Scoutfish

Ooops! " But the qustion is, if the post reflects or supports what you feel or believe in.....is it still an agenda or is that only reserved for the posts or threads that are against what you believe or support? " That is a question we ALL should asks ourselves.

With the exception of one or two threads, I don't see where any of it is political. For or against gays? Personal belief. For or against WB-21C as opposed to old WB? Personal feeling or belief. For or against Athiests in BSA? Personal Beliefs. Left and right wing slant, swing, name calling...Personal belief of particular matters as individuals see them based on their own personal bias of what their own party follows. Prsidential and political cvandidates who singlehandedly destroyed the country..which we all know had a deficit of $0.00 the day before that person took office - wether Bush,little Bush, Obama, Reagan,Clinton, that peanut guy from Georgia ? Yeah, that's politics. But the qustion is, if the post reflects or supports what you feel or believe in.....is it still an agenda or is that only reserved for the posts or threads that are against what you believe or support?

" ....during the time the account changed its name, the vice president of that bank was the council president. Seems that all Scouting accounts at that particular bank went through a name change attaching the accounts to the council. Funny how these things sometimes work. " UH-OH!!! Looks like somebody broke the law! I bet the higher ups at corporate of that bank wouldn't like that at all..especially if you told them it might get a spot in the local newspaper or tv news. Bet National wouldn't like haing BSA's name attached to that either. Sounds too much like a potential enbezelment case just waiting to happen.

AMEN SHORT!

I tell den leaders to make whatever they are working on fun. Scouts canhave fun and learn too. If they are having fun and get a chance to laugh..they will enjoy it more and rememebr what it was that made them have fun. Droning on while reading out of a book is too much like school. Kids "mostly" hate school. Kids can get lectured at home...they do not need a den meeting to continue that lecture. Sure, some nights will not be nearly as fun as others..but they still don't have to be a horrible experience. One of the biggest things I see that hurts the fun process is not having a plan of what to do at a meeting, and having more scouts than you can handle. So..this probably isn't quite what you asked huh? Okay, woodcrafts and woodworking projects. Bird houses are great to build, but don't stop there. We are goiong to make wooden tomahawks at our next campout. They will be made of 3/4 inch thick plywood, have no sharpened edges, and you are going to have to lash the handle to the head. We might cheat and use a screw or two after they lash them together. Then they get to decorate the tomahawks with paint, feathers, beads and leather cord. After that, they will throw them at targets. It will be handles just like an archery or BB gun range. And yeas, we have the DE"s and council's blessing on this activity. Point is, we just worked on "Sawdust and Nails" for Bears, and "Make it yourself, tie it right, and Indian lore" for Wolves. You can be creative. For our Tigers last year, they built 6 Birdhouses that they then took to a local park on a Saturday,. They dug the holes, put posts in the ground, and mounted the birdhouses. Then they went fishing and cooked hotdogs and ran around and played. 4 families came up and asked for applications for their sons.

Can the troll read? Give her a copiy of the CC's duties. Tell her that her duties stop at Cc and that specifically, her job is to In no particular order or level of importance): 1) Confer with the CubMaster on policy matters relating to Cub Scouting and the chartered organization. 2) Cooperate with the Cubmaster on council-approved money-earning projects so the pack can earn money for materials and equipment. (emphasis mine) 3) Report to the chartered organization to cultivate harmonious relations. ( this relationship includes everybody getting along and enjoying the program and atmosphere offered by the pack.) If CC pay close attenton to etail and is highly organized...that is okay. If CC is a cointroil freak who demands that everybody do everything in her exact way and give grief to anybody and everybody who dos not..then she is not doing her job. As the CM ( seems like that was your position, right? ) You handle what goes on at den meetings, pack meetings , and campouts. In a nutshell, trhe Cc does the business and ad min stuff...you handle all the program stuff as it relates to and affects the scouts.

We cancelled a pack meeting because of snow. I didn't want to, and neither did the leaders, but a bunch of moms called completely freaking out because we had about 6 inches of snow on the ground.And it started the day of the pack eeting. Now, seeing as this is NC and 3 inches of snow is practically a blizzrd here...and how people will sometimes go ahead and park their cars in the dicth the day before the snow hits - just to get it over with ....well, I guess alot of parents were not sure they could handle the driving.. But I also know that about half the people who were extremely concerned about the driving to a meeting, stayed home and rigged up sleds to their cars and pulled the kids around the neighborhoods! I guess it was more of an excuse to stay home and play in the snow that safety concerns. Me? If I thought I could pull it off, I'd have told everybody we were going to have an overnight polar camping. All the schools were closed anyways and my work said to stay home. If there was a way to somehow gather enough food and be able to pull it off...it would have been awesome!

That's where good samaritan laws step in. They vary from state to state, but they protect those who were genuinely trying to help as long as they do not excede their level of training or ignore the obvious. For example: If your highest leve of medical experience or training is removing a splinter from your own finger....then you do not try to performan emergenct thrachiotomy with a spork and a Mickey D's straw. But if a person is unconscious and inside a burning car that just flipped over 15 times...and you inadvertantly break their neck while trying to save them...you are covers on the basis that the person would have died in the fire anyways..and that the injury happend during the process of saving a life. You break ribs during CPR? Congrats! It means that you did it right! AS a fromer EMT/ firefighter/ water rescue person...I can tell you it is much easier to cancle us en-route than to make funeral arrangements.

Yeah, I didn't think you did anythin malicious. The Co may only be chartering one pack, but as a prominent member of the community, it can let anybody use the buildings: Other packs that don't have a physical location, that Ladies red hat society, women's clubs, men's clubs, youth groups, ball leagues, etc.... The other pack may just be using the bulding without being chartered their. Think free rent.

I am of the beliefe that: as long as the participants are willing, of LEGAL AGE and it does not include aniamls...then who cares! As far as us becoming the next Roman Empire...the empire did not fall due to sexual freedom. It fell to ignorance, greed and control over everything. If fell due to abuse of power and lusting after more power. Thing is, most of Europe and Aia have alot for sexual freedom and tolerance than we do. We are repressed by thier standards. And they all haven't fallen victem to the Roman Empire sysndrom if that's what you want to call it. Does that mean we have to adopt it? NOPE! Sure doesn't. And I know htat not every citizen of every European or Asian country is on board with it. BUt while they do not all personally engage in in those freedoms, they also do not go around telling others that they will be the end of the world by engaing in them either. Britain and Germany are two pl;ace that have extreme sexual liberation. Two of the fetich capitols of the world. You name it, you can find it there. Neither country is heading to their demise. Thing is m if you don't like it, you don't have to take part. You don't have to like it. I don't like rap music, but I am not about to go around telling everybody that rap is the end of the world. Neither is muzak. or that kids bop stuff. Everybody thought that Harry Potter was going to cause kids worldwide to start experimenting in witchcraft and devil worship. People had their 15 minutes of fame on the national news because they just knew that Teletubies was going to make all kids gay. Women in pants..bikinis...men with pierced ears....when will it ever stop? Yet nothing happened because of it. I'll tell you where it starts: when mom and dad's blame everything wronmg with their own kids on stuff that goes on outside the home instead of blaming themselves for never teaching and enforcing stuff at home. Same thing as if I blame a gay neighbor for my own marrage problems ( just an example..my marrage is great!) If my marrage was strong, then nobody ele will affect it. But if it's a bad marrage full of problems...pointing my finger at other people is just another form of denial.

"The person attending the first time is deciding whether it's worthwhile or a waste of time." No, I mean sold on scouting, not the RT meeting. If you have an adult at RT, they are already sold on scouting. But this is a big pivitol moment: If the adult who shows up at RT is being siold on the scouting program that they are already a part of...then what have they gained by going to RT? This is the point that the selling is over and the usefuls info nees to start being given out. REal world stuff too, not the sales hype the books show. "Can you give some more examples of this kind of thing? Whqat kind of format does your Roundtable typically follow? " Standard format: We all get together, discus some council/ district stuff, then have breakout session specific to wether you are a pack troop, crew...whatever. Popcorn, and camping money is one thing we talk about. Bookms just say how you should all hod hands, sing kumbaya, and the money will flow in. At RT, we talk about new ideas and ways to sell, where, and issues dealing with money, people not wanting to pay, exces popcorn because people backed out of deals, etc.. We discuss potental camp issued that can happen at registration, units that think camp is all about their unit only, and when and where to stand up and be ready to send people packing. Another thing we do at RT is really look at wether it's a cub scout thing, a boy scout thing, or something that covers both. A few meetings ago, we had a Summit Corps scout talk to us about Betchel. Sure, it'[s a boy scout thing and nothing to do with Cubs right? WRONG! By the time World Jamboree cames around and is held at Betchel, half the scouts in a pack should be scouts in a troop and possibly going to Betchel. Time to start thinking and p[lanning now!] WE do not have a July RT, So the RT in June, we have ice cream and lemonaide while we talk about whatever. Last month, somebody brought a ton of...I forget what they were called'''cinnimon gooey globs? G really thick glazed cinnimon bun looking things with glazing and caramel on them. And we drank fresh cider too. You had to fill out a release agsinst suiong in case you developed diabeties from all the sweetness!

What if we do like big business and industry: buy credits when we cannot met or stay in the limits? Use too much energy? Buy more energey credits. Can't stay within the emmissions limits? Buy emmissions credits! Can'r stay within the scout oath? Buy Oath credits! Bet council would jump all over that!

our scouts and our leaders never stink, nor are they ever dirty. What you do not realize is that we take LNT seriously. We are a green pack that does not like to undermine the natural odor the body was designed to create during the removal of excess water during the natural cooling proces. Also, as innovative leaders in keeping the environment as natural as possibler. we do not use water in a way as to promote waste and un natural pollution in the form of deterganet and shampoo. Besides, if we had to make ever leader and scout wash up whilel camping...we'd have to line ever scout up at least 10 times a day and leaders at least 3 times a day. Seriously though...Horizon has a great point and something that needs to be looked at closer. Are we just inforcing certain rules as they are convienent for us and help us select who we want , or do we enforce some rules and ignore others b ecause BSA has a value of worth set to them? Kinda like sins. People tend to take some sins seriuously, and others are laughed off....but the bible never said sins were broken down into big sins, small sin, or barely sins. Just like a sin is a sin.....a rule is a rule..and the oath is the oath. Of course as far as uniform sizes, you couldn't cut them off at large. A 6'9 tall by 300 pound man might be propotionaly perfect and twice as agile, strong and enduring as the average 130 pound 5'8" male. But what about the single, Sm who smokes, goes to singles bars when not at troop meetings and turns out all those notches on his hiking stick are for conquests outside scouting? How about the chain smoking DL or committee person who buys a case of beer and 10 pounds of Velveta , and 3 packs of brats for the big game? Is the Dl, COR, SM/Cm divorced and remarried? Is divorce okay since it means that the whole "Til death" part was broken. Depending on your faith, was the divorce annulled by the church? yeah..Horizon asked a great question. But the real question is this: Can we thruthfully and honestly answer it? And are we ready for the answer when we hear it?

The biggest issues I see and that have been in the news on a consistant basis ( at least in eastern, NC) is adults who end up having sexual relations with youth who are in the teenage range of 13 to 17. But here's the kicker, it is adult heterosexual women sleeping with male youth and male teachers sleeping with female youth. Some storied went around on the news for a week or two, some even made national news. Semms that Bruncswick Co , NC ( whichj is in the Cape Fear Council) has a huge issue w ith male teachers and female students dating, and getting married. Has happened at least 5 times in the past 10 years. Female teacher/male student hookups are not as common here, but still happen. Everybody hear about that teacher who got pregnant by the boy in school? Big time national news. She got pregnant and they both waited til he was 18 to get back together. Growing up in the Onslow/Pender co area of North Carolina..I heard many stories about older guys and younger girrls. Uncles who got arrested for molesting their neices. Bunch a kissing coucins stories seasoned with a guy here or there who got arrested for touching, molesting, raping younger girls. Rarely, but on occasion, a woman got arested for doing teh same to younger boys. In almost every case, the youth were post pubescent . NOw, I can say I have only heard on one single case of a homosexual situation where an adult hooked up with a youth. Actually, my wife found it on the NC state sexual predator website while doing the 12 miles from home registered offended check. The homosexual woman in question was caught with a "homosexual" girl who was 17 years and 11 months old. Still a minor by state law, and still illegal. Not saying it should have been dismised, but just pointing out that it wasn't a 40 year old woman with a 6 year old girl. So, my only point is...based on experience of what actually happens in my my area , and what is reported and what makes the news...Homosexual adults are not something we have to worry about nearly as much as heterosexual adults. Also, none of these events happened while at scouting events wether Cub, Boy, or Girl. They happened at places where homosexuals are welcome and employed, IE: public schools, tutoring academys, private business enterprises, and at the home. Now, we do have us a state senator who seems to give everybody reason to believe he is homosexual, but never quite lets the nail get put in the coffin lid. Has been in the news consistantly for the last 3 years. Maybe you have heard of him NC Senator R.C. Soles from Columbus Co? So, while I do not expect a flood of gay leaders to supply overload BSA with adult applications...I also do not see any dangerous situations happening to cause us to be on edge when pretty much every YP ( if you call it that) issue that has happened here has been between heterosexuals adults and heterosexual youth. Personally, I do not care if a leader is gay or straight. If the leader does his job as he is supposed to do, then the scouts shouldn't be able to tell if he is gay or straight. Sex is not something that should be brought up by any leader wether gay or straight! Now having said that, I also know that BSA and my CO allowed me to join their program. While I do not agree wither every single rule or idealology..I know that it is thei club. Never seen anything in my 40 years that I can completely agree with in iot's entirety,. so I am not gong to suddenly stand up and demand that BSA bend over to suit me 100%

I pretty much agree with everybody else when they say that the two CC's and two CM's should talk directly and try to work out a schedula directly. But one thing needs clarification: "Now, in their defense, their pack meets on the 3rd Monday of the month for pack meetings. Our pack meets on the last Monday for pack meetings. We did schedule the gym, back in July, for this night though. " Maybe I am misunderstanding you, but what I get from that statement is: "We know that they meet every 3rd Monday, but since we scheduled our event a couple months ahead of time, they should have to forfeit their regular meeting for us." NOw, I may be wrong, and I am not saying anybody did anything malicious, but if the 3rd Monday is their regular pack meeting night, you would have to assume they are going to use that same 3rd Monday 2 months from now, 5 months from now, 9 months from now...18 months from noe......5 yerars from now.. Get what I mean? Turn the tables and think - what if they go to the COR tonight, and schedual a ..whatever event.... for 4 months down the road on the last Monday night. So you get bumped just because they ask for it 4 months ago? The idfeal thing would be to pick a different night of the week for the special event, or have the event in place of a den or pack meeting night. Personally, I'd try to maintain using the same night of the month to ensure that it doesn't come down to an auction type process where everybody is trying to undercut or pre bid the other unit to get a particular night.

We meet on Mondays. Don't know why it's Mondays, it's been that way since before I was a member or scouter. Kinda sucks in a way because Monday being the first day back to school after the weekend off ....the scouts are facing a new week of schoolwork and home work. Kinda cool as it's that fun break from just going back to school after having the wekend off. I kinda wish our meetings were on Fridays instead of Mondays, that way homework and bedtime aren't a major factor on den or pack meetinmgs. But the down side is that some scouts and alot of parents are checked out of doing anything since it is now the weekend. One nice thing about our meetings is that every pack in the immediate are meets on a different night: Pack 235 (us) Monday Pack 234 Tuesday Pack 270 Weds Pack 777 Thurs So for the greater convienece of all scouts and their families, people can choose a night that best allows them to attend meetings and keep their boys in scouts.

My father used those type of buckles while in USCG. The grip bar ( or whatever it's really called ) would get worn down over time and even though you can still see the waffle pattern on it, it's too slick to grab the webbing. He used to take a pencil eraser and put about a half drop of muratic acid and touch it to grip bar. That amount was enough to run around the bar and was just enough to cause it to rough up enough to stop sliding against the tight weave of the web belt, but not enough to ruin it or eat it up. I doubt the scout shop will do anything anymore than a shoe store will give you a new pair of shoes when they wear out. What you are describing is normal wear and tear.

"Our CO is one of those churches that has classroom style rooms available to our pack. We also meet every Monday Night at the same time to give the boys consistency in something. Knowing that at 7:00 every Monday night in the same room as always does reinforce that consistency. Do our DL's have to use the rooms, Nope. They can plan their own den meeting for wherever they want. I actually encourage them to think of other places to meet, especially when it's warm out and the boys are going stir crazy from being indoors. The only thing I ask is they let me know where they're going to be, and when they're going to be there. Inevitably, a parent will walk in and look for the den meeting, and then ask me about it. I can then direct them to the meeting location when they're off campus. " CHange the time to 6 pm and you just described out pack. WE also meet at the same place for conveinence. Easiet to cath the CM ( me) or CC or the treasuere or secretary if you are all at the same place. Makes it esasier to pass along info if something coms up versus me having to call all DL's who then have to call all parents. I do , however, encourage DL's to change things as needed. One DL changed their meeting times a half hour later to accomidate scouts who wave soccer and football practice. I tell them they can have den meetings in another place or locatuion if the want. Do them on Tues, weds, or whatever night that works best for everybody. I tell them that if the want, they can meet on Sat or Sun during the day. They could even make a half day of it if the wanted, do scout stuff, play a game of kickball or whatever, then maybe cook hotdogs and smore over a campfire...whatever keeps the scouts interested and having fun. Whatever keeps it exciting.

"Sorry, I don't agree. Training and good judgment is a better guide." Yet good training wuill tell you that you don't always judge yourself, that you might not be aware of all the facts and that your own judgement may verywell be compromised. As a former EMT/firefighter...CALL 911. It's easier to cancel an ambulance trip to the hospital than it is to cancel a van ride to the morgue.

Movies have their place, I won't argue that. Trainerlady brought up a great example of when one would be of good timing. And we show a movie in place of a den meeting a few weeks before PWD. We don't show Down & Derby mthough...to many scouts going comatose with drool pouring out of their mouth. Instead, we play "Litt;e Rascals the Movie" . It has a downhill soapbox derbt race, the jokes are played out at the scouts mentality level and their level of humor too. During that time, they eat popcorn and drink water while they sit in cardboard cars that they made at home and decorated with all the bling, bells and whistles and whatnot. But at campouts, we do someting else.

Well, we have great rountables, but they didn't used to always be that way. What changed things was our DE had everybody write down 3 things they would like to learn about at RT and used that for the next years RT schedule. Now, here's my input: I don't want to hear a lecture about why parents are just waiting for you to ask them to volunteer. It's not true. Parents who want to help step up or step in. They do not just sit there. Don't waste 30 minutes of my time telling something we both know is not true. I also do not need to have an entire hour wasted about why TE's popcorn is the best popcorn on earth. Just tell me what the sell dates are, the prizes, and how much the price jumped. I am a consumer too, I just happen to wear a tan and green uniform. I know wether it is a great deal, and just because we are selling it does not mean people are lining up around the block to buy it. Just tell me the important facts and skip to the next topic. We don't need 1 1/2 hours of popcorn school. Well, I could go on and on, but basically it comes down to this: Don't talk to me in a patronizing tone, and don't try to sell me something I don't need ...I mean, if I am at RT, I am already sold on the program. I already hyave time and training vested in the program....I have also ben approved by my CO and the council to be a leader....so don't keep trying to sell me something I already bought. Just tell me the important details and leave it at that. Like I said, our RT's are great! Cool stuff, fun stuff, and stuff that works but is not covered in BSA publications and leader books. WE let people who have done something different that works , tell everybody else. For example: Our boys all but fell asleep while watching Down and Derby. You know why? Cause the average Cub Scout will not be interested in jokes and dialog that is mature in nature. So what did we do? We watched "The little Rascals movie" which is about a downhill soap box derby and is designed for, target too and spoken in a language that our scouts understand. Oh, and you watch the movie while eating popcorn and drinking bottled water while sitting in your drive in movie car. Drive in movie car? Yeah, you get a box, decorate it like a car, truck, bus, boat, plane, rocketship, etc.. The more bling, the better! KIds laugh and watch the whole movie while munching on leftover Trails End popcorn .

Well, I decided to go and lok at the Bad Idea t shirts website. Okay, they have a section for "offensive" shirts, but that is also a matter of perspective. Anybody remember All in the family? Glorified bigotry and racism or making fun of the racist himself? Depended on your own mindset. Blazing saddles was blazzingly hilarious and you could nevr make that movie today and get away with it due to the racism, steriotyping and bigotry. But the movie was making fun of, not promoting it. It saw the stupidity and therefore the humort in and of laughing at the haters stupidity. But I also saw some cool shirts too. Matter of fact, I ordered one that simply said "JENIOUS" on the front. I liked the one that promoted "Kirk/Spock 2012" and the one where you had to find the value of "X" in the circumfrence of a triangle. "I found it! -------> "X" : So it's just another company providing a service that we are completely free to choose not to use. But by advertising here, the site stays free to us. It's like a tv show: You don't like it, change the channel!

I guess I need to backpedal a little bit for a minute: When it comes time for colors, we choose scouts in the fullest uniforms. I say fullest because we are a wait up pack. If a scout has on his belt and everything else above that - we consider it full uniform. So, when colors comes, we pick the den with the most scouts in "full" uniform and let them do colors. If any one den does not hae enough scouts in full uniform, we will pull enough scouts from each den to make up a color guard. Again, we do not criticize scouts who are not if full uniform, but this is one instance where they and their parents can see the benefit/ or reward of having the "full" uniform on. Another instance: When we wnt and greeted returning WWII vets ( ater they visited the WWII memorial in DC) all scouts were in full uniform and we required them to wear very dark blue jeans or dark blue pants/ shorts ( green in you were a Webelos with tan shirt ).

Yeah, we all bleed red don't we. Should focus on commons instead of differences. Anybody can find differences right? Even those no good de-caf loving coffee drinkers!

Well Merlyn, it makes sense: Everybody knows that minorities just can't fit into sleeping bags or tents and that they are also allerigic to fresh air, trees and anything else to do with camping!