SSScout

Welcome, Scout. Good to have a few young'uns to off set the old'ns around here. Feel free to speak your mind. Good practice for when you run for Governor ;-)

Could be has to do with this: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/financeimpact/pdf/Fiscal_Policies_and_Procedures_for_BSA_Units.pdf or this....http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/booster_club_field_directive_6-27.pdf or perhaps this.... http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/02-0041.pdf But I was enjoying the banter about who gets what from whom.

Amen and dittos and absolutely to what has gone before. Tigers are a SCOUT and his ADULT partner. Texting is not an option. Pull them out of their comfort zone. Give them a task, as Denner, or as Scout. Each pair needs to be in charge of a "go see it" or Den meeting activity or somesuch. Give them expectations, and encourage them to meet those. Tiger Den should NOT be a spectator sport. I remember a CSDC I led the Nature Pavilion. One day we worked on Leave No Trace. Each boy got the LNT card, and I told stories and we went over the rules on it. I then sent the boys out in pairs for three minutes to pick up "everything that was NOT left there by God", and they collected a pile of trash! When the boys went out, one lady was IMMEDIATELY on her cell, complaining to who knows who about "I can't believe how much work I'll have next monday, I can't believe they talked me into this Den walker thing. Why couldn't SOMEbody else do this? Jeremy doesn't need me here, he's fine by himself. It is SUCH a waste of my time and..." then when the boys circled back in, the phone went away. *sigh* If they don't have a connection with their boy by the time he is 10, they won't have one when he is 18.

Popcorn is always an option. It is tailored for , as has been said, a"donation" with a "thank you" gift. Sort of like GSCookies, (better value? better handled? another topic). I know lots of BSunits that let the Cubpacks do the Popcorn (no competition there...) and the BSTroops do other things... sell Christmas trees, holiday wreaths, candy, campcards, flag display putup/takedowns, parkcars/do ice delivery/pickup trash at the county fair, spaghetti dinners, car washes, parade marshalling, mulch sale/delivery/installation, yard work, pet care/walking, .... Then we get into the definition of what is "service" or "good turns" versus "getting paid for it".

Yes-in-deedy... welcome to the ecrackerbarrel. The cocoa is there on the virtual table, next to the pepperoni slices. Don't step in the gazonga, and have a virtual seat. We'll get acquainted in due course. First bit of advice: Don't overstretch yourself (learn to say no with gratitude). Secondly, family comes first. Other than that, KiS, MiF!

Set the example. Adult leaders should wear them too. I see quite a few at my RT wear none, or merely WB beads under collar. Rarely the full necker. District Committee opted for 36" triangle neckers for District level folks. I wear it, fits and looks good. Now if all the District level folks would wear them...

Welcome back , KT. I would second the suggestions already made and add some more. If you attend a faith institution (or member of a service club, or ???) , check to see if they have a Scout unit, and if not, look into starting one. Make yourself known to the congregation (newsletter, deacons, elders, etc.) and find some like minded Scouty folks. Go to the Council website, find your appropriate District, get the names of your District Key Three and attend the next Roundtable. I know you will find your niche.

I would refer thee to the "Declaration of Religious Principal" on the back of your Adult Application.....

Well, that was refreshing. We get to complain about nothing, rather than something....

Boy Led: When the Troop plans an activity, theSPL tells the PLs at the planning meeting when, what and why. The PLs tell their Scouts to tell their parents that they (the Scouts) need cars & drivers for the activity. The PLs come back to the SPL and say, hey, our Patrol can't go because we have parents that can't drive (need gas money, gotta work, car broken, too small, etc.). SM and ASM helps SPL find help with other Patrols. I think this is what is called "Boy Led". If the boys want to climb Old Rag, get them involved in planning the 4 hour drive there, and back....

But it IS a sitting service. I woiuld welcome any boy into the Troop. Teach him what it means to be a Scout, despite his parents. The boy will figure it out.

Belt loops going away? The arrow points are neat, but try to sew'em on the shirt. The belt loops only need to be bandoleer'ed on the belt. I knew some Cubs that had'em over their shoulder, they had so many. It is a neat way to show off your skill and experience. What is happening to our Scout program? Cubs now need no knowledge of indian lore, Kipling, or Baden Powell. Just do .... what? Is there a reason for the Scout Promise? I only hope the new Cub Leader can help the young'uns to understand the nuances of the bigger Scout Promise and Law..... I remember (yes, I can) figuring out that the Cub promise (" ...and be square".) set me apart from the other boys in my school. What is going to happen now? Can a 8 year old be expected to take the same attitude toward "duty to..." as a 16 year old? It is a start, I guess.....

Oooooo.... I guess I forgot the ;-) But still, it would be good to know the Scout is serious about his efforts. If you can find it, I recommend a cable TV show named "Taste of History" . It features Chef Walter Staib, of Philadelphia. He owns the "City Tavern" there. He specializes in historic cooking, demonstrating how a cook might create a meal in Thomas Jefferson's kitchen, or a pioneer family's hearth . High class, open fire, camp cooking. Gourmet, but very interesting.

I have heard complaints about Scouts earning EVERY Merit Badge (how is that possible? Can't earn them for real. etc.), that some MBs are "too hard" to earn realistically, that some are "automatics" and too easy, that there are too many choices, that some of the classic, old MBs have been canceled as being "out of date"..... I'd like to suggest some of these complaints (valid or no, another discussion) could be addressed by COMBINING some Merit Badges to good effect... "Consider the possibilities" : Veterinary Science and Cooking..... Aviation and Emergency Preparedness..... Golf and Game Design ( gotta be a better way)...... Coin Collecting and Salesmanship.... Crime Prevention and Fingerprinting....

Wish we could "spin off" a related thread, like before....

The Estwing one piece hatchet my dad gave me. Still use it, use it in IOLS Woods tool training. Scoutson just gave me a NEW Estwing hatchet for Christmas! Boy, the comparison... a half inch shorter blade from all those years of sharpening...

Thank you FJ. It is an "Eagle Scout Project". If the Scout did not raise enough funds to complete the project before the deadline (!), and the parents fronted the extra cash, then it is up to the Scout and his parents to determine if he (the Scout) needs some more personal (underline) fundraising. If I was ASKED to donate to a post hoc project, I'd certainly like to see the bookkeeping and want to know the rep of the folks doing the asking. And, then,too, we don't know the whole situation. When I bought my first house, I was very proud of myself, spoke to all the agents and lawyers and banks involved in the days before closing, had my budget lined up neat. I invited my dad to closing and he and I were going out to lunch to celebrate. When the bottom line was presented, it was $3.000. more than had been predicted before. I was angry/mad/unbelieving, but no one could explain what had changed . I had a choice: walk away from the sale, or ask my dad for help. He took out his check book (how did he know to bring it?) and I was able to walk out a proud property owner. If I didn't pay him "back" in cash (which I think I did), I certainly paid it "forward" in other ways . Sometimes we have to let the parents help.

Where does it say that the Scout has to EAT what he cooked?

Don't know where you live, but around here, lots of places create model railroads for the holidays. They are called "train gardens" in the Baltimore area. Google it, granddads like to visit'em (if they didn't have a hand in their creation), and reminisce about their old Lionels or American Flyers.. Cubs would love to walk thru and marvel at the miniature stuff. Nice "go see'em" for Tigers, use the visit for one of the Web pins...

Thank you Z, Welcome to the forums. Read more closely, and you will see that this Scout is now perhaps 22 years old. I hope he stayed in Scouts too. And your comment about the Eproject is valid.

SR540, you have pummeled the capped iron rod on its topknot. I just read thru the thread and I can say that there is nothing inherently wrong with bringing along a younger sibling on a Scout activity, so long as (1) the Unit agrees to it, (2) the parent keeps control of the child and does NOT expect the child to be allowed to participate in everything the older boys do, (3) the parent is not disappointed when the child gets tired and says "I wanna go home/take a nap/not do this" three miles into the woods. I found the story of the plumbing damage telling. I hope the parents realized their responsibility and held the children accountable and paid up. The local unit is just that. BSA has standards and guidelines , but it is all the local folks that make it happen (or not). AHG, I dare say, if you look far enough afield, you might find some uncomfortable events there, too. I have heard the same for GSUSA, too. Some really exceptional units, some not so. It all depends on the Adult Leader Attitudes. Not only may your mileage vary, the shocks on the rear axle may need replacing.

Contact local Civil War re-enactors. Build Camporee around the stuff a CW soldier would need to know: Make a fire w/o matches, cook a raw potatoe, play "rounders", signal across a "river" with wig-wag or morse code (?was semophore invented yet?) , some close order drill, black powder rifle shooting , BBgun target practice, build a "signal" tower, first aid practice, made-up stretcher and a race with your "patient", bucket brigade to put out a "fire", encode and decode a message, etc. Don't forget the BUGLER!

Give her a "scholarship" to WoodBadge. And the week off. Then YOU support HER....

Welcome to the ecracker barrel. Glad to hear from the Northern Lights Council. Sounds like you are up north. Where are you located? Much snow yet? We have almost 6 inches of "little or no acccumulation" on my back deck here in MD.

All the WB bling is official BSA . Wear them when it seems appropriate. I keep my Troop one necker in my memory box (STS) and wear the beads with the Troop necker at CoH, wear the WB necker at more formal affairs. I know Scouters that eschew neckers totally, wear th beads only all the time. Suite the fashion statement to the occassion and your attitude. YiS