qwazse

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 advancement trumps MBs for a lot of reasons. E.g., a first class scout can prepare his own pack for the weekend, can cook, has swimming skills, knows about fire safety and land navigation, understands his rights and responsibilities as a US citizen, and has a bunch of other skills that are vital to being mature and responsible. A boy could get dozens of MBs and not have a clue about the basics, and (worse case scenario) never advance in rank. Never advancing rank isn't necessarily a bad thing. The best scout I ever met earned MBs and aged out at 2nd class. (What make's him the best? He invited me to join his troop, and I will forever appreciate that.) However, most parents have it in their head that one day they'll be pinning an Eagle on the boy's pocket, but they have the misconception that earning lots of MBs right away will get them there sooner. Bottom line: it wont.

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 into adulthood. For each religious award he earns (as a Cub, Boy Scout, Venturer, even Adult), he may add a device to that knot. Get a boy-scout handbook and you will see where the AOL goes on his left pocket. Or read up on it here: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/...gniaGuide.aspx The AOL knot, I thought, was for adults because they are not to have any badges of rank on their uniform. I'll let others correct me if I'm wrong. He can earn merit badges as soon as he becomes a boy scout (some folks insist he earn the scout badge, but as a Webelos, he's got the material in his head already -- getting him to spit it out is usually a matter of confidence for most boys); however, his first job is to become a first class scout. How to do that is in the handbook. Learning those skills should be a priority. In fact, his first three ranks (Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class) don't require any merit badges, just a mastery of first class skills. It's not that he *can't* work on merit badges while working toward 1st Class, it's that he doesn't need them until four months after he's earned FC. A good troop will present all of the FC skills in a year. Even so, some boys take years to earn FC, by then they will have earned plenty of MBs in the natural course of being a scout. For now, I suggest getting a handbook for your boy and just have fun reading it with him.

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 gateway for corruption. There would be no way to tell your DE (who seems to have been adequate in helping the boys actually transfer units) from a slacker DE's performance (who would gladly give those registrations new unit #s without garnering approval from the boys and their parents).

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

Sounds like your DE has learned that most crew start-ups need a lot of immediate attention. Not everyone gets that.

That's thoroughly bogus. My CC was always a dress shirt and tie person. Didn't even own a uniform. Now that I think of it, not a single MC did. We boys never questioned the notion that a boy should wear anything but a scout uniform when acting as a scout. That said, it is nice at roundtable to know positions by the uniforms.

14c. I haven't found anything serviceable for under $50. You can go to most discount shoe stores and find something close to that price. It may last a season. I'm a big fan of Timberland.

MBC's can and should take into account different boys circumstances. There is plenty of ways to knock off a given requirement. The troop-method does undermine the ability for each boy to come up with his own style. And as we see here, put's the OP on the spot if he does things a little differently for one boy vs. the others. But, even when it's not about MB's, boys can sometimes expect an SM to deliver them the lowest common denominator. ("You're making me do X while Johnny only had to do Y." or "Why do I have to do X? Nobody else does!") It's usually in the interest of the troop if the SM insists on that bit of flexibility. So, the problem would come up anyway. This time it just happened to be about a required MB.

My crew presidents had the foresight to not waste a meeting on by-laws. I did explain them once, and then on several occasions where they were a little confused about procedural issues I would reply with some snark, "Pity someone didn't write down how we should operate in our special case ..." But overall, they did fine without them.

This is one of those things that if it bugs the boys, we'd try to come to a consensus. If not, we'll go off and fry bigger fish. I haven't bought a new uni yet, so I'm sticking with red for my ASM uni. When that one explodes I'll probably just wear venturing shirts and everyone will have to live with a different shade of green. In general, your unit uniform should match the style of your unit. Your district uniform is a different animal! District/council shoulder loops are silver. Not sure how well that applies to unit commissioners. But, in my opinion, if you get assigned to a Pack, a Troop, and a Crew, wearing silver sure beats swapping between three colors!

That's why our troop doesn't hold elections until summer camp. This gives plenty of opportunity for crossovers to take the measure of a candidate. (Also, that "weeds out" crossovers who never come to camp.) For venturers, if they were to be candidates, I would like to see some evidence that they have met the approval of younger kids whom they were serving while racking up those camping nights (e.g., girl scouts cadettes, jr. high youth group, jr. sailing club members, etc ...).

Looks like you have some time management decisions in your future. In our unit (ASM/crew advisors talking) ... CC can uniform however he/she sees fit. Do the work, earn our respect. Period. A CC that gussies up but creates unnecessary drama, earns our disrespect. CC is definitely welcome on any of our outings that he/she can make. Now in your case, with a boy crossing over, you might have to put up with a little coaching to keep your distance. But, we expect our CC to get to know our older boys by name and position and greet them when he/she's around for meetings. Then get to know any parents who stick around meetings. (I.e., run interference for us.) Then on outings take time at the water's edge to make sure the fish are still biting, and make sure the stars are properly counted in the evening, etc .... So, you'd be kept pretty busy. Again, field uniform or flannel shirt ... up to you.

Can anyone lay out the history of the Troop Guide and Instructor positions? I don't recall them being available when I was a scout.

Well then, don't tell them that I thought their by-law was ridiculous! And, if any of baggss's youth are reading this page, I'm sorry if I sounded judgmental! But,do review your by-laws every year or so. Younger youth tend to be overly strict about public displays of affection, and older youth can be overly permissive. The challenge is to find that balance where everyone can respect one another.

Thanks for the details. All of the press releases made things a little fuzzy, and I'm sorry I brought up the religion issue because clearly it has allowed tangents that may not apply to scouts affected by this issue.

And, I assume those daughters aren't Venturers! I don't think it's a problem if you are a registered MC in one of the troops you are assigned to UC, Obviously the leaders of that troop may have a different opinion.

Still not getting your point. If the scouts see the JASM patch, and the boy is a stand-up guy, won't it lend credence to THAT patch? If the boy turns out to be a slacker, doesn't that mar either patch to a degree? Obviously, I'm showing my bias. What I think this troop needs now is one PL and APL, and the older boy as their troop guide/recruiter/instructor. If their numbers double anytime soon, they can decide which of those three boys are best for SPL and who among them and these other boys should be PLs.

E92, you are thinking like a DE. STOP IT!!!! You can be more direct than you are being as UC. Take a moment with the troop's key three and say, "Most years, I dole out advice from the cheap seats, but this year I'm gonna offer you all an evaluation from a parent's and kid's perspective. This is a rare year when I'm able to do that since I'm close to so many of the cross-overs. You can take it or leave it, but here it is ..." Tell them what you know. Tell them you think that they should dig deep and make some changes, but if they don't you'll support them as best you can. If they think there's to many conflicts with you promoting your son's troop, they can ask for a new commish" Would it be nice if the boys in your community were served by every troop in the neighborhood having a strong program? Yes! But if there is one troop coming on strong while another folds, is it a crisis? Not really.

I think your on the right track with your registration scheme. But the main reason a UC usually has a son in the troop he's registered in (as an MC or ASM), and that makes for a whole lot of conflicting interests if that's the troop he's assigned to commish. I think most commissioners I've met do the two-shirt thing.

An unenviable mess. But, if the CO is aware of and satisfied with the situation, you're kinda stuck.

Rat, although I agree that SPL is challenging if you have to run herd over three or more PLs, this isn't even a two patrol troop. Who cares what patch is on the boy's sleeve?

It's not stretching the requirements to request that - because of your extreme claustrophobia - counseling sessions be held as far away from within four walls as possible. The boy could earn Disability Awareness in the process of getting Camping.

A former Vietnamese scout told me that their 1st class journey was an all-night solo "camp out" on a stump in the jungle. Unknown to the scout, they arranged for the dad to keep an eye on things just a few feet away (close enough to intimidate big cats, but far enough to be completely unnoticed until morning.)