Proud Eagle

If the reason the troop is not active, is because the boys aren't around during the summer, that puts it in a much different light. If the Quartermaster wants to count those summer months for rank, and yet he was gone the entire time to some other state on vacation or what have you, then I would say no. He wasn't available to do the job had he been called on to do it. If the boys are the ones choosing not to be around during the summer and so the troop doesn't do anything because there is no one to do it, I would say then the boys have chosen to take a vacation not just from troop m

I would suggest using your start up money on long term capital costs. Then use money earned through fund raising to pay for program fees, etc. That way, the boys can see exactly what they are earning money for. They will know that if they raise money, they get their camping paid for. If they don't raise money, they will have to pay themselves, or do less expensive camping. Totally free program is a great objective, but you should consider weather or not that is a realistic, and sustainable goal. Maybe you can do it this year if you spend all your start up money on it, but can

You may be correct that it shouldn't concern me. Though you are most certainly wrong on one point. No, I won't be able to say I am already registered in another position, in another unit, in the BSA. I tried that last summer. It didn't work. It was made quite clear, even put in writing, that we had to register as members of the Crew to work at the camp. It was also camp policy that only the Crew's uniform could be worn by paid staff. I did break that policy once per week at the parents night campfire, because I was asked to speak on behalf of the OA, and since OA i

You would be suprised how many youth find the sort of thing that goes on at such meetings to be really interesting. It isn't so much the subject matter, it is the fact that they are trusted enough, and their thoughts valued enough, to be given a seat at the table. In the case of OA officers they see such involvement as a way to serve their fellow Scouts. I would bet most upper level OA types would say that they would rather work with adults to serve others rather than have adults serve them. Obviously they aren't ready for all issues, but for many they are. Also, an OA officer would s

This is exactly the problem I am concerned with. Someone could have a decade old version of the guide to safe scouting and honestly claim they have a copy and have read it. They could even be totally ignorant of the fact there is a newer version. There has got to be a better way to handle this. Maybe we should all start complaining. Or perhaps we should start working on a solution. Heck, I found all sorts of forms and papers in our troop library and filing cabinets after the meeting tonight. Some may still be current. Others are thing I had never heard of. Still ot

Use your start up money to buy things the troop will always need that will last a long time. Create a list of essentials. Consider if you can get those essential things from some other place, at least for a while. Also, don't just buy camping equipment. The troop is going to need some materials, books, and resources. You don't need to go buy every merit badge book, but there are some things you really will need. On equipment, consider options for getting equipment at a low rate. There are many discount programs available. Also, using a less well known brand can sometime

I feel your pain. We finally managed to get rid of our Scout Executive. Unfortunately, the council to our south hired him, even though he mismanaged things so badly in our council that several lawyers involved in the council on a volunteer basis have suggested convictions on multiple criminal charges would be possible. We also once had an Assistant Scout Executive who engaged in drunk driving during Scouting functions and on council properties, and did this in situations that youth witnessed it. One of those youth attempted to do something about it, but the Scout Executive told him

I don't know where this idea of OA lodges and chapters chartering Venturing Crews has come from. Frankly it is nuts. I think it has even come up on here a few times before. I know I have heard about it in other places. There was a report that the Venturing division was handing out information on how OA lodges could start crews back at the 2002 NOAC. I don't know if they actually did, but there was certainly talk of it going on at the time. Apparently some people seem to think that OA lodges and chapters are seperate entities, rather than being a integral part of the councils

How many of your councils have youth serving on the council executive board? How about on the the district committee? I know our council by-laws state that there can be two, and no more than two, youth serving on the executive board. Traditionally those seats went to the OA lodge chief, and the Exploring president. However, several years ago there was a major confrontation between the Scout Executive and the former Lodge Chief turned Section Vice Chief. The end result was the Section Vice Chief was forced to keep a very low profile at all lodge and council functions for se

Lets see, the OA Chapter Adviser comes to our meetings about once every month or so. I know him quite well, as did our former SM. It also happens that he lives across the street from the place our troop meets. He is the SM of another troop in town. He doesn't wear his Adviser patch, nor does he wear silver loops, even though he could. (Actually, I am not certain anyone has told him he could if he wanted. Probably haven't told him he is on the district camping committee either. Maybe I should mention that next time.) Other than that, the District Commish showed up around recharter t

Does BSA publish some master list of when each publication was last updated, or at least a yearly list of everything new and updated for that year? I can't seem to find anything that tells me when something new comes out. I just bought a copy of the troop program resources yesterday, it is the 2002 edition. Yet, the 2003 edition of the SPL handbook, which I also purchased yesterday, claims there is material in the program resources which are not there, or at least I can't find them. Speaking of the program resources, does anyone else think the forms section was a bit lacking? It s

I have looked at the charter, and I recall that it said "Camp Roy C. Manchester". There was no "friends of" or "staff association of" or any other such thing. Now I am sure if anyone made an issue of it, they would claim that was the case, but it is not.

You are quite right. I some how missed the "is trained in" part of defense # 1. Must have been getting late or something. I noticed it said the person had to be know the defenses and follow them, yet I somehow missed the key part. I would say, that it wouldn't be a bad idea to put the first sentence in bold just to make extra certain people get the point. After all, they put the sentence that serves the same purpose under Safety Afloat in bold. Any how, it would seem there is most certainly not a loop hole, instead there was just a minor oversight in my reading.

OK, I think I see what you are saying now. I had the totally wrong idea before. I thought you were saying units shouldn't do PR and should leave it to the council and district. What you are saying now makes sense. I agree it would be a good idea for districts or the council to make such info available in a ready to use form, with perhaps some nice guidelines on when to make a press release or contact the media, and when not to do so. As for why a unit needs to do PR, there is one rather obvious answer. Advertising for fund raisers. Our troop, as previsouly mentioned, does a Chri

I served on the camp staff this summer and will likely do so again. I could even wind up in a leadership role at the camp in the future. Since all members of the staff at the camp are required to register in said crew, and since the camp leaders are made the leaders of the crew, it could at least be of interest to me.

So, Bob, what should we do if our council actually is chartering a unit to its camp? In my council, I know, with a relatively high degree of certainty (I would put it at 90% certainty), that is exactly what has been done for years. The unit has even been recieving quality unit even though it isn't even chartered for the whole year. Venturing Crew 207 in Council 200, is chartered to Camp Roy C. Manchester, which is a facility partially owned by the counci, and partially leased from TVA, and operated by the council. It isn't chartered to the staff association or any such other th

Reading over the Guide to Safe Scouting I noticed something odd. The first sentence under "Safe Swim Defense" is in normal, not bold type. This seems rather strange that a sentence that says units MUST have a safe swimmed defense trained leader would be in normal type, meaning that it is a guideline rather than a mandatory policy. Now the 8 defenses are in bold, so they must be followed, but the statement that a leader must be trained is not. I then went on to check to see what a tour permit says, and while it seems a bit clearer, it isn't completely clear either. Then the

Bob, Perhaps I am not seeing the benefit of your plan because I don't really understand how it would work. If you could provide an example, or an outline of the process as you see it, then perhaps I would see the benefit in it.

Bob, I am sorry if I came off as defeatist, or as being against your idea. I think you are probably right, but that in this case that makes very little difference to any of us. Let me explain why. Most of us here are unit level volunteers with only minimal if any involvement with the organization and operation of the district and council. Therefore, I think it would be great if the district and council started doing some PR work. However, being a unit level volunteer, there really isn't anything I can do to make that happen, especially since I an not a PR expert. H

I had always heard that they could not. Yet our camp also charters a Venturing Crew. This isn't just the staff being organized as a crew, there is an actual Crew Charter hanging on the camp office wall naming the camp as the charter organization. I asked one of the pros that worked on staff about this, and he said the camp isn't really the same as the council, so they can do it. This was one of many things I thought were a bit odd about the camp and its staff crew...

First quick explanation- Went to nearest scout shop and service center, which involves driving ten minutes, but crossing state, council, and region lines. I asked if I could get a copy of the guide to safe scouting, and the lady says sure, they give those out for free. Now that I look at it, it is just a photocopy of a print out of the online version. It is the 2001 edition with the 2003 age appropriate activities update mentioned, but not included. So, is this the current edition, and if not, should I order one from supply? Are service centers supposed to be handing

Bob, I think you have good intentions, but I don't think your concept is realistic in many cases. If, for example, in our attempt to have co-ordinated PR, we didn't bother to contact the media outlets ourselves, then who would? In you system, it would seem we would go through channels and pass the info to the district or council person in charge of PR. That person then might pass it on to the media if it fit in with the larger council PR agenda. Of coarse, one of the obvious flaws is that news must be new. By the time we send the information up the chain, and whoever is in charge

I have some thoughts on this issue based on what I have heard from others, but since I don't really know all the details of the hiring and promotion policies myself, I would mostly just like to say that I would be interested in hearing more on this topic. Some other possible questions- Is the professional system too linear? Why is the turn over rate so high? Can a council hire an outside expert? or do they have to choose someone off the list of eligible pros that BSA gives them? Doesn't it seem the training, experience, and even education desired for a DE, an SE, a f

Bob, That is good advice for the council and/or district. Certainly a true public relations campaign needs to be run by someone that knows the business. The problem is finding someone that knows the stuff and is willing to do it, but then that is the problem with all volunteer positions. However, I think a grass roots effort may have even more of an impact than a council or district level PR campaign. Plus, we can all make a difference in a grass roots campaign, but most of us would have nothing to contribute to some fancy council organized media project.

NJ, sounds like that must be a nightmare from the policy or administration point of view. Down here in Kentucky, most of the school districts cover the entire county. Historically, most cities once had indipendent school systems for their residents. However, now, most of the city systems have merged with the county school systems, so most counties only have one public school system. Also, in Kentucky, the school boards have a limited taxing authority to rais additional funds. If there is something like that in New Jersey, I can't even imagine the squables over which district gets to c