SeattlePioneer

I agree with BadenP that a turnout of 80 at our Commissioner's Convention isn't exactly a flood. A few years ago we used to do the Commissioner's University program ----perhaps that was discarded in favor of the convention due to declining numbers, although I recall better turnouts for that. As I noted elsewhere, when I got around to signing on to the Commissioner Unit Visitation website, there were only two other reports from one Commissioner dating back to January. How many people are signing in to the Unit Visitation site? That might give some idea of participation.

For the first time since I was appointed District Membership Chair, I'm not aware that we have any Cub Scout packs in danger of failing. That's largely because many of those in danger of failing did fail, although I'm rescuing one and another is being revived by new parents that appear to be doing a good job. No NEW basket cases, anyway.

> The Man Boy Love Association would be attacking you as a Puritan bigot for that before long.

Jeffrey and his CC have the right idea 100% in my view and experience. CMs need a CC who takes their job seriously, and both need to cooperate to identify new people for leadership roles. A rule of thumb is that it's always easier to do a task yourself rather than find and train someone else to do it. Short term, anyway. Long term it's fatal if you do it too much. It's a job to recruit, train and check up on those new leaders. So why not make that a job by itself? Scouting has the Scoutparent Coordinator position, who can be the person who finds and trains those new leaders for the CM and CC. The tendency is for the CC and CM to be so busy that recruiting new people isn't done systematically, which is what the ScoutParent Co-ordinator can do. A Scoutparent Co-ordinator may be turned down when one task is proposed one week, maybe even when a second task is proposed the next week or month. But it's hard to keep saying "no" after a while.

We still have marriage for life without the possibility of divorce. As an added attraction, no one has to say "I do" in a formal ceremony to wind up married to someone. Child custody and child support laws are the new marriage.

Hello Scout Lass, Alas, we'd have to leave behind our Puritan roots, our Lutheran Roots, Catholic Roots, Jewish Roots, Islamic and Hindu roots too. That would only leave us with a few thin liberal roots planted recently in rather shallow soil.

Hello qwazse, In my experience an effective recruiting method in the spring is to get permission to visit elementary schools at lunch and talk to 5th and 6th graders about hiking, camping and summer camp activities. There are quite a few who will be interested. You can hand out flyers inviting them to a recruiting night and/or have them fill out a 3x5 card with their name and phone number so you can contact them later. District Executives or District Membership Committee Members may be in schools already recruiting Cub Scouts. It's a minimum additional effort to have them stick around to talk to 5th and 6th graders as well.

Hello Baden P, Our council has an annual day long "Commissioner's Convention" used to keep Commissioner up to speed with what's going on in the council. The Scout Executive keynotes the convention and the DEs and Field Directors are all there. We had about eighty or so Commissioners attend this March. That's still a fairly lively corpse.

Thank you Old Grey Eagle, I'll do that after we flesh out the idea some more. I was imagining a name for a new Commissioner's forum. How does "The Commissioner's Corner" sound? And other ideas?

Hello Herpeteology, Welcome back to Scouting! Personally, any uniform a person takes pride in is a good one to wear in my opinion. There's a lot to be said for wearing the uniforms of the past and explaining their significance to Scouts. I'd say that would be especially true wearing the uniform you wore as a Scout. But you are certainly entitled to buy a new uniform if that's what you'd like to do of course. Having experts as Merit Badge Counselors is a great thing. You might want to consider contacting one or more districts and asking about Merit Badge Colleges where Scouts can choose among merit badges offered and learn about them in a relatively structured program.

> I think I saw how that worked out in the movie "Little Big Man."

> At least in my council, council politics is not something volunteers are encouraged to discuss or participate in. Perhaps decisions about budgets, program emphasis, program and such are deemed too complicated or controversial for volunteers to participate in. I think that's silly. Councils have certain democratic forms and appearances, but they are mostly shams in practice. Decisions appear to be made pretty much by the council Scout Executive presumably with oversight by the council executive board. My council works pretty well, but if my council were having serious problems it would probably mean that the Scout Executive and Executive Board were making poor decisions. If they are, it appears that until the financial problems bite, little will be done.

Hello Eamonn, I see all the things you describe in recent years in my district in varying degrees. I think there are lots of things contributing to the problems ---- demographics for one. We do a poor job of recruiting among Hispanics in particular and other minorities in general. Another is the aging of the 'boomer generation. We are getting old and dropping out. The baby bust generation is substantially smaller in numbers. I find we can build and run quality units, but it takes skilled and committed people, and they seem in short supply. But where they are at work, Scouting still thrives. One of my aims has been to learn how to recruit and retain Hispanic youth and families, which would be a big help in my district. However, I can't do that on my own and while the council professionals are aware of the issue, they aren't actually doing anything about it and I can't get support to pursue the issue with volunteers. The pros have their own agenda and don't appear interested in having volunteers pursue issues they don't lead. Sad.

Hello Sherminator, How would it be hazing under the UK policies? Suppose boys bestowed "Harvey" as a nickname, as in Harvey Milk, the gay San Francisco politician who was killed. Would that be hazing under the UK policy? I might argue that a person who objected to that might be subject to being disciplined for displaying an anti gay bias.

I just posted on the topic of the new Unit Visitation Tracking service for Commissioners on MyScouting.Org. Since there is no separate forum for Commissioners, I put that under Council Relations, but that's not an especially suitable location. There are a lot of Commissioners participating in these forums, and quite a few topics on Commissioner Service. Having a separate forum would allow these subjects to be conserved so interested people could review them easily. All those in favor of a new Forum for Commissioner Service say Aye!

I signed on to the Commissioner computerized Unit Visit Tracking system on MyScouting.Org that national set up for the first time yesterday. When I tried the first time I discovered my UC registration had lapsed at sometime in the past, so I had to complete another adult application to get reinstated. I discovered that I am the second Commissioner to have filed a report in our district, the last one filed in January. I filed two contact reports. Thursday was our district recognition dinner, and I talked with the SM for my unit about how the Bobcat Den idea I've been promoting has been working out for him this spring. He reported that he likes it and it has worked great for him---- he's had all ten new Scouts recruited at the end of March complete their Bobcat requirements and they have moved into their regular dens. So I reported on that. Friday I met the CM, ACM and the pack Membership Chair at an elementary school to hand out stickers to boys at lunch promoting the pack's recruiting night Monday, June 6th. They are doing stomp bottle rockets as an activity, and that is an exciting event that attracts boys like a magnet. So we had several adults inviting boys to attend the recruiting night, and these pack leaders saw how this kind of school visit is done. Having worked my way through the nuisances and learning curve on this, doing the reporting is kind of fun. Anyone else using this feature?

As district membership chair, helping get new Tiger Cub Dens started each spring in every pack is a goal of mine. To do that, I will be doing Tiger Cub Den Leader training for new parents this Thursday, June 9th. I have put together a Tiger Cub Den Leader Handbook of materials that help explain the Tiger Cub program and provide materials to help plan and manage a den program. This is followed up by our Tiger Twilight Camp in July, which meets in the evening for two days during our district daycamp, and during the afternoon of the last day of camp so Tigers can shoot BB guns, bows 'n arrows and do other day camp activities. Parents who take the training will be den leaders during the Tiger Twilight Camp. The aim will be to have those new parents trained and experienced in planning and leading dens and den activities so they will be ready to take charge of leading their Tiger Cub dens. This will be my third year as the Tiger Twilight Camp Director and my second year leading this integrated approach with the Tiger Cub Den Leader training.

It's lucky this guy wasn't in England. The kid could have gotten in a LOT of trouble if he objected to the fun loving older boys: > http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=318816&p=1

I believe there a Cub Scout Pack on St Helena Island in the South Atlantic, 2,000 miles from any other place. I've always thought about sending some Scouting stuff to them.

Sounds like it may be necessary to schedule a boy and girl to sleep together in the same tent to avoid hanky panky.

You and your dues money will both be very welcome. Contact your council ---usually there will be an application you can use to rejoin. Check to see if your district has a functioning OA chapter. If so, you will probably be very welcome if you show up at one of their meetings interested in helping with chapter activities.

BSA rolled out a new aid that helps those searching for a Pack, Troop or Crew search those available in their area. Punch in BeAScout.Org in your browser and give it a try. I see it's been improved recently and is simpler to use than it was. Units can update the "pin" that appears when their unit is selected to include information about their program. I actually got one hit off this website a few months ago. Some councils are promoting it, others are not. I found two active Cub Packs in my district that weren't listed, and one unit that doesn't exist that is listed. I brought these to the attention of my DE.

A good way to assess what bogus, phantom or otherwise imaginary units may be chartered is to use the " BeAscout.Org " website to see what units are actually registered in your area. When I first used BeAScout.Org, there were a number of units I didn't recognize or had failed but were still being carried. I pointed that out to my DE. I just checked that out again after a few months, and I find those questionable units are gone, except for one. In fact, there are two good units which aren't listed! I'll have to let the DE know about that. Of course, that's just the BE A Scout data base. A suspicious person might imagine there are other data bases out there for other purposes. (This message has been edited by seattlepioneer)

> Small, but probably growing steadily since the new SE took over?(This message has been edited by seattlepioneer)

I think I'll especially enjoy referring to this new device as a pie plate chart....