SSScout

Sounds like a lifer to me, Q. Just the sort of parent I like to see, one who is involved with her kids. Wouldst that more so should be. Welcome, forsooth, Mom2a, thou willst see much to like and much at which to shake thy head in amazement , herewith. Worketh thy tickets, thou Badger of Wood..... "I usta be an owl...."

Unfortunately been there, done some of that. In my case, I sent a formal bill for fees and costs to the Scout's parents. I itemized the expenses, listed the total cost, divided by the number of participants and then listed those that had paid and those that hadn't. Small letter detailing the need to be fair to all. The boy unfortunately did not come back. Or should I say the parents did not come back. This was after more than one occurance, and more than one drop and scoot. Never really had a chance to talk directly to the parents, they never contacted back. Sad, but it happens. Now in Boy Scouts, back in my halcyon days of yoooth, we (the Patrol) had a Treasurer who collected weekly dues, which were put forth for movie tickets, etc. If we went camping, the food money was collected BEFORE the trip, and we adjusted the menu accordingly as we bought. Now, I see/hear "grubmasters" buying and AFTER the trip billing the Scouts and asking for repayment. And asking, and asking. Daddy's checkbook is always there..

Climbing Wall outfitter, Bike hike on the C&O canal, ... Cabin Camp (in the cold snow) with board games and movie night ... hello?

"It Depends" Here'bouts, Dens meet at the convenience of the Den, whatever consensus the DL can collect, basement rec rooms, CO class room,, back of a Hardware store, I've even known the local Starbucks to host a Tiger meeting (adult partners love that!). Pack meetings are SUPPOSED to be hosted by the CO, but that might not happen if the CO is a "paper" CO (Friends of XYZ, etc.), in which case they might rent the local school AP room. I know an active Troop that is CO'd by the American Legion, meets and stores gear in the Episcopal Church. Works for them. When? Packs seem to gravitate to Friday evenings. It's only once a month, yes? Dens once a week is encouraged, my Webelos Den was wednesday right after school, in a local home, within walking distance of the school. Some Dens count the special trips ("go see it") as their meeting, which is certainly ok. Troops , I see any evening of the week EXCEPT Friday. No Troops meet on Friday, to my ken . Leaves Friday evening free for going camping early, I guess.

I was sub teaching at the local Elementary one day when the Town Mayor visited the school. It was great. Each class group had a separate audience with hizzoner. 120 or so kids in each of 3rd, 4th and 5th grades each heard a neat talk, with maps and numbers (statistics and charts were studied in class the week before!) and then they got to ask questions from the floor. The 5th's had some good ones. How to create a park? Could the stores in the shopping center include an ice cream store? Why not? If the town doesn't plow the snow, how come we still have school? (the county decides that and plows the snow). The school said they do this once a year. Seems like a good idea.

""~~And if no one steps up? So be it. Scouting will carry on."" Desert: I have been there, done that. When I took on the CM of the Pack, everyone applauded. My Good Wife became the CChair, seeing the benefit of Scouting to the son. We urged other parents to take the training, be the DLs, and so our Pack was active and participated in District things, got newspaper write-ups. Unfortunately, as I got educated about Scout things, we discovered our CO was only a "paper" CO. We planned a recruiting one year, and had 14 (!) possible Tiger Cubs attend, with parents. We spoke of the program, (parent partners), the fun, the possibilities. The kids had a good time, they all laughed and yelled. But at the end, not one family signed up, every adult said "too much time" "I cannot take that much time off work", "I do not know anything about Scouting" . No amount of explaining would persuade them. We had no Tigers that year. The next year, I enlisted the help of our DE. Pretty much the same result. We soon had 8 Cubs, 2 of which (with my son) were Web2s, 2 were Web1s. When Scoutson crossed over , wife said "no more Cubs" and so the Pack folded. Not letters, not phone calls, not personal appeals convinced any that they should (could) continue the Pack. I handed over all the Webelos material to the Webelos1 dad, and we never heard from him again. 7 plus years later, Scoutson earns Eagle, leads the VCrew, and attends Jamboree as a Staffer. We regularly see some of the exCubs in other Scouting venues and the local store .They remember me, much to my gratification. I'm ultimately satisfied we did the right thing by our family. I am now a Commisher and teach IOLS, among other things. I "do my best" to pass on my knowledge and legacy.

Oh, I like that: "LOCAL SCOUT FINDS CITY GOVERNMENT UNRESPONSIVE TO HIS QUESTIONS" Bob Woodward would be proud....

Agree with Pack. PWD should be managed by a separate party. Another Scout Troop, a Commissioner, CO Pastor, it should have a "official" check in, weigh in, hold area, track managers, etc. Ideally the CM and such should NOT be involved, except peripherally. "Well, it doesn't matter here" is not an acceptable rationale. Take the CM aside , with some others, not in public, and ask him about the appearance of things, not so much accusations of cheating (perish the thought).

Tourist in New York stops an older man on the street and asks,"hey, pops, how do you get to Lincoln Center?" The older man looks up, points his finger and says "PRACTICE! my boy, PRACTICE!" A good bugler should be able to reach 5 notes, and six with desire. Maybe not the 8th grader, but I can do it if you give me a week to get my lip back! Buy the Bach 12C mouthpiece, you'll be glad you did....

World Organization of the Scout Movement documents 600,000,000 service hours around the world. Have you listed YOURS?, Messengers of Peace specific, but let's see if Scouting for Food, Eagle projects, Troop projects might be included too! https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v...536914&fref=nf and https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v...type=3&theater

Go to District Round Table and talk it up. Trade with other Packs, sort out what they want to earn, etc. Talk to the District folks and offer your Pack to help organize a District Cub Field Day, and see how many you can pass around there!

Whoa, folks, let's not try to do WB on the internet. Let him go and see (hey, that's a Tiger thing!) and talk in person to a real human (we hope!) Patrol Guide....

Maybe a better question is : How long should a Smaster remain a Smaster? In my adult Scout career, I have known some who have been for 20 some years... Remembering back, I was a Scout for 7-8 years, and I can list 5 Scoutmasters . At least I thought they were Scoutmasters. Maybe they were Assistants? They sure acted like SMasters. I have no idea why one stepped down and another stepped up. Didn't matter to me, I guess, I only knew we went hiking and camping and bowling, etc. Loved all that etc. too!

Q: You're assuming that the timing was bad? Come to White Oak District Weds. Night! You know the address, I trust....

While I'm on the subject..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scouting_in_popular_culture

How did we miss "Room for One More" = Cary Grant and Betsy Drake adopt foster kids. The boys become Scouts, and the end of the movie is a very nice Eagle Court of Honor. How' 'bout that.

Add "Room for One More" = Cary Grant and Betsy Drake adopt some foster boys and girls, the boys join Boy Scouts to good effect.

Yep. Sometimes we hear about the good stuff.

My daddy n law is in Wilson, and my daughter is in Hillsborough. Sit right down on a elog at the ecracker barrel and jaw a spell...

"$30 for an overnight" ..... Well, down here'bouts, one might expect $5. fee each to camp in State Park. $10 food for four meals. Plus a dinner sub stop on the way up Friday night .... Gas shared to the State Park, we ask each Scout to give $3 or $5 to their driver to defray that expense. That could easily be $25. And now they get bowling and a movie? Sounds like a bargain to me. Wait til Junior has a prom date..... I totally sympathize. I think someone has it in for you for other reasons. I agree to get the CC's support and maybe also the IH and COR's. No SM should EVER be expected to be THAT charitable. Even if he was Scrooge McDuck helping with the Junior Woodchucks.

Aww geewhizzer shucks JoeBob, once a week is four emails a month. I come up with enough new stuff (activities up coming, training schedule opportunities, Park service possibilities, Eagle projects to support, fun silly stuff to keep up spirits AND a short list of our District Leadership) all the time. By spacing them out, I allow folks to glean what they want rather than slog thru a super long newsletter thing, which some organizations do. And I try to remind folks of the topics in the RT. Sometimes I can add something two days before that someone (you?) might find intriguing. I figure I must be doing something right, our attendance is up, and I get smiles from folks as they leave. I just wish our host venue would allow us to stay later, but the disciplined need to close up clean up and go home by a certain time I think MAY save some marriages!

Neato flip!

Much discussion about "High Adventure"..... Seven day treks on the Pacific Rim trail, Philmont, Northern Tier, White Water raft down the Youghihenny (sp?), all that stuff. What do your Scouts do for Low Adventure? Overnight on the USS Constellation? Movie nights? Bowling? Ten miles on a Saturday Morning? Fifty miles biking?

The folks that "discovered "tobacco didn't have the same attitude toward it's use that modern folks seem to espouse. See http://www.tobacco-facts.net/2010/11/american-indians-and-tobacco for a reminder. Also consider the TRUTH of the matter, via Bob Newhart: Some time in the early 20th century, the tobacco industry found many ways to improve their Market Share... additives, free samples (WW1 and WW2 the troops got free packs all the time) , getting glamorous people to use it in public (see any movie from the 30's thru the 50's) to "model" the behavior. It went from a ritual to help secure societal connections and spiritual meaning(!) to a easy way to prey on peoples weaknesses. It's physical effects have been well known a long time, but it's addictive qualities have been exploited only fairly recently. How to separate a person from their money legally (or not so) is always a topic of discussion, yes? Whether it is in addictive behavior (tobacco, alcohol, heroin) or convincing folks that one type of car is more desirable than another, or selling ad space on websites for people with a particular interest. For a tobacco company to create an ad campaign to ostensibly convince ANYONE, much less children or adolescents, that they should not smoke until they are "old enough to make an informed decision" is really putting the lipstick on the pig. We have laws making it illegal to drink alcohol until one is "of age". It is the same with tobacco products. If BSA is serious about "...keep myself physically strong..." then there can be no argument about accepting the promotion of a program designed by tobacco companies that ultimately does nothing but promote the use of tobacco products as an indication that the user is NOW a mature adult. BSA needs to point it's collective finger at it and say "hypocrite!" And "no thank you". Smoking cigarettes, chew, snuff is "right for men" but not for kids. What does that really say about it's use? My mother smoked three packs a day while I grew up. I have photos of her as a cub reporter for the old Boston Globe, holding a cig in her fingers. I was told she quit "cold turkey" while I was "in utero", but took it up again after my birth. When I was bout 10 , she asked me to go and buy her some cigarettes and I said no. Rather than punish me for disobeying her, she said, "okay". She then cut down to three cigarettes a day and eventually quit totally. She lived well and fully til her death at 79. As W. C. Fields said about his alcoholism, "I can quit any time I want to. I've done it hundreds of times". Let's not ignore the need for our boys to feel grown up, but not thru tobacco use...

Again, it depends (for BSA bureaucracy fulfillment) on how you are registered. Your tickets , I would think, can include anything you and your Guide can agree on that is your ballywick Scoutwise. Leave yourself open to whatever presents itself to you, you might be surprised the possibilities that become apparent when you start paying attention. Diversity can include anything that expands Scouting's reach into the modern world. I worked to establish a Troop at a local Mosque. I have known Scouters who worked to include more Latino kids, different religions, racially integrated units, educate Scouts about our other brothers, including economically challenged areas in recruiting, and international relations with other Scout organizations. Don't forget your silly hat.