qwazse

Less than 2% of registered scouts ever attend Jambo. I don't know what % of scouts in a given year go to an HA base. I suspect the number is small, but larger than Jambo. Maybe we should sum over 4 years to make the rates comparable? Not every HA wonk should go to Jambo. Not every Jambo wonk should go to an HA base. Not every Arrowman should go to NOAC. Some scouts and scouters with means should try to go to one of those things and represent their home troop/crew well. I've been generally pleased with the cheerfulness "bump" in the boys who did. But, I have also seen seasoned scouters talk other scouters out of it. You all owe them a huge thanks. For me, all I I know is that at Jambo I saw a minimum impact camping display and from that point forward, my backpack got lighter and my footprint smaller. Now, other boys in my troop and girls in my crew -- very few who attended Jambo or an H/A base -- imitate me with pride. Was that worth Mamma slaving over a hot stove for us to sell hard candy for me to afford such exploits? Let the land that was untrampled be the judge.

What @@jpstodwftexas said (except the part about Summit, which can handle thousands of campers but a limited number of lodgers). Plus ... I think part of the idea is to get boys acquainted with college campuses. It'd be nice if your average welding school could house that many! And, it's sort of why O/A has positioned itself to disallow female youth who are card-carrying members of the BSA ... because the adults at the top wanted it so.

Don't forget the good old Kolndike derby! Fit in after-dinner challenges as well as afternoon challenges! Regarding the wood ... we usually have one or two older kids for whom life is just better if they split a chord a day. So, we have an appropriately skilled and equipped adult take the chainsaw safety course and be prepared to help the ranger cut some dead-fall into rounds for splitting. Even in a busy year, rangers find us stuff to be cleared by mid-winter not far from our site/cabin. All the boys spend an hour or less rolling the rounds to the axe yard, and the splitters happily spend another couple hours with the axe and adze. By nightfall there's enough for a fire-break and even a few lounge chairs.

My older boys have always liked planning something big on their own. That could mean challenging backpacking trips. Starting a venturing crew (with some ASM foolish enough to be their advisor). Helping rangers at camps on free weekends. Thanks for all our service to the boys. All thee best with this new challenge.

Sometimes when it's above your pay grade, it turns out you're the one for the job!

I guess the question boils down to is this troop good for your boys? If so, and if these SMs are doing things by the book, let your boys enjoy the troop and just drop and go until someone asks for more help. If the other troop is better, drop the boys there on the way to pack meetings. Offer to help as needed on weekends and evenings that aren't pack nights. Either way, have fun with your youngest. Serve cheerfully at the district level. As an ASM and Crew Advisor, I've found it hard to do much more than that. This troop may have given you some unique opportunities by freeing up your time.

A sixteen year old has the right to know his mom talked to you about stuff. Let him know you're in his corner. You're not repeating anything to other folks, or discuss with him, unless he wants to. Tell him you'd appreciate from time to time if he told you if things are better, the same, worse. No other details required. If you're a praying man, he already knows your praying for him. No need to relay that. Just do what you do. The boy might be distancing himself because he's afraid he'll hurt others -- even if it's just by being a little verbally negative. Respect that. IF he sees that there are boys in the troop who can deal with that, he'll spend more time with them. If not he'll stay at a distance.

Or the wholesale appropriating of football jerseys by people who were never assigned a number. (Says the kid whose old-school folks only went to games in suit-and-tie or active-duty uniform. And would have us run laps and pound sand if we darkened the door with a jersey we didn't make the cut to wear.)

So @, did you add your kid's income to your family taxes? Or show him how to track income and expenses and file quarterly estimated tax and self-employment?

@@David CO, what are you defining as "it"? Jambo or High Adventure: well that's only 5% of scouts anyway. Uniforms? All those fellas in Trail Life should have spares. Driving to the opposite end of town: ask the two ASMs who live closest to you to leave their current troop and help start one at the nearest ministry, VFC, VFW, legion hall. Calling the nearest farmer, park manager, person-with a big back yard: phone minutes ... or day hike to their door. Shelter: tarps and rope ... ask for donations. Even the local homeless guys might have a spare. Books: library. Youth Protection Training: Library computers. Food: what they'll eat anyway. Flags etc ..., the neighbors see boys actually trying, the step up. Summer camp fees, well guess what FOS is supposed to do? Meetings: time away from the store is a very real issue ... ask for help. This applies to packs. I see those leaders (granddads and grandmas mostly) making due and showing up at the district-wide service project my crew hosts brimming with pride. That's a whole lot cheaper than shoulder pads and helmets. Far as I can tell, it's the 95%-ers who need boy (not "adventure boy") scouting the most. I am one of the "more fortunate" (married well and went without cable for decades), and my kids didn't need scouting. But their friends certainly did. Not every child has to be a scout, but some children need to be scouts even if it's in the poorest of troops.

A year's expenses is our upper limit. If the balance is over that our boys aren't equipping themselves or some gear isn't being properly maintained. Note: a troop of 40+ very active scouts could easily cost $25k a year.

@@funscout ,it's a little weird getting hope from some strangers on the Internet. Just sayin... It sounds like Tom sees that 18th birthday as something important so let's just think of him as the regular scout who he is and set him up for success. He should identify one project advisor. There don't need to be a lot of adults hemming and hawing over every detail. Just one adult who knows the boy, knows about projects of the type he wants to do, and knows the volunteers who may contribute to the project. Tom writes a decent proposal (yes he'll need help, but most kids with this disability who I've met actually are able to conceptualize what they want ... The communication is just slower), and if it's a good plan well within his reach, the advisor, SM, and district advancement chair approve it. The rest of it is coaching Tom in asking for help to get it done. Sounds like his position of responsibility has given him practice in doing just that.

Anything out of context is bad. There is no suggestion that neglect would be defined by the organizing boys into gangs of 6 to 8 for the purposes of attending to each others' well-being for day (or two), while they perform a well-planned patrol.

Hey, boy-led bulldog, stop inferring facts not in evidence.I'm only quoting what the bosses told me over the years. And yes, once they are adults, they ask me why I didn't crack the whip on them more. But I quickly point out they have plenty of opportunities to submit themselves to drill instructors or life coaches or spouses. They deserve at least one place to look back on their youth and say "That trip? My idea!"

Well put. As I tell my venturers, I offer unique opportunities for you to learn to be comfortable in your own skin. If they take a pass on the program, I tell them I'm fine with whatever they choose as long as it's not robbing liquor stors to buy drugs.

Our boys at every level of skill and maturity look for a variety of campouts ... some more challenging than others. So, if every month is a 20 mile hike uphill both ways, we'll lose boys. If every month we plop at adirondacks, we'll lose boys. Gotta mix it up.

Colleges are savvy enough to look beyond any particular award. Most employers are too. Reminding parents of that would be a good idea. Especially if someone tells you hey are "hanging on" until their boy makes Eagle. Those are folks who I wouldn't hesitate to refer to the local TL chapter!

The number is for bragging rights. BSA promotes itself by bragging about the millions of hours it serves in the community. That number gets translated into hypothetical dollars, and equated to the organization's public value. I'v ever heard of it being brought up at an EBoR.

Or having a wife and three concubines?

There's a difference between a unit collapsing and a unit no longer being welcome. I don't think a district will see any advantage in absorbing a half-dozen troop treasuries. But, if CO A gives a unit the boot and CO B says they'll sponsor them, I can see the DE pushing to move funds from A to B and not for CO A holding those funds to kick-start a TL unit. Now if all the families in unit A want to move their boys from BSA to TL, that's where things could get hairy. I suspect families like that saw their boys as being brought up with CO A's ideals, and the BSA just happened to be the program they were using. Then if CO B wants to start a BSA unit, especially because they now feel their sexual ethics are now aligned (and they still have no problem excluding atheists), then I could see folks in unit A getting really hot under the collar if the DE comes asking for the checkbook!

Equipment belongs to the CO, so it's their decision how they use or dispose of it.

When this ever actually happened, and we thought it mattered, we asked one of the boys in the den if he'd make (or bag-n-tag the materials for) a second project to give to his buddy who missed the event. When I was a kid with tonsillitis and missed church camp, my buddies did basically that and brought home some natural clay figurines and a tin can of the stuff that they kept damp for me to play with. Not sure what my mom thought, but it was a fond memory. Never in my wildest dreams would I ask a director to take up the slack. Heck, I'd be grateful for one less thing cluttering my attic or my in-law's fridge.

<counting to 10 to suppress rant about ideal skills acquisition methods ... 7 ... 8 ...9 ... 10> Okay: Who cares what you saw? Did he teach another scout one of those skills? All you needed was for him to give you his word. Maybe there's more to the situation, but if there wasn't, it's just a shame that this is what folks have come to split hairs over.

Clearly the Merlin PL, by virtue of being older, is senior. What Stosh said. Avoid letting your boys fall into the rut assigning someone to do their pencil whipping for them. The two PLs can get together and make a camp-specific roster for whatever needs to be done. (E.g. who's morning color guard, vs, evening color guard.) The older PL then offers to the Ghostly Goats: would you like my guys to teach you to ___? Merlins are also effectively a venture patrol. Challenge them to set up the "cool" campsite, plan a unique trek, or serve in a unique way. Whatever. My one-patrol troop, by way of mocking positions of responsibility and pushing back at my wanting them to only have PL as top-gun, elected an SPL, ASPL, PL, APL, QM, and Librarian. Being older boys, they all work together well, so I let it slide.

Alrighty. We know there are gonna be spin-offs, decisions to be made about girls and the godless, etc ... all of which will be equally divisive. Assuming we all look at ourselves in a year or ten, and discover in the US we have a federation of scouting organizations (of which the BSA is one). Forces (mainly external) may pressure organizational heads not to collaborate, but we seasoned boots on the aren't gonna care. Eight kids and their parents from any of these groups are gonna show up at our door wanting to hike and camp independently. We're gonna find a way for them to do it, and that will involve finding an adult or two who all local parties/sponsors agree fit the bill. To avoid the problem of skilled predators taking advantage of the national rifts, do we share "ineligible volunteer lists"? How?