scoutldr

The adults in the troop in which I serve provide transportation to and from camp, then pitch in where needed to assist the camp staff (my specialty is aquatics, BSA Lifeguard, etc), take adult leader training that is offered, or if they are skilled in a trade, report to the Ranger to see what needs doing. Some think that the week is for lounging around, reading, and drinking coffee, which I think makes for a long week and does nothing to benefit the program. Making sure the boys are not goofing off is the SPL's job. We do make a point to visit each program area during the week just to observe.

It is a local policy. My council will not sell one without a report. Of course, we do have a chronic problem with units getting their paperwork in. One unit had held registration forms for 6 months and didn't turn them in until recharter time.

I had to do that once and they made me submit an advacement report and the notation "Duplicate" was made next to the rank. Or, just buy them on e-Bay.

This link (flow chart) shows that the camping requirement for adults can be waived by the SE and Lodge advisor. Not sure if this is a valid interpretation of the rules...caveat emptor. http://www.shout.net/~stumpy/election/E01.PDF

Yes, this is an example of how a scout can suffer if the adults are not properly trained or do not take their jobs seriously. One good suggestion is that as soon as a scout makes Life, give him a copy of his Troopmaster record (or whatever the troop is using) and let him go to Council and ask the registrar to bounce that record against the Scoutnet record. If they don't match, he needs to find out why and start actions to rectify. If he waits until he's 17 and a half, it may be too late. One thing I agree with here...it's not the current SM's problem. This is a problem that the scout needs to unravel. HE is the one who needs to track down former leaders, MB counsellors, etc. and assemble the documentation. If he has to depend on Mom or other adults to lead him around by the hand or do it for him, he's not Eagle material, regardless of how many merit badges he thinks he's earned.

Stars are gone and the speed is back! Life is good!

I never said "attractive". Being female was enough. Oddly, when they hired a 350 pound male paramedic, health lodge visits dropped dramatically ;-)

Educate. Every tick goes to the health lodge to be removed and logged in. A PhD Entomologist I work with said that the tick must be attached for 48 hrs in order to transmit disease (but I wouldn't bet on it), so daily showers and tick checks while at camp and timely removal is imperative. Another problem is that the young deer tick (the only species which transmits the Lyme spirochete) is almost invisible to the naked eye (about the size of a spider mite) and is often mistaken for a speck of sand or dirt. Of course, if you have a young female paramedic at the health lodge, the guys will go hunting for ticks just to get a trip to the "Doc". Is the risk real? Absolutely...our SM contracted Lyme disease from our Council camp. But didn't know it until 6 months later when he started having joint pain. Not everyone gets the tell-tale "bullseye" rash.

Troop Committee Chair, District Committee and OA Associate Chapter Advisor. Since I was with the troop first, that is my "primary" registration, not that it seems to matter to anyone.

Just saw dramatic video on the TODAY show. Scout Craig Hicks notices friend choking on school bus and springs into action successfully performing the Heimlich Maneuver. "I learned it in the Boy Scouts". That's why we're here.

Where is your Troop's "OA Representative"? This is a relatively new leadership position, and if your troop doesn't have one, they obviously need one, and he should be mentoring new members and getting them active. The purpose is to promote OA at the unit level. OA is also a "boy led" organization. Have your son go to the National OA web site http://www.oa-bsa.org/ and click on the "Jumpstart" box at the bottom. This is a new initiative for just the purpose you are describing...to get new members engaged early. Also, the OA chapter meetings are held once a month and should be on your council calendar. If you are not an arrowman, you can help get him there.

So a Pack now has 8 Grand in their treasury. I have to ask, "Why?" That's an awful lot of badges and PW derby cars.

I agree with you, Matua. But, on the other hand, if 30 people cancelled from our District Dinner, the event would be cancelled. No event can sustain that kind of unplanned loss the day before. I think the fair thing to do would be to pay whatever cost the district has incurred and would be lost, whether that's the full ticket cost or not. The money has to come from somewhere.

I don't have a problem with the ARC Lifeguard Certification. The ARC and BSA have just entered into a reciprocity agreement, and we are taking steps to have our BSA Lifeguard Counsellors dual certified as ARC Water Safety Instructors. Then, when people qualify as BSA Lifeguards, they will also be certified as ARC, provided they meet the age requirement. As far as I know, the Camp Aquatics Director must be BSA Aquatics Instructor certified via Camp School. At our camp, the AD and the Waterfront Director are not the same person, since we have a pool and a "Waterfront".

Ditto on the stars. I vote to remove them. Being an over-achiever, I find them distracting and frustrating. ;-)>

B-P also wore his military honors (ribbons).

When I took on the job of District Training Chairman, I was handed a box full of stuff ("Training Kit"). It was not in there. Our professional staff advisor to the Training Committee said that it was part of the old CS Basic Training, had been discontinued, and now it's coming back in a revised form, per a phone call he had with someone at National. That's all I know.

I go out of town for the weekend, and I'm back down to 2.5 stars. Sheesh. Was it something I said?

It was announced at our Training Committee meeting last night that the Cub Leader Specific Self-Study program is being resurrected and a revised version will be out this summer. As it was explained, it is designed to be used under the mentorship of the Pack Trainer. Anyone have more details?

I have to smile, because we are encouraging him (her?) by snatching the bait and running with it. Just ignore him and sooner or later he will go away looking for another forum to argue with. His posts are nonsense, and I suspect, the ramblings of someone who is in need of serious pharmaceutical therapy. Take a look at some of his threads and you will see 20-30 responses to something that everyone agrees is obtuse, off-topic and generally worthless to this forum. Squelch if you want, but I think censorship is repugnant. Personally, it scares me that people like that are walking around unheeded, ready to influence our youth. That makes our mission even more critical. If we argue with a fool, what does that say about us?

Adult selection is based on their ability to perform the necessary functions to help the Order fulfill its purpose, and is not for recognition. Selected adult Scouters must be an asset to the Order because of demonstrated abilities, and provide a positive role model for the youth members of the lodge. This is the first time I have read this carefully. So should there not be a distinction between adults who were ELECTED as youths (i.e., "honor society"), and those SELECTED as adults because we need adult supervision and transportation to OA events? I think the critieria should be the same...because that's the impression most people are under. We are all "brothers". (Even the girls)

Will be 3020 this September. I was born in the hospital where OGE used to work and my parents were from where he lives.

That's what Scouting is all about...helping people before they even know they need it! I was about to complain to my cable internet provider.

"and to fetch his evidence from the life of the animals, pointing out that male does not touch male in this way" Every Biologist knows this is false.

This thread was spun from another thread.Also from Mike Walton's site: "Some local Councils have also informed their volunteers INCORRECTLY that "the BSA is no longer issuing out medals and plaques and the only thing they are giving out is the square knot and the certificate". This is UNTRUE, says the BSA's Council Support Division's Director. If your Council has stated something like this, the BSA's Council Support Division would like to know; they have estimated that there is ONE Scouters' Training Award medal in storage for EVERY REGISTERED VOLUNTEER SCOUTER and there are similar stockpiles of those other award medals and plaques. All the Council has to do is pay for it. Some Councils may have you to pay for your own award, which may be "tacky" but it is one way of the Council cutting costs. The address for the BSA's Council Support Division is: Council Support Division, SUM 108 National Office, Boy Scouts of America 1325 West Walnut Hill Lane Irving, Texas 75061-2079"