Tokala

I attended the National Planning meeting in December. The proposed Brotherhood ceremony was approved with changes. From there it goes to the BSA side for approval, branding, etc. The new ceremony is supposed to be available this summer. The script will only be online for download and yes, it will be password protected. I can ask around about Pre-Ordeal, but I haven't heard anything changing with that ceremony. I am longtime OA friends with a couple of the guys that did the rewrite.

Rainman29, you'll have to search the internet. BSA supply division does not make a Lodge Executive Committee POR patch.

I took Boy Scout Leader Wood Badge in 1988. I loved the camping/outdoor experience and still drawn on the "Eleven Skills of Leadership" that I learned. I staffed Boy Scout Leader Wood Badge and WB21C. I think the BS leader Wood Badge was a much better course with materials more tailored to running a Boy Scout Troop. WB21C has become a leadership course/corporate management training with little to tie it to running a Troop other than the occasional outdoor activity. I think in 25 years the type of leaders has shifted and they shifted the material and presentation style to match. Unfortunately, it does little to help people learn about Scouting. I would take Boy Scout Leader Wood Badge again, but would not take WB21C.

Charge them, prosecute them and remove them from Scouting.

As Council VP for Program I promote our camp heavily. I always ask units to work the Council camp into their rotations. I don't demand that they attend. I sincerely hope that they are going where the boys and the PLC want to go and not letting the adults decide. I too have units that will not attend our camp due to something that happened 15 years ago. The sad part is the the NCAP program is designed to force Councils to justify their camps through an evaluation of program, facilities and finances.Having your own units support your camp helps tremendously when going through NCAPBe warned the National and Regional folks are looking at your local camp's results and can close your camp.

 

Hello from West Central Florida Council! I'll be at your Council office this saturday to promote Sand Hill Scout Reservation's summer camp.

I am a Council Executive Committee member and I took Venturing youth protection, mostly because it was required for my Jamboree staff position.

Login to your myscouting. Go to E-learning (see tab on left side). Once that page loads look across the top of the box that lists the courses and has the colored dots to designate which training you have completed. Along that top edge are tabs. Select the Venturing one and you should find the YPT training hidden there.

 

My Council received a conditional charter for 2013 because we (the Executive Board and Scout Executive) were not doing our jobs: increasing membership and raising the monies we said we would in our budget. We are a small Council geographically and membership. The Region was well within it's rights to put us on a conditional charter and the conditions were fair. However, I know that this is not the only motive behind the move. There is a strong desire by the Region to merge us with the neighboring Council. We have 4 months left until we either earn our charter or get a new conditional charter or a conditional charter. I have a Council Key 3 that is not providing the leadership ir communication to manage the task. It has largely fallen on myself (VP of Program) and the VP of Membership to keep people focused. I suspect we will receive a transitional charter even if we meet the conditons of our current charter because that is the Region's goal. The conditional charter was written so that the Region has the option of issuing whatever form of charter they see fit. I grew up in this Council as a Cub Scout, Eagle Scout and Lodge Chief. I will work to make the merger the best for the youth that I can and then I will step back into a unit or unit commissioner role. My emphasis has always been my Council and I just don't have the enthusiasm for a new one with all new dynamics. I have had discussions with the Program and OA counterparts about the merger since we will be left to manage the mess created by the Region and beancounters.

 

I am the Lodge Adviser for Timuquan Lodge in West Central Florida Council. I served 2 years as an Associate Section Adviser for SR-4. I served as the adviser to the SR-4's version of ArrowCorps5: FourCorps 2010 and am serving in that position again for FourCorps 2014. By the way, that event will probably be open to any member of the Order of the Arrow.

 

"the OA was designed and is an honor society of Boy Scout campers"

1. OA is considered Scouting's Honor Society 2. Varsity Scouts are also allowed into the OA.

"how electing venturers to the OA is going to supporting the mission of the OA and improve my lodge?"

Venturers are older and, for the most part, more experienced than the average Boy Scout. Having Venturers in your lodge will give you better leadership, opinions and views of scouts from another branch of scouting, higher attendance, co-ed membership, and scouts with more high adventure experience, since that is what is Venturing is about, high adventure.

"Outdoor crews are basically upgraded Boy Scouts, that's what I have seen. Letting them in gives you older and, in many cases, more experienced scouts. "

 

That is contrary to what I find in my Council. The vast majority of Boy Scouts exhibit much better Scouting skills, maturity and leadership. Now, that doesn't meant that there are not similar youth in Crews.

 

I think you have to go back to when the OA was first added to the BSA and placed under the Boy Scout Program Group to find the reasons why it is for Boy Scouts only. Boy Scouts have ranks and advancement. Venturing has awards. It's a technical, verbal difference, but in the home office in Texas it is a huge difference. It will be interesting to see if there are any changes when Venturing goes through it's remodeling in 2014.

Definitely a different experience than AP Hill. I noticed the one day out of the 16 I was there and able to explore that water filling stations were few and far between. Seemed a major omission in the infrastructure plan. In the area where the OA headquarters were, we had all OA staff and all whitewater participants with NO water nearby which was approximately 3000 people. I had to use a 2-seater gator to run to D, E or F subcamp and fill 5-gallon igloos. The first day of whitewater program I filled 65 5-gallon igloos in 3 hours. I can't imagine how I could have accomplished this without the vehicle which we basically had to "steal" because the Jamboreedidn't feel that we needed a vehicle. The staff dining was very nice with very good breakfast and supper choices and quantity. At times the dining hall staff was rude and inconsiderate.Lunch left much to be desired. Limiting folks to 1 per box may have helped with counts, but there was always food left and then it was hoarded and guarded like it was gold. The frozen turkey sandwich the night of the closing show left staff with no alternatives for food except to stand in line for 2 hours at the Chat N' Chew toget something to eat. I don't see where it was that difficult to plan when to take the food out of the freezer and start to bring it to edible temperature. The meal had always been planned to be a box dinner. What I saw of the program areas showed that they definitely went "all in" on building areas for the Scouts to use. Sadly, the long walks/hike, long waits and the weather ruined many opportunities for the Scouts to actually use them. The site engineers failed at drainage. Everything was mud and it took days for it to dry out. The OA headquarters area remained mud for the entire Jamboree. There was not enough straw, mulch, or gravel to get us out of the mud. It eventually began to grow algae and the biting flies loved it!

My sympathies to his family in this sudden and sad time. His contributions to this forum and Scouting will be missed.

Just wait for the 100th anniversary. The National Committee has already discussed a special commemorative sash for all participants. They will state that the sashes will only be worn at the NOAC, but I don't see how they manage it after everyone goes home.

I just returned from a meeting of SR Area 4. Many angry Scout Executives at the meeting. They are not happy that the National office left them twisting in the wind. We left the meeting with a May 15 deadline to survey or gauge the opinions of our Council. How to do that was left to each Council.Seems difficult to ask an opinion when the proposed changes wording hasn't even been written.

 

The vote will be secret ballot and only those who are National Council members can vote. Each Council has a different number of representatives. Each is represented by the Council President and Council Commissioner. In my Council we have a 3rd member who is elected at the annual business meeting. The only way to change a representative is to have them resign and elect a new person to that position. Of course, they could vote however they wish at the meeting. They could vote their conscience or the wishes of the Council membership. It's going to be an interesting 4 months.

I don't find homosexuals any more immoral than I do the married couple committing adultery at a Wood Badge weekend. It's not about their sexual preference, it's about their values and behavior. Your beliefs don't make you a better person, your behavior does.

 

I don't see this infringing on a charter's ability to choose its leadership or membership. I also don't see this as selling out our values to an agenda by homosexuals. Maybe it's about the BSA being brave and making a decision that truly reflects diversity and inclusiveness and not just words in a book?

 

My Council has been denied access to our school system for over 10 years due to the membership requirement. We have missed the opportunity to teach young people about the outdoors, leadership and values because of this. If they proceed with the local option, I see us once again being able to have scools as charters and being able to recruit.

Damned if they do; damned if they don't.

 

We're losing membership anyhow. Does this reverse course or just accelerate it? I think that the choice option allows everyone to maintain their "standards".

I wonder if losing donations at the National level hasn't caused the "trickle up" of funds from Councils and local units? The unit charter fee went from $20 to $40 and was happilay renamed the "liability fee." That's cash out of a Troop, pack or Crew funds which is sent directly to the National office. They also increased the "laibility fee" for holding an Area or Region event. It used to be $1 for every 24 hours. It increased to $2 per day. A weekend typically cost a Scout $2 now costs him $6. Once again, it funds out of local hands siphoned off and sent to National.

 

Granted their are using this to replenish the bank account from paying out in lawsuits for incidents at the local level.

I don't mind the cost. My report date is July 9 which is days earlier than I anticipated. Thus, I have to hand off the camp director job in order to be at the Summit on time. I agree it is expensive. Boy Scouting at a National event always has been.

 

I bet all the concern about an unmitigated disaster is through adults eyes. The vast majority of kids won't know if the event went smoothly or imploded. If their tents don't leak, the food is decent and they have stuff to do, they'll be content. Besides, if you went in 2010 you would know that the only activity that they participate in is patch trading

I'm excited about going. I was at the first and last Jamboree at AP Hill and now I'll be at the first at The Summit. I don't expect things to be ready. I don't expect them to have enough staff. I think the physical fitness requirement is sabotaging their ability to recruit staff. I have worked OA national events staff in logistics since ArrowCorps5. The OA always had it's own logistics depot filled with the supplies that our groups have requested. At The Summit that is all be coordinated by the Jamboree folks and that concerns me. I look at my journey this summer as one of the guys that "writes the manual" for OA logistics at future Jamborees at The Summit.

 

Some info that I heard while at the OA National Planning meeting is that they have 29K participants. It's not nearly as well attended as AP Hill. Could be the economy, locations, etc. Also, our Council COPE/climbing chairman is on the staff for COPE/climbing at The Summit. He says that they are short on staff by more than 500 based on requirements in West Virginia state law.

OGE, I am just working with the OA staff side of the Jamboree. Garden Ground Mtn has the bucksin games, OA Indian village, Highland games and pioneering. Not sure who is coordinating the evening program.

A declining membership produces the largest annual number of Eagle Scouts.

 

Strange happenings in the BSA

CSE, Wayne Brock, dealt with an ineligible volunteer according to the L.A. Times and did not report it to authorities.

 

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/30/local/la-me-scouts-leaders-20121231

I attended the OA's National Planning meeting in Dallas last week. Got my hands on a large scale map showing the layout of the subcamps, activity areas and Garden Ground Mtn. Prepare to walk...a lot! It also appears that I will make a visit in March for a walkthrough for the OA staff.(This message has been edited by Tokala)

I just returned from the annual OA national planning meeting. NOAC will return to Michigan State University for the 100th anniversary in 2015. The dates are Augst 3-8.