SSScout

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....).

Lots of ideas I agree with . The organization, the Scout Led, the opportunities... Make good contact with your local Scout Commissioner Corps (see the District webpage). And the most local Scout Camp. Hereabouts in Maryland, we have several Scout Camps in driving distance with cabins available for winter camping and activities. Get your scouts OUTSIDE and hiking and observing. Make contact with local naturalists, park people, bird watcheyour Scouts reading the handbook and working toward First Class. It is do-able in the winter. As your adult ideas sink in, let the Scouts take over in planning and doing. Provide maps, booklets, let'm talk to the Park Rangers and docents. Hang on, you will be dragged along, but you'll be glad you did.

Waaaay back in my Scout day, I remember that our Patrol would just do what needed to be done. If the "spoiled kid" (and he was), didn't do his share, , well, he still ate, but he took home dirty dishes, and he sat around a lot watching all the others doing stuff. My advice, if the "spoiled kid" comes camping, he carries his own gear, camps in his own tent (which he pitches), eats with the Patrol (if he paid for his share of grub), and if he refuses to carry firewood or water or help clean, well, make sure that his stuff is his stuff. He can sit and watch, but he doesn't play with us or takes his share of the prize the Patrol wins for having the "Neatest Campsite" or tying the knots the quickest or running the relay race. The other Scouts set the standard, but do not chastise the "spoiled kid" for not being cooperative. It is HIS choice to not be included. The rest of the Patrol should NOT be the ones to NOT include him.

There is a PLC training that the SM can provide. It is a mini NAYLE course, the templates are available on line, (it's called ILST) each SM really should do this at the beginning of the Scout year. see https://www.scouting.org/training/youth/ AND.... your Council should be offering the NAYLE course once or twice a year. https://www.scouting.org/programs/boy-scouts/resources/nayle/

"Okay gang, here is the duty roster. We will be at the Muddy Creek campground next weekend, and you all know what that means. Hauling in the gear, water faucet is aways to carry, campstove is HERE (show map).. Everyone pick a job (pass the roster around). If you are on the campout, ya gotta take a job. "A Scout is Trustworthy", we all do a bit, it all gets done. Jake, are you coming with your G'dad? He camps with the adults, right? You want to cook or clean up? No, you don't get served personally, EVERYBODY pulls his weight in this Patrol. Don't forget the Patrol Pitch ! We can win the movie tickets if we keep our campsite looking good. … "

When it became obvious that the Cub Pack that Scoutson had just crossed over out of was NOT going to be rechartered by the CO (a "paper" sponsor, a "courtesy" sponsor , a hospital "Foundation") , and no other parents wanted to take up the cause, we collectively decided to have one heckava BBQ picnic, and used up the remainder of the treasury. The last hundred or so dollars were signed off to the Hospital Foundation, a worthy cause none the less. Remaining Cubs transferred to other Packs. Salve our wounds, cherish our Cub Scout memories and move on.

Merlyn ! Almost thought you had dropped off the face of the earth ! I knew this discussion on the erstwhile Faith and Chaplaincy forum couldn't go by without your erudition. The debate seems to be whether one can have an ethical and moral center to one's psyche without a spiritual belief in "something bigger" then one's self. It must be noted (I'm sure friend Merlyn would agree) that every noted, named faith, from Sophocles on up to the LDS folks (with the possible exception of the Ba 'Hai ? and Buddhism? ) can claim both a peace testimony and a violent, vengeful period. The Christian Crusades, the Muslim J'had, the various Hindu - Sikh disturbances, even the Shinto-Samurai events in Japan... Hurt or Help? It is hard to find a faith category that doesn't exhibit that dichotomy. What is moral/ethical? By whose example do you judge? Atheists are certainly prone to this. Was Hitler a "believer"? Pol Pot? Sadaam Hussein? Oh, wait, he was labeled Muslim, (Sufism? Ahmadiyya?) . The rationale, the REASON for the ethics (Jesus said...) is the need here. Everyone wants an "authority" to point to. Atheism points to Humanity as it's authority, the idea that ethical, moral behavior is endemically the right thing to do, as such, by definition, should help everyone somehow and hurt no one somehow. How'm I doin' ?

There was a "Vendor" selling archery gear??? At a Scout event? Totally against everything I was taught to teach as a Range Safety Officer. "No personal gear allowed on the Scout Range." "No archery done OFF the official range, without the RSO oversight." Two and a half years later? Ach mein gott….

"A Scout is Trustworthy" , I accept what you say here as what you see as truth. I am suggesting that until we see more from Todd5, we do the same for him/her. Meantime, very often assumptions are best left to real estate deals 😊

Option B point 5... It must be pointed out that not only the Scouts, but the parents must be willing to subscribe to the Scout Promise and Law. If the COR and the rest of the Troop leadership can find agreement on what EXACTLY the problems are, in light of the Scout Promise and Scout Law, then that is on which you must base the banishment . In writing. Handed to the families in question, before witnesses. I have not read thru all of the past postings on this issue, but I have the distinct impression that the Scouts from this family (two families? Am I correct in thinking two families?) are not so much the problem, but must follow in the parent's footsteps. It may come to the point where the CO may have to seek an court injunction against trespass. Pity the Scouts.