Trevorum

Hunt says, "... the article implies that the the actual religious beliefs of the community are secondary to the other factors, and to me that's backwards." I know what you are saying, but that way of choosing a church seems to be pretty common these days. As folks move into a new community, many of them will shop around for quite a while for a church that "fits" their family. (I suspect that most of these folks whom I'm talking about are marginally-denominational Protestants and not Catholics or Jews or Buddhists). Often I hear that the deciding factor was the community offered by the church - the day care, the youth pastor, the Wednesday night dinners, the other people, and not the strict theology. A lot of mainstream Christians seem to be fairly fluid in denominational affiliation; as long as the key elements of theology are met (trinity, salvation, etc.), it does not really matter if they attend a Presbyterian, a Lutheran, a Methodist, or one of the increasingly popular generic Bible churchs. (Of course this is only my own perception of things from talking to my friends, since I am not Christian. And I certainly do not mean to offend anyone here who is adamantly denominational.)

Brent's post about the "shoebox" campout is great advice as preparation for backpacking. It's amazing how much fun the boys can have with minimal "stuff". Ol' SemperParatus posted this "shoebox" campout idea a couple of years ago and our PLC latched on to the idea as a survival campout. We had a great campout (although another troop camping near us thought we were a bunch of homeless people, sleeping under plastic bags ...!) And just last night at our annual program planning, the boys voted to do this one again in '07.

I served as CM for four years and moved on when my youngest son joined the troop. (I thought of staying, because CM is the best job in Scouting!) I was then an ASM for a couple of years. When I was asked to serve as SM, I agreed to at least 3 years. It seems to be a default duration of service in our troop, but is not mandated. I also figured that after 3 years my sons would be Eagle or nearly so, and that I might be ready to serve in a different capacity. I absolutely love being SM, but I'm now ready to let younger bones than mine do the job.

Excellent food for thought. I'm reading the BW ist and thinking, "We're OK there; we're fine there...", and then I get to the "greater than 10% drop off rate." Oops! Does our troop have a problem? I know for a fact that our unit has a greater than 10% annual attrition rate. No matter what we do, it seems to be a fact of life. It hovers between 15-20%. We have trained leaders, a boy-led troop, camp every month, active parental support, monthly PLCs, etc., etc. but still some fellows drop by the wayside. The reasons vary. Sports conflicts. Band. Family moves away. Doesn't like getting dirty (!). Parents divorce. Parents 'ground' him from fun stuff. Starts hanging with a different crowd. Always something. And then I'm thinking, how does that 10% annual attrition rate jive with the overall rate of Eagles? National tells us that only a small fraction of scouts earn their Eagle. I've seen different numbers, 3%, 5%, 7%. But fairly low. These are the fellows who made it all the way though the "leaky pipeline". So I did the math. And I discovered that if only 10% of scouts drop out each year (90% annual retention), nearly half (48%) of each entering age cohort would still be active at age 17. Even if 10% of these HS seniors drop before age 18, that would mean 43% who either age out as Life or earn their Eagle. (In my 6 years with our troop, I've only seen three fellows age out as life; if they are still active as Life at 17, chances are they are going to finish their Eagle.) So, working the numbers backward, I find that to end up at age 17 with only 5% of the original population (these are the Eagles), the unit must experience an average of 35% annual attrition! That's a whopping one-third of each age cohort dropping each and every year! So I feel a little bit better. Still going to work on plugging more leaks in that pipeline, though.

CA_Scouter, my Eagle Scout son suggested that at the CoR, he throw a bucket of "water" on me at which I would shrivel away, crying "I'm melting! I'm melting! Oh what a world, what a world ..."

Eamonn - discussion threads are organic - they wend and weave like vines, and can't be nailed down like lumber! I agree with what you say about the 2005 Jambo logistics. IMHO, some of the BSA organizers just had their priorities wrong - the boys were NOT first. JimmyD has a good question. The security can't be changed of course. It is what the Secret Service says it is. However, I believe it can be fit into the Jamboree with less disruption. Eamonn suggests regional shows/assemblies instead of one massive show. I think that's a good idea. Everyone would have a chance to see the POTUS, but he only appears at ONE of the regional shows - surprise! That tactic might actually enhance security. Or, a live video appearance.

SR540Beaver says, "The President's security needs trumped everything else." I was there and I agree. The POTUS appearance was a political tactic and the BSA officials in charge accomodated the President's security needs at the expense of the health and safety needs of the Jamboree participants. I understand and do not begrudge the desire for a President to visit the National Jamboree. Lots of future voters there. However, within the BSA, power and politics should be considered AFTER health and safety.

Well, my three year "tour of duty" as Scoutmaster is just about up. I dearly love the job, but I can see that I'm getting a bit stale and I know that others have fresh ideas for the troop. We have an eager ASM ready to take the reins. He's an Antelope, but I don't hold that against him. So, I am asking my friends on these forums, especially those of you who have been in this situation already, what happens now? What scouting trajectory do you recommend? What pros and cons do you see to district service? The district chairman has alluded that he has a job lined up for me, but I know I like being "in the trenches" with the boys a lot more than unit-supporting commissioner and committee roles. Your advice and thoughts are most sincerely appreciated. -T

I thought Jay North was Dennis the Menace...

Referring to the OT, packsaddle says, "That stuff was what we really wanted: sex, violence, betrayal, debauchery, death, destruction." You've got to remember that the ancients didn't have HBO. They had to make do with oral history told around the campfire.

SR540, I agree with packsaddle. Religious Education (RE) can be an important element in childhood socialization, regardless of the flavor chosen by the parents. I strongly feel that parents should expose their children to a variety of beliefs so that the child can follow their own spiritual path. I'm not certain yet what direction my own children will follow, but it will be their own journey of discovery and not mine. I'd also like to point out that religious heritage is an important part of our shared culture. A person who does not know the stories of Noah, Jonah, and Elijah is at a disadvantage in our society. They are as important to our cultural history as are the stories of Herakles, Achilles, and Spartacus.

This was a private campground/swimming hole.

I love the belief-o-matic! Everyone should try it! http://www.beliefnet.com/story/76/story_7665_1.html

This last weekend we had a great campout! We went swimming and had our Iron Chef competition and went swimming some more and did knots and lashings and went swimming again! I'm sorry some of you fellows missed it! Of course we finished up on Sunday with a police line. Let me tell you, that was a great camp site, but it was pretty littered this year. Lots of other people's trash we picked up in our police line. After we finished policing the area, I got to thinking. Being an avid reader of Sherlock Holmes, I used my acute powers of observation and deduction and came to the conclusion that no other Boy Scout troop had camped here in at least five weeks! How did I know this? Ahhh - elementary, my dear Watson! Does anyone know how I knew this fact? {lots of guesses here} Well, you're right! We found some old fireworks from last fourth of July ... which was five weeks ago! And if any Scout troop had camped here I know they would have picked up that trash, just like we did. A Scout leaves his camp site cleaner than when he arrived!

This last weekend we had our annual Iron Chef competition. The patrols each brought dinner fixin's, but the meat was provided by the PLC, and each patrol competed to see who could whip up the tastiest dish. I was chosen by the PLC to be one of the judges. We scored each patrol on presentation, taste, and originality. The "mystery meat" this time was chicken and our brand new Warriors Patrol won, hands down, with an incredible gumbo and dirty rice that included venison sausage and some marvelous flavors. It was truly worthy of a restaurant entree! And everyone in camp wanted a taste! It was great to see our patrol of 15 year old Life Scouts ambling over the Warriors' cooking area to beg a taste of their gumbo. All the other patrols had fine entrees also and we were pleased to see the pride with which the scouts savored their gourmet meals.

Just this last weekend: "Hey Mr. T., I think we need the first aid kit ...!"

I haven't seen a working drive-in in years - I'm glad there are some left. Most have disappeared. The topo map of my home shows a drive in about 1/2 mile away, but it's long gone. I'll bet that some of those remaining drive-ins might be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places!

This weekend, we're doing an "Iron Chef" competition. The patrols bring grub fixin's as usual, but the PLC will provide the meat - what kind of meat is a tightly guarded mystery - and the patrols will then compete to see who can whip up the tastiest dinner. I'll be one of the judges!

Oooh, that's a great idea Ron! So if I recruit someone and get a patch, and then HE recruits someone, can I get TWO patches, and then if HE recruits someone, I can get FOUR patches, and ... my mind boggles at the math!

Among the many values we hold, Scouting teaches accountability for one's actions. Last Sunday, I was priveleged to attend the Eagle Court of Honor for a fine young man. After the ceremony, I was talking to his father, a good friend, who reminded me of the time this fellow, as a 9 year old, came home with a "No Trespassing" sign he had "found" in the woods, nailed to a tree. The father of course realized whoose sign it was and why it was on that tree, and marched the young man over to apologize for stealing the sign. Until that moment, the fellow hadn't thought of his action as stealing, but it was a moment that will last the rest of his life.

Apology accepted. As I have said in another thread, I think the new 1st Class requirement to talk about Scouting with a friend is a fine idea. Can't hurt, and if done consistently by all those 2nd class fellows, it might help. Same with the new recruiter patch. Some fellows will do anything for a colorful patch (heh, heh ... I should talk!) and rewarding their effort with a cool recruiting patch is positive feedback.

I think this is a very good requirement. The whole point is simply public outreach: get the scouts (who surely know best what appeals to other boys) to talk about the program with their buddies. Some boys may join; most won't. That's OK. We cover this requirement in the SM conference. The SM typically asks "What do you like about Scouting?", which is a good segue into the new outreach requirement. We don't require any "proof" - a Scout is Trustworthy. We've already seen some new faces at meetings as a result of this requirement.

"... but a few girls apparently touched a bat captured by a counselor ..." arrgh! what was that counselor thinking???

Kids may not chew excessively on lumber, but horses do. I recommend against using treated lumber in stalls or corrals.

Yes, in the United States, BSA has an absolute monopoly on the youth movement started by Baden-Powell called "scouting". In many other countries, youth have alternatives when it comes to selecting a scouting organization. In Germany for example, there are several dozen scouting organizations, each with it's unique flavor. In the United States there are several "scout-like" alternatives organizations for youth. In addition to those mentioned above, there are the Royal Rangers and Awana which are faith-specific. But these are not "scouting" and do not trace their program to Baden-Powell. So, it the monopoly good or bad? That's tough. I am ambivalent here - I can see both sides. (btw, let's not confuse the issue and start talking about Scouting as being a religion! Yes, many of us are "true believers" and "witness" the joys of Scouting every chance we get. However, Scouting lacks one of the three key elements of religion. It has (1) ritualized behaviors; it has (2) a code of moral behavior; but it lacks (3) a supernatural theology.)