shortridge

The ceremony team usually recognizes all Eagle Scouts in the audience and challenges the new scouts to climb the trail to Eagle. I like that idea. Just make sure there are some Eagles in the audience before you ask them to stand up...

That's because it's so easy to make fun of! Seriously, I live a little more than two hours away from D.C. It gets hot and humid here, too. But I have never sweated as much as I did one summer in Washington. For people who aren't used to it (and don't pay attention to the warnings), it can be a knockout punch.

FYI, there was a good thread on Knights of the Round Table program ideas in the spring: http://tinyurl.com/7ckrak

Guess I need to better understand my role here. Do I just implament the CD's camp ideas or what exactly. First, hand off those fundraising and attendance-boosting ideas to the camp director, and let her run with them. That's her job. If you want to help by dressing up in costume or something, go ahead, but you've got enough on your plate with the program. Don't burn out. The CD-PD relationship, in my experience, can be complicated, especially if the two don't get along personally. The best way I can think of to describe it is that the CD is like a CEO, in charge of the entire camp, w

Do you always worry about things that haven't happened and may not ever happen? With all the possible things that could encompass how would you ever get anything else accomplished? Mr. White, C'mon - that's a straw-man argument, and you know it. Folks here aren't being worrywarts. We're just trying to figure out how these new rules and form will affect the operations of the units, districts, councils and camps that we serve in a variety of ways. There's a big difference between worrying about things that haven't happened and discussing things that will happen. The use of this fo

If you take on this job, be prepared to start NOW, as in yesterday. Don't just pick a theme and wait until the spring to start recruiting, planning, budgeting, etc. Get that in gear today, and your life will be much easier come the summer. Good luck, and have fun!

The only reasons it would take that much time are if (a) the MC or coordinator was totally unprepared or (b) the MC or coordinator or CM or SMs prattled on unecessarily. The most poorly-done ceremonies I've seen were a result of the latter. Gag and handcuff the adults who love the sound of their own voices, enjoy cracking jokes and retell inside-baseball stories. Think about it from this point of view. What are the crucial elements to a crossover/AOL ceremony? You need to summon the boys and parents on to the stage, line them up in the right order, have a moment of serious reflection (a s

Mr. White, You wrote: "Evacuate" and "recieve treatment" are not the same thing. I agree, but "evacuate" can mean a great many things depending on the context, and the great brains who developed the form didn't give us any sense of what they were thinking - not yet, anyway. I'm glad that you understand it, but the rest of us sure don't. The 30-minute standard only makes sense in the context of receiving medical treatment. That's what matters in an emergency situation. Evacuating to Location X won't do the patient a darn bit of good if there's no medical help there. Here's a

By not clarifying the health standards - though I'm really hoping they are in the near future - National leaves open a ton of loopholes and questions that are going to be answered very inconsistently on the local and council levels. My biggie: What about a day hike in a backcountry area? It's not backpacking, but the Scouts are still more than 30 minutes away from medical care, still engaging in vigorous physical activity. Whether these standards are uniformly applied or not, the mere fact of their existence on the health charts means obesity will be an in-your-face topic for Scouti

Sounds like your core issue here is going to be time management, whether or not you have a theme. The theme is almost incidental. By your estimate, the crossover will take almost an hour, meaning the bulk of the pack will be largely bored for that time. That's a really long time for a Wolf to sit still and quiet. But it shouldn't take five minutes to cross each Webelos over. Combine it with the AOL presentations, cut out any self-serving stupid speeches by the CM or SMs, make sure the Scouts and leaders of the incoming troops are well-organized (practiced at quickly swapping out the eps,

Bob White asked: "In your summer camp is there a program or campsite area where yo could not be evacuated from in in thirty minutes be on your way by vehicle or air transport to medical a medical facility?" First of all, if I understand what you're asking, I think your interpretation differs from that of the other posters here. I don't understand "emergency evacuation" to mean that you're carried by other Scouts and Scouters to a site where you are met by an ambulance. The term "ground transportation" that describes the method of emergency evacuation generally refers to vehicle travel, no

The "emergency evacuation" requirement is worded EXTREMELY poorly. It could mean any of a dozen different things, and doesn't give leaders who will have to put it in practice much guidance. That said, I'm 20 pounds over the allowable limit, and well out of the recommended range - that's what comes of sitting at a desk all day. This will be an excellent motivator.

Another treat we found are little light sabers: stick pretzels dipped in red or blue chocolate with the ends wrapped in foil. That's a great idea! Just prepare the cleaning crew to be prepared to sweep up LOTS of pretzel pieces and chocolate crumbs...

As Kudu and others have recommended, I've gotten my hands on both a 1950s-era Patrol Leader Handbook and Scoutmaster Handbook. Both have a ton of great stuff. I was struck by one thing in particular - the references to Boy Scouts starting at age 12. Scouts these days can join at 10.5. I was wondering if anyone here knew when that age limit changed, and why. (I have my theories, but no facts.) That year and a half can make a substantial difference in boys' maturity and development. Any ideas or insight?

You might want to look at doing text in the distinctive "Star Wars" up-scrolling style, rather than getting permission to use a copyrighted image, which can often be exhausting. Something like this might work, white text on a black background with some silvery dots for stars: BLUE & GOLD STAR WARS PACK XXX FEB. 20 2009 (Sorry, I was trying to get those centered. But you can imagine what I mean.)(This message has been edited by shortridge)

Use a theme, get energetic volunteers who are willing to be a bit silly, and activities and events will naturally fall into place. Themes that I've worked with at residential Cub/Webelos camps include Knights of the Round Table, Pirates of the [insert name of local body of water], Wild West and Space. With a little creativity, backstory, costumes and decorations, even the "standard" camp activities adapt themselves very easily to the themes, which makes each year a new experience. Campers can fire their ray guns (BBs) at the alien spaceships (balloons) to keep them from taking off, w

BobWhite, The person responsible for managing the event (the camp director) said he needed help. SctDad is offering help, not trying to take over the program. I get your broader point, but those concerns seem to be null and void in this case.

Regardless of safety issues (I believe teaching fire safety, basic first aid and calling 911 is important at all ages), there's the basic issue of progression at work here. If the Bears know all there is to know about firebuilding (or think they do), that's one less thing for them to look forward to in Webelos and Boy Scouts. The achievements are a basic guideline for age progression. They make sense, too, generally speaking.

BobWhite wrote: "Are you the DE for that diostrict? The District Chairraman? The Cub Activities Chairman for the District? A member of the District Activities Committee? "Wanting to see change and being willing to help if called upon is one thing. Imposing your help when uninvited or attempting to change things not within your authority is something else entirely." So only people already "in the club" are allowed to offer critiques? If you're not a member, you can't volunteer? Sorry, but that's just a silly way to think about it. It sounds pretty clear like the district or council

SctDad, I think most folks think of "day camp" as a five-day program during the summer - that's certainly what my experience has been. I admit I was surprised to find out that "day camp" includes one-day events. In my council, there are occasional one-day events for Cubs during the year - in the fall and spring. Those aren't called "day camps," and thus don't require an NCS-certified director. They're usually run by miscellaneous volunteers, Campmasters and the camp staff Venturing crew. Since you say it was held at a council camp, there may be deeper issues here. The shooting s

But other than that there is really not much you can do. You have no authority in the selection or development of the camp director. You have no say in the purchase of equipment, you have no say in the planning of the camp activities. If you volunteer at a high enough level (on the camping committee, as camp director, etc.), you could! Like John-in-KC, I would doubt that this fellow was sent to the right NCS course. Making sure he got proper training would be the right first move. What were the other primary problems, besides a lack of familiarity with CS programs and old equipm

A lot of it has to do with how local (and large) your newspapers are. Once you get above the 30,000-circulation level, you tend to see less community coverage and more broader regional coverage. A lot of larger metro-area papers have zoned editions - a Local or Neighborhoods section for a particular county - but those are going the way of the dodo. One thing that works in a Scout group's favor is that weekly papers, which tend to have the most intensely local focus, are also the most widely read. Just make sure to get your stuff in well in advance.

AP - Can I ask what those ticket items were?

AP - Can I ask what those ticket items were?

In my county, there are seven local, weekly newspapers. Only one regularly publishes Scouting writeups submitted by a local troop. All the papers run a ton of community news items - business openings, knitters' guild meetings, library programs, Lions Club service projects - so my assumption is the other units simply don't bother to send them in. That's unfortunate, especially since newspapers these days are more desperate than ever to fill their pages. Ad revenues are shrinking and staffs are being cut, so there are fewer people to do roughly the same amount of work. A local editor w