qwazse

I remember meeting several older British men who were competent in most all of these except knitting. The five you identified are definitely First Class skills. Many of the others may be picked up on the trail to Eagle.

Sorry for your loss. Is this a person who could have been awarded some knots, but never really bothered? You could probably talk to your DE about that. Your DE may also suggest, if your people want to take up a collection, awarding a James E West fellowship in her name. Although, also consider that if she wasn't much for awards while alive, posthumous awards might not have that much meaning. What about pack-life did she enjoy the most? For, example, if it was pinewood derbies, name the track in her honor. If it was a song or skit, teach the scouts to perform it in her honor.

concessions at a school are like offering plates at church. I'm pretty sure BSA doesn't want to meddle in either. Revenue that isn't under the rightful eye of the CO is where the start to worry about their brand being protected.

Welcome to the forums! And, congratulations on your progress thus far. Once upon a time projects proceeded without mentors. That was when America built things more than drafted grants and contracts. I'm sorry that this has become a roadblock. It sounds like "with all due respect, sir ..." will be your pet phrase for a while. It is very rare that Institutional Heads put their feet down about such things. Yes, talk to the Institutional Head, explain that as you read your project workbook recommendations, you don't see any place where the choice of mentor is anything but the scout's, or is limited to the scout's unit. Explain that you don't understand why just because a relationship was broken with the church leadership it should be broken with the rank-and-file. Then be prepared to listen. After each of you hearing both sides, one of you is going to have to give. Either the IH will have to let that person work with you (either by relaxing his rules within the troop or seeing you transfer to another troop or crew), or you will have to accept his decision and let a less politically polarizing person be your mentor. Proceed cheerfully and courteously. This may be a Paul and Barnabas moment: rough at the time, but looking back, you all may see things work together for good. Good scouting to you.

Welcome. Thanks for your service to our boys. And good luck in your endeavors. Your FB live stream looked cool, but it conked out on me at minute 4. As far as gear for me goes, I just transport scouts and venturers. I wind up collecting new gear after every trip!

Inexpensive? I dunno, I could get a lot of babies sat for what I paid in uniforms, books, and camp fees.Mamma certainly wouldn't have had to burn her fingers on hard tac for my Jambo fees if I'd just stuck with band. Scouts UK may be a one-stop shop, but they aren't just putting anyone behind the counter. That first decade of co-Ed explorers will be bringing their kids in through the door pretty soon. They are set to impress.

Nice. The typical patrol flag around here is somewhat leaner and meaner. It often doubles as someone's walking stick. The dirt and smoke that it collects is part of the mystique. Less swag, more brag, I guess. But you have definitely given your boys the right idea.

If I were to criticize one thing about my SM growing up, it was that he appointed the SPL. (At least I don't recall a vote.) But, like Stosh's 4-patrol troop, patrols were very strong and independent ... camping on opposite sides of the cow pasture. SPL didn't do much except read announcements, fill in rosters, and look out for boys who may be "falling through the cracks." It really was a fun job and not much work. The QM and PL's clocked far more hours on troop business than I ever did.

Let me suggest you advance this on two fronts: 1. Have the adults consult with the troop PLC about if this should count. After all, it is the SPL/PL who should be signing off on 1st class requirements, and if that's not the case now, you all should be moving in that direction. This isn't hard. The SM arranges some time with PL/PLC and the advancement chair. The AC then asks "Guys, I just want to know from you all, how I should record this. Read the requirement, and tell me what you think is fair." 2. Look beyond the participation requirements. Talk to your district or council advancement chair about how other requirements work for scouts with disabilities.The book already has instructions on doing this with the land navigation requirement, but I had to help this boy waive the swimming requirements. Paperwork is involved, and it requires agreement between the boy, his parents, and his physician, but my DAC was extremely helpful in outlining the steps to make it work.

Similarly, my Czech contacts work a similar program. From the parents' point of view it's a necessity because too few parents step up. (Doing so in the past came with a jail scentence. That culture has carried over to the present, but also there are economic challenges.) From the youths point of view, it's just what they do. I don't think it's part of the advancement program. It's more like the apex positions of responsibility. Think Denner to PL to SPL to DL to Camp Staff (half the older youth in a troop come a week early and set up camp for the Cubs, the other half stay late and take down). It wouldn't surprise me if the real indicator of growth in any given program worldwide is correlated with the proportion of older youth "serving down."

I'm not saying calling any BSA staff is unpleasant. I'm just balancing the fun doing that against the fun letting the boy know you're really excited to have him back and want to know about everything he accomplished in his last pack.

We didn't have gangsters so much as camps ... primarily Chevy vs Ford. But, yeah, the kids from the rough part of town were golden. It hit me at a class reunion when one fella (more into athletics as a kid) said "You were so unapproachable back then." Broke my heart that anyone would think that.

I thought one way of making the pack program less "bloated" was via Venturing females and males who could be den chiefs. Based upon what I had learned from Israeli scouts, and what I had known from capable young men and women, I thought this would be a natural opportunity that any scout who wasn't about advancement might want to consider. It got zero traction. One or two of my venturers were counselors in their church's youth program or coached at the YMCA or were on staff at cub camp, but it was too much of a leap for any of them to consider adding one more day a week to their agenda. Furthermore, as much as cub moms & dads admire older scouts, they really don't see them as capable of running a cub program with their assistance. What is second nature in other scout groups around the world just doesn't fly here. I'm hoping the revised cub AoL program allows for better transition into patrols. But, I think the harsh reality is that we don't have enough older youth "serving downward" to the packs they left. If that culture isn't in place, we don't begin to solve the adult problem. If we don't do that, boy scout membership will barely break even. You know, I think parents of young kids are looking to run around less. But the folks who would gripe about running around less might be the same folks who don't or can't do as much volunteering in the first place.

1. If you are burnt out, everybody loses. Encourage someone to step up as DL 2. If boys are awarded without even trying, everybody loses. Trust your first instincts and set things right. Parents who complain about #2, direct them to #1. Remind them that what you had before may be why your membership is what it is.

I dunno. If a parent were available, I'd love to talk to him or her before hand. Just to know how things are going or let them know of how proud we are of their son. We're pretty informal in these parts. It's in our culture to let everyone who wants to say something have a say. So, we'd never think there would be anything wrong with having a conversation with the parents. We're usually reading their letter of recommendation anyway.(Remember this town has a history of closed doors leading to massive job losses. See other topics on letters of recommendation.) I don't know if that's the attitude of @@zuzy's committee. But I certainly don't find it as peculiar as others do.

The venturing program is the one natural experiment. And I weight those higher than polls.Then there's local experience. Maybe yours is different. Do you have more parents asking you about mixed programs over traditional models?

So I'm spinning off that "Big Question" thread about some BoR using a "trick question" about wearing your uniform in school. Seems that it was isolated to one unit, and most of us agree that it was a good thing that other BoRs didn't use it. Anyway the discussion turned to taking flack for wearing your uniform, something I never had a problem with, but others had. Well, thinking about it, there were some things I did take flack for: Being friends with the new kid, who couldn't keep his skin clean. Striking up a conversation with the "dumb girl". Having the audacity to try out for stage band freshman year. Being kind to that cheerleader who everyone knew was sleeping around. Wearing a uniform one day a year was hardly going to get me in any more trouble with people who wanted to dish it out.

And, there are SM assigned leadership projects. It astounds me that so many of these "high speed, low drag" parents or youth aren't pounding down the SM's door begging to do one of these. Rally some scouts, do the job (paint the scout house, collect old gear, dry some venison for the next campout cracker barrel ...) , mark zero time, have a blast at the next MB pow-wow, count the days from e last BoR, schedule SMC+BoR to the day, advance one rank. Nothing could be easier except, I don't know, maybe sewing on a pretty patch and making plans to do nothing for it. 8-)

I'm finding that's a VERY hard transition if they weren't already active in the crew.

Go ahead, bring your pop-up camper. We're hiking five miles through rocks and bogs to pitch our tent. No motorized vehicles, so have fun dragging it. Seriously, if I can get physical distance between the adult sites and the boys ... I'm not gonna sweat the one-off anxious kid who has to hike the hundred yards to us to talk to mom or dad. Son #2 did just that in the middle of the night (?early morning?) on his first camp-out after crossing over. I tucked him in beside me thinking that it would probably be the last time. It was.

This is where the SPL should be able to talk to the SM in a couple months and ask the SM if he can replace his QM or ASPL or any position in which the boy holding it is marking time. I do have a problem with rank determining position. In your son's case, he either has to help one of his patrol mates make rank, recruit a scout from another patrol, or hold a second PoR. If neither of those options is apparent, when that time comes he should discuss options with the SM. If he can point to a perfectly good tenderfoot scout in his patrol, he should encourage the SM to bend the troop rules. In fact, he should ask the SM which page in the handbook says his patrol's preferred leader has to make rank before earning his position.

From one to 1000 in 10 years. Nothing to sneeze at. The next decade's progress will speak volumes.

Happy Birthday, survival is a good thing! Especially if it comes with a wide-brimmed hat!

Yep, mom guilt! It all goes downhill from there. It is the award that counts. That is, the little rectangular patch. But, ask your son what he thinks. Explain it in terms he understands. E.g., 4 plaques vs. 4 pizzas with ice-cream. Alternatives to plaques: A picture of the boys, maybe when they were tigers stamp the AOL symbol. Each boy signs it. A neckerchief with an iron-on transfer of the boys' picture and some kind words. Each boy signs it. An AoL stamp. Have fun, and congratulations to your son.

I'm guessing because I don't hold the troop's roster and the numbers have been fluctuating: 35 scouts 2 ASM (plus this Crew advisor who wanders in on random occasions ) 3 ASM emeritus 1 SM 6 Committee members, as many more parents who will pitch in when asked. 1 Elusive CO rep 4 Venturers, who, although not Unit Scouter Reserve or ASM, would pitch in in a heartbeat if needed and time allowed.