SSScout

The only way to the Summit is by motorcoach. Check the arrangements, where you fly into, where the coach picks up, where it takes you, etc. We are far enough out that adjustments should be do-able. AMTRAK will take you to far away terminals, altho the closest official AMTRAK terminal is less than 30 miles away, but it is not accessible by Big Bus.... I knew one Michigan contingent that purposely planned the bus trip from the upper penn by coach so the boys slept on the bus, and the tours were done when they alighted. The coach company liked Scouts(!) and so arranged for the relief drivers to ride along and thus did not require the busses to stop for the DOT required rest periods. The driver rest periods were scheduled in while the Scouts were touring places for 8 or ten hours , daytime. The Jamboree itself is worth the money, I feel, but the big expense is always the getting there and the side tours , if done. But then, how often will a Scout get to some of the places otherwise? Recommend Baltimore Inner Harbor: USS Constellation, USCGC Taney... Crabs for lunch.... and the B&O Museum , 10 blocks away on Pratt St. Contingent Troops should ALWAYS work on specific fund raising early, do not depend on the Bank of M&D .....

Things I have seen done: * Local TV Weather person hosts Scouts working on Weather/ Meteorology MB. * Lots of local papers/TV stations will do a report on your Cub Scout Day Camp. * Item in local press about Philmont/Jamboree/Northern Tier/Troop expedition on the AT . Depends on the paucity of other local news, and your ability and perseverance to get the interest across. If it isn't interesting to you, it probably won't be interesting to them. . * service project to local homeless shelter/soup kitchen. * Replanting of trees, shrubs in damaged park area.

Howdy, Texas. Up here in Maryland, we are under 3 feet of snow.... When you said Grin and Bear it... I must not be up on the new Cub stuff, because I immediately thought of the old comic strip by George Lichty: "Grin and Bear it" (Google is your friend) http://animationresources.org/comics-george-lichty-grin-and-bear-it-orgy-2/ Life in the slow lane, print comics..... Have fun with your Cubs! Remember the Cub Mantra: KiS MiF!

It is all local. DO NOT depend on the Council or National for PR. If you have the ear of the Council's Media Director (I bet there is one named on the payroll), by all means prod him/her. But it is YOUR units that provide the fun and adventure, YOU need to get that word out.

Wallll, yer pays yer money and yer takes yer cherce. Who are we/they (is it really we?) trying to sell? The Boy? His parents? Adventure, self reliance, skill, getting dirty with your buds, rock climbing, canoeing, Philmont, ,,,, Resume item, Baby Sitters of America, "maybe they can knock some sense into him", good citizenship, responsibility, service to others (whozzat?), patriotism (define that!), religiousity, ,,,,, What kind of an ad would we want? Several types? I still think the local touch s more important. Do us local vols think Scouting is important to develop ... what kind of kid to be what kind of adult?

PSAs, commercials, billboards, school promotions, like politics and real estate, "it's all local" Don't depend on Irving to promote YOUR Scouting. Ya gotta DIY.... Some ideas: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qjcg41nlu35z48d/ScoutsPromotionstuff.docx?dl=0

Ditto all that has been said before. The money raised by the Scout for the Unit belongs to the Unit, and by association and law, to the CO. It is not the Scout's, never was. If the Unit wishes to award the Scout some Campership money to help pay for the Scout's activities, they can do that, but the Scout has no say over it. It ain't his. He has no right to it. The IRS has even ruled that such "Scout Account" money might be said to be a "commission" paid for the Scout's unit fundraising efforts, and therefore a taxable income to the Scout. Google is your friend: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/financeimpact/pdf/INDIVIDUAL_SCOUT_ACCOUNTS_AND_FUNDRAISING_BY_BSA_UNITS_20140226.pdf By the time I was a Tenderfoot, I had my own bank account and savings book. I liked the idea of seeing the amount grow as I worked for my dad and his friends. It is always encouraged that the Scout "earn his own way". See you on the trail! and thank you for your concern for your boy.

Good to see you back, Tahawk. That is the Troop of my youth. That is the big successful Troops that sponsor the Camporees in our area. You do not create Patrol Spirit by regrouping the Patrols every six months. The older boys in my Troop were the PLs, the APLs, the SPLs, the QMs, the Instructors and the OA folks. The younger boys aspired to be an Older Scout, I see that now, as I sure did. It took awhile for me to realize, for instance, that I had become my father, when I grew up and moved away and married. Same with the Troop. If the Adults don't allow (allow!!) te Scouts to "grow up" in the Troop, they will move out sooner rather than later. If the goal of the Troop is to "make first class in one year", then perhaps a NSP is the way to go. If the goal of the Troop is to "Be A Scout", then that must presuppose the program (activities, planned by the boys, encouraged by the SMs) allows the boy to EARN his ranks as he will, as he wants to. NOT as somebody else requires.

My name was (is) on the inside back of my sash in ink. So is Scoutson's.

So, you don't let the camp stand idle just because of "Scout Pride". Why not rent to Church groups? If you have a nice retreat type place, do it! Outdoor Education is the latest fad in public schools here abouts. Council works with county schools to utilize the space. I know a Girl Scout camp that does selective logging! Lots of possibilities, just don't let 'em make a golf course out of them.

#1: Your Committee need not be limited to ONLY Scout family. Ask your CO for help here. Grandparents of ex-Scouts, (parents! of ex-Scouts!), any good responsible adult can be tapped for Committee or ASM support. Ask your local Service Clubs: Lions, Kiwanis, Rotary, etc. #2: Recruitment is important. Basically, if the boy doesn't know you are there, he can't join. Ask your CO about (if appropriate) a sign utside your meeting place. Contact the Guidance Counselor at the local Middle schools and make sure they know you are there. PTAs. If you are doing a service project (Eagle or other) make sure you have some publicity : contact local TV, Papers, put up a sign! Philmont/Summit trip? Get a notice in the paper! Your Scouts can earn the Recruiter strip for inviting their buds to join. 'Course now, all these ideas are for your COMMITTEE to pursue... Encourage your boys to wear the uni to school, all on the same day for support, and don't you be afraid to wear even a Scout hat or belt with your civies. Start the conversation. #3 Occupational hazard. Eagles get older. If the older Scouts like the idea of forming a Venture Patrol to go do "big boy " things, and be the Mentors to the younger Scouts, that can be a draw for them to hang around. (!!) Get some "Instructor " shoulder patches and promote the older Scouts to those PORs! Good Scouting to you!

""So a council with no camp, no hq/service center, and no scout shop"" Any pensions?

Q: "plus one" what?

Gumby master, I agree with your observation. I know (knew) of a retired contractor, who took on the role of DE, almost purely because he needed something to keep busy and he loved Scouting. Certainly didn't need the money. Two kids in/thru Scouting. Years later, he became a "District Director", and was well respected among us vols, but came on hard times with BSA (don't know the whole story) and was forced to resign. His kids are still in Scouts and progress.

Omnia BSA est in et membra habet multa nimis parties divisibus . emptor. BSA non carborundum .

Is Campmor still in business?

Go on line and print out the insert of the new requirements to use with the old handbook. http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/programupdates.aspx in general, Cub Scouts is more particular. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/boyscouts/pdf/524-012_BS_Requirements_Insert.pdf Boy Scouts more specific for each rank. Hoo boy, some veeeery interesting new stuff. Not unreasonable (still no Morse code in FC), but interesting. Lawyers been at work? Venturing is there too.

Awards.... I am on the national committee for my faith, the Friends Committee on Scouting. Among other things, we plan, design and administer the religious awards for our faith. Two, three years ago, it was announced thru PRAY that our store of awards , by federal statute (!), had to be either tested for lead content (each one, individually!) or replaced in toto with new awards that could be certified by the manufacturer as being lead free. Why? Because they were deemed as "jewelry for children". Children might chew on them, or otherwise be in danger of somehow ingesting any lead (or other toxic substance) inherent in them. This did not apply to the adult awards, adults don't chew on their "jewelry", only to the youth awards. I hope, (any way to check this?) that the official Scout/Venture metallic awards are equally 'safe' for our youth to wear, even if judged "tacky" in construction.

Too bad Isher doesn't have Scouting... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weapon_Shops_of_Isher

Now there's a point for discussion. I hadn't thought about it this way before. If the Unit is not supposed to solicit "donations" and a Scout is supposed to PAY his own way, and any fundraisers are supposed to give "value for the money spent" (bags of mulch, cars washed, spaghetti dinners cooked, flags place on front lawns, flamingos emplaced, etc.) , how is this (20% night at the Pizza Hut) not soliciting a donation? The scouts are not doing anything except asking folks to go eat at a specific, privately owned , professional restaurant. And then, that restaurant's owner GIVES the Troop/Pack/Crew a DONATION. I am all in favor of supporting the Troop. I buy popcorn and cookies and Christmas wreaths and even mulch (altho it is free to pick up at the county dump) . I even eat at the Greek restaurant that announced it would "donate" 20% of that nights intake (not including tips) to a Scout's Eagle project support (went to the school he was projecting at). What then is a "donation?" When I help the Troop sell Christmas/holiday decorations, and someone comes up and says "I'm Jewish, we don't decorate our house, but I love the Scouts, here's twenty bucks", we will say "thank you !" and put it in the box. That wasn't solicited, was it? We didn't ASK him to give us money, he just didn't want to buy our wares. But if the Scouts are asking folks to EAT at Hut de la Pizza on Thursday, maybe we can say the Scouts are WORKING for the restaurant, and EARNING their "donations" by being PR men? . In another vein, when we helped the CO at their Fried Chicken Dinners, busing tables and directing traffic in the parking lot, they would give us a "free" dinner . Did we work for that dinner? Or was the church really losing money on our help (hey, a Scout might eat three times the dinner of the paying guests!) ?

Somewhere, in somebody's basement or attic or garage, is the EAGLE Patrol plaque I carved for my Woodcarving Merit Badge. It hung over the Patrol campsite gateway and went to many a Camporee. When I graduated, it was passed down to the next Patrol Leader. Wish I had it now..... Made a good parade banner type of thing too, on occasion, as I remember. As to Patrol Flag, I agree, let the boys decide how much "worth" they put into it.

An iconic award winning actor was once asked how he did it. He responded that his craft was not so much 'putting on a mask' as 'taking one off ' and revealing what everyone of us has within. Perhaps to leave the Scouts with something to think about as they leave the meeting: ""Everyone of us bears within him the possibilities of all passions, all destinies of life in all it's manifold forms. Nothing human is foreign to us"" = Edward G. Robinson =

My apologies for expanding the discussion unintentionally. "As usual", I thought the discussion had swerved into other, somewhat connected topics. The SLS classroom part also often suffers from the "Official" only training. It can also be flat table listen to me lecture boring. The trainers (who might want to take Trainers Edge if offered in Council) are well urged to bring out their experiences and encourage the participants to share their own "time in the trenches" as appropriate. When I was last called to help with the SLS training, both Cub and Scoutmaster, I was disappointed to note the curriculum had been cut significantly. See the appropriate threads here for details. The reason seemed to be (1) deal only with what SMs are officially responsible for (cut out discussion of finance, for instance) and (2) It was "too long" before. By all means, anyone eager to be trained and Be A Scouter should attend.

John in KC: I agree with your perspective. The UC should be more of a "Dutch Uncle" than an "Enforcer". He/she needs Scout experience and training. They need to have the "glad hand" rather than the "iron hand". She/he should be able to tie a square knot and be sympathetic to the vagaries of life. It would be good if they had had a good Scout experience in their yoooth, but not necessarily. I know , IMHE, that I have been called upon to voice opinion on "what should be done" and have had to say "this is what NEEDS to be done" . I wish more Scoutmaster Emeriti would become Commissioners.

""“There's the South Pole, said Christopher Robin, and I expect there's an East Pole and a West Pole, though people don't like talking about them.â€"" ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh