benny

Sorry Packsaddle but if you read through their responses to this thread then you will see that that will not happen.

I used to use this forum for a lot of good information on scouting but it has gotten ridiculous in the personal attacks that have been going on. I don't understand how two people could claim to be such experts on scouting and yet seem to ignore several of the 12 points of the scout law, in particular courteous and kind.

Time to move on to other forums I guess.

Usually this is done through the forum administator by user title/ranks or similar depending on the bulletin board you use. We have one on our troop web site and we created titles based on scout rank for the number of posts... "forum tenderfoot, forum second class, etc." to encourage participation.

We also use Troopmaster Dot Net. If your troop already has a website it is very simple to get running. With the new version there is no limit to the number of people that can have access. You can set permissions so that some can update the software and others can only view. One of the neat features allows you to send e-mails to groups.

Great way to keep current and communicate.

We use a 6 by 14 trailer that we purchased through Wells Cargo. Great trailer. It didn't lessen our backpacking trips and it does help us to carry the gear for backpacking. A couple of safety items, we purchased a dual axle. Handles much better and you don't have the issue of blow outs. We also got surge breaks. They really help if you need to hit the breaks hard. We also don't allow any scouts to ride with the person hauling the trailer. We figure the fewer the distractions the better.

To help buy the trailer we solicited donations from local business owners and listed them as supporters of our troop on the back of the trailer.

Your approach is a great idea WoodBadgeEagle. Just as a follow up, I spoke with the SPL and when the scout was appoached about it he admitted that he offered the candy but stated that it was a joke. After discussing the perception that others had from his actions he offered that we hold a re-election. Sometimes things work out the way they should.

Dan, I am not sure what your "sigh" is for. I would of expected it on other posts but not this one.

Electing assistant patrol leaders may not be correct way to set up the patrols but it was a system that has been in place that I inherited (it does give some training to the APL's prior to them becoming PL's). It still is a boy led program and whether we switch at this point will be discussed at our next leaders meeting.

The election was a secret ballot. I do not know if the bribery was successful or not and there is no way to find that out without a new election.

I appreciate all of the insight. I will discuss this issue with the PLC and have them determine the actions. I will recommend, however, that the election be redone in fairness to all.

I should point out that one of the scouts that brought this to our attention was from outside of their patrol and observed the situation so in my opinion there is no question that it happened. More than likely the scout that bribed the other scouts, and in my opinion it was a bribe, would have been selected without the bribes in the first place.

Our approach has been that the patrols would elect their assistanat patrol leaders and every six months we would do a change of the guard and the assistant would be the new patrol leader. That way you ahve some development time for the patrol leader as the assistant. I honestly don't recall this being covered anywhere. I would be interested in how others do it.

Recently our patrols conducted an election for new assistant patrol leaders. After the voting was complete and after the new assistants were announced two boys from one patrol came up (seperately) and said that their new assistant was bribing the younger scouts with candy to vote for him.

I have not spoken to the assistant patrol leader about his actions yet and was planning on using an upcoming scoutmasters conference as a forum to discuss this issue. My intention is to discuss the ethics of his actions and see if he brings up the idea of a re-election. If he does not then the election would stand and hopefully those that were bribed would see the errors of their ways.

There is a lot of wisdom on this forum and I would appreciate any suggestions on how to handle the situation.

All of those are great comedies. I still can't believe that nobody listed any of the Naked Gun series or any of Leslie Nielson's paradies.

We use the NachoMama patrol. Named after a restaurant in town by the way.

What we did recently at a troop meeting was to have a competion. Each scout paired up with a buddy. They had to tie a bowline around their waiste and then tie their two ropes together with a sheepshank. When done they would lean back and put their hands in the air. We found the fastest in the troop and then had them compete against the leaders. Nothing better than a little competion to spur knot knowledge.

By the way the scouts beat us.

Try the following:

HOSTELLING INTERNATIONAL - CHICAGO

The J. Ira & Nicki Harris Family Hostel

24 East Congress Parkway

Chicago, Illinois 60605 Phone: 1-312-360-0300

Fax: 1-312-360-0313

http://www.hichicago.org/groups.htm

Great location not far from the lake. We were able to walk to all of our activities and the El is right next to hostel (unfortunately that means you get to listen to it as well but it's not that bad.)

Have fun

We went to Chicago last year and stayed at a hostel that was walking distance to Shedd Aquarium and the museum of Science. I don't recall the cost but it was inexpensive and dormitory style which was perfect for our group.

Good luck

Depends on what you are looking for. The Spire is listed as a technical pack and at 2500 ci is about half the volume of the Kelty I bought at the same price. Shopping on e-bay is the same as shopping anywhere else, do your homework and know what you are buying.

Nothing wrong with a slightly used pack especially if you are not sure if you are going to stick with it.

I bought an older Kelty external backpack through E-bay for $65. Works great and I was able to throw my hydration bladder in the pack and take care of what I packed around it. They have a lot of slightly used packs on e-bay and Kelty is a pretty reasonable yet durable model. I would do a minimum of 4000 cubic inches (Philmont's minimum recommnedation on an external, 4400 ci on internal).

We took our boy scout troop last January and stayed in a youth hostel downtown. It was real nice and they put us in dormitory style rooms with shared bathrooms. It was within walking distance of the Navy Pier and the other waterfront attractions. I don't remember the costs but it was very reasonable.

That may be new to the organization but our district already requires it. As a matter of fact we are associated with a Catholic Church and they require a background check for all adults that attend any of our outings. The only qurestion is where does the funding for this come from?

We are planning a get together for all of our Life Scouts and the troop leaders to socialize and to encourage them on their way to Eagle. Has anyone ever done anything similar? Looking for some ideas and thoughts on motivation.

Thanks

We used eight people in one of our Assistant Scoutmasters office building. Each person used two phone preprogrammed for the number. We were lucky to get through in 15 minutes.

I understand they are talking about goingf to a lottery next year. Any truth to that rumour?

I have to agree with Scoutmaster Ron. Trustworthy is a trait that I look for in the scouts. Without trust you have no troop.

We just recently had to replace all of our boxes. We had used the two door box but it is not as rigid as the single door. We do it pretty much the same as Red Feather. Scouts bring their own personal gear and troop gear is kept in a seperate box.

Attached is a link to the plans that we used. A couple of things that we changed is that we used rope for the doors versus chain and we also used rope for the handle. We improved on the handles by running the rope through 1/2" PVC pipe with two 90 degree elbows on each end. Easier to grip and it doesn't pinch your fingers.

http://home.epix.net/~hawkmtn/jambpb.html

Sctmom,

Stealers Wheel, Stuck in the Middle With You, I believe 1972.

Impressive OGE. I thought I knew my music pretty well until that last one. I had to get into the refrain before I even recognized it. Let me guess, you were a lead singer in a band at one time?

Compass,

Nicely put.

OGE,

You're scaring me. Hopefully you had to look up the words to the song and you weren't able to recite it from memory, LOL.

Sctmom,

Not bad. 1975 was the actual release.