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With all that's going on, why not temporarily join a non-LDS pack? I've known other LDS families that didn't like their ward/stake pack who did this.

The Polish female Scouts and the Czech kids are some of the most popular groups at the annual Intercamp event in Europe.

Excellent! Show off those photos! Sell the next event to the boys and then the parents. The more you emphasize that you expect the pack adults to perform to standard, the more they will. The naysayers will either melt away/age out, or their kids will get tired of missing events and they'll begin to tow the line. Plus, the CC and CM team need look to your new families to begin filling in committee positions as naysayers leave.

You do not "encourage" following G2SS during any Pack function. You follow it or you go home. End of story. Before any Pack camp out, the CC and CM need to send out a Do's and Don'ts list to every family and remind everyone that this is not a private camp out but a PACK event following G2SS. Those unable or unwilling to follow the rules should reconsider their participation. Those who can not follow the rules while in camp will be asked to leave. And you have to back that promise with action.

It's very interesting to think of the different attributes and qualities we associate with the words "scout" and "guide" in a non-Scouting setting. I'm sure that was the reasoning behind the different names, as well as to distinctly separate the two programs.

Brownies work, too.

I'd shorten it by ditching the stuff about the cow and head right to SPEAK!. Once a month won't kill anyone. The more interactive, and quite frankly silly, the meeting, the more fun the boys have. Do be aware that these things will add time (about 2-4 minutes) to your agenda every time one is incorporated, so keep it tight if you want out of there in an hour. And, by WEBS, the boys and parents may have had enough of that dreaded old thing.

Maybe they're just waiting out authourity.

. By-Laws give some people the idea that a BSA unit is a democracy. You wouldn't believe the line by line fight I had to amend our old Pack's by-laws in order to satisfy our overseas military JAG office. The lawyers were cool, some of my committee not so.

I was never so happy not ot ever have to go to a Pack meeting again. After two sons in Cubs, yes, it's too long. I think that if there were a different expectation for leaders that would help. If a DL comes in with a Tiger, then they are ready to pack it in by the end of Bears but sometimes gut it out through WEBs. If I could set up leadership in a Pack, I would have a permanent Tiger leader who helps recruit the Wolf/Bear DLs. At the end of Bears, transition to a new DL for WEB with an active ASM as an ADL or consulting DL. And two years of WEB's is rough. Our den made it 18 months and

Take your daughter shopping with you to a camping supply store or look at a website together. In Brownies, about the only outdoor gear you need is a decent sleeping bag and pad. GS no longer sells outdoor gear because there are other retailers who do a better job at it at lower costs.

GSUSA is becoming more adamant and aggressive about defending their proprietary property, to include the badge and award requirements. And, don't forget to look at the "Make your Own" badges at http://forgirls.girlscouts.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Senior_MakeYourOwn.pdf The example is fly-fishing.

Go to the GS shop, or shop online at your council or at www.girlscoutshop.com and order the Girls Guide for her age level as well as the supplemental badge packets. The Guide is somewhere around $20 and each badge packet includes requirements for five badges and costs about $5. She can work on a Journey, but your family is going to part of her Journey group, since they are made to be done in a group. It might be fun for a car trip, or excruciating. www.girlscoutshop.com does require you to set up an account in order to check out. If you shop at your Council, all the profit stays with your

I'm going to agree with Basement on this. One reason we don't have a lot of outdoor oriented troops in GS is because we lost all our die-hard campers to retirement. Many of our new GS leaders don't have outdoor skills or even experiences from being Scouts, outdoor enthusiasts, or in the military. We have weak and inconsistent outdoor training. Many people don't feel competent and they don't want to take the risk. IOLS, or whatever it's called now, is asked to do too much. If an SM doesn't have solid first year skills, how can he model and teach them?

My son and husband routinely go in and out of the US with pocket knives/Leathermans in their checked luggage. As you will be visiting with several troops along the way, why don't you ask them? Around the troops we've been in, a leatherman or pocketknife in the pocket or on the belt was no big deal, but they did discourage big fixed blades. I googled "legal knife size va," since that's where I am right now, and ended up on the Virginia State Police website which referred me to certain sections of the state code as well as to check with my local city or county about any local prohibitio

I don't believe it was in G2SS. I think it is in the Cub Scout Shooting sports manual or the camp standards. Like I said, this sticks in my mind because I wanted to shoot at dinosaurs and was shot down.

I do believe that shooting at the forms of live animals is against the rules for Cubs. (I'm in the middle of PCS or I'd go get my Shooting Sports book.)

Almost every GS lawsuit involves cookie money. You don't mess with the cookies.

Councils that don't work with troops to correct ordering errors are shooting themselves in the foot and just engendering ill will. That said, the service unit cookie manager should have asked why the troop was ordering 500 cases if that was unusual for the area. I bet this was a first time cookie parent who clicked the wrong button on the website. Lots of Girl Scout cookies get eaten at resident camp. It's always a thrill to get Thin Mints in July! Overseas in our area, the Committee gets $1 of the $3.50 we charge for cookies. We split it here in our community 75/25 with the troop

What if that kid spent the summer cutting lawns and decided to donate some of his pay to his local council?

I wonder what she's like at her day job.

I would like to see the way the councils voted.

Explanatory comment: It was an international camporee for ages 11-21. And, our crew draws from the four troops in our community. It is not associated with any one troop/CO, however the troop I posted about meets on the same kaserne as the crew with a lot of overlap in the adult leadership of both units as well.

A friend of mine was recently at a big camporee. His son's troop had about 20 boys there, the oldest was an 8th grade Star Scout. Several of the troop's senior boy leaders, to include the new SPL, an Eagle Scout, and a 16 year old Life Scout, chose to attend the camporee with our local Crew instead of their troop. Granted, our local crew is pretty colorful and fun. There was a bit of grumbling that the older boys had left the younger ones in the lurch, fending for themselves, and not exhibiting leadership or loyalty. While SPL/PL should a Scout's priority be to the troop/patrol, and

Maybe AHG would be willing to go co-ed, not by local unit but as a national organization. American Heritage Youth?