SeattlePioneer

<<the respectful way of doing it using the appropriate standard.>> That's your problem. you apparently think there is only one respectful and appropriate way of doing a flag ceremony. Read my post above. It gives two respectful and appropriate ways to do flag ceremonies, and I'm sure many others could be devised as well. My priority is to avoid boring and repetitive flag ceremonies. And I'm in a Scout program, Cub Scouts in particular. It's not the Marine Corps, which has different values and standards.

<<The personal connection/recommendation is your best bet. Ask each of your families to identify 2 or 3 other boys that they know that they think might enjoy scouts. Have them e-mail or contact those families to invite them to an event. Then get that contact information and follow up by adding your own personal invitation to theirs. Make sure that you tell prospective families not just about the program but about yourself.>> Yes, peer-to-peer recruiting can be highly effective, if boys and parents will help you out. Never had good results with that myself. The

The BSA membership fee has been rising rapidly in recent year, to $24 for 2015. That suggests a NEW, HIGHER membership fee for 2016. Who wants to make a prediction?

Since Scouting isn't the US Army or Marines, I'm not especially interested in what they do.

Personally, I find endless repetition of the typical flag ceremony boring. I have two that are excellent for dens and can be done well for a pack or troop, too. 1. Have all Scouts, and adults too if desired, hold their den/patrol flag with their left hand. They will naturally circle around the flag. Do the Scout salute with the right hand and repeat the Pledge, Scout Oath or Law. 2. Unfurl an American flag. Have each Scout (and adult if desired) hold on to the edge of the flag. Pretty much naturally the flag will be extended and held by everyone present

I recently heard that the council in my area has voted to require ANNUAL youth protection training, rather than taking the training every other year. Anyone else aware of this as yet another council fad? If true, I guess there is just NO LIMIT to the burdens that will be placed on volunteers.

<<BSA does not create units aside from sales pitches to prospective COs by DEs. People decide they want to start a troop, they apply for a charter. If black people don't apply for charters, that's their business, not an "us problem.">> As a district Membership Chair, I made a determined effort to increase the number of Hispanic/Latino Cub Scouts a few years ago. I induced the council to bring in BSA staff members to create a day long program on how to recruit more minorities. Despite those efforts, my results were minimal. The language barrier was a BIG issue. Wh

<<Does Every Child Have To Be A Scout?>> No. As a District Membership Chair for eight years I considered what my job was. I decided that my goal should be to see to it that every boy of suitable age was offered the opportunity to become a Scout. Whether they accepted that invitation was up to the boy, his parents and family. Of course, in practice I was never able to invite all those boys to become Scouts, but in Cub Scouts we "Do Our Best."

Umm. Not much of a prize in a technical sense. I've found Silva style orienteering compasses that are liquid filled available at Wal Mart for $5 which I think are a great gift to Webelos Boys going into Scouting. The idea of making some kind of leather pouch for such a compass would be a great addition at make it a keepsake like the one you have. Decorate it with a description of who it was for, when it was given and why it was given and you'd have a fine keepsake.

<< I do recognize that some of those science parlor tricks can be pretty cool for a boy!>> That's true, but I don't believe in building a program around parlor tricks. Another Den Leader in my pack and I shared the Day Camp Program, Director position. He's an engineer by training, and a real estate agent by occupation. He eats up the science stuff, and he'd probably be far better at implementing this kind of theme than I would be. But he tends to do stuff that's too complicated for the boys to understand and do. That can be a weakness of mine, too. And i

<<Tracking advancement has never been a strong suit for us. As Assistant DL in Tiger and Wolf, I was never very successful with it, finally coming to the conclusion that my tracking it really doesn't matter anyway (for CUBS)>> I've never been any good at that either. As a Tiger Cub Den Leader, I can put that on the parents. Few of them are any good at it too! I simply let parents know to notify me when their Tiger Cub is ready to be awarded his badge. Anyone attending many of the meetings and activities is welcome to the badge as far as I'm concerned. I l

Thank you Yoda...!

At our Cub Scout Day Camp, we had several activities that involved making things, such as a decorated shield and stilts. Some boys failed to attend camp the day these activities were conducted. I was asked to make these projects for the boys who failed to attend camp, and I resisted doing so. My theory was that MAKING the project was the activity, not having the project made for you by someone else. Also, in my view, Scouting is about discovering that life is making choices. You often have to make choices about what you will do, and live with the consequences. It m

<<Paper airplane design time & test flights - stemy activity....kids at out flight camps had fun (cheap too paper reams on sale) nice for rainy day.>> In my view, science is more than parlor tricks. << I don't know how you do hiking, camping, etc. without science! Science is all around us, and so are opportunities to follow scout law. - How do you make rope? (find a strong-fiber plant) (Thrifty!) - Weather (Brave! Hike in the rain!) - Human physiology (hydration, nutrition) (Clean!) - Record of observations (Trustworthy!) >> F

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<<I see a discrimination lawsuit soon. That didn't take very long to have someone not allowed to join/rejoin.>> The USSC decision giving the BSA exemption from antidiscrimination laws was based on the consistently enforced, uniform policy against homosexuals. Since that policy is now out the window, I expect that we will be seeing decisions from courts which now impose those antidiscrimination laws on BSA, and make any sort of option illegal.

<<Problem is, when political correctness reared its head during the Clinton years, that genie can't be put back in the bottle. If Hillary gets elected it will only get worse.>> Political correctness reared it's head during the Clinton administration with the anti gun agenda of liberals, too. The difference is that the National Rifle Association beat the hell out of liberals for doing so, including electing George Bush President instead of Al Gore. Liberals have taken pains to avoid raising the gun issue, at least nationally, since then. Any attemptes to do so resul

Personally I think there would be merit to broadening the "Bugling" merit badge and Bugling POR to include any instrument the person can play as long as they can play the requisite bugling tunes. If a clarinet or violin player is willing to serve as Bugler and can play the needed tunes, that would be fine with me!

So---- Do horn players do better kissing pretty girls?

Our Council has just announced that they are going to have a science theme for Day Camp next year. Personally, that seems like a poor idea to me. Scouting is about the Scout Oath, Scout Law, hiking, camping and the good character needed to do hiking and camping, in my opinion. Science only an incidental theme. Personally, I have good hiking and camping skills and experience, and years of experience making the Scout Oath, Scout Law, hiking and camping activities work for Cub Scout and Boy Scouts. Most of the gear and equipment packs and the council have focus on

<< Since BSA is easing membership restrictions can we PLEASE lobby for them to ease up on beer at summer camp? Nothing's better than a nice micro-brew after a 10 mile hike in the Rockies. And I am pretty sure we could get a MUCH larger number of BSA members to support THAT policy change. >> Maybe you can get the USSC to mandate that under the 21st Amendment.

<< Rappelling Rock Wall Climbing Kayaking STEM: Drones, Robotics Archery Air Rifles Pool of course :-)>> We do archery and BB guns, but the rest is WELL beyond what we can do as a volunteer camp. << Activities specific to Webelos Readyman/ First Responder 2 days. first day was learning or practicing skills. 2nd day incorporated a high where stations were set up for them to do first aid scenarios. Walkabout Cast iron Chef >> I'm guessing that you chose Readyman because it's probably the most difficult for many Webelos Den Leaders

<< What do your Webelos say they would like to do? My Webelos were bored stiff with the normal stuff. So what my camp did was create a 1/2 day WEBELOS WOODS program based upon what THEY wanted to do. 1/2 of the Webelos would be doing your standard day camp stuff: archery, bb guns, and fishing. The other 1/2 of Webelos would be doing Readyman, and outdoor oriented stuff: firebuilding and cooking, orienteering, hiking, etc. Then they flipped flopped.>> My present thinking is to do a day of hiking away from the camp we use for the program. I'm imagining parents

<< Even if it were clear that it was supposed to be not worked on by a 1st year cub.....I would ask myself, what are the ramifications of a cub scout or scouter going outside of that area of the program? Who will care next year?.... or who will care when the boy goes for 1st class.... or eagle? The answer is that it does not matter. it does not affect anyone and nobody will remember it past next week. SO, if it means that the boys would have fun working on it, then do it.....>> I agree. Personally I feel less and less bound by all the BSA rules each year. My

Our Cub Scout Day Camp has had pretty much the same program for Wolves, Bears and all Webelos. Some activities had additional complexity available for some activities, but most were pretty much the same. We usually had two Webelos Dens of 6-8 boys competing against each other in competitive events, which was good. But next year we may want to have more places available for boys. This year, we had an evening Tiger Camp program for four days and a Day Camp for four days for Wolves-Webelos. I'm thinking that it might be nice to have a separate program for Webelos Scouts -