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Good luck. Although the last thing I would give a Webelos is a guide to Eagle. I might consider giving crossover a "Guide to Becoming a First Class Scout (the Concept not the Patch)", or maybe I'd just introduce him to his patrol leader.

First, your CC needs to know what you (SM and ASMs) really need in terms of assistance from parents. Then for those tasks where you still really need adult support, he/she needs to find a parent of your younger scouts who might be able to "help" the parent(s) who can no longer be as active. By "help," we're talking train to be their replacement, but really only want to say that when those folks are confident that they can make a seamless-as-possible exchange of responsibilities.

Heritage Reservation, which runs it's Boy Scout camps Sunday-Saturday as SSScout describes, allows a unit's "advance team" to arrive Saturday afternoon to set-up canvas and take inventory. (Units bring their own food.) This is a great opportunity for the older scouts to have an additional night of fellowship, informal SMCs, and time to assist preparing for check-in next day. It also allows younger scouts to manage roll-call and vehicle loading for the rest of the campers departing Sunday AM.

Better yet, see if you can find out which boys were cubs, and ask them and their parents if they have any pictures or souvenirs from their cub experience that they would like to share. Two scouts in uniform with some stories to tell about derbies, songs, camp, etc ... would go a long way to winning over parents and kids. You won't have to say a word about the troop ... just introduce your boys. The parents and cubs will do the rest for you.

Thing about the inspection sheet (http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34283.pdf). It is not an all-or-nothing. Non-standard issue pants only dock 10 points off the total inspection score. In most parts (especially impoverished zones), 90% will get you an A. Grade inflation. Now, just require some of the patches to be worn on the back pants/shorts pockets instead of the sleeve, then you could start docking insignia points ...

Talk to the boys or adult leaders in your church's troop. Ask them which pack(s) their cross-overs come from. Visit those. As to the finding the perfect leader for your boy, there's this thing called a mirror. I suggest you and your spouse stand in front of it and see which one is ready for some fun times!

Regardless of the OP's intent. This is does come up from time to time. Inappropriate touching can lead to a backlash of bullying. So, this isn't just a problem with one boy, but also his fellow scouts. The old SM handbooks addressed this more directly, if someone has one to quote, it would help. Basically, you need to be able to conference with the boy and find out why he's behaving that way. Then you need to conference with the other scouts (SPL PL's especially) and talk to them about calling boys out on inappropriate behaviors before responding in violence. They don't need to

I would steer clear of the SMC's until your are an adult in your troop. It sounds like in your troop, this is an opportunity for the adults to get to know the boys (kind of like a pre-BoR), and you've probably already know the guys pretty well. JASM gives you an opportunity to help your troop in unique ways: you can organize your older scouts into a Venture Patrol, you could research a trip opportunity that would provide multiple tiers for different patrols, visit a venturing crew, an O/A conclave (if you're an arrowman), or talk to new scout parents about what it was like for you when you joi

I was brought up in the era of Leadership Corps, which upon reflection pulled together the SPL and JASMs into a "lets show 'em how it's really done" patrol. We'd practice a skill (like mess-kit pizza) after helping some Eagle project on a mountainside in the middle of winter, then demonstrate it to the other patrols on some other, more tame, weekend. Aside from a honking big patch to dominate your left sleeve, how did that differ from what was the Venture Patrol pilot? How did the Venture Patrol pilot differ from what is taught about Venture Patrols today?

Thanks for the details on your position(s). I had a vague idea you'd "been all over town". But was too lazy to creep on your old messages to try and figure it out. And thanks for your service! You mean like what is described as the CURRENT program for patrols on http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/...rolLeader.aspx ? Sure don't look dead to me. I still encourage older scouts who sound envious of venturing crews, but short on time for organizing one, to consider talking to their SM about forming a venture patrol. From where I sit, our districts continue to be short on commissione

So, it sounds like, for meetings, you need a service patrol (who configures seating for meetings, lines up the gear/props that you all will need, cleans up) program patrol (who picks the game/challenge for the evening, chooses referees, contacts consultants like the VFD if for example the boys want to try fire and rescue drills). administration patrol (who runs the opening and closing, records roll call, reads off the agenda, etc ..). Only got two patrols? No problem, the larger one fills two roles. Your instructor assigns the roster. SM reflects frequently with PL's on how t

May I ask what seems to be a completely irrelevant question? What are your meetings like? Specifically what kind of activities do you all do?

Trust the SM's gut. Have the Webs join the boys for Scouting for Food in November. Ask the boys about setting up a campfire and talking to the webelos about their last two trips. Cook something insanely yummy over a dutch oven. THEN have the boys ask the Webelos if they want to pay a visit during one of your winter activities.

This "BSA approved" stuff is a joke. (No offense to Costal Carolina BSA. They are no doubt doing their level best.) There are some terrific walking paths in Western PA, none of which are recorded here. (Many of them touch upon Native American life or the Whiskey Rebellion, but some more recent ones recall the good and bad of the industrial revolution (e.g., Eliza Furnace, Rachel Carson). In all likelihood the best trail for you and your unit to set foot upon is not on any of these links. I would encourage everybody interested in this award to contact their local historical societies and a

Fellowship opportunities at a bar or coffee-shop or someones back yard are often very helpful. These are really the most productive when you have one item to deal with (e.g. the next big event) and need people to relax and brainstorm a little.

Never said it would be easy. Even with our troop, which is now basically one patrol and adults. We are very challenged in this regard. Sometimes we trade off yards for # of thickets/streams/boulders or vertical separation. But some suggestions for resources that many folks neglect to ask: Farmers. Community parks. Schools (you know, those places with multiple fields and a stream on one boundary). Fair grounds. Conservancies. Wilderness areas (as opposed to pioneer campgrounds). Have your scouts ask their parents, aunts, uncles, cousins if anyone has a big field or woods t

During meetings, you may want to use a minute to discuss the work of famous patrols. From BP's to seal team 6. You can also go over federal regulations for most back-country hikes, the typical contingent size for Philmont and Seabase.

If you give a mouse a cookie .... Truth is, your SPL has a servant heart. So he wants to swoop in ... thus your PLs' frustration. That's easy enough to do at camp where everyone is usually in relatively close quarters. It's time to up the ante, and you can do it in two words (before anyone whose username begins with a K and ends with a u beats me to it): Physical distance. Your next campsite has to be someplace where each patrol is 100 yards away from the others and yourself and your assistant leader(s). Have the SPL and ASPL camp nearby you. Let all those efficiency experts w

Mine is on year 7, but you've already pointed out elsewhere that we're odd ducks. And in fact, things started running a lot smoother when the SM and I stopped fretting over each other's calendars. So, should crews not attend: - District events? - Council/Area camporees? - Jamborees? Should boys be removed from O/A if they transfer to a crew and drop their troop membership Is the price of freedom exclusivity?

One thing the program lacked ... and I'd say this was I foreseeable at the time ... was a profound sense of mutual respect. There were venturers who did not respect what a troop was trying to do, and Boy Scouts who did not respect what a crew was trying to do. I met SMs who resented being pressured by their DE to advise a crew and lead a troop, others who wer willing, but were stuck between two opposing committees. (Multiply that by thousands across the nation and we have our membership peak in '05 followed by a steady decline.) What you called freedom, others called insurrection. Now, an ess

Sorry. Inside joke. A lot of folks including my crew presidents trip over the term. I'm not so much correcting you (our anyone else) as I am picking on such an unnatural brand name. Again, cart before horse ... this isn't about making kids "do" certain things. This is about them attaining public recognition for the things that they do. If this is successful, we'll see a lot of t-shirts with those diamonds on them. Consider where we're coming from. The pin-on bling would nearly tear a shirt to pieces. From your's and my perspective, that is a really stupid reason not to pursue a