yarrow

I have received some pretty pathetic letters from my girls and sometimes from the boy when they are at camp. Fortunately the mail delays the arrival of these letters and I know from experience that they never want to go home by the time I pick them up from camp becaused they have had such a good time. I have never received a phone call but if I had I know for a fact that I would not rescue for homesickness........it's not fatal and generally not even long term damaging. Keep the kids busy and distracted. Most bouts occur the first night and may disappear if the scout is allowed to stay u

My daughter has finished her project. All that is left is the presentation. I think it went well although it seemed like watching a train wreck a couple of times. She made raised gardens for the elderly at a local home. They did the planting in the spring, but what with the drought here and the facilities lack of staff some things died. All and all though it went well.

In the public sector being overweight is now largely considered a disease or disability worthy of extra consideration. How does that fit with those who can not do the rank hikes, swims, and personal fitness badges required to get rank. Are exceptions made for this as for other handicaps?

Holy maccarole..........two cords. He won't finish his service award until October so he won't get the cord until then, but he finds them very confining and in the way. I have safety pinned them to the seam under the arm to keep them from catching on his elbow, but still he doesn't like the cords. After you are done with being a Den Chief do you still wear the service award cord?

My boy is going to continue as Den Chief. Seems there isn't a hard fast rule on age. He is not terrifically mature but he NEVER causes trouble or acts up. He just doesn't have the leadership qualities that you see more often in older boys yet. I will switch the cord. Forgot about that. The Den is doing some summer activities which he helps with. I have noticed that the adult leader is a little unaware of a Den Chief's responsibilities and gives him a little too much of the work; however, he is growing by leading the meetings too. One advantage to having a younger boy is that he well remembers

The camp is outdoors and I presume the "churches" are outdoors also. Why don't you have the scouts sit down in visual range 20 feet appart to meditate. They are not attending, but rather meditating on their Duty to God. Make sure that they stay in visual range and of course you will need to sit at the back of whatever "church" they sit "outside of".

Thanks for your input. I know he has enjoyed working with the boys, but I thought I had heard there was some age limit for working with Webelos. I like the idea of continuing as Guide; however, they are in a pack near us that does not normally feed our troop. When I say near I mean 20 miles from the troop he goes to. He is not in the local troop because we found it too small (12 boys) we drive into the nearby town to attend a large (50-60) boy troop. I don't know if they (the current Bears) will crossover into our troop next year.

Sorry, just a simple question. My boy has been a denchief for a den of Bears. They just crossed to Webelos. May he stay with this den? He is currently 12 but will be 13 in July. If this is a problem how can it be waived. He has really gotten to know these kids.

Frankly FCFY is not much of a stretch for most boys if the program is being provided for them. If they have to hunt it up for themselves it's very much harder. Regarding Patrol leaders my boy was "elected" PL at 10 on the basis that his new boy patrol all wanted to do it and they ended up with "one potato, two potato" . Eventually over the last few years most of them have gotten a chance to be either PL or APL. They are all happily easy going. One time they even elected a boy that never came. Found out the hard way that that didn't work. Such great learning experiences.

Differences between the programs.......... I have three girls in GS and one boy in BSA. I run the programs about the same......... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's my take I have been a Girl Scout leader for 10 years and came up through the program. I have been a Cub Scout Den Leader for a number of years and am now a trained leader for our Boy Scout troop of 80 as well as the troop Secretary. I have also been the Program Director for the Cub Scout Day camp of over 200. I do scouts, as I am sure do you. Boy Scoutin

This is from the official GS site. Please note that GS is growing percentage wise for whatever reason, and that generally tends to be very inclusive and respects diversity, much like BSA. "Girl Scout Promise and Law -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Promise and Law provide the framework and ethical code for the Girl Scout program. The values expressed in the Promise and Law serve as the foundation for all activities in the Girl Scout program. Girl Scout membership is extended to all girls who accept the Girl Scout Promise and Law

Our troop has a mixed policy. All the money a family has put into the account of their own accord is refunded directly to the scout regardless of whether or not he stays in scouting. All the money earned through a fundraiser organized by the troop is forfieted.

Well, my boy and several others are two year campers are going to take Camping MB and #9a,b were to be done outside of summer camp for obvious reasons. They have done the 20 days/nights camping required and were careful not to count the summer camping more than allowed. Plus they have done at least two of the higher adventure type activities on several campouts (didn't intend to imply on an earlier post that those were required for every campout) so I believe those campouts should be counted toward #9a,b. We also have several 16-17 years olds just starting this badge for Eagle push. I would re

Some boys are going to take Camping MB at summer camp this year. Requirements #9a and 9b require a minimum amount of camping and also that certain activities happened on these campouts. Things like 15 mile bike ride, rappeling 30 ft, Hiking up at least 2000 ft, etc. These obviously will not be done at camp. Some boys have been in scouting a only a few years, others many more. The advancement chair and SM had no problem signing off on the camping done prior to the upcoming summer camp badge, but now one of the dads is complaining that the camping must now be repeated to qualify since the

Always wonderful to gain an Eagle. Your son sounds like an impressive laddy. Congratulations!

The troop chose to wear shirt, tie and slide and to skip the sashes. Everyone looked nice and the family and troop member were appreciative. It will be hard for all the boys, but since they all come from different schools coming as a troop (which is how they know this boy and his sibling) was the tie that binds in this case. Thanks for your condolences.

What is the appropriate scout uniform to wear to a funeral when part of the troop is going? As much of the full uniform as each boy has? Just the shirt, tie and slide as long as each boy has them? Should a sash be included? OA sash? Is a black arm band ok? The deceased was a brother of a boy in our troop but not a scout; however, the family is big into scouting.

Thanks all, I came to the right place. My boy has been wearing his sash on his belt a lot because most of the older scouts do. Also the full sash display looked showy, he earns the badges for himself not for too much show. Ok, he won't wear it on the belt from now on, arrgh. I know he can fit 60 badges on the front so I will run them up the back. I bought the long sash on the recommendation of the shopkeep at the scout shop, so it will work. Many of our boys wear their OA sashes to meetings. Not kosher, huh? I have no problem with the boys putting special patches on the back. Hope that wasn

I would like separate BSA and Girl Scouting programs, but would also like to see a "Young Venturing" program that includes both. There is something to be said for some boys having the "coming of age, all guy experience". Not all boys need this but many do. If you have been to the Girl Scouting forum you can read about the differences in the programs. It might be to the benefit of both to have a combined program option. I for one would find it efficient to put my daughters and sons in the same program.

When a scout has filled the front of the sash, do you start on the back. I have seen several options: I have seen a boy around district that wears two sashes "bandito" style, criscrossed in front. I have seen one sash worn and one hung from the belt. I have seen badges up the back, but some say the back is only for patches from activities or camps. In Girl Scouts we use the back for patches but also if needed run badges up the back. I would rather use the back than use two sashes.

Find a new troop. Some troops because of the SM or boys are just toxic. When we were looking for a troop I went with my boy to 4 in the area. The only thing I insisted on was that he not join the local troop. He was disappointed an was the only one in my den to cross over to another troop. Didn't look good, although when the local troop had a melt down less than a year later (SM quit, Treasurer quit, Committee chair quit, and the Advancement Chair quit) I felt at least that the right choice was made. He has since made so many friends and seen the problems in the other troop that he feels that

You're right. So many experts are out there and many willing to work with youth and of course the great part is that we adults probably learn the most.

You're right. So many experts are out there and many willing to work with youth and of course the great part is that we adults probably learn the most.

If you don't have a counselor for a badge your boy or others are interested in or the district doesn't you have your boy ask them. Make sure he knows what he is asking and can describe the extent of the commitment. Show the man/lady a MB Pamphlet and have the counselor papers ready for the prospective counselor to sign. Our troop pays for their registration if necessary although most councils don't charge for counselors.

We have adults with expertise in our troop assigned to some of the badges. Some have more than one. Our district maintains a list also. On unusual badges the scouts sometimes have to hunt up an expert and then we register them as a counselor. (My boy had a semi-professional stamp collector, Master birder, and Community theater director register because he was interested in Stamp collecting, Bird Study, and Theater. The opportunity was offered to the rest of the troop but there weren't any takers.) The forms allow for restrictions on the application so that if a counselor only wishes to work in