scoutmom2

Wow! Thanks for all the response. In spite of my stress level, it is taking me awhile to get back to the forum (that and a message that keeps popping up that opening this web page will harm my computer). Anyway, the issue has to do with our SM. Our Field Director and the Unit Commissioner want the committee members to meet and decide if we are going to relieve him of his duties now or wait until we recharter. Their position is that the sooner we do it, the better for the boys. That is my feeling too, but there are some parents that want to wait it out. In the past year, we have lost boy

This might seem like a strange question, but I'd like to know. I am waiting for a response from our council as well. But, being a weekend, and my stress level, I'd like to know how other Troops handle this. We have an issue our committee has to vote on and there is some confusion as to who can actually vote on it. Our Field Director (we don't have an SE right now) said only committee members and when I look at the charter, I know who those folks are, but now some of them are questioning if the ASM's should vote too. Thanks for any help!

I checked out your web page sweetspiritpamh--very cool! I'm going to pass that along to our advancement chairperson who is trying to get a page going for us. Thanks for the history on the Jamboree, Scoutldr. It's fun for the boys to read about other Troops and gather new ideas for campouts and activities!

Today I was talking to an Eagle Scout from our Troop. He earned his Eagle in 1937 and told me about taking the train to Arlington to attend what he believed was the first Jamboree. He had some fun and interesting stories about scouting in the 30's and during WW2. Any way, after our visit, I got to thinking that it would be fun to have some of the scouts interview him and some of the older Eagle scouts and start a history of the troop. I can't find such a thing in our archives that we currently have. Our Troop's first recorded Eagle in from 1934 and if our records are correct, the Troop st

My son has finally finished up his last required merit badge! His project was done in Sept and his final BOR is coming up. We are planning his ceremony for July when most of the family will be around. He is adamant that he does not want a ceremony filled with poems, songs, and candle lighting. This has been the pattern in our troop. He wants something fun and light and a celebration of his scouting career. We are desperately searching for new ideas to make this work. I still will incorporate an Eagle charge and some of the other traditional aspects of the ceremony. Right now we are con

The ceremony was yesterday afternoon and was wonderful! It was outside and inspite of the wind blowing out the candles, everything went without a hitch according to the Mom. The Scouts all performed their duties well and a good time was had by all. The mom stuck to her guns and did it the way she and her son planned. We are proud to add another Eagle Scout to our ranks. The new Eagle was very proud to see his name on the Scout trailer with the rest of the Eagles from our Troop as well. Thanks again for all the advice and support!

Thank you all for your input. I directed the Mom to this website so she could read what you all said. The gentleman who wanted all the changes in the Eagle Board Chair and not a part of our Troop (part of the Council instead). It has been past practice to invite the board to the ceremonies so they could see all of the Scouts accomplishments. For this boy, it's been a long road and we almost lost him a few times. It took being a CIT at summer camp that brought him around and gave him the desire to continue. His patrol, along with the rest of the Troop, are very excited about him completin

I have a question regarding Eagle ceremonies and the Eagle Boards role. Last night at a meeting, we had an upset parent. Her son's Eagle ceremony is this weekend and the chair of the Eagle board had requested a copy of the program. Well, he called her yesterday afternoon and told her that she couldn't use the music "On Eagle's Wings" because it was a (his words) "a funeral song." He also told her that the Eagle Scout her son had chosen to give the Eagle Charge couldn't do it, only a board member could. He made other changes in the program and told her what the Eagle board members would be

Our troop fund raises regularly, for high adventure as well as traditional camp and other camp/troop/patrol outings. Our Scouts attend a high adventure type program every other year. This year they went to Sea Base and it was a 2 year fund raising committment with each Scout needing $1200 for the trip. We have 8 fund raisers each year and we had 2 special fund raisers just for this trip (a brat sale on fishing opener weekend at a local bait shop and a taco feed at a hosptial function). All the Scouts try to keep a cushion in their accounts for upcoming high adventure and other trips. We h

Thank you all very much for your input. It gives me a better persepctive! I like the idea of having an OA Troop Representative to make sure information is shared with all the boys involved. Communications with our Council as a whole has been an ongoing issue with us. We are on our third DE in 18 months. The latest seems more interested in getting things back on track and making sure information is shared in a timely fashion. His main focus has been on Cub Scouts but he is trying to get on board with the Boy Scouts too. I wish we had a better website for Council and OA, it is "under cons

I'm sure someone else has posted on this in the past, but I can't find the info I need. Our SM is really pushing OA with our older Scouts (he is new and doesn't know much about OA either). He wants to do an election next week and our boys are pretty confused. Let me give you the history. We have had Scouts join OA in the past and the haven't had the best experience with our Council's Lodge. Once they've been to the call out and done the initial weekend, there hasn't been much contact. The Scouts complain that they don't get information on outings, gatherings, etc. until the day of th

I posted back in January when our Crew was preparing for the trip. Well, they went and now they are back! They all had a great time--even got some sunburn on that virgin Minnesota skin. All the tips we got were great and very helpful. Last night the boys told the rest of the Troop about their adventures and shared pictures (and songs). The younger boys are pumped up about trying this in a few years. My son said he'd go again (he got sunburn and blisters on his feet) in a heart beat. He wants to go as an adult leader when his younger brother is old enough to attend. The boys got some aw

Thanks for the pirate flag idea! That would be cool and the boys can work on one together before they leave. They all are excited about doing some snorkeling and I'll make sure they have the information on earning the award. 5 of the boys are really into fishing and earned their fly fishing badge in WY this past summer. Living in Minnesota, they don't have the opportunity to do any salt water fishing but they did learn the salt water fishing knots a few years ago. We had a troop meeting tonight and they were all talking about the trip and counting down the weeks. All the travel arrangeme

My son and 5 others from our troop will be off to Sea Base in Florida this June for the Island Adventure. We have all the lists of what to bring, but aren't quite sure how to physically prepare them for this adventure. Any suggestions? They have been swimming and working on conditioning however they haven't hit it real hard yet (only once or twice a month). We will be working on kyaking skills once the lakes are open again but may only have about a 6 week window of time for that. Also, what is the one item you or your troop brought that was the most usefull? What do you wish you br

Thank you all for your input! As unfortunate as it is, I'm glad I'm not the only person who has encountered less than acceptable scout behavior. The adult leaders on our trip did use our travel time home to talk to the boys about behavior expectations and scouting expectations. The SPL and ASPL as well as some of our older boys made sure the first year boys knew that this would not be tolerated by them or anyone else in the troop. They were able to share "horror" stories from other events with the first years. We have some boys who are easily led and want them to be led in the right