SSScout

I love it when a plan, er , discussion comes together. What to call the MiddleSchool Scouts? Each Program (age determined) of BSA, er, Scouts USA has a moniker. HAD a moniker.... Cub Scouts. Webelos Scouts. Boy Scouts. Venturer Scouts . Explorer Scouts. Lone Scouts. The mind boggles with the confusion inherent. The last part of the identifier was always "SCOUTS", yes? Gender neutral "Scouts" ? I had one respondent to my query suggest "Field Scouts" for the Troops. Regardless of the dissension , there is sufficient agreement that our young females can benefit from the BSA program,and there is sufficient dissatisfaction by the young ladies with the usual GSUSA program for the young ladies to flock (?) to the BSA program if offered, and since the BSA has officially seen fit to offer the usual BSA program to the young ladies, voila, here we are discussing what to call our new members..... ,

Well, welcome to the Forums. What an introduction. Please warm your electrical self at our virtual campfire. I hope we can give you some comfort and good advice. Amen to all the above. Not mentioned..... does this person have a Scout in the unit? Does this Scout have another adult to depend on? Understanding and sympathy is a wonderful trait, but you and your Scout Unit have other concerns. If it escalates to this point, your CO may have to go to court to get a "no trespass" order. If the person in question refuses to allow the required background check, "assumes" he is the CM because no one else (??) will step up, bullies his way into position rather than discusses and gains approval, has not taken YPT, will not accept the decision of the CO leadership, then the No Trespass order may be your only recourse. I have known this to be necessary. Make friends with your local constabulary. BSA is an authoritarian organization made up primarily of consenting, cooperating volunteers. Underline cooperating. We accept that authority inherent in our concern for our youth. If the OP's description is accurate (if emotional), then this person has other problems that your Scout Unit has no ability to address. Good luck to you and your dedication to your youth. See you on the trail.

Guilty as charged. Quite a conversation, eh? Girl Troopers? Boy Troopers?

Packers? Troopers? Crewers? Greenbay commenters... Starship..... blue jeans? Bob Scouts (after Robert Baden-Powell?) . .. My problem is "SCOUTS" is what we all are, age 6 thru 76 . . . I can be an Adult Scouter, my son can be (was, is) an Eagle Scout, but what do I say at the Campfire, I always yelled "Hey Scouts !" and will continue to do so , but what kind of is that 13 year old standing in front of me? The Wolf Scout is a "CUB". The green shirted young woman is a "VENTURER". Is the kid kneeling in front of the fire pit , diligently striking that flint against the steel just a "SCOUT"?

Home work: Scouting is for kids kindergarten thru age 21. We are entering a "new age", and the gender neutral thing is important...… Older kids are "Venture Scouts" Younger ones are "Cub Scouts". What do we call the middle range kids? Can't be just "Boy Scouts", "Girl Scouts" is copyrighted and has a special connotation. ? Senior Scouts? Troopers? Hikers? I am open to ideas, and I think the remnants of the BSA should be too !

Maybe it's like Joe Jackson reminds us, "It's different for girls.... you're all the same..."

Burying food....I heard that is how some folks age and add flavor to fruit cake.

My favorite answer to this: *(( The true author of this article is unknown. It is here copied from the COME HOSTELING newsletter, Sept. 1980, of the Potomac Area Council of the American Youth Hostels, who received it from Dick Schwanke, Senior PAC Staff Trainer, who read it in the APPALACHIAN HIKER by Ed Garvey, who got it from the Potomac Appalachian Trail Conference Bulletin, which quoted it from THE RAMBLER of the Wasatch Mountain Club of Salt Lake City, which reportedly cribbed it from the I.A.C. News of Idaho Falls, which reported it from the 1966 PEAKS & TRAILS. I offer it here for your enjoyment and inspiration. Note that some of the ingredients are a bit dated. Adjust as necessary. Enjoy!)) "Courageous Cookery" by John Echo* Once the convert backpacker or cycle camper has accepted the subtle gustatory nuances associated with sustained operations beyond the chrome, he should try the advantages of ultra fringe living so that he will realize what he is paying for his nested pots and pretty pans carried so diligently and brought home so dirty after every "wilderness experience". The following system works. It is dependable and functional. It works on the big rock. It even works when the weather has gone to hell, you are wet and cold and the wind is blowing down the back of your hairy neck. It is not for the timid. It consists of a stove, a six inch sauce pan, a plastic cup and a soup spoon. If you insist on a metal cup, you must never fail to mutter "I'm having fun, I'm having fun", every time you spill the soup on your sleeping bag. Breakfast: Instant wheat cereal-- sugar and powdered milk added-- ready two minutes after water boils. Eat from pot. Do not wash pot. Add water, boil, and add powdered eggs and ham. You'll never taste the cereal anyway. In three minutes, eat eggs. Do not wash pot. Add water or snow and boil for tea. Do not wash pot. Most of the residue eggs will come off in the tea water. Make it strong and add sugar. Tastes like tea. Do not wash pot. With reasonable technique, it should be clean. Pack pot in rucksack and enjoy last cup of tea while others are dirtying entire series of nested cookware. Lunch: Boil pot of tea. Have snack of rye bread, cheese and dried beef Continue journey in 10 minutes if necessary. Dinner: Boil pot of water, add Wylers dried vegetable soup and beef bar. Eat from pot. Do not wash pot. Add water and potatoes from dry potatoe powder. Add gravy mix to taste. Eat potatoes from pot. Do not wash pot. Add water and boil for tea. Fortuitous fish or meat can be cooked easily. You do not need oil or fat. Put half inch of water in pot. Add cleaned and salted fish. Do not let water boil away. Eat from pot when done. Process can be done rapidly. Fish can even be browned somewhat by a masterful hand. Do not change menu. Variation only recedes from the optimum. Beginners may be allowed to wash pot once a day for three consecutive days only. It is obvious that burning or sticking food destroys the beauty of the technique. If you insist on carrying a heavier pack, make up the weight you save with extra food. Stay three days longer.

What has been said. The Cubs need to be "recognized" and celebrated. The Cub Stripes is a nice simple way to do this. If you are thinking you have not enough time to make the award, perhaps you have a different problem. Are your ceremonies simple, noteworthy, or are they too ostentatious, and meant for the adults' benefit more than the Cubs? I agree with the previous posters, the Bob Cat is important to help the new Cub feel welcome and excited about Scouting. See you on the trail...

The BIG Problem is ultimately the difference in desire. The adults want "Character Development". That's where the Goals came from. Eagle equals college scholarship, job advancement, higher initial rank in military. The BSA (Irving, Councils, Professionals) want "Numbers" (do they get a commission?). I think this is where the "eight methods " came from. Seems like all organisations want/need to quantify and define and list and point to. Last I was told, DEs are judged, not by the number of Scouts enrolled, but by the number of new UNITS. Where did that come from? The kids want the adventure and camaradarie , or they don't join. Or stay. Why join a group that wants to hike and camp and rock climb and canoe and get dirty if you don't (want to hike and camp and...)? And if you DO, why stay in a group that doesn't? STEM and Explorer posts not withstanding.... Can we say that the original Scouting (B-P, Seton, Hillcourt) that was "discovered" and chartered, was defined as #3 above with the assumption that #1 and #2 would follow almost automatically ? So how do we get back to land of Christopher Robin and Pooh ?

Ever try to tear a phone book in half (what's a phone book? yeah, yeah...). The secret to this stunt is to NOT try from the binding side, but from the open edge side, fan the pages out so as to start tearing each page at it's edge separately.

"The work is done by whoever shows up". I hope you have good communication with all the adults in the unit and in the CO (that would be very nice!). I also hope your stepping down CCh was able to give you some forewarning. The COR, indeed , has some responsibility implied in this, as he/she must approve, "sign off" on the new CCh. Scouting chugs along, sometimes with no "offishul" leadership. I see you are A CUB person. Yep, you need a CCh, and a good Committee to help your Cubs along. The Senior Scouts sometimes do better WITHOUT it ! 😀

Yep. The peak of Scouting, I feel (if your judgement point is numbers) was due to the influx of WW2 folks coming into parent hood and making sure THEIR kids became Scouts. The dads that had been soldiers, who had learned the survival stuff, camping etc. made sure their kids did the same. The "Baby Boomers" then fell short in making sure THEIR kids had the outdoor experience, the patriotic experience. I had a good friend in school who's parents were German immigrants. He joined Cub Scouts with me, but dropped out later when he and his parents found BSA too "militaristic" . (an indication as to why they immigrated in the 1940's, I guess.). He became an expert outdoorsman, none the less, moving to Alaska, opening a outfitter store in Juneau Alaska. The key is , as has been said, program quality (outdoor adventure activity, skill practice, character encouragement), and visibility (yes, here is a Scout Pack/Troop/Crew/Ship), call it "marketing, local recruitment" if you will. Make it most obvious that the opportunities that Scouting offers are what make it of value. Stuff you just don't get in "school", or "church" or even "home". See you on the trail....

One Constitution, how many parts/articles/amendments? but ONE Constitution. So too, ONE Scout Law, but really twelve (in the US of A) parts. or (small "L") laws...

Nice piece of 1/4 " plywood. Cut to size, sand very well all around. NEATLY(!) glue/paste an appropriate picture cut from National Geographic or some other magazine. Let dry over night. Come back and polyeurothane/shellac over the picture . Brush out the bubbles, brush marks. Set on a block to dry evenly, without dust , overnight (not stick to the news paper covering the table/floor?) . Tack the picture hanger on the back. The recipient will appreciate the thought because the picture will JUST be big enough to cover that crack in the wall above the refrigerator.

Desk top pencil/pen/cell holder. Paint pretty.

Tradition is a good place to start, until something better is agreed on. Tradition replaced becomes lessons learned and "history", both good to remember.

Absotively. The eHot Cocoa is over there....

Welcome back. With the history you mention, I would say you never really STOPPED being a Scout. That is as it should be, and to your credit. Your students have benefited thereby. Welcome to the forums, pull up a virtual log and join the electronic campfire. Coffee or tea?

Many moon ago, Scoutson joined Cubscouts. I and LovelyWife became active Cub Leaders. LW became active, followed Scoutson to CSDC, and was woefully unimpressed., as was I, with the program and arrangements. She became the next CSDC Director. This meant she had to attend Camp School, and with great trepidation, she signed up. With her experience with other Scout Leaders, she decided she would be more comfortable with a uniform (up to then, she did not wear one), so when she bought one and put on the proper badges (Den Leader, etc.) she decided that to "fit in", she needed some more "bling", could she earn some "knots"? We discovered that she had already fulfilled at least two, maybe three knots! Cub Leader, Den Leader training, (and I forget the last). Filled out the forms, got'em signed, sewed on the knots, and off she went to Camp School. Came back pumped. She served admirably as CSDC Director for five years, ( I was enlisted as "First Assistant Everything Else") trained/encouraged the next two Directors, and Scoutson earned Eagle. After the first year of CSDC, LW was awarded the District Award of Merit (one more knot). Knots are worth pursuing, if appropriate to your purpose.

Our Future's So Bright... I study camping and hiking, And all my Wood Badge classes, I got a crazy Scoutmaster, he wears dark glasses. Patrols are doing GREAT, and they’re going Back to Gilwell . . Scout future’s so BRIGHT, I gotta wear shades…. I gotta wear shades. I gotta work my tickets, beads and thong are waitin’. Benefit the Scouts, they're not a lot of louts. Tickets going great, and they’re only getting better. Antelopes and Bears, Owls , my friends are made. The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades. I gotta wear shades… With Scouting we are blessed, our kids can realize They gain by going camping, making Dutch Oven Pies. Our Packs are doing GREAT, and the Troops are getting better. Our Scouts are sharpening right, Totin’ Chip blades, The future’s so bright, we better wear shades, We better wear shades…..

Outdoor Bird house: Natural wood, no finish. Check with your local Audubon, I predict they will say paint or oil can be off putting and even injurious to the bird tenant. Our natural Pine and Cedar houses hang on the tree limbs and are occupied by sparrows and House Wrens each year. You have to clean them out at the end of the season, so make them with removable floors or sides.

And what about the poor third Scout? Who chooses the menu? Who buys? Who Cooks? Who carries fuel/water/cleans the latrine? I predict the same problem, Maybe even some bullying issues. "It Depends."

Happy Channukah, Happy Jesus' Birthday, Merry Kwanzaa, A Felicitous Holiday Season, Jolly Super Saturday (like black Friday only shopping opportunity before 25 December), A Pleasant Winter Solstice Yule, and preparation for the New Year (take your pick).

""The Work Is Done By Whoever Shows Up"" The DE needs to be put to work, making copies.... Posters in every Public Library. Fliers created to reflect the local Scout (both Cub and Scout) units to every Public Library (some Units did this locally, but wasted resources by making 500 (!) per library). Local unit can be encouraged to put on a "display" or "demonstration" at the Library. This could even be on their schedule. Here, locally(!), if one counts out and separates out the packets, the central Library Office will send out the packages to every Library. No need to go yourself to every Library. Check out the county school regs about BackPack fliers. (DE copying ?) and send out sufficient to every elementary school, organized, counted out as required. Make contact with the local TV stations. Somebody there is a "local color" reporter. Get them to come out to the CSDC, the Camporee. Talk about Scouting for Food, find a neat Eagle Project to report on. Make sure every Unit has a SIGN outside their CO and /or Meeting place. All Scouting Is Local.... it is (mostly) up to the local units to be local. Invade the local schools and BE THERE at the PTA meetings, the Back To School Nights. the school festivals. Anyone remember Kudzu? http://www.inquiry.net/adult/recruiting.htm Check with any museums, civic associations, boards of trade. When they have "open houses" or "Community Nights", remind the Local Unit to set up a tent, a demo campsite.... Remind the Scouters (and Scouts), that it is OK to wear the Scout cap, the Scout T-shirt/sweat shirt/hoodie at other than Scout Meetings. If folks SEE the Scout stuff, they can make the connection. Local newspaper? Send in the news. Who went to Philmont? Who cleaned up the park? Community Listserv (is that still a thing?) , same idea. Send in the news.... They can't join if they don't know we're here (or there....).