SSScout

Did the presenter have any QSL cards to hand out? Neat souvenirs. Ask him/her about QSL cards... Lookee http://www.qslman.com/

A B C D Can I bring my friend to tea?

Think twice about the size of Cub Scout Parade flags. The same pole/flag that is carriable by a Star Scout will be a little tall for a Bear or even an average Webelos Scout. The pole and flag that the Cub can carry in "at drag" to open the Pack meeting and post in the stand at the front of the room will generally be too big to safely carry, even with a harness, in parade. Plan on a pole no more than twice the hieght of the Cub, and a flag of like proportions, maybe 1/3 the hieght of the pole. We're talking about weight and hieght and balance and wind here. Good Scouting to you! MiF KiS !

Lisa and John and Firecat have the answers (1) The council CANNOT ask for donations for anything else but the Council. Don't expect the 'trickledown'. (2) You can make the request to the Town Council on behalf of your Pack for whatever use (camperships, new equipment, whatever) but make sure it is accepted by your CO on your Pack's behalf. (3) Make sure it is clear to all in your presentation that your pack is open to all, without distinction of faith or other allegiance (some Scout units do make such distinctions). This will give you more credence in the eyes of the politicos. (4) Be sure, whether you receive the 'grant' or not, that you do a "good turn" some how for City Hall. Flower bed maintenance, color guard duty for Council Meeting, bird house construction, something. Keep your Pack out there in the public eye. The PR can't hurt. Good Scouting to you and thank you for the stuff you do for our kids. Story: As FAEE for the CSDC, I was approached by a Souter BoD member of a local business. He said they were lining up their charitable donations for the year. He had heard we had problems with the fee charged by the Park Dept. for our use of the Park for the CSDC. Could they take care of that for us? I said SURE! We went thru the Council bureacracy about the company covering the Park Fee (about $3000.). The Council said they would gladly accept a FoS donation and then earmark that for our CSDC. Ultimately, I was told the company decided they could not foot the whole of the bill and made a smaller donation, noted "for XYZ District CSDC Park Rental Fee". We never saw mention of it on our balance sheet. CSDC still came out in the black, tho.

As I said before, I could not attend the info meeting, but I did attend '05 Jambo.I think the idea of "saving trees" is a noble one, but I will ask, where do you put 50,000 Scouts? In tents? In Troop sites? Compare that to the attendance and arrangement/dispersal of the normal summer camps at GSR. The clearing will happen and the tromping of 100,000 feet in 10 days time will take it's toll. The second growth and remaining first growth will suffer, no matter what.

Oh My... http://comics.com/the_buckets/2009-03-25/

Hal: By gar, I thought that must of been you I saw going down the Bay Trail that year! 64,65,66. I musta used a gallon of Vaseline for seanettle protection for the Mile Swim! Pohick Bay Camp, eh?

Whenever the old fellow was asked to lead a prayer he always began with "Lord, prop us up on our leanin' side". After hearing him pray so fervently thus, he was asked the story behind it, because we knew there must be one... He answered, "Well sir, I got an old barn out back. It's been there a long time, been thru alot of bad weather and it's served it's purpose well thru many a storm. It's still standing, but one day I noticed it was leanin' off to one side a bit. So I went and got some Pine poles and propped it up on it's leanin' side so's it wouldn't fall. "Then I got to thinking about that and how much I was like that old barn. I've been around a long time. I've withstood a lot of bad weather and hard times in my life and I hope to say I've met my purpose more than not. But I come to realize that I find myself leaning to one side from time to time. Maybe we get to leaning toward anger, leaning toward bitterness or hatred, leaning toward alot of things that we shouldn't. "So we need to pray, "Lord, Please prop us up on our leanin' side, help us to stand straight like you wants us to. Help us to make our purpose your purpose. AH-men."

Please do me a favor... Send this in to "SCOUTING" magazine. This is what it's all about. This is a successful Scout Leader. Pass this on to us all.

Mebbe it's the new uniform thing... no more red stuff? Only green? Mebbe Corbi didn't want to do pesto pizza! Only tomatoe sauce?? Naw...

Hal: Someday we gotta meet. I wasn't able to attend the 'Town Meeting', I opted to attend a new Cub Pack's organizing meeting. Decisions, decisions. 20-20 hindsight. NCAC, back in my Scoutday, had three and maybe four camps. I'm a little hazy there, Roosevelt, Thunderbird and Wilson and a fourth that slips my mind. All were sold to purchase Goshen. We also now, thanks to a private individual's largess and the excellent forethought of our SE, (correct me if I'm wrong there, Hal) have Camp Snyder, near Manassas/Haymarket VA, 350 acres of Cub Camp, but BSs use it alot too. It boasts a new training/conference center, admin building, rebuilt wetland/lake, big pool, ACed dining hall, four Cub theme areas, 100plus acres of wooded campsites with hot showers, high COPE course, RC airplane runway, etc. Lessee... this Saturday, Scoutson hikes/camps the AT, TSO takes Scoutson's 4H rabbits to a rabbit show/competition in Richmond, I help with a BSLST course. Time for bed. Goodnight all.

"There are two kinds of people in the world::: Those that think there are two kinds of people and those that don't."

Yep, yep, that's Delaware. Not enough sleep, I guess. Next thing, I'll be talking about needing a passport to go to NEW mexico. (:-)>

"Gee Haw Whimmy Diddle" see http://www.mugwumps.com/whammy.htm

"Scout campouts for Scouts" I like SMT222 that mentions the PLC has "power". Let them decide, and the adult Scouters back them up. Our Troop plans a "family" camp in September to kick off the season. We go someplace special (Cape Henlopen State Park, NJ. is favorite), take the Troop Trailer, set up on Friday night and leave late Sunday. Everyone is invited, it is definitely not "roughing it". Babies and sibs, non camping spouses and grannies. Lots of planning. Camp stoves, bakers, surf and sun (hopefully), history and hiking and biking. Astronomy, campfire stories, marshmalows and BBQ ribs. The rest of the year is SCOUT Scout stuff.

Haw.

Jblake: Sorry I didn't get back to your request to "hire out" the bugler. I was speaking of the Troop I grew up in, not the one I ASM. Would that I could speak thus of my son's Troop. I would mention that a fair bugler CAN earn a little. As has been mentioned in other places here, the American Legion, and other vet orgs will pay an honorarium for someone to play a real bugle at ceremonies (burials, flag, etc.), and can refer such a player to others that are seeking a real bugler. It matters not the age of the player, just the willingness and skill. So many times, a CD or tape player must stand in for the real thing. YiS

"Emma's Weight Loss program" (popup) I have always thuht the reason for all safety training is to get folks to think "WHAT IF" and learn from OTHER peoples mistakes. The guidelines in G2SS are full of the results of other people's accidents and lots of 'what if' exercises. It's the Scouters job to make the Scout think about the 'what ifs'. Camporee camp fire set up by the OA. Someone thought that (because it was a BIG camporee), two campfires would be good, lots of light, lots of space, big stage space. Lots of acts on the ticket. Several Scouters finally convinced the OA MC that ONE fire would be sufficient. Then someone noticed, NO WATER BUCKETS OR SHOVELS. Mucho running around to collect the necessary requisites. As it happened, the fire was quite impressive, built with many oak pallets. It also provided some of it's tenders with first degree burns as they attempted to limit it's spread in the grass that the OA planners also neglected to clear from the site. Many of the skits were entertaining. There was a long debriefing afterward.

Icongratulate you on your new adventure. As a newly minted DDC whose "specialty" is officially new units, let me second all that has preceded. And add one suggestion. If the nascent Troop is, as you say, sponsored by "interested parents", this implies a seperate incorporation. This can be well and good, but if you search these forums, you will discover some threads that discuss the pros and cons of such a self-sponsored unit. It almost always turns out easier and better if the overall charter org is a seperate self sufficient institution. As you no doubt know, Scout units are successfully chartered to many types of institutions: churches, volunteer fire departments, granges, Lions Clubs, American Legion Posts, schoolPTAs, even hardware stores. Yes, a CO need not be a non-profit. I would suggest as you build your Troop's program, also seek out a sympathetic CO. Good uck and Godspeed, Scouter.

LlamaLlamaLlama Patrol

"Sheriff George Wilcox says he has found strange debris on the ranch where he works".

mmmmmmmmmm.... Yep, caught on that one... shorthand will trip ya up..."(funding hospitals that treat burn victims, etc.)" English as a language is word order sensitive. Just ask Yoda!

I like museums and history. We only fully appreciate where we are going by remembering where we've been. Eagle92 has a lot of realy good ideas. Gift Shop? would that conflict with the Council Scout Shop? A local Council has a full service Scout Shop at each Scout camp, manned (personned?) by volunteers. A share of the income stays with the camp. Is the building donated? Owned by whom? If it is Council owned ( as I read/assume) then you may be in a better place, but even so, make sure. Long term lease at a dollar a year? Make sure of your legal basis, as one owners charity might not be shared by the next. Make sure of who/what "owns" your collection. Council? Seperate non-profit? A person? On loan? Spread your publicity wide. Newspaper articles. Web articles. Go to RoundTables in ALL the Districts you can. Offer to come and do a Show and Tell at CSDCs, Unit meetings, and other venues. Get on your Council Tiger Cub Go and See list. What? Well, create one! Don't forget a donation bucket out front. Does your Council have a Scout store nearby? Ask to put a "Change Drop" bucket near the register for donations. They do mount up! Eagle projects? Sponsor Collecting MB classes. Model Making MB. Stamp Collecting. Coin Collectin MB. Any others as appropriate? Do other presentations in conjunction with Council meetings, meet the big bucks that come in. Develope that support committee. And don't forget to smile and wave as you go by.

We really do need a "Scouting and Faith" or "Chaplaincy and Religion" or "Duty to God" or some such thread section, don't you think? This thread is about MORE than an alleged atheistic Cub Scout and/or family, yes? It's not just "Cub Scouts" or even "Issues and Politics".

So my dad always said he could not join a church that was "too organized", that too many churches had the wrong idea about belief. And he was a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason, Shrine member. Masonic ceremony at his funeral memorial service in a Methodist Church (chartered my Scout Troop). I attended Demolay (Junior Masons, see Knights Templar) at his request, but ultimately saw no real reason behind it. Scouting was all the "brotherhood" and service to others I needed. The secrecy and oaths, even in Demolay, were too weird and ultimately unnecesary to me. Even at that tender age, I realized the futility of swearing something if the underlaying belief was faulty. The "blood oaths" were really not appropriate to my Christian teaching but when I mentioned my doubts, I was told they (the Oaths) were only symbolic anyway and don't worry about them. Then why declare them? Tradition and history, iwas told. Seemed rather hypocritical to me, even back then. When the "Worshipful Master" at my dads funeral asked me if I had ever considered joining the Scottish Rite, I told him of my history in Demolay and my misgivings about the oaths being unBibical, that the secrecy was counter to my newly found Quaker faith. He tried to argue that there were many different religions represented among Freemasonry, that FMs did much good work (burn hospitals, etc.). I said no thank you just the same. Perhaps in the past there was a rational for the Knights Templar and the Masons (even they have internecine conflict about dogma and ritual), but today?