Bob White

Girls Scouts were granted a federal charter in 1950.

Scouting is not a tough sell. Your problem locally appears to be with the skills and abilities of your sales team. Not all units have that same problem. When you look at the actual scouting program you will find that none of the units you describe follow it, they just all chosen different ways not to follow it. It's unfortunate that your community has not been able to secure better leadership in order to deliver an actual scouting program. What exactly qualifies someone to wear your 'geek' label Lem? And how does one go about getting the job of labeling geeks in your community?

Hi GW, Without Roundtable training I can see how you would not understand the relationship.

The only thing I would add to TwoXForr list is "an engaging program" Camps can be very different in what they offer as long as what they offer intersts the scouts and enhances the Scouting experience.

At no time did I suggest that the uniform was not official. It is however not the current uniform, nor does it set a reasonable example for uniforming since it has very limited availability. The role of the Roundtable Commissioner is to give unit leaders the "will to do" and the "skill to do" a quality scouting program. I merely asked how wearing an outdated uniform on a regular basis helps her in her role as a RT commission to meet those objectives. As a part of a Blue and Gold them where they are celebrating the history of Scouting it could be a fun element. But as a regular uniform I

Would it not be more advantageous to tell them what they can expect since that is what the program should be delivering, rather than ask them what they expect since they could have expectations that are incompatible or unrelated to the scouting program. This is the direction taken by the Boy Scout Handbook is it not, in the forst few pages where it tells scouts what they can expect from the the program? If you tell them what theycan expect according to the BSa and then fulfill those expectations then you have succeeded in your role as a scout leaer. But is you aske them what they exp

Since when is it the unit leaders role to deliver what the kids "expect" rather than deliver the scouting program? If they expect to be able to play dodge ball for 90 minutes a week is that what you are going to do? Adult leadership does not mean the abdication of leadership to the will of the youth members. Its the Scouting program not the "whatever the latest whim is program" We have specific Aims and a specific Mission, you cannot expect to achieve them by wandering whichever way the youth member feels like going. It would be like having a map to a destination and ignoring it then

"How would my wearing a dress be any different than the Scoutmasters who wear the old olive (pre De la Renta) uniform?" I guess the difference is that they are Scoutmasters and you are the Roundtable Commissioner and their job is different from your job... isn't it?

While there is no title of Merit Badge Teacher, no one can deny that a merit badge counselor teaches, and so they need to have a good knowledge on how to teach and, how to do it effectively. It would be intellectually dishonest to try and keep teaching and the methods of teaching out of a discussion on merit badge counseling by saying that 'there in no position called teacher in scouting'. Any adult involved in the development of others is a teacher. To regard being safety conscious as being lazy is an interesting, but not a defendable, position. What leader with any common sense would fi

Yeah I suppose that some counselors don't use a hands on approach to teaching, but isn't that more a characteristic of counselor? It certainly isn't the method of teaching that is taught by anything in the BSA program. I would bet a lot of unit leaders teach by lecture rather than hands on as all the BSA training instructs and supports. On the other hand there are some skills you don't just pitch an untrained person into without some instruction first. Canoeing comes to mind. Unless you have the luxury of a lot of canoes and enough instructors to put an instructor in each canoe, tryi

Bigwiggen The Eagle Rank Patch and the Eagle Knot are only for wear on a uniform Shirt not a dress uniform jacket or a non-uniform suit or jacket. You were givin the corect information earlier in the thread, the correct recocognition to wear is the Eagle Scout medal, which is normally worn opinned to the lapel or breat pocket. Have a nice time at the court of honor. BW

Truth in advertising fellas. All the ads in world will not help if the units are not actually delivering the Scouting program. Judging from a number of the posts found on sites like this there are a number of units that don't know, let alone don't use, the Methods of scouting. It does nor take many bad unit programs to negatively impact the gains of the good ones. Talk with your local District commissioner like Beavah. How many unhealthy or failed units does his district see every year, and how do they affect the numbers that jblake is using? How many scouts leave good units as comp

Just as a good unit program is dependent on the people selected to lead it, so are your District's programs. You should give some specific and honest feedback to your District Chairperson. Let him or her know of your dissatisfaction in the quality of service being offered to the unit. The most effective way would be to also have your CR at the district meeting to voice concern. Just as youth deserved trained leaders, leaders deserve good training. As you know from your previous experience the problem you encountered was caused by unprepared trainers and poor training skills. You ne

GW You are in no position to be able to comment on what other peoples standards might be. You usede a partial quote from a portion of the Philmont history to support your misinformation. The Philmont training Center has been in operation for almost 60 years and is a much a part of Philmont as the trek side. It is okay that you do not get why anyone who participates at Philmont is able to waer the Philmont Bull. Thankfully none of the BSA program information rests on whether or not YOU get it. I too was a member of the Philmont Staff Association, and I do not determine what the cor

No one said that everything you have learned was an urban legend, however it is likely that some of the things you learned or remember are. We have discussed many of these in past thread. Things like having to be in uniform on trips for insurance coverage, fixed blade knives being prohibited, parents being prohibited from counseling their sons on merit badges, Scouts having to finish merit badges in a year, and the Philmont bull's tail over the shoulder seam meaning you have climbed the Tooth are just some of those urban legends other wise known as misinformation or falsehoods. What I do

A Scoutmaster's role is to train junior leaders not punish others people childern. Leave the the boy in hands ofof his parents and the unit committee to determine what should be done. Why allow it to distract you from the youth who want to be scouts?

Actually BadenP the tail of the Bull on my jacket is over the seam and I have not crossed the Tooth of Time. I have however been to Philmont on several occassions as the Director of the Trainining Center explained to everyone at the orientation meeting that they are eligible to wear the Bull, and that the position of the tail has no meaning and that only wearing it over the shoulder seam if you have crowwed the Tooth is just an urban legend. But then again he isn't a store clerk so why pay any attention to anything he might say? Evidently seasonal employees working at gift shops are

That's fine Eagle1977, no one has said that you cannot believe in the legend, Only that the BSA places no validity in it. You are welcome to whatever comfort you find in the misinformation, I would hope though that now that you have learned that it is an urban legend that as with other urban legends in scouting you will consider not spreading the misinformation to others. BW

You will find the same jind of resources are available to you for Venturing as there is for Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting. You will find Venturing FaSt Start at the BSA's on-line learning center. You can download a Venturing Fact Sheet from the BSA national website at www.scouting.org. Your local scout office has a Venturing Handbook you can purchase as well as a Venturing Leaders manual, just as with all other BSA programs. There is also Venturing leader specific training available through your council. Also check with your council to see if they have a gathering of local Crew Advis

It seems that there are units where the troop committees are determining troop programs and troop budgets. While this is fine at the Cub Scout level Troops, Crews, and Ships should have the Youth members doing this task. And certainly if it is not a skill being developed at the troop level then it is unlikely that the skill will find its way into Eagle projects let alone into the upper age programs of Scouting. Here is one method to teach Scouts how to plan and budget utilizing the PLC rather than the committee to do the job. Similar methods can be used to plan and budget Crew and Ship pr

"Yes, you would think a bunch of adults could make a budget." On the contrary, when it comes to a Boy Scout Troop as we are discussing, I would think that one adult or a trained junior leader should be able to teach a PLC how to make a budget. But it seems that what is happening is that troop committees are determining dues and then seeing what they can do with it. BrotherhoodWWW says "Cost of dues plus summer camp at the low end is $365 with nothing going to the Troops equipment and supplies fund." Well then what are the dues going for and why do they not include what th

Out of curiosity.. You say you want to "use" the uniform in your role as a RT Commissioner. How exactly will these uniforms help you support the leaders with the 'will to do' and the 'skill to do' the current Scouting program? What I mean is, if as a Rountable Commissioner your role is to set the example for good uniforming, then how will showing them a uniform that is 30 years old or older help the units in your district deliver better scouting? Is the uniform going to just be part of a display during Blue and Gold season as part of a presentaion on the history of the program, or i

Eagle1977 No one said that you have violated any uniform poicy, nor has anyone said that you sewed the bull incorrectly, or that you purposely sewed it incorrectly. If you have the bull on the left side of the jacket above the pocket then you did it right. If you sewed the tail of the bull over the seam you did it right, If you DIDN'T sew the tail over the seam you did it right. There is no meaning to the position of the bull's tail so as long as the bull is on the left side over the pocket you did it correctly and NO NONE has posted otherwise. The only comment that I and o

BrotherhodWWW There were no personal snide attacks made in my post. There was not even an impersonal snide attack made. I questioned the logic and validity of a budget that requires a family to input either $416 or $165, Which is what you popcorn or family donation plan is. You either need $165 or you need $416 but it makes no sense that you need one or the other. Reread your post and mine and you will see that only you have used a personal snide attack and not me. If the troop can meet its budget on $177 then why not have the popcorn sales goal as $530? If a family wants to

What I said was that I would be surprised if would be approved. So far you have only shown that the unit does it. Sctdad still is required to submit the event for approval by his council executive on a Unit Money Earning Application.