shortridge

I worked with a first-year-camper program at a resident summer camp for several years, and found that many of the units were relying on the camp staff to teach their new Scouts the basics. Aside from some very, very elementary skills - square knots, pitching a tent - we were starting from scratch, on everthing from campfires to folding flags. We also had to teach the patrol method, something quite a few Scouts had no experience with whatsoever, having recently crossed from Webelos. That really irked me. However, we never signed off on any rank requirements ourselves. We were simply t

What type of activities did you have going on at the recruiting night? Or was it just a show-up-and-sign-up thing, with a chance for parents to ask questions of the adult leaders? To draw parents in, you've got to draw the kids in. To draw the kids in, you've got to have cool stuff - activities, items to handle, other kids to talk to and play with, etc. Check out this writeup on Kudu's site. It's written for Boy Scouts, but is entirely adaptable: www.inquiry.net/adult/recruiting.htm

I dislike that sort of stuff too on general principles... but do you necessarily want someone with an undisclosed history of bouncing checks and overdue accounts in a position of responsibility over, say, unit finances? If the ability is there to check for that kind of background, an organization would be irresponsible these days not to do it.

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Are you talking about the Google ads at the top of the screen? I don't believe siteowners have much control over what pops up there.

And you should have no resaon to expect that the owners want your opinion. But in this particular case, the owners do, as evidenced by the council's open call for comment on the Internet. The COL report makes it clear that this hasn't been a secret among TI supporters in the council. Unami Lodge was involved from the start, since last October, and folks have been spreading the word and holding open discussions, including a "Support the Home Team" promotional campaign. I'm sure they want to get feedback from more folks in the council. But they also seem very cognizant of TI's his

... or have an interest in the history. BW - that's also key to my argument. Of course, people who live in the area are not directly analogous to the Scouts and Scouters who support Cradle of Liberty. Just because I live next door to a 200-year-old house doesn't mean I have any more say in its disposition than the guy who actually owns the property. I haven't paid taxes on it or mowed the grass or fixed the plumbing. I *do,* however, have a vested interest in the neighborhood and the community - as do folks who may live in the next town over but research and document historic homes.

$79 will buy you 31 scrapple-and-cheese sandwiches. Now THAT's a breakfast! A wise man once told me the difference between a volunteer and a professional Scouter - a professional gets paid to do Scouting, while a volunteer pays to do Scouting. (Knowing what I do now, I'd quibble with the idea that scrambling after money, trying to start as many units as possible and pushing paperwork is "doing Scouting." It's important work, to be sure, but it ain't what I'd want to be doing.)

Sorry, I think I missed something here. What is a punching contest? And how is slugging someone Scout-like behavior?

It's not YouTube. It's the people who put up the videos and create search tags. You can do the same thing with an ordinary Web site - just put in the right keywords, and Google will sniff it out. There's a whole online business sector devoted to "search engine optimization." I don't pretend to understand any of it, but I'm sure other folks here do.(This message has been edited by shortridge)

They can still do the big projects at unit events! For what it's worth, I worked in a resident camp outdoor skills program area for five years, teaching or co-teaching Pioneering for most of those (and working as outdoor skills director one year). The biggest challenge I had was finding the time to work in the "big project." The majority of the Scouts who came to the class barely knew their knots, let alone lashings. While there were some very notable exceptions, many needed basic or remedial instruction that ate up a lot of the class time. Splices in particular were a big problem -

The potential year-round market for summer camps has always boggled my mind. While the economy's not great right now and businesses are cutting back, in good times, many BSA camps would be perfect for rustic retreats and corporate conferences - even meetings during the week. It might take some upgrades in the technology area (wi-fi in the dining hall?), but worth it. "Relax, rejuvenate, refocus" could be the slogan. # # # For many years in my council, there was a "resident camp director" who was both the year-round ranger (in charge of property management and maintenance) and th

With smoking a social and Scouting no-no these days, I'm curious if anyone out there has developed or learned of an alternative to cigar boxes for cigar-box banjos. Cigar consumption itself has been trending up, so I don't imagine there's much of a problem getting the boxes these days. More a question of whether they're acceptable.

Actually, there's nothing that restricts information to parents, family members, teachers or religious leaders. From the Guide to Inductions (at oa-bsa.org): The Order of the Arrow, recognizing the attractiveness of the unknown, utilizes the form of mystery. This shall not be interpreted, however, as justifying the withholding of any information regarding the order from any person legitimately interested in investigating its nature, purpose, or method. The key words there, of course, are "any information" and "legitimately interested." Does "information" refer to attendance at a

As far as point No. 7 in the Kleshinski letter - it's not uncommon, in my experience as a journalist, for nonprofits to get extensions for filing their Form 990s. It's not always a reflection of problems. Should they be filed on time? Well, yeah - councils should ideally walk the talk. But it doesn't always happen that way with big organizations.

My concern is the very fine line between discouraging and barring. Depending on who's doing the talking (i.e., someone with poor campfireside manner), sometimes there is no line. Best way to handle it, as others have posted, is to kick it up the line to the lodge chief, adviser or staff adviser. They should be well-versed in addressing questions of this nature.

Congratulations on your new gig. That's a great job! Please note that the question originally posed was not referring to resident camps, but to district or unit events. For the question you now ask, it seems to me the best place to go would be to your NCS-certified camp director and program director. They should have the current resident camp standards on hand, and be able to interpret them to your specific situation. (If your camp sends you to NCS for outdoor skills certification, ask this question, point-blank, and bring diagrams of the structures you'd like to build. You'll get so

I had almost the opposite experience of being vetoed - my Scoutmaster tried to put me up for election before I'd reached First Class. His logic was that I'd done all the requirements for 1C except my conference and BOR. We were a brand-new troop with not many Scouts eligible, and I can only suppose he wanted as many as possible to join. I spoke up at the elections and the team took me off the list. I was properly elected about two years later by my second troop. If I'd been elected at age 11, I probably wouldn't have stuck with it. At 13, the OA was great.

That was you. Maybe your parents were enablers like so many post 1960s parents. "Don't worry, we'll get a new one." If it means something to the kid and his parents haven't stressed that nothing is important enough to worry about, he'll hang onto them. Actually, my comment was a reflection on me, myself and I as a newly-minted Tenderfoot at my first summer camp. My parents are both pretty organized. But as a young Scout, I was interested in swimming, knots, firebuilding and survival, to the exclusion of almost everything else. Blue card? Yeah, I might have one of those somewhere. Did it s

what's wrong with encouraging our young folks to learn the art of record keeping and information management???? Eagletrek, I didn't say this - in fact, I agreed with GW. I just said that with all the things that can happen to a small piece of paper - and especially recalling my own airheadedness as a young man - it seems silly to put this type of requirement in place. The critical piece is that they have to "learn the art." The best way to teach them is to do it along the way, as the youth matures - not wait until the last minute to deny them a rank based on some made-up rule.

Turn it around - ask the folks in charge where they draw that authority from. They won't be able to back it up. Check out Appendix 2 of the Guide to Inductions, available at www.oa-bsa.org. It states nothing about vetoing the results of an election. The sample unit election forms also on that site have a space for the unit leader to approve nominees, but no space for a veto. === Serving in the OA and working camp staff kept me active in Scouting. Unfortunately, lodges and chapters vary widely in quality - as do troops, teams, packs, ships and crews. As someone else sai

So if the Scout moves and his box of blue cards vanish - but that never happens, right? - he can't earn Eagle? Or if there's a fire at his home? Or if they're accidentally chucked by an unknowing parent in the throes of a decluttering frenzy? Or if (as happened countless times during my childhood) the paper was reduced to a ball of flaky, feathery pulp after going through the washer and dryer? All sorts of things can happen to a blue card. That's a stupid rule (leaving the point of validity aside). General question: What other things does a Scout need to maintain for his "permanent r

No wonder the pack takes four days - a five-hour drive would wipe me out. I'd need a half-day just to recuperate. Sounds kind of crazy, if only because it'd be really tough for parents to commit to that type of a schedule without planning well in advance (like a year). I'd be very curious what goes on at these campouts. # # # This might be heresy, but I wouldn't automatically put school before Scouts. As a former homeschooler, there were times when I got more out of Cubs or Boy Scouts than out of my formal lessons. My parents also used the Cub program as a launching point for st

I'd be extremely uncomfortable in a situation such as this, and that would be enough to make me politely excuse myself and any youth I had responsibility for. Going back to ScoutDad's initial post - he referred to alcohol "likely" being served at the reception. Is that definite? (To me, the big shocker in this thread came from John-in-KC. Your OA lodge serves steak dinners?? Who's your chief cook, and is he or she available for other opportunities to provide cheerful service?)

Well, sure - the program has to evolve over time to accomodate cultural norms (ditching tents, anyone?). But stalking, tracking and trailing don't seem to fit that mold. There's nothing dangerous about those activities unless you get too close to certain wildlife, or are creeping through a forest in the middle of hunting season. They're not more environmentally destructive than backpacking or hiking. And they are applicable in a wide range of outdoor activities - from wildlife observation to search and rescue.