blw2

Well I stand corrected! I thought that it depended on the product, since the bags were marked with different percentages.... some say 70% stays "local", others had different numbers. Went to popcorn school last night. Our council awards a 30% commission if the lands end prizes are awarded, and a 35% commission if the unit elects no prizes.

There was a thread here a while back on this topic. Have no idea if it's available now with the site changes that have happened, but it really got my curiosity up about hammocks. I'd love to try one some time to see if I like it before buying..... I'm just not confident enough that I'd like it to spend the dollars up front. I tend to be a side sleeper so I think I might have issues. Seems like a great concept though IF there are plenty of trees and IF you can tie to them.

That's pretty much how our pack has historically done it..... I hate using the non-standard terms that are becoming standard.... Class A's for pack meetings and Class B's for den meetings or outings. The subject of buying more t-shirts came up at our committee meeting last night. I couldn't help myself..... had to point out that I think we could do a better job of encouraging proper uniforms, to help facilitate the sense of belonging, pride in scouting, display of awards, sense of accomplishment, etc... that the uniform method brings. Don't think I convinced anyone.

njeagle92 commented Your Pack need not go overboard with uniform inspections. Make a game of it. Call up the ones who set good examples, but don't call out the ones who don't. I certainly don't remember such a thing as inspections when I was a kid, and have never seen one, so I don't have a model to follow. It might be interesting to see how others do them. Might help to make it seem more palatable.

That's sound advice. thanks I'll have a discussion with my DL and see what direction we want to go We don't have a lot of live training in these parts, but he & I have both done the on-line training.... and I bought 2 copies of the DC handbook, giving one to him.

I wish I knew! I tried to get a DC last year. Our CO's troop had no interested scouts...... they are small but starting to grow. Finally the big brother of one of the cubs in our den volunteered from the troop across the street. Tried to get him involved. He barely showed up. Meeting times conflicted with troop stuff, but I also think he's a bit too shy and young for the job. haven't fired him, but never heard from him as follow-up to anything.... and haven't heard from is SM either. I'm assuming he's gone. Don't know what I'm going to do if he tries to come back. We don't really want him..... but I would still like to try a DC. Seems like it could be good for the cubs with the right boy.

I thought it depended on the product sold. Some products have more "staying local" than others.

The uniform inspection is an interesting concept. Just meeting with my Dl the other night starting to plan the year. Saw mention of it in the book and he was joking about it. I was trying to be polite and positive and suggesting that we need to do better to encourage uniform wear. his attitude was something like, "I can't see making anybody wear it. What if they are coming to the meeting from someplace else or heading out after?" I just said well, they don't have to for special occurrences such as that, but I still feel that we should encourage it. A uniform inspection just isn't in the culture of the pack. I don't ever see that flying.... The more I think about the laziness of our pack leadership overall with the program, the more frustrated I get....

google. Looking for information when I started to become an active parent, trying to help our DL. Kept coming back in google searches as I was getting trained and had more questions, etc.... Tried to join so I could post questions of and on for maybe a year before the system let me in. I enjoy the discussion forum concept, started several years ago with a group about pop-up campers/rv's enjoy the questions others bring up. helps me learn

I just think it looks stupid under the collar.... but that's just me. Oh, I should say that our boys are about half and half...... over or under, but never with collar tucked in. I think it's mainly because we have weak leadership re. uniforms, although I'm trying to set a better example. arless shirt obsession. I hated those as a boy too..... but I'll concede that it makes the necker a bit more comfortable to wear I suppose. As a scouter, I have been going without neckwear to fit in with the others in my Pack, but I did start wearing the necker the last few meetings, over the collar. Tucking the collar under seems like it would be uncomfortable, but I'll give it a try.

Who gets the assignment to clean the restrooms??? Yuk!

a lot of neigh sayers on the bus here..... I say, hey if you can afford it and have considered the pitfalls, go for it! I was looking into charting a bus last year for our pack's trip to Charleston SC. The old guard of the committee sort of poo pooed the idea so I didn't get traction. I should have just put it out to the 25 families going to find the level of interest. Personally, I have fond memories of the band and scout trips I took as a kid on chartered buses. Everyone is together and having fun..... and everyone arrives at the same time which make the life of the person leading the trip much easier! the way it was, everyone wanted to leave at slightly different times and do their own thing.... The budgetary costs I found were in line with my out of pocket for driving just me and my son by ourselves..... I was wishing that my CO (church) had church busses like many do....

Last year for Wolf, my son earned 3 arrows, was two electives away form his fourth but I couldn't motivate him to do more..... He's indifferent about it, doesn't get too excited about awards..... wish I knew a trick to invigorate him! Anyway, we had 1 boy signed off for 8 points, others earned (or were signed off for) 6, 2, and 1. And four boys earned none. Our pack does seem to focus a bit more on the loops. Honestly I think its mainly because nobody is working in the books until the last minute. Loops are easy, and an easy way to pull together a quick den meeting. I'm sure that that our high arrow earners were benefactors of moms flipping through the book and signing off on things that little Jr. did some day. Didn't matter that they didn't honor the requirements to the letter or that they even did it under the "Auspices of Scouting". I even called one mom on an elective that required a presentation to the den..... and I sure don't remember him doing any presentations..... She quoted some other requirement from a book that didn't have the presentation required..... I figure it might be from older brother's outdated book. Anyway, I wasn't going to fight over it and just wanted to make the point about following the letter. Told her if that's what her book says then we'll let it go but suggested she might want to use the current book next year....

I can imagine that stuff is a big disappointment. I know even on the cub level the boys are romanced by the idea of getting to shoot bb's and archery at cuboree. They get there, and what do they do..... walk walk walk, wait wait wait, ushered through a bunch of stuff that doesn't overly interest them..... then they get to the range..... stand in line..... wait some more.... listen to some long winded safety briefing.... wait some more.... then after all of that..... they are lucky if the get 4 minutes of shooting with a bunch of broken down arrows that won't even nock in the bow! Talk about a let down! I know I would be bummed if I travelled all that way and didn't even get to do the "big zip line" even once! You gotta score a magic ticket???!!! If that was billed as a highlight every boy there should have gotten at least several turns on that thing or more!

I would agree with your comments re. youth protection etc...., except that in the example of my wife's position she really only meets with the scouts at a den meeting in group setting with the den leader, or when the den boys meet with the priest or deacon.... also a group setting with the DL

I would suggest that perhaps we don't see images of scouts holding hats, more because it doesn't make for a good looking image. Most of these images are staged, either for marketing or for artistic purposes. Not for portraying policy, custom, or etiquette...... so I don't "hear" that same message..... That being said, I do hear what you are saying and I agree that there are appropriate times to wear them indoors. I might also agree that they could be considered optional..... depending on the situation

I commend you Basement. A lot of folks think these little fibs all in fun are harmless..... usually are.... but a lie is still a lie.

Yes KDD, but there are times when the hat is worn indoors. from that referenced web site People in Uniform: People in the military, Boy Scouts, police and people in other uniformed organizations keep their hats on during “full dress.†Many other interesting regulations about hat wearing in the military exist, so hat etiquette is a required course in the military From another site I googled: There are some locations that would normally be considered indoors but for military purposes are considered to be outdoors. For example, drill halls are considered to be outdoors when being used for military reasons, even though technically it is an indoor area. Theater marquees and covered walks are also considered to be outdoors. Subways and airport terminals can be considered indoors or outdoors. Read more: http://www.ehow.com/about_6612422_military-hat-etiquette.html#ixzz2a4URdtPP and finally, from the BSA Guides to Awards and Insignia (I found this with google, I do not have this in my head...) http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33066_Section1.pdf Headgear Regulations Official headgear may be worn while the unit or individual is participating in an indoor formal ceremony or service duty, except in religious institutions where custom forbids. Typical indoor activities of this type are flag ceremonies, inspections, orderly duty, or ushering service. In any informal indoor activity where no official ceremony is involved, the headgear is removed as when in street clothes. The Scouter dress uniform is always worn without headgear. Pins may be worn on the jamboree hat but only while at the jamboree, and Webelos activity badges may be worn on the Webelos cap (see page 19). The large standard First Class metal pin, No. 17, has been reinstated as an option to the cloth First Class rank badge. The large pin may also be worn only by boys on the front of the campaign hat, No. 501 (64–76), sizes 6 1/2 to 7 3/4, and the expedition hat, No. 637 (91–94), sizes 6 1/8 to 7 5/8. Adults may wear the adult universal hat pin, No. 50150, on the campaign hat and the expedition hat. No other pins may be worn on official headgear of the BSA. Cub Scout leader headgear is optional. If it is worn, pack leaders wear the olive/red visor cap; den leaders wear the same visored cap as the youth they serve.

Is this an adult position or a youth position? OK, if it's an adult position I'll offer a counter to Basement's To earn the Roman Catholic medals, the youth need to be counseled by a trained adult. The Diocese puts on a regular course to train and certify as a Religious Medals Coordinator. My wife went through this last year.... not because she's type A, but because she was asked to by our CM. Our pack really promotes these medals as a way to connect scouting to the church. My wife only agreed to do it for two reasons..... to help and as a way to get to know more families in the parish. She's not registered with the BSA and does not sit on the committee, and has no plans to do so. As far as I can tell, her role is basically to introduce the boys to the program, coordinate getting the workbooks to the youth, coordinate getting the completed work books back and signed by the appropriate folks in the parish, and coordinate getting the books to the Diocese for registration and ordering of the medals. This is solely a function of the church. The scout store sells the books but they have no other involvement. What's more interesting about the role is that she can serve the Cubs, but also the scout troop and the GS troop too! Now I can imagine a situation where the person asked to take on this role is a registered committee member. It's a small role but a good one for sure. No reason I can see not to identify it on the uniform if they want to....

Yeah, so does my wife, but that's for her driver's license..... she doesn't introduce herself that way.... .... and that doesn't explain Baden-Powell. Oh well, doesn't really matter, just one of life's curiosities.

Good post, TSSChris Broken promises for sure! I like the idea to encourage parental involvement, but that is a sticky one. Don't punish the boy for the parent, and all of that..... Some parents just aren't cut out for it, and have no interest..... What resonates with me is your suggestion to clean up the program. KDD's comment, "Don't tell me to just do this stuff in the book, tell my how to do it and where I can get all this stuff. Tell me how to make it fun." I'm ok at making it fun, but no doubt could be better. Some of our leaders just don't even try. I know that when I look at the lesson plans and the how to books, my eyes generally gloss over. I'm sure there's good stuff in there somewhere, but I can't see it. from what I have seen this must generally be the case. Seems like the tendency that I have seen is to just focus the meetings on the scout's book achievement or on a belt loop. Those are spelled out in a do a, b, c format. Simple enough....... just not fun enough. KDD brings up another point. "Many leaders and parents are on their first time through and don't realize some of these tasks are the building blocks for eagle required work. Point it out for them so they don't see it as busy work. " How do we do that if we don't know ourselves? You recruit a leader for Tiger den, that may end up floating all the way through WEBELOS. Now her heart is in the right place, but she has no earthly idea how any of this connects to anything. She doesn't know the program, so she ends up doing her best to wing it and float through..... Good points brought up here for sure..... repetitive material boring material no sense of connection to future requirements no sense of connections to things done last year no preparation for future ranks poor training and leader guide materials too complicated eagerness of new boys and parents is squashed

I was just having a similar conversation a few days back. Nothing wrong with going into a blue collar trade. Money can be better than I make with an engineering degree, and as you say these people have a great opportunity for pride in their work. they don't often, but could. A co-worker used to ask, "did you make something you can drop on your foot today?". Making or doing something tangible, something that you can see and touch, can be very much more satisfying at the end of the day than say keying data into a computer all day. Another angle to consider..... I saw a study many years ago talking about fatigue and stress. Even though a tradesman works hard (think welder, construction, etc...), it's a much better kind of tired than someone who sits all day. Generally healthier and happier. Regarding the first part of this conversation, I sort of think it a mistake to set sights on a string of merit badges that align with a boy's career goals. He's a kid, what does he really know about what he might want? Sure, work on those that fit within the path he thinks he wants to take, but encourage him to take others as well. He may find other interests for either career or hobby. Also, the whole scouting journey could be looked at more like college is in many ways. It's not so much about learning specific skills for a specific job, it's really more about learning how to be trained and proving that you can be trained, learning critical thinking, learning basic things such as communication that help no matter what path you end up on.....

Yeah, that's a good point about hearding the cats..... but that only works if they wear the uniforms. Yet another reason I'm opposed to the T-Shirts or class B uniforms.

I was just thinking that I need to get my son to the store soon, to get a jump on picking up all his blue "Bear" "stuff". ....and thinking that I might want to pick up a necker for myself too. Currently our leaders don't wear neckware. Do I remember correctly, that when I was a boy, a CS wore the yellow necker, like today's Wolf, until he aged up to the WEBELOS den?