SemperParatus

You are not alone. This scouting stuff has a way of causing sleepless nights.

I would suggest having a heart-to-heart with the DL to offer your assistance and share your concerns regarding lack of meetings and advancement. It sounds as if the DL has her own problems and could use some help. If she is not receptive to help, then you need to seek intervention from the pack leadership. If the DL has "officially resigned from the committee" (whatever that means) and has not had consistent meetings for the past three months, then the CM and CC need to be advised of the situation and take immediate action, either to help the DL get back on track or find a new DL. Let them know that you are interested/willing to assume DL responsibilities. If this is a large den as you indicated, maybe it would be possible to split the den with you assuming half of the scouts and the old DL retaining those scouts/families that are okay with the status quo.

The policy is explained at Life to Eagle seminars as a personal liability issue. Scouts are personally liable for their project workmanship and the district does not want to put scouts (or the district) in a position of constructing something that may fail causing injury to someone. I am not aware of any specific instances in the past where a project failure caused personal injury and liability issues for a scout/family, however, about the time this policy was announced there had been some locally publicized incidences of decks collapsing with one resulting in death. That may or may not have had some bearing on the policy being adopted (I am not on the District Advancement Committee and so am only speculating about a possible source).

I straddle between Scouting and Youth Group Ministry (my church). The highlight of our youth ministry program is our annual mission trip where we descend upon those in a need for a week of intense service work (and sharing of the Good News). Whether it is painting houses in Mexico, building ballfields in the Dominican Republic, or rebuilding homes in Appalachia, the teens come back dog tired but with an incredible sense of the power of the good turn and appreciation for all they have. Lately, I have been thinking why not offer the same experience for the scouts in my unit and see if the PLC and the scouts would have an interest in doing a week-long intensive good turn. I am not suggesting that the scouts come on my next church mission trip, but rather the unit plans and implements its own scouting mission trip. Anyone have any experience to share regarding week-long intensive scouting service projects at the unit level (not OA/Philmont)?

About three years ago, our District implemented a policy that no Eagle projects would be approved that require a local building permit (even if the sponsoring organization does the permitting). That seems to knock out a lot of ideas that the scouts come up with. In our troop alone, that prohibited (1) building an outdoor stage/decking for a community playground, (2) building a pergola/gazebo requested by our charter partner church, (3) doing some remodeling of an historic property to be used as a Native American museum. I know there are so many other projects the scouts can undertake, but I was wondering whether this is a common restriction in other councils/districts. If so, does anyone know if this is a national policy or just a local decision?

Thanks for the input everybody. It sounds like what we do is done elsewhere in some modified form. I guess its time we bump the dollar limit up to $10 per weekend. Give them a little more to sink their teeth into.

Eamonn,

If we all followed your son's example, this would be a better (and more rested) world. This year, my own son (14 years old) started taking naps when he comes home from school, so I figured that I .....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Thanks for the advice everyone. Keep it coming.

Congratulations! I am not sure what the 'room' reference is about. So I am guessing that you are asking for ideas about how to make the transition from scout to scouter. Here are a few ideas:

1. Ask the SM if you can do some SM conferences (many troops allow ASM to do these).

2. Volunteer to act as an adult trip leader for an upcoming trip.

3. Serve as the advisor to the New Scout Patrol since you are 'closer to the action' then the other adult leaders.

4. Act as an adult mentor for scouts holding junior leader positions.

5. Sit in a rocking chair in the back of the room (the scouts should instantly recognize you as an ASM).

6. Attend SM staff meetings and offer your suggestions, attend Committee meetings if your troop committee is open to SM/ASMs.

7. Grow a mustache (or better yet a beard), the new kids coming in that don't know you will think you are just another 'old guy'.

8. Insist that the other adults treat you as an adult leader, not a scout. Consider adding Mr. to your name.

I apologize if you are asking something about a room. Good luck.

I don't know if the Committee is okay with it, since it has not been brought to the table for action yet? The Tour Permit is only signed by one member of the Committee (and the Trip Leader) so is not necessarily a stamp of approval by the Committee.

Should the Committee ask for a copy of his driving record? As far as we know he has insurance - should we get proof of that too?

I guess one fear is turning this into an inquisition? Should all drivers be reviewed in a similar manner?

From the RSA website:

"The Rover Scouts Association is a worldwide brotherhood of men and women dedicated to perpetuating the history and traditions of Rover Scouting. Based on Scouting for Boys, and Rovering to Success, by Robert Baden-Powell, the guiding principles are the Scout Promise and Scout Law."

The RSA is based on the scouting philosophies of Baden-Powell. They are not part of the BSA, although they share some of the same heritage.

I am not sure that the BSA 'recognizes' organizations. Certainly, the BSA 'owns' the 'scouting' program in the USA and as such, may view the RSA as a potential competitor, albeit a virtually nonexistent competitor since it would appear that only a small number of RSA units exist in the USA.

Excuse me if I bore you all with my mundane questions, I am sure you probably discussed something like this in an earlier thread.

In the past three years, we have had one active scouter (serves in vital role on troop committee and attends most of our camping trips) get three speeding tickets (one each year) while driving to or from camping destinations. In each case he was transporting several unrelated scouts. Certainly, the scouts being transported know about the tickets as well as certain adults (SM, ASM, some CMs)but no one has made a big deal about it so it is not general public/troop knowledge. There has been some discussions with this adult following the first two occurrences - mostly light-hearted suggestion to slow down. After the third occurrence, it probably requires more action. Should the Committee get involved? Should the adult not be allowed to drive scouts in the future? If so, can parents choose not to abide by the prohibition (he is good friends with some of the other scout/families and usually transports them to activities)?

Sorry again if you have already addressed. If you have, just point me to the thread. Thanks for any advice.

Trevorum,

What is the 'patrol kitty' - is that like petty cash - who holds it? or is a separate account (like a scout account) that the troop treasurer maintains?

A few years ago, we had a camping trip that was heavily attended by 'parents'. The 'parents patrol' ate very well - lobster, steak, etc. while the scout patrols salivated from behind their hotdogs and hamburgers. It really was not a pretty picture, especially as more than a few scouts migrated to their parents for a piece of the feast resulting in a breakdown in normal patrol functions - the result being a large amount of scout leftovers being wasted. Not much later, an adult from the 'parent patrol' took his scout out shopping for the scout's patrol and ignored the patrol's shopping list, stocking up on some rather expensive foods that most normal kids don't eat. Our response to all of this was to put a ceiling on food costs of $8 per weekend camping trip. Patrols set their menu with this in mind and scouts shop with their parents knowing the maximum amount that can be spent. Parents are not reimbursed for amounts in excess of $8 per participant. If they want to buy and add a special Patrol treat not on the menu they can do so with the understanding that they will not be reimbursed for any costs in excess of the $8 per participating patrol member. This has taken away some of the patrols' flexibility but a scout should be thrifty.

How do you all handle food costs, reimbursements, dollar limits, etc? While this 'troop policy' seems to be working for us, I am wondering if there are better ideas out there.

Tent Stakes. It seems our troop tents are always missing stakes. On any given campout, we will have 30 or so tents in the field and at least 1/2 are missing their stakes. We do tent inspections before we leave and replace missing stakes, and yet at the next campout same problem. We pack them away in the tent bag (or think we are) but then they disappear. SPL, PLs, APLs, QMs, SMs all have their hand in inspections (depending on who is on campout) yet problem persists. I am thinking about adding the position of Stakemaster so that at least someone can be held accountable for the stakes. Should we just dispense with bagging the stakes with the tents and go to just a big community box of stakes that we just replenish as another camping consummable?

Anybody else have this problem and can offer a solution? Nothing we do seems to work.

Although the First Class Requirements says "serve as your patrol's cook", we allow them to serve as cooks for the other patrols (they are temporarily assigned to the other patrols for cooking only, and so it becomes "your" patrol for that purpose). The other patrols certainly don't mind having a cook for a change. That is for when bottlenecks occur and the scouts feel a strong sense of urgency about advancement. We make every attempt to plan out the cooking duties well in advance so that everyone has a chance before the end of their first year.