Tampa Turtle

A fair point. Let the brick and mortar boys take the risk. I can see a win-win if BSA could resist undermining them with online business. It would really have to be a retailer with a national presence wouldn't it? Like a Walmart (I can see a downside with that as well).

Our Pack still does it. I think since I have known them...500 boys got their Bobcat Badge...most got turned upside down (a few said no)...no one dropped (yet). We had more than one DE at those things.

If a parent says something then you try to avoid doing it. We did the upside thing and asked the parents first if it was OK and asked the boy, twice and privately if it was OK. I never held the lads because I am not strong enough. I have a kid with sensory issues and we are a hand-shaking Troop; it really helped him along as there were a lot of patient non-adult men willing to take the time to help him practice until he has learned to at least tolerate it. I will pat a boy on a shoulder but that is about it. I have hugged the occasional boy because of a tragedy, I have to worries or

As I recall our pack had 150 boys so the annual campouts could get pretty huge. The reality was many folks showed up and never camped. Probably 60-80 tents in a very small council camp. Sometimes we had other units there that weekend and is was basically 'tent ghettos'. We divided our area into cub ranks and then dens and might tape them off based on who signed up. A few folks came early to claim a good spot, first come first served. Tigers, Wolves always ended up close to the rest rooms and the Webelos furtherest away. The Cubmaster working with the Webelos 2 showed arriving families whe

I threw it back to my son "how much do you want it? Sell something? Get a job? Go on an OA Crew?". He might be able to accumulate the cost over a year of part time work and go year after that. But he wants to go with his buddies and I get that. We have major, major expenses looming next year so the timing is bad. In general he has lamented how so many scout activities seem to be getting more and more expensive and as families with less money get forced out the ones remaining seem less concerned with trip costs. Still I wish he could go.

BSA 2017: Be Prepared. For Life. BSA 2018: It is what it is.

I heard last night the crews filling up slowly as I sat through an excellent presentation. With spending money and air fare it would cost me $2,000+ to go through cancel. I am sure Philmont is great --from everyone has gone has raved--but as Mrs Turtle said 'How many once in a lifetime experiences are we responsible for?'.

Kudos to THAT Council to providing info for an objective if hard discussion. The solutions are debatable but it is good to have some facts presented to start the discussion rather than being behind closed doors and the pronouncements given to Scouters from above. (I was gonna say 'on stone tablets' but that would entail some permanence).

I don't know why they didn't just add a new color for Lions...this just will confuse people. Questionable decision but will sell more neckers.

Special Belt Loops for Camporees, Ranks, High Adventure Basis, Friends of Scouting, Councils! Thinking of the possibilities...at $3.50 a pop!

I guess our boys lacked good sense.

My dad was in a patrol-sized Troop on Long Island in the late 1940's. Said he and his buddies would just walk out of town to go camping, basically just going from one guys house to another. (No adults but I think some cigarette smoking and the occasional bottle of beer might have been involved. Bacon, Bread, Beans, Beer, and cigs) Fast forward to the 1970's and my dad would not drive me in the Troop meetings (in florida) because 'scouts was not supposed to be something you had to be driven to'.

The Scouts I know who are (quietly but openly gay) are among the most opposed. Maybe any uniform revisions will raise the ridiculously low hemlines of the official switchbacks a bit higher...but not to the 1970's hot-pants style. Just saying.

And Dad was gay so everything is cool. Personally I always had a thing for Jan over Marcia.

As a dyslexic I see weird things--I thought it said " pink see through, girls t-shirt". Really. Maybe it was some unwanted ads on the side bleeding over. Got my attention though.

I think you need time; it is not a drop in for 10 minute things. And really only a few boys at a time. But almost everyone I know who has done it has liked it.

While my family is a traditional nuclear family (Mom, Dad, 2 boys all living in same home, no divorces, special arrangements etc) it is not the majority in my Troop. And I have seen various parental figure step in at times so I imagine a concept of 'Family Camping' could lead to some interesting situations. Maybe Timmy (or Tammy now) camps with her patrol and bio-mom with her new blended family comes along and bio-dad with his new blended family does too. And former step parent with the half sister drops by just for the day and brings buster the dog because it is too short a time to board and

Oh gosh yes, the dog. Been there. I guess that is logical...my dog is a better member of the family than my boys.

I am a CPAP user but I do not need it as much because I lost a lot of weight so I could go camping. (I have to work really, really hard to get my BMI from Morbidly Obese to merely Overweight. I have the metabolism of a sloth now) In the years since there are small, compact, battery CPAP's that one could bring on campsites like summer camp and then recharge during the day. The machines now are much quieter and are less noisy then I am also a diabetic and long excursions take a lot of extra work to be accommodated and at times I need some assistance from fellow scouters. In return I work

I saw that at a event, the HAM demonstration was put so far away from all the action (all they needed was a picnic table and a plug) that it saw little traffic. The boys that got into it really dug it.

It just is not promoted that much and people are just not aware of it. We have had a long time scouter who was one of the JOTA sites so a lot of our cubs and scouts have participated. A lot of operators here in Florida were relaying messages to and from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria; that opened some eyes. I see a good link with Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge.

He is a junior and starting to look at colleges with ROTC programs. I think he is more of a 'group' person.

I was glad advancement was not on the list as well. I have had to sit on quite a few boy-led summer camp selection committees; here are the most common reasons I have heard for Boy Scouts selecting a summer camp. Their reasons, not mine: - Staff. Were they friendly? Did they know their stuff or were they bored kids. - Nostalgia. Troop has gone there before. Known quality. - Newness. Desire to do something different (take a train, out west, water program) - Topography, Climate. Boys from Tampa do not want to go to another hot, flat place during the summer. This almost always

The Turtles are happy to announce the birth of their 5' -11" 120 pound Eagle Scout. Gave great interview I hear. Survived despite leaving 'gag patches' on his uniform ("I Speak English" and a Klingon Interpreter Strip). Likes to live dangerously--when questioned about if that was his attitude toward a serious interview--he said "I am a Scout and a Scout is all about having fun. If I can't have some fun with my uniform I should join the military". He was having a pretty good time. Came out wanting to plan some high adventure outings for the guys still in the Troop; I am most pleased t

To be fair it takes a special boy to pull some it off sometimes; usually a guy with some real skills who is 'pretty chill'. Some boys are a little too much drama--they just make it worse. The boy sense of fair play is a little off: (True story. Older boy puts assembled tent 20' off the ground, younger boys a short kid finds it and raises hell) S: "Hey Tim, sorry man, about putting your tent up in the tree. It seemed pretty funny" T: "Knock it off, you tore a hole it was a new tent" S:"You can set fire to my tent if you want?" T:{thinking) "No...gotta any duct tape?"