qwazse

Culture, of any kind, is rarely a single person show. For a troop, it's an interaction of the leader and the boys. We get the boys in that meeting or on that campout after parents and school have put in a lot of influence. A troop exists because everyone present agrees to function on certain terms, only a few of which are spelled out in the handbooks! A leader lays out those terms, and the boys take them up. In that process, a troop forms it's own culture ... Hopefully it's something the boys can take pride in and the leader can manage. Sometimes it works the other way. My troop had a culture of hazing that took the SM many years to break. Simply put, the boys took advantage of his sleeping hours and the fact that 300' seemed such a long distance away. I can imagine the many years of committee meetings where he talked about the problem -- one which really wasn't solved until the SPLs began to take his words to heart. So I guess the culture you see in any troop you visit, is the sum total of those "discussions" to date.

Short answer: yes. Those scripts were written by folks who weren't in your troop! Growing up waiting to receive advancements at CoH nights, I used to be bothered by my boys' troop giving them early. But, it does catch recording errors earlier if boys know they should be receiving an advancement at the next meeting. Suggestion: Check with the CO rep if they have any opinion on how folks should dress in their sanctuary when it's not being used for worship. Most are pretty informal these days. Strong suggestion: explain to the PL's how you plan to run things. Ask them if it's okay. In the process, try to give them as many speaking parts as possible. Especially strong suggestion: keep it short. Time how long it takes you to read your parts out loud. Keep that time under 10 minutes. You are standing between an audience and their dinner. They'll forgive the boys. You, not so much.

Odd, then why do my kids' teachers not want to be known for organizing the baccalaureate service?

But do they require background checks for all parents who drive kids to/from away games? That's the equivalent here.

BD - Q in the dolly sods you need to keep an eye out for unexploded ordinance. Why do you think the boys love coming back? Seriously, so far, I've kept the youth on designated trails. The last UXO found was off trail in 2004. Anyway, for the rest of you, here's a nation-wide UXO fact-sheet http://www.engg.ksu.edu/HSRC/Tosc/uxo.pdf.

there just isn't a Crew and we end up not being BSA members and where does this leave us? Pizza+Beer? Camping with friends, paperwork free?

I like to hear about how folks got lost because understanding that prepares you for when you're in a situation and are asking "how'd I get here?"

Sounds like your boys have the right idea regarding HA by wanting to mix it up ... Not there yet, but our crew is eying Rocky Mtn. National Park. If your boys are thinking as far away from TX but still in the continental US, I saw a troop having a great time at Acadia National Park when my family was camping there. (North Atlantic waters might be a "cool" novelty for your boys!) Not sure if they brought their own canoes or rented, but there are plenty of outfitters in Bar Harbor. If some of your boys are willing to do a little "research," have them learn about Federal Wilderness Recreation Areas. There's one near us (Dolly Sods, WV) that our youth just love to go backpacking in. Other areas are suitable for whitewater, climbing, etc ... All of the above are "build your own adventure." Some have great facilities, some have none but one latrine in 24 square miles.

Well, Eng. statistically, if only 2% of scouts are Eagle only a small percentage of youth are scouts through HS, then you may not see an Eagle in 100 resumes. If all a kids ever done was earn Eagle, then the resume would probably be pitched. That piece of bling is a starting point for a lot of boys. And "Eagle" is usually on the bottom of the resume because there have been a long list of accomplishments since then. Like I've said before, I've had interviews where the employer was antagonistic toward some of my accomplishments (not scouting). Not a problem. It gave me an opportunity to talk about my personal growth and gave the employer a sense that I was the man in person who I said I was on paper. (And a willingness to be that way stems back to my Communications MBC.) If some bigot along the way has tossed my app in the duster, I'm glad for the favor because I've wound up working for some good people who command my respect.

Welcome to the club! Hopefully the boy will be able to apply some of his scouting experience on the athletic field,

NJ, the wiki's not lying. Hebrew and Arabic are Semitic languages and have lots of words in common, the word for Messiah being one of them. And, Peri, my apologies for making the Greek Protestants, Catholics, and others feel left out!

These things are like pendula, they go back and forth. Son #1 was scholar athlete along with a couple other scout buddies in the troop. There were a string of football players in our troop like that. Son #2 is the only scholar athlete in the troop, the boys are mostly technical school types.

Ya Pint, I'd rather send my Christian kids to a proper Druid service. Give them an idea of what St. Patrick was encountering every year when the days grew short. By the way, the X is simply a Romanization of Chi, the first initial for Christ in Greek orthodoxy. (If the Arab world were into mash-up abbreviations, it would be Mmas, because they use the Semitic word, Messiah.). It's use is in no way meant to remove Jesus from the purpose of the day, but rather to remind Christians who tried to ban the Victorian celebration that the last authority to try such a tactic was the Roman empire, under whose repression believers had to draw the symbol of a fish to identify themselves to one another.

The problem, as I see it, is that Venturing is this "other program". When venturers aren't part of the picture on National's web page, it shows a lack of vision. One prominent scouter told me "but venturers make up a small percentage of our base.". That's not the point. National should put up a picture of what percentage it *should* make. If they believe that every CO should have a venturing unit, then the stock photo of scouting should have a Venturer and a Sea Scout behind a cub, web, and first class scout. Donors should have a clear vision of whom they are supporting. If National believes that venturing is a side show that should be swept under the rug because it freaks out the anti-coed, uniform police, then carryon as usual.(This message has been edited by Qwazse)

OGE, I was referring to root beer. Don't know what Beav was talking about.

A few decades ago, middle school was easy to be a scout, but I was the only kid in my High School who wore his uniform on Scouting's anniversary. My classmates were good people, and respected individuals. But I was also the guy who stood up for bullied kids, even when my friends were doing the bullying. In any case I carried Scouting with as much pride as the QB carried football. I felt sorry for the boys who were afraid to put themselves out there ... I can see nowadays that middle school would be tough, but social media encourages individualism, and once kids are able to use that FB account, our scouts are posting pics of their weekend activities. Campfires are "uniforms" that never go out of vogue.

I'd be more impressed if the conclusion was more like ... "So I'm starting a new youth organization: free of duty to God, an 11 point law, and welcoming to adult leaders of all sexual persuasions -- strictly new morality straight. You're kids will love it! You'll be amazed by their superior character compared to youth from other narrow-minded organizations," Praising folks for defunding youth is just gay and empty-idealed whining.

But reduced registration fees don't do anything for event or camping fees. In the grand scheme of things it is a small amount of money. So if you dropped it to $5 then you end up with a bunch of members how can't afford the outings Above food costs which the kids would be spending anyway (c.f. Beav's comment regarding pizza and beers), I bet I could get a couple of vehicles of kids to some pretty sweet trailheads twice a year on $12 per. Two more activities per year -- not pricey. Just enough to get that esprit-de-corps growing. On a cub level: second pinewood derby. Or, another two engines for those model rockets.

This stems from having a bear of a time getting my crew to recharter ... $15.00 (registration fee) + $1.50 (unit accident insurance) + $40.00/crewsize (unit recharter fee). Keep in mind that I'm in a crew where kids pay their own way for most everything. Even if the check comes from parents, they are thinking of their investment, and the above fee structure merely puts them on the mailing list. They are very much aware that they are paying 50% - 100% of the cost of one activity just to "stay connected". Not always worth it for college kids who already shell out for student activities fees and the like on top of tuition. I'm sure nowadays, cub parents are feeling similar pressures. Question: is there a *lower* price point which would increase membership? Could we get twice as many youth registered if we charged half the fee? Thrice if it were $6 total?

I wish I had Beav's advice for a couple of my pastors. Anyway, all the best BP. Don't forget us. You might need the sermon fodder! Oh, and on Scout Sunday invite a crew pres or JASM to take the sermon...

... rationing out positions gives the SPL the political power to reward friends and punish political opponents, and to gain compliance with his leadership ... Thanks for the cynicism, SP. SPL's who "reward" friends usually find sooner rather than later that work isn't getting done. A troop isn't as "slushy" as big government.

Twelve clicks through the main picks on http://www.scouting.org/: no venturing youth (male or female). Three adults in green. No logo. Correction: two possibly female youth in winter gear on a snow-drifts. Getting that swept-under-a-rug kinda feeling ...

Case in point: there is a banner add on the top of this page today with a picture of a scout, then a road driving through some woods with the text "Donate Today" and the outline of the fleur-de-lis behind the eagle logo. This clicks through to aplacetogive.scouting.org which rolls through three tabs: Support scouting: Picture of a group of boys and their SM's at Jambo.Clicking on this takes you to a page titled "Invest in the Leaders of Tomorrow" with a picture of a boy scout and two cubs, and tents at the base of a glacier.Send a Scout to Camp: A young boy on a BMX course with the eagle/fleur-de-lis watermark. Doesn't seem to click you to anywhere.Build the Summit: A map of the summit. Clicking gets you to pictures of bricks and mortar and a patch you can get. No venturing logo. No venturers. No indication that supporting National will help our young women become the leaders of the future. I'm nowhere near the conspiracy theorist that BP is, but his rhetoric matches what I see (or rather, don't see) in about a dozen clicks.

TG: The next decade of venturing will depend on the young adults age 25 - 40 who were part of the program while we were just figuring out how to run it! Yesterday, I was pessimistic. But, this morning I noticed that 1/2 dozen former crew (now age 21) just joined our FB group. I know it's a big leap from clicking a "like" link to filling out that adult application and putting in a few hours, but it's nice to know they still care on some level. Hopefully a couple will see their way to replace me! Oaths, uni's, and bling (recognitions, not advancement) are trivial -- so much so that all but one youth in my crew has earned a bronze. Opportunities to sit with your buddies out under the stars ... and similar memories ... those are priceless.

We're small, so there are more positions than boys who need to fill them. Our SPL did remove a PL at summer camp. We backed the SPL and, God bless Mom , she backed us. He left camp early, but came to the next troop meeting. Now, if there is a job that needs to be done and the boys step up and do it consistently, then we may consider them to be holding a position even if nobody put a patch on their sleeve. It's never really been an official issue because those are usually boys who wind up holding another position at their rank for six months down the road. In any case, you are not alone.