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I know there are parents who are bitter when the pack doesn't automatically feed its members into our troop. So much wasted hot air. There are parents who are bitter when the crew and troop do work together. ("You're ruining the patrol method!" "Little Johnny is isn't ready for girls yet!") And there are those who are upset that I don't "automatically" multiple any eligible boys to the crew. Meanwhile our charter organization is simply thrilled that all these youth are coming through the building! The youth are happy. They're happy. I doubt the COR is going to sweat the details.

Can you find a volunteer to give them a gps lesson and get them started on a geocache challenge? I set up a challenge on the grounds of our camp that kept some ventureres half the morning and half the afternoon. (They actually made and hid their own caches and had to exchange coordinates and try to find each other's hides. Model rocket kits are also a reasonable thing to do. Especially if someone had a launcher. They could build them in the morning and launch them for the cubs in the afternoon. Anyway, you get the idea. Instead of money, maybe an investment of an adults time

Owl pellets are cool. no argument there. Four off the top of my head ... Meteor showers. Glowing embers. Fish jumping. Whippoorwill calls. Never experienced as an 11 year old, but when I learned how to snorkel watching life scuttle about on a coral reef, or on the bottom of a freshwater lake.

I hear ya E. The family just got me one of these too. Dolphin web browser is probably the most useful free app I've grabbed so far.

The content of my web presence of mine is bounded by one thing: my religion. Alcohol is not prohibited, so no problem if a scout sees me slowly sipping a libation on New Years with my friends and family. Drunkenness is prohibited, so no scout should have to see me not in control of my faculties -- ever. What BSA guidelines have to say is irrelevant.

I think there is a "scout oriented " way of using electronics. It can be seen in how our military scouts use PDA's for tactical purposes, but it can also be seen in how our youth look out for each other online. Simple example: it wasn't until I went to Jambo that I learned about minimum impact camping. If I hadn't walked by a demonstration site, I would have never known about such a thing. And sharing it with my troop took a lot of effort because I was in no position to buy a bunch of books on the subject. Now a PL can do a few searches and come up with enough material to relay to h

I, too , tend to eat quality, but not for a large banquet. And I focus on seasonal food. The gourmet meal that I cook on the trail Saturday is usually dictated by what's on sale at the market Thursday. The challenge with B&G's is you need to balance finances and tastes of everyone involved. Sometimes a parent needs to realize that their idea might not be the best one even if they are very enthused by it. The best way to put it is to explain that the goal is to honor the kids and we want a meal and a program that is good, but not so complex as to distract from any parent enjoying

Here's an idea ... Don't sign off on any badge at the MBU. At the end of the weekend, boys get the MBC's contact info and can arrange an appointment in the following weeks. Use the U primarily for the "Explain" and "Demonstrate" portion, and for boys to meet a bunch of counselors and vice versa, and buy the book if they're interested. That way their contact after they get their blue card isn't so "cold." Then, they can set up the "Guide" and "Enable" portion later. (I'm just using EDGE for argument's sake here.)

Sounds like a fun gig. Was kayaking with the family on the Sebastian river Christmas Eve (tarpon, gator, and manatee). Got the outfitter's business card. Given the temps this weekend, I might be able to cajole my crew to plan a trip next year. I appreciate knowing about the other options.

... the whole frustration is we adopted SOAR to get away from that. You can run but you cannot hide! The number of times I said "some moron had to have programmed that already"....

Fred, I felt your pain. I grew up in the days of "digital standard run-off". I get blank stares from my IT staff when I try to describe that I want data sans borders and colors. That's why I learned to use the Google Calendar API to generate a text only version of our calendar in Javascript. No bells or whistles, just an outline (event, location, details if any) and the calendar App embedded below it: http://www.pitt.edu/~qqq/Crew321/Calendar.html I usually don't print it out, I cut-and paste, but you get the idea. Find the hacker in your troop, give him a webmaster patch,

ALB, three words "Get Den Chief(s)!!" This should be the topic of conversation with the SM. If he can identify a boy for each of your dens, that's gravy. But you should at least start by getting one for the W1's. By his very demeanor, a DC will reflect the culture in his troop. Something that no DL can do. (I couldn't even do it for my youngest son's den when I was an ASM in big brother's troop. The best I could do was talk about troop life. Matt, our DC, could demonstrate it on their level.) W1s should all learn the oath, law ... They should say it together at the start of

Tell "Sarge" to put the charges in writing and copy the COR. You will then review it with him to see if any actions are warranted in light of the CO's vision. If she things any of your "offenses" are actionable, remind her that she is *obliged* to report them to the SE and the authorities immediately. There is no "60 day" warning period. Most commishes want to keep direct-contact leaders in their positions. So, you can expect the "warm fuzzies" from them when you talk to them.

Your CC needs to be informed that every time she takes on a responsibility of a CM, she is abdicating her role of a CC. And, that's not good for the pack. You need to make clear that you will call her on every negative comment with a "Madame, you are out of order." Say it's nothing personal, but her boys are going to cross over to boy scouts, and if they have it in their heads that they can buck the SPL publicly at every juncture, they might find themselves scrubbing more latrines then they ever knew existed. Pack meeting is your hour. Committee meeting is hers. W2 den meeting

IMHO, a direct payment from the family makes for easier accounting for tax purposes. If the scouts want to make a contribution through the troop, they should do so before budgeting the $ to a scout account. Scout accounts are essentially discretionary spending for individuals to make purchases that enhance the life of the unit.

I agree with Beav, except that you may not have been able to avoid the impression of a "chink in the armor." Lynch mobs often interpret deliberation as inaction and there may not be anything you can do about it. If you would have said "we're doing x" at the outset, they would say you were thoughtless and irresponsible! Also, in church terms, there are "prophets" who rail on an institution if it's more prone to dispense grace than judgement. If you're lucky, all of the stone throwers actually worship elsewhere. If not, well, let's just say your church board is going to need some addit

I have yet to review this with our crew president. (Getting a few adults to push paperwork has consumed an obscene amount of energy.) But, since we went over the standards last November, I think the kids will have learned that seemingly easy goals are no slam-dunk. Did anyone review their JTE with their SPLs? I would love to hear from any SPLs who may have gone over this with their troop.

Sleep out in the cold, cook in the cold and prepare for the cold? Sounds like a routine to us. Do we really need a program? If you find a couple of volunteers who would be willing to help make it work over the long term, present them to council and you might have a program.

MT: A circus by any other name is a recruiting night. Go for it!!! I think one of the goals would be to drum up 1/2 dozen tiger families for the pack. What would be gravy would be if one dad was a former scout and therefore cub leader material. As CM, MIB can figure out if the pack can have the hall on a different night than the BS. He can grab the COR and say, "I need a little history so I can do my job better." (Maybe there is a little religious persecution or something else going on!) He can pull the line: "I'm in college, I got mid-terms right before your B&G, so I need you a

The cross-over itself was just a formality in my mind. (Maybe because there was no cheap imitation of Native Americana involved.) Don't know if it's my son's favorite memory, but mine was his first backpacking trip we took with his buddy and dad that same year. It was just the four of us and really represented the transition from the cub world to a place where dads began to step back. Advancement was not instantaneous with those two, but 7 years (and lots of miles hiking, biking, and canoeing) later they both Eagled.

You need the boxes and a reliable place to store them. But make it someplace accessible so that folks can go back to it as the years go by. I always enjoyed going down into my parent's basement (it stayed very dry) and just rifling through the boxes of snapshots. Shoeboxes worked very well for them and still do for us. There is nothing like sitting on the floor and pulling up picture after picture. How I would improve on our system: On the outside of each box, write the date range and list the subjects. You don't have to be overly detailed and get everyone who is in every pictur

My SM was the organist at our church. So we were always in home in time to get breakfast and suit up for Sunday school! The only time that was different was at camporees. One time we did Sunday service with an LDS troop. I kinda like being able to have a brief devotional in the field Sunday mornings. Our CO has limited parking on Sundays, and they kind of like it when we pull in just after service lets out. (Of course, I think they'd be happy if we pulled in just before service and worshipped with them -- smoke-filled clothes and all.) I know one Jewish fella who has to make

I just cleaned up a late night cracker barrel for our VOA. Alterior motive: making sure the hall was cleared of "stray" youth.

MT - do your District rep thing, and only that. Recruiting night, good idea. give the parents a List of things you expect them to provide. Brace yourself for the possibility that they wont. On the night, set up a table where the boys do most of the busy work, passing out stuff, showing pictures of activities etc ... Let MIB do his thang. Keep yourself as far away from the management of the Pack possible. If he wants advise from total strangers who act like they know what they're talking about, he knows where to come! Ticket counsel: make sure the goals are not dependent on oth

Depends on the group. I first did it with our crew and each card had a Method of venturing (plus a couple of terms that referred to stories known only to our crew). With a youth group I used chapters of the Bible. The other adult helped me pick them, and we basically called it off the top of our heads. The task could easily be delegated to an officer or SPL.