trainerlady

I was not at this camp due to family needs at home. I have talked to several scouts on the trip and they all confirm what follows from my son. My son came home from a weekend campout at a local scout camp with cabins and told us some very worrisome things that went on at camp. It seems one of our 17 year old (Eagle project away from Eagle) scouts was having "a bad weekend" to say the least. Even taking my son's flare for story telling into account, the events at camp are still worrisome. Event 1 - 17 starts the camp by bringing 20+ pocketknives to camp and sat in his bunk throwing th

Maybe I missed the answer to this question or maybe it wasn't discussed yet. Did each boy's father sign his own son's book or did another father in the group sign the book? The reason I ask is if Billy's Dad signed Bobby's book and Bobby's Dad signed Joe's book and Joe's Dad signed Billy's book then what's the fuss about. Tram you said it was a group of familes that went camping together, so as long as no father signed his own kid's book what's the fuss? I sign books for kids that go to my kids' school regularly. They come over to play and ask "Mrs. TL I can tie a bowline.Look." or we sw

My daughter does a Lone Scouting program through Girl Guides of Canada. She is a dual US/Canadian citzen and is eligible to do both GSUSA and GGC. She has chosen to do both. The prgrams are very different and complement each well. What GGC does that the BSA doesn't seem to do is have Lone Scouters that work with the Lones. They review all work and decide if it meets the standards. If everything meets the standards the kids get their advancements. If it doesn't then they guide the Scout in what needs to be finished to get advancement. My daughter's leader is 300 miles away. They comm

Lisabob, I guess I'm just lucky the women's cut pants fit me well and they fit several of my frineds very well too. Are you wearing a women's pant or a man's pant? When the only thing available was a man's pant they were a crumby fit and wore out in the crouch every six months (I wore my uniform in those days 40-60 hours a week due to work). I got 2+ years out of what we affectionately called Lady pants in my former National Supply store. Now with that said I don't care for the cargo pockets on my already large thighs, but that is a style issue not the fit issue you ask about. The

Thanks Schiff.

Schiff, FUD, please define, it is an acronym I don't recognize. Sorry for not being in the know.

In my home council we have 4 camps. 2 are within a 60-90 minute drive of just about everyone in the council. The other 2 are BS summer camps with minimal winter suitable facilities. They are 3-4 hours from home. One local camp has a couple of cabins, BB and archery ranges that aren't staffed (BYORO)to use them and some playing fields. This camp has a few tent sites with latrines. Not much there, on a small piece of property in the middle of a lakefront sub-division. This camp hasn't had any active summer programs since we merged with another council a few years ago. At the main camp, ca

Boomerscout, Don't know where you got your information about D-A being closed, but that is FAR from the truth. It will not hold a BS summer camp this summer but it will house several weeks of CS and WS summer camps, family camps and specialty camps. It will have Trail to Eagle, NYLT, Yucca Trail, and Ranch Hand and I believe that at least one of the WB classes is scheduled there too. Summer camps in GLC are being cut by a week at each Lost Lake and Cole Canoe Base. The rationale for cutting BS summer camp at D-A is only a handful of units had signed up for camp by a given date. Altho

One thing to remember about budgeting for large events/trainings is that you have to break even with a small number of attendees. I have have run a couple of larger events in my district over the last couple of years and know that this is the case. We had to set a break even point and figure out how many bodies it would take before an event was OKd. If the numbers weren't reached by the cut off point the event was cancelled. Our only profits came when more than the break even point was achieved. One year's CS klondike had sub zero winds chills and a blizzard, the next year was sunny, wa

I'm with Calico. My 11 yr. old and 6 of his friends (all 11 y.o.) in the troop don't have their own cell phones. No way is he taking mine with him for a weekend at camp. Its my work phone. 2 of the parents don't have texting on their phones at all, they're strictly for emergency use, pay as you go phones. We have pay as you go texting. Don't need a huge bill for some game that can work with a paper and pencil. If a cell phone for an 11 year old was required to take part in a camporee event then my son WOULDN'T GO (yes I was yelling). I/we (my husband and I) won't buy cell phones for

A GS uniform consists of a vest or badge sash over whatever they are wearing. You used to be able to get skirts, shirts, blouses, pants, and socks. Now they've pretty much disappeared. A vest runs $15-$25 and a sash runs $7-$10 depending on size. They have some "official" shirts but they aren't uniforms like the BSA or Scouts Canada or Girl Guides of Canada. GS are told to wear a white t-shirt/polo and tan pants/skirt to be in full uniform. Any white shirt and tan pants will do. My daughter got one of the last uniform polo shirts GSUSA had for sale 2 years ago. Most units don't care

KC, Canada runs a WB program. Don't know much about it but i do know that it is in 3 parts. Parts 1 and 2 are like our "This is scouting" and Leader Specific trainings for each position. Parts 1 & 2 are required within the first couple of months of being registered as a leader. Part 3 is truly optional. Scouts Canada is more outdoor based too. They require outdoor experiences for every level. No outdoors, no advancement. That's about all I can input.

Oaktree, Thanks for posting the requirements for everyone to share. I had a power failure for most of the day today. Just got the power back on. It was a very nice of you to do it. Thanks, TL

BH, Will try to get them up this weekend. Finishing off my UoS paper for tomorrow AM. After UoS we have an NHL game with the council. Will do my best for you this weekend.

Hubby is the first registered MBC in our district for welding. He is planning to start working on the badge with son and a couple of his friends in the next couple of weeks. It'll take the kids a while to get it done. So it'll be officially released by the time they are done. Go forth and weld.

E61, To the best of my knowledge the military never took care of the Scouts while at Fort A P Hill. There has always been a full contingent of medical staff at jamborees. Here is the link to the flier my council put out from the national office seeking volunteers. These folks will not be paid, and in fact have to pay a volunteer fee to attend the jamboree. http://www.glcscouting.org/jamboree/pdf/JamboMedStaff.pdf On the flier is a list of names and contacts for each department.

The requirements are out! I picked up a copy of the 2012 Requirements book today and there on page 220 are the welding MB requirements. Weld on!

Ann, Approximately 75% of all grade four Webelos will drop out of Scouting by grade 6 (national average I learend at Philmont TC). There are several factors that cause this drop out - sports, school changes (more homework), and BOREDOM with scouts. Boys that have been in the program since TC year wan to do something different and more advanced by Webelos year. They can only stomach so mant PWD, raingutter regattas and hooky Christmas parties. Even first timers at Webelos level find more than one PWD a bore. I learned at PTC, followed and recommend getting your Webelos to the BS pro

Just finished off a 560 scout Merit Badge University today. About 400 BS, 160 Webelos. The event was a smash. Instructors were all adults average age was 40 years old, average years teaching thier badge was close to 10 years (except for newer badges). Far superior to any summer camp around my parts. Instructors were informed to turn away any Scout that had not completed their pre-reqs. Most followed the request. Sessions were an hour and a half or three hours. Care was taken to insure that the badges selected for the event were ones that could be completed in the given timeframe with

Troop 185, Having spent a good number of summers in Tobermory, I can tell you your experience with the funeral layout is not a unique one. I my days there all the clergy travelled in from towns further down the pennisula do perform services. Sometimes they'd arrive to find out that funeral was part of their duties that weekend. Talk about a surprise.

Our troop is up by 6:00 AM at the latest on Sunday. Everyone packs their personal gear and breaks down their own tents (we're a bring your tent troop) and loads their cars. The patrol stuff is packed away Saturday night into the trailer. No one eats breakfast until ALL items are packed, stowed in cars and a police line is done. Breakfast is poptarts (cold of course), packaged muffins and bagels with juice or coffee served in paper cups and napkins. All heck breaks loose if they aren't on the road by 9:00 AM. We camp 50% of our campouts within 20 minutes of our meeting place. The rest ar

Have you tried involving the picky eaters in the menu planning? If they have a say in the menu then they have no place to complain about the food (other than Mommy didn't cook it). They may not get everything they want to eat on the menu but they might get a few things to survive on. Even our pickiest eater, an Aspergers kid, ate camp food by day 3 of our 7 day summer camp. Sometimes hunger will just take over. Kids have to be really screwed up to starve themselves to death, and they won't starve to death on a weekend campout. Get crabby but not starve to death. I have dealt with on

Lisabob, Depending on what he has to finish in E-Prep and camping he may be able to get them finished off in a weekend of hard work. I glanced at camping and there are a lot of plan/write sections. While it would be desirable to put his duty roster into action the requirement says create a duty roster for those attending the camp, doesn't say he has to enact it to fulfill the requirement. Same thing goes for E-Prep, I remember my son doing lots of planning, but very little acting. Cit in Community is his only other option. So he'll need to act quickly. In my area boys often atte

My kids go to a Montessori charter school and have for 4 years. The program is set up so that several age groups are in one room with more than one teacher. At our school kindergarten is by itself, they do some things with the the Pre-K classes but not much. Grades 1-3 are grouped together and 4-6 then 7-8. Our school strives to have equal numbers of each year in each room when they can (6 grade 4s, 6 grade 5s, and 6 grade 6s). Spelling, math and reading usually are done in small groups that are age/skill appropriate, science, social studies and specials (art, gym, music) are done as a ro

Basement, I hear you on much needed camp repairs, we too have camps that need repairs. I see these programs as being something additional for councils to offer to make themselves unique in the crowd of camps. The camps that were pilots obviously have it made they have the equipment. Those that wish to add the programs can do so if they can afford it or get manufacturers or dealers to help them out. I don't think the intent of allowing councils to run the programs was for every camp to have ATV/PWC. Some camps just aren't suited to their use. It is just another option to drum up bu