Tampa Turtle

Thats cool.

Maybe the occasional finger amputation, tent on fire, or old school latrine will cull some out.

I think Son#1 was not happy when Son#2 joined the Troop. And when Son#2 was his SPL.

If you find an engineer to talk about the bridge that could be cool too.

Now on need to go in my Wayback Machine to 1915 and talk B.P. out of that Cubbing idea. I always thought a lot of the boys liked scouting to GET AWAY from their family a weekend a month! LOL

I am hoping 'Family Scouting' was just a poorly chosen phrase then a program change like when I said "Quality Control" and stepped on a land-mine.

I have heard some pretty good and/or damning feedback at some BOR's. It really depends on the boy as much as how the adults conduct themselves.

What is Rose and Thorns if not an evaluation? Usually done right before the final campsite cleanup sweep before departure. And the PLC does a different one a few days later. I think there one question is "should we do this again?". Of course the adults used to do an online or conference call 'After Action Report' over stuff we had concerns with (signs of bullying, campsite reservation, etc etc). The Rose and Thorns is very similar to the "Hot Wash" we used to use in Emergency Operations. The later more formal thoughts tend to miss out of the emotional gripes and frustrations right after the ev

My experience is the boys do not respond well to an adult facilitator --it tends to shut down real dialogue. Ideally an older boy who is respected can offer suggestions. But I think it is more important that they get talking and they know what is going on anyway. We let some adults comment at the end but they have to keep it as brief as the boys. Usually the SPl or SM get the last work. I would accept weather as a thorn. We once camped on the edge of a growing hurricane (it was an unexpected turn and we were a bit stranded). The weather was hell but one lad used it as a Rose: "The wind b

I have seen tri-colored Eagle Scout shoulder loops that I was told they got from their counsel store.

I think we picked up Rose and Thorns from sharing a campsite with another Troop like 20 years ago. The boys were (I heard) asked to share in their Rose and Thorns by that Troop on Snday morning and our Scouts just copied and it has been passed down year by year.

I think they 'got it' already. And I do not think they "threw in the towel"; they proposed an alternate activity for themselves (a gang of buddies going off on an adventure--what a concept!) outside of the Troop if need be. On the one hand a bad precedent and on the other I admire their initiative. Most of them come from the Patrol with the most cohesion BTW. I would like to reiterate that the Troop HAS had a process of older boys training younger boys on progressively harder hikes. Our Troop has a coveted backpacking award that has been awarded a 1/5th of the time as the Eagle ran

The family thing is a new thing in our Troop and I do not think we have handled it so well. We really should have promoted our easy and nearby yearly camp-out better and raised the bar of adult participation on the others to retain the patrol method and boy independence. A neighboring Troop seems to handle this better.

We just had a "promotional visit" on this Merit Badge (along with some of the related "trade" ones) as our last Troop meeting. There are always some boys who are attracted to this sort of thing -- we promote it as 'old school manly'* sort of thing. We did Auto Repair one year on our church van. My son was so excited when he did plumbing when he got to solder a copper pipe --did it much better and neater than I ever had--that when I needed one done in a tight space in my house I let him do the job instead of me. He was 12 at the time and did great. I view these Merit Badges as tryi

'Thorns and Roses' is always a good campout wrap up--you can get some pretty good raw feedback. Our PLC is always right after the monthly campout and the boy leadership can give their views as well. I really liked someone on here who used "Thorns, Roses, and Buds" -- the Bud representing encouraging signs or opportunities.

I liked one our Old School Scoutmaster who knew the handbook in and out would seem to answer almost any question "Its in the Handbook!" and often could cite the page number. Eventually the smarter lads caught on.

Our Troop does not count inside activities as a campout but just as an extra activity (like a holiday season meeting becomes a potluck dinner). I do think the boys wanting to do such things point to a gelling of the group and is, over all, a good sign.

Son has green light for tonight.

I like the idea of publishing the grades though I think some new kind of gaming will be invented. One year in our Troop we sent some senior leadership boys to NYLT and they came back all fired up and into the patrol method and youth led. It was all fine and dandy until the boys started planning things some adults didn't like (a movie/nacho night and a gaming night lock-in overnighter) because "It did not seem to fulfill a purpose" and the next year there was no more money to underwrite NYLT.

Scouting must have a magical vision to persist despite so many attempts to screw it up!

The District gentleman likes to do three an evening and, while my son is #1 in the queue, it depends if the other two lads (who live elsewhere) will be available that night. If not it gets kicked to next week. Having seen these things before it is best for them to grab the earliest opportunity. The holidays kind of disrupt stuff. But the Eagle BOR chair is a really good and through guy so I trust him on his method.

I gotta give the PLC when my son was SPL a lot of credit. They really tried to grab control and when confronted with adults who vetoed things on the basis of cost they politely asked for information on trip costing for the last few years and what the fund raising funds were used for. Not demanding, just asking. Uncooperative adults really frustrated their planning; they couldn't find out why some 'cheap' trips cost so much and why they couldn't plan a fund raiser for an ambitious goal. I thought it would have been a useful exercise regardless of the result. I don't think it was any skulduggery

When my son was SPL he said his biggest frustration was the behind the back lobbying by parents right to him; he got emails, texts, and calls constantly despite the SM and some us ASM's running cover for him as much as possible. He would remind them that the Troop was boy led and refer them to the SM. Often after the SM backed him up they would still try manipulating things. His plate was pretty full between High School and the Troop at the time was 60 Boys and 5-6 Patrols. I think he learned a lot that year not all of it good.

It is WHATEVER. You only get so many withdrawals from the Trust Bank on Boy Led with teenagers.

Son#2 is on stand by status for his Eagle BOR for Thursday. I think he will do well--he is a good interview--and a very deserving and experienced scout.