qwazse

Online has yet to be delivered uniformly across districts around here. Pittsburgh public is having an especially rough time.

@Treflienne, that scout of yours is in it for more than just rank, so brag about her to your troop, your district, and your council. Send her a patch, or maybe a backwards necker face mask from your collection! As far as rank requirements go, none of us should meddle in the machinations of you and your PLC. Read the requirements (and in this case, I'd stick with the ones in the Handbook) discuss with your PL and SPL if they think it would be fair for them to sign off on her work, and proceed accordingly. It's not a thing to leave to strangers on the internet, be it National's advancement committee or us. But since you asked ... My bottom line: conceptually, is she a second class scout? If she fell in with one of my patrols -- or my crew -- could I expect her to have the skills and demeanor commensurate with her rank? Or, would her provisional PL/officer come grumbling to me that this kid barely has tenderfoot skills?

I can't speak for the other camps, but Redwing avoided recent closures because it was so popular among GS around here. My venturers loved the place.

@Jeff1974, I definitely relate to the "old folks at home" experience. Mrs Q's mom is at our house. Plus my grandson is just around the corner on home isolation due to major surgery last month. We are grateful for every day we can keep the two of them out of the hospital, and we are resolved to keep it that way. My TC knows that'll be a deciding factor in my availability going forward. At the same time, a couple of scouts (before all of this happened) asked me to restart our crew. So, I'm asking myself: is this the right time to get online and throw down the gauntlet with these boys to start a recruitment plan?

If you leave your boots outside your tent (even in a vestibule) put them sole side up. It's easier to shake out scorpions than snow.

Oh, the trading opportunities one would have next year with a certified NYC COOVID-19 response necker!

Excellent question. Obviously a lot of fossils are found because someone moved the rock that was covering them! File under all things in moderation?

LCD = lowest common denominator scouts (and parents, and some scouters). Focusing on them, disappointment is certain. At WSJ one day our scouts scuttled off leaving their dining area littered. There was an LCD scout in camp slumming in front of his tent. I approached him, and asked (in that ASM-ish way of asking that is basically an order) to police the boys' dining tarp, count the pieces of litter that he picks up, and be sure to tell his fellow scouts when they returned how much their mess he cleaned up for them. The scout looked at me, and seeing that I was indeed talking to him, got up and proceeded to clean up camp while I returned to plunging my laundry in my 5 gallon bucket. He did a find job, so I thanked him. Then he said, "My home troop doesn't give ask me to do much because I've got a reputation for not being very responsible." I told him that if the SM and I waited for someone responsible to come along, nothing would get done. I could spend all day fuming over scouts like that. Or, I could ask them one favor (give them one order) after the next, until they started acting like the 1st class scout who I expect them to be. And there is no mistaking the skill differential of a scout from a troop or crew and other fine young men and women of this community. On average, they seem to have done more, interacted with more people, cooked better food, and generally navigated college or military better. So, weather it seems like bean counters at National notice it or not, once again I will repeat, without reservation: Skill mastery in a wide range of areas is definitely BSA's most valuable asset.

I've seen far too many scouts take the same course every year long after they earned the badge to think the little round medallion was the goal. Skill mastery in a wide range of areas is definitely BSA's most valuable asset.

Plan A makes the "where we want ... when we want ..." assumption, so your first deadline is for deciding go/nogo with that plan. If your committee says they have no stomach for waiting any longer, you should decide that Plan A is a no go ASAP. Plan B contains a different "where" for the same "when" or a different "when" for the same "where". Or, you make each those two different plans. It depends on how much energy you have for that sort of thing. Creating each plan consumes a lot of energy. (As many of us know because our jobs -- if we're blessed to have them --- are now already operating on plan B and there's pressure for us to have plans C and D at the ready.) The challenge as scouters is to be open-minded and positive. If you have good district scouters, let them know that you are looking for some plans B and C. They might have something to offer. I was in a situation where plan A tanked, and Seabase offered a plan B1 (FL Keys instead of Bahamas) and my committee found a plan B2 (Bahamas, but we'd have to pay more). My crew went with plan B2 by majority vote -- and fortunately we didn't lose the minority. But, with 4 from my family on that trip, my big-ticket scouting budget was tapped for multiple years.

That's a strong argument for camps moving to 14-day sessions.

My daughter took a flight this week. Six passengers on each leg. I'm pretty sure the airlines will be ready to take your $$s. IMHO, the right call to make is have a plan A, B, and C. Be open to your committee helping you decide to drop plan A now. Some people find keeping options on the table too stressful, and you've already mentioned why that might be the case. But, if the you all come out of that meeting willing to keep everything on the table until next month, and even the month after that, roll with it. In these situations we learn a lot about our teams.

I'm editing in order to deccentuate the negative .... I want to quietly make one modest evaluation: That is one awesome group of scouts! @TMSM, there is only one thing you should strike from your list: I am thinking of bragging to my troop about your troop. But if you throw in the towel now, the scouts who know which forums I browse will get wind of it and say, "Serves you right for listening to strangers on the internet." Don't let National freak you out. If your scouts and their families are letting you keep channels open, spend time on those channels. We work for smiles. I agree about not making these online sessions feel like school. Troop meetings should be shorter and more like roll-call and reports from PLs. Screen time should involve boys posting their accomplishments. Provide that structure. The scout/family who really needs you or has something unique to offer will reach out.

It is possible to re-purpose HA bases: https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2020/04/15/helping-at-all-times-summit-welcome-center-a-drive-thru-covid-19-testing-site/

This is uncharted territory for everyone. I would have no problem supporting scouts trying to fundraise if they found a clever way to do it safely. Such innovation among youth gives me hope for the future.

One of our scouts had a virtual EBoR already, as will another couple of scouts (I think). One Life scout might need an extension (although we could get creative with social distancing and accomplish the project). Otherwise, it's up to the scout to come to us with a reasonable plan B for T2FC or whatever rank. That plan needs to show skill mastery. This is nothing new. Life scouts can be really great instructors but can't remember what EDGE stands for. If a few kids can claim they know what they know because of that scout, I'm signing off on the requirement. I think the tough call is positions of responsibility. Guiding boys to live up to their PoR's requires creativity.

Planning and navigating a hike with your surrogate patrol would be well within the grasp of most scouts and their communities. If one of us were not essential at this time, I would have planned and sent an "Easter Egg" hunt. Colored chalk eggs would be drawn on boulders and walls throughout the neighborhood trails and parks. Using CalTopo (a free dot-com product), I'd drop pins at some of the locations. Objective: before the next rain, with a member of your surrogate patrol, navigate to the pin and take a selfie of yourself with the egg in the background. Same thing could be done with a five mile hike, only there the scout would write a plan and send it to you for approval. Parents' can't hike? A car ride to some interesting (but often overlooked and rarely visited) locations could work. You need the parent who would follow the scout's directions to the letter (except for running stoplights, etc ... ). The one activity that I think is definitely "off the table" for now would be swimming. Unless a scout has a family of guards and a private location it's off the table. My family has the personnel and safety gear, but ain't nobody going swimming until Memorial Day, when we tell that Great Lake that it can warm up for summer.

If it's a choice between ditching the SM and ditching ad hoc requirements, I'd hold on to the SM. Nothing is saying you have to tell scouts about any of this. I certainly haven't. In fact, here is exactly what I said to them (via E-mail with gratitude from our CC) ... Feel free to adapt to the tone you'd like to set. Remember, smiles are our paycheck.

I do favor the scout using his/her family as a surrogate patrol. The challenge is looping in the PL, TG, and SPL. I don't know about your scouts, but the academic program has not let up for mine. In some ways it's harder. Note: evidence of wild animals should include recordings of bird songs and calls of other beasts. A scout could report smells as well. But this all amounts to a 3 month delay. I don't see it weighing on our younger scouts all that much.

@BoysLivesMatter, I have the highest respect for GS/USA, and have had to talk "off the ledge" many young women who didn't. But, for decades the rhetoric at the top of both organization made it increasingly difficult for folks with interests in both to work together. How did it do Boy Scouts any good? Well from a leadership perspective, it kept me engaged as both a Crew Advisor and ASM. I'd like to think that my presence was a positive influence ... or, as I explained to the occasional scout from time to time ... I didn't do any more damage than what was already there. Certainly, when it came time to place flags at veterans' graves last Memorial Day, it was a joy to meet the young women of Scouts BSA in my district -- and then again at Klondike derby. They caught me up and told me summer camp went well too. Some were chomping at the bit to be old enough to join a crew. Now, you don't know me from Adam, and maybe once you did you'd rather not try to recruit me for a few spare hours. No problem. Maybe I'm the only person who's market share you'll miss out on. If so, I'm sure you will be joined by others who will settle their hammocks down in bear country and keep the Constitution at the ready. The digger, sanitizer, and toilet paper in my backpack does not discriminate by age, religion, sexual orientation ... or sex! @John-in-KC, World Scout Jamboree the Swiss exhibit included a bed of hay for a scout hankering to wrestle his/her opponent!

Welcome to the forums. Best of luck on your endeavors. The idea? Doesn't sell to me. My better scouts were venturers in a coed crew. Scouting in the company of girls did wonders for my boys. On the other hand, that you don't want to discriminate on the basis of religion would be a selling point at my church.

That's one way to keep up with GS/USA. Honestly @Cburkhardt, I can't imagine a more effective way to distance scouts than making sure that the closest camp to them is something other than their district (now that districts are as large as councils) camp. Moreover, after this year, who wouldn't rather send their kid to a camp with no more than a couple hundred kids in attendance per week?

I was musing over rhetorical device -- not the International Classification of Diseases ... for which COVID-19 is a very handy term. People are going to nickname diseases whatever makes their point. I'm just suggesting one way to do this. Other scout associations worldwide are definitely better at education regarding zoonotic disease. Still, I learned about most diseases at scout camp. That included polio ... I remember my SM giving us a minute on the Salk vaccine. He told us of a childhood wondering who would be next to be put on an iron lung.

I don't think any obfuscation was planned on the part of the PRC. They are quite comfortable with folks fuming over their reeducation initiatives. But, they are paying for the prejudices they've inculcated. Two police officers were taught to be so afraid of the apocalyptic fantasies of Christians that they muzzled a doctor wanting to tell the world that his patients were suffering and dying from novel contagion. Some folks want to play a rhetoric game naming the virus after its country of origin. I'd like the name of those two police officers so we could name this bug after them.

Resurrecting because some friends in Northern States are noticing ticks in their house or on their pets. Winter was mild. It's that time of year again folks!