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If only I had a dollar for every time a man said to me "I only made it to (insert rank here). Now I wish I earned Eagle." No, scratch that. If only I were permitted to reply, "Hey, if you are are serious ... Have I got an opportunity for you! For the low low price of just one hour a week ..." As far as @Eagledad is concerned, we need one, just one, 11 year old in a BSA4G troop to run up to him and say, "I love this scouting stuff."

Important data point: when you visited each troop, in which one(s) did the SPL come and introduce himself to you the parent? Second important point: which troop are your son's friends interested in going to? Third inportant point: when you went camping with each troop, which one had boys who smiled the most, sang the loudest, and were the most cheerful and friendly? These rise to the top. I agree with @ItsBrian, distance matters. Well, commute time matters. In some parts, roads are straight, limits are high, folks think little of such drives. Post modern nomadism actually encourages life in metal rolling projectiles. I find health in bucking that trend. Making friends with such a troop, however - even if you don't join it, may provide a provisional summer camp opportunity with familiar scouts.

On e list should be: Learn great ideas from other units. Invites on outings to fill every weekend. Take the spouse out on fundraiser dinners and B&Gs. No need to waste time figuring out what to do with that one hour a week.

Unless, we are adding grains that should have never been taken off!

@Pselb, membership decline isn't the problem, it's a symptom. It is the effect of policies and procedures, culture, and economy. As individual scouters, we can manage some of those things more than others. But, by reading about each other and sharing what we learn with others (at multiple levels of responsibility, from the troop librarian to the chief scout executive) we hope to help everyone. So, don't expect a consensus statement from these forums. Do expect what you have to say to be taken seriously. BTW, as a kid, I was all about bugs (and building a computer- 4 bit processor- manual switches). Sounds like your son's on he right track.

We do ask around about those "some nobodies" be they boyfriends, girlfriends, etc ... One divorced mom was especially grateful that we did. Another dad had to carefully explain to us how an ex who was not in the picture suddenly was. We also are painfully aware that sometimes a bio-parent can make a kid's scouting career impossible. So your bf may be singled out, but in the grand scheme of things he's not alone.

I dunno, I was able to improve a friend's opinion after a he reposted the first story on his FB page. As much as someone would like to believe that BSA is a heartless beurarcracy, they are more willing to believe ambulance chasers will make a media stink if they see themselves losing in civil court. Tell your friends "Utah Law Firm Preys on Downs Syndrome Scout and His Family"

If you're certain of that, then you should let the COR that you'll move on and will encourage your boys to do so. It's no hard feelings. You two have very different leadership styles and you'll only aggravate him if he's SM. This ain't congress. What to move to? Well, see if someone wants to have a crack at a linked BSA4G troop. When life throws you sass, sip sarsaparilla.

Yep, "bigoted" has a diluted meaning these days. In my part of town they will toss racial and sexist slurs willy-nilly, but if someone is doing you harm, they will stand by your side defending your piece of turf tooth and nail. The phrase "after all, we're North Side" is fairly common. Our minorities have heard sweeter and lost more to folks with astute tongues. The GS/USA definitely has biased expectations, but I wouldn't call their non-inclusive language bigoted. After all what's good for the goose ... makes a gander pretty happy.

My take: this is no snafu. The system worked surprisingly according to plan -- for the attorneys . By their own words the family's lawyers intentionally exaggerated the impact of rejection of the boy's project by using the phrase "effectively nullified" regarding already earned awards. The fact was: the project proposal was rejected. That's all. The attorneys knew darn well that they had no standing. So, their best strategy - in the interest of the firm - would be to make it sound like BSA rescinded awards. Then once the normal procedures transpired, it would make them look like they got them back for the boy. Media circus success. I hope the parents refuse to pay that firm one thin dime.

Oh, that sounds very new. Although it may have been there since Venturing. (However, flexible web surveys are so this century, that I doubt it.) To GS/USA's credit, they have made efforts to poll members and former members with fairly open-ended and timely surveys.

Good luck fixing stupid.

@Eagle1993, I'm afraid you are reading what I describe through rose-colored glasses, just like the scouts from Eastern-block whose parents saw their situation through mud-colored glasses! The reason the youth have to step up is because the adults, raised under communism, were beat down. Except for the oldest of SMs, they had no concept of volunteering time in youth programs. Secondly, most schools anywhere else could not afford the facilities to offer the panoply of sports and activities that ours do. Your 16 year-old counterpart in another country would not have the options (distractions?) you describe. Our crew's biggest hit? When the school installed a climbing wall! Suddenly, one didn't have to take the better part of a Saturday on a Cope course ... plus nobody was asking you to tie your own figure eight on a bight!

From my notes talking with scouts from multiple WOSM organizations: older scouts don't leave because they have to deal with 11 y/o's and younger. It's quite the opposite. They stay because the younger scouts need someone to run the program, and adults are not stepping up there to get in their way. Note that for some scout associations, there are nowhere near enough adults. (I bet in some countries that's even worse given the refugee crises around the globe.) The scoutmaster is one for hundreds of youth from the ages we call cubs through venturing. So, giving older youth responsibility over a den of cubs is essential. A teen boy and girl team up to lead the youngest grade for several consecutive years, and they are mentored by their SM in the process. In the summer half of older part of the troop is the advance team setting up summer camp, half is the clean-up team taking it down, and they have a week overlap where they run the cub's resident program. Think about it. Need a scoutmaster conference? You'd better be tending some young ones some way. To replicate that here in the USA would require breaking a bunch of cultural norms! Like I said before, I've only been able to talk to rotary exchanges, college students, and professionals who were scouts in their respective countries ... I'm not sure what it's like for the scout with less ambitious career goals. Anyone who wants to me to explore this subject in detail is welcome to underwrite an expedition for me to visit units in other countries.

I find this hard to believe. In my mind, an exciting Pack program is as easy as a cheer, a skit, a song, and as few announcements as possible. But perhaps there's more to it. So what's the "this" in do this and it will be fun?

@FireStone, I've seen so many takes on stars and compass logos that I don't know what's modern, post-modern, or steampunk! What your side-by-side comparison shows is that 1) the star symbol was removed and replaced with a compass rose and 2) instead of the slanted, advancing feel of the compass ellipse, we have the more traditional circle. To me it feels like the difference between running an orienteering course and sifting through historic maps. So I see a "space age" type icon on the left and a "old cartographic" icon on the right, and read the dissonance a marketing guy trying to apply "dated" and "fresh" opposite of my brain. This may be a case of toe-may-toe v. toe-mah-toe. But it seems like a top-down decision. @fred johnson, thanks for explaining the state motto. I had no clue! If they would have named the council L'Etoile du Nord, I might have made the association. But then I guess that's what makes me an outsider!

When I hear Northern Star, I always think Alaska. So, there is no level of branding that I think will clean up that mess. Headwater, Whooping Crane, Thousand Lakes, Bread-Basket-When-Thawed, would have captured the location. Clearly, their board wants the Minnesotan-on-the-street to think of something else. I think Laurel Highlands Council really nailed it after Greater Pittsburgh and Penn's Woods councils merged by soliciting names from its membership then having a vote on the favorites, followed by an art contest and another vote for the council patch. Our logo is the BSA's with the council name beneath it. Even when Potomac council had to merge with us, the name fit. (The only change: "Pennsylvania" was dropped from the council patch.) So, you all might not know where we come from by looking at our shoulder, but we do. Yesterday, guests from upstate New York were talking about how they were wowed by the rhododendron at Falling Water. I encouraged them to come back in June. (Note to self: have council patches ready to give the next time they visit!) If mergers can't be pretty, they should at least be fun.

My guess is that this is a bit of "tail trying to wag the dog." The last scentence of the introduction uses marketing mind tricks like "bit dated" and "fresh look" without identifying who disliked the old logo and who was calling for a new one. Then the justification for dropping "BSA" from their url and not adding "scouting" to it is convoluted. There is no suggestion that they worked with a focus group of anyone except the folks in their boardroom. To be fair, my use of BSA4G is definitely a case of tail wagging dog. But, it's one that can be justified in one scentence.

I think you made yourself clear. Going off going off topic is par for the course with this lot. Bottom line: this is definitely one of those things I'd ask another parent to help you attend to in exchange for helping attend to her daughter's pet foible. In the long run, that's the best part of scouting: when you can call on other adults to serve as your second voice / sounding board. Hope you find a friend who can ride you where you need. Fords are the brunt of many cruel jokes from half my scouts. (The other half defend their Fords' honor fiercely.)

The SE would also like to be informed if any council employees are treating costomers badly.

@FireStone, as a cub who always wondered if some of his awards were "railroaded" trough, I will say this with all due respect. Your pack's approach stinks. It is far better to know that you didn't accomplish something than spend a life wondering if someone pulled some strings for you instead of sitting down and showing you when an how you completed each step in the book. Even the "do your best" standard for each requirement wrankles. Son #2, great at soccer and swimming, was terrible at catching a ball. We tried a couple of tosses back and forth, and there were one or two where you could say the ball landed in his hands, maybe. And one or two throws back that came in my general direction. I called "you did your best" and signed off. He picks on me to this day about it. He would have rather we spent weeks wearing our shoulders raw until he was fit for the major leagues. That kid in a divided house ... do you think a fake award covers for his unenthusiastic parent? Does it help his parent like scouting more? When he gets to Boy Scouts and can't make rank quickly, possibly on account of his situation, will he be able to stick around? Or, will he think identity must be predicated on accomplishment because he never heard "You didn't earn Wolf this year, but that's okay. Please be a Bear with us next year, start fresh, and try to make that rank. No matter what, you are still one of us!" Your pack can do better for a boy than confound accomplishment with identity.

All I am saying is that if you're looking out for new policies on the horizon, the G2SS is the wrong place. The fact that the sex of a trained adult matters for meetings for early adopters is cause for concern. That the professional did not correct herself when I said that requiring a trained adult of a particular sex for even meetings could make Venturing even more unworkable ... but instead acknowledged the problem, is evidence toward the positive. I'd love evidence that refutes what I heard. But, referencing the absence of wording in this year's policy does not support the negative regarding what I noted was on deck next year's policy.

Meanwhile Western PA boys look can't believe that it's true that they have to have adults with them to call it a camping night. BSA: with or without you.

I'll take your quote and raise you a current one from https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/familyscouting/ppt/Early-Adopter-for-Webinar-Council-Leadership.pptx Saturday was when I just heard about this being applied to troops and crews (beginning next year, I suppose). So the usual "show me where it's written" is unlikely to apply.

Define "more". I was using rope hammocks with my patrol for nap times 40 years ago. A neighboring camp had the entire troop under sway. The site looked like an awesome spider's nest. Check out My House In the Woods, a painting by Baden Powell. Mrs Q got us a rope hammock for two not long after we were married. (It was a Kmart blue light special.) As the back started reacting badly to the cold hard lands, and as picnic tables could be hard to find at times, I started to pack that and a tarp instead of a tent. (My only tip: pack about 20' 3/8" rope for a ridge line, and 30' 1/8" parachord to rig a loop for retracting the tarp a la Venetian blind. Don't waste good star-gazing time for fear of an hour of rain.) That thing is still in service as my spare, and I've loaned it out to many a venturer. In the past few years, Mrs Q got each of us outfitted with tech hammocks and netting. (Son #2, especially, "needed" one to keep up with the girlfriend.) It sure is nice to hear dismayed mosquitoes, but the stargazing is a little more of a challenge. And Mrs Q was charmed when, passing by the library, she ran into Son #2 and girlfriend studying in their hammocks. The family who sways together, stays together. We also have a stand-alone canvas hammock suitable for plopping on beach campgrounds or concert festivals. Kids would love when I'd award them for a chore or service by announcing "Now, for xxx, it's hammock time!" As for today's Boy Scouts? They aren't quite as interested. First, there are only so many well-paired trees. Second, there's something to be said for huddling on the ground next to your buddies. Third, for the cost of three tech hammocks, you can buy one nice tech 4-man tent or dozens of tarps, rope, deet, and hiking sticks. As our boys get older, some turn to hammocks; some rig tarps; others, survival shelters. We find the variety of styles allows the boys to grow at their own pace and keeps our footprint quite small. One final thing that I'd like to see more of: demonstrations of how to set up your hammoc on the ground in the absence of trees, how to rig tarps with rain-catchers, convert your gear to game traps, bear bags, first aid gear, etc ....