qwazse

The 'glades are impressive. I personally was impressed with the drive down Krome Avenue (runs north-south to the East of Miami). It's truly a breadbasket of the south. The driving is not fast. But the roadside stands are something to see. There's some good eating to be found in Homestead. Key West is neat (once you find a place to park) because you can rent bicycles and tool around nicely. I enjoyed biking it looking for geocaches. Warning: scuttlebutt from captains is that some scout-leaders are less than discrete about alcohol use on their "free" days at KW. Know your people, if this is an issue, choose your locations accordingly.

I'll confess that of things I fail to take seriously, this is one of them. Partly because: drug dependence (especially to this one) has caused rifts among family and friends to the point that laughter covers tears. I do hold out hope that regulated production may curb certain types of abuse. I've come across the plants in the wild (not part of any production) and was largely unimpressed. As far as impact on scouting ... every plot of tightly controlled land (e.g. GM corn fields, of which we have a few around here) is one more place boys can't hike, camp, or play capture the flag in. If that was the issue raised, I'd be more empathetic.

No clue about the camp or the program, but a suggestion on how to get more data: Call the camp director and ask for a referral from another troop or two. Maybe one who might attend the week that you're interested in and one who doesn't participate in the program or visited from out of council. The ideal would be if you could get your PLC and their PLC on speaker phone.

I did not intend to conflate tour plan with council approval. Tour plan is a tool to help preparation. It necessarily involves the unit key three. "Regardless, the tour and activity plan is an excellent tool that should be included in preparation for all activities, even those not requiring it. It guides a tour leader through itineraries, travel arrangements, two-deep leadership, supervision qualifications, and transportation." The question becomes: is this a pack campout if it is billed as such but only tigers show up?

Yeah, there are a lot of tech "believers". They see something work in one arena and push for it in another. What the poor souls don't realize is that in doing so, they make themselves everybody's secretary if they lack buy-in from everyone. That's fine. You're just a humble den leader now. Let him know that the data in his system is currently bogus, and you won't rely on it until it speaks truth. It's on him to figure out how to make sure that happens. For now, truth lies in hardcopy you give to your CC. What really matters is what the boys think. And they seem to know that they haven't even really tried to master some skills yet. That's a good place to be. It's not like anyone told them they were deserving of some award, and they can catch up by learning with their buddies. Finally, never worry about the boys being "embarassed" while visiting another troop. Most scouts were Webelos once, and they all probably remember forgetting a thing or two that was taught them. The thing that the resident campers will have gained, is they know a few older scouts, and if they are in a troop you visit, they'll recognize them right quick.

Is this an attempt at historical fiction? No, I find the notion of recruiting youth for international espionage far too unsettling.

Welcome, and thanks in advance for your service to the boys!

Although a very good idea, the position does not require a particular rank, http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/Leaders/About/ThePack/csdcf.aspx:Qualifications: Is an older Boy Scout, Varsity Scout, or Venturer. Selected by the senior patrol leader and Scoutmaster, Varsity Scout Coach, or Venturing Advisor at the request of the Cubmaster. Approved by the Cubmaster and pack committee for recommendation to the den leader. Registered as a youth member of a troop, team, or crew.

I would get that council approval in writing. File a tour plan. It's a durn shame you have to be that paranoid, but these are new parents and you want to be sure you're doing everything possible to make sure your scouts are well taken care of.

First, thanks for your service to the boys and being willing to wear a new hat (even if your parents make it easy to do so). I'm with you. If there's no recall from any of the boys, then that's a good indication that the skills were not taught in the first place. As Cubmaster, you definitely have the right to call the camp director and let him/her know that your Webelos were not served by his or her program. Make it clear that you are looking for a camp that teaches boys skills and does you no favors in advancement tracking. You can train parents or den chiefs on box-checking. As den leader, you are in charge of advancement. The ACM should have ordered awards based on your request and no one else's. You should order awards based on what you or reliable parents signed off in the boys' books. Welcome to Boy Scouts. If there is no signature in a scout's book the scout doesn't get the award ... Even if your convention's nominee says you should order it. We're the boys told they'd be getting the award?

True confession, I never read the SMHB cover to cover. Only the PL and SPL HBs. I did read the Venturing Leadership Manual. Anything else, I hang on your very words. (And Scouter mag, after TAHAWK's vetting of each issue.)

Do they do overnights on the HQ lawn? Envisioning an alternative to the 1000ft high climb requirement 9b for Camping ...

Lose the members, lose alumni, ultimately lose the land.

@@Hedgehog, you're reading into the text! Both troops are his. (He has the membership cards to prove it, no doubt.) So time served in either counts. Truth is rank advancement was never designed to function under these contentious circumstances. It was never designed to be such a paperwork burden either. For example, there is something about the current Eagle Project Workbook, which if you look at the structure from novice perspective is a good teaching tool for project management. But, in the hands of micromanaging adults, it becomes an invitation for overreach. As a result boy learns more about bureaucratic delay than about how to mobilize a community to accomplish some good in the world. Zuzyson's SM has the best of all possible worlds. Everyone else has obsessed over the paperwork. All he has to do is observe his new scout and see if his character matches that of an Eagle ... not hard to do if you start with a positive attitude.

Sounds like a council by-law.

Looks like I got clipped! The rest, well @@Hedgehog covered it mostly. I would only add that you might want to let these parents know that whoever steps up as den mom deserves regular "recognition" by way of whatever flowers or chocolates the rest of them can afford to send her.

Explain to the adults that their kids are counting on them to step up, and nobody will do it better. Share a vision of two or three tiger dens, each with two caring adults and every parent part of team. There are a lot of negative opinions of the Lions program on this forum. Never having experienced, I can give you no advice.except that if you cant do it all, don't. Give the old Cubmaster a call. You'll need his help. A second pack is not a bad idea. But like you said, the aggrieved adults will need to

Durn it. Y'all just reminded me that I needed to empty the dishwasher before Mrs. Q gets home.

I did respond fo BSA's call for IT volunteers, so hopefully we will converge on some really good interfaces.At one point tour plans were fillable .pdf format. I could send the responsible youth the form. He or she would then fill it out and return it to me for my signature, and I would sign and turn it in. This really helped youh get involved in the planning process. And it helped them think through what they needed to do resolve to make a safe trip. Basically the current tour planning process broke that way of operating, so I'm simply envisioning increased individual access to my unit's tour plans. The questions don't change much at all, but who can complete them should.

The troop already invested in Troopmaster. Post merger, the age distribution is skewed toward younger scouts, many of whom don't come with devices. So BSHB with occasional backup to TM remains the mode of operation. There seemed to be no features of value to the Crew. So nothing there. The "killer app" for me would be a youth-accessed tour planning tool.

@@robhixkg, welcome to the forums and thanks for your service to the boys. Note: the requirement only talks about elevation "gain". So, they could set up a campsite at the foot of the mountain, hike up 1000', have an outfitter cache some cycles at the summit, and cycle a long winding route back to camp.

I stand corrected! So, in deference to tomorrow's rekindled college football rivalry, here's a concise blurb from Penn State's extension service http://extension.psu.edu/food/preservation/faq/ziplock-bag-omelettes Basically, nobody actually found it to be harmful, but it sounds like a dumb idea. The company's nuanced statement (https://ziploc.com/en/sustainability-and-safety, emphasis mine): When label directions are followed, Ziploc® brand products can be used with confidence. All Ziploc® brand Containers and microwavable Ziploc® brand Bags meet the safety requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for temperatures associated with defrosting and reheating food in microwave ovens, as well as room, refrigerator and freezer temperatures. And a recent statement from rep that hews the company line http://community.anovaculinary.com/discussion/459/plastic-safety So, it sounds like nobody has actually stuffed rats with zip-omelettes to confirm how bad an idea it may or may not be. LNT is the main reason I would not go for gimmicky cooking tricks. If you have to carry out your zippy's, why bother? But @@blw2, going through the trouble of finding these details, I learned that Ziploc does offer a recycling program. Turn them in with your shopping bags. You do turn in your shopping bags, right?

Why? Fun. Forget MBs, it's just plain fun to be someplace where hundreds of scouts file in for flags and campfires. It's also nice to not drive far away for that experience. The problem: with membership decline, you have to pull from a wider area to get the same numbers in each camp.

@@blw2, in the general case, that may be true. But Perd's ASM was referencing the manufacturer specifically for his justification. So, he won't have to cast to wide of a net to address a challenge to his assertion. A good start: look for warning labels on the box! Then the corporate website -- where, far from alerting, we are being encouraged to "boil, baby, boil." From there, the CDC and FDA are great resources for this sort of thing. (Brace yourself at the CDC website, there's bound to be a warning about something you've already eaten today!) The point is ... tell your source precisely. A student may question it (e.g., Scouting's persistence regarding whisky and wound care), but at least there's something to hang a hat on.

How wrong it is depends on how wrong your son thinks it is to not remember a knot while wearing a badge with that cute little motto on that smile-shaped ribbon. The ASM may have noticed the signature on that requirement of someone who had been letting boys skate by without solid mastery of skills. Was the knot from the 1st class requirements, or from a merit badge the boy earned. If the SMC was held adjacent a pool and a land navigation course, your son may want to ask himself if he could demonstrate the other 1st class requirements when they would be needed the most. We need to take the focus off the ASM and ask ourselves, "Is this helping the boy grow?"