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A friend's grandkids are joining one down in TX. If his boy's any indication of the talent they're drawing, it's going to be a top-notch organization.

Some scouters get fed up with all of the "Byzantine bureaucracy." They get fed up of shelling out $ for pamphlets. I kind of agree. I would far prefer pamphlets that are low-budget, black-and-white books because that shows a good faith effort that BSA is trying to make scouting accessible to everybody. I'm not a big fan of worksheets, because ink and paper is expensive, and they could easily be produced for pennies on the dozen. So would it hurt the scout shop to have items that sell for a nickle? But they don't. So folks get fed up of MBs starting with a $3.50 purchase of a pamphlet, and ch

Never thought to wear it myself. Never bothered if someone else does. Now, I have worn it with suit and tie on occasions where medals are worn.

If the question is would I let one of my boys count it: I'm not feeling so black-and-white. This is something where I'd ask the boy what he thinks about it. Are we taking advantage of someone's suffering? But is every service project in some sense not really service if you are getting some kind of credit? On the other hand, would the beneficiaries feel kind of glad that some good is coming of a bad situation? Is counting service hours really right? Why do you think we have to do it? How did serving in this way make you feel? Do you think this kind of service is something you want to do mo

By the way, sorry for your community's loss. I'm coming coming on the fourth year anniversary of ours, and nothing about it is any easier.

This is why I hate service hour requirements. They should be struck from the book. The true requirement should be "do a good turn daily". Why are you counting service hours for your boys? They have their own book, they can note where they served and when. (I know why we do it, to keeps parents busy ... ) If you really shouldn't be splitting hairs over your boys, why fret over this scout? Send him a note thanking him for his help, and let his SM be bothered with counting it or not.

KM, duration is the key factor here. A 10 day trip that comes to $35/person/day is pretty sweet. This is why crews need to get together and share their exploits. Stuff that is advertized nationally has added expense. Local opportunities may come cheaper, but chances are you won't hear about them on the internet.

There's this statement here. It kind of spells out the general thrust of the guide to advancement, which states: "Position of responsibility requirements for Boy Scout ranks may be met by the Venturer or Sea Scout serving in crew or ship positions as outlined in the Boy Scout Requirements book. The Advisor or Skipper conducts the unit leader conference. The crew or ship committee conducts Star and Life boards of review, and Eagle Scout boards follow the local council's established procedure."

P.S. - I know that sounds weird, doing something without expecting anything in return. The first guy to suggest a boy do that musta flunked outta school.

If I were your advisor, I'd count it. Besides, so what if some bean counter splits hairs over how it's spelled out in the advancement guide? If you want to earn more MBs, do so until you find something better to do. If they don't award you a palm, you still can take pride in your hard work and maybe learn something cool along the way. If they do, that's gravy!

Whatever you do, don't pretend they're in their underwear! That always goes bad. The best thing to do: practice. Ask a friend (preferably a scouter who has seen these done) to come to your house and give your presentation to him/her. If you have time, ask for a chance to practice it on different days. Invite an additional friend each day. There are lots of "dos" and "don'ts" in professional guides, but they can be overwhelming to remember and sometimes they miss the mark because they aren't written for the group you are speaking to. Your friends (assuming they are in the pack to

Sounds odd. Maybe he meant that he and members of the troop have counselors for every Eagle-required badge and lots of non-required ones. So, they don't muck about with a blue card system -- or registering their councilors with the BSA. Less paperwork for everyone involved. If I recall, my oldest brother's SM operated the same way. (This was back before blue-cards were in popular use.) Worked just fine until he achieved Life rank. Then SM moved away without a trace, and there was ZERO record of my brother's advancement, and no way form him to officially complete his Eagle requirements.

One of my vivid scouting memories: my SPL teaching me how to restart a fire from coals. Not sure where that fits in on everyone's goofy "ladder of patches", but all I remember was I was the clueless kid who wanted the cooking to get started sooner rather than later, and he was the scout patient enough to see that I accomplished my goal. Far as I know, he never criticized the PL for not doing his job and properly supervising the fire-starting detail. He didn't employ some "Troop Instructor." (Seriously, when was that patch first issued?) He just did what he figured the most experienced guy

Yep. He actually has to read all those chapters! And I honestly feel sorry for him because I think the '70s versions of the handbook was a much easier read. (Fewer colors, more plain-spoken.) Plus we got skill awards (belt loops), but I think they were more trouble than they were worth. Brought my old book in last month. It really interested the boys. They liked comparing what I did (MBs I chose to earn) to what they were planning to do. Anyway, as it looks like his LDS troop will be working on some required-for-eagle merit badges, he will have about half of those skills down before h

Leave it up to the boy. Have him take it out of his allowance.

http://www.scouting.org/sitecore/content/Regions/NortheastRegion.aspx is the most recent as far as I can tell.

Sounds very exciting. None of us mentioned merit badge pamphlets because you didn't say which badges he'd be going for at this point. The shop would gladly sell those to you, but it's likely the SM has copies.

Yes, I am pretty firm against 1st class/1st year. But that is because in a troop of 12 or more scouts, there's inevitably someone who will "game the system" and try to get requirements signed off as fast as possible without being sure of the boys' skills. In a group of 3, you can expect see each skill repeated over the period of 6 months. That's why we have our PL's sign off on T2F requirements. They usually only have a couple of boys who are at those ranks, and after a few campouts, get a good idea of the level at which they need to be tested. There's a certain level of accountabili

I've heard of it done. Never seen it myself. Most boys I know are not multiples of different troops. If they are multiples of a crew, they either have both uniforms and switch, or just wear their troop uniform. Most adults I know just shell out the $$ and get different uniforms. The velcro thing might be a good idea in this case. But, picking one set of numbers for this year would be fine with most SMs. (The LDS have special troops that are only for age 11.)

Our current CC (whose son graduated a couple years ago) tries to make it to as many meetings as possible. That usually means about 2/3. It behooves him to get to know the families of every boy to a degree, because -- at the very least -- he is responsible for completing the charter. Also, as each boy advances, they have a board of review, usually 3 committee members and often includes the CC. If the boys are all advancing a rank or more a year, that could keep you pretty busy if you are just a committee of three.

2C, you probably said something this, but my standard reply (especially to my own kids): "I know what the boy is capable of, and I am holding him to words 4 through 8 of that oath he makes at every meeting."

I'm afraid it won't be a one-stop shop until the boy is settled in his troop. The book is the most important thing. If you can afford two sets of numbers and can figure out a convenient way to switch them back and forth, that would be great. There's no national restriction on when a boy can earn his first MB. But it sounds like the one SM really wants his crossovers to master some basic skills before getting bogged down in the details involved in earning a MB. Unless your son has a particular one that he really wants to earn, don't worry about the leaders' different rules. Rank adv

Good move getting a shirt! Now, regarding uniforming, you'd best ask the troop he's going to what their style is. Ideally the boys will have thought about this and made up their mind how they want to look. Unless your town is on a council boundary, they will use the same council patch. He can get by without a sash. Although it is handy for holding merit badges and (on the back of the sash) patches from his favorite activities. Without the sash, you will want a box or binder with baseball-card collection sleeves for him to keep his things. Yes, the religious knot stays with him i

One thing we should be sensitive to: in the past councils have been known to retain unit charters on the books an additional year (in hopes that they'd reorganize), or performed en-masse transfers without any confirmation that members of one unit even knew they had new numbers (among other things). This resulted in grossly inflated membership statistics. Less than 10 years ago I was lighting into a new DE for handing me a list of crews, 1/3 of whom for all intents and purposes existed on paper only. I wish it weren't true, but having the CC or COR speak for those 24 members opens the gatewa

Found the most recent related thread ... http://www.scouter.com/forum/venturing-program/388461-oa-and-venturing