orennoah

RIGHT!!

In know you don't want to hear it, but you're going to have to leave the blowup air mattress at home. It's a very efficient heat transfer devise. The convection currents carry all of your heat to the cold ground. Rather, get a Thermarest Pro-Lite 4. Very light, very warm and very comfortable. Combined with a closed-cell pad, like your Z-Rest, you'll sleep warmer and not be at too much a loss for comfortable padding. - Oren BTW, both of my Marmot bags (one three season and one winter expedition) have kept me very warm in many different conditions.

Congratulations! It IS a big deal, especially if you set challenging ticket goals for yourself. Besides, us Bears have a special place in our hearts (and stomachs) for Antelopes. Good eats!

Congratulations! I support your decision to have your beading at a Pack meeting. When I was mere Cub dad, I saw a Beading at a Webelos Woods I was attending with my son. I was impressed. Now, I'm a three-beader Scoutmaster. - Oren WE3-41-03 Bear WE3-41-05 QM

Way to go Bear! (Don't you just LOVE how those prey patrols carry on so?) - Oren WE3-41-03 Bear WE3-41-05 QM

Congrats! - Oren

No.

Our troop put out and later took in some 300+ flags, all along the main roads through town on Veteran's Day.

As a SM, I find that my biggest new parent education task to teach them the dual concepts of "boy led" and "patrol method." In that regard, I wrote the "Grump Patrol Manual" as one of my Wood Badge ticket items. You can check it out at http://www.scouttroop14.org/PDFs/grumpmanual.PDF Constructive criticism welcome!

Thanks!

We had a moment of silence at today's Troop meeting. We remembered. However, both of my children reported that no one at school (Jr. High & High School) mentioned Pearl Harbor today, not even their History instructors. For shame.

Not only is Wood Badge useful, in Scouting and the so-called "real" world, but it's a whole lot of fun. Go for it. - Oren

Cajuncody wrote: "I have rarely had so much fun working so hard with people I didn't know." That line should be put on all Wood Badge flyers. Very well put.

I echo all of the above. I have NEVER heard of anyone regretting taking Wood Badge. Just do it!

Interesting discussion. I think that you will see a difference between the "means" and the "ends" approaches when it comes to the writing of tickets. Not to brag, but I really wanted my ticket items to be something that I would always be proud of. I chose difficult, challenging and - at times - scary items. When I was lucky enough to be asked to staff a course, I upped the level of difficulty for my Quartermastering. I'm very proud of all three of those beads. However, I have also seen some ticket items that I consider rather "lame." E.g., reading the Scout Handbook. Heck,

Mike: My best advise on this is to purchase the Nolo Press book on forming your own non-profit, charitable organization. The Nolo Press is very good (if you can get past the lawyer bashing in the early editions) and provides website updates. Each state is bit different, so I can only over the basics. The Nolo Press lists the state by state differences. In general, you create and file Articles of Incorporation with the state Secretary of State. This forms the entity. Then, you file applications to the IRS and the state Attorney General for recognition of your tax-exempt, char

AvidSM: Amen!

BadenP: Not to nitpick, but I wasn't wrong. Maybe I wasn't clear. I am suggesting that a long-term solution to this problem is to create a brand new entity, a separate non-profit corporation that is a recognized charitable organization by the Feds and State govt. and qualifies under sec 501©(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. This new entity's stated purpose would be to support the pack or troop. As I stated in my original post, this entity would own the donated money, not the CO and not the Council. Thus, it could use it to purchase gear for the pack/troop, cover camping &/or

You, or rather a local attorney who is donating his time, can set up a 501©(3) organization to accept the funds and administer them to support your pack or troop's activities. It's not expensive, but a bit time consuming. If the potential donors will wait, it CAN be done. An added benefit, is that neither the Council nor the CO will have any claims to the funds in the hands of the support 501©(3).

Thanks, Ed. You've just given me the idea I'm going to pass on "my" SPL for what to do for pre-openings. I agree that we need to teach skills AND leadership. At the last District Round Table, us adult leaders did an exercise involving lashing. I was dissapointed at the number of leaders who, until they were shown how, just stared at the ropes and poles.

Oh boy! You've got a nasty situation, but you know that. I think that the most telling comment you made was that after UC left "the parents" went back to their ways. Until they stop being "parents" and start being adult leaders, you'll never get out your problems. - Oren

Your concerns are valid. However, you have to realize what a chore it is to get many (if not most) Scouters to attend training sessions. The time commitment, away from family, is a burden. Consequently, the training does not go into great depth. Instead, most training is designed to "point the way" to self-exploration of the topics. As for a more hands-on outdoor skills class, I strongly suggest that you and your fellow leaders take the Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills for Scoutmasters and assistant Scoutmasters. In that course, you will make a fire and cook your meals and sharp

That's wonderful! If only that could have happeneed with my Troop's "feeder" Pack. It went kaput!

Great to hear that you went, after all, and had a great time and learned alot. Now, as to Wood Badge. DON'T WAIT THREE YEARS! If you can't make next Fall's course in your Council, find one in a neighboring Council.

To add to the above: While not sanctioned by the BSA and not official and a clear violation of uniforming rules and regulations, our troop formed the adults into a "patrol." We are the Grumps. We have a patrol flag, patrol cheer and patrol patch. The idea is twofold. We function as a demonstration patrol. We have a patrol duty roster, patrol menu, patrol food and camp in a separate patrol campsite. Scouts can learn parts of the patrol method simply by seeing us operate as a patrol. More insidiously, the Grump patrol teaches the patrol method to new adults and it keeps ne