Sdriddle

I know I have seen this somewhere before, but could someone please give me page and source of where it says how long a scout can work on a merit badge? I.E. is there any time limit on any merit badges besides being 18.

Sheila

I have the same district problems. We are at the edge of the district and have little contact with them, but they put the tigers in blue shirts and at cub leader training, were encouraging us to go to hobby lobby and make our own neckerchief using the old round tiger cub bsa patch. What a joke, I was sitting there with my mouth shut because I knew we were the only pack that put the boys in the orange shirts and we will NOT be making our own neckerchiefs. I try to remember that we are all volunteers except the DE and are prone to doing things for our own selfish reasons, what ever they they may be.

Sheila

sctmom,

I just have to tell you to perservere. It has taken me 6 months to finally "push" my way into the leaders circle. I figured out first meeting that I would have to take Scout Leader Essentials if I wanted to have any clout with the troop at all. I am an information person and after that and alot of purchasing and reading of BSA materials and online, I found several things that the troop does wrong that are adding up to cause lot of problems. Of course, the real problem is trying to get people you don't know to change things they have done for 10 years without offending them. Everyone knows there are problems with the troop, but no one knows what to do about it without causing alot of strife. Our Scoutmaster is stepping down because he isn't having any fun and the stress of having a growing troop and grumbling adults has worn him down. I (ASM)have been attending committee meetings the last two months and they last 2-3 hours because of a couple of people who refuse to stop nitpicking. I just say my piece there when something comes up that is a problem and spout off BSA policy with the books to back it up. They still don't always believe me but I feel like it is my responsibility to do so. There is alot more to this drama, but I figure if they get sick of me and ask me to stop being active then I will have more time to start a troop in our own town. But I am committed to help the troop as long as my son wants to be a part of it (I know that is your pressing problem) and they don't run me out of town on a rail. Maybe you could make a deal... tell him you will attend every commitee, troop, training meeting around and try to stir things up and he has to keep going to meetings for the next 6 months while you shake things up. Worst case scenario, you both quit on Boy Scouting which you are close to right now anyways.

Good Luck,

P.S. I have two tan shirts now.. one for the troop and one for the pack (tiger den leader) so that I look official when I attend troop functions.

Sheila

On the reminder calls.... we actually met after school which meant that most of the boys actually remembered the meeting. The main point of the calling was to give the boys a responsibility that made them feel important to the group. I have had a difficult time trying to get the boys to realize that they are a team and should look out for one another. It also helped them learn how to leave messages for people. Most boys hang up when they get an answering machine because they don't know what to do or say.

Leaders just have to do what they feel will benefit their group the best as long as you follow BSA guidelines.

Sheila

I used to see it all the time when I was new, but it has been a while since I have seen it. I just figured it was something the webmaster set up for fun.

Sheila

Thanks Bob, I knew I could count on you!

Sheila

I do not have a copy of the committee guide and don't think this info is in the SM handbook. How many people do you need to start a troop? I am assuming the minimum is a SM, CC, 2 MC and 3 boys.

Thanks for the info..

Sheila

Don't know if this will help, but try your search with "alter" spelled"altar".

Our district doesn't think BALOO is good enough and doesn't offer it. Instead, all leaders are encouraged to take Outdoor Leader Training. I think there is a lot of leeway between councils and districts. Our district also expects the tigers to wear the blue uniform based on the rumor (I suppose) that when all the orange shirts are gone tigers will be in blue anyways.

Sheila

In defense of Texas, it is a rather LARGE state and would prefer that blanket statements not be made about it OR the South. I am an ASM for my son's troop and although due to other siblings do not attend campouts, other mom's regularly do. The only adult in our troop that is CPR trained is a woman and the troop is really glad that she is. I only know of one troop (and it might be a rumor) that discourages women from camping. I don't think they have an outright ban though. It might be something worth discussing with your district executive. If enough mom's complain, then maybe some pressure will be put on them to be a little more open minded.

Sheila

This website has a really good resource called Troop-Wise. It looks really good and would be easier to implement with a new troop than trying to change a broken one. Good Luck!

http://www.classb.com/resources/

Sheila

Where have I read that "Class B's" don't count as official uniform and that a scout shouldn't salute unless in the class A.

I have ran into several concepts that are a hold over from the past and misinformation and am trying to bring everyone up to date on things.

Thanks,

Sheila

Adults in our troop keep mentioning a 10 camping days min. a year in order to be considered active for advancement purposes. Where do you think they are getting this from because I haven't found that anywhere.

Sheila

You can't carry over the arrow points but the recruiter and tiger patch (not the badge) can. You will just have to remove them all except the AOL and the religious emblem when he crosses over to boy scouts.

Sheila

Check with the first year Webelo leader to see when they are going to be working on pins he needs for his AOL (fitness/outdoorsman). This happened to us two years in a row and it can be pulled off, but the boy and his parents have to be willing to put in the time at double meetings if necessary. Some boys are O.K. not getting the same awards as the others but some have a real problem with it. If his birthday is after crossover then their will be a gap between when he and his friends join the troop. Ultimatly though, it is the boy and his parents call.

Oh, start teaching the Scout requirements NOW! It makes it easier than coming down to the wire and 2 boys still don't have the Law memorized.

Sheila

Peel and stick tiger badges.... who would have thought....

The built in glue on the badges doesn't damage the shirt after a while does it?

Sheila

Could someone please enlighten me on something? I am the new Tiger Den Leader of 8 Boys after just finishing up Webelos with my other son. I was putting the lacing on the new belt totems and was trying to figure out just how you are supposed to "affix" the Tiger Badge to it in the "recessed area". That is the instructions. Most boys would be upset if it fell off and was lost and the pack isn't going to want to pay for two badges for the same boy (One for totem and one for blue shirt after the first one is ruined by glueing it to the plastic totem.) Any suggestions before this really becomes an issue?

Sheila

Besides this I am very pleased with the new Tiger Program.

Has your son approached his patrol leader? If the patrol leader is on the ball and being coached, he should bring the lack of fun to the PLC every week. Chances are he is not the only one but doesn't realize that his patrol has the power to control some of it. Talk to the patrol leader about helping him plan a meeting for the patrol outside the troop structure which will include the type of things that the boys really want to do(get their input). This lets the boys know that they have some control over what they do in scouting. If your patrol leader is experienced he could plan it himself with the help of the Patrol Leaders handbook and input from the patrol. Sounds like the troop is in a rut and the SPL needs to be encouraged to liven up the program or risk losing current and incoming scouts.

YIS

Sheila

Our district scoutfitter doesn't even have the orange shirt anymore. Tigers wear the blue. I am going to provide "experienced" t-shirts to our incoming Tigers (including my son) to reduce the initial cost to sign boys up. When the den gets ready to earn their Bobcat toward the end of the school year, I would like to have the parents present the blue shirt at the same time which will get them ready for day camp and other summer activities as a wolf. We'll see if that is how it works out.

I agree with the post about how long a boy can wear a shirt. YOu will have to buy two blue shirts if they start wearing them as a Tiger unless you but really big and take them up yourself.

Sheila

My $.02

I had my webelos Denner do a call down each week to remind them about the meeting and if they needed to bring or read anything. It helped them use the phone for something other than homework and how to talk to answering machines.

Use the Denner system. The boys elected a Denner each month who was responsible for bringing drinks to the meeting during his term. They didn't forget very often! LOL! A boy could only be Denner or Asst. Denner once until we had rotated through everyone.

Have as many guest speakers as you can find to teach the requirements for the pins. I had a volunteer fireman come in for the Readyman, a ham radio operator for communicator, and the middle school pricipal came in for scholarship. It sure makes for an easy meeting plan!

Be sure to tell every parent and boy that the parents are not to sign off of anything without your permission. I had parents working ahead and signing off of things and when we did it as a group (Athlete) they couldn't complete the requirements but the parents had already signed them off. It certainly put me between a rock and a hard place because I had not made it clear who was to sign off in the book and when.

You can never go on a oudoor troop activity too soon. If you wait until January to complete your AOL troop activities, you have waited toooooo long.

Repeat the Scout Oath and Law at every meeting. The boys don't usually work on that at home until you finally tell them they won't get their AOL at the Blue and Gold banquet next week if they don't memorize it.

Don't wait for a troop to contact you. Find troops now to visit and hound them until you get the activity or meeting you want for the Webelos to attend. (Can you tell I didn't have a troop connected to the pack?!)

These are a few of the things I learned the hard (most effective) way. I completely agree with Scoutmoms suggestions. Personally, with the exception of stressing over AOL requirements I thought that being a Webelos leader was easier than Wolf or Bear.

Sheila

I personally would like to have the boys involved, but it is not my call so I am trying to stay on top of whatever the committee plans. A yard sale came up but there was concern that the boys would play around too much therefore the adults should do it. I like the idea of getting people to give you stuff to sell. I am all for letting the boys have more control or least exposure to gain experience at sales but it would be me against them and I am the new person. There is some discussion of letting the patrols earn their own money for a special outing and I would definitly make sure they work for it. Have any of you had a patrol fundraiser?

It seems that we just keep on having fundraiser after fundraiser for the boys to earn money and for the troop. They are trying to do something that would make some "real" money so the boys don't have to do something every month $100 at at time. I'm not sure why they don't want the boys included in this one except maybe to give them a break. We are trying to be more boy led but everyone has a little different idea on how to accomplish this. This does seem to be something that should be put to the new PLC, but I doubt it will be because I assume the adults feel that they could make more money without the boys.

The committee is trying to come up with a surefire income source due to lack of budgeting and is looking at any option out there from baked potato dinners to auctions, etc. The word is that if the boys arent't involved then the application doesn't have to be approved. I've also heard that anything goes as long as you don't tell anyone it is for Boy Scouts. I haven't figured out what else you could say though without lying unless you said it was for the chartered organization.

Have you ever heard of the adults having a fundraiser for the troop? If so what did they do? Are they supposed to submit a fund raising application?

Sign me,

Dazed and Confused

The FYC Ranger program is only 2 hours a day. So that leaves a lot of time for other badges. Would you think that an 11 year old with a few years of hunting safety be mature enough for rifle shooting. I was wondering if they wanted the boys older because most probably have never been around guns other than BB's. The camping merit badge looks like there is a lot to it and is geared toward older scouts. His main goal of summer camp is to have fun and I am trying to stay away from badges that he cannot complete at camp and most eagle badges require thought processes that will be hard for him follow in 95 degree heatand 95 degree humidity. The SM highlighted all the eagle badges on a sheet he handed out, but I am unsure that most of them are appropriate for FYC.

Sheila