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I think BD, brings up an important point. You are now a servant of your district. This shouldn't be too hard for you to handle because as CM, you've already know folks at your roundtable. So, if there is something unique that you can offer by way of adding variety to the program (especially for the Medicine and Geocaching MB's), don't hesitate to put yourself out there. Some troops might like the opportunity to have an introduction to the MB as a meeting topic. So if you have time to offer that sort of thing, you can. But, like BD said, avoid walking through all the requirements of the badge and making it a classroom. Make it more of an activity that the boys can enjoy and at the end of the time say "This is about half the MB, if you think you'd enjoy working on this, here's my contact info, arrange an appointment, show up with the pamphlet, and we'll get you started based on what you remember from tonight, and where you'd like to go from here." Our troop allows councilors to schedule appointments at meeting times. We insist that the boy arrange for appointments in advance, so that if the adult is on our committee, he/she can allocate time accordingly, and if the youth has a position of responsibility that demands his attention during the meeting, he can arrange for proper coverage. Usually, the SM or I are happy to stick around and do some busy work while MB appointments wrap up. It's also a neat way to meet boys from neighboring units. Other troops absolutely would not allow this. Bottom line: find out what your troop allows/prohibits. Balance that with what suits your style.

Just putting it out there: "It's the Economy, stupid.". The centennial was three years earlier. Usually volunteers for things like is have four years to recharge the wallets. In a good ecomonmy, most of us would have a little fat to burn. In this one ... most of us are just trying to stop the bleeding. Lots of us have done that by passing on the big ticket items.

Plus keep in mind that anything you spend as an essential volunteer counts like a charitable deduction.

I think the general rule was about half fare.

I think most of us write here because we do like the BSA -- even if some of us had to deal with a dose of rejection. Some ways National has helped me: Jamborees - 'nuff said. Seabase - I wouldn't have a crew without it. Venturing - made scouting work for my entire family. Advancement - put my council in line when it questioning crew positions of responsibility for Eagle. So, I may be a bit of a scofflaw, but not hardly an anarchist.

K, you have out-of-touch Christians in your hills. I have out-of-touch internet snobs in mine! Answer "no." File the plan anyway by having the SPL write a hand-rwitten description of the the outing (sufficiently detailed), collect SM and CC signatures, and drop it in the mail to your council HQ. Their problem. Not ours. Adults take up the rear on most of our hikes, I'll have them trained on anything relevant to our needs by mile four.

For me, personally, it is a religious thing. My Lord, before beginning his ministry in full, spent an extended time in the wilderness. I suspect his ability to do that in his 30s was predicated on extensive experience early in life. Other religious traditions seem to have similar models. In a similar way, I want my youth to be "comfortable in their own skin" so that they will get the most of whatever their Maker has in store for them. I think that outdoor experience is what adds that particular value to scouting.

Went to camp last month. The only impact was a couple of boys on staff at cub world coming over to ask if I had any patches I'd like to trade.

I use the skeeter bait defense. There's something about my clean hide that draws the biters, so I tend to go a couple of days without one.

New mountainous adventure base ... highest attendance of female BSA members ever ,,, boys pay to serve ... Those aren't the stuff of headliness. We hate fat kids ..., now that's the kinda news my in-laws will repeat. BP and BD. A few of my buddies put their time and talent into this facility. I suspect we'll love it. Lot's of us around here don't know of any camp that isn't on a hillside, so we kind of take your heart pounding through your chest for granted. So yes, get in shape just like you would for Philmont.

Well, some of this is hype built on a simple formula: youth + one location + scouting = fun. So, what's different? - Youth. For the first time, co-ed BSA units (i.e. Venturers) were a part of this Jamboree. This is no big deal in the rest of the world, in fact, co-ed units from other countries have attended for decades. But, the general thinking was that Jambo was never meant for venturers, so the was a "there's nothing interesting for you here" attitude. Now for a lot of crews, there's still nothing interesting! (Lot's of venturers occupy their time organizing their own weekend summits for their area every year.) But for many, it was an opportunity to connect with the BSA at large and learn where they fit in! - Location. As nice as AP Hill was, it was designed for training young men and women for the machines of war. Once every four years it got re-purposed. But then it snapped back to its original purpose once the last scouter left. This new location is literally a "home" for scouting. It's setting is intended to provide wilderness training year 'round. Thus, this jambo was more of an "open house" as opposed to "convention." - Scouting. Certain aspects of scouting got short-shrift at AP Hill. Some examples were aquatics, and some Venturing-specific activities. Also, taking a play from the world jamboree's book, a Day of Service was instituted. Each day, 1/5 of the participants went to serve the West-Virginian community. Before, barring some emergency, you were stuck on base for 10 days. The other gee-wiz stuff (big ticket activities, flashy shows, speeches, patch-trading), that was kinda expected. (There's always a gimmick. And long lines for it, too.) But I think the three items above represent true "tweaks" in the core formula that most of us have been talking about.

Think of it this way, all those years at AP Hill our boys were helping our servicemen learn crowd control and logistics. Something they wound up doing a lot of on deployment. I understand your misgivings ... Sounds way too much like a "land for peace" deal. Here's hoping that the boys come home with some better ideas for service in their neck of the woods.

Sweet! So, that leads me to ask how much all of the scouting experience helped with the pastoring? Maybe you can start a new thread on the subject (if they let juniors do that sort of thing ).

Guess you didn't get the memo? http://www.summitblog.org/40000-scouts-5-days-and-300000-hours-of-community-service/ None of my crew went to Jambo. Maybe it was because if they were going to pay $$ to serve, they would want to call the shots. Maybe pick a third-world country. I don't know. But it seems that it was made clear from the start that this day was part of the package. Should it be? I don't know. When you move into town, it's always a good idea to lend a hand to the neighbors. That's good hunting land we just walled off! We want them to feel it was worth the exchange!

Wait. Didn't you say you were leaving us for the ministry? You should be "Member Emeritus."

Boyscouts love paperwork! So, if you have a neighborhood expert (say a police officer) who is not registered, and only he DL who can stay for the entire meeting, can you have a den meeting?

A five man tent easily sleeps 7 Webelos. Or, use smaller tents that only hold 2-3 Webelos. In general, I ask adults to be at the ready to bunk wih their behavioral disorder kids.

Or they can just leave it as it's biggest selling points, one of the ways to make you feel like you are indeed at a ... wait for it ... HIGH ADVENTURE BASE.

My aunt, reportedly one of the oldest living campfire girls, was one of my inspirations for becoming a crew advisor. To this day she has no clue how her immigrant family afforded it (a gift from a neighbor?) but the long summer nights camping under canvas are some of her fondest memories of an otherwise arduous childhood.

I win! To be fair, the reason BP hasn't heard of "remote venturing" is because I made up the term. But it happens a lot. A scout moves out of the neighborhood yet remains connected with the crew. I had one youth join us from another council because her plans were to leave home and she wasn't sure where she'd land and asked if she could join my crew so she could stay connected with venturing while she sorted it all out. Other folks have called me in situations like yours asking if thier youth who just turned 14 could join our crew. To be honest, those haven't worked out as well. We don't have attendance requirements, but fellowship is a real important need of youth, and even if they don't admit it, there's something really important to be gained by being "in the room" as events are planned. So, H, if you and your daughter are seriously considering this, you should also think about becoming a crew adivsor. Can you think of four or five other friends and caring adults who would like to do something similar to what you and your daughter are planning?

Suck it up, Fred! The news cycle has moved on to my having to explain to folks that we don't really hate fat kids! By the fall it will be something else. What you do: Get out those pictures. Show them to the school principle. Tell them you want to replicate those smiles. Forget the table. Set up a tent. A fake campfire, whatever. Ask boys "Do you want in on this?"

Age 14, or age 13 and completed 8th grade. Some crews do allow "remote venturers" although it's a real challenge for a youth to stay active. I would touch base with your council Venturing Officers Association (if they have one).

Topics like this do come up around campfires. So it is nice to have a collection of opinions on the matter. At some point in their path toward Eagle, boys are asked to attend public meetings. Sometimes they do speak up. If they go on record, and the discussion happens to be about erecting a memorial, wouldn't it be nice to know that something you said may influence what they say?