Chisos

The council approval is for Cub Scout pack campouts.  There are some specific facilities that are supposed to be available--running water, flush toilets, stuff like that, as I recall from BALOO back in the day.  I'd expect most public park type campgrounds meet those specs.

I can't recall a time that a tour plan that I've submitted has been "denied".  Now, if I said we were going to drive 1000 miles in 1 day to get somewhere, maybe there would be a question about that.  I did have one time that filing a tour plan caught the fact that a reservation we thought we had made for a council facility had "fallen through the cracks," and they called about it and we were able to work it out.  So that was good.

As for this thread, yeah, someone need to clear it up once and for all.  What's going to happen when someone shows up at Philmont without a copy of their tour plan, and tells them "I saw it on the internet..."

OK SM's and OA advisors, give me your thoughts.

Would you count one of the "spend the night on the aircraft carrier" or "spend the night in the museum" type of activities as a camping night for OA eligibility?  I'm leaning towards no, but checking to see what others may have done.

 

I know there have been some changes to the inductions process, i.e. SMs can get a waiver for the camping requirement, but as far as I know district and council level volunteers must have it still. My district only had one person who met the requirement, and he's going in a few weeks.

I had not seen that anywhere (SM waiver for the camping requirement), but the waiver they do get is to not "count" against a unit's adult nominee limit (i.e, 1 adult per 3 scouts).

When I was in your shoes (new Lodge after time away) I just emailed my old council office, and asked for my OA records.  About 30 minutes later they sent me a ScoutNET printout with my ordeal/brotherhood/vigil dates.  Took it to the new council, paid my dues, and that was that.

Good discussion and thanks for the ideas.

In cases where it's not obvious, we decided to have the scout make a reasonable argument as to why it should count.  The service hours are to be "scoutmaster approved" anyway, so that's part of the approval.

As much as abhor citing Wikipedia, here's what they said. Assuming they are correct, not sure Tigers were ever Kindergarten.

Wiki's correct.  Tigers were originally 2nd grade; at that time, Wolf was 3rd, Bear was 4th, and Webelos was 5th (one-year program).

I wonder if this would even be a question if we ditched the Advancement method.  Seems like most of the arguments are about the ability to get Eagle...not having to deal with the helicopter parents that see advancement as a aim would make my life a lot easier. (Yes, I know that won't happen.)

Or, maybe co-ed troops could be a way to revitalize the patrol method...within a troop, have single-sex patrols.  They're going to be camping 300' apart, right?

The new Life req's require that 3 of the 6 hours are "conservation related."  Obviously stuff like picking up litter, planting trees, etc is ok.  But how much latitude are you SM's out there allowing here (I'm looking for suggestions, not an official rule).  Volunteering at a nature center?  Volunteering at an animal shelter?  A recycling center?  I'm tending to want to cast a broad net here, but not get too far out of line.

Agree with the others that the committee really doesn't seem to get it...their job is to support the boys, not plan the program for them.  Unless it's a heath/safety issue, or something really impossible/impractical, the the TC should not be "vetoing" a summer camp choice, or any other "where do we go camping" choice.

Thank you, perdidochas and David CO.   Good to have up to date info.  I did know of K of C's in this area that did In the past....  Wonder why that is, tho? 

The idea was to keep the Parish as the "focal point" of its various groups and provide better coordination of various youth groups under the supervision of the parish pastor.  Most KC councils belong to a specific parish, so the charters should have just been transferred at recharter time.

OA for adults is not an honor.  They definitely should be asked before they are added to the list for membership.

 

The basis for adult membership is his/her ability to contribute to and support the OA program.  That may mean a form of being an Adviser, or that may mean the ability to get Arrowmen to events, or that may mean a special skill, trade, or craft needed by the lodge or the council Scout Reservation.

Right--I know the selection is to be based on the Scouter's ability to help the OA in some way.  I guess I was curious if it was typical to give someone a "heads-up" (and right to decline, I guess) prior to being "volun-told" 

Our troop is doing elections next month.  We have several eligible scouts, and I expect a few will be elected.  We have a couple of adults that are eligible (camping-wise); who may be good candidates; good Scouters that would be an asset to the Lodge.

My question is, are adult candidates typically "asked" if they would be interested?  Or do troop committees typically nominate someone without their prior knowledge?

If one's cat decides to leave them a bit of a surprise in their bed in the middle of the night, they can accept that as the new normal and roll over and go back to sleep or they can get up and go sleep on the couch.  Either way, the world as they know it will never be the same.  One can't unring the bell.

You've apparently met my cat.

Back to the original thread question...

...parents who think they know everything about Scouting......mixing up methods for aims......being ok with the "mess" of the patrol method.

Tortillas, then.  Haggis burritos.  

Good night!  I clicked on the last page of this thread hoping to find a somewhat jaded or cynical fill-in-the-blank game, and I get haggis burritos?

As a son of South Texas, where tortillas are a food group and burritos are a way of life....orale, haggis burritos just ain't right.

Yup, heard that term before.  A lot more than I care to.

Usually it's one of two things...either the reason for being in Scouts was just to get Eagle (sigh), or they are also involved in other activities that are taking more of their time. 

25ish scouts.

1 SM

1 ASM

4 Committee members

8-10 or so parents help out a lot as needed

We don't typically register every parent as as MC due to cost, but do register those who camp with the troop (and are drivers for events).

Well, hate to derail the thread on one topic.  But as to driving, something to ponder:   http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2014/01/22/ask-the-expert-can-scouts-venturers-drive-themselves-tofrom-events/

Would a good summary be "If transportation is part of the event (i.e., reflected on a tour plan), the scout can't drive (except in the exceptions above).  If transportation is not part of the event, then he can." ?

If it were Target instead of Chick-fil-a, would your troop committee have the same qualms?

I am not sure whether you are making that statement/question seriously or not. In my area nobody would know whether a particular business supported Scouting in the area. They might have a plaque or thank you letter or something on the wall but I doubt whether even 1 percent of people look at those things.

I was thinking more along the lines of a "Thank you to our event sponsors" banner at a fundraising event.

I doubt there's a rule against it; especially since scouts can do flag ceremonies at political events and such just as long as they don't provide an appearance of endorsing a candidate.

Especially if the business has been supportive of scouting in the past, I doubt recognizing that would be a problem.  I'm sure all know which businesses in town have supported community FOS and other council fundraisers and events, right?

Is the business a competitor to someone who complained about it?

Have to be in uniform for insurance to work.  So glad that isn't true 'cause I'd hate to have the uniform on when I attempted the water rescue and became victim #2.

This, but even expand on it.  What's covered, what's not.  The old "You won't be covered by insurance if you ( do or don't do this) statement that gets thrown around.

$16 !!!!   Wow.  I still remember when it was about 2x to 2.5x the cost of a gallon of unleaded gas for the car.  I swear I just saw it at our walmart for $8 to $9 a gallon.  I could be wrong.

I think the "brand name" Coleman fuel is in that range...I've the "off brand" white gas for $8-9 at Walmart and Academy

We did not have a "sibling discount" in the Pack I was with (for registration, etc.) but did have a "family cap" on campout fees.  So, we might charge $5/person, but a max of $20/family.

Agree with what was posted above, if you're just barely covering costs, then providing a "discount" for multiple scouts might be tough.

We have usually done one meal as a pack; other meals are by family.  Typically most of our pack campouts are "officially" one night but some families may camp two nights.  We would just tell everyone which meal the pack is providing beforehand.  Some dens or groups of families may plan to cook together; this would especially be a good idea for Webelos dens.

Recent go-to Pack meal has been "bag omelettes" for breakfast.  Or foil dinners.  "Assembly-line" style cooking seems to work well.

Is someone in your Pack BALOO trained?  When I took that class we spent some time on meal ideas for big groups like this.