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Following up on the other thread about youth leadership in multi-unit events ... Why don't you find out which troops/packs are meeting early this week, pay a visit to one or two, and ask the boys what they'd like to see in a gateway? One fun idea would be a "wood-shingle" sign-in. Have boys burn or paint 1/2 tongue depressor sticks with their name and unit number, glue velcro on the back of the round end and stick 'em to a felt board in a layered fashion. The rough flat end would hang down and form the roof. Invite the boy-scouts to come and decorate their own shingle. I bet

The National Council reserves the term "Jamboree" for National and International events. So local councils CAN'T call local events "jamboree" without National approval. But does national approve of some councils labeling their big events "Jamborees", or do councils proceed on a "better to ask forgiveness than permission" basis? In any case I'm proud to be part of an organization that caused Webster's to re-write their entry on this one.

IR, I think it was our lodge chief's idea to invite cubs. He was an exceptional youth leader. The challenge, of course, is finding those leaders every year, giving them an "iron in the fire" at every level in the council, and appropriately recognizing their commitment to scouting. Wouldn't it be cool, for example, to plan a Cub-O-Ree by getting a bunch of denners in the same room and asking them what they would like to see/do? Give them the right amount of ice-cream and candy-bars and I bet you couldn't write their ideas down fast enough!

DS, My situation is like yours. Best I can figure is make sure everyone who comes through the door is welcome and appreciated.

The original topic was about multi unit events -- some of which sound insanely cool! That leads me to ask the next question: Planning or implementation, youth led or adult led? Folks in Laurel Highlands Council are welcome to chime in and disagree, but from what I've seen: Venturing events: youth led with adult coaching where needed. If youth say "no", we don't do. Adults step up in terms of administration recruiting staff, etc ... at the pleasure of the VOA president. OA events: youth+adult. Lodge chief has a big influence here. Boy scout events: adult led. Period. Youth m

But if a troop elects a dud, or fails to elect a good candidate, to OA they never feel the results of their decision and so learn no lessons. I have seen this happen within the troop a couple of times. Did the "duds" pass their ordeal? Did they cause harm to the chapter?

Thanks, Joe, My bottom line: how well does it perform offline? Can you cache a collection of tiles (including ones with your markers, etc ...) to an iPad for later viewing? While offline, can you add markup (waypoints, pics, blogs)? Can you backup that collection when you get back online? If so, then I'll give it a trial run next weekend.

Where I am really struggling with this personally is that as a PARENT I am not supposed to have to deal with this, so I thought. This was the big difference between Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts..."Son, it is now up to you to chart your own path and take responsibility for your own stuff." Yes, Brew, we want it to be the boy's journey. And if your boy is up for talking to the SM and asking for a different counselor who will take the requirements seriously, then let him. If not, like BD said, you have a plan. Work it. You can consider the problem solved once the boy can say with co

Insurance liability is not a factor in TPs. TP's are for accountability, and you probably have higher powers who you need to reckon with (the Mrs. or your Mama for example). Spend the time you'd otherwise waste on paperwork checking your oil and brakes.

-fish, Sorry, I thought your question was more about the term because I take for granted that every so often councils and areas should host big blow-out events. So let me outline what I see happening in our neck of the woods: Districts (which are arms of the council) host camping events spring/winter/fall as long as there are units who will contribute. O/A being the cheerful service arm of council and hosts several events a year for their members. On one of those, they invited cubs to attend. Venturing Officers Association (VOA) hosts 3 big events a year. One is a set of multi-we

Ditto to all of the above. IMHO, your knots should tell a story of how you can help others. It's the man behind them that matters! Thanks for your service. I know unit leaders who were simultaneously UCs, but they eventually transitioned away from the direct contact leadership. Most guys can't afford the flowers and chocolate needed for the Mrs. to support them in both jobs! From your description, I would suggest working the SM gig for a little while longer to decide what from "back in the day" still works for you, find your replacement, then work the UC so you infect more SM

This has little to do with your son or your role as a parent. It has everything to undermining the value of that bird that we hang from left pockets. I would (and I have done) something. I'd ask folks to stick to the standards or risk undermining the awards of every boy who had a blue card with their signature on it. Regarding your son, I would challenge him as mentioned above. I would ask the SM to refer him to a different counselor.

My momma told me you better shop around!!!

The term predates BS. So there's nothing stopping a council from using it. As far as I can recall, however, our council (and in 2010, our area) termed their gatherings camporees. Venturing in our area started to call their gatherings summits, not to be confused with the location at Bechtel!

Bottom line: It REALLY pays to visit different troops and/or crews to see how they operate. One of my WB buddies had his beading at his troop's CoH, so I got to see how his troop operated. It was radically different from our troop's. It reminded me more of my childhood troop. It leaned much more on advancements being distributed by patrols. Now, I'm not going to go back and say, "That's it, y'all are gonna get your act together." But maybe at a campfire or by the shoreline I'll "float some balloons" to the SPL or the scout who needs to emcee and event for communications MB. I'm

TT: There are two kinds of absence. The first kind PL no-shows and things fall apart in his absence. The second kind PL calls APL and preps him for whatever needs done. Either way you're missing a PL. They look the same on the books. But in one way his presence is still made known!

One of the hardest challenges in youth leadership is allowing time for reflection. For example, one of the dads and I routinely evaluate our tent set-up and configuration. Half the time before breakfast involves determining if we picked the best site, configured bedding in the best possible way, ventilated the tent/shelter too much/too little. It's all part of the ongoing critique to improve our technique. But with the boys (and young women in my crew), I'm a little less interrogative unless it's clear they are eager to have the discussion or we need to forestall death. Youth don'

Yes, do your homework. You'll find it rewarding getting know some of these folks. Talk to your sheriff's department as well. They may be able to put you in touch with a canine rescue group. Don't forget to ask the den's parents if they have any connections you all can leverage. Some troops and crews are also associated with fire halls and ambulance services. There may be a youth or young adult among them who can help. Bring it up at roundtable or give your district commish a call. I agree with BD that kids this age want to have fun, but for me at that age sports was a true

I'm a fan of the BSA pre-ODL uni's. Maybe that's because the boys who I've seen wearing them stand out and look very sharp. I like the ODL's epaulet simplicity for distinguishing cubs vs. boys, but think we botched it by insisting that Exploring and Venturing use green shirts. I would rather have tan/khaki shirts for all and go nuts with epaulet's of a color for each program area. -- Similar to the Scouts Queensland shoulder colors, but more translatable and mixable. -- For example a youth multiple of crew and troop, could order a half-green and half-red epaulets. A venturing officer

"Green Bar" Bill Hillcourt defined working as a patrol outdoors as the linchpin method of scouting. (The "Green Bar" patrol was the cracker-jack group that we all tried to live up to.) Some of the founders of this forum have close ties to him. Most of us got to know him for through his articles in Boys Life. I think I stopped using a flashlight to walk through the woods on a moonlit night thanks to him. But, I'm sure through other adults who were influenced by his training, I can attribute most of the fun stuff I know about scouting to him. Wood Badge is touted as the premier leade

Oh, the soul searching post-election! We had one boy who had to figure out that practical jokes needed to go before he could be worthy of votes. I thought that would be the worst, but then ... We had a boy who didn't get elected until the fourth try. He was notorious for turning every conversation into some sexual innuendo or another. His parents couldn't understand it. True, he was a hard worker. He would help younger scouts. He was friendly enough to every scout. But his mouth made the little ones uncomfortable. (And that's only what we would hear him say and call him on i

Most of the advise here is on how to adapt rather than change what's going on, and I'll guess I'll add to it. It is differently OK for you to go our of council or participate on different council committee's than your predecessor. That way, when you get together you can compare notes. There are a lot of niches to fill in OA. Find one. Fill it. Look out for the boys in your troop who might benefit from being an OA rep or even lodge chief. Support them. Don't assume that it's because of the old guard that your ideas are falling flat. Ask adults open-ended questions like "What was w

Thanks for the heads-up, I got me a pair of them canvas shorts!

Also, don't be surprised if the boys give you "blow back" on the PM! I think you're on the right track. Listen to the issues, they may be: - Cliques (like you've described). Youth don't always realize what they are doing to make other boys feel excluded. - Transportation. Youth don't know how to get to the store and buy stuff. In this day and age you almost always need a car. - Persistence. Fewer and fewer youth work a job where they have to knock on doors to sell something. This means they don't always know how to ask adults for things. - Discouragement. They may hear somethin

PM happens when you train boys to rig a large, comfortable meeting tarp the month before. Then at next month's camporee you bring the tarp and rope as planned (so you can demonstrate your youths' resourcefulness), and they leave the tarp folded on the ground, and use the rope to climb a tree by the latrine and leave enough lag in it that another patrol comes by and decoratively braids it around the latrine post. At least you have the tarp to crawl under if you are too lazy to set up your tent when it rains on night two ... not that I'm bitter or anything P.S. - Okay, it was venturi