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Oh, I almost forgot .... NHB-PWD: No holes barred pinewood derby. Bring down those old cars from your trophy shelf. Modify as you desire, so long as they don't impede the other car on the track. No weight restrictions. No design issues. (Well maybe no incendiary mechanisms.) If your CO has a smooth outdoor surface, you might consider a horizontal race. Airhogs provide impressive propulsion. If you're willing to jump through a bunch of safety hoops, model rocket engines turn the whole thing into a drag race. If you design it well, the cars could go against the grade. (Reverse PWD!) Figure out when the average motor is spent and design the track a little longer. At the end, launch across a sand pit -- points for distance. Spoiler alert: most cars won't survive more than two races. No patch, no trophy, just bragging rights. Maybe first in line for snacks.

I have regularly posted on FB (for the sake of my venturers mainly): "Hey Girl Scouts, I have a door ... And a phone! Largest order to the first caller." Plenty of likes, no sells. So I wound up last year buying from a girl who was taking orders at her dad's coffee shop. I congratulated her on being so diligent and prepared with her order form. And said, "I'd place another order with any other scout who had her order form ready and willing to deal." Her younger sister who was in the seat next to me, form on the table, remained glued to her electronic device unflinching. I wink at her dad who's across the bar, who just shook his head. This year, the older sister was taking my coffee order and said, "Our Cooke sales have started, but I left may order form at home." (Dad's shaking his head.) I say, "So how is that my problem?" She thinks a couple of seconds, grabs a tablet, and starts writing my order. At least this year younger sister will strike up conversations ... Even about what her troop would do with the cookie $s ... But still hasn't figured out to ask if I would like to place an order with her.

Growing up, we never did T2F in meetings. All skills were to be demonstrated at camp or with PL on your own time. You read the book. You called your buddy. You tried to do what it said. Meetings were when you brought a guest in to talk about stuff like an MB, scouting in the good old days, etc ... I don't think this was a hard-and-fast rule. It's just how we organized. Indoors were for pool (in the Flaming Arrow patrol's room), air hockey (in the Cobra patrol's room), or ping pong (in the Wolf patrol's room). On nice days, it was dodge-ball in the back yard. You know? Now that I think of it, for our SM seeming to be pretty uptight, he gave us space to be a depraved lot.

Regarding council strips ... you need to ask yourself, if nothing changed about the uniform except my council circulated a new patch for my sleeve, what would I do? I think most folks would put take off their community strip and put the new patch on. Sometimes, you just gotta make compromises.

Three things conspired in my crew Advisor stressors: by the time our youngest were coming up between me and my co-advisor, we had eight kids between us in college or "between jobs." Our replacements weren't forthcoming. The best candidates were getting jobs elsewhere. Girls who didn't want to camp and boys who only wanted to camp. No unified vision for the "next big thing." No desire to meet enough to build that vision. Increased registration fees. I've discussed this elsewhere. For the money, high school kids in my community can have just as fun a weekend hiking and camping independently on their own. The first two are local. Other crews are popping up annually thanks to GS/USA's inconsistent late-teen program or BSA's domineering SM's. The third is global.

You might want to check some National Field Archery Association clubs to see how they handle this. It's hard to say how a particular bow should be classified unless you see how it performs in hundreds of hands. NFAA clubs may have some experts who can give you a more technical opinion. My gut is to advise the kid to not use a bow that isn't serving him well. It's not just the let-off that's hurting the boy. It's the stability of his forearm, the appropriateness of his stance, the sense of arc, the variation in shafts and fletchings, the placement of the range with respect to prevailing winds, and how his eyes focus. Sometimes a bow that feels good on the draw screws up an archer's ability to adjust for everything else. Your time might be better spent helping him perfect his use of one of your stock recurves, or -- if you can find a volunteer to loan one -- a small longbow.

Actually, over the years, we (along with other non-profits) have had a steady stream of land donations. Not sure how unusual Pennsylvania is in that behavior.

Reverse Orienteering (a.k.a. Surveying) - Provide each patrol a zoomed-in U.sG.S map of the grounds (caltopo.com Is a good source), a compass, and a purple pencil. - demonstrate using bearings to triangulate landmarks. - Challenge the boys to walk the grounds and draw in any new landmarks that weren't on the map at the time of it's last revision. - you could also add landmarks (e.g. Flags, etc...) if your grounds are largely unchanged. - evaluate boys on the quality of updated maps. If you use flags, you could actually add up the distance their points are from their true location. The objective is to increase skill with setting bearings and orienting maps.

To get Fred up to speed ... Time flies. They have been in this troop for over a year -- newbies no more. E94-a1 is now dubbed the "ASM to the NSP", The NSP is hardy new anymore, paucity of 1st class scouts notwithstanding. His Son #1 had served a full term as SPL last year, thus earning him veteran status. So, by internal standards, he has full authority to reign these hoodlums in. By those same standards, he does not have a say in when/how to reconfigure the membership. The notion of re-configuring as you go along not being part of this troops culture, SM is holding of until elections a couple of months down the road for such things. On the 8-month horizon, an large influx of crossovers. For those of us on the outside, "reigning in" this cadre is an exercise of elevating blood pressure. E94-A1, did I miss anything else that's keeping the pieces on this board in check?

I think we can build off of any merit badge, but one that may be useful: Astronomy. - Each patrol get a major constellation -- Draw a sky-map of it on card stock -- Identify the stars therein. -- From books/downloads show pictures of objects that could be seen in that part of the sky with a really good telescope. -- If the sky's clear, and it's still dark out, and the time is right, step outside and show scouts how to find it.

I keep going back to thinking "you can only do what you may do." This is not an NSP. It is a T2FP (trail to first class patrol). The handbook is written under the (flawed) assumption that 1st class is obtainable in a year for most boys. Well, if most boys buy-in to advancement being an important thing, maybe. But, our troop flipped, we got a rowdy patrol where fellowship was the most important thing with adventure coming in a close second. We leaned hard on them to be responsible for their own goals. (They made pancakes and cleaned gear a lot!) Is it likely that you and one of the boy's parents would chaperon a patrol overnight? Forget this trying to stay organized in a meeting and fiddling with rosters and menus. Find someplace close, a weekend you can spare, and offer it. No rosters, everybody pitch $20 in for food and gas. Provision at some general store near camp. Have them give the SM a decent plan (tour plan stuff: departure, return, drivers, etc ...) and implement it. For uniforming, try only requiring their neckerchiefs (friendship knotted so they don't lose their slide). I'm just saying, if change is not forthcoming from the top, work with what you have. And by "work" I mean stop trying to get them to be anything other than who they are during meetings, start trying to get them to perform in situations where they won't be a drag on the troop. This is no longer your current SPL's or TG's problem, this is the PL/APL's problem. So, since your'e stuck as their adviser, find an environment where the scouts aren't gonna frustrate you as much. For me that would be a sizable field where I can find a corner to swap stories with my co-chaperon, make some coffee, fish, and watch the sky.

We have some scouts on council camp staff. As such, we let them wear the silver epaulets. Also, while VOA officers, our venturers wear silver (or yellow, if a area/regional officer). The main reason is to get younger scouts to ask "why" and then learn about the ways they can lead in different levels of scouting. But that's youth. So, go with the forest green. Or save the dimes and use your vintage shirts. If you still fit in them, more power to you!

On behalf of my liberal muslim friends, I must object to @@Stosh's use of "jihad" for his Conflict Level 6. Perhaps "Carpet Bombing" would be more suitable and typical of an American conflict response. {rant over} I advised a TG who was frustrated by the boys to just lower his expectations of what gets accomplished. If there's an instigator, send him to me to help find something for supplies. Your NSP is not new in age but maybe in experience. How often have they camped? Have they ever planned one activity (e.g., a hike around town) just their patrol? Whatever you're expecting of this patrol, they don't want to do it. You really need to get these guys away from busywork like rosters and onto tasks. Surely the CO has a bathroom that needs cleaned or a closet that needs organized, or (as you all aren't inundated with snow) weeds to pull and fire ants to poison? Start giving them service opportunities. Tell the PL that you hate to interrupt their very important meeting but someone asked if the boys could do X. (Obviously, make sure X is a ten minute task 'cause it sounds like this lot will take thirty to do it.) Or, fill a bucket of water and challenge them to relay it across/around the property without spilling it. Then get another bucket and challenge them to relay them in opposite directions. Then challenge them to use their buckets to fill a barrel. Meanwhile, get yourself a nice chair, a cup of tea (Chamomile, given how these boys are getting under your skin), sit back and watch. It won't be any prettier, but it will sure be funny.

Not odd at all. BSA did not invent LNT. It adopted it because troops were tramping up State and National parks. Their own properties couldn't possibly be managed under such guidelines given the desired volume of untrained campers. The guys on the camping committee are a stand-up lot of execs and volunteers. The names at the bottom of the report are passionate supporters of scouting and Western PA. Some of them (if I recognize the names correctly) are accountants and property managers. The back story: we've merged three councils in as many years because two were folding. (Thus the gerrymander when you look at the maps.) Needless to say, when it came time to balance the books, we had to lose executives. To get back those executives, we either need to increase fees, raise funds, or sell property.

"During this past year, our Council’s Board of Directors adopted a Strategic Plan with specific objectives relating to Membership, Marketing, Program, Development, Leadership and Governance, Unit Service, and Facilities. With respect to Facilities . . . the Strategic Plan directs us to develop a short and long range camp master plan. As the first step in our planning process, we’ve invited John Stewart, a consulting engineer with the Boy Scouts of America national office, to visit our Council and conduct a review of our facilities. John, along with members of our Laurel Highlands Council camping and properties committees, visited all ten of our camps and our three office buildings." http://lhc-bsa.org/~/media/Councils/Council527/527%20FSR%202016%20January%20Final.ashx Personal note: the boys in our units' preferred camping locations are among the ones mentioned for closing.

Don't feel too bad. Our crew's "on the brink" as well. If I can't cycle in new blood (both in terms of graduating 8th graders and in terms of passionate adults) next year might close it out. In that context, I'm a little concerned that an event like this may be a distraction.

Now gents, @@htusa31 created this new topic so we wouldn't run it off the rails! But, reinterpret Stosh's objection ... with the role-modelling approach can you model structure, but you can't model a desired character. For example, board can learn how to operate by Roberts' rules by observing other seasoned boards. However, if some members are bent on using the rules to muzzle others ... following the rules to a T will only keep malicious members in check and make the folks you'd really like to hear from not want to participate. Until you do the grunt-work of rebuilding the members' relationships with one another, giving them any model in which to operate will prove an exercise in futility. Role modelling worked with this troop because the boys already liked each other. They knew they wanted to accomplish some things. They knew it wasn't happening the way they were doing it. And, they believed they could do it differently and achieve a different outcome. SM provides one demonstration, and they were ready to act, proceeding with minimal guidance in the form of routine evaluation. I think NYLT, camporees, O/A, jamborees, and H/A contingents offer a variety of models that boys can evaluate. This partially helps avoid the "rut" that Stosh describes. But if boys aren't going in thinking "This is gonna help my troop/patrol back home," experiencing different models won't have much of a transforming effect. In that case, working with the boys as you observe their talents and adjusting to that over monthly activities is the better strategy.

If the church is your CO, that's their number. For these purposes, you are a ministry of the church. They "own" your troop's treasury and gear. Typically, your church treasurer will understand this and won't have a problem with you using it. The down side may be that he/she ask for a little accountability. The plus side is you aren't beholden to the BSA for any portion of the funds that you raise.

If your crew has at least 5 youth and 2 adults who are free July 31-Aug 5, $400 each participant ($300 each adult), plus transport. Summit Bechtel Reserve may be the place to be: http://www.summitbsa.org/venturingfest/ Scuttlebutt has that the National Venturing Youth Cabinet is putting this together in coordination with SBR staff.

@@MattR, yeah. Maybe we should just focus on math. Speaking of which ... Maybe Jersey boys are freed up to take the long view ... Like this guy: http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~sdmiller/Cryptanalysis-of-the-NFL-Schedule.html

Nice job! You set the right tone. It is gratifying when people count on your good name. As to when to split the boys, it all depends on how active they are. If they are all showing up to everything, they could form two patrols next month. If, like most troops with diverse boys, you're missing 3 or 4 at every activity, but they're never the same guys, you can wait to divide until after all your cross-overs are accounted for. Regardless, I suspect you'll want them in two groups before you do a week-long activity like summer camp. I find for that length of time, two small patrols accomplish a little more than one large patrol.

That sense of "poaching" is unfortunate. I lean pretty hard on my venturers to put serious effort into their troop or youth group. On the flip side, a troop's better to lose older scouts who would rather not be there, than never get any cross-overs because the older boys are aloof. Sometimes, you just don't get a group of older boys who are the nurturing type. Sometimes, however, there are personality conflicts between a scout and his SM. If the SM really relates as a mentor, a boy will stick around even into adulthood unless war or college takes him elsewhere. Meanwhile, it's easier to for a young scout to find jobs to do. (E.g., "Johnny, could you ask around 3 or 4 parents to see if they can give us rides to camp? Let me know who tells you they can." If the SM does that once, pretty soon the PL will catch on that he's to ask that question when it comes time to organize the next event.) One suggestion: talk to those SPL/ASPL and see if they would like to be Den Chiefs. You've got a one-patrol troop. It's fine if one of those first-years is PL and actually has most of the management responsibility for meetings, etc ... Let the SPL/ASPL position be a laid back "call me if you need anything" deal. The idea is to slowly get these older boys acquainted with the next couple of years' potential cross-overs, so that by the time they're 14, they'll have some personal investment in their well-being as they move into the troop.

bout he same happened for me at my church yesterday. good news! scout Sabbath is this coming Saturday!

Sorry, @@Krampus, I did get a nice walk in before the game, but this was the low-scoring brawl thanks to overpowering defenses I expected it to be. Nothing warms the heart of an old WPa football fan more.

From decades of work disentangling the machinations of befuddled psychologists, I've concluded that trying to describe "optimal" configuration based on the mean misses the vast bulk of universe that reigns in the variance. In other words, for every patrol mix that someone's found to be a dismal mess, someone else has found a patrol with the same mix to be spectacular. It's mostly a matter of finding the set of "little accomplishments" that a given cluster of boys need to achieve.