qwazse

Oh, I've tried starting 10 weeks in advance and I got no further ahead with responses than when I started 2 weeks in advance. So this year, I didn't start until after Thanksgiving. Things are moving twice as fast. Where it took 11 weeks to get confirmation from 80% of the youth last year, it's only taken 3. Last year, I had one adult procrastinate with YPT because she didn't think it didn't matter. It took clear into January for her to understand that she was holding the rest of the crew hostage! (She was sincerely apologetic, for what it's worth.) I don't expect that problem, because

I hate rechartering. Partly because it falls during finals week and my college students are too stressed over finals to think of anything else. Has your crew moved your rechartering to a different month? Does it help/hurt/do nothing?

Okay, maybe I'm being too literal about things. And in practice, I wouldn't have an "official" SMC until all of the rank requirements have been reviewed by our advancement chair. All of us have productive talks with our boys about, life in and out of scouting. I think the SMC encourages boys to get in the habit of those talks. And let's be honest about the kid who needs to go back to the drawing board. You know, the one who just doesn't believe you when you say "this is what you need to do." Those multiple meetings bout requirements are in effect one drawn-out SMC. We only sign off when

MT, some people like spiders and collect webs! And the OP doesn't sound fly like at all. An SMC by any other name is still that. If he meets with the boy to discuss his scouting career, how things are going (or in this case, not going) in the troop, what his goals are, what he thinks of all these monkey-shines, etc ... it is an SMC. Sure you could withhold a signature, but doing so would be a lie if in fact you have had a forthright conversation with the boy. That conversation should end either recommending that the boy to a BOR or asking the boy to demonstrate his to the SPL or PL befor

This is one of hose questions you should float at your next roundtable. What you really want is all boys to be awarded fairly. If everyone where you live thinks that "assist" actually means a registered transfer to a troop, then stick to that. But that's a metric that's dependent on circumstances a den chief can't control. I suspect most of us would be very pleased with 100% of Webelos II crossing over. But even without playing the numbers game, what if the boy was assigned to a wolf den? Can he be credited with assisting those cubs even though they aren't moving up to Webelos next year

Having been burned like BD. (At least the lame excuse was had to pay for next years high adventure. Hello? What about *my* next year's HA?) Let offer this ... You have the right to judge. The Good Lord doesn't want us thinking we'll get any better standing in heaven than the schlub who can't keep his house in order. We"re all in the same boat there. But some straights are worse than others, and you're expected to be generous to the poor, to seek the lost, if you will. Lost ain't "these camp fees are eating into our Disney dollars, can you help us out?" Leverage your discernme

We call it a scoutmaster's discretionary fund. The SM CC and Treasurer are required to approve its use. No need to bring up to the committee. No paperwork necessary.

Some insanity prevention moves: - Put what you think someone was told by someone else out of your mind. You know what you said. If you cross paths with the SM you can have a sit-down and probably know what he said. (Kinda like talking to us, only you don't have to type and a real coffee might be involved!) Be nice to know what the boy things and to find out how he's adapting and maybe thriving in a new environment. - Expect UC's to be top notch. If grandma has something useful to say, give her a listen. In fact, you may be at an advantage now that she's not related to anybody in yo

Problem is, I bet, this is a lesson the boy wouldn't mind learning. Mom is getting in the way. On the flip side, we've had boys transfer to our troop b/c we didn't whitewash Eagles on boys' shirts. Your best hope is that she'll blab about you all over the district and you'll have a new boy or two for it all in a couple of months.

My attitude is that it's such a great opportunity, why not plan around it? You will hear all kinds of excuses. Let the bottom line be the bottom line. If they don't want to start putting money down, they probably don't want to go. If it's important to the boy, the family would jump on it. Your "great opportunity" might be one other family's "one obligation too many." Focus on helping those boys with payment problems find a job!

Boys moving up to cubs are quite proud of switching from blue to red epaulets. (Or is it khaki now? I've lost track.) The Jambo epaulets were seriously cool. If all venturers had to do was keep the same shirt and switch epaulets, they'd be proud of that too. And, our area and council youth on the venturing side do work to provide opportunities for multiple units to gather at area meetings and such. They coordinate training opportunities, unique outdoor skills instruction, and some seriously cool parties in some awe inspiring locations. Now, I'm not saying that stuff would disappear

I'm a sucker for a good story and would want to hear from the boy. At the same time I'd make it clear that I hate paperwork and don't do anything "on paper only." I'd make it clear that the first SM conference will not be a "sign-off" on rank. Rather it would be a time to figure out what's really going on. Why troop? What good has that membership card done him this year? Why eagle now? (If he's 1st class, he can just wait until he joins a crew and work with his advisor. If not, he can start on the trail to an equally prestigious venturing silver.) You seem to know why he wou

Not exactly the kind your thinking of, but our "consolidation into service areas" and subsequent merger into Laurel Highlands Council proceeded on the scale of years. Far as I can tell, programming was largely unchanged. Most of that is really dependent on volunteers anyway. Pros got spread pretty thin, though. I know a few pro's who quit. For the workload, they could simply make more $$ elsewhere. Others found their niche. My personal "jury" is still out on the consolidating of all venturing in council into its own district. However, one plus is that we have more than just one

Keep in mind I last did this two years ago, but I doubt things have changed all that much. I was able add/remove crew members up until a couple months before setting sail. We wound up recruiting four crew from across the Eastern Seaboard. The last two didn't sign on until 5 months prior to casting off. Also, one thing that a lot of folks don't understand: the sailboats don't stay close together. It's a big ocean, and each captain sets his own course! You'll cross paths from time to time. You may or may not anchor in the same location for the night. Often that depends on the day and th

Guy, my crew CC does next to nothing. We're a bit dysfunctional that way. But in general crew committees do little more than rally adults to support the youth based on the youth's requests for support. The crew youth are much more responsible for it's workings. The adults that come to chaperon activities don't see it as much of a chore. I think most of us would agree that the most time consumed is the Advisor's. So if you don't have a person willing to clock the hours (and given your set-up a lot of those hours will be coordinating with your SM), it's a non-starter. Anyway, you can bro

Monthly payments starting in January!!! Start at $100/month until you've nailed down your budget. If someone falls behind it is a good indication they can't afford the trip without some help. Contracts! Make it very clear that you (the troop) are not responsible for finding a replacement. If someone cancels, they are responsible for finding their replacement, and it's up to them to negotiate return of payments. If they don't, the money they put in stays with the crew unless the replacement actually pays full fare. Really, times are tough and you may need to bail somebody out befo

It's amazing how we take the boys who work well with younger scouts for granted until you have a bunch who don't! Our troop has gone through a period where the older scouts were just not into mentoring. (No offense to him, but son #1 was part of that.) The younger scouts had fun, but they didn't start advancing until much later. 50% tenderfoot by 8 months sounds about our speed. Yes, we lost a few parents in this process. On the flip side, our next generation of leaders (son #2 being one of them) sincerely care for our younger scouts. I just sat with them last week, and we went over the rule

It is really hard for boys to "let go" of the idea of SPL. Your problem is that 12 is not really "senior" in most cases. That SPL of yours is effectively doing APL. Not a problem, really, but you want the boys to know they would be challenged if 3 patrols were dropped on your doorstep. That doesn't look like it's gonna happen, so why not think about simplifying things? Give your boys the two options. If you are one of those picture types call them organizational charts A & B. One will be the usual SM - SPL - ASPL and multiple PLs, etc ... Except you have to put question marks over

We don't do much with cabins, but when we do, we add it to the individual cost. Now, if this weekend was something that you all said that your fundraisers were for, you may want to underwrite some of the cost. But your committee needs to look at your budget for the rest of the year to see how much you can afford to put to this weekend. Most packs make a big production of pinewood derbies and Blue & Gold banquets, you want to make sure everybody agrees on what they'll spend towards those big ticket items so you'll have an idea of what's left for these activities.

In addition to the teacher who didn't want a "rap" for arranging baccalaureate service in accordance with the law, I have one other experience of someone wanting to give up without a fight. On a family weekend, some of us, instead of going to church, opted to just gather the kids and lawn-chairs and have a little prayer service on the beach. This really wrankled the home-owners because their association by-laws prohibited the use of the property for the establishment of a church. I made it clear that I was not about to trade the Constitution in for anybody's set of by-laws, which, for he

Yep, that's where we'd have a discussion. I think I would offer two options. Either: 1. Always be prepared with a summary of what you've done in the last month for your council/region, and do something (even for just one minute) to represent council/region by way of sharing information, recruiting, asking for assistance, etc ...., or 2. Shed the pretty colors until you do. P.S. - That also applies, IMHO, to a dual-registered boy who shows up at troop meetings in his crew uniform or vice-verse. That I have had some experience with, and the boys seem to have figured it out on their

rj - welcome to the hike-a-month club. (It's okay if a few of those are day excursions.) I suspect you'll be coming our direction or to parts south to hike some verticals. Won't be enough to prep anyone for altitude sickness, but will start getting those legs in shape. One former ASM routinely did morning jogs on some steep land near home at 5 in the morning to shape up. My brother (a hiking guide for YMCA of the Rockies) lives in Lorain and befriended a farmer with a few steep slopes (in 80ft ravines) where he can do reps to stay in shape. I suggest you go and do likewise.

The caveat I always go with, is these youth should NOT be wearing silver or gold loops UNLESS they are doing stuff in those positions. If that OA youth leader (or Venturing leader) is doing stuff as a 'regular' troop/crew member, they shouldn't be wearing the loops (or the office patches). I might go with EMB's take if our crew used the national uniform for its unit uniform. As it is, the only youth who have green shirts are/were VOA officers, and they only pull them out for multi-unit activities. Even if my crew were "kelly greeners," I wouldn't be bothered with seeing silver or yellow

Yep, Pere. I believe that an accommodation of this sort would require removing "duty to God" and "reverent" from oath and law. It would be an admission that religion is not a necessary foundation for one's character. That's precisely what many folks believe, and they aren't all atheists. Lots of scouters would not be willing to concede that view. On the other hand, my church is more accommodating to atheists than the BSA is.

S97, There is a clash of world views on this one. But, it's not so much not seeing it as living, but seeing the imposition on an unwilling or inept mother as the greater evil. Abortion advocates see it as the ultimate cruelty to let a child even have have one breath in that context of "unwantedness." I know a few folks who are children of such moms, and their life is hard. They *do* suffer. That said, to my knowledge, not a one of them has asked to be terminated.