blw2

Don't think I implied that it was for the boys, but apologies if I did??? Also don't think I ever addressed signing up for in troop or out of troop..... but that is an interesting point that did come up briefly. Our troop Training Chair (the one leading the class) said, when asked, that most folks do sign up for "in troop" only but we discussed that even when folks do that they are still on the council list and most are willing to go "outside" if really needed. Regardless, you're probably right about the out of troop boys.... but in my case I don't know most of the boys in the troop, and those that I do i don't know very well..... so for the short term anyway, this is not much of an issue in my case

well that's kinda my point... very unlikely to get any calls, so it's not like too much of a burden and looking at the list of merit badges, there are a whole lot of them covering topics that I have experience with &/or that I'm very interested in. i would imagine there are some scouters out there that could easily council almost all of them.... but where do you stop? One things for sure, at least at this point.... I'm not in it for the group classes, the badge fairs, the whole troop things.... If an individual or a small group of buddies get together and want to work on a badge together, that is something I am interested in. I'll be happy to mentor them, or even just check up on their work and sign them off..... but I'm not interested in spoon feeding or "teaching" anyone. Am I off base?

and in that current issue is a link to the presentation she used! nice @@KenD500 !

Yes, there was a PP presentation. I remember her saying that it was available online, council or district, can't remember which.... but searching for 2 minutes I couldn't come up with it to respond with a link.... Basically a pretty good orientation of the process, blue cards, sign offs, etc... Need YPT, don't add requirements, etc.... Oriented to parents or I suppose other adults willing to help fill out the paperwork, yet another Adult APPlication, and a sign up of which badges I'm willing to do, etc....

Just attended a MB counselor training session for our CO's troop. Responding to an appeal for a need to help some boys finish some partials for summer camp. I signed up for several based on my profession and hobbies. tempted to sign up for many more that I have interest and experience with.... but stopped at bugling drafting engineering aviation scuba hiking pulp and paper and I think I listed orienteering Really have mixed feeling about offering to help everywhere I can.... but also don't want to over extend either.... could also likely help kids with many others But where do you stop? I'm guessing it's very unlikely I'll ever get called for most of these, but still....

I would agree with this thought process.... but this is almost a topic for another thread! I recognize in the case of my unit, that a good UC might have recognized the potential issue of what we have struggled with since long before I joined with my Tiger son.... For example, it took me a while to realize what inherent dysfunctional problems my unit has just from the folks involved.... a completely disengaged CO rep, the CC that is not a CC, a barely helpful committee, and the CM that by default does many jobs that should be taken care of by others.... so, a good UC might have raised a flag years ago and pushed hard for a better functioning committee structure to model.... so this dysfunctional "doing the way it always has been" doesn't just keep getting passed along. This really parallels my point earlier about the need for more consistency in direction... the one program for all idea..... but that's another thread too! Bringing this back around..... does the UC need to be district?

I just like to see the BSA's chief scout get out of the office and his pressed uniform & go do some running and rappelling with Bear..... I think some of that kind of publicity would do a lot for BSA.

very interesting point Stosh. I look forward to following this one....

this is a sidetrack comment to the thread's original topic but is this idea of the boys cooking for the adults a tradition of some sort? I don't recall it from my youth, and haven't read that many troops do it.... But My CO's troop did this sort of thing for my son and I when we visited them for the WEBELOS AKELA weekend campout the last couple years. After the experience last year, I vowed to never play that game again. Thanks, but no. It's not that the food was all that bad..... it was basic and not very great, but it was eatable..... and they might have been sanitary enough.... it mostly just seemed weird to me.... If I camp with the troop in any capacity and this is the plan for the adults to eat the boys' food based on the boys' menu.... I'm bringing a steak, maybe some fish, some vegetables, rice, etc....or maybe some freeze dried backpacking food depending on circumstances... and my own camp stove. Come meal time you'll find me sneaking away from the group to enjoy my meal.... in the adult area.... but I'll probably stay in sight and smeller range, so the boys can see how it's done!

I would describe my district the same way... or at least very similar. Vacant positions and not very lively when i started becoming aware of district level stuff. Since then we now have an active group of really great people in district jobs, working hard.... ..... But what are they really doing for my unit? Your unit? As I've written before they do offer a bit of training occasionally in my district, a small amount of opportunities by way of pinewood derby at the district level, cuboree IF we choose to go to it, summer activities for the cubs.... but not really all that much for our unit directly, and what little there is it's a bit redundant with council. i don't mean that as a slight against the good people volunteering and working hard.... it's just a function of the jobs they are tasked with. It takes stepping way back for a different perspective... & pondering the question what are our boys directly getting out of it?

I'm really tending to agree with you @. Everything seems to boil down to the question, " but what does that do for my unit?" Not much really does anything directly for "my unit". I do see some opportunity from the district and council at the pack levels..... pinewood derby races beyond the unit for the unit winners and a couple camping activity opportunities. I suppose you might also argue maintaining the council camp facilities.... and processing the membership paperwork.... but those are indirect at best. And as you say, what little of that is district level, could be done at the council level..... in fact everything I can think of is duplicated. The district pinewood derby is followed by the council derby. The district cuboree is exactly the same experience you can get at a couple district run events through the year at the council's camp. It really does seem to boil down to another redundant level in middle management, to use a business analogy.....

Interesting! I'm not familiar with that one @@5yearscouter. I'll have to look into that issue and tell my DL. Maybe that's a gift we can pass along to our boys. Thanks

well, that's certainly something to consider I guess. I will say this.... taught line hitch, whipping a rope.... my 2nd year webelos son has been taught and has demonstrated these for a couple years now.... starting Bear year. Not saying he'd remember it if I blindsided him today with it, but these were taught to him already as part of the WEBELOS Akela weekend both Bear year and last year.... and they were done as part of a WEBELOS badge requirement in a den meeting....so he'll be half bored with it. He already can recite the scout law on demand, and can almost nail the promise..... just makes little mistakes with it.

actually a very intriguing idea I think! I think it could work very nicely, assuming you have a good engaged adult as Committee chair and a well functioning committee. I don't see it happening well in our pack currently, because we lack that, and despite my efforts for the last couple years, our business model is that the cubmaster also functions as Committee Chair, secretary, and many other roles.... Still, I like your idea in theory, for several reasons!

saw this on the news this AM. I told DS we'll be reading about him in Boys Life in a few months..... great story.... glad dad is recovering!

@, I'm feeling a little slow this morning.... and I'm having difficulty in understanding the advantage of the December start Why not just encourage a more typical January/February crossover and let the new boys start with the new books? That just seems so much cleaner to me.... I'm sure I'm missing an angle.... I think I mentioned before, we are on track to cross our 2nd year WEBELOS in January. This was driven by the new pack leadership taking over, and I wasn't in the loop on their reasoning for departing from the usual February event. Our 2nd Year WEBELOS DL wasn't directly involved with it... which bothers me by the way, but he's ok with it..... My son will be done with his AOL in December since the only things he has left to do is pass the "time active" requirement and do the troop visits. I think all of the other boys have a bit more than that to do, but they'll be on track for December.... SO, while I doubt I would have any luck in persuading them to moving up to December, I'm curious about your reasoning!

love it! That first link was great!

pretty sure my district was there, or nearly so just a year or two ago.... when I first started becoming aware of the district level stuff. Since then, it has cycled up with several energetic folks taking it on. I think it's like most everything.... it'll cycle up, then cycle down unfortunately, sometimes the down cycle might go on too long till a unit goes away..... not sure about the district.... although, I'm thinking a bit like @badwolf... what's the point of district anyway?

that would certainly make for a more "interesting" program for sure.... would encourage me to go more but there's only so much of those to choose from.... and once you have it, no need to go back. It took me a long time to find a BALOO class I could make. they weren't offered very often Have not taken OWL for the same reason and it looks like IOLS will be hard to get too.... they mainly offer these is in the school season, and usually it seems this time of year when we are most busy with pack stuff. Not that they could necessarily get all of one of these courses in on a roundtable, they could piece it out it segments maybe.... a bull session 3-5 minutes of announcements or whatever then break out to something useful, like this.

So my son and his den, who will be crossing in January, will be under the new book and the new program then..... right?

i actually think that summer camp program sounds like a blast. It would have been much more to my liking.... a fun long camping trip with my buds! Hopefully you'll have a couple more than 2 by then!

Prayers go out to his family, especially his two young daughters.....

Generally speaking, I think the answer spans a wide area.... some folks have a higher threshold for toughing it out for the "fight" also depends on the personality of the "fighter" compared with the personalities or issues of the thing being fought .... so much i think depends on the personalities and issues on both sides, in determining if it's worth the fight. In my example on the adult side, I decided early on in the "conflict" that it was in nobody's best interest for me to stand and "fight".... But I also decided that I was not giving up on the pack and would continue to help in whatever way I could or in whatever way I was wanted. Still, I find it hard at times to have a positive attitude. My point is this.... if given the choice of flight or fight, with fight being to stay on and change something.... like a unit's approach to "the patrol method" for example.... that might be a very hard battle indeed if there are strong personalities that are for the other way.... so it can be a rare person that has the skill and positive attitude to effect a change. I think there's even a huge variability in personalities at the youth level too... but I'd guess that most boys don't have the energy to "fight" much.... so that tipping point is pretty low! By my thinking... in your case..... a small troop makes it tough for the boys... in that there's not much life or energy, and options are fewer. We have a Den that was 4 boys for Tiger, but dropped to 2 boys for Wolf. They didn't end up having very frequent meetings and I don't think the boys were best buds, so it made it hard. I can't imagine that it was much fun for them or the parents. Several times I offered to help or brainstorm solutions, and suggested they combine with another smaller den for meetings so the boys could have more life and action in their meetings.... In hindsight I wish that I would have pushed that harder, because two boys doesn't make for a very fun den. Sadly now I don't have much of an opportunity to help or influence them anymore.

I don't know if it was intuition or if I read that or was taught that someplace.... but that has always been my assumption.... that it's "to" changed to "two" somewhere along the lines by some unknowing person..... But again, I have no basis for that other than it's the most plausible thing I've ever seen re. this....

just visited Bryan on Scouting for the first time in a long while top headline was just the topic of this thread! I was thinking..... now all we need is 1) co-ed 2) a Chief Scout that does cool stuff like flipping out of helicopters and rappelling down cliffs on TV and then we'll be a lot more like the Brits!