SSScout

Better visibility ? More notice of How Scouting Improves the Community ? ** Signage outside of meeting places "" Scout Pack/Troop/Ship/Post meets here …… "" **Help your Scouts to not be embarrassed to "BE " a Scout. Wear the tshirts. Wear the Scout Caps. Do the School flag raising. Set up a model campsite at "Back to School Night" (yeah, even in middle and high school). I drive a charter bus for schools sometimes. When we are going to a camp, there will be lots of gear to load. I will ask, "have I got any Scouts out there?" and when the three or four hands go up, I know I've got some expert help in loading. I make sure they get noticed ! *** Wear the Scout stuff your own adult self. Start the conversation when someone askes about your jacket or belt buckle or cap. *** Sure, volunteer your Scout and units for community stuff. Street fairs, county fairs, road cleanups, and make sure the Media know about it.... "How come no one joins our unit"? ask your Scouts. It is NEVER about why they join. It is about why they STAY.....

Yep. Saw this notice too. Waited a day, here I am , alone again with you.....

Well, that is not what was meant. True, no one HAS to follow BSA training guidelines outside of the world of BSA . The Scouting Rules may not have any BSA consequence outside of Scouting, but they can still help guide one's actions . What was it the philosopher said, common sense ain't so common? Protecting one's reputation and safety is a good thing no matter where one is. This is why most schools and offices and sunday school buildings now have windows in the doors (think back. Did your class room have a window in the door? ) and ask that the teachers not be alone with students or office mates. Not make sense? Not practical? As a Sub Teacher, I had to continually ask myself what the possible ramifications of my actions might be. What I said to a student and when and where I said it. I was once saved from a serious accusation by having more than one student at the scene. Why? because BSA YPT made me think about not being ONLY one on one. Safe Swim Defense? How does that not lend itself to good pool management? If you think about it, the history that is learned HOPEFULLY becomes enshrined in better practice. BSA YP when I joined as an adult was already being improved and had become a model for many other youth programs, church insurance programs and such. Not practical? Seat belts in cars were once thought to be "not practical". But they do save lives and so are now required. Doesn't make sense? The Titanic did not have enough life boats because "it didn't make sense". The Titanic was designed unsinkable and if there was a problem, the boats would be used to ferry folks to the (certainly)close by recue ships. Things are only "impractical" and "don't make sense" to folks that never have any problems with the rest of the world. When I was a Scout, I learned the Chest Pressure Arm Lift technique of Artificial Respiration. Even then, the USArmy was experimenting with mouth to mouth CPR. Since those days, I have learned no fewer than 4 distinct methods and each has been an improvement on the previous. The CPR method and rhythm I now know has only been needed once in 50 years. I was glad I knew it. I used it OUTSIDE of BSA. David CO, you are right to question the need for using YPT outside of BSA, but you might reconsider the comparison of life in BSA vs outside. Which might be "safer" now, with our newer training requirements? Which could benefit from the other? See you on the trail.....

Hooowee doggies. That's alotta fried sweet bread.....

Yes, BSA YP rules are there to protect the Scout AND the Scouter. They make good sense. And, like most all of the Scout rules (Promise, Law, G2SS, Safe Swim Defense, Totin' Chip, la la la....) they make sense outside of Scouting too. If you are "outside" of Scouting (back yard Nerf war ?) the ramifications may be different, but the ideas are the same, yes? Transparency, witnesses, safe behavior (nerf war? Don't aim for eyes, etc. ) , it all boils down to the same thing. Playing the "What If Game". We have the Safe Guides in the front of all the Handbooks for that purpose. Yes, some parents do not want to have "that" conversation with their urchin, but BSA makes the reminder. And it is at the very least THOUGHT about. Progress is made, protection is gained, someone is unknowingly saved . My Scoutson (hey, he's almost 26) says he embarrasses himself sometimes when he encourages the older guys he works with to be more careful with the log splitter and axes and tractors and combines. But he thinks he has made them more safety conscious thereby. Third, maybe fourth hand lessons passed on? Same with YP Guidelines..... They are intended to "make ya think."

Okay, I just love it.... Here's the discussion from several years back. I won't look for the reference. Scout has a yard that he mows (a Scout is Helpful) for the family, part of his chores. It's about an acre. Walking/pushing the mower (yes, it is a power mower, but not self propelled) it takes him about an hour and a half. Good aerobic exercise. The US military says a soldier with full kit in good shape should be able to cover about 4 miles an hour. Let's say a Scout can do 3 miles an hour with a light daypack (water, snacks, binoculars, bird book, poncho, first aid kit, etc. ) . Is it fair to say our lawnmowing Scout has covered 4, maybe even 5 miles in his hour and a half? If he carries a day pack while he tours his family lot, can he count that toward any Hiking Mileage Score ? And while we're at it, what is the Metric translation for "mileage"? Kilometerage?

Now, of course, thinking G2SS, camps up in the mountains have advantages over camps on the Bay. Up in the mountains: No Poison Ivy, No Sea Nettles…..

So ? This is nothing new to the BSA . Irving has, in the past, encouraged local BSA Councils to "downgrade" to make payroll and keep the endowment coffers full. Can we say Owasippee, again? The idea that it is cheaper, easier to NOT own the source of the organizations success (places to camp, hike, swim, boat, shoot arrows) is one of my biggest head shakers. If the camp is not paying it's way, that is the fault of "management" not promoting and offering it's use to both Scouty and "civilian" users. God ain't making any more land. Once it's sold to development , it' is never coming back. Even if the camps are sold (??) to a government agency for a park or conservation reserve, it is never a Scout Camp, again. Some years ago, NCAC sold it's four camp properties and purchased what is now the 4,000 acre Goshen Reservation, wayyyyy down in VIrginia. It has been developed nicely, but it is some distance away. The closer in camps became the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, the Maryland Calvert Cliffs State Park, a County Park, a housing development and another small state wildlife preserve area. I was just a Scout back then, had no say in things like that, but I now wonder how things might be now, 50 years later, if Camp Roosevelt still sat on the Chesapeake Bay.

Idea is good. Execution is the key here. *Informational signage, somewhere , for public. Why, how, what. *Why did the beneficiary ask for/approve this? Did the Scout approach them? * We have a brush pile in the back of our Meeting House, in the south end of the Graveyard. Seems to serve the same purpose. We add tree limbs and such to it, groundhogs, rabbits etc, use it. Deer use it. When it gets too big (define that !), we rent a chipper and grind it up to mulch the trees and shrubs. And the pile is started again, maybe four, five years later. How is this purpose built "to blueprint" log/brush pile different? * I like the above comment, is this the ONLY pile being created? * As to the money, yeah, feed the workers and , appropriately, the remainder (if any !) goes to the beneficiary. * Conservation Project patch? Messenger of Peace patch? Hornaday beginning?

Well, who/what are "our" competitor(s) ? BP Scouts (BPSA)? Royal Rangers? Campfire? Vanguard Scouts? I do not see GSUSA as a competitor, as such. Their program is complementary, not so much competatory (word?). Cookies and entrepreneurial training, officially, so it would seem. Ours is outdoorsy, not so much sell as survive.

Another corner heard from.... https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/19/what-boy-scouts-taught-me/

The confusion with the old LDS program versus the "regular" BSA program is unfortunate. Merit Badges.... Hereabouts, once a person fills in the four pieces of paper, including having completed the YPT, and the Personal Record Permission , they are listed with the District Dean of Merit Badge Counselors. This list is correlated with the Council, and that is that. Scout needs a MBCounselor? Check with District Dean. If the MBC counsels ONE Scout in a year, they are kept on the active list. If no Scouts in the past year, chances are good they'll be kept "active" anyway. A few years back, Council purged all lists and required ALL MBCs to sign up all over again, fresh from the word Go. Mass hysteria and confusion ensued, as one might expect. But it got done and everyone was YPT'd and signed, sealed and delivered, so to speak. Lost Blue Cards are not unusual. Recreating them is tough but doable. If the Scout is having a good time, and sees his/her time in Scouts as worthwhile (and you do too?), that's what we're here for.

Liz: Remember that your recruitment commission (what? The SMS didn't tell you about the commission for every Scout you enlist? Well. let me get my tongue outta my cheek) does not depend on ONLY AOL/Webelos crossovers. Make sure you have some notoriety in the middle schools . The School Counselors should know of your existence. Take home flyers? Ask about the backpack requirements and see your DE about getting some flyers printed up. Post cards for your Scouts to hand to their friends with an event invitation. Campfire hotdog roast, flag retirement, nature hike , something like that, easy and friendly. "All Scouting Is Local".

I think I've got the answer to the "One Hour A Week" axiom. Where did it come from? The answer is one must use the right clock. In 2Peter 3:8 we are told.... "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day."" So you see, it depends on whose clock you use.

Well, welcome back Merl. I am glad that was sorted out. Around here, a "Public School" could never charter anything, because each school is not a separate corporate entity. Such a thing would mean the County School Board (which owns the school) would be the Charter Org, and that could never happen. PTAs and PTOs are always doing such things, and people end up thinking it is the School that is doing it. Maybe a Principal might sign such "contracts" as a charter org agreement, but the BoE would pull him in quick when they found out. Our Council does have several Scout Units chartered to private or religiously based schools, but the numbers are few. I even know of a Cub Pack chartered by a family owned Hardware store.

I have no idea. This was back in 1960 to 1965. I guess a 1960 Ford Country Squire might hold two hundred dozen donuts, maybe three station wagons full ...… Mr. Richardson, Mr. Allen, Mr. DiNunno, Mr. MacDaniels…… You do the math.....

From the Ernest Thompson Seton Institute: http://etsetoninstitute.org/on-playing-indian-and-cultural-appropriation/

Whatever happened to "Clamp Pies", made in "Pie Irons"? Dessert: buttered bread, canned (or home made) apple, cherry or peach filling. Lunch: Ham and cheese , rye bread. Breakfast: French Toast, eggy bread and maple syrup and bacon bits. Dinner? https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/g4609/pie-iron-recipes/

"By their fruits shall ye know them". Beads are appropriate in ceremonial occasions, not necessarily out in the woods, so to speak, if ye get me drift, or ken.

I have been an adult Scouter about 20 years now, since Scoutson joined Cubs and along the way wife became CSDC Director. We have not physically moved in almost 30 years, but we have lived in 6 (six) different, named Scout Districts. The Council Executives do their thing as any new manager will: Re arrange things in their own image, in a belief that they can make things more "efficient", more "customer friendly". We went from one whole county to two Districts to three Districts to six Districts to one Big District with three "service areas" to three sort of Districts under one Area Director to ( ! ) three Districts. Our DE's have been by turn wonderful, short (one resigned after one RT and six days), temporarily assigned over three Districts, sort of learning as they go along, meant well and (presently) very dedicated and needs to be congratulated. The local Commishers and such have tried mightily to keep Scouts connected and to have opportunities available (Camporees, Klondike Derbies, District PWD, Training sessions, newsletters, etc. ). In my short tenure, it is all about three things: **Communication: The connection between like minded people. Telephone, email, facebooks, newsletters (both print and electric), whatever. **Availability of experience: If you know something, it needs to be demonstrated and passed on to someone else, SLS, IOLS, WB, NYLT, RT, the example of adults showing the new generations who can show THEIR new generation HOW to work together, HOW to survive in less than perfect conditions, HOW to serve your God by serving your neighbor, HOW the "Me First" idea is fine now but doesn't work when you consider the next 50 or 100 years. And ultimately,,,,,, ** All Scouting Is Local: The folks at Irving , at the Council office, constantly need to be reminded that their desire to assure the consistency of policy and rank requirements is dependent on the LOCAL Packs, Troops, Crews, Ships, Posts acceptance of any changes. Notice how the tendency is for folks to WANT the traditional Scouting (outdoors, pioneering, PWD, fire, hikes, canoe, etc. ) . That is not to say that STEM and such can't be added, they should, but not at the loss of what made Scouting successful, remembered and desired. Why the sudden discussion about girls not liking the entrepreneurial cookie sales but would rather be hiking and camping ? Yeah some GSUSA Troops are outdoorsy, but that is not their trend, so here we are. The Troops that do not actively participate in District/Council events seem to have their own success stories. Why? For example::: The National Jamborees are wonderful opportunities for Scouts to see that they are not alone, but that their "LOCAL" group is indeed, part of a much larger group of like minded individuals (communication?). The ideals, skills, goals of the BSA are indeed common thruout the WOSM, if one but looks for it. So how should Scouter dot com denizens address the future? Doom and gloom, Scouting is about to dry up and blow away? Why do we do what we do, after all? The three words no Scoutmaster wants to hear, but might even rejoice in hearing them: "Hey , Watch This !"

He's a "hometown boy", somewhere: http://www.annanews.com/news/former-union-county-resident-lead-boy-scouts-america

"" Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. "" = Margaret Mead =

I retired from the County's Transit service. Bus lines. We had a wonderful manager type person, named Dave . He was "in charge" of planning, service establishment, and service maintenance. I forget his "title", but that was ultimately not important to the service he, we , provided to the public. He knew EVERYTHING, because he had been there at the inception. Need permission? Ask Dave. Need a question answered? Ask Dave. Suggest a new service? Adjust a route? Tell Dave. If he needed some info or some on the spot inspection, he was not averse to calling directly or even driving out and telling you (me !)what he wanted done. You wanted to help him make the system successful, because he valued every employee and made sure you knew it. Once he asked me to go to a shopping center office (I'd only been in my position maybe 6 months) and speak to the owner/manager about re-routing and re-positioning a bus stand. Me, a mere underling in the county hierarchy. I combed my hair and went to speak to a lady I later, privately, came to call the "Dragon Lady" because of her demeanor, but that's another story. When Dave retired, his replacement was the establishment of THREE new departments and three new Department Heads and attendant staff. Was this a better arrangement, more efficient? None of my colleagues thought so, but , hey, we don't make those decisions. Am I making a comment on the present BSA situation? Am I trying to point out the problems that our new CEO/CSE/Whatever his title is has instore? I hope so. As to Councils, the franchise idea can work IF the COR idea is made to work. The Pro's work FOR us, their job(s) is /are to make Scouting easy for us "one hour a week" fellows. BSA must be made to understand that their success depends on OUR success, on the SCOUTS success. No outdoor program, no camps, no Scouts(why do they join?), no BSA. Sexual Abuse lawsuits not withstanding, BSA will stand or fall on the program's ability to please the Scout. Not so much why a kid joins Scouting but why should they STAY? Dorky uniforms? Too high fees? Too many Bling? Scoutshop too far away? Can't buy Scout necessities at the local hardware store? Scout Camp just got sold for a high end development? Rules and Regs seem unnecessary or too strict? All very possible "cons", but if Irving/BSA/Councils do not come back to realizing what MADE Scouting so successful in the Past (urban, YSL, Varsity, Skill Badges, HaHa !) then we are indeed doomed. Bill Hillcourt, please call your office

Yeah, I feel your angst. It took me a while to figure this out. Councils assign Unit numbers, and usually allow the unit to pick a number if it is not already chosen/assigned. New York Council , Nat Cap Area Council, Long Horn, can all have the same number Troop 123 . When my home Troop Charter Org said "yes" to sponsoring a new female Troop, the DE told me "choose a number similar to your boy Troop". That's what he said. I so counseled the organizers. So Boy Troop 759 was soon joined by Girl Troop 7592 (!) which was dully registered and opened. Now, with the new Irving declaration, it is (on the charter papers, etc.) 7592G.

#1 The work is done by whoever shows up. The "pros" show up because (a) they love Scouting (I hope) and (b) they get paid in cash. and (c) their ideas are good ones. the "volunteers" show up because (a) they love Scouting and (b) they see it as a key to our nation's future good citizens. Not to mention the Dutch Oven Brownies. We show up because we see the reward THEN as worthy of our efforts NOW. Rent is paid in advance, mortgages are paid in arrears, paychecks come after the hours are counted. #2 The work of Scouting needs the outdoors. This is the very definition of "Scouting". When Scout Camps are underused, underpromoted, made less than available or even KNOWN by Scout folks, they will eventually be seen as burdens rather than assets. The cash price of the land will become more attractive than the Scout use of the land. Can we say ""Owasippee"" and Chicago Council? A SE's retirement may be seen in the sale of the camp, rather than the future of the Scouts. The BSA cannot depend on the National Parks for facilities. #3 The work of Scouting is it's PROGRAM. When B-P wrote his first book, he did not expect it to be popular among CHILDREN, but that is where it hit home. He then came to realize that was what was needed, and sought to produce the sample Scout Camp, Brownsea Island. And that is how we come to be having this conversation. When us poor old codgerly people set up and encourage opportunities for the yooooth, we are following in those not totally matchable footsteps. But we do try, none the less. #4 National's possible bankruptcy proclamation is meant (among other things, I feel) as a sacrifice to protect the local Scout Councils and local PROGRAM. Were mistakes made 40, 50 years ago in oversight and responsibility? Yes. Can we learn from those mistakes and move on? Well, humanity has a bad habit of NOT learning from history and being doomed to repeat it, so we (us) must keep on pointing our fingers and speaking up. YP has been tightened up. Scout Leaders have been reminded of the terrible possibilities. What I call ""The What If Game"" must be played aloud and publically if we are to move on. #5 Blessed are the Scout Units who have CORs that take their defined roles seriously, they are few and far between. BSA defines the CORs as the voting members of the Council legal corporation. Remind yours and shake their hands along the way. #6 "But I don't know how to...." Well, what do you know how to..... ? Let that be your contribution , and learn something else new along the way.