resqman

My younger son is a registered Webelos II scout and I am a registered Webelos Den leader. Our Webelos den has been invited to a attend a troop campout. I would like my older son who is not a scout to attend the campout. My wife will be traveling out of the country and will not be able to keep my older son (13). Assuming the troop allows my older son to attend, are there any BSA policies that we are breaking?

How does one teach Cub Scouts what is important about the flag? They say the pledge at every opening of every meeting. Do they undertstand that they are really pledging allegiance to a country? Or what allegiance means? Our Pack retires flags at each of our two yearly campouts, usually on Friday evening. The boys are involved in the ceremony. It is done with dignity and respect. They do not run around, hop and holler. They understand that it is an important ceremony. They learn things like the stripes represent the 13 colonies, and the stars represent the states of the union

http://www.sageventure.com/eagle/

Our Pack camps twice a year. If they entered at Tigers, they will have camped 6 times by Webelos. They would have an additional 4 Pack campouts during Webelos. I had a Webelos 1 den campout last fall. They all slept in boy only tents. We held a den meeting where they picked the menu, picked a grub master who bought the food using a budget, and they all cooked the food at the campout. We had a 3 mile hike to meet some requirement. We had some fishing time at the lake. This was just one over night so you figure we get to campsite by 9:30-10am. Setup tents, cook eat and clean

Here is the agenda for our Pack campout in a couple of weeks. The campsite is a state park located about 20 minutes from the church. There are 4 campsites with permanent stone fire rings and benches in a ~20 circle around each fire ring. There is a building with showers and toilets within 10 paces of campsites. There is a hose bib for water at each campsite. We have 70 registered boys in the pack. The Camping & Outings committee currently has at least 6 activities planned for Sat. Plaster cast making, Leaf identification-rubbing & painting, Physical Challenge, Bat House m

Reading this forum has gottem me so parinoid I am afraid to touch the scouts at all. There are times I think a pat on the shoulder or a hug would go a long way. A hardy Well done! does have the same direct impact that a physical touch does. I believe it puts a wall between the leaders and the boys. If we are afraid to touch them, they realize that something must be wrong. That wrong might be misinterpeted as something wrong with them. I am so tired of everything being so PC! I hate living in fear all the time that I might have somehow overstepped some magical boundry that migh

We recently visited a troop during its Spring New Scout Camping Trip as a visiting Webelos 2. The troops idea is that they get a bunch of new Scouts each spring. They will have varying amount of camping experience coming from different Packs. They want all the New Scouts to be successful so they plan a New Scout Camping trip. On this particular outing, they had 6 patrols plus the Rocking Chair patrol. The troop printed up suggested menus planners. There were 3 options for each meal. The Sat evening meal included a dutch oven based dessert. The patrols were given the suggested m

For just one day I would want the boy on a camping trip. You rise from your sleeping bag a little groggy with messed up hair. You stumble out to the fire pit from last night and begin the process of starting a fire. Are there any coals left you can coax with some kindleing? The whole ordeal of getting the fire started brings all the people around the cold fire pit together. The rustlings of others getting out of their beds and the beginning of getting a hot breakfast made. Some of the scouts are cooly effiecent and organized while most are a bit impatient and make a few mistakes wh

I was speaking with my sister this weekend who is a GS leader. The two programs have very different goals. I think it is great you want to be involved in your daughters life and bring new experiences to her. The one nagging thought I have is "If they don't like the BSA program as it is, why don't they start their own instead of trying to change it." That comment or a variation of it is often seen around these forums. I am just wondering how many times it will be said about you and your ideas? As a BSA member, I see real value in the program and the way it is delivered. W

This reminds me of my days as a scout 30 years ago. We formed an Explorer Post. Of the twenty two boys who were charter members, 18 were Eagle scouts. Within 3 years, all members were Eagle scouts. We capped membership at 25 and for the first 3-4 years, we never dipped below 20 Eagle scouts. When we chartered, there was a transition period while everyone learned how to get along with the others. We had pulled from basically 3 different troops, each with its own culture and displine expectations. Shortly we all grew together and formed our own culture. I remember that everyone

I find information, details, indepth analysis, and a broad range of ideas on the web. I find forums to post my ideas with out fear of being rebuked or thought stupid. Of course I can be rebuked and thought of as stupid but it is by people who I don't know and it does not really count if they think I am stupid. :^) Often meetings are poorly run. The agenda is too loose or non-existent. Often those in attendence already know all the information being shared. Its those that don't attend that need the information. Its those that don't attend that need to be more involved and help with t

I am wondering about den meetings when a Pack is 6-10. If all 5 ranks are represented in a Pack of 6-10 boys, a den may be as small as 0 or 1 boy. While I understand that the skills are often repeated through the ranks, the repetation usually adds a level of difficulty to the skill. How do you present skills to Tigers and Webelos II at the same time? A den meeting could be a one-on-one with a Den leader. If there is only one boy in a den, then the more than likely the parent is the den leader. This sounds very close to Lone Scout type of scouting. While I am sure the boys in su

I have seen competent pool swimmers struggle in a lake, pond, and ocean waters. The pool is clean and safe with clear water where you can see all the dangers. Lakes, ponds, streams and particularly ocean waters tend to be murky with lots of unknown dangers lurking just beneath the surface. There is icky stuff on the bottom and hideous animals that will bite, sting, or otherwise harm you. The water covers all kinds of broken glass, tree roots, and poisionous water snakes. It is often the idea of the unknown dangers that scares people out of non-pool water. They cannot see what lurks a

Here are a few links to some ideas for arrow of light awards and patch/badge display. Arrows and Patch Display http://acornawards.com/Arrow_of_light_products.htm Arrows and Rank display ideas http://www.arrow-of-light-awards.com/ http://www.cubitems.com/ http://www.arkie.net/~pow-wow/arrow.htm http://www.scoutarrows.com/ http://www.aaastamp.com/scouts/plaques.html http://www.aaastamp.com/scouts/arrows.html http://www.gilanet.com/amerabo/light.htm http://members.aol.com/vincesarrows/Page1.htm http://www.thescoutimage.com/index.html Career markings http://

30 years ago I went as Provisional camper. I had already attended that same BSA camp at least one time. One summer I went a week with my troop and two weeks as provisonal. I had a blast. The SM was a college grad Eagle and very "Scouty". I went to get another Mile Swim award and earn a couple more merit badges. My parents said at the time they could not feed me at home for the same cost as camp. The provisional camp site was the furtherest from all activities so it gave me lots of opportunity to roam over the large grounds. Lots of personal freedom. I relished it. I can s

My den is a Webelos II den. We went on our first Den campout the last weekend of March. One dad for each boy in the den. The campsite had running water and a stinky latrine (as if there are any other kind) but otherwise nothing but trees as far as one could see. No other people or distractions. The den meeting prior to the campout we gave the boys two tasks, choose your menu and a patrol name in 15 minutes. The adults left the room and let them plan and plot. The designated boy leader came to the adults after 10 minutes and said no one was listening to him. The asst DL strolled in

Join Boy Scouts in '72. I remember spending the night in a canvas pup tent with no floor a few times. Used military surplus ponchos snapped together a couple of times. Troop did not have tents. Boys bought their own and nylon was coming on the market around then. For Philmont we had a tent that had purple floor pan, orange sides and yellow rain fly. My dad said he got it on say because no one wanted the colors. The rain fly could be set seperate from the tent and we just used the rain fly for most of Philmont due to great weather.

I too am from the day when the uniform was sold without a collar. Made it very easy and comfy to wear a neckerchief. The drawback is that you MUST wear a neckerchief because the shirt is so designed. I am one of the few that enjoy wearing a necktie. If you buy a shirt that is the correct size for your body, meaning when you gain weight you buy a larger size shirt instead of just squeezing your neck into a too small shirt, neckties are not uncomfortable. My son is hot natured, as am I, and he complains of wearing a neckerchief which is not optional as a Cub Scout. I started ca

My boy is a Webelos II and we are shopping troops. Just so happened that a local troop was holding their annual New Scout Outing campout this month. One of the leaders is a personal friend and his youngest just crossed over from Cubs to Boy Scouts this spring. I asked if we could "try before we buy" by attending this campout as a guest. This troop holds an annual New Scout Outing in late Spring. It is a flop and drop style campout. The goal for the weekend is to present the opportunity for all the New Scouts to complete as many of the outdoor requirements up through 1st class. Fri

We had a similar situation. We had a mixed bag of Webelos neckerchiefs, some old style, some new style. They were already paid for and available. We gave out the mismatching neckerchiefs. Nobody noticed. I have kids who wear the neckercheifs inside out so that no emblem shows. If you have enough for a matched den, go for it. It can be one more way to build Den pride.

My sister does this for family camping. She puts chicken in a crock pot with taco seasoning. She lets it cook a couple of hours until it can be pulled easily. She puts the chicken a container. All of this is at home before the campout. At the campout she puts out some flour tortillas and the container of pulled taco chicken. When the kids are hunger, they add a portion of chiken to the tortilla, shreded cheese, roll up and eat. I like to add some onions when I am crock potting the chicken. You could also add green peppers. Alternately you could put the chicken, cheese,

Our county school system just implemented a no flyer rule. BSA has in the past sent out flyers twice a year in the elementary schools, spring and fall roundups. It lists all the Packs in the county, meeting locations, and contact point. The families then decide which Pack is best for them. Our COuncil is scrambling to find a way to annouce the round ups to their target audience. Fortunately the principal of my son's school is an Eagle along with his 2 sons. He said he could not put our Packs announcement flyer in the backpacks due to the new ruling BUT could make a mention in the P

My son and I started as Wolfs 3 yrs ago. Never had a snack at a den meeting or Pack meeting except... My wife wanted to try a new recipie one evening. The den meeting was at my home. The boys and parents got to try out the new recipie. The Pack holds an ice cream social once a year as a Pack meeting. The point of the meeting is eating ice cream. Both the den and pack meetings are held from 6:30-8pm

"the fairly difficult directions of patch placement" Can you help me understand what is difficult about the placement of the patches? BSA provides lots of documentation on badge placement. There is a diagram in the cover of every scout handbook, along with additional diagrams and explantations in the text, along with inspection sheets delineating the placement. Badges are of very specific shapes and sizes and it is difficult to mistakenly confuse a troop number with a council stripe for example. I just don't see where it is all that difficult. Can you help me to bet

Under 10 miles. We usually have 2-4 from our Pack attend. I have not attended over the last 3 years. I started attending recently in order to fulfill my leader knot requirement. I can see where attending earlier in my leader career would have helped my den and Pack.