slontwovvy

Our PLC plans the outings. After it's been proposed, one of the older scouts and one of our younger scouts takes up the planning with the help of an adult, making reservations, planning program, etc. I don't know, I think they're pretty neat trips. We've gone caving, on canoe expeditions, and gotten no more than 9 boys.

I'm not sure what you're looking for exactly, but try my camp staff is organized in a crew structure. Try pooftah220@yahoo.com.

Or, going off the clean soap idea for clean scouts, do the same thing with the ladies stocking and tie it to a milk jug. At the bottom corner of the milk jug on the side opposite the handle, impale the jug with a golf tee, and tie the tee to the handle, then tie the handle to a tree. Best handwashing method ever.

Very true, eisely. They need to know they're going to be doing it, but at the same time, too much preparation doesn't, in my opinion, give an accurate view of the troop. Practice can be good, but off-the-cuff (for those boys that feel confident doing it) is a great way to go.

OK, we are located in a small city in Wisconsin, in the general middle of the state. Thanks for the help.

Lately, our troop has been having a problem. We cannot seem to get boys to come on our campouts. I realize not every weekend will work for everyone, but out of forty plus boys we'll get only seven or eight to come. We have patrols plan the outings for the troop, with guidance from an adult, each patrol doing two outings a year. Still, however, our attendance is low. Any suggestions to really rev up outings, neat things to try or whatever. I could really use some help.

For a parent meeting, it works incredibly well to have three boys come in, a new scout, a 13-14 year old one, and a senior one (adjust age where appropriate). Have them give a short talk about the troop from their perspective--favorite trips, differences between Boy Scouting and Cub Scouting, etc. The parents get a boy's opinion of what to expect and feel more comfortable about the older boys being around his or her son ("but he's in high school"). This does wonders.

Congratulations from a mere junior member.

A couple of suggestions: First off, try talking to the other pack's leader about your concerns. If he is a true Scouter, he'll understand and try to help you out. Eighty boys is likely rather unmanageable--try suggesting that he move some of his cubs over to yours to help ease the load. Secondly, let your commissioner handle it. I love those guys!!! (Sniff Sniff) Thirdly, have the cubs currently in the pack recruit their friends, maybe those that aren't in any pack, because we all know there's a lot that slip through the cracks. A couple of questions though: how many bo

In our lodge, you have three opportunities to be called out if you are duly elected to OA--OA Spring Conference, summer camp (if you go to one of our council's camps), and OA Fall Conference after the summer camp season.

No, yarrow, you just need to work on one of the awards. There is no hierarchy or ranks within the Hornaday program. Good luck to whomever (you or someone you know) is attempting this.

We had a similar problem with the troops in our town. Eventually, the other troop just couldn't keep up with the number of kids its 5 feeder packs were giving it, so two feeder packs switched to feeding to our troop. Now they have a more manageable number of boys, and we are no longer lacking for members. Things do even out. No troop, in my experience, can go long with a membership above 70.

Our esteemed Mr. Long is right. It is for these reasons that my troop is coming back to backpacking after a long hiatus. After our first boy went to Philmont (just this past summer) we began to realize what it could do. He came back self-confident, and ready to take on any leadership opportunity in the troop (in his case, senior patrol leader). A little weighted-down hiking can do wonders.

I second Dedicated Dad's praise of sctmom. From what I have observed during my years of scouting in the troop and on camp staff, I have not found too many female leaders like sctmom. This is not being stereotypical, but it seems most female leaders tend to lose sight of the fact that Scouting is supposed to be fun and enjoyable for the boys that participate in it, as well as practical and applicable to future and present life. As a staff member, I have seen parents (more often than not, scout mothers) protest to our lifesaving instructor that he was making lifesaving merit badge "too har

Okay, I think it's time someone else enters the fray...so here goes... PC, in my opinion, is attempting to get through life without offending anyone. It is seeking to get through life without taking a strong attempt to change anything, to go along with the crowd and avoid conflict. It may have been started with a good thought, but that thought was flawed. Our world needs disagreement, conflict. Without people attempting to disagree and to change society, without people rising above the PC-ness, or the lock-step cadence it has become in today's day and age, nothing will get done.

We have a few ASM's in that age group. Generally they help when they come back from college. They usually come back to see our Scoutmaster (an institution in our troop) and to help on the high adventure stuff.

Also, you might want to check for the amount of personal attention each boy receives. In some troops, a small portion of the boys get all the attention while many slip through the cracks. You should also check their outing calendar--is it planned out for at least six months in advance? Is it varied? Though troops with little variation in outings can be fun, they usually have a higher drop-out rate due to boredom.

We had the same problem, though we seem to have alleviated it somewhat. We use games only as a gathering tool, before the meeting. The games are the choice of the people who show up (usually the same crowd each week). We figure if they're the ones doing it, we should make them happy. Our real problem was the openings and closings. We did the Scout Law, Scout Oath and the Pledge of Allegiance exclusively. Now we offer a small prize to the patrol that comes up with the best opening and closing for each month (each of the four patrols is assigned one meeting a month). The prize might be noth

Our troop is very lucky, as, out of 13 boys who have completed eighth grade, 8 of them have been counselors at one of our council's summer camps. This is usually one of the experiences of their lives, as they come back with so much enthusiasm and so much counseling/teaching abilities that they are more than prepared to help other boys in the troop. This is not for everyone, but all the things gained are priceless.

Generally, our troop has the policy of not allowing anyone who has not completed the eighth grade to come along on the high adventure outings. This is understood and explained to every new scout who enters the troop. Not only does this provide them with something to look forward too, but it also helps with the level of physical and emotional readiness. High Adventure is supposed to be physically, sometimes emotionally exhausting. Thus, we find that occasionally "holding boys back", they are more eager to participate later and are more well-prepared for what they face.

This is from a troop standpoint, but here goes. Generally, we prefer that prospective Scouts check out a couple of troops in the area, if there is more than one. We've found that each troop has its own "flavor." If Webelos feel comfortable there, they will stay; if they don't there's always another troop to check out. They may not be with their friends, but we find that more continue with Scouting, which is the ultimate goal.

Generally, since we've found ways to maximize on high adventure opportunities close to home, $300 seems very exorbitant (but I've never been to Isle Royale, so I wouldn't know). Usually, though, the troop provides about $100 subsidy for each boy (it's part of their annual fundraising efforts). We might do smaller fundraiser to gain $50-$100 dollars for each boy participating, but for the rest of it, they're on their own. We found that for in-state (we're from Wisconsin too) $300 is an absolute max (that's what it cose for our week-and-a-half long trek through the Apostles by sea-kayak, inc

Since you appear to be headed out in that area anyway, try the Chippewa Valley Council's Camp Phillips near Phillips, WI for some great high adventure. Another idea is taking a sea kayaking trip to WI's Apostle Islands for a week or two--my troop did it last year, and it was incredible. So much fun, and cheaper than the high adventure bases.

Our troop has tried many things. We give the older boys an annual 4 day flatwater canoe trip where they do little but cook, canoe and explore (last year we visited the Turtle-Flambeau Flowage in Wisconsin, the best trip our troop has ever been on. We've gotten them on board a Coast Guard cutter for a weekend of patrol. We've gone climbing at a climbing gym, offered them a group trek to Philmont, etc. Almost all of them work on a summer camp staff, where we have a special agreement with the camp director. We even give them a cabin all their own at a troop winter camp. It's helped them to l

I don't think this is what you're talking about, but Mafeking was the African city defended by Baden- Powell during the Boer Wars...