Beavah

Hiya @@Zaphod (Beeblebrox!)! Welcome to da forum. I reckon da most important things for a MBC are a love of the thing they're counselin', and joy in workin' with young people. In da long run, the best thing I've seen MB counselin' do is ignite a new interest in a lad - something that might go on to become a career or a lifelong hobby. The only way that happens is if the boy sees your own deep interest in the area, and if you're willin' to share that interest well beyond checkin' off requirements. In terms of some of da water sports MBs, be aware that da BSA does have some requireme

Yah, @@UncleP, welcome, eh? Lots of folks serve as Scoutmasters on a lad's trail of life, eh? Each of 'em a reflection of the Great Scoutmaster for all of us. Thank yeh for bein' that for your nephew. Uncles and grandparents are special people. I think your short revised list is great, eh? I'd add only one thing to it, perhaps... magazines. The lad seems to be a reader, eh? Readers are wonderful people, because they can learn from da stories and experiences of others. Scoutin' should hopefully give him a set of folks to practice that learning and show it off in the real w

Yah, hmmmm.... So which is it, mate? Is da GrubMaster puttin' together meals that everyone can and would want to eat, or are kids with allergies and food preferences forced to bring their own food? Yeh do see that da two are contradictory, right? It just makes it very hard for us old furry critters out here in da pond to understand what you're sayin'. Yah, not sure where yeh got that the lad was miserable or that whoever was plannin' meals wasn't accommodatin' the fact that Billy hated broccoli. There are lots of foods, though, that a boy has never tried or ain't sure

Yah, hmmmmmm... I'm curious by what legal theory yeh think that a summer camp or a scout leader on a trip does not stand in loco parentis? Your interpretation seems novel. I know many a federal prosecutor, eh? I don't reckon any of 'em are goin' to be eager to prosecute a scout leader or camp for holdin' onto a boy's medications. Besides, da law on medical practice and on youth programs is primarily state law, eh? I don't reckon scout leaders are engaged in interstate medical commerce. Relax, mate.

Yah, hmmmm.... I seem to have struck a nerve, eh? Let me put on my myopic Beavah glasses and see what I can see... My first thought is that in most of da troops I know, the PLs would be havin' gentle but firm words with a lad who insisted on bringin' his own food and refused to help out da rest of the group. In BSA Scoutin' we teach boys to cook and eat as patrols, eh? Right there in da First Class requirements, includin' sayin' grace together and cleanin' up together. If a lad has participated in Scoutin', by the time he's gettin' to be older he's internalized those expectations, e

Yah, hmmm... what's a foil soldier? Doin' meals and meal cleanup as a patrol is one of da great learnin' experiences of Scouting. If every lad brings his own food stash and refuses to participate in da meal prep or cleanup with the group, I'm wonderin' what we're teachin', exactly. If the older and more experienced lads just want to do their own thing and not help support others less experienced than they are, and we as adults encourage 'em to think that way, I'm wonderin' what we're doin', exactly. Maybe I'm just an old fashioned furry critter who grew up before da "Me me me!!!

Not sure why it should matter, @DavidCO (?) A partner can charter as many units as it wants, eh? @@CNYScouter, likely no worries about da bank account, eh? Almost all churches are good actors about this sort of thing, and da summer camp deposits are custodial, eh? They're liabilities on da books. As long as there's no bankruptcy issue, really yeh shouldn't have any problems. Again, this is normal, eh? It happens with some regularity, yeh just go about it like friendly and responsible adults. Beavah

Not a question of choosin' the course of activity for their own patrol, eh? The question was "if we don't get what we want, we will not support the rest of the group (in fact, we'll undermine it)". Reminds me of the fellows camped out in da wildlife refuge in Oregon, eh? Not my notion of good citizenship to refuse to pay your taxes or grazing fees. Question for yeh @@Stosh.... if this had been adults rather than older scouts, how would yeh have felt about it? The adults sayin' "we don't care what da PLC decided, we won't support it or contribute to it since we don't get to do

LOL. Not sure why yeh feel there's such a thing as a BSA Bible. That's a hoot. Practically speakin' this works exactly the way I've described, eh? It happens often enough these days with COs droppin' units. Remember, all da individual registrations remain in place, eh? So do da insurance contracts, since they're paid for. Yeh might say yeh have a whole mess of lone scouts and lone scout leaders who are lookin' to find or form a troop. Don't sweat da small stuff, eh? This is small stuff. Nobody cares about precision, just about helpin' things work out well. Just keep thi

Again, it all depends what we care about, eh? Do we care about bein' RIGHT in our book thumpin'? I can quote more than you can? Or do we care about da outcomes for the lad and his family and the unit? I'd be doin' back flips of happiness along with @TampaTurtle if the lad had just decided to go campin'. Even better with da support of his patrol. That's the best lesson and outcomes for everybody. Keep your eyes on da prize, eh? It's about the boy(s), not about bein' precisely right about da guidebooks, and not even about gettin' Eagle, eh? Eagle Scout is just a tool, it ain

Yah, hmmmmm.... I'm wonderin' how anybody can consider that an act of character and good citizenship? Structures, like how we apportion districts for voting, provide da support and mechanism for practicing character and leadership. Just because a structure is provided by B-P, or by da Constitution, doesn't mean we've taken away all opportunities for leadership, eh? Like as not we've enhanced opportunities for citizenship and leadership by providin' that structure. Structures do matter, I reckon. Da U.S. Constitution gets yeh somewhat different outcomes than da Russian constitu

Yah, weird zombie thread resurrection, eh? Nice to see yeh, @@acco40! I thought all da old gang had disappeared. I've never quite understood da precision scouting thing, eh? Or why adults who probably gripe about lawyers all the livelong day turn around and become pink book lawyers when it comes to a children's program. Scoutin' ain't about precisely followin' da guidebooks. As lots of us point out, ever since Green Bar Bill da guidebooks are put together by big committees without much continuity editing, eh? That's why yeh have silly stuff like a group of committee members w

Nah, relax on dat score, @@CNYScouter. BSA unit registrations are for da year, eh? You'll need a new CO to re-register, but there aren't any worries about accidents or insurance or all the rest. That stuff runs on the BSA side for the duration of the current charter because yeh already paid for it, eh? As long as da BSA still exists, we have to live up to our end of the bargain. Beavah

Yah, this just makes me giggle. @@KenD500, that form only applies when da CO continues to exist, eh? It's da form that release the unit that they "own" so it can be taken over by another entity. Since da CO ceased to exist, yeh don't need it in this case. There's nobody left who can legally sign it anyways. Beavah

Goals and vision? Why do they want a scout program and what do they want it to do? Expectations for "presence" of da scout program at various church functions, volunteer work for the church, etc.? Ability to provide a few committee members for stability and wisdom? It's always great to have some ballast on unit committees that keep things upright when parents are misbehavin'. Identification of a COR who will be a genuine representative of da church and "present" for scouting? Church youth protection and other volunteer requirements? (background checks, training, rules for vo

Since your old CO has ceased to exist, I'm pretty sure your DE would be overjoyed just to charter you to a new entity with your old unit number intact. As to da gear, possession is nine tenths of the law, eh? I don't reckon anybody's goin' to bother you about it. Yeh will probably have to set up a new bank account and transfer funds if yeh had da old CO on the account. Again, I wouldn't sweat da process, I'd just do it. No need to make things more complicated than they need be. If the old church went bankrupt and has creditors however, I'd try to do that quickly just to keep

Yah, hmmm... Except yeh haven't been seein' great results, eh? This year yeh lost most of your first year boys, includin' one boy who quit because his position as PL blew up with his peers and the adult blamed it on the boys. Another who stopped campin'. In your prior troop, yeh blamed it on the boys when they wouldn't step up, and eventually da parents got frustrated and pushed yeh out for not doin' enough to support the lads. Out of 36 Webelos, you're down to 9... and if da trend continues, by this time next year you'll be down to 3 of those. I'm not sure why yeh like it tha

Yah, @@TAHAWK, that's true, eh? I think da natural thing is to structure patrols as mixed-age, but also to have space where the older boys come together to be older boys. We've called it different things over da years, but it's always pretty much the same thing. In a mixed-age environment, it's da PLC/Senior Patrol/Leadership Corps, etc. - the place where the older boys come together to share ideas for their patrols and plan adventures and learn new stuff that they can take back to their patrol. Yeh can do this with PLC/Patrol Leader Training outings and adventures, or a Venture

Yah, hmmmm... May I make a suggestion to yeh? Sit down with your insurance agent and have him explain how an umbrella policy actually works. Beavah

Yah, tough circumstance, @@CNYScouter. Da only idea I have to offer is the same as @@blw2, eh? While it's ideal for da CO to provide a meeting place, there are quite a few out in da real world where the CO is a church, but the unit meets at the local school (or business, or community organization) that has the room for 'em. So yeh don't have to meet at da CO. Yeh can meet at a school for part of the year, and the park pavillion for da rest of the year. In a lot of ways, havin' meetings outside (even in the rain or snow) is great scouting. Seems like your area should also have

Yah, hmmm... @@Stosh, a $1M liability umbrella ain't that much anymore, mate. Especially not if yeh have a car full of kids (and perhaps yeh hit another car full). It's certainly not being "over-insured". Talk to your insurer and consider goin' up to at least $2M. Yeh can usually do that without special underwriting, and it doesn't usually cost that much more. One of da things it does is help make sure da insurance company pays for better lawyers for your case. Yeh also realize that an umbrella liability policy doesn't protect yeh against stupid people, right? It protects

Yah, this was my experience with da 1990 transition as well, @TAWHAWK. Prior to then troops were mostly mixed-age patrols and functioned the way yeh describe. That was Scouting for most of da BSA's existence. The 1990 revision was when we finally dumped Green Bar Bill's stuff and introduced the New Scout and Venture (age-based) patrols. First Class - First Year also got started around then. Da rationale was to make the transition easier from cub scouting, eh? The boys would be movin' from a Den Leader/Den Chief to a Troop Guide/ASM-New Scouts and keepin' the den intact. Advance

Again, there's nuthin' wrong with doin' the troop method school thing, eh? Yeh can have a successful program. There are times when it may be the best choice. Very large troops often have this structure for some reason. They're just not my own favorite, eh? In terms of da results I see and care about for boys' growth, mixed-age troops just do a better job for more kids. Just MHO. Beavah

Yah, hmmm.... There are different philosophies and different approaches to these sorts of things. One of da approaches is the adult-run school approach, eh? Yeh track the kids. Put all da problem kids together. That way the problem kids don't slow down the bright kids, and yeh can keep da problem kids in jail with fewer jailers. Hopefully they drop out, and yeh view that as a good thing. The alternative approach is that you divide and conquer, eh? Yeh don't concentrate the problem, yeh diffuse it. You use da strong youth leaders yeh have built in each patrol to take car

Yah, @@John-in-KC, yeh raise a good point, eh? As da BSA has been experiencin' financial pressures (da pressures that have resulted in the dues increases), we're also seein' more activity prohibitions, eh? These activity prohibitions like Bubble-ball aren't based on da BSA's own experience (no injuries) or on broader data (there isn't any), at least as far as we know. One thing is true, though. Anti-toy-gun PC stuff aside, da prohibitions are comin' on activities where there's limited actuarial data. New sports, like bubble ball. @@RichardB would have to let us look behind da c