ScoutNut

Just to correct the comment by jbblake47 - There is no such thing as a "Varsity Patrol". Per BSA, there are three types of patrols within a Boy Scout Troop - new Scout, regular, and Venture. A Venture Patrol is defined by BSA as - "an optional patrol within the troop made up of Scouts age 13 and older. These troop members have the maturity and experience to take part in more challenging high-adventure outings. The Venture patrol elects a patrol leader, who works with an assistant Scoutmaster to put the patrol's plans into action." A Varsity Scout Team, on the other hand, is a separa

This is the only issue that has any merit. That merit, however, is very limited. Parents have no business keeping any kind of record for their Scout. The Scouts are the ones who are responsible for their own records. The sign-offs in a Scout's Handbook should be made only by the person(s) the SCOUTMASTER has approved to do those sign-offs (see section 4.2.1.2 in the BSA Guide to Advancement). As others have stated - it is WAY PAST time to have a in-depth discussion with your COR (Charter Organization Representative), and get both the Advancement, and Committee, Chairs to start follow

This will apply to my oldest as well. Thanks to where his birthday falls, he won't be 11 until August (the same August he will be going into 6th grade.) So if he ranks up that February at our B&G, he will be 10 and 3 months away from completing fifth grade (I see KDD's son is also in the same boat.) I imagine lots of kids are due to what you said (conflicting with the school system.) I was in my first year of college at 17 (never skipped a grade) for the exact same reason. The YOUNGEST a boy can be to join Boy Scouts is 10 years old. To join between 10-11 years of age, the boy MUST hav

In 17 years of working with Cub Scouts, I have heard very few (if any) complaints about the uniform. The Tigers love it. The older boys tend to get whiney, but then they get whiney about everything as they get older! They still wear their uniforms. The short sleeve Cub shirt isn't really any hotter than a regular shirt, and Cubs have the options of buying shorts, or the zip-off Switchback pants. The problem with Cubs is a lighter weight uniform will not last a week. Especially the pants. Little boys seem to be highly affected by gravity. They spend a good portion of their time on their k

While all Scouts (Cub Scouts also) are supposed to live by the Scout Oath, and Law, BSA can not control what it's youth does outside of Scouting activities. I believe this comment was primarily meant for Scouting activities (not what a married couple does at home), and includes all forms of "sexual conduct", including the kind of "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" kind of stuff that even older Cub Scouts can get into. It is all about appropriate behavior.

While your District Director (DD) was helping those parents to fill out the BSA Youth Application it would have been a good idea if he, and the parents, had actually read it first. On page 3 of the application there is quite a lot of information that is good for parents to know. Included is a list of membership requirements. "Tiger Cubâ€â€Must be under the age of 8, have completed kindergarten or be in the first grade, or be age 7." To make it even clearer (if it is not clear enough) put the word "AND" in after "Must be under the age of 8". Your DD did a VERY big disservic

I am a bit confused, you said this was for Day Camp, yet from your comments, it sounds like this is a camp for JUST your Pack. If this is a District Summer Day Camp, then there will be boys from all over attending. There will most likely be many who have never done BB's, or archery (not just the newbies from your Pack and those who missed a campout last year). Even if every single Scout attending the Day Camp has already earned their BB/Archery belt loops, a refresher on the rules before shooting is always a must. Kids forget. Also, if this is a District Day Camp, when you say that t

Actually you do. It's called popcorn. Your District/Council gets 30% profit from popcorn sales, just as your unit does. How they use that money is up to the financial gurus at your Council. Most Councils expect a Council/District event to pay for itself for the most part. That means that your entrance fees cover your expenses. As most District events have been done before, there is a history to use for cost/attendance estimates. Some councils will give their event organizers a start-up amount. Some do not, and expect the volunteers to pay out-of-pocket, and then get reimbursed a

As long as the girls are eligible to move to the next level, when they have the actual ceremony is up to the girls (with leader input) themselves. When our girls were younger they liked to do their ceremony in a local park, with a bridge over a stream, a picnic area, and a playground. We usually did this at the end of the school year (May, or early June). As they got older, the girls planned their bridging ceremonies for one of our summer camp outs. As we were told by our girls - ceremonies MUST include a few elements - be outdoors (preferably in the woods), and have fire. Music was OK to

What JC said in spades! It sounds like your Pack is made up of a bunch of folks who want it all, but don't want to actually DO ANYTHING. They want "Someone Else" to do the work to make the Pack go. It is NOT the job of the CC (or CM) to plan/run Blue & Gold, Pinewood Derby, or campouts. That should all be done by other volunteers (leaders, parents) in the Pack. But wait, there ARE no other folks willing to step up and take on these activities. The CC/CM/COR can only do so much without any help. So some activities fall by the wayside. Training new leaders - Again, this is the

Wow, well that turned out looking rather weird. Sorry about that. I would edit it to correct the strange spacing (or try to), but the edit feature does not work.

Smile, and thank the person profusely!

(The comment option does not seem to be working at the moment so I am re-posting as a separate post) Desertrat77 - Just how do you suggest a district "support unit events"? I do not need our district helping me put together our Pack camping trip, our Pack haunted house, our Pack minor league baseball game, etc, etc. We are perfectly capable of doing that on our own. I enjoy attending district Roundtables (and helping at them). They are a great source of program ideas. They are also a great chance to get to know other unit Scouters from my area (and the dis

Just how do you suggest a district "support unit events"? I do not need our district helping me put together our Pack camping trip, our Pack haunted house, our Pack minor league baseball game, etc, etc. We are perfectly capable of doing that on our own. I enjoy attending district Roundtables (and helping at them). They are a great source of program ideas. They are also a great chance to get to know other unit Scouters from my area (and the district volunteers, and professionals, as well). Most district Scouters that I know (myself included) have a very GREAT interest in "what is g

First of all, unless your Pack was a one-man-show, with the CM doing it all, including being the de facto den leader for every Cub, there is no reason for the Pack's program to "go down the drain" with the loss of the CM. You claim that being a "one-man-show", or "All-Things-Scouting" is what the CC wants to be. However, from your description, it seems that was exactly what was happening with the CM (you?). As for the CC making himself BOTH Committee Chair (CC), AND Cubmaster (CM) - not possible. BSA registration will not allow it. For a Pack to be chartered, there has to be one (1)

First of all, unless your Pack was a one-man-show, with the CM doing it all, including being the de facto den leader for every Cub, there is no reason for the Pack's program to "go down the drain" with the loss of the CM. You claim that being a "one-man-show", or "All-Things-Scouting" is what the CC wants to be. However, from your description, it seems that was exactly what was happening with the CM (you?). As for the CC making himself BOTH Committee Chair (CC), AND Cubmaster (CM) - not possible. BSA registration will not allow it. For a Pack to be chartered, there has to be one (1)

That fact that you are able to actually start a brand new thread is proof that they are s-l-o-w-l-y getting things fixed. Hang around, talk, and be patient.

There is nothing wrong with a private FB group. That simply means it is open only to members of your Pack. In Cub Scouts that should be only adults. There would only be a problem if your FB page was open to you, and youth members ONLY. For the public part of the page i would leave it with your main Pack info - Charter Org, / contact info for further information. / Council info. You can put that same info on the BSA BeAScout site - [url=https://beascout.scouting.org/]https://beascout.scouting.org/[/url=https://beascout.scouting.org/] . Ask your DE how to update, or add, your pin.

Perhaps your council is simply different from mine. Our DEs do facilitate community, and council resources for their volunteers. Of course some DEs are better at it than others. Training - One of the reasons that BSA instituted the online training was because in-person training was often not attended well due to the large variety of people's schedules. Folks who could not get to in-person, were able to do it, at their own convenience, online. That said, councils still offer in-person training. Perhaps not as often as before, but it is still available. For training like BALOO, often t

What parts of the DE's job would you like to eliminate? Fundraising? Are you willing to pay annual dues to not only BSA National, but to your council as well? Are you willing to pay out of your own pocket when your council camps need a new well system? Are you willing to pay the electric bill at your council offices for one month? How about the mortgage/rent/taxes on the council's properties? Yes, BSA, and its councils are non-profit, but that does not mean that they do not need money to run. As for FOS, in our council, the DEs rarely go to B&G's to do a FOS pitch. That partic

If councils had to pay salaries, and benefits, for people to do all of the things that volunteers do now at a district/council level, councils would either go broke, or start charging outrageous amounts for the smallest things. Those DEs would have to work even longer hours than they already do because the fundraising amounts they would be required to meet would be tripled! Yes, longtime Scouters with grown kids, and those who are retired, do volunteer (for BOTH their council, and their unit). However, there are many folks out there in your district/council who are married, work full time,

The DE position is mainly a Marketing/PR position. They raise money, and members/units, for the council. They do not PROVIDE/RUN district program or activities. They help FACILITATE them. VOLUNTEERS do most of the actual hands on work, and that is how it SHOULD be. There is no need for a DE to attend unit meetings. In the 20 or so years I was with our Pack I think our DE attended only 1 unit meeting, and he was invited to that one. If your unit needs help, you go to your Unit Commissioner (volunteer). If your UC needs further help for your unit he goes to the District Com

I believe that in most states it is against the law to bring ANY kind of knife (locking, non-locking) onto public school grounds. However, if you meet in a private school, after hours, and have permission from the school, you should be fine. Our Pack, and Troop, have met in a church school building for over 50 years, and never had a problem.

As others have stated the buck stops at the Charter Organization. If the COR wants the CM gone, the CM is gone. There does not need to be any discussion, or voting. The CM is simply told by the COR his services are no longer needed. If the COR supports the CM, than no matter what the Committee, or any of the parents want, the CM stays. The only ones who can override a COR are the IH (Institutional Head of the Charter Org), and the Council Scout Exec (only for youth protection reasons).