shortridge

Thanks, everyone! This is the list of “stuff” that I’ve come up with. Not all of it needs to be available on Day One, but within the first year. Have I missed anything big? Tents Tarps Rope Cooler Storage bins Stoves Fuel Cook pots Cook pans Utensils Campfire grate Dutch Oven Firewood Fire Buckets First Aid Kit Bow Saw Axe Hand Axe Lashing Staves Troop Flag American Flag Patrol Flag Materials Flagpoles Flag Belts Summer Camp Deposit

I used to hold my OA flap on with two small safety pins. Done properly, you can’t see a thing.

Barry, I think we can end this particular line of discussion and agree to disagree on the meaning of “data.” For you it means life experiences; for me it means facts and statistics.

I’m still not seeing anything except some inartful phrasing on Bryan’s part to suggest that anything beyond Cubs is going to have a family-camping focus. The core Scouts BSA program is not changing. Besides: Most teens I know would rather lock themselves in their room for a year than go on “scheduled fun family time” with their parents and siblings.

Was I the only one who read this and initially had an image of the Lannisters pop to mind?

With respect, you’re jumping to conclusions and condemning people when the information available at this point simply doesn’t bear that out. We have no idea about the circumstances, training, supervision or equipment used.

That’s a model I’ve heard of but not seen in action. Do your Scouts all own and bring their own tents? Tents are the biggest-pricetag item, for sure. I’ve been looking at DIY tarp options, but the psychological factor of a first camping trip in February with “just a tarp” may be a lot to overcome. Thanks for the other comments!

JoeBob, since you’re clearly talking about me I’m going to respond. Barry cited data in support of his argument that girls are oriented differently. I’m asking for his sources. That’s all.

So you’re starting a new troop - boys’, girls’, or Martians’, it doesn’t matter. Can we talk about the nuts and bolts of startup unit budgeting? - What line items do you need to have in your first few years’ worth of budget plans?How do you cover equipment, training, camping costs, awards and recognitions, space rental ...? - What costs do your troop dues cover vs. fundraising vs. direct fees (eg weekend camping costs & summer camp)? - How did you go from having $0 in the bank to buying patrol camping gear and heading out on the first campout? What was that initial process

You said that the OA was “removing the Native American motif” and had “become just a service club,” past tense. I’m still seeing no evidence for that. Honestly, I’ve never been to NOAC, know very few people who have, and don’t see NOAC as representative of how the OA program is implemented at lodges around the country. Nor is regalia the driving element behind the broader themes and principles of the Order. Can you point to even one study or data set that supports your belief?

Whatever actual data you have proving Barry’s claim would be great, thanks. So you’re not talking about actual data, but anecdotal personal experience?

Can you share your data which says that girls are instinctively micro-oriented, etc.?

LOL. I see you have never met my daughter! Broad, sweeping generalizations like this help no one and are ultimately not constructive.

Aside from the AOL ceremony issue, what’s your evidence that this has happened?

They will have to start their own girls’ troop - it’s that simple. The existing troop will remain boys only because that’s how Scouts BSA works. They don’t have the option of taking in the girls when the leave Webelos. There could be a linked girls’ troop, but that’s not the same as what you’re discussing.

I’m listening. What are those reasons? Genuinely curious here. If registration is a financial issue, that I understand. Perhaps the unit can cover those. But objecting to taking training on some kind of grand principle? I don’t get it. My teenage daughter took YPT this summer to staff Cub day camp. It was a pain, but she persisted. She also understood the reason why. If she can do it, why not a parent of an active Scout?

It’s ~$33 and one hour of time. Fourteen-year-old summer camp CITs have to do the training. Why all the bellyaching? But let’s flip it around and present it constructively. Wouldn’t you like to know that all the Scouting volunteers outside of the troop that your Scout comes in contact with - running camporee activities, teaching merit badges, timing the district PWD, leading service crews on OA weekends, operating stations at the chariot race, cooking at a Cub family weekend - are all registered, screened and trained to keep our Scouts safe at the most basic level?

Depends entirely on your local area. 30 would be a large troop in my neck of the woods. edited: Just checked for accuracy. My district has six troops with under 16 Scouts (three of which are just single-patrol sized), two in the 20s, one in the 30s, one in the 40s, and one in the 50s. The average troop size is 22 Scouts.

Except that’s an entirely different program.

It’s more what you’d call “guidelines” than an actual rule. https://scoutingwire.org/marketing-and-membership-hub/social-media/social-media-guidelines/

According to the horribly written guidelines that Richard linked, we are apparently not supposed to even use email at all: ”Any Scout units that plan to use social media should share the following Internet safety guidelines with Scouts, parents, and leaders, and all Scouts should abide by the following Internet safety guidelines and personal protection rules: Keep online conversations with everyone in public places, not in email.”

Is your objection that (a) Scouts should not have premarital sex, or (b) that Scouts should use protection?

If you’re doing a 4-12 and can get up OK on Saturday, consider helping with special programs and events - Cub family weekends, PWDs, chariot races, Klondikes, camporees. They all would welcome somebody to run an activity / station for a day or serve on kitchen crew. Training also likely has a place for you with Saturday courses - SM Specific, YPT, den chief, LNT awareness, maybe helping with an IOLS or BALOO module. Maybe offer a special Saturday/Sunday afternoon course package designed just for second-shifters? You’re not the only one out there! If you’re a member of the OA, I guar

LAST VISITED September 21, 2007

Richard, I respect that you hang out here and take the abuse. But give me a goshdarn break! We cannot police all online, digital or social media contact among our Scouts. That is simply an impossible task. Even the attorneys in your shop have got to recognize that. We cannot force Scouts to let us in to their private Instagram conversations, copy us on text messages, or friend us on Snapchat - all arenas for a “private online situation.” If we approached their parents asking us to let us do such a thing, we’d be laughed out of town. This is happening in school, on sports teams,