scoutldr

Of course, if this fundraiser is done for the Ship, you will have to submit a Unit Fundraising Application to the Council. Should be an interesting discussion after they realize what it means.

Expectations go both ways. As a District Committee Member at Large, I can tell you how frustrating it is to only have about one third of the District positions filled 3 years after being forced to form a new district. The positions that are filled are filled by "multiples" who are also SM's, DLs and CCs in units doing double and triple duty, while hundreds of adults with youth in the program are doing nothing. Units should encourage adults to get involved in Commissioner service or District positions, rather than having 10 ASMs on the roll that are not needed. If units expect services from the district and Council, someone has to volunteer. As was said before, the professionals' jobs are to find new money and form new units. Everything else is dependent on volunteer labor....that's me and you.

So, what are you saying, Eamonn? If the campsite access cannot be controlled by BSA, and if we can't assure separate facilities for youth and adults, the site should not be on the approved list? That would essentially kill any Cub camping in this Council.

This park IS on the approved list. They were in a "group site", which is just a larger site mixed in among the RV sites. The playground and shower house were on the other side of the campground, and kids were allowed to roam at will. The kids weren't being bad...just having fun. If we limit cub packs to just council-owned properties, I would guess that most would not go, since there would be no flush toilets or showers, electric hook ups, or even water, unless they drive 2 hours to the main Council Reservation. There was no problem with the park that would cause it to be "unapproved". The problem was with the adult supervision. I think that most leaders will assume that, as long as the scout's parent is there, it's the parent's responsibility to protect their own children. Perhaps the solution is to make YP training mandatory for all parents, as well.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

Pack or troop? Since you mention BOR, I assume troop. Position descriptions are found in the Leader handbooks and can also be found online. As the title implies, the Committee Chair chairs the committee meetings and recruits other members of the committee to whom various responsibilities are delegated. BOR are conducted by members of the troop committee. The chair can participate, but not required. Typically these will be coordinated by the troop advancement chairman, a member of the Troop committee. The troop committee chair also works hand in hand with the Scoutmaster, who's primary job is to train and mentor the youth leaders. You sound like a natural! Go for it!

Just got back from a weekend campout at a local city owned campground. Also in the campground were two Cub Packs camping with moms, dads, siblings, dogs, and, of course, cubbies of all ages. Why am I uneasy? Youth protection seemed to be non-existent in these units. Kids were running rampant throughout the campground...no adults, no buddy system. Several times, I found myself alone in the restroom/shower building with youth, one as young as about 5. Last night, there was some guy in there taking a shower who looked pretty scruffy...I think he was a homeless guy who just dropped in to freshen up, since he put his ratty clothes back on and had no towel, soap or other stuff that one normally takes to the shower. Word to the wise to Cubbers...public campgrounds are not "safe havens" where you can kick back with a cuppa joe and let the kids run wild. They are public places and the front gate is open all night with no security guard checking ID. There was a ranger patrolling in a pickup, but his schedule was very predictable. If I had been a pedophile or kidnapper, I could have had a field day. A little common sense, please, folks.

No offense, but one more piece of "junk mail" is likely to just get tossed without the scout and/or parents ever seeing it. In my house, all the bills get pulled out and everything else goes in the trash without opening. I lose a lot of rebate checks that way, but nothing I say seems to make a difference. I know it's more work, but how about "peer to peer" recruiting...if the scouts are in the same neighborhood or school, assign each scout a name to contact personally and invite to a meeting. As an alternative, have a troop "open house" on a Saturday ... have hands on activities and feed them.

Fscouter is correct. Once a scout becomes 18, the Eagle badge of rank comes off and is replaced with a square knot. How many square knots one chooses to wear is a personal choice, and nobody's business.

Unfortunately, the ones with the real power on the District Committee rarely show up to use it...the CORs. The only other people on the Committee who have a vote are the other volunteers - District Members at Large, etc. The DE does not have a vote...on anything. He is there to guide, advise and provide suggestions by working with the other two members of the Key 3...the District Commissioner and the District Chair. Looks to me like the District Chair is still in unless he has resigned, reaches the end of his term, or is subject to a recall vote by the committee.

This could be just plain shyness, or a symptom of dysthymic disorder, a form of mild depression. People suffering from this may have low self-esteem and feel that they don't "deserve" the recognition, and constantly avoid things that challenge their flawed view of the world. One way to explain it to him is that is not so much for him, but for his parents, who are very proud (assuming that they are), and for the younger scouts who need encouragement. How does he act otherwise?

Assuming that the scout is a registered member of the BSA, and that the Eagle Scout award is granted by the BSA, I would say this is a no-brainer. If he were being awarded the top award of the Asociacin de Guias y Scouts de Costa Rica, then he would wear that uniform.

I have also seen this tactic at a local concert venue. No one wears a scout uniform, but there is a sign posted behind the counter that says "Friends of Troop XXX". It gets the message across without using the words "Scout" or "BSA". Come to think of it, there is a precedent for selling a product at 6 times it's fair value. ($6 for a beer!)(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

A prerequisite for wearing a kilt should be that you know the proper spelling of "Scot". And as Scotty said, "Scotch is what a Scotsman drinks to wet his whistle!"

But isn't it fun?

The council in which I serve routinely asks for volunteer help to input registration records every year after the new member rush. I have no idea who these volunteers are or what their motivations may be for volunteering. I'm sure that 99.9% of them are people like me who are just interested in helping with no other evil intent...aren't they? I guess I am just more sensitive since I am a govt employee who has to take annual security training which includes the Privacy Act.

packsaddle, yes we are thinking the same, albeit you wax much more eloquent. Perhaps this thread illustrates why we now have to do a "Diversity" ticket for Wood Badge. Too bad she's not also gay...that would make things a lot "cleaner."

If the woman is not indecently exposed (according to the law) then it's nobody's business. I'm presuming that she is not otherwise acting in a lewd or provocative manner. Do you propose to check everyone to make sure they're wearing appropriate undergarments? The boys will see more on TV or at the pool/beach, unless they live in a cocoon. Everyone has a right to be unattractive (thank God!). Is it any worse than those Commissioners with a 52 inch belly hanging unfettered over their 38 inch belts?

I would tell the lad that he has a choice. He can either be in uniform, or not. If in uniform, it will be complete and proper. If he opts to wear a kilt, it may not be mixed with uniform parts. Of course, the same rule should be in place for the rest of the troop at all activities, to be fair. I recently attended an Eagle COH where the troop did not enforce proper uniforming. There was a mixture of blue jeans, shorts, orange tennis shoes, no socks, sandals, no neckerchiefs, bolos, etc., combined with scout shirts that looked like they had been stored in a knot under the bed since the last troop meeting. It looked horrible. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when the SPL had no idea how to do a proper opening flag ceremony, either.

We're still talking about popcorn. We are discussing alternatives to sending little boys and their parents out to beg for money in exchange for an overpriced product that few people really want. We are discussing alternatives to selling off scout camps to meet payrolls. We are talking about ways to reduce administrative overhead (how many staff hours and other resources are devoted to Popcorn sales?). I think the discussion is valuable. I only hope there's some lurkers out there taking notes who are in a position to effect change.

It really is amusing watching guys argue about things they know nothing about. A profit sharing plan is not the same as a 401K. They are different. A 401K is a retirement plan into which the employee contributes and the employer may or may not match some percentage. A profit sharing plan is entirely at the discretion of the company. If the company has a good year, some defined percentage of the profits are distributed back to the employees (hence the term "profit sharing"). When I worked in industry, we ALL got 8 shares of stock one year. As profits changed, the amount changed. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

We recently had to apply for a zoning variance to build a room on the back of our house. Even though I have been a resident of this city all my life, and have paid property taxes and sales taxes for the privilege of living here, I still had to pay a $200 non-refundable application fee just to request the variance. They never asked my income...everyone pays the same fee if they want the service. If you want to go to college, you have to pay an application fee for someone to process the application, even if you're accepted and pay $20,000 a year for tuition. If you want a parking sticker, that's another hundred bucks, and another $35 for a "student health fee". If you want to graduate, that's another fee. I just put two boys through college, and it seems like I was always writing checks for some "fee" or another in addition to tuition. If you want headphones on an airplane, it's another $4 even if you paid $1200 for a ticket. Fees are all around us and people are used to paying them. Bob, probably no one has to pay for room rental for roundtables. But we could use the Council "Service Center" (oxymoron) if every conference room, corridor and broom closet weren't stacked to the ceiling with popcorn. FOS and Corporate donations would continue. If units do not want to pass on the user fees to the parents, they can have their own fund raisers as they see fit. Just no more Council pressure to sell popcorn.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

The fall schedule has been announced: http://www.downandderby.com/fall_markets.html The website says if 1500 people register on the web site, a showing will be scheduled in that area. Proceeds benefit local scouting.

To answer the discussion, we would have to know #units sold per scout nationwide over the past few years. Who among us has that data? Only then will we know if popcorn is declining. In the unit which I serve, the forms are passed out and the scouts are told that their share will be credited to their account to offset camp fees, etc. That's not much motivation, since if they don't sell anything, their parents will pay for summer camp anyway. Prizes? Why bother. They get anything they want anyway. A modest proposal...can the popcorn. Make up the difference by charging user fees for Council services. $10 to process a Tour Permit. $15 to record an advancement form. $50 for an Eagle Application. 25% surcharge on all Scout Shop sales. $100 to rent a meeting room for training. You get the idea. It works for banks! Obviously, this is a non-starter. But the point is, there is no free lunch. If units opt out of popcorn, Council has to get the money somewhere. Selling that camp looks real good ...

The old adage says, "if you want something done, give it to a busy person to do." A lot of my co-workers do absolutely nothing other than go to work and go home. THey see no reason to contribute to the community with volunteer work, or charitable donations, scouts, Lions, Kiwanis, etc. Some of them have never seen the inside of a church, much less help make it run with their time, talent or dollars. They see nothing wrong with having other people carry the load when they drop their kids off at scouts and then go shopping for an hour. I don't get it...but then I was raised a Scout. Do we allow thespians in the BSA?

Keep in mind that, with 3-5 board members, there will be time for only 2-4 questions per person, depending on how talkative the candidate is. Often, questions will arise as follow-ons to other questions as you keep probing for answers. Ask "open-ended" questions that can't be answered with "yeah" or "naw" or a grunt. Start the questions with "tell us about", "what are your views on", or "how would you handle"...etc. There are no right or wrong answers. Another favorite: If you could have dinner with one person of your choosing, from the present or past, who would it be and why?