Second Class

The activity uniform (often called ClassA) is the pants and tan shirt, belt, socks and sturdy shoes or boots. The field uniform is a scout themed tee shirt and pants (often called classB).

It is my belief that it is within the rights of the adult leadership to state what the expectations of the unit are. The uniform is part of the program. Those boys that can't afford a uniform may visit our uniform closet.

No, the boys do not get to chose if the uniform is part of the program. They may choose to not wear it.

Venture Crews DO choose their uniform.

No unit may withhold participation or advancement because of a lack of uniform. Split directives on the aims and implementation.

"Show me a poorly uniformed troop and I will show you poorly uniformed leaders."

True 100 years ago, true today. Your scouts will reflect what YOU model.(This message has been edited by Second class)

Welcome! You have a full plate. Try not to let work get in the way of scouting. That's the OA and Council's job!

At the risk of blowing the horn of an African antelope, I would suggest you get patrol sized dining flies, and let each patrol set up their gear and fly as they choose.

Being in such close proximity leads to a blending of patrols, gear, food, labor, at the expense of not getting to learn the sometimes hard lessons caused by insufficient planning. Patrol spirit suffers.

Who said never do for a boy what he can do for himself?

We have noticed the handbooks falling apart as well

Two things we recommend is the canvas/Velcro binder k and storing the book in a gallon sized Zip Loc bag.

I think I may try to return a few of these books at our Service Center. They are very responsive. That'll be the test; if they can't fix it, it's because of The Radio Shack man.

Last course I know results on was about 70%.

It was lower than average.

Our camp does not issue blue cards. They give us a form with the completed requirements.

Troop leaders review them at camp for discrepancies, and fill out the blue cards via Troop Master and an ink jet printer, three at a time. I sign them. No biggy.

We give the staff down the road for a few hours on the last night. They make a better program for it.

Totally agree, Infoscouter. What's the big deal about asking a scout to maintain a record while he does the merit badge, and beyond? Is this not a life skill they will need?

I sign batches of many dozens every month. Out AC does a great job of assigning MBC's.

It's on the scout to schedule with the MBC and follow up the paperwork with the AC.

I just don't see where this big thorn is. Any "on-line" system is just going to shift more of the blue card paperwork to the AC. Old school doesn't necessarily mean BAD.

"I reckon the most likely thing, though, is that Second Class doesn't know the difference between an SE and a DE, or that he just didn't really understand what the SE was sayin' in that particular context."

I had to laugh out loud at that one.

Good ol' second class, the big dummy, don't know the difference from a 80K man and a 350K man!

Please......

I'm trying to get away from scout accounts. They are a pain to manage. They may run afoul of the tax code. See other threads for those details.

Your first step is to develop a real budget that reflects what you spend PER BOY during the year.

This should be your dues amount. It will be a huge number. Ours is over $200.00 per boy.

Our dues are half that! Half the boys have been riding on the backs of the other half.

I'm going to suggest a $650.00 minimum sales goal per boy. That will net the Troop $227.00, which is break even. And we'll prorate sales for those that don't try very hard. Dues they don't pay by their commission, they write a check for.

Don't forget your recharter fees, Boy's Life, insurance fees for camping/day camp, Blue and Gold costs,

Awards, adult awards if you do those, equipment, depreciation, Etc.

Those crazed Wood Badge critters are out recruiting again, huh?

Beaver, this was told to me, and others, IN PERSON, by our Scout Executive.

I'll go by what he says.

Yes, Oak Tree, if there is abuse out there, report it. And everything else that is reportable!(This message has been edited by Second class)

As long as the uniform police aren't issued hand cuffs, we'll be safe!

Beaver, the flaw in your argument is this: if a Scouter goes outside of the GSS and YP, he may not be defended by the BSA in court.

So the Scouter that uses his "judgement" in determining what to report or not, may well be bankrupted in the process. And found innocent. But still bankrupt.

Quantity has a quality of its own.

That is a true statement. A larger troop allows for continuity of patrols, assurance for Webelos that they are coming into a troop that will be there for their tenure.

I wish we could say we had enough adults. I fear that some parents think "it's a large troop, they don't need me". The last two years we didn't get many involved parents. This most recent batch has faired much better, as far as new adults is concerned.

One issue that is bothering me is learning all the new names. It takes longer for some reason!

Trailblazing. Adults clearing the way for their kid.

You can't stop it. Heck, it's hard to slow down.

Not much you can do about a person, registered leader or not, going back on an agreement.

Learn and go on.

Find another ride or take him yourself.

Don't dwell on it in front of your son. Let it go.

Not every scout can make every event. That's ok.

There was a reason somebody said 32 was the right number. Ive been in a small troop,6-8 boys,

SM of a medium troop, 12-20, and now have grown to 45.

Logistics is easier at 20. Patrol method works better when there are more scouts.

Any patrols over 4 is too big IMHO.

Go for quality of program. If it is a good program, it will grow.

Easy! Some scouts have the minimum level of scout spirit and camping time, others have an overflowing amount of spirit.

Surely you,ve seen or have had that one or two scouts that are excited every week to be ath the meeting. The scout that never misses a camping event.

The cream of the troop, that visibly sets themselves apart from the rest.

cchoat, Welcome! Don't know that I've seen your name.

Your statements have me thinking. In the SM training, and the BOR training, they introduce the thought of "fair warning" if a scout is to not advance. That "fair warning" can't come at the SM conference, then it's too late. It (the warning) must come before that.

So, along that line of thought; I'll start discussing OA in each SM conference with each rank, Tenderfoot, 2nd, 1st, and let them know that to make it to the election roster, they have to be "above average".

SP, I have been pondering that question even before you posed it. To tell or not to tell the grading points.....

I think the second, not to tell. As long as I write it down, and am impartial in the determination, I think I can fully justify my actions to anyone.

I'm going to discuss this with an active OA adult in my troop first. I think he will be supportive.

For a start, I'd think that some minimum percentage attendence of troop service projects. We hold them nearly monthly or so. I'm thinking at least 40%.

We camp monthly. When we had 28 boys we had 70% or better. When we hit 45, the percentage dropped to less than 50%. I'm thinking that percentage for OA elegibility should be above 70%. This would be easy for newly minted First Class scouts, but pretty hard for a 16 year old Life scout.

(This message has been edited by second class)

This is a good thread.

I got the OA going back in my troop a few years ago. We had lost all of our older OA boys, and had no adult OA members.

The few that we had were nothing more than patch wearers. In hindsight I see that they had no adults to get them to the events.

When we hold elections, I caution them that I don't wants "Sash n Dash" OA members.

If the OA is to be Scoutings Honor Society, they should be held to a higher standard, IMHO, than the average scout that gets to First Class. That standard, in my mind, should be making most campouts, cheerful service while camping, and a willingness to serve others.

Most adults can separate these groups in three minutes.

I the past few years I was liberal with my approval, and the results are as to be expected.

Next election, I'm going to go a different way. Now to quantify that!

My troop has been doing this for three years. Works great. The Webs join us for the opening, announcements, then go do their thing. We go do ours. In 6 months, they are totally acclimated to troop operations, and know most everybody.

Wash it? Really?

I think mine may be over due then; it's never been washed.

How many folks have back patches on their red-jac? I've got a black bull on mine, but nothing on the back. A few pins on a pocket flap that scouts have given me.

I got a second one that was half price last year. Was thinking of putting some of my WB patches on it.

But then I'd look like those old geezers that have patches on everything they own.

Another dilemma.

We do for blue cards but not advancement cards. It is clunky and the print is offset and a cluge. I wish it was better, but we deal with it. Hand writing 200 cards at a session is too much. Haven't got beyond the basic print function. Not much help here.

If you have a fun and challenging high adventure program, they will want to stay until they have to leave.

What about "borrowing" your neighbors newspaper, (he is a late riser).

You fold it back up,and put it back. But it is clearly used.

Is this OK?

(really happened)