shortridge

Oh, gosh, yeah - Penney's was great! As a young Cub, it was the one place that I actually enjoyed my mother dragging me along shopping to, as I could hang out at the Scout counter and salivate over the Webelos neckerchiefs and books and stuff on display. The fact that you had to show your membership card made it like a top-secret ultra-cool deal. The other place we could get uniform supplies was a men's shop a few towns over. It's now a specialty shop dealing in big & tall and hipster clothes. Now, your choices are online, at the council shop or a friendly army/navy store roughly in the middle of the council.

I like John's ideas re: letters and training, but would suggest that both be done or overseen by the elections chairman, the youth officer actually running the show. They can be co-signed/co-presented by the adviser if necessary to reinforce the youth's authority, but the youth should be in the lead.

The Scoutmaster's job is to approve the candidates before the election, not veto candidates who've been chosen by their fellow Scouts. Those three Scouts were all duly elected, and should be put on the inductions path. No bending of the rules needed. What is needed is a firm phone call to the Scoutmaster from the lodge or chapter elections chairman, backed up by his adviser if necessary. The procedures are clear, and vetoes are not involved.

"YOU keep ACP&P. It is not a youth program item." I'm not sure I understand this comment, except in the context of not wanting the Scout to look like a lawyered-up smart-aleck. Anyone can go to Scoutstuff.org and buy a copy of Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures, no questions asked. A program resource is a program resource. There's nothing wrong with an SPL having a copy of ACP&P, a PL reading his copy of an SM Handbook, or a crew president possessing a copy of the Venturing Leader Manual. All can add to the youth's understanding of the leadership and administration of the program.

Ah, SSScout, is everything ... all right?

This is the primary reason many nonprofits have anti-self-dealing rules that prohibit officers or directors from making deals that would personally benefit them or a family member. If it smells bad, that's enough to harm an organization's reputation, whether or not it's all fair and above-board. Some deals are good for both the seller and the buyer. If a private college buys a tract of land for expansion from a trustee, that smells bad. But if that tract of land is the only available, and the trustee gave them a significant discount, it would seem OK. In this case, the deal may be over and there's nothing that can be done. But perhaps the treasurer's brother-in-law could agree to refurbish it, provide regular monthly maintenance, paint a troop logo on the side for free, etc. - good things to build goodwill. This would be the most worrying part of the situation to me: "They also refuse to show what is left in the bank nor a bank statement to the committee." The committee administers the unit on behalf of the chartered organization. They can't make effective decisions without knowing what the unit's resources are. And no one who has been living by the Oath and Law should be refusing to disclose details of the unit's financial health to those who have a need to know. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Bowl: Small, cheap metal pot/bowl with a bail and lid, from an Army/Navy store. Originally part of a "nestled" kit with a frying pan, but I leave the rest at home. Utensils: Lexan spoon from REI, or if I can't find it (which is usually the case), a plastic spoon from the grocery store. (I usually take along two in case one breaks or gets lost.) Pocketknife for cutting anything that needs cutting. Cup: Who needs a cup? I use my water bottles (Nalgene knockoffs and cleaned-out Gatorade and soda bottles). I drink mostly water anyway, being a sweaty hog. Confession: I bought a guyot designs squishy bowl and cup for a friend over the holidays, and I'm very tempted to snag one because of the compact potential. Weight usually isn't my problem - it's space, cramming everything into my pack.

"Campfire Napalm"? Please tell me that's not going to be the official term, even in joking.

I started as a Cub in the mid-'80s and went through the program from Wolf to Life, aging out at 18 by choice. I was an OA lodge vice-chief and Vigil member. The highlight of Boy Scouts was working on summer camp staff for five years and attending NCS. I never did Philmont or any of the high adventure bases, but had as much fun locally as permitted by law. My favorite times in Cubs were at day camp (archery, especially), the Space Derby and the two Webelos overnights we did in my back yard. After my freshman year in college, I drifted away from camp staff and focused more on getting a career started. Teaching knots and firebuilding don't translate well on a resume for a newspaper reporter. I'm involved on the edges of the camp staff Venturing crew now, working on documenting the history of the camp in preparation for its 45th anniversary. But I'm really focused on getting ready for my daughter's Girl Scout program going in the fall when she becomes old enough. There's a Brownie troop at her school, but no Daisies yet, so I'm probably going to be starting that up.

I have to admit I've never heard of this. In my experience, troops are pushing for Scouts to finish as early as possible, even if it means 13-year-old Eagles.

Spinning off per a wise ol' mod! Discussion in the Eagle problems thread about the difference between a District Director and a District Executive reminded me of my recent reading of my councils staff list, where title mania (and inflation?) seems to be widespread. I know we love those BSA acronyms, but this seems a bit much! In addition to District Executives, District Directors and Senior District Executives (with no notation as to what any of those mean in relation to each other), we have both a Director of Field Service and a Field Director. The latter apparently reports to the former, an assumption I'm only making because of the order of their names. We also have two Program Directors - not to be confused with the seasonal summer camp Program Directors, whom the Council Program Directors supervise in their capacity as Camp Directors at our two council summer camps. And a Director of Support Services - who was promoted from a job as Camp Director just as the job was renamed Program Director - oversees the Council Program Directors and Camp Rangers. (That last bit struck me as odd, because my time on camp staff taught me that support services were the behind-the-scenes things that didnt report to the program side. I also think it says a lot that camp and program is designated as "support" to the fundraising and administrative side.) But my broader point is this: If you were an outsider, say a parent, with a problem, scanning a staff list and trying to figure out whom to direct your query to ... how the heck would you figure it out? Yes, you could always call the council offices and ask. But it'd be far more user-friendly to have some self-explanatory job titles from the get-go, wouldn't you think?(This message has been edited by shortridge)

"CC" stands for Committee Chairman/woman. In my neck of the woods, a District Director is basically a District Executive with a fancier title - perhaps they're higher up on the paygrade, maybe they supervise entry-level DEs, I'm not sure. But that would be the right person.

Depending on Eagle92's age, those may be the neckerchiefs he was talking about. I had the multiple neckers when I went through Cubs in the '80s, and I'm now a parent. If I had a son, though, I'd definitely buy all-new neckerchiefs nowadays rather than try to dig my old ones out of my mother's attic!(This message has been edited by shortridge)

"An influential Troop Committee member, who also happens to be my wife..." 'Nuff said. While Facebook isn't contrary to Youth Protection, following the committee member's suggestion may be necessary for Family Harmony... which is definitely the more important thing.

My big question: What are their plans / your troop's plans with regard to summer camp? June would be too late in my neck of the woods to get Scouts signed up. And it would be a pretty lousy first year as Boy Scouts if everyone else got to go but the "new guys" were left behind.

Ain't a lighter just flint & steel with a wheel? ;-)

"In the end I informed her that she was looking at this the wrong way. I told her that she was looking at OJ as being a child of God, where as I was looking at him as being a little devil." LOL! I love this. May I use it in the future?

My first time in charge of an OA callout ceremony at summer camp, we didn't have drums available. I thought I had a perfect solution by running to the boatyard, located next to the campfire circle, and banging on a sailboat hull. When I returned, full of pride at my resourcefulness, I was greeted with a chorus of whispered queries from my fellow staff members: "What the heck were you doing banging on the sailboats?"

A match is a match is a match, natch. Good tinder is the most important part. And it can come from any one of hundreds of sources. My personal favorite is (are?) pine shats. They're in great abundance around these parts, and it doesn't take more than a handful to get the kindling going.(This message has been edited by shortridge)

I'm trying to imagine an "escape drill" from a campout at a local state park. You get to the cars, pack up and zoom home. Weather safety is just part of basic trip planning. You keep an eye on the forecast, you keep an eye on the weather, you take precautions if the weather turns lousy. No need to run drills unless there's something special about the area where you are or the trek you're on. (Backpacking vs. canoe camping, for example.) But that should be part and parcel of what you're already doing.

If you want to do an apples-apples comparison, shouldn't you take away the glove and the cleats? That's more like camping gear, IMHO. Crucial to playing the game, but not just to get dressed up in.

Fifteen merit badges is THREE PER DAY. That's insane, even counting for lots of prerequisites done in advance. "How can we get the attention of our Council Camping Committee and Advancement Committee that their program is damaging to youth?" Don't go back, and strongly suggest that the PLC write a letter of complaint.

"not really, they could still have the Boy Scouts of America strip just like the CS uniforms." Exactly my point - you go to a single strip and you gain all sorts of economies of scale by only producing one type of uniform. Otherwise, it doesn't make much sense.

I've never worked with Tigers. But that said, I've always thought of the "conduct candle" and other similar techniques as silly - a bribe for what they should be expected to do anyway. I first encountered a candle as den chief to a Wolf den. While the Cubs did enjoy the pizza, there was this undercurrent of "Oh, man, here we go again..." eye-rolling going on whenever the candle would be lit. Perhaps it was just the approach of the leaders, which was heavily laced with condescension. But I think as the kids get older, they really do want to be treated like adults, not little kids who need to be bribed. Modeling good behavior is still the best way to teach it. And in Tigers, as others have said, the adult partners are the ones who should be setting the primary example.

I really like the idea of all-day camp programs focusing in a particular area. Some camps just aren't set up for "trek"-type programs, and some older Scouts don't want that. But an intensive, in-camp program would seem ideal.