SMEagle819

I read this post with interest, and read many intriguing ideas. My council is requiring all new adult applications that are submitted must not only have the YPT certificte with it, but also the training completed for the position the adult is applying for. So, if you have someone who wants to be an ASM, they must have taken and completed IOLS and Fast Start before they even turn the paperwork in. I find it very interesting that these must be complete even before the adult leader is allowed to join, and not have that adult come in, see if they want to do it, before spending the money and time for training. Don't get me wrong, I am not anti-training, but I think this mandatory requirement before even being allowed to join is impacting our numbers here. Speaking about long tenured adults, one of the committee members sat down at lst week's meeting and opened the conversaion up by saying, "Do you realize it as been 15 years since you became Scoutmaster?" I thought for a minute, and realized, that, yes, it has been 15 years; 15 years that have flown by. By the way, the committee member that told me this was the man that was Scoutmaster before I took the position, and he had been SM for 25 years! There are some of us that feel the obligation to stay around, and teach the scouts the skills necessary to be outdoors and a good citizen.

Thanks for all of the responses. Yes, we are trying to change the culture of the troop, so we are having some pains. I will get with the SPL next meeting to discuss the ideas.

Received an angry email from a parent, and am having trouble coming up with a response. The backstory: This past weekend, the troop went camping. We had 13 boys go out Friday night, with 2 more joining us on Saturday afternoon (they went to a merit badge class during the day). On Sunday, parent of one the the scouts that came out Saturday shows up approximately 9 am. They were there to pick up little Jimmy. However, little Jimmy is the QM for the troop, and we were no where near being ready to leave. Also, we thought we would need assistance getting everyone home with the 2 late arrivals from Saturday. The adult leaders told the parent that we were not finished cleaning up and packing, but may need parent to stick around to help transport. Parent then says that he has an appointment at 11am, and needs to get home. He will take little Jimmy, and a couple of others early to help with driving. In the hustle and bustle of cleaning up, 2 additional scouts came by and said they were leaving with parent and little Jimmy. Now, mind you, I should have stopped what I was doing, thought a little bit, and said to them that no ones leaves until we are finished with clean up and pack up. But, I didn't, and they were gone. About 45 minutes later, another adult asks where one of the scouts that left is, and one of the nearby scouts said he left. Remeber, that little Jimmy is the troop QM, and now I realize that the 2 scouts that left were patrol leaders for the patrols that were there. This one of the ASMs to call the parent who left, and parents of the PLs who left to find out why they left, and if they will come assist when we return. I did not hear the answers to that question, but had a brief chat with the ASMs and decided to have a clean up night at Monday's meeting, rather than going to a local establishment for game night (which was listed on the calendar). I did not send out any reminder emails before Monday's meeting about the change in plans. So, when it was found out that plans were changed, some of the scouts expressed their displeasure, but then went about the clean up task without further complaint. Needless to say, the irate email I received was about the change of plans without notification. I would like some suggestions on a response, as I am having difficulty coming up with something "PC" to say. I do admit that I was wrong, and should have sent an email regarding change of plans, and yes that will be worked into my response as well. Let me know what you think...

Here an interesting response to a question I sent to our DC. In our Council newsletter, sent electronically via email, there is a place for each district to have news and announcements. In my district's section, the was an announcment that if you did not pick up your planning packet at a large meeting in June, your UC has it. Considering we lost our last UC due to medical reasons, I haven't seen or heard from one in almost 2 years. The previous UC was good; he would come by almost every month, talking to the adlt leaders, and observing quietly in the back of the meeting hall. I can honestly say he was what I believe what a UC should be; a "friend to the unit." Anyway, I sent an email to our DC, and actually received a quick response. Here it is: Mr. SMEagle819, Sorry to hear that you have not had contact with a Commissioner in 2 years. Mr. UC-4-YOUR-UNIT is your Commissioner at this time and his phone number is 555-1234. He picked up his assigned Units packets last week. Please give him a call and leave him your contact information to call you back to set up a time to get it to you. A phone call will be faster. He does not get a chance to look at e-mail every day. His e-mail address is UC-4-YOUR-UNIT@whatever.com. Let me know if you needed any additional help. Thanks you for Supporting Scouting, District Commissioner I wonder if this new person will respond as quickly as the DC.... I'll keep the group updated.

Here is my "interpretation" (uh-oh, someone interpreting the forms for their own good) of the Tour Plan: 1. Only need 1 registered leader present at all times that has YPT training; this means you could have 1 trained leader, and a few parents who are not registered go on your trip. However, a parent can take YPT and not be registered as well. 2. Only need 1 person on the trip with the Weather training. Looking right at the form, it does not state "registered leader" for this training. Again, a parent who is not registered can take this. 3. Only have to be trained in Safe Swim/Safety Afloat if you are doing those activities on your trip. I will give you an example: we just went on a short hiking trip with 16 scouts. However, only 3 adults could go; 2 parents, and me, trained SM. To the letter of the plan, we were covered because there was one registered adult with YPT and weather training, along with 2 other adults. The 2 parents do have scout volunteer experience; 1 was a CM until his youngest boy moved up in February, and the other parent was an ASM at his son's previous troop, but his job (due to travel) is unable to be a "full time" ASM with us. Both of these parents are not registered with the troop, but have some scouting experience. This is slightly differnet than your situation, but is sounds like your adult that went on your trip are registered with your troop. In my "interpretation" of the form, one does not need to have IOLS in order to be the leader or go on a trip with the Boy Scouts.

Thanks, UC. If only it was presented in that manner, meaning that in the training for recharter, and some notes, emails, flyers that come out around recharter time, if it isn't in, your unit will be dropped. I have no problem with getting the paperwork on time, and I have no problem with the people who volunteer extra time when the physical paperwork (the ones with the signatures) are turnedin. The only issue I have is the amount of time it takes to get the "paperwork" back (meaning memebrship cards and hard copy of the charter). BTW, I just checked the Internet Advancement page since I had some to enetr. It shows updated now. However, our XO (Reverend of the COR) has been replaced by our COR. Now our XO & COR are the same person.....

Much like 5year, I "check" the status on the Internet Advancement website when I go in there to enter ranks, MBs, etc. It would show those that did not wish to stay involved if the recharter has been processed by the council. What I understand about the process, if you have your paperwork in before the expiration date, the unit is OK, even if the recharter is not "complete" in the system. But, I do get asked every once in a while by the scouts (and some adults) where the new membership cards are.....and yes, many of them promptly go thru the wash!

My council has been using the internet rechartering for approximately 4 years. We turn the paperwork portion in in December; we are lucky to see membership cards and other info by April. I can only imagine it will be longer this year with the YPT requirement added for adults. I get somewhat frustrated when the units are doing most of the work by using the internet recharter; how can it take so long for them to be processed?

I'm with you Abel.... We had a really active one the past couple of years; he would show up at meetings at least once a month, talk about upcoming events, pass on info not picked up at RT, etc. This was the first UC that I considered "a friend of the unit" since taking over as SM in 1997. Before him, we might get a visit once a year, never really knowing who that person was, and that was for Friends of Scouting. This put a bad taste in many of the leaders mouths about only seeing district people when they wanted money. Unfortunately, our very active UC had to step aside due to medical reasons. I haven't seen or heard from the new one since the previous one stepped down in late October, 2010. To be honest, I really don't know who are new one is...maybe I need to go have a cup of coffee with the DC to find out what's happenin'.....

Saw a report on this morning's new about the GSA cookies. GSA is reducing the types of cookies to 6 kinds this year, all best sellers. The report also stated that the cookie sale is a $700 million profit for the GSA. While I realize this is put on by their national office, does anyone have any idea what the BSA popcorn brings in? I agree that the BSA has priced themselves out of the market with the popcorn. Smaller, cheaper packages would se1l much better than the $15 boxes and $50 tins. We are not participating in the sale due to the expense and headache of paperwork, picking the product up, and the time of year it is sold (in the fall when all of the schools are doing fundraisers).

Well, I just turned in 3 "old" Tour Permits for our trips for the next 3 months, and nothing was said to me that the incorrect form was used. I followed something that was just struck down by the Supreme Court, "DA,DT".....

Part C can be found by following RichardB's link. I'm wondering if National is reworking Part C to make them valid for 3 years (36 months) for those 40 and under, like the old version? I know that parents would appreciate it, as well as the scouters that fall in the 18-40 threshold. However, that doesn't apply to me anymore....

I really like the turn this discussion has taken... Like HICO, I will let my experience speak for my dedication to scouting. I once wanted to take WB when I was younger (early '90s), but did not take the opportunity. Wish I would have taken it back then, being a young adult. Now, with many more years under my belt, and "management training" courses taken thru work, I don't think I would enjoy the WB21. Also, like some of the others, it seems like the course offered in my area is staffed/run by the "good old boy" network (even though I am now "old," but maybe not a good old boy?), with the people who have either taken it or staff it seem to be cliquish. Taking another week vacation for scouting would not sit well with the better half, either. I enjoy what I am doing, and interacting with the kids. Not sure how much better taking WB would make scouting for me at the present time. However, I going to keep an open mind about it....

Eagle92, Sorry, but I will still have an active registered Eagle Scout sit an an EBOR if he is available and in the "dead zone" range of 18-21. The way I have been doing it is having 3 committee members plus the young adult Eagle, thus creating a full board plus 1. This is why I do not agree with national that young adults can only be registered as ASMs.

Like Eagle92, I also grew up during the '80s, and can recall scouts sitting on BORs. Looking back in my Scout Handbook (yes, I still have it), the "Scoutmaster's Conference" was called "Personal Growth Agreement Conference." Now that I am an SM, I still have older, "higher ranking" scouts sit in on BORs. Not all of the time, but most of the time. It gives the older, more expexperience scout a view from the other side, and lets them interact on a different level with the scouts that are being reviewed. Also, I have had young adult (18 +) Eagle Scouts sit on an EBOR. Actually had one sit on a board back in August. He gave a different perspective to the adults sitting on the board, as he had earned his Eagle last September (this Eagle was 19 at the time he sat on the board). He asked some good questions, and was very supportive of the eagle candidate. IMHO, I believe that a young person 18 years or older should be eligible to be classified as a commitee member if they so desire. Having the boys, especially those of higher rank and leadership positions, sit on BORs are definitely an asset to the process. We have "buy-ins" from the committee and CO to continue to operate this way, so I'm going to keep running with it.