scoutldr

My Council has announced the following, in addition to the national fee of $60 per youth: $12 insurance, $12 Boys Life and $30 Council Program fee, so $102 per youth member. Add to that the cost of unit dues, uniforms, and summer camp and other outings, you are looking at around $500 per youth per year. All adults also have to pay the program fee and insurance fee in addition to national registration. Scouting is now officially out of reach for a significant number of families with multiple registered members.

I hear this a lot with new parents...of my Grandkids. Constantly asking them what they want to do, or bargaining with them. Kids that age don't need to give their permission.

My Council doesn't charge for units to camp at Council camps, unless you need equipment from the quartermaster barn. Not yet, anyway.

@RichardB, I think the confusion is over the term "overnight". Is it limited to one night, as in, "go camp overnight and come home tomorrow"? Or does it mean overnight for as many nights as you want? Also, the rule used to be "Cubs only do family camping", but your chart above shows family camping and "den/pack overnighters"...can you define the difference, please?

That's the only way we cooked back in the 60s...wood campfires. No propane or white gas ...no trailers or patrol boxes either...everything went in our backpacks....

Smoking in the presence of Scouts is unacceptable. Fine a new Leader.

I have Grandkids age 4 and 8. They wouldn't touch ANY of the foods listed above. They are being raised on a steady diet of Lunchables, juice boxes and high-sugar cereal. I even popped up a bag of Boy Scout kettle corn the other day...wouldn't touch it..."I only eat the yellow popcorn". Whatever happened to the days of "you have 2 choices for dinner...TAKE it or LEAVE it!"

Nov 22, 2002 here. Yes, the early days were wild and wooly! My greatest sorrow was when Old Grey Eagle (aka OGE) passed away suddenly. I had a special connection when I found out the troop he served was sponsored by the Moravian church my cousin attends in Bethlehem, PA and is located a few blocks from my Grandparents' home she still occupies. Small world. He was always a voice of temperance, reason and wisdom. I miss his wise counsel.

Yes, we were told over the years that the Executive Board, Council Committee members and District Committee members were expected to be the FOS "Pace Setters" and donate over and above what our unit contributions would be.

The Cubmaster should continue delivering the program to the boys through the cadre of Den Leaders. Committee operations and choosing a new chairman is not his/her role, as Cubmaster is not a committee position. The COR recuits and approves the committee chair, then the two of them form the committee as needed.

No words...

Now that my annual registration fee has moved above $50 per year ("council program fee") in order to volunteer my precious time and talents, this Scouting stuff is quickly moving into the "just too hard" category. How many other volunteers will just decide, "screw it, I don't need this any more." Especially those of us whose sons aged out 20 years ago.

Yet no one raises an eyebrow to male genital mutilation, something I was a victim of as an infant 65 years ago. It is still being performed, some for religious reasons, most for some misguided concept of "hygiene" and aesthetics, in spite of overwhelming medical evidence to the contrary. At least today, I hear that they use some form of anesthesia.

Might also want to keep your SE in the loop...they get real touchy when we accept donations under the auspices of the BSA.

Well, @RichardB, my opinion has changed 180 degrees based on recent developments. The evidence is trickling in that these "drug delivery devices" are not as "safe and harmless" as the manufacturers led us to believe. They are clearly being marketed to kids and the clueless. Let's go buy a vial of unknown chemicals at a shady "vape shop" and heat it to around 1500 degrees and inhale the combustion products deep into the alveoli of our tender young growing lungs. What could possibly go wrong? Yes, ban them. No place in a Scouting venue.

In my area, the city will take away your Christmas tree for free...just drag it to the curb on trash day. We used to annually take part in a local troop's mulch sale...place orders in advance, then on the designated Saturday, a pickup truck and trailer full of mulch would show up and a bunch of Scouts would haul wheelbarrows full of mulch to your yard and dump them where you wanted...in the driveway, or at individual beds. They wouldn't spread it, but the service was fantastic!. Also, the local high school girl's volleyball team would have a leaf raking service...order in advance and the whole team would show up with rakes and bags and within about an hour, the whole yard would be raked and bagged. They asked for donations, but I think my wife would always hand them about $200. It was well worth it as we are getting on in years.

I grew up in the 50s and 60s when gas stations gave out free maps. Worked just fine.

We used to have Santa stop by the December pack meeting and hand out Pinewood Derby kits paid for by the Pack.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/ct-lns-boy-scouts-funds-plea-st-0801-20190801-uxka5wcy4rgwdh46cgu4f3pvya-story.html?fbclid=IwAR1HwsPFAV8kDuElA6TdgeUSC1QLbLMdSj28fEuDrqg0YRECaVNyqtyoVBc

Perhaps rather than stew over semantics, we should focus on the proper and complete wearing of the uniform.

"Class A" and "Class B" are military specific terms. The BSA prefers not to use military terms when describing uniforming.

https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34427.pdf This form has to be approved by the SE prior to any unit fundraising activity. This requirement was covered in your training.

With respect, @RichardB, if common sense were a common virtue, we wouldn't need you OR the G2SS at all, and I would not have enjoyed a 45 year career in Occupational Health and Safety as a CIH. "They" is the members of the FB group who raised the issue, insisting that ANYONE who is present to participate in an Eagle project is REQUIRED to fill out and submit a BSA Medical form. Really? Yes, we can discuss hypotheticals all day long, but your "clear and concise" language leaves little to interpretation.

Some camps run this program ... give the adults a list of things to accomplish over the week, and award a "merit badge" for completion. Not an official BSA badge, but keeps them busy.

It is not official, but could be worn as a temporary patch on the right pocket.