SemperParatus

January 18, 2007

It sounds like at least four folks in this unit have a bit of an attitude. As others have said, as SPL you have virtually no influence over which adults serve in volunteer positions. You do have major influence over how you will react to people you find to be disagreeable. What are your options? You can complain about them, you can confront them, you can go behind their backs and trash talk them down, you can ignore them, you can smile and work with them. Which option squares with the Scout Law?

December 28, 2006

The donor donated the flag on the basis that it would be retired (ceremonously burned, I presume). That is what should be done.

Otherwise, its sort of like (in reverse) donating land to a BSA counsel on the basis that it be used as a camp, and then having the counsel do something else with it (like sell it!)

The donor wishes should be respected (in both cases). If you know who donated it, then maybe you should call them to make doubly sure of their wishes.

December 18, 2006

'These boots were made for walkin' and that's just what they'll do...'

Every parent should seek out the absolute best scouting environment for their child. It sounds like you have much better options that should be considered.

December 14, 2006

Our Scout Executive made over $250K last year.

FOS is a joke. Its a shake down of well-intentioned, dedicated people committed to serving our youth by a bunch of businessman whose primary motivation is to pay their ever-growing salaries.

I have given the suggested $100-$125 annual FOS contribution every year for nearly 20 years. Last year, the amount was $125, but when I wrote the check I accidentally made it out for $120. I was hounded like a dog over that $5. I received two notices in the mail. My wife was incredulous and forbid me to pay the $5 on priciple. Then I started getting phone calls from the Council finance director. I paid them the $5 (don't tell my wife), but darn if I will ever pay them another cent.

I drove by my Scout Exec's house the other day. Its in a very upscale neighborhood, a veritable McMansion of 5,000+ square feet. There was a Mercedes SUV and a BMW in the driveway. He doesn't need anymore of my money.

Take that FOS contribution and put it to use in your unit where it can do some real good.

(This message has been edited by SemperParatus)

December 14, 2006

If you go to Guidestar (www.guidestar.org) you can look at the Forms 990 that are filed by your council with the IRS.

There is a separate Great Sauk Council Trust Fund that shows investments in marketable securities of $4,002,323 at the end of 2005. This looks like money that just sits there. Budget cuts my

@%&!

Maybe they should be taking a look at the salaries they pay to their suits, like (2004 numbers)

Robert Poole - retiring scout exec - $100K

Ed Michlatcher - field director - $64K

Todd Wordel - Asst. Scout Exec - %72K

Victor Pooler - Endowment Director - $82K

It looks like Bowersox was hired at the beginning of 2005.

(This message has been edited by a staff member.)

December 14, 2006

Mother Teresa had a great Protestant work ethic.

December 13, 2006

If you are willing to consider other options, I would highly recommend the Ironmasters Mansion Youth Hostel in Pine Grove Furnace State Park.

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/STATEPARKS/parks/pinegrovefurnace.aspx

December 13, 2006

Try the Penn-Laurel Council

Here are their council facilities...

http://www.pennlaurel.org/campproperties2.htm

December 13, 2006

"I might even let some of the other scouts overhear this advice."

I see no purpose in that. Why in the world would a scout leader intentionally try to sabotage a scout's recruitment for his project?

December 12, 2006

If these are the five hangups that you have identified, then your next step should be determining how he may demonstrate trustworthiness, loyalty, helpfulness, friendliness, and kindness in the other 99% of the hours making up his life.

Clearly, the term 'everyday life' is intended to connote a far wider lens than just scouting. I get the sense you may be extrapolating the scouting issues you have identified to the rest of his life, without a full consideration of his 'everyday life'.

Welcome to the forum. Hope you stick around a while.

December 12, 2006

Requirement No. 2

"Demonstrate Scout spirit by living the Scout Oath (Promise) and Scout Law in your everyday life."

Scout spirit is not some etherial concept that we, as scout leaders, need to define, understand, judge or even consider for advancement purposes.

The BSA tells us how scout spirit is demonstrated...'by living the Scout Oath and Scout Law in your everyday life'. That alone is the advancement question before you...it is not some subjective thought on your part based on your personal definition of what scout spirit may or may not be.

Does the boy live the Scout Oath and Law in his everyday life? In your long conversation with him at the last troop meeting, I hope you took the opportunity to satisfy your curiosity about that question.

Troop meetings are a small part of his life (less than 1% of the hours in a week). 'Everyday life' is more about the 99% of the time this boy spends outside of troop meetings then the 1% he spends in or avoiding troop meetings.

"He will not participate in meetings except to show up to talk about his project and has said he is only coming now to get his Eagle, then he is out of here. Knowing what I know it is still hard to say this is living according to the law and oath."

Which points of the Scout Oath and Law do you consider him violating because of his decision? Have you made any attempt to determine how he may be following those points in the other 99% of his life?

December 12, 2006

I just got out of a business meeting where a half dozen of us talked in circles and came to no conclusion. We had a good time throwing around ideas, but I am tasked with going ahead and implementing the solution (which at this point in time, I have no idea what that is).

I would get them a good outdoor cookbook (plenty of free-online ones are available). The patrols have a different person serve as head cook for each camping trip. That person decides the meals for the weekend from the selections in the cookbook. After each trip, the menus for that weekend's meals are removed from the cookbook. Keep it up until the cookbook is gone. When it is empty, get them a new one.

Benefits:

1. More leadership for the rotating head cook

2. Ensures scouts try new things

3. Adds variety in cooking options

4. Avoids food boredom

5. Frees up troop time

6. Gives scouts more time to practice their debating skills on other topics.

December 11, 2006

The societal culture (relevancy) is a sine curve. Boy scouts is the x-axis. Often they are far apart, but inevitably they intersect again and again and again. The girl scouts always seem to be trying to follow the sine curve, but seem to be forever a step behind. That's it for today's math lesson.

December 11, 2006

I had a fellow call me about a year ago. He had moved back to the area, was a scout as a child and wanted to give back to his community by getting involved with a troop. I told him we would be happy to have him join us (most units will not turn down a sincere offer). He came to the next meeting, we talked, he filled out the paperwork, he left looking forward to getting involved. I never heard from him again.

As the others have said. Check out the units in your area. Visit with the unit leaders. Offer your services and see where it goes from there.

As you become more involved in scouting, you will learn not to expect too much from the professionals (DE).

December 7, 2006

It seems that for the past several months, I have dealt with at least a half-dozen instances where those that delay, don't commit, procrastinate, put-off, etc. are rewarded with people accomodating them at the eleventh hour. In some cases it has been detrimental to others that do their best to 'follow the program'. In other cases, no one is really impacted, other than the boy (and his parents) whose development is reinforced with the notion that its okay to wait until the very last minute because there are always suckers out there to bend over backwards to accomodate them. Its like showing up at a parade an hour early to get a good roadside seat, only to have a group of yahoos plop themselves down right in front of you just as the parade starts. They have shown no respect for your time and effort, and expect to be 'taken care of' because they deserve it and you're are a good guy. Accomodation is fine, as long as its not all one-sided.

Put your anger aside. Then let the scout and his father know that the time for committing to this trip has passed. In the future, set a firm sign-up deadline and stick to it.

November 8, 2006

Grab pencil and paper...

I will not threaten another person with a knife again.

November 8, 2006

Half of your contentment in scouting will be derived from ignoring half the comments and unfair situations you will undoubtedly encounter half of the time.

Forgive, forget and forge ahead.

November 7, 2006

oldsm,

I swear it sounds like you are in our district, only our DAC have been requiring this kind of information for 15 years or more. They may not be as picky with the spelling and grammer but there is an extensive checklist of things they are looking for in the book. Most project plan workbooks in our district are probably 50 - 60 pages. My own son's was 180 pages (but that is another story). Granted, it is not so much about size as content - and some scouts have used fewer pages to convey the detailed work and leadership plans that is required. Obviously, this has caused many years of consternation and complaints within our District especially when we see neighboring district projects with comparably 'small' workbooks. There have been protests over the years but they usually fade away and folks have learned to work within the system and try to allot plenty of room for the plan development and approval process. In our troop, I generally tell boys to expect 3-6 months between initial project selection and final workbook approval, provided they are diligent in their work.

Originally, I was one that seriously questioned our DAC's high expectations and stringent 'requirements'. However, after having worked with a fair number of scouts on their project books, I can say that most of what our district requires is not unreasonable to ensure that the plan is complete and adequately developed. A detailed time budget is better than a guess and helps the scout allocate resources and understand the scope. A detailed financial budget is better than an estimate and helps the scout truly understand the value his project contributes to the community. Detailed work plans instead of a summary of what will be done ensures that the scout has considered all aspects of his project and is well prepared for the challenge. So, I guess you can say I am a convert.

Now, I do agree that kickbacks for a few spelling and grammatical errors is a bit much and scouts should be able to handwrite their project plans if they feel more comfortable, but a project plan should reflect a scout's mastery of his project and a few pages of summaries, guesses and estimates does not typically demonstrate a serious effort on the part of a scout.

Our DAC is well aware of the prohibition of 'adding to the requirements'. By the same token, they understand that there is a very fine line between that and interpreting the requirements. I am not aware of any specific appeals on some of these grounds. However, it is difficult to argue that something less than a complete and well developed plan that reflects detailed thought and project understanding is what we want to strive for.

I think everyone wants to see the scout do his very best and utilize his skills and talents to the fullest extent possible. In some cases, these 'local requirements' may have initially started out as helpful guidelines that have morphed into overreaching requirements. I think we must always be on the alert when that happens and use common sense.

In the meantime, I will use our District's guidelines as a tool to help scouts achieve a thoroughly well thought out project that they can be confident in carrying out and proud of its value to the community.

October 18, 2006

"if B.P. started scouting in 2006 what would it be like?"

I'll play some

PRESS RELEASE OF THE FLEDGLING SCOUTING MOVEMENT:

Mr. Powell is pleased to announce his plans to conduct an experiment in youth character development by assembling a group of 22 boys to spend a week camping with him at Brownsea Island. This 'camp-out' is intended to put into practice Mr. Powell's ideas of outdoor education and scoutcraft in building citizenship and character for the boys of today and the men of tomorrow. Mr. Powell notes that, the most important object in Boy Scout training is to educate, not instruct and the sport in Scouting is to find the good in every boy and develop it. The outdoor experience is needed in Mr. Powells opinion, as more and more boys are sitting on couches playing video games and watching hour after hour of television. We look forward to this opportunity and reporting back on the wonderful results that are expected.

PRESS RELEASE OF NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION:

Mr. Powell's 'experiment' is doomed to failure. How dare he suggest that he is an educator. We have worked much too long and hard in creating our stellar public education system in this country, only to see an interloper, like Mr. Powell, come along and claim he knows a better way. For over a century, public education has proven that the best way to educate is to force participation, continue improving curriculums so that all students achieve equal results and constantly remind students and parents that we know what is best for them. Mr. Powell, the writing is on the blackboard. You cannot educate our youth outside of a multi-million dollar facility that offers free lunches, after-school care and ensures our jobs and pensions.

PRESS RELEASE OF THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF WOMEN:

Mr. Powell is obviously a male chauvinist pig. His exclusion of the superior female gender from his little 'boys club' is just another example of the unending bondage that we have been subjected to at the hands of this neanderthal race that has been the scourge of our planet since the Venusians kicked them out of our estrogenical utopia. There will be a bra-burning vigil throughout the week as a sign of solidarity against the further indoctrination of this foul species.

PRESS RELEASE OF AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION:

We certainly don't know what Mr. Powell intends to do on that island. But, we will be following the developments very closely. We plan to have a cadre of lawyers standing at the ready to assist the families of these boys as they are placed in dangers too numerous to mention. Rumor has it that Mr. Powell intends for these possible victims to sleep in tents, which could discriminate against those who may be convinced that they suffer from agoraphobia. Likewise, it has been suggested that a fire may be set to keep warm, in spite of local ordinances controlling such outrageous behavior. A class-action lawsuit has already drafted and is ready to be filed. We care about these boys and their rights. So, we have made a special arrangement with our members to handle these cases on a 40% contingency basis.

PRESS RELEASE OF GREENPEACE:

We are told from a very reliable source that Brownsea Island was once the home of the red-beeked snipe and that this rare species may, in fact, return to the island in the next four centuries. Mr. Powell's 'experiment' will forever contaminate this land and ensure that the red-beeked snipe will never ever ever return. We have scientific studies that prove this. He must be stopped. We owe that to all the now and future red-beeked snipes of the world.

PRESS RELEASE OF THE ACLU:

As the defenders of the constitutional rights of all we deem worthy, we will make it our sole mission to attack and destroy Mr. Powell and his boys until his ideas are forever banished in the scrap heap of independent thinking. We alone determine what can be thought, said and acted upon so as not to offend our acute sense of righteousness. We declare war on this idea of scouting and will use our tax-exempt status to the fullest extent to crush this idea that is offensive to our self-given rights.

PRESS RELEASE OF NAMBLA:

We wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Powells movement. In fact, we are planning to be the number one sponsor of boy scouts. We just love the idea.

*****

A start-up boy scouting movement wouldnt stand a chance today. Fortunately, its 100 year track record of success is too strong for anyone to believe its naysayers.

October 17, 2006

I agree that there is a lot of flexibility built-in to the program on this point, and that a troop can certainly have multiple quartermasters (with primary patrol responsibilities), assistant senior patrol leaders, etc.

I guess where one could have a bit of a hiccup is the substitition of a Scoutmaster-assigned leadership POSITION for the stated alternative "carry out a Scoutmaster-assigned leadership PROJECT to help the troop". It is the act of doing (project)that is important, not the act of being (position). A project has a beginning and an end based on the accomplishment of a specific goal. A position has a beginning and an end based on time of service in the role.

Certainly, a boy given a project of creating or keeping an active website current for some perios of time (project) can also be called a Troop Webmaster (position), but it is also possible that a Troop Webmaster (position) could do very little in terms of work (project). Likewise, you would really need to assess a webmaster's leadership of others. Creating (or updating) a website is a great project - but leadership of others may not exist.

I am inclined to keep SM-assigned leadership projects fairly simple, easily observable and with a short time frame (e.g., leading other troop members in building a canoe rack), rather than turning it into a position of responsibility, which may or may not constitute a leadership project.

October 12, 2006

Most states have sales tax exemptions for goods purchased by non-profit organizatons. Fscouter's state may not, but the overwhelming majority of states do. What state are you in?

ljnrsu gave you the right answer to your question.

October 10, 2006

Sounds like you are heading to the Outer Banks. If so, that is a great destination - definitely lots of fun stuff to do there.

If Pittsburgh is half-way, then DC will be around half-way from Pittsburgh to the Outer Banks and should be a great place to stop. You can easily fill a day in DC, so I am not sure how many little stops you would want along the way. Best place to camp in the DC area is Greenbelt Park (http://www.nps.gov/gree/) or you could shoot down the road an hour or so after spending the day in DC and stay at Lungo Park on Quantico Marine Base (http://www.quantico.usmc-mccs.org/SemperFit_Rec/lunga_park.htm). This is right next door to the FBI Academy, which will give you a tour if you talk real nice to them (best to go on a weekday when they are training in the mock town or doing evasive driving on the track or shooting machine guns on the range).

Given the track you are taking, Gettysburg may be a bit out of the way (north), but Antietam (Sharpsburg) and Harpers Ferry are right off of Rt. 70. The AT runs thru that whole area and you could do a quick jaunt on that or on the C&O Canal towpath. There is a youth hostel in Harper's Ferry that may be able to accomodate your group as well ( http://members.aol.com/hiyb/hostel.html).

October 9, 2006

"Eventually, someone will be killed by the police or by an alarmed private citizen who mistakes one of these 'toys' for the real thing."

http://www.iranonline.com/avc/Fact_Sheet_About_Toy_Guns.html

October 9, 2006

"He has been told many times by the troop leaders and parents not to pick on my son or the other scout also"

Its beyond time for the Scoutmaster and Troop Committee to take action. Schedule a meeting with the SM and CC, discuss with them the continuing problem and ask them what specifically they are going to do about it. If their answer is not satisfactory to you, then I think it may be time for you and your son to find a new troop that is more accepting.

October 6, 2006

Hey Dave!

Congratulations on the new position and best of luck on the passion sharing. I think you will find that the vacation really hasn't ended...its just now you will be lugging along a few more kids and lots more stuff.

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SemperParatus

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Posts posted by SemperParatus

Adult Leadership Issues

Flag retirement on hold

help me i'm confused

FOS contribution levels

Termination of Camp Ranger - 21 years of service

Scout Spirit - Here we go again

Need cabin camping near Gettysburg, PA

Need cabin camping near Gettysburg, PA

Scout Spirit - Here we go again

Scout Spirit - Here we go again

Scout Spirit - Here we go again

Menu planning - what a disaster

Relevancy

Volunteerism

Pop - up Scout for campout

A kid pulling a knife on other kids

Prizes for Uniform Inspections

Eagle Project Workbook

why is scouting shrinking? visit www.savescouting.org

Patrol vs Troop POR

Retail Tax Exemptions

questions about long trips with scouts

Airsoft guns and boys

Scout being bullied in troop

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