Tampa Turtle

I agree, individually. Boys will start making individual choices as they start getting more active in school and extra-circular activities. The "advancing group" should get more and more ragged. That said if there was a deadline for a COH I might offer to give the boy an extra opportunity to finish up. I have met with boys between meetings if it was a big issue--that way if they don't well it was there choice.

You know I gotta agree with the President in this. Let some other LEO's like the FBI (if they have jurisdiction) look into it and figure out what probably happened. The jury pool I was in had 4 possibilities: (1) Stand your ground (2) 1st Degree Murder (3) 2nd Degree Murder (4) 3rd Degree Murder with a Felony From what I recall in Florida (4) if he you do a felony and use a handgun and someone dies you can be charged with 3rd Degree Murder. (Think of a bank robbery and gun accidentally goes off) I think penalties are stricter than Murder 2. So It would be hard for a DA to even

I saw a reference to a **possible** announcement from BSA in May in some Summer Camp planning documents. Would like to know as it would be popular with out boys (a lot have the patch).

I think there is great wisdom in Eamonns comments. Last year I tried to crack down on "poor quality AOL control' from a feeder pack and all I did was cause a lot of bad feelings. We had to grin and accept it but made them work to earn their Scout Rank. (which they should know 90% if they did AOL properly). It is not the boys fault for the poor job adults do. This year a wiser ASM who was our pack-troop liason started working with them a month early to shore up their AOL requirements/scout rank preps. Boy I never seem so many perfect uniforms, ready answers, and all of them came over.

Hang in their Lisa it gets better. Get the Cub-Scout How-To book; lots of games and ideas. Keep a box of stuff for games. My first Tiger Den has 20 boys (6 special needs) and no parent helpers. They would just sit there--I would beg for help. Eventually I would tell the boys "GO to your Mom and Dad AND HAVE THEM help you glue the beads" or whatever. The lads would scurry off and interrupt the chattering adults. The second year I had 12 and 1 helper. He was not very effective but was emotional support and occasionally "pick off" a troublesome boy who was being disruptive --it was usua

Baden brings up good points. We have all seen good and bad in Troops so maybe not all AHG is bad.

This whole case has made me really angry. I am white but as part of my job and education I usually work in the black community and have a degree from a historically black college. I have come to realize that yes I have my prejudices but most folks do. The point is to be aware of them and rise above them. (I bet the guy Zimmerman will claim "I don't have a prejudiced bone in my body". It reminds me of a local school principal who, in response to a parent complaint about a bullying incident stated "In my 13 years as Principal I never been aware of ONE case of bullying.") What I am angr

Haze 'em til they cry.

I have actually said "Dad you can stand over there and I will send him over when I am done with him." Takes practice, at least for me.

I hear my guys call girls "dudes" so I think anything is better than "you people".

WOLF! NOT WOOF!

Really. I hear: (after introductions) (1) I am supposed to wear a uniform? (2) Who do I see to get a Troop T-shirt?

Just for ideas... we have tried the following successfully with young scouts: - Canoeing (needed to borrow the canoes. A rental is good if costs) - Caving (through a local spelunking society) - Military Museums - Geocatching (I disliked it but boys loved it) - Small Boat Sailing - Kayaking - Fishing We decide a free a few years ago that since we were in Tampa that we would concentrate on aquatics and hiking. Starting to push backpacking harder. So find your own Troop style. Also after complaints that we had too many expensive trips we do a "high-low" mix. If w

I mentioned how many adults because we had an early outing with newbies where we dropped off the scouts and a couple scouters to hike in and then drove in the gear with a couple other dads. That way the boys were only carrying water and snacks--even if it was only a couple miles. Gave them mental transition time and get a little energy out. Agree on the gear; they need time to figure out what they need. A few inexpensive DIY projects could could. Depending on the weather and insects some cowboy camping or survival style camping toward the end of the season might be fun. I a

I say let the SPL do his SPL thing. They say a lot worse than that due to inexperience or temperament.

We did the following: -It was done the weekend before school starts as a way to get the "vet" cubs reacquainted from the summer break. -We did at a local park with a fishing pier. That made parking and bathrooms easier. -We asked our "parent" Troop to provide some Boy Scouts for some hauling and supervision. They did as service hours. -We designated a couple of adults as "pier managers" whose job was to keep an eye on the boys and help them tie and bait hooks. At lease one should know what he is going. -We had a bait manager who made sure the 5 gallon bait buckets were kept full.

Yeah sometimes my ASM patch would get loose from the VELCRO brand fastener ahd flap around before I would notice. I was glad when my last son crossed over and I could just sew it on. Now it just flaps due to my poor sewing skills.

Ya know if a Muslim or Jewish wanted to start up a group and limit it it would be OK so why not AHG? It's not like it is the only game in town. Like someone said --Freedom of Association. Power of the marketplace and all that. Do we cover freedom of association in Citizen in the Nation? First time I heard it I thought it had something to do with American Girl Dolls or American Heritage Magazine. I don't like a few things abut GSUSA and a few things about AHG's. I have met a handful of each and seemed OK.

I did the velcro. It didn't look great but I could switch the patches and tabs. Snaps may be easier and less bulky.

You can always do an urban hike as well.

Since it is a small group of guys spread them out a bit. Even if car camping march them in a mile or so away from the parking. If I had to do it all over again I would stay away from patrol boxes. Maybe see if you could "borrow" some older scouts from another Troop to do some instruction sometimes.

1st off congratulations and good luck! I agree on starting off with a hike. If they are newbies and unconditioned you may want to make it 5 miles. Or you can have a basecamp and a loop hike. However starting off as a backpacking Troop would have some appeal if you could keep it simple and short distances at first. Try some modest campouts and concentrate on the basic skils at each (hydration, foot care, compass, first aid, cooking) before starting a bigger adventure. Basic Tenderfoot to First Class stuff. Some of this depends on how much adult support you have. Get them cam

We have been happy with Troopmaster. The many reports it cranks out give us ASM's lots of data to look over to troubleshoot trends. For a small Troop it is overkill. Exporting to council seems OK.

Thanks Scouter for the link--it really helps a lot. I think Kudu is right--even with the prerequisite warnings on partials--this sure smells like cupcakes baking. The only thing they left off was "and we'll your name on the side of the trailer".

Kudu--danger--right on! I was teaching Emergency Prep class the other night. Nothing gets a boys attention like electrocution, traumatic amputation, crushing injuries, or being on fire. "Dang it lad, don't TELL me how you would put out the boy on fire SHOW me! Push 'em down and roll him!" Of course I did not have the advantage of an air-conditioned building...poor lads I guess they are not Eagle material.