oldsm

This thread got me thinking about a situation that happened in my council a few years ago.

My son spent his entire summer as a staffer at a council Cub Scout camp, except for 1 week when he attended JLTC (before it was morphed into NYLTC). At JLTC, he discovered a blind spot in one eye while demonstrating to a fellow scout how he helped the cubs determine eye dominance at the BB range. The next morning he reported it to the camp nurse, who said not to worry about it and tell his parents (me) at the end of the week. He did. We got him prompt care (a PA friend that Saturday, then an opthamologist on Monday, followed by a retina specialist the same day, followed by our family doctor. Conference calls all the way around.

Long story short: he has lost all of his central vision in the one eye in spite of very aggressive treatment including IV antibiotics over a 2-month period. The loss is permanent.

We considered filing a suit against the council and possibly the camp nurse (who is still used by the council). We didn't, because we were afraid of retaliation against both my sons and me. The ripple effect through our troop would have been harmful.

The medical bills were covered by our health insurance. Son is working on Eagle. A lawsuit would not have brought back his eyesight. But it might have removed this nurse from council duty. I still wonder how many other ills she dismisses instead of making proper referrals.

My troop helped with our Council's Haunted Woods (a Cub Scout-oriented event that runs Friday and Saturday nights at a local Council camp).

On Thursday after school, I took several boys to the camp to set up our campsite (tents, dining fly, etc.)

On Friday afternoon, we went en masse. The boys unloaded wood for the campfires and constructed a 400-foot long rope maze through the woods, hung punch-out skeletons, tiki torches, etc.

For the Woods, they guided/scared/haunted people coming through the maze, which ended at our campfire where we read a variety of age-appropriate scary stories. This was a bit hit. Right after the event closed on Friday, the rain began. It continued all day Saturday, ending just before the activity geared up in the evening.

During the day, the boys went for a hike around the lake (in driving rain!), then worked on various Tenderfoot-1st Class requirements. After lunch we participated in a Troop Leader Training (TLT) session offered by another scoutmaster in camp.

All in all, a good weekend. The boys had fun, worked together, provided a valuable service to the Council, learned a lot, and can't wait to go back for the 4th time next year.

Perhaps the question wasn't clear. I know that there are no Patrol Scribe or Patrol QM patches. BUT...the "troop Scribe and QM patches don't specifically state "Troop Scribe" or "Troop Quartermaster"; hence, they COULD be used in patrol positions, too. The question really is: "SHOULD they be used in a patrol setting?"

This should be a simple question, but I've not found an "authoritative" answer.

Do PATROL scribes and quartermasters wear POR patches on their uniforms?

For troop positions, it's obvious. For patrol positions, not so much.

My understanding of the patrol positions is that they're basically training positions for later troop appointment and, since they don't count for Star-Life-Eagle PORs, they probably should not wear the patches. Besides, it can be confusing to see 4 or 5 people all running around with Scriber or QM patches.

What are your practices about patrol positions? Thanks in advance.

Not to sound flippant, but I find myself feeling strongly for all sides. I think I agree most with Eamonn that we as adults need to be trained and prepared to at least recognize the warning signs and be prepared to communicate such to our scouts.

I think, though, that the kids often know more than we do. Suicide awareness and prevention are taught in our schools.

A couple of weeks ago, my son was at work when he received a text message on his cell phone from a coworker (both are late teens). It took a couple of messages for my son to realize that his coworker, with whom he was at least a casual friend, was preparing to cut himself. Son kept the friend texting while he ran to inform his boss, who contacted the young man's family who was able to find him and get him the help he needs before he could harm himself.

From, what little my son shared with me, I'm not sure I would have identified the messages as a cry for help as quickly as my son did. Obviously, he got the awareness somewhere.

Our camp goes through Saturday morning. Breakfast is followed by a camp-wide COH that takes about 20 minutes, after which people can leave.

Leaving on Friday is an option for troops only if you want to pack all your gear out on Friday. No vehicles are allowed in camp before Saturday morning.

We discourage parents from attending the parents night campfire on Wednesday. A few years ago we lost 4 boys from the troop because the MOTHERS couldn't bear to leave without their little ones. Our parents understand and have supported our position. Plus, they save $$$ on gas!

On Friday night troops have their own campfires and invite their favorite staff members to attend. It's always fun. The next morning, everyone is up early to finish packing up, load vehicles (that get driven in Saturday morning), eat breakfast, have COH, and leave.

Occasionally a boy has a family need to leave on Friday, but it's always known about before camp, and we make sure the boy has done his fair share. One of our adult leaders has to be present when the boy is signed out at the camp office, and the parent has to show ID.

Our biggest problem is parents remembering to come pick up their boys on Saturday morning!

Just as important is to be sure that the den leader knows how to use a den chief. Yes, it's important for a boy scout to go through DC training, but if the den leader doesn't use the lad effectively, the young man has a frustrating experience. It leaves a sour taste on both sides. There needs to be understanding and commitment from the den leader and the prospective den chief as to what level of involvement is desired and how they will work with each other. The den leader's one-hour-a-week is likely to expand just a wee bit.

I spent a day this weekend going through our troop MB library. I knew that we had a bunch of outdated books and the library needed to be made more current. Here's what I found.

We had a total of 58 books in the library. Of these, only 15 are the current versions (and that includes multiples of a couple of them).

43 MB books are out of date, compared to the dates of the last revisions (not necessarily the last printing). Most of them are WAY out of date.

Some of the books go back to 1968. Wilderness Survival: we have 7 copies: 2 current ones, and the rest are single copies of various earlier revisions.

We obviously have a lot of holes in our library.

Some of the boys earn MBs without the book, especially at summer camp. Things like swimming, canoeing, whitesater, rifle, archery, basketry, leatherwork.

They boys and I had a good discussion at camp about merit badges. There seems to be interest in exploring new avenues. We're changing our procedures so that the boys need to read through the MB pamphlet before asking for blue card. That way they'll know what they're committing to. The boys liked that idea. I believe it will encourage more MB completion and fewer partials.

Here's what I think I want to do:

1. Replace all outdated MB books. Either use them as fire starters or see if someone wants them as collectors items. I am reluctant to hold on to old books just for the sake of reminiscing.

2. Obtain at least 1 copy of each current MB book, with a few notable exceptions. (For example, Farm Mechanics and Horsemanship don't make sense around here, nor does Metalworking with my current group. Waterskiing and Motorboating don't apply because no one waterskiis or has access to a motorboat.)

3. Only a few MB books warrant having multiple copies (ER being the most obvious, and then not even all of them).

4. Our District has a counselor for every MB except one (I don't know which one that is, but it's not likely to be important). Geographically, we're small enough that travel is not a major concern.

I realize that updating the library will cost money, but I believe that it is a worthwhile investment. The committee can afford to spend the $, but the CC is reluctant. I know that some of the information in some of the books is still valid, even though requirements have changed. But here's my thinking.

* Giving boys a list of merit badges has little to no result. No kid wants to work off a simple list. Even the poster showing the MBs draws little interest.

* Reading through the requirements (as in the annual Requirements book or online) is basically boring - especially if you don't already know something about the subject.

* Getting the MB book into the hands of the boys piques their interest. The pictures draw them in. The read a few paragraphs and want to read more.

* My thinking is having the actual up-to-date books readily available and promoted (by our new librarian, who wants to make a difference) will encourage the scouts to explore new areas. As I've told them, the purposes or MBs are, among other things, to expose them to new things that might develop into a personal hobby or perhaps even spark a career interest.

I would like to know if my thinking is on track or off base. Have any of you had the same issues? How did you deal with them? What would/do you do with old MB books?

Thanks. I'd forgotten that.

I just found this posted on Yahoo! (July 29, 7:25 a.m. EST). I'm curious how this happened. The story doesn't state as much, but he must have completed his EBOR (and been approved) before he had to ship out. If this was just the Court of Honor, I think it's great. Too bad it took so long...

======================

FORT MYERS, Fla. - More than a half-century after he finished the requirements to earn the rank, an 88-year-old man was honored as an Eagle Scout on Saturday, making him possibly the oldest person to ever collect the honor.

Walter Hart couldn't become an Eagle Scout at the time he earned the rank because his service in World War II got in the way.

"I've been looking forward to this for a long time," said Hart, who lives in a retirement center in nearby Lehigh Acres.

Scout officials say he may be the oldest person to ever earn the honor.

Hart joined the Cub Scouts in 1928 in Malden, Mass., and earned 23 merit badges during his years as a Boy Scout, scouting officials said. Of the 120 merit badges available, 21 must be earned to qualify for Eagle Scout rank.

It all got set aside when he joined the Navy during World War II and served two years aboard the USS Alfred A. Cunningham.

Last year, he rediscovered some of his old Boy Scout memorabilia, including documents that showed he completed the requirements for his Eagle Scout rank. He contacted the Scouts about receiving his award.

"I think this was something that was always on his mind, but every time he went to go do it, something else came up," daughter Elizabeth Gatturna said. "I know how hard he's tried to get to this point."

Only about 5 percent of all Boy Scouts earn the rank of Eagle Scout. Since 1912, nearly 1.9 million Eagles have been awarded, but the recipients' ages aren't recorded, Boy Scout officials said.

"I'd be pretty surprised if anyone older has ever become an Eagle Scout," said Margie Byers, spokeswoman for the Southwest Florida Council, Boy Scouts of America.

My troop does the same-camp / same-week / same site routine. We have boys continually going back or else doing CIT and then going on staff.

We also try to do a "high adventure" trip each year, although they're usually more of a medium-adventure trip IMO.

For several years I have tried to challenge the boys in the PLC and the troop to dream big - to come up with a REAL HA excursion. I've shown them pix of Philmont, Northern Tier, and Sea Base. We've shared info about back-country camping in national parks. We actually did a trip to Gettysburg 4 years ago. Next summer I they've decided to try spelunking in Kentucky, after one boy told them he'd done it on family vacation and how much fun it was. The adult leaders are behind them!

What I find is that most of the boys really have no idea what else is "out there" beyond the comfort zone provided by their local community. They are so focused on familiar things that they have not yet learned how to dream big. I would appreciate suggestions on how to overcome this limitation.

My favorite is Citizenship/World.

In school, I hated history in any form. I picked it up because there was a need in the troop.

I got flak from a committee member because I opined that I didn't think a boy should undertake this MB until at least 10th grade ("It's not in the requirements!!!"). I still use that as a rule of thumb, although I make exceptions for exceptional individual cases.

I have had to learn a lot preparing myself to counsel (not teach) this MB. A lot of stuff I should have learned in school. By virtue of waiting until they're older scouts, the boys have developed higher-order thought processes and had the learning experiences in school to be able to have intelligent discussions of the subject matter.

After I finished the latest go-'round with 3 scouts, one of them (a HS senior) commented, "Wow! This was a great merit badge. I learned so much, and it fit in so well with the things I've been studying in my AP History class". It certainly made my day (and validated my position, too).

My least favorites to counsel are Citizenship/Community and Communication.

After reading a similarly titled thread, all I could do was shake my head. I just returned from a week at our Council camp with 12 Scouts, Tenderfoot through Life. This was the first year that neither of my own sons was present: one aged out and was working elsewhere, the other is working at our Council Cub Scout resident camp. I witnessed a number of very revealing incidents with "my" other boys.

1. One 14-year old first-year camper with physical brain impairment and consequent difficulty with verbal communication learned how to do the side stroke so he could earn swimmer. He also earned Art and Basketry MBs with some interpretation and encouragement from me. Working only with other scouts and the counselor, he earned Rowing MB. We successfully battled homesickness with him (he'd never been away from parents more than 2 consecutive nights before - this was 6 nights). I learned a lot from him.

2. Without my prior knowledge, the other boys in the troop made arrangements among themselves to be certain that the scout mentioned above was escorted to the the health lodge at the appropriate times to get his meds. If someone couldn't stay until he got the meds, another boy would step in to relieve the original buddy.

3. I challenged a 2nd-year scout to try the Mile Swim. He said it would be too hard. I repeated the challenge the next day with the same result. Told him not to underestimate himself. The next day at lunch, he said "I'm going to try the Mile Swim tomorrow." I looked him in the eye and said, "You've got to be kidding -- I don't think you can do it (grin)!" The next day, he swam the Mile faster than any of the other boys. Big smile!

4. Four boys successfully completed COPE, including overcoming fear of heights for high ropes and the zip line.

5. Three boys completed Climbing MB, overcoming their fears of being 40' in the air and trusting their equipment and buddies to keep them safe.

6. Three scouts spontaneously made up new words to a song for campfire, incorporating the Camp name. Program Director videotaped it later to use for camp promotion.

7. Boys repeatedly volunteered to be a buddy for an unexpected trip back to the campsite for a forgotten whatever, "cover" waiter duty in the dining hall, and get up at 5 a.m. to be buddy for someone working on Fishing MB.

8. Boys invited all the camp staff to their final evening campfire. After the fun stuff, they quieted things down and retired 4 U.S. flags very tastefully, the last one happening just as the Prayer Bell sounded in the distance.

9. Boys policed their assigned litter areas (the amphitheater and the area around the Trading Post) without being reminded or otherwise prodded.

10. By the 2nd or 3rd day, the older boys were periodically doing head counts, making sure that they could account for everyone, including those who were at other activities. Impressive, because it showed that they genuinely cared about their fellow scouts.

11. At the mid-week parents night/campfire, when the Camp Director asked all leaders to stand in front to be recognized, my Scouts started a standing ovation for all the leaders. Tear time...

12. Inevitably, some (sometimes nearly all) of the boys would sit around the picnic table after Taps, just talking quietly with me and each other. It helped me see each of them for the individuals that they are and how they interact with each other on different levels. These times were priceless. I treasure the moments.

This only scratches the surface of the week, but I won't bore you with the rest of it. In short, this was one of the best weeks of camping I have ever had. The other 1.5 adults and I had very little to do the entire week. This was Scout Summer Camp the way it is intended to be. Cooperation. Mutual respect. Encouragement. Personal responsibility. Lots of praise to go around. Lots of smiles. They're already talking about next year. I can't wait, either.

No comments required. I just needed to share this and offset some of the "problem" posts that we all read.

Both of my sons have done CIT.

Son #1 did a week at Camp Mattatuck in Connecticut. He was eligible after spending a week there with the troop. During his CIT week (which cost about 1/2 the normal resident camp fee), he was rotated through the 5 different program areas, one area each morning, pretty much learning from the seasoned staff how to work that area, including the mundane stuff. The afternoons were free to pursue additional merit badges. At the end of the week, he was evaluated by the camp director, which was beneficial for both the son and the camp director. Because his performance was satisfactory, he was invited to return the rest of the summer to work as a full-time CIT (sans pay, but also sans cost) in a mutually agreeable area. The next year, he was eligible to be a regular staffer, and having gone through the CIT program put him 1 notch higher on the pay scale. (The second year, he chose to work in the dining hall.)

Son #2 had spent 1 year at Camp Tadma (a cub scout camp, also in Connecticut) as an "adopted" staff kid ("adopted" by a family friend who was running the BB range). The next year, he did a week of CIT at Camp Tadma, then another week of CIT at Camp Mattatuck. He eventually decided that he liked the camaraderie of the Cub Scout staff better. He wound up on the waterfront, and has gone back there for the past 3 years. He's earned BSA Lifeguard and is now the #3 person on the waterfront staff.

The life lessons both boys have learned as a result of CIT and staffing are priceless. The sense of commitment to others, to the task at hand, the sense of teamwork, and sense of loyalty to the camp are remarkable.

I think the hardest part was on my wife and me (especially my wife), because we only saw the boys about 24 hours a week - and then it was to do laundry and hang out with their friends. It's tough letting them grow up sometimes.

LongHaul, What a sad saga. I feel sorry for your council and the camp. What a money-grubbing shame. I did notice an ad for Owasippe in the latest issue of Scouting magazine. I wondered what had happened, since I've been following this issue from afar (really, just through this thread). At 1,000 miles, Owasippe is a bit far for us to go. Best wishes for a successful summer or two - maybe a couple of good years will save the camp?

We don't go for the listservs. Instead, I maintain everyone's email addresses in my own client, grouped appropriately by patrol, parents, TC, adult leaders, etc. I often send emails to the troop advising them of events, due dates for permission slips, and a host of other things that get overlooked - especially when boys miss meetings.

I always cc the parents in the emails, partly for my own protection, and partly so that the parents know what's happening in the troop -- maybe, just maybe, they'll throw some encouragement behind their scouts!

My problem: getting people to READ and/or RESPOND. Some people only check their email once a week! One scout "swore off media for Lent". (My SPL, of all people...) I use the phone. All of our scouts/parents have access to everyone's phone number and email: we publish them for our families in our troop roster. Once in a blue moon I'll get a response from a parents. Sigh...

For at least the last year I have encouraged the PLC to use email to communicate with their patrols and each other. It almost never happens. They're so stuck in the "scouts is Tuesday night for an hour and a half" mentality.

I guess my problem is the opposite of fgoodwin's. I wish people would communicate to the whole unit.

IMO, Troopmaster is a godsend. It makes my life SO much easier. We follow the rule that the book gets signed first. Then the info gets passed along for entry into TM. The wall chart might get updated, but it's difficult in our situation to display it permanently. And as someone mentioned earlier, they do get very messy over time.

Another thing TM does very well is let you record activities. Like meeting attendance, service project attendance, and camping trips (even distinguishing between cabin and tent camping) and determine how many nights camping or miles hiked apply. Then you can get summary reports by boy/patrol/event. Comes in real handy when looking for OA eligibility, Camping MB, hiking MB, etc. There's no other good easy place to record that stuff. Our scouts are supposed to record this in their handbooks, but it's too easily forgotten. Having it all in TM is much easier than looking back through records of who attended which event. It also allows for extensive recording of personal information (like parents/guardians even with different addresses, doctors, religious preferences, and lots more. It tracks boys advancement, leadership, training, and OA achievements -- similarly for adults (including committee, program leaders, MBCs, and "other" people you want to keep track of.

Perhaps instead of just idly wondering about whether or not TM is "too much" technology, people should download the lastest version from www.troopmaster.com. You can get the entire program FREE and test-drive it. Once you start putting the information in and see how powerful it is, you'll probably want to find a way to pay the nominal cost to keep using it.

ASM915, it sounds like your district has things pretty much in order. Mine sort of runs the same way, except that the DAC doesn't check blue cards until an EBOR, trusting the units to be sure that the MBCs are/were valid at the time.

One thing I like is the training of MBCs. We don't do that. I'm not talking about topic knowledge, because the MBCs usually know the subject matter far better than other people. What I am talking about is the basic of counseling MBs. Things like YP, adding to requirements versus enhancing the experience, how blue cards work, etc. I recently signed up a group of parents to be MBCs in several sorely needed areas. They were all green. I got them together and did a 2-hour training session with them. They all left with a good understanding of their role as MBCs, the "do's and dont's", and the process.

How do you get all of your MBCs to attend a basic MBC training session?

What you need is a Merit Badge Counselor Application form. This gets filled out and submitted along with the adult application. The adult app provides the WHO you are, references, and the permission to do what we fondly refer to as "the FBI check". The MBCA is where you let the council know what qualifies you to counsel a particular merit badge.

The one my council uses is here:

http://www.ctrivers.org/pdfs/MeritBadgeCounselorForm.pdf

I did a quick Google and came up with a different one used by another council:

http://www.sdicbsa.org/Forms/content/advancement/MBCouncilors.pdf

Certainly someone in your council's registration office should be able to get you the form they want you to use. If you don't have a DE, work your way on up the chain of command: Field Director? Council Executive?

I occasionally got some pretty shoddy service at my council until I started making quiet (polite) noises in high places about their being the Council SERVICE Center and my being the CUSTOMER.

It's not hard to get registered as a counselor. Good luck!

We don't even get recharter packets anymore. It's almost all on-line. Our DE or the Council registrar provides each unit with an online access code and we take it from there.

In my troop my CC and I do the whole thing. We sit down at my computer (he doesn't have one), and review the names that Council has on our charter. We make changes to address, phone numbers, etc., do the Boys Life thing, drop members who have left, etc. He has already contacted all of the adults based on his own records, and I know all of the boys' status. The boys are paid for out of troop funds; the adults have to fork over their $10, which the CC has already collected.

When done, we print out the "recharter packet" and sign it. He takes it to our IH for his signature (easily done), and gets a check from the troop treasurer.

The CC and the IH see each other every week (teh CO is a church and the CC is a member), and I usually run into the IH once a month. So the IH knows what we're doing; he is always supportive and glad we're there. Signatures are never a problem for us.

The CC takes the signed printout and the check to the District "Recharter Party" to turn them in. We usually get our new membership cards about 2 months later. (I fail to see why it take so long, since everything is online and the cards are printed locally.) I think it will be only another couple of years before we can just send everything in to Council and avoid the turn-in party.

The whole process takes me and the CC about 3 hours, about 3/4 or which is spent listening to him reminisce about who used to be in the troop back in the day. We make sure we're on time because it's the right thing to do.

Term limits are fine IF there are people willing and able to fill the vacated positions. In my district, term limits have compounded the problems caused by people whose sons age out and then want to end their involvement.

For 2 years now we have had no BS or CS Commissioner. RT's are now joint with "featured speakers". They are boring and poorly attended. We used to have separate BS and CS RTs. The BS ones were interesting and dynamic. Then term limits got in the way.

Our long-term training chair is now out of the picture. She needed help, but didn't get any, and finally gave up. The new TC is not very effective.

I just learned that our Activities Chair is resigning. Partly because he can't do everything himself, and partly because he's gotten flack from certain other key distict people (DE and DC) about his lack of writing ability (what he puts out is better than the nothing we get from anyone else), and partly because our DE didn't follow through with the support that was promised.

I ran a Leadership Seminar 2 years ago for the district to identify new sources of support and involvement for the district. It would have had a larger impact if the district powers-that-be had chosen to follow through. Instead, they basically approached the same old people again - just shuffling the deck and not taking advantage of the new people we identified.

I don't volunteer for District activities anymore. I'm busy being SM to my busy troop of young men. That's where my first allegiance in scouting lies. And there are no term limits there.

Like most troops, mine accumulates a lot of ribbons for participating in various events. Things like our district camporees, 100% Boys Life, etc. Then there are the ribbons that each patrol receives (1st place, 3rd place, etc.).

For a time we hung them from the ribbon holder on the troop flag, but there got to be too many of them. So we took them off and put them on a special ribbon bar (basically a horizontal dowell suspended from a vertical pole in a stand. But that gets messed up and really wasn't a great solution.

It seems that we should retain these ribbons and other awards as a part of troop history, but it also seems as though they should be somewhat visible in order to serve any historical purpose.

What do your troops do with the various ribbons and awards that they receive over the years?

These old-timers don't add anything to the troop. They don't/won't coordinate an activity. A few of them (not all) still have money in their ancient troop accounts that gets hit to pay their dues.

LisaBob makes some good points. From the perspective of those who weren't around many years ago, who are these people? Why are they there? I think it leads to confusion.

I have to keep them in Troopmaster or I can't use it to recharter. It makes for (legitimate) bloated numbers and just makes this more convoluted. The only relationship they have is with the CC.

It's rechartering time again for my district. The time when we see how our records match those from the council, formalize who's new and who's leaving.

The problem I see every year is with hangers-on. I'm not sure what we should do with them. I'll explain.

We are rechartering tomorrow with 18 boys and 31 adults.

18 scouts (all ages)

1 SM

4 ASM (active)

3 ASM (inactive)

1 Committee Chair

1 IH

1 COR

20 Committee Members

All except 1 of the Scouts are active. The other is the 2nd son of an active ASM. He attends exactly one event year (an out-of-council ski event that his parents also attend). We keep him on mostly "in case he decides he wants to get active again" (the boy has been Tenderfoot since forever - he's a HS sophomore now). I don't see it happening.

We have about 6 or so active Committee members. Most of the others have been on the roster for years and never show their faces. They dutifully pay their $10 registration fee in order to "stay affiliated" with scouting. A few are Eagles who earned their rank in the troop. But we never see them. Some are parents of those Eagles, and some are parents of former non-Eagles who just stay on. They contribute nothing. They don't come to COH or committee meetings, or sit on BOR. They aren't interested in being MB counselors. They are busy with their own lives. There has been personal contact and invitation to come to events, with the thought that we might be able to use their expertise. Their only value to the troop seems to be one of keeping the membership numbers up. (And letting the CC hang onto some vision that the troop has a lot of adults.)

On our internal troop roster, we have listed inactive scouts as members of the "No-See-Um" patrol. Inactive ASMs get listed as "Adjunct Leaders". Inactive committee members don't even make our published roster.

With rechartering, there is no provision other an ASM or Committee Member for those inactive people. I would like to see some provision for people to be "subscribing members" or something similar for those who want to keep some tenuous link to BSA without actively committing to strengthening the program.

Or should we just thank them for their past support and drop them from the Official Roster?

These are not paper members. They are living people who pay their $10. But they contribute nothing to the program, and in most cases have been inactive so long that what legacy they may have had has disappeared.

What does your troop do with hangers-on?

I don't log in. But it still takes a long time to navigate. And yes, the worst is the 24-hours screen: it times out more often than it works...