Krampus

Someone needs to understand that the BOYS select where they want to go...and if his troop was out-going they'd get more scouts. I hate that entitled attitude of "feeder" packs. It is like raising lambs for the lion to eat, then the lion is surprised when the lamb is eaten by the tiger.

I ran this issue past our council exec (shoots at same range and ran in to him). He said that ATV and go karts are ONLY to be done by scouts are professional tracks OR at council camps. No other time are they permitted...EVEN IF adults are driving. As he said, it is the ACTIVITY that is prohibited and not a matter of who drives. About four-wheeling, he simply said, "There's a reason BSA does not offer four-wheeling. If ATVs are limited to council camps and professional tracks, then it is implied that four-wheeling is right out." He added, " We don't preclude bazookas and RPGs from the shooting sports activities either, but at some point common sense tells you boys don't belong doing those things in Scouting." A fair point, and why four-wheeling would be a bad idea, if not out rightly banned. See firearms analogy. And don't say there are not the same. BSA cannot be in a position of defining every little thing that is/is not in scope or banned. At some point common sense comes in. BSA has set their upper limits for firearms and off roading. Anything higher is assumed out.

Good Lord, I'd MUCH rather sit in the comfort of my home office and take these modules than sit through an entire day of U of Scouting. I'll get more done in less time doing it online...and likely just as much info learned. I would encourage anyone who has taken these online courses to take the "deeper" training and get basic first aid and WFA (from ARC), storm spotter training (from NOAA), firearms (from NRA) and boating safety (from USCG). Those classes are great. Yes, they take a long time but you get a level of training that you simply cannot get from U of Scouting or online.

Got those numbers from the 2010 and 2015 OA annual reports. It appears those are "registered" numbers, much like BSA's membership stats, they count anyone with a pulse, form and paid dues.

I would contact your district or council to see if any units are on JOTA. These ham-radio guys know everything. In my area they are to go-to people for such things. I am sure they would know. You can try this group and this group. Here's another source. Lastly, here's a forum where you might find someone from a group of experts that happen to also discuss Scout stuff.

Exactly. Now you have to take a weekend and clear bush 2.5 hours away from home and take the whole weekend to do it. NHS you can stay in town and get your 8 hours of service that way with still time to go to the movies, go on a date or play PS4. Which would WE choose?

Our lodge has established a few ceremonial teams but they are few in number. My cousin's unit does their own tap out and has their own ceremony team, complete with regalia. We are building one of our own too. Might go that route.

In 2010 there were 171,517. In 2015 there were 171,178.

We haven't had any real turf wars at the troop level, but the packs and troops that are "aligned" with each other (e.g., same unit number) tend to bad mouth other units to discourage their guys from going there. Thankfully, the quality of the troops shows through and the boys end up going outside those units about 40% of the time.

I go four-wheeling every other weekend (Texan, it is in our blood) so believe me, I get this. But we are talking a Scouting activity. As far as that goes it is strictly out of bounds whether an adult drives or a Scout drives. I would totally get behind this as a private individual thing. Gotta teach guys how to care for their trucks and how to pick a route while four-wheeling. Some good advice now could save them from ending up on "World's Dumbest...".

Don't think it matters. If go-karts and ATVs are only allowed by Boy Scouts at a professional facility or council, it stands to reason that four-wheeling done by adults in the unit would be prohibited. An adult cannot drive an ATV with a Scout on it because the entire activity is prohibited by BSA *unless* it is done at a professional facility or council camp. Even *if* it were allowed, it would like fall in to the same category as other "high adventure" activities and would require someone certified in WFA. Would also require a tour plan. If you are going to do it best to do it as private citizens without wearing and BSA gear.

Well, if ATVs and snowmobiles are only for certain ages/scouts, then clearly off-roading would be beyond even those approved ages/scouts. The only grey area I've ever seen is go karting.

To a degree. As long as the new CO meets the requirements outlined in the charter agreement and BSA bylaws and rules/regulations, I believe you can go where you want. I am sure others will chime in with their take.

Most packs plan their year our in July and August. Should be a committee made up of the CM, CC and all the Den Leaders and other parents. This should be defined BEFORE you sell popcorn. There should be someone (not the CM) in charge of the popcorn program and prizes. The Pack treasurer should manage the money, not the CM. When I was DL me and my assistant planned the BLs and how we would complete them. We then told the advancement chairman when we were done and they would go get the awards. The CM had ZERO involvement. His role is the pack meeting, not managing your Den. Sounds like the CC needs to talk to him. You need a separate advancement chair OR have the DLs manage their own awards. That's his job. If he punts that, have your own Den meeting and make it special. As others above have said, sounds like the CC and COR need to get involved, as well as getting other parents involved. The CM should NEVER have that much control of a pack. They are a glorified emcee, not much more. The CC needs to let the CM know what his role is. This and this are good places to start.

Agree, not a Scout activity. Imagine having to explain yourself if something goes wrong. Happens hiking, no problem. Jeep roles? Yeah, I wouldn't want to be you.

Good advice above. Remember whatever you do make sure the boys handle only what they are allowed to. Check the tools guidelines, GTSS, and Sweet 16, This blog has the link to the age appropriate matrix. It is a lot to check and a lot to learn, but it will keep you and the boys safe.

But mere humans went to the moon, built space stations, summited Everest, went to the Marina Trench, etc. We are talking simple, simple code here. It is my no means rocket science. BSA should know how long it takes to process recharters. BSA should know that Scouts will turn 18 during the time it takes to process recharters. BSA should know Eagle is the most important rank in Scouting. BSA should have a WELL ESTABLISHED process for dealing with how they manage the applications of those who turned 18 during recharter. Not buying "they are only human" excuse. Even squirrels know winter comes each year. Let'f not assume BSA staff are not smarter than the lowly squirrel.

No RT this month due to spring break (and poor planning by not picking a day that wasn't during break to hold the RT), so they sent out a "newsletter". Filled with JTE, service hour reporting (asking for info), recruiting reporting (asking for info) and notices about dinners no one attends. That's it. 30 seconds to scan and then deleted.

...and use DIFFERENT names for FB, Twitter, Instagram, etc., otherwise you are SOOOOO easy to find information on.

Oddly enough it was the opposite. They'd sit around and come up with something everyone liked. The longest I've ever seen this go was when some younger scouts wanted to get rid of a name considered "historic" and "epic" by the older scouts. Once told the origin of the historic name the younger scouts bought in to the mystique and kept the name. When it is all said and done, they have a budget (for patches and new flag). They can elect to spend the money on that OR on dessert at the next meeting/camp out, OR on a patrol event of their choosing. Funny how when you toss money and other stuff in the equation the whole issue of a name becomes not important. Wish real politics was like this.

At the patrol level most "elections" tend to be "selections" anyway. We';ve had a few really good contests, but most of the time the guys themselves decide in advance who is running for each position. We've even had patrols transition leaders like a monarchy; where one boy was the obvious successor as another boy moved up to a troop-level position. Have even had best friends (group of 6) decided who was going to run first for SPL, then who was next, etc, etc. The boys find a way to fill in any gaps. It may drive some adults crazy, but it is not our troop.

Yeah, but it sounded like the COR plays dirty then the pastor is not around. I figured, as adults, they have a meeting where you nicely discuss everything that's bothering everyone and come up with an adult solution, rather than picking up your toys and going to another pack. Not saying that leaving is not an option, but I'd want to exhaust all the options before doing that. Sounded like there was still some room to talk before leaving was the next option.

I hear you. We had a Scout turn 18 in January. He completed his Eagle stuff in December and it was submitted to national. We asked district and council if he should charter as a youth or adult; thinking that if we charter him as an adult it might somehow screw up the near-perfect BSA computer system and deny him his Eagle. Both district and council said (in writing) to charter as a youth. [insert buzzer sound] Wrong! He got spit back as being an untrained adult and we needed to register him as an adult. We contacted national to confirm and even contracted the Eagle review board to confirm. The confirmed (in writing), so we registered him as an adult so the charter could go through and he could continue through the Eagle process. [insert buzzer sound] Wrong again! When we contacted the review board to check why we hadn't heard about the status of this scout, we were told that he's ineligible since he's now an adult. A few phone calls and several forwarded emails later (the emails we had the review board send to confirm our course of action in this matter), the review board expedited his application and he became Eagle. Epilogue: You'd think the BSA system would find a way to flag applications in process and save them from being locked out like that. It's a simple piece of code which I'd be happy to write and send to BSA.

Unless everyone moves to a new pack you'd be doing a disservice to the boys who don't go. As CM you have a responsibility to the boys. It sounds like you need to sit down with the pastor, the COR, the CC and talk. No offense, but your wife is just one member of the committee. What does the rest of the committee think? What does the CC think? What does the pastor think? I suspect it will be MUCH easier to sit down and work things out rather than to move, hurt the feelings of those who don't go and to make MORE problems.

What is odd about that process? The boys submit candidacy for elected positions. Parents approve. The boys give speeches as to what they would do for the troop. The boys elect using secret ballot. Why would mirroring out electoral process be odd? Just curious as to how someone would change that.