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When you have enough adults, you can schedule BoRs at/after any regular meeting. That gets tough when your committee and available parents dwindles to three or four. In my troop, the committee met upstairs monthly on a troop meeting night, and we went "up" for our BoR after our troop meeting. The other thing to do is invite folks who are active with your CO. You have to make clear the need, that scouting experience is not necessary, and you'll have a prepared list of questions that they may choose from to ask a scout. Obviously, you have to then have a schedule that the scouts can follow.

Yep, PA State Parks are supposedly dry. There are also quiet hours that supposedly begin earlier and end later than most summer camps …. https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/Recreation/WhatToDo/StayOvernight/RVandTentCampsites/Pages/default.aspx Most of us however will look the other way if there’s nothing to hear. They usually provide remote, primitive camping locations for scouts who are just about ready to play capture the flag at 9pm.

One of @fred8033's challenges stuck out to me ... Obviously, policing how every staff certifies MB's is a fool's errand. However, on the last day of camp a couple of years ago, I was reviewing a scout's camping log and realized that he hadn't sorted out which nights were under canvas and which were not. He needed a couple more weekends to earn the badge. So, I went back to the program hall and returned the "completed" blue card and requested a partial. This is no trivial task for a staff who is trying to close out the week because they wanted to make sure it was logged correctly in the

I stand corrected. None of the 15 (or more?) boys who joined this year were Lions. About 10 were crossovers from one AoL den. Regarding "Family Scouting", esp. for pre-K and K ... When they were wee little, we took our kids camping regularly (much to Mrs. Q's chagrin). Babysitting cousins were paid in food and a weekend away from their parents! Even after adjusting for inflation, such an excursion was much less than the registration fee. One friend at church arranged a camping weekend with international families. Other organizations may do the same or similar. BSA is not going to crack th

To amplify @Eagle1993’s observation, we were swarmed with crossovers in February, and very few were lions. Since then we have had roughly one new scout a month, some were never cubs, some quit while bears, some were waiting to cross over. Lions, while a nice service for parents who don’t know how to arrange play dates, is having little influence on retention of middle school youth.

That’s an okay protest. But I think she can do better. Here’s what I would do … Get some dark blue fabric and stitch into a “star chart” medallion. Sew/paint the local horizon around the edges, as if laying down looking up. Get some phosphorescent thread and sew images of the moon as observed unaided on four days in the same week. Sew this temporary insignia on the back of the sash as a memento of her scouting experience this year. Obviously, this is a suggestion that would have suited my talents at the time. She could whittle/3D print a neckerchief slide of her

@nolesrule, I can respect how this feels like your scout caught the hot potato. But, if indeed other scouts were shortchanged of actual scouting for three years because of misguided intentions of very nice camp staff, she’s the one that’s coming out ahead in this. I wish her well in her observations of the moon (as soon as God grants her four clear nights/mornings in a week), and may it lead her to a lifetime of noting our sky’s wanderers!

Hope the interview went well. If I were you, I’d wear the pin and your square knot on your uniform for the parade. But, the parade organizers might have a specific “look” in mind. That might include your MB sash as well. Remember to not forget the most important part of a scout’s uniform: his smile!

@ShadyRhoads welcome to the forums. Some of us manage aquatics areas. Our priority is forestalling death. Being liked is nice when it happens. Your contempt of deadlines is not a good tell. I’m sorry that your unit and your camp has fallen prey to skating by without using the Merit Badge Application (a.k.a., blue cards). The easiest solution is for the scout to find a counselor ASAP and complete the MB using the traditional paperwork. If he has mastered the skills, he should be able to knock this out in a couple afternoons at a local pool. More importantly, the scout should make

Let me push back, @nolesrule. “Better” is the determining factor. The very word “scouting” is synonymous with “observing and reporting.” Your scout should not take anyone else’s word for it when completing her observations. Who knows what she would have noted had she not relied on some programmer of a night sky app to collect the data? It sounds like the camp deprived her of that better opportunity. The SM is defending her right to go scouting. Not only her right … by bringing it up at the district level, he/she is making clear to the camp, the district (and, thanks to you, all

Welcome! And thanks for all you’ve done and continue to do for our youth!

I’m just thinking of he poor scouter who takes what we say as gospel and now has MCs in spades!

Council events justify the need for unit numbers. It makes it a lot easier to help that lost Cub. But, it is possible to find a week at camp with units from two councils with the same number. I do believe ornate CSPs have outlived their usefulness. Defunding the World Crest is a non-starter. You might not feel it, but your scout benefits from the World Organization of Scouting Movement supporting scouts in nations with financial issues more prohibitive than only the poorest of Americans will ever experience. Because of WOSM, your scout might one day find himself with a hiking buddy f

Typo (for anyone who reads this in the future) Should be “At least 2 committe members”

@InquisitiveScouter, scouts love paperwork! But I have a funny feeling this SM would see the need for such as an affront. @Jmatt0613, welcome to the forums! And thanks in advance for all you do for the youth. You gave us a lot to unpack. But, let me paint with a broad brush. A scout is kind. Boys or girls who are unkind are not scouts. Such a youth should be suspended from the troop until he/she decides to live up to his/her vows. No paperwork necessary. Now, it is tough when adults are at loggerheads about what should be straightforward. But, the important thing is to set your

Like many league sports, Cub scouting may need sponsors besides COs. My teams baseball uniforms were purchased by a local insurance agent. A local company interested in garnering business from families might want to underwrite registration fees, and a sticker with their logo should be affixed to the scouts’ book for that year. The sticker might include a Q-R code for a discount or other special offer at that business. A thrift store with a department for new-to-you uniform parts — sold exclusively to registered BSA members — would be a boon for many communities.

‘Skip, I lived in UK during one of your parliamentary elections. They were as hot as any race in the states. During my stay, I came to admire how the royals embodied the aspirations of the many Brits. That was mostly Elizabeth’s doing. But I’d never wished the Americans to have the same. We’d probably make a hash of it. Among my friends are monarchists who covet the stability that a royal family may bring. The grass is always greener, I suppose.

Ya know, that “free money” involves hours of writing and persistence on the part of a scout. It’s kinda like lawyering without seeing the judge.

They aren’t mean-spirited. They just want to save you from unintended consequences. All, regarding handwriting … my 11th grade English teacher (often a guest at many courts of honor because he also counseled Communications MB) freed us from any obligation to use cursive. He was a veteran clerk in WWII and the Cold War and realized how badly requisitions could be fouled if one didn’t write in block letters. From that point on, he left cursive behind. Many students took his message to heart. I learned to type on account of my atrocious handwriting that would do little besides qualify me for

@curious_scouter ignore the naysayers. Soon enough, scouts will able to 3-D print a stack of blue cards from an STL file generated after clicking a checkbox of the badges that they'd like to earn. Until then, your plan might help you manage chaos better. My one suggestion is that you only pre-fill the name of the MB, your troop #, district, and council. Don't bother numbering the reverse of the Applicant Record (the middle portion of the card) because sometimes requirements are re-numbered. That portion would only be used on the rare occasion that the scout doesn't complete the badg

... including noble tutu wearing scouts.

As someone who consults on such propositions, I can assure you that it would be very labor intensive to develop and would work with questionable results that would have a high degree of measurement error. (Think of the AI developed for facial recognition that wound up disproportionately singling out minorities, and you get the idea.) It would take decades to develop a method that would prove trusted by all parties. In the best of circumstances some legitimate claims would be tagged as "rotten fish". Do we really want to inflict that pain on victims whose claims were hastily assembled just so w

For most parents in the area, it's scouting+. E.g., scouting+sports, scouting+religion, scouting+music, scouting+lifesaving, scouting+vocational tech, etc ... So, absent BSA, I see that equation reversing, just imagine: sports leagues whose away teams camp on the opponents' practice field before/after the game church youth camps with more primitive camping opportunities recitals in outdoor amphitheaters 48-hour preparedness drills week long vehicle assembly classes, clothing design camps with fashion shows, etc ... overnight dodge-ball tournaments!

Took grandson #1-1 to the Erie zoo. First time since last year. Sad to see the exotic bird exhibit was closed because of the avian flu. Bob Kings story was an uplifting counterpoint.

The answer might just be that you’re the first scouter to do that! We never had the need because, if we are swamped with requests to apply for the same badge, we give the scouts blank cards, they fill them in with the MBs they want to try and earn, and we meet with each scout and sign the cards that they pre-filled accordingly.