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Oh, and the kid who snuck a gun into camp? Not one of the "bad" or "crazies." So, yeah, deal with the problem personalities, but don't ever think that in doing so, you've dealt with the problems!

We got a few and each is different. The Asperger's kid is actually the best one, but he doesn't stick with stuff, feels bad about it, eventually quits. I'm hoping he'll come back. The behavior disorder kid gets a short leash. Violence = go home. The worst this kid has done was throw punches, and he manned up an apologized to the troop. He has eventually learned to walk away from situations that anger him. Now, he knows to send himself home. A parent is always with him. If a parent doesn't agree with how we treat a kid or what we expect from them because their kid needs help, we show them the door. If a boy gets a suspension from school, we expect to know the when, how and why, and the boy had better give a solid plan for improving in the future. Some slower than others, but most kids who have us deal with them quickly and directly like that keep coming back better than before.

At the upcoming ski weekend in the hills there are men's houses and women's houses. No honeymoon suites. (For any crews in the neighborhood looking for something to do the first weekend in the new year: http://heritagereservation.org/winter/winterv.php) But, if she were willing to tent with him in what we hope will be perfect ski conditions, I would set up their tent and bring breakfast-in-bed personally! Only one of my female youth (my daughter) has been willing to winter camp.

pap & pack - I know this is hard to believe if you haven't seen it for yourself, but "peace and comfort" can find its way in to to people robbed of all happiness. You see it in some people, victims of war and famine and the worst depredations, and it seems to be a supernatural work. You want it for everyone else. Maybe even for yourself. Maybe that's not possible. Maybe the forever-tormented are the rational ones, and those that find comfort and dust off the ashes and walk tall in the midst of such sorrow are as mad as one who would perpetrate those heinous crimes. Maybe the mix of us need to live together so we don't forget how much work needs to be done on the level of the soul. Doesn't matter. I'm stuck with a God who offers peace and goodwill. I'm calling him on it. And even though I haven't seen my friend for decades and never met his wife or kids, I'm hoping that somehow my prayers will better help them be messengers of all that. Finally, like Ea. says, there's a difference between a person who is insane and one who is indifferent to human life. So if you know a crazy person, this week might be a good time to get in touch and let him/her know in not so many words that you're glad they've managed to keep it together.

I've never done this. But, it's a great idea. I think you should just simply have your crew pres have everyone circle up, then call out the co-avdvisors and ask them "will you help us to " They say, "I will". President says, "Then, please accept the role of associate advisor to crew ___" Co-Advisor's shake the president's hand, followed by officers, then every youth in the circle. Let us know what you finally do and how it works.

Never mind. Found the option "Non Custodial Partner". But,for future reference. What if a single 18-20 year old with no parents enrolls?

First for me, and evidently for the internet rechartering. I have a youth application from an 18 y/o spouse. No parent info. The "add youth" step is insisting on a parent/guardian. Any easy way around this?

Great pics! Note that your presentation would not play on my mobile device. Not sure if that was your preference or YT or MS's defaults.

Found out that I was three degrees of separation from the tragedy. A friend from my youth relocated there with his family. His kids are survivors. So, I got a picture of a couple more kids to pray for. Not any of the ones seen on the news. I'd like to think that in the grand scheme of things they need our prayers for more than just immediate reasons. Somehow, for Good to prevail for eternity, like Beav said, evil must have it's way for a day.

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 made sure my key leaders were caught up, and I'm dropping any adult without up-to-date YPT. But before last week, I was frustrated, nobody besides my son came to the meeting where we were collecting dues, only one youth had responded to repeated E-mails and FB posts, and I was beginning to wonder with my DE if I would have enough paid youth to make a crew. Still, I'm missing today's deadline. Money's not in. Even if it was, the treasurer is collecting her son from college. It's a vicious cycle. We spend so much time counting members (and, thanks to YPT, herding adults), we don't get program done. And ski season is the busiest part of our year! This month would be better served by promoting our trips. Figuring out who's in and who's out, for us, would be better done in March or June.

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 we're convinced the message got through and work is done. So, EL, if you are convinced the work is done, your SMC is complete. If you think there is more to this story (e.g., the boy intentionally avoided the troop because of negative past experiences and now he's on the other extreme and needs to excersise a little accountability), make it clear to Mom that this is not a one-evening deal! If I were you, I would try to contact the former leader and see if there is any data independent of mom. Especially, I would want to know who are the folks who could legitimately sign off on work, what merit badges the boy was working on, etc ... Finally, if there is any real work to be done, and the boy wants to give it a go, make a plan. Team him up with your best PL. There's nothing wrong with him being a venturer while working on rank advancement in the troop. (My best crew members are often multiples of other units.) Let him know why you think your troop is a great one to earn Eagle in and let him know, that if you will definitely make it worth his time if he digs in.

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 before he goes to the board. This is not a "once and done" debate, this is a recognition that sometimes when troops fold, things slip through the cracks, or things get done in hurry. The only way to be sure of the validity of any signature is to see a scout in action. Now, the SM can take a hard line and say "I only take requests for SMC's at troop meetings by boys in attendance." But if that results in not seeing the boy *at all* then you've defeated your purpose. As far as registration goes, the CC should have the "unit copy" of the form. It should be obvious who signed it. In any case, it's on the CC to tangle with the mom about bypassing the unit leader. The bottom line: you don't want to punish a boy for the actions of adults, but part of that means insisting that a boy speak for himself.

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? Also could assist just mean helping in a crossover ceremony? Does it mean helping a boy push paper? Inviting the den(s) to your troop meeting/activity?

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 discernment, and you're folks will fess up about what's really going on if you've misinterpreted things. That or they'll drop cable and pay for camp.

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 your troop. - At least you're turning in your charter! Try to do that before processing the transfer(s). If they've been pushed through before you could make changes, ask the UC or DE to help you sort it out. Remember, you're going back to a great group of boys!

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 if you got rid of the epaulets. But council and area positions are in no way figureheads.

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 wouldn't want to be active in a troop at the time. Ask him if he's changed his mind about that. I would make sure you have this SMC well away from ear-shod of the mom.

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 pro who knows the program!

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 the tides and the mechanics of the boat. If your boys have been working the patrol method, and get the notion of camping some distance apart, that shouldn't be a problem. If they are a tight knit group, you can put a bid on a larger 10-12 person adventure. That's what I wanted to do for our last trip, but lost the lottery. We got our two boats in the second round. (Basically, we got offered the adventures of units who won but passed on their bid when it came time to pony up $$ for the down-payment.)

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 browse some of the old post on the venturing thread to see how things get going. But usually it is a group of driven youth, and we adults just try to keep up and channel that energy -- a wild ride indeed.

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 before the thing is through. Let your committee know that they should increase fundraising goals. Definitely shoot for recruiting four more youth. A 50:50 split between adult and youth is not optimal. Are your adults trained to a direct-contact position? Make this a requirement before signing them on. If the boys blab about this to their sisters/girlfriends, brace yourself. There may be a venturing crew in someone's future.