SeattlePioneer

A nice lawyer's argument perhaps pappadaddy. Would you want to bet your life and property a jury would buy it?

I have met few to no rich kids as described in this thread. But I'm reminded of "Captain's Courageous" where a spoiled rich kid gets thrown into the working life of a fishing boat and learns something from it. Scouting should offer that kind of opportunity to rich kids, too, I would suppose. The Washington Post had an article about a Scout Troop in Washington DC that had a bunch of top people in the Federal Government as parents. Those kids got to see some pretty top drawer things. But if you have to cook your own breakfast on a camping trip, spoiled rich kids don't necessarily finish first, I would suppose. I guess it's up to the leadership of the troop and Scoutmaster, though.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of Philmont type activities. My preference is for a quality low cost type camping program. Perhaps that's not practical in many parts of the country, but around here it's a fifty mile drive to the Pacific Crest Trail or a ninety mile drive to the Wonderland Trail that circles Mt Rainier National Park. There are loads of wilderness trips available for 2-3 day or fifty miler type trips. As a result, I've never been to Philmont or a National Jamboree. Neither have I seen Patrol Leader Councils that proposed those as activities on their own initiative. My bias is to suggest that we are making a mistake by defining Scouting as involving very expensive trips to something like a manufactured Disneyland kind of experience. I have no objection to units doing that kind of activity if they wish to do so, but it seems we are creating a program that requires very large investments to do it.

I think they left something out. How bout adding: "In GLBT we trust"?

A bad tempered, selfish girl might be inspired to perfect these aspects of character in the Australian Girl Guides, it would seem. Mustn't be judgmental, after all.(This message has been edited by seattlepioneer)

Hell manno, > Well, presentations have been at the core of my Roundtables. My aim has been to take various issues in Cub Scouts that leaders need to know and give the best ideas on how such things can be done well. That ranges from such things as recruiting new adult leaders to doing an effective popcorn sale. I always tried to get the leaders from units who did these things especially well as presenters, but too often I got little support from unit leaders. > One good feature of a Roundtable program is giving people an opportunity to raise questions about things they needs ideas on how to do, and to get ideas from other leaders. It sounds like that's what your program did with this meeting. Also, lots of things can be good as a change of pace. But I doubt that a general talkfest would work as the primary part of a Roundtable program for very long.

Hello Kathy, Can you tell us about the float?

Sounds like a failure of the Camp Program Director and Camp Director to establish expected behavior standards and expectations.

Hello jdsmerud, You are reading your own prejudices into this case. The term "paper Scouts" is a vague term. I suggest that there is such a thing as a fraudulent application. But that's not what I suggested. I suggested that a applications for real boys, signed by real parents and a real unit leader and paid for with real dollars be obtained in order to form a new unit. The bottom line is that those are real applications, not fraudulent applications.

One of the useful things about the Tiger Cub program is that it allows you to educate parents in useful Cub Scout details. The reservations about having Tiger Cubs sew on a patch are probably well taken. But perhaps Tiger Cub partners could be given that task as an exercise while the Tiger Cubs themselves do something needle and threadish. It would be nice to have a way to combine a simple parent and son project like that, but I'm not sure how to do that. Using leather lacing around a piece of leather with a big needle for that purpose might be more suitable for Tiger Cubs.

Personally, I've never had a badge magiced patch come off. A little loose around the edges once in a while perhaps. And using a solvent and a wire brush always gets the residue off for me. That reasonable as far as I'm concerned. So showing new parents the Badge Magic option seems reasonable to me. If they prefer to sew, fine.

Hmmm! Very good ideas so far! Any ideas on how to work ideas like that into Cub Scout or Boy Scout programs so they get used by boys and parents? I mostly work with Tiger Cubs. I'm thinking you could make a den project out of ironing on a patch of some kind to a piece of cloth using Badge Magic and stapling a patch onto a piece of cloth and giving boys the chance to work WITH THEIR PARENT PARTNER on sewing that on. My aim would be to introduce the boys to sewing and to pass on to parents methods they can use in getting a new uniform set up.

Since I've already acknowledged that after reading this thread, I remain totally confused about the issue. One point in particular: I thought units were not supposed to ask for donations ---something reserved for the council as I understand it. On this thread I'm reading about all kinds and varieties of donations, some of them susceptible to abuse. So what gives?

Hello Packsaddle, Look for one of these: http://www.yamulke.com/

What are they?

Our August Cub Scout Roundtable will be my last as Roundtable Commissioner. It will be set up as a model recruiting night displaying my methods of using a stomp bottle rocket launch to attract boys and parents --- it's the most powerful means I know to achieve that objective. To that end, unit leaders and unit membership chairs will be invited to bring their Cub Scouts to experience the stomp bottle rocket launch. The idea will be to encourage units to use the rocket launch or some other effective means to attract boys and parents to their fall recruiting night. We will also be featuring an ice cream social as part of the Roundtable. One of the ideas of Roundtable is as supplemental training for unit leaders. That's been my usual aim for the two years I've been Cub Scout Roundtable Commissioner. I've looked for things I've either done well, or things I've done poorly as Roundtable themes. I've then aimed to recruit the best leaders in the district to discuss that theme of the month. Generally that has been pretty useful, in my opinion. Turnout still tends to be mediocre. People are reluctant to turn out for meetings.

> I would bet that most districts have a crying need for Commissioners and district committeeman that would be ideal for a SM. Perhaps when a Troop Committee Chair is ready to make a transition to a new SM they should give their District Chair a call and arrange for a new position to be offered to the SM.

Hello TwoCub, Wouldn't a better solution be to trust your leaders? Give the SM discretion on approving what has been done and give the district or council advancement committee authority to overrule a SM acting in an unreasonable way? Personally, I'm not much in support of a LOT of elaborate, detailed rules. Who can keep track of all that? It seems to me that the heart of Scouting are leaders being guided by the Scout Oath and Law, not a complex web of legalized rules.

So what are the secrets of sewing stuff on a uniform?

I just found an adult leader uniform at a thrift shop --- a rare find. I figure I can doctor it up to standard pretty easily and perhaps outfit a den leader with a uniform who doesn't have one.

Are TSA reps being thorough and checking the contents of that baby's diaper?

So what kind of plans is your pack making for a fall recruiting effort?

Hello wahooker, Tell us about your float for the parade! Who built it and how was it built? I don't suppose it was converted from a troop trailer?!

So..... Who has had Scouts hop out of their troop? Why.... and were you glad to see them go?

So what is the best August pack activity you can recall?