SR540Beaver

I know I'm in the minority on this, but I much prefer the functional bellows pockets over the old flat pockets.

Sherm, I agree with you and will add this......that the additional "information" is clearly expressed as such.

Mafaking, It was a simple question in relation to the last two sentence of kcs_hiker's post - "The difference is that 100 years, those 'weaker' boys either got stronger, or stopped participating. Today we don't demand that they get stronger, we demand acceptance of their 'weakness'." The question is if demanding acceptance (being civil) is a bad thing? A blind kid can't see. Do we accept his handicap and help him get the most out of the program or do we allow him to be the butt of jokes and hope he develops a thicker hide? It was not a criticism of kcs_hiker. It was a question seeking clarification. It was not a criticism of the boy led patrol method which I am a proponent of and believe is alive and well in the unit I serve as well as other well run units. And lastly, it had nothing to do with kudu.

So teaching civility is a "bad" thing?

kahits - "I guess the next question is if girls, under 18, who are an adult leader in the troop, are eligible for OA?" If she is under 18, she can't be an adult leader in the troop.

A little further investigation tells me that BOW is a program from the University of Wisconsin and they have events all across America and Canada. I have never heard of them. I believe you have to be 18 to attend, but this is something that might appeal to older Venturing Crew girls. I wonder why BSA doesn't support this as a partner. http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/bow/index.aspx Note: From looking at the links to programs in other states, it appears that it is offered thru many state's departments of wildlife or natural resources. Oklahoma is the only one I found where it is offered thru a Campfire USA council.(This message has been edited by sr540beaver)

The mention of Campfire USA got me interested in seeing what they offered here in Oklahoma. I found this upcoming annual weekend event for adults in the Tulsa area council. It is called BOW - Becoming and Outdoors Woman. Over the weekend, they have four 3.5 hour sessions where the participant choses subjects they want to learn more about. Things ranging from kayaking, canoeing, firearms, turkey hunting, tracking and dutch oven cooking to fiber spinning and pine needle weaving. The variety of subjects is astounding. http://www.tulsacampfire.org/Tulsa_Camp_Fire/BOW_files/BOW%20Brochure%202009.indd.pdf

BrentAllen - Note: They do include a trip to the mall. :-) It's all good. Everytime our troop does a Northern Tier trip, they always include a stop at Cabelas.

Barry, I already know the answer to this, but I'll ask it anyway. You ran a patrol method boy-led program didn't you? Do you think it is already dead or that BSA is trying to purposely kill it?

BadenP, Something that makes the job of getting folks to attend training of any kind even harder are the folks who like to constantly and consistently tell everyone they meet that BSA training is worthless.(This message has been edited by sr540beaver)

OUTSTANDING!!!

Mike, If Kudu or any other scouter chooses to teach a course "their way", they are not the perfect person for it. Of course the folks responsible for the training program at the council and district level want folks with knowledge, experience and expertise to lead training. That being said, those who are responsible for training and those who are on the training staff have an obligation to present the BSA training material as designed, pure and simple. Otherwise, BSA would tell the councils that they all need to design their own SM Specific, IOLS, WELOT, BALOO, etc. training and what you learn in council ABC would be totally different than what they are learning in council XYZ. A person being asked to train has two honorable choices. Follow the syllabus or decline. Scouting happens at the unit level. If you want to put your "flavor" on the program, that is the place to do it.

The government raising thir own credit limit is nothing new. Been going on forever.

One has to wonder, if you think so little of the current BSA training materials, why would you even entertain teaching the course? One also has to wonder why the training chair would consider asking ask you?

Note folks that the rumor doesn't state that girls will join Boy Scout troops and earn Eagle. It says that girls in Venturing Crews could earn Eagle. I find this hard to believe as a 16 year old boy joining a Venturing Crew who had not already been a Boy Scout and achieved a certain rank is also not elligible to earn Eagle......if I remember correctly. Anyone have a better handle on boys in Venturing Crews earning Eagle than me? Edited part. Without going into more detail, what I found was this. A Venturer who earned First Class as a Boy Scout may continue to work on Star, Life and Eagle while being a Venturer. That kind of leaves the girls out since they can't be a Boy Scout and earn First Class before joining a Crew.(This message has been edited by sr540beaver)

Where are you hearing this?

Who here collects weekly dues? I've been associated with three troops and none of them collects weekly dues. They all collect fees annually at recharter time.

Ed, Negative. "Receiving stolen goods is generally buying or acquiring the possession of property knowing (or believing in some jurisdictions) that it had been obtained through theft, embezzlement, larceny, or extortion by someone else. The crime is separate from the crime of stealing the property. To be convicted, the receiver must know the goods were stolen at the time he receives them and had the intent to aid the thief. Paying for the goods or intending to collect the reward for returning them are not defenses. Depending on the value of the property received, receiving-stolen-property is either a misdemeanor or a felony."

Glad you had a great time. We had a crew from our troop return a couple of weeks back and they had a blast. My son wen with a crew from our troop back in 2006 and he loved it.

http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/assets/resources/VolunteeringInAmericaResearchHighlights.pdf

Kudu, I'm beginning to have reservations regarding your council's training team. This whole thing with your syllabus differing from what everyone else knows and has learned is similar to the "Patrol Leaders serve at the whim of the Senior Patrol Leader" handout someone claimed was from Wood Badge at your roundtable. Do you have local folks dinking withh the national training materials?

Kudu, I'm beginning to have reservations regarding your council's training team. This whole thing with your syllabus differing from what everyone else knows and has learned is similar to the "Patrol Leaders serve at the whim of the Senior Patrol Leader" handout someone claimed was from Wood Badge at your roundtable. Do you have local folks dinking withh the national training materials?

BP, I started to say that I didn't agree with what you said, but I reread and noticed the word "average". One to two years is probably the average when you factor in Cubs. I've been active as a Scouter since 2002 and have no plans to go anywhere soon. I know many people in our council who have been in far longer than me whose kids have been out for 5 to 10 years. But taking Cubs into the mix, 1 to 2 years could indeed be the average. At the risk of attracting the ire of the "Wood Badge is bad" fellow, we specifically target Cub leaders for WB. TRoops tend to have folks who have been in the BSA longer and there is more continuity in the Troop. Cubs tends to be where the wheel keeps getting reinvented year after year with people dropping in and dropping out. We have found that the Packs become much stronger and the volunteers more dedicated to Scouting if we can get them into WB early and in the groove.

I own some UA LooseGear. It isn't all tight fitting, even though they like to show their stuff on muscular athletic forms. The article says it will be priced comparably to the current uniform. And as far as I know, there is no prototype yet. From looking at UA's site, I speculated that it might be based on their Tactical Gear as it is the only thing that looks anything like a current scout uniform. I suppose they could go the direction some country's programs have gone and do polo shirts.

Heck, our SM is one of those with a closet full of the ODLR uniforms and says he will buy the centennial uniform when they pry the old one off of his cold dead body. So we have folks clinging to their old uniform over the new and now we have the possibility of yet another new uniform. So much for being "uniform". We're going to end up looking like a banana republic army. (This message has been edited by sr540beaver)