ScouterPaul

On many occassions I've been accused of being "anal". On the Pack level I prepare a book for each of my leaders which has the following information: Scout information sheet which has the Scouts info including birthdate, parents info and emergency contact information (and a lot of other stuf), copy of the Scouts Class I medical form, copy of the parents motor vehicle information (makes the tour permits easier). Myself, the Committee Chair and Ass. Cubmaster have a book with information on all of the Scouts. The Den leaders have a book with information on the Scouts in their Dens. Hopefully this information will never be used but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

After reading SagerScouts post I'm going to put a telephone list in the books also with all the appropriate phone numbers. (Thanks SagerScout)

I'm curious how many nights does your Troop campout each year. Can you camp to much? We started our Troop in April and have camped out 14 nights so far with another 6 scheduled thru December. Our Scout Calendar, September - August, has a total of 32 nights on it.

Thanks

Paul

Good Job!!!

dsf025

There is a wonderfull resource call Patrol Sketchbook by ismokoteky. You can put Patrol Sketchbook in your search engine and it will turn up numerous sites. We used the Patrol flag section for our Patrol flag.

yarrow

If I read your post correctly your son has been a Life Scout for 9 months. You state that he has been signed off on the POR requirement. Was this requirement completed while he was a Life Scout? If so it sounds like he is well on his way to becoming an Eagle. If the POR requirement was for his Life rank then he will need to satisfy the POR requirement for Eagle. Sounds like someone in your Troop doesn't think a 13 year old should be an Eagle.

YIS

Paul

I look at the Webelos program as a transition from Cubs Scouts to Boy Scouts. Bob White is correct you do not want to give your Webelos a Boy Scout camping experience. You do however want to get them outdoors as much as possible. I ran my Webelos meetings as follows:

Opening - designed by a different Scout every week

Activity Badge work - I had two stations and the Webelos divided up into 2 groups of 4 and spent 15 minutes at each station.

Scout Skills - All the boys came together for a session on Scout skills. This included practice putting up tents, firebuilding, knots, cooking ect.

Game - We finished the meeting with a game.

Closing

When the boys crossed over they had some basic skills that made their transition to Boy Scouts much easier. They knew how to erect a tent, start a fire, and felt somewhat comfortable with cooking their own meals.

One area that I could have done a better job was to prepare them for the boy lead aspect of Boy Scouts. They still feel uncomfortable "bossing the other boys around" (their words not mine).

We pay $15.00. This includes a detailed Pow Wow book, lunch, coffee and snacks. It is a great value.

I'm our Troops Advancement Chair and the BOR is one of my responsibities. We schedule a BOR once a month. It is the Scouts responsibility to contact me and request a BOR at least one week in advance. This gives me time to make sure our COR who serves on the BOR marks his calendar. Seems to work for us.

Paul

I have been a banker for over 23 years here is my advice.

If the account requires two signatures and no other authorized signer signed the checks then here is a way to get your money back. If there are two proper signatures on the checks you are out of luck - except thru Small Claims Court. Hopefully one of the signers did not sign blank checks for "convenience" purposes.

The policy of most banks is to not verify signatures on checks less than $1,000. The cost analysis shows that it is cheaper to pay the fraud costs than it would be to hire employees to verify the signatures. If the Committee and Sponsoring Organization is willing to prosecute this person here is what you do. You go to the bank sign an affidavit of forgery (since the second signature is either missing or forged). This affidavit will authorize the bank to prosecute this person. The bank will investigate and must reimburse the account the monies that were illegally withdrawn. Please note that this method can get ugly. I would advise to talk with the person and present this option. Give her the chance to reimburse the Pack.

YIS

Paul

Good advice so far. What our Troop did was to recruit the Pack Committe Chair to be on the Troop Committee. Her son is still in Cub Scouts. This gives the Troop a good line of communication with the Pack. She also sits on our BORs.

Paul

Bob White

We had our first Den Meetings of the new year tonight. We recruited the following leaders:

2 Webelo Leaders - We now have 4 total

2 Tiger Leaders - We now have 3 total

1 Wolf Leader - We now have 2 total

1 Bear Leader - We now have 2 total

It went real well. We still have a number of Parents that we will talk to. We need at least 2 more bear leaders and 1 or two Webelo Leaders. Our next Committee Meeting (which we call Parent/Leader Committee meeting is this coming Tuesday. Each Den leader will call their Parents to remind them about the meeting and to ask for their attendance. Basically if they show up they will get signed up for the Committee.

Bob your method really works!! Thanks.

Paul

We are going to use Bob Whites suggestions about recruiting leaders. We are reveiwing the parent resource forms and picking out individuals to talk with one on one about becoming leaders.

I reside in the Linclon Heritage Council, which is the same Council that this young man's Troop is from. Several posters have stated that there was more to the situation than the newspapers told. They are right. We only heard the Mothers side of the story. The SM, CE, DE and everyone else involved kept their mouth shut about what happened. They protected the right to privacy of this young Scout. The Scout was offered alternative solutions before being asked to leave the Troop. The Mother refused all solutions.

Hang in there Stressbaby - with hard work on the part of parents such as yourself it will get better. I am in a somewhat similar position. We started our Troop in April when our Webelo 2 crossed over. Our SM wants everything his way even if it goes against BSA Policy or program. Luckily when the SM had the COR approve (sign) the Adult Leader Applications he made me a Committee Member and not an ASM. We have had numerous "discussions" regarding actions that he has taken. Luckily I am a training nut and take every course offered through our Council. I quote from the various resources whenever he pulls something out of his proverbial behind. It is getting better he is attempting to follow the BSA program.

My advice is to become a Committee Member (if you are not one already) and to take all the training you can get including the Scoutmaster Specific training. This will allow you to be an informed voice from within. Hang in there and good luck.

YIS

Paul

Who in the Troop has authority to approval a Totin Chip for a Scout. Does it reside with the SM his designees? Or can any Leader who has been trained and carries a Totin Chip administer the training and test?

I'm so proud that I have to tell everyone. We had our Roundup tonight and we signed up 56 new Cub Scouts.

I attribute this success to the fact that we the leaders got together and called the parents of every boy who filled out the questionaire indicating interest in Cub Scouts.

Here are the five steps for the annual planning process:

1. Do your homework.

2. Get Patrol inupt.

3. Conduct the Annual Troop Planning Conference.

4. Obtain Troop Committee support.

5. Distribute Information.

After the planning conference is complete. The SM and SPL make a presentation to the Troop Committee. The Critical question the committee must resolve is: Does the troop have the resources to carry out this program? If not, can the resources be obtained, and are the troop members willing to do their share in obtaining these resources?

This information came from the Troop Program Features.

FScouter

I should have been more concise. When I said step in I didn't mean take over the Scoutmasters job or role but rather to tell him that he has to have elections ect.

The answer to you training question is as follows:

Committee Chair - Fast Start, NLE, scheduled for Job Specific on the 14th of September.

Committee Member (Myself)- Fast Start, NLE, Scoutmaster Fundamental, Boy Scout Outdoor Leaders Training, Cubmaster Job Specific, Den Leader Training, Webelos Leader Outdoor Training, BALOO, Woodbadge, scheduled for Committe Job Specific on the 14th. I am also on the District Training Team.

Scoutmaster - Woodbadge Trained, Fast Start

Asst. Scoutmaster - Fast Start, NLE, Den Leader Training and Webelos Leader Outdoor Training

The third member of our Committee is the SM's wife who he didn't need to go to training, she was just on the committee to meet the minimum requirements.

As you can probably see training is a sore spot between the two of us. He contends that since he has been to Woodbadge he is qualified for any position. I've asked him to get a letter from the Council stating that all of the Training Requirements for him have been waived so that we can become a Quality Unit.

Thanks

Thanks eisely. Our Troop and Pack have found the record keeping hassels of a petty cash fund to be easier than writing numerous small checks. An example would be if one of the Leaders had a propane tank filled up on the way to an outing. It would be easier for the SM to reimburse him the $10.00 than to have the Treasurer write him a check and get a second signature. There is a certain amount of Trust with the SM and the Committee regarding the funds.

Regarding Committee Authorization of payment we have authorized the SM or Committee chair to authorize any payments up to $50.00. Any amount larger needs committee approval. This seems to work well for us.

This thread has made me think long and hard about the relationship between the Scoutmaster and the Troop Committee. I understand that the Committee exists to help the SM deliver the program. What about when the SM doesn't follow the program can and should the Committee step in?

Example: SM wants to put all the Patrol members name in a hat and pull a name out to determine who the Patrol Leader will be. SM's logic is that this gives all the boys a fair chance to become PL. Does the Committee Step in?

Example: SM doesn't hold an annual PLC planning session because the boys don't have enough life experiences to know what they want to do. Does the Committee step in?

eisely

My understanding on Troop expenditures is as follows: For outing the Patrol members give their fees in cash to the Quartermaster (Grubmaster) who then purchases the food. The Scoutmaster has a petty cash fund (approved by the committee) to handle the small items. According to the Committee Book the Scoutmaster recommends payment and the Committee approves the expenditures.

KoreaScouter

Some people just don't care. During Summer Camp this summer our Troop shared a campsite with another Troop (We had 9 people, they had close to 40) we were given the tents farthest away from the fire ring. After lunch on Monday when I was going back to the waterfront I passed the fire ring in which a blazing fire was going. I personally checked every tent for a member of their troop - none were to be found. Naturally, I put out the fire using quite a bit of water. That evening their Scoutmaster and I had "words" about putting out the fire. The next day their SPL asked if it would be okay to leave hot coals in the fire ring to make the next fire easier to start. Go figure!

The course is called Webelos Leader Outdoor training(WLOT). The course is a two day one day affair. BALOO (Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Training) is a one day session. WLOT is still offered - I am quartermaster for our District's session in September. I've also been on BALOO staff. You need to take WLOT in addition to the Webleos Leader Job Specific Training since you are moving up. Good luck Webelos are a blast.

Paul

We had our District Kick off several earlier in the month. Our DE spent 10% of the time on popcorn and 90% on organizing and running a roundup. Was he doing this to increase membership? Absolutely!! That is his job. It is my job to provide the program that keeps the boys in Scouting.

I attended Woodbadge this past winter/spring. On staff was one of the Councils District Exec. and attending as a participant was the DE from my District. If I was a betting man I would bet that our DE was attending because it was the politically correct thing to do. I attempted to observe him throughout the two weekends and I must say that he made the tranisition from having to be there to wanting to be there. Since the completion of the course he has become a much better DE and truly has become a Scouter.