Papadaddy

A Scout council hosts the Blue Angels air show? Something doesn't sound right. I work for the Navy in the Navy capitol of the world, and the word on the street is there will be more DOD sequester cuts in FY14, including massive layoffs of civilians, contractors and military personnel. SECDEF Hagel just announced he is cutting Pentagon staff and contractors by $1 billion. And that's just within the Pentagon building itself. He is also studying the elimination of Commissaries, which is pretty radical. The Blue Angels is an active fighter squadron, so they will have to keep their flying skills sharp. But I would not expect a full schedule as in the past. The only alternative is to decommission the squadron.

PS: as to the adults, if you know they will be GONE, I would not reregister them. If the DL says he's "out", ask him what that means and if he wants to reregister and in what position. Committee member is a good catch-all. Other than CM, CA, DL and WL, there aren't many other options.

I think the proper term is "reregister". The unit recharters, scouts are registered. Semantics. Anyway, the registration is with BSA National, not with the unit. I would reregister them, then they will need to pay $1 to transfer their registration to the troop. I would not charge them any unit dues, since they won't be members of your unit. Think of it as a wash...what you pay for these departing scouts will be "made up" by incoming Tigers who will pay their own registration. YOu didn't mention if the Unit pays for the annual registration or do you ask the parents to pay? If the parents pay, then it doesn't matter. Hope I didn't confuse you.

Neither of my sons made Eagle, because I chose not to nag them. They were both engaged in many worthwhile activities, including church, sports, student government, and jobs. I decided that if they wanted to make Eagle, it had to be THEIR effort, not mine. They are both now successful family men with good jobs and college degrees, and I couldn't be prouder of them.

This is a tough one. E-cigs contain a water solution of nicotine. They are not a "tobacco product" and it's not the nicotine that causes cancer, emphysema, etc....it's the thousands of other chemicals in tobacco smoke. The "smoke" that is produced is water vapor, and presumably not as harmful as "second hand smoke". Smokers have an addiction to nicotine, just like I have an addiction to caffeine. I cannot go camping without my coffee in the mornings, otherwise I get incapacitated with a migraine headace. Is it any different for a smoker to get their "fix" of nicotine, just like I have to get my "fix" of caffeine? Coffee is socially acceptable, because there is no proof that it causes any health problems. It remains to be seen if e-cigs will gain accptance in the workplace and in restaurants. I cannot think of a reason why they should be banned.

BOR consists of "three to six unit committee members". If they are not registered, they are not "unit committee members". There is no BSA rule about having "others" present, but should not be the SM, ASM or boy's parent, unless they just want to observe. I agree with qwazse...in my units, the adults always paid their own registration fees. If we raised funds for the troop, it went for the boys. Also, technically, there are no registered positions called "Advancement Chair", "Treasurer" or "Secretary"...just "Committee Chair (CC)" and "Committee Member (MC)". And there is certainly not a position called "Unregistered Parent with Official Duties".

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I have seen scout patches in our Scout SHop with little gold stickers on the back, "Made in China".

I'm a Virginian, and held my nose and voted for Cuccinelli. I don't appreciate turning over our state government to someone who has no elected office experience, sweeps in from the Northeast with a war chest funded by out of state interests, and is a sycophant of the Clinton machine. We used to call them "carpetbaggers". He is also claimed to be a Roman Catholic, but is on the record as pro-abortion. During the gubernatorial debates, he said his first order of business would be to expand Medicaid and raise taxes to fund more entitlements, and "shut down the state" if he didn't get what he wanted. When pressed on how he was going to fund his ideas, he said, "we'll just have to see what the revenues look like." He outspent Cuccinelli 3:1 with funding from out of state. In my opinion, he got elected because a) people, especially women, hated Cuccinelli, b) he promised more free stuff, and c) he had his nose far up Billary's hindparts. Cuccinelli, on the other hand, is a far right-wing conservative who advocated NO abortion under ANY circumstances, vaginal ultrasounds, and other wacky ideas. He is also a Roman Catholic, but at least not a hypocrite, and plainly stated his beliefs and intent. I was confident that the general assembly would not have let him get very far with those ideas. The Libertarian Sarvis, it was revealed at the last minute, was bankrolled by the Democrats in an effort to dilute the vote.

I'm a Virginian, and held my nose and voted for Cuccinelli. I don't appreciate turning over our state government to someone who has no elected office experience, sweeps in from the Northeast with a war chest funded by out of state interests, and is a sycophant of the Clinton machine. We used to call them "carpetbaggers". He is also claimed to be a Roman Catholic, but is on the record as pro-abortion. During the gubernatorial debates, he said his first order of business would be to expand Medicaid and raise taxes to fund more entitlements, and "shut down the state" if he didn't get what he wanted. When pressed on how he was going to fund his ideas, he said, "we'll just have to see what the revenues look like." He outspent Cuccinelli 3:1 with funding from out of state. In my opinion, he got elected because a) people, especially women, hated Cuccinelli, b) he promised more free stuff, and c) he had his nose far up Billary's hindparts. Cuccinelli, on the other hand, is a far right-wing conservative who advocated NO abortion under ANY circumstances, vaginal ultrasounds, and other wacky ideas. He is also a Roman Catholic, but at least not a hypocrite, and plainly stated his beliefs and intent. I was confident that the general assembly would not have let him get very far with those ideas. The Libertarian Sarvis, it was revealed at the last minute, was bankrolled by the Democrats in an effort to dilute the vote.

Don't Merit Badge Counselors need to be 21?

We get them back in 2-6 weeks. The Eagle credentials are sent back to the Council office, then they notify us to pick them up. We tell the families not to schedule the COH until that happens.

This is from the New Unit Application, currently on the BSA website:

 

The Chartered Organization selects one of its members to register as chartered organization representative who may also serve as chair or as unit committee member if needed. All units must have a unit leader and a minimum of five paid youth. There must be at least three committee members, with one named chair.

Packs must have a den leader/Webelos den leader/Tiger Cub leader who should be registered as an adult in the pack. The chartered organization also provides meeting facilities for the unit. No one may register in more than one position in the same unit, except the chartered organization representative.

This is from the New Unit Application, currently on the BSA website:

The Chartered Organization selects one of its members to register as chartered organization representative who may also serve as chair or as unit committee member if needed. All units must have a unit leader and a minimum of five paid youth. There must be at least three committee members, with one named chair.

Packs must have a den leader/Webelos den leader/Tiger Cub leader who should be registered as an adult in the pack. The chartered organization also provides meeting facilities for the unit. No one may register in more than one position in the same unit, except the chartered organization representative.

As Beavah would say, Yah, hmmmm. I have several concerns. Allowing a non-registered adult to have regular, direct contact with the youth is a concern. Knowing that the adult is a convicted felon involving minors raises the level of concern to the point of a Youth Protection concern. I think the troop committee needs to have a discussion with the Scout Executive and ask for guidance. I agree, that a non-registered adult attending committee meetings and having a "vote" is inappropriate. They are not a member of the unit...their son is. Those who are registered have a right to fulfill their duties without outside interference from those who are unable to become registered. I also agree that if KayW is not a registered leader, she is on thin ice. I think Beavah would also admonish us that spreading "hearsay" about a fellow parent without substantiated legal evidence (legally obtained) is dangerous.

Good for you. I would have shredded the card based on not having it pre-approved.by the SM. Committing fraud by the boy AND his parent to get a non-Eagle required MB would be grounds for dismissal from the Troop. Life lesson. Sorry...I"m old school.

If you like your post, you can keep it.

Quis custodiet ipso custodes? I used to laugh at the conspiracy theorists. Snowden has convinced me that most of them are right. I can't wait for Area 51 to be revealed. I recently applied for a home loan...the amount of personal details now required by the Government for an FHA loan is astounding I found it remarkable because we have no other debt, a healthy income, and FICO scores somewhere above 820. She called yesterday and said, "the auditors want to know about this property you own in western Va that you didn't list on your loan application." It was 5 unimproved acres that my wife inherited free and clear along with her 3 sibs when her mother died in 2010. I didn't list it because frankly, I didn't think about it and it's not being put up for collateral..I remarked to the loan officer that I had my colonoscopy photos ready to send because I was sure they would be asking for them...I was only half joking. I am convinced that the Government knows more about me than I do.

As Council VP for Program I promote our camp heavily. I always ask units to work the Council camp into their rotations. I don't demand that they attend. I sincerely hope that they are going where the boys and the PLC want to go and not letting the adults decide. I too have units that will not attend our camp due to something that happened 15 years ago. The sad part is the the NCAP program is designed to force Councils to justify their camps through an evaluation of program, facilities and finances.Having your own units support your camp helps tremendously when going through NCAPBe warned the National and Regional folks are looking at your local camp's results and can close your camp.

My council and/or OA requires in council every other year. (I know many have said they can't do that and I have not looked into it in depth yet.) It doesn't seem right to me, but we do have an excellent facility. The MB program is not as extensive as yours and seems weak on choices to me. I honestly would like to see scouts do 2 or 3 max and do them well and have some fun. 5 is to much. I would like to see a goal of traveling to a different region every other year.

Day 16 of the shutdown and we are no closer to an agreement than we started with. I say we all flock to the polls on Election Day and clean house...and senate. No incumbent will get my vote, regardless of political party.

Our SE also likes to berate units who go out of council, which most do. Most rotate among the 5 or 6 camps within a day's driving distance. We also get a lot of OOC troops coming to our camp, and they are charged more (allegedly to make up for the FOS and popcorn money that those units do not contribute). When I was on the Council Camping Committee, my philosophy was, as long as we have a scout in every cot, who cares? When I would talk to other units about why they go OOC, the answers are the same...no high adventure for older scouts, the weather sucks (temps 95+ every day with high humidity), and mosquitoes and ticks, which apparently the camps at higher elevations don't have to deal with. We do have Lyme disease endemic in the area, and I know several adults who have contracted it at camp.

My council and/or OA requires in council every other year. (I know many have said they can't do that and I have not looked into it in depth yet.) It doesn't seem right to me, but we do have an excellent facility. The MB program is not as extensive as yours and seems weak on choices to me. I honestly would like to see scouts do 2 or 3 max and do them well and have some fun. 5 is to much. I would like to see a goal of traveling to a different region every other year.

Agree with KDD...the intent is continuous swimming without touching bottom or holding on to the sides. Resting strokes or floating are allowed. I have seen kids on swim teams who do flip turns and glide half the length of the pool. I've allowed that, since I figure they do the mile swim every day while in training. Back in the day, we did it in the James River following a wooden rowboat...half mile against the current and a half mile with the current...water over the head and nothing to hold onto unless you were giving up.