summer camping trip. I know sleeping on my side is problematic, and I can't sleep in a mummy bag due to not liking the constricted feeling. Any advice?

If your troop gets known around the neighborhood for selling and spreading mulch in the spring and the fall, that's not too much fundraising. If a few boys manage to score a routine mowing job, all the better. The odds of anyone getting more than a splinter or a strained muscle are pretty paltry.

One of the great things about being in a transient military community is that even if we do the same activity every year, we have enough turn over that we get great ideas about how to change up the entertainment value or fine tune the mechanics. If repeating the same event every year was a terrible idea, we would have been over and done with the PWD years ago!

While this boy can benefit from Scouts and the discipline of other adults, what he really needs is intensive personal and family therapy, Grandpa included. It may be heartbreaking for you and Grandma, but Scouting and her best efforts are not working. You two need to have a long sit down over coffee and cake. Bring tissues.

How would this sleepover be different from another patrol that had their SM approved overnight trek to a mountain hut cancelled due to adverse conditions and decided to just pitch tents in the PL's back yard, cook on the grill, and watch a video or two? The ASMs (if any necessary) who need to cover down on adult supervision required by the paperwork could even stay up with PL's mom & dad playing rummy all night.

And while we fiddle over a burning Libya, what's going on in Iran and Pakistan?

We'd think the Pod People had taken over. I believe that in 10-15 years GSUSA might finally be in the right frame of mind (having retired off those most viciously and irrationally opposed) to bring up federation similar to what many European countries did first.

Eng, how much do past legal fights have to do with your reticence? And would you feel the same if the organization wasn't Scouts but school, sports league, or church sponsored? (This message has been edited by Nike)

Over or under barely matters to me, just stop buttoning the top button and tightening down the slide like a Windsor knot. Scouts don't look like they can even breathe. Why is there a top button on the shirts anyway?

Bingo!