ScoutNut

Georgiamom, the first problem that you are dealing with is that you have no clue how BSA is put together. In the VAST MAJORITY of cases (yours included) BSA UNITS ARE NOT INDIVIDUAL LEGAL ENTITIES, AND DO NOT FILE INDEPENDANT TAX RETURNS. The only exceptions are those units who (for whatever reason) have filed with the government as an individual not-for-profit organization, and they are very rare indeed. BSA units (your Pack being one) are NOT owned by your local BSA council. They are owned by, and take their tax status from, their Charter Organizations. In your case - your local PTA. It

You put the tyvek, which is 12" larger (all around?) than the bottom of the tent under your tent? Doesn't that tend to cause rainwater to run under your tent?

June 1, is BSA's program year cut-off for Cub Scouts. The Cub Scout program is mainly grade based. Boys move to the next level of Cubs at the end of the school year (whether or not they have earned their Rank Award for their current Cub level). Since School Districts across the country all end their school years on different dates, BSA chose June 1 as the date that their computer system (ScoutNet) automatically moved all registered Cub Scouts to their next Cub level. BSA allows Cub Scouts who have not completed their level rank award by the end of the school year to take a few extra weeks

You are the Committee Chair (CC) - correct? You are talking about an overbearing Committee Member? As CC, talk to your Charter Organization Representative (COR) to make sure of the backing of the Charter Organization (CO), then simply tell the Committee Member that if they can not learn to work well with others their help is no longer needed. As to "raising up" anything to your DE - what kinds of "accusations" were made? Anything less than a Youth Protection issue is handled by the owner of the unit - the CO. Even so, all youth protection issues should be taken to the Counc

No siblings at any of our Summer Camps.

The requirement is NOT to do these things with the Troop you ultimately register with. The requirement is to do these things with A (ANY) BSA Boy Scout Troop. Heck, while in 4th grade, they could have visited with a Troop on the other side of the country for all you know. It would have been perfectly valid. I suggest concentrating on the Boy Scout requirements they are currently working on, and not getting your undies in a twist over what MIGHT have happened in a totally different program.

For being "involved" in Scouting for "over 6 years" you never seem to have grasped the concept of how BSA is set up. That could mean you are a Troll, or simply clueless. The Charter Organization that "owns" your Cub Scout Pack is the ONLY one that has any say in who is, or is not, a member of THEIR unit. The local council will have absolutely nothing to do with the drama between Pack leaders. Way back when this drama started you should have gone to - First - the Pack's Charter Organization Representative. If that was not an option, then you should have contacted the head of the Cha

Just to clarify something - you did NOT send in an application for your son to become a Cub Scout. You filled in an online form to receive more information. Heaven (or Hell) only knows where this information goes, or when/if they will get read/acted on by anyone. Traditionally, e-mail dumps do not get cleared out in a very timely fashion. The BeAScout site gives you your local council contact information which includes name, address, and phone number. You can call your local council for further information. They should be able to pull up contact information (Cubmaster name/phone) for the

Bottom line - the Pack has decided to allocate some of their fundraising monies to individual Cub Scouts. Those Scouts are granted the ability to use "their" money for any Scout-related purpose they wish. If the Scout decides to use some of his Scout money to pay for his parents to accompany him to Scout camp, then that is his (or his family's) choice. The Scout, and his family, all know that this choice will leave the Scout with less money. As someone else said, you don't want to get involved in a family squabble. The only way around this is to state from the beginning that un

Some bug repellent, long pants, long sleeves, and socks over pant bottoms, should all help to stop ticks from being a problem. While a small mirror helps, you can probably feel the tick easier than see it. Self-checking is easier if you use both sight, and touch.

The UU religious awards are now, and will always be, "valid". At least for as long as UU supports these awards. Religious awards are NOT BSA awards. They are created by the individual religious organizations, for their own youth members, to help them learn about their faith. The only "validation" that BSA gives religious awards programs is to allow the award (usually a medal) to be worn on the BSA uniform. They can NOT stop youth from earning any religious award they, or their families, wish to. Also, while BSA might not allow a particular award/medal to be worn on the BSA unifo

Son put on all BSA related patches that did not go on the front of his uniform shirt, all participation patches he got for attending Girl Scout events (he was a Girl Scout before he was a Tiger!), and all patches he got/earned (like the Jr Ranger) while doing family stuff. He had specific spots on his vest for each kind of patch. My daughter did the same with the back of her Girl Scout vest. She had a spot for BSA participation patches, a spot for the Academic/Sport pins she helped her brother earn (That shows how long ago it was!), and a spot for family activity patches. All along w

Not a Scout award, but The National Park Service has the Junior Ranger Program (Some state Parks have a similar program). It is a fun, age-appropriate program for kids to learn about the different National Parks they visit, and earn patches for their "Brag Vest"!

The "system" in place for correcting such errors would vary depending on the council (BSA or GSUSA). However, as you both have noted, the best thing to do is to simply refuse to accept the order. Why this Girl Scout Troop signed for all of these cases is beyond me. Why their council did not work with them on this is also beyond me. It is nice to see that a "cookie angel" came thru to take the last of the cookies off their hands. Kudos to these girls for managing to sell 251 cases! I hope they do something FUN with some of that profit!

Nope, not utopic at all. Simply a LOT of hard work. The Troops that I know of that really worked well (including ours) were the ones that had a core group of parents (moms AND dads) who liked, and respected, each other, worked well TOGETHER, and who believed in what the Scouting program could bring to their kids. Our girls are all adults now, and Lifetime Girl Scouts. My daughter has abandoned Chicago for the Bay area, perhaps you could move your Troop up there, and persuade her (or my former Boy Scout son who moved out there with her) to help!

If you feel that selling cookies is exploitation, have you offered to open your pocketbook, and fund an entire year of Girl Scouting for your daughter's Troop? No? Scouting costs money. It has to come from somewhere. Have you offered to pay for at least your daughter's costs? How many patches, awards, etc, has she earned? How much has she used in supplies? Does the Troop have to pay any type of rental for their meeting space? Are you charged for the TOTAL cost of any outing attended by your daughter? No worries!, Perhaps the Planned Parenthood Fairy will drop a bundle of ca

Not every boy starts Scouts as a Tiger, and goes thru Wolf, Bear, Webelos. Some Scouts start when they are older. Yes, there are certain things that BSA would like boys to learn, and that bear repeating, in multiple ways. Law enforcement, and the use, care, and display, of the American flag are two of those. Even for boys who have "done it all before", practice makes perfect, and perhaps the roles that each boy does can be juggled so that everyone gets the full learning experience. Also, as mentioned by dedkad above, The Bear program is a bit different from Wolf. Bears have choices. They

Just wondering - What is the EXACT BSA position held by the "Dictator"? Did the "Dictator" state that the 2 week chore chart MUST be made up of "household" chores (cleaning kitchen counter)? Bottom line - does the Webelos den leader, or your "Dictator", HAVE to accept only your word that your son has completed any Webelos requirements? Short answer - NO. Webelos is not Wolf, or Bear Cubs. Parents are no longer automatically allowed to sign off on any and all requirements. It is now the responsibility of the Webelos den leader to approve ALL WORK. The ONLY time a parent woul

Just a note - the fact that you are BSA trained does not matter - at all - to GSUSA. It seems your mind is made up. I hope you find an alternate program that meets your needs. Good luck ! Post to let us know where you end up.

I hear a lot of ideas of what YOU want. What about the GIRLS? Has anyone asked THEM what THEY are interested in? You stated in your OP that your daughter is a Junior Girl Scout. Juniors are in 4-5th grade. At that age they are plenty old enough to know what they want, and to be making their OWN decisions about THEIR Troop. Again, it might work better if your DAUGHTER talks to the other girls to get them on board with HER ideas (they ARE hers right?). You said that you had a "few takers" for the trip to the mountains. That means that there are at least a few girls that are interest

So, you don't understand how a Pack can effectively operate with once a month den meetings? Perhaps in the same way that your Pack operates with only having a Pack meeting every OTHER month? Neither of these ways is how BSA has written the Cub Scout program to operate. Yet, they seem to work (to varying degrees) for these "rogue" units (yours included!).

Tigers are G-R-R-R-R-R-R-E-A-T !!!!

BSA and GSUSA have DIFFERENT RULES AND REGULATIONS. - They are DIFFERENT PROGRAMS! Sorry, the expectation of mirror programs just irritates the heck out of me! Camping in kindergarten - AS WITH BSA, the GSUSA program is AGE APPROPRIATE. Kindergarteners do NOT camp OVERNIGHT. They can, however, do day trips , and tons of other activities. While GSUSA is right up there with BSA as far as age-appropriate activities for the different GSUSA levels, they differ on what is considered age-appropriate. GSUSA allows it's girls to camp - WITHOUT - parents as young as FIRST GRADE. Cub Scou

The Rank award is just that - an award. Advancement in Cub Scouts is a whole 'nother animal. Advancement happens at the end of the school year (BSA uses June 1) when the boys change grade levels, no matter what, if any awards they have earned. To that end we have always kept our award recognition ceremonies, entirely separate from our advancement (graduation) ceremony. Our dens meet weekly. Those meetings are usually 2 den, 1 outing, and 1 Pack meeting per month. Sometimes there will be extra activities thrown in as well. We use our B&G as a goal to be completed with all requirements

And just to be clear - Those consequences should not be things like adults withholding rank advancement, or otherwise penalizing the youth for not putting the Troop as #1 at all times. They should be more along the lines of - The rest of the youth deciding at the next election cycle that they want a leader who actually does his job. Or the rest of the youth picking a different leader for the next activity. Or the leadership position be terminated because of non-performance (expectations of performance should be CLEARLY spelled out at the beginning of the leadership term). A "natural" conse