Krampus

Can I put in an order for 100 each? That should hold us for 4-5 years, give or take.

Yeah, we do that every year...have a flea market where stuff is swapped or bought for pennies. In our area (not poor by any means) the units give the loops, slides, neckerchiefs and numbers as part of crossover. Few stay from that. I think it is a waste to be honest. My biggest issue though is the unit prices for the BSA stuff. Looked back at old receipts and the prices have risen sharply in the last five years; similar to the rise in costs for the handbook. We can reduce some costs by buying in bulk (e.g., neckerchiefs, unit patches, make-your-own-slide). Have contemplated making our own loops just to make a point.

In our area is has become a (weird) tradition which the PLC has kept. They end up making their own patrol slides during the first few months anyway. I've "suggested" to the PLC that we should do away with the slide purchase (a Scout is Thrifty). To date they have elected not to. We are budgeting for next year in a month or so. They will get my suggestion again.

Odd that you posted this today. Just got back from the Scout shop yesterday. Bought loops, slides and unit number for the six (6) new Scouts crossing over this week. It was $85!!!! Nearly $7 for the slide, $4 for the loops and unit numbers at $1.50 each. Had we purchased the neckerchiefs and hats from BSA (we get them through another outlet at $3/unit cheaper) it would have cost us nearly $200 to give 6 new Scouts loops, numbers, neckerchief/slide and a hat!!! So to recoup these costs we would need to charge each scout a minimum of $35 to break even; making our dues a minimum of $71 just to break even for BSA dues + Boy's Life + minimum crossover bling. That's before we even discuss troop and personal gear. Yeah, the BSA stuff is ridiculously expensive. Were their gear made in the US I could get the prices, but they make it in Bangladesh!!!

Well, it *is* one of the aims and methods of Scouting, right? See the quote below. Why would we want to do something and not try out best at it? We teach these kids as Cub Scouts to "Do Your Best", right? If wearing the uniform is part of the aims of Scouting why not try to adhere to letter of the law as much as possible? Otherwise what other rules or policies do we want to short cut? No one is saying you get out with a tape measure and make sure the service star is 3/8" from each patch. But you don't wear the service stars on your collar because you like them.

I wear them in the approved places; either under my right pocket or above the BSA text over the right pocket. Although, truth be told I've only worn a patch in the latter location twice; both jamborees. As soon as they are done I take them off. I don't feel the need to wear my (long ago) jambo patches 30 years after the fact. That's what my red jacket is for. _

Can't call it a fair because at fair's not everyone gets bling. At MB "fairs" everyone gets something.

It is a little more than BSA "trivia" though. It expressly says for youth. I don't think we should be picking and choosing what we want to follow from BSA, should we? Loops are expensive, can I stop wearing those? Can I wear the gold ones because I like them better? Can I wear that temporary patch on my left side rather than my right side because it looks better there?

Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated! - The Atraxi

Most of the kids I talk with see CS as a blur. They cannot really recall which year they did anything, except for maybe Webelos. I'll be if you ask most kids what they did in first grade or kindergarten, few (if any) could describe anything meaningful from those years...so it is not just Scouts.

I let his SM know. His (the SM's) response was similar to the boy's. I saw very quickly how the SM's attitude drove the boys. I had a kind word for our Scout who did his good deed. His patrol received dessert from the camp director noting his good deed got them extra dessert.

Great plan. Did they turn it down because they saw it as too much work too?

Whatever movie you watch, might I recommend you PREVIEW the WHOLE movie for situational issues and language. Some of the most mundane movies you may want to watch might have the f-bomb, s-bomb or suggestive scene you won't want your 11-13 year olds seeing (e.g. Transformers).

In my experience, yes. There's the corollary to that adage: "The person who replaces you will rarely put in the level of effort you did." When one decides to step aside you can't look back. It never does you any good. Walk away, let them run the show and focus on something new.

Yeah, don't get me started on SW 1-3 or the last one.

Hmmm, my experience differs. Most scouters I know burn out because they are always covering for others who won't step up. Most who do step up are ALSO those who always volunteer and hope by stepping in the first person won't burn out because we need them.

I think you are right with this. I have another theory as to why the scouts struggle with this, and it is that most people these days seem to look out for themselves first, others second (if at all). Camporee last year saw a scout from another troop, after it started to rain, run over to a pack line where 3-4 day packs were. I thought to myself, "Good Scout, he's going to get his buddy's packs out of the rain." He got his, left the other packs and even left them more exposed and one downright in the mud. I walked over and asked him why he didn't get his friend's packs (I was curious). His response? "That's not my job. I'm not their mom." Looked down and saw his PL patch. I asked if he was the PL. "Yes". I asked if they were his patrol. "Yes". Then I reminded him that as PL it *was* his job. Side Note: While I was having this conversation, one of *our* newly minted Scouts (crossed over three weeks previously) walked over, picked up the remaining packs and brought them to the shelter. He notified the adult in charge he "found" the packs, brought them to safety and wanted to find the owners.

Sadly I have seen no good examples. I have seen plenty of bad examples. Saw one where First Aid was signed off after subjecting the Scouts to 8 hour of powerpoint, no hands on work. I saw Cooking and Personal Mgmt get signed off in one day without any pre-requisite work. At the Scout Museum in Irving I have seen Cit in the X get signed off after asking each attendee (30+) the same question and getting the same answer just worded slightly different. IMHO, the only way to run a MB properly is to train the MBCs properly. If it says show, then you have to demonstrate (with props most likely). If it says explain/discuss you need to have a detailed discussion. If it says do, then perform that action and show the results of your activity. If it says list/write then have a detailed analysis done, not just a few words on a worksheet. If EACH merit badge is conducted like this then multiply that across all the MBs in your fair. THEN you will have a best practice on how to run one of these things. The problem is that your question is flawed...MB colleges are flawed from the beginning.

Most films that have this issue (Raiders is one of them), you can edit out the bad stuff on your own and save them to digital for showing to Scouts. We always pre-release our movie schedule just in case a mom has an issue. Had one parent who forbade her kids from watching Harry Potter (magic was a no no as being anti Christian), but some how Star Wars was okay (despite Anakin being immaculately conceived and the prolific use of the force/magic).

Correct. We ran in to the same issue. We encouraged our parents to pay small amounts via paypal (monthly camp fees) but to write checks for anything over (summer camp, high adventure). That way everyone avoided paying fees. This worked best for us. Folks tight on cash needed to use a credit card still had that option. We recovered those costs by charging a transaction fee back to the parent. Only a few had that issue. Most simply tied a bank account to paypal and avoided the charges.

On a challenge the scouts lost to the adults in a blind cooking competition at camp. The stake was selecting the first movie on the way back from summer camp. The entire bus complained when Casablanca started. By the time Sydney Greenstreet was shown in the Blue Parrot the bus was intently watching. After it was done they wanted to watch it again. Go figure.

If you link a bank account to PayPal you avoid the transaction fee.

Only if you consider access to the museum and MB classes a plus.

If you read what I have written you'd see that I acknowledge each program is different. I remain dumbfounded that folks still bang the drum of "if you're not doing on demand you're doing it wrong", that's all.

I still get the feeling you're under the impression that the adults drove this somehow. The boys drive the program. The program as boy-designed requires adult coverage in various areas. The boy-designed program requires more adults for coverage than we can muster. Societal and family necessities take adults (and boys, frankly) from the program so we need to cover with what we have. Only if the BOYS make that decision. Again, remember, the boys made this decision. We don't struggle as much as you think. We just plan better. The BOYS plan better. And the boys are the ones running things. They too, prefer that things be planned. Not sure why that's so hard to grasp. ROFL...there's no pride being covered. I am not looking for affirmation from you or Fred as to how our boys run our program. They like structure. They require it because of the many demands on their time from all sources. If you live in an areas where on demand SMCs and BORs work for you, great. Would not work in my area. Units have tried it and few succeed. The small units can do it. Large ones cannot. Again, IN MY AREA. You may experience something different. I love sanctimony. You seem to think that on demand SMCs and BORs somehow make your unit more in line with what BSA wants or something. I've already explained why our unit, and nearly every unit in my area, does things this way. I could be sanctimonious and say maybe our scouts are just better at planning and are more patient than yours, but that would not be constructive. But as long as our scouts want us to keep this schedule we will. If they ever want to change, we will adjust. Oddly, no one has ever come to me and complained. In fact, when I have an 11 year old show me his planner and pencil me in for his SMC in two weeks I take pride in that. He's living the Scout Law. He's courteous of our time. He's obedient in following a schedule. I've done my job, even though you somehow don't think so.