Krampus

According to BSA you can do some shooting sports at district/council camps. I believe you can also do those same sports at professional facilities too. Oddly enough tomahawks are not on the list. I am pretty sure they are listed as prohibited elsewhere, but you'd think BSA would put it on this list.

Are we limiting to official BSA non-rank awards? For example, there are tons of historic trail awards you can get that are not official BSA awards.

I'm laughing right now because we hear so much disdain for "plop" camping, and yet so many folks have these Taj Mahal tents with cots, mattresses, refrigerators and Jacuzzis.

Sorry, I use this one. Only just over 2lbs. I save weight on the tent and add it to the better air mattress. At summer camp the places we go, unless high adventure, provide the tents, mattress and cots for us. Only a few don't supply the cots/mattress.

You know I am no supporter of the overzealous bureaucracy that is BSA, but I will play Devil's advocate. 15 Passenger Van Rule: Recent issues with the maintenance and safety records of some of these vehicles has called in to question the efficacy of using certain models. Climbing Instruction & Training: As a climber I have seen far too many accidents from people who think they know their knots and technique. First Aid: Advanced first aid is very important to know. Requiring this on what may be deemed "high adventure" or high risk activities helps to ensure that *if* there is an accide

I was going to say you could count the BSA violations almost by word.

I am in the latter camp, BUT, I *am* thinking why should I be center stage when I would much rather enjoy being an assistant. Let's face it, as much as we may like the main role, the biggest barrier (at least to me) is the adult drama. As SM you get a nose full of it and frequently. As an assistant you can pretty much ignore it. I plan on sticking around but in "emeritus" status in the background.

In my region it varies. I'd say the average is 3-5 years. There are some that are 18+ years, but those are few and far between. Most are in the 3-5 year area. They come to power about the second year of their own son's career and tend to step down around the time he's ready to graduate.

My problem with long-serving scouters in my area is that it makes getting new ideas in to the troop very hard. It has been my experience, again here locally, that the units with long time SMs are less flexible and less boy led. It is also hard to recruit adults to help because it is usually all run by a handful of scouters, or worse, a husband/wife duo. Our unit does not rotate positions due to a predefined term limit, but rather simply based on when people feel it is time. Most stay in a role about 3-4 years. We have found it is a good thing to cycle in new parents after the first year or

It's BSA. they forgot they kicked him out last year and decided to do it again just in case.

So not a scouting for event?

Not if you train her right from the beginning.

Twelve years. I want to step down for a few reasons. First, in our unit we usually have a new SM every 4-5 years or so. That's pretty much a tradition where I live. It keeps units fresh and doesn't allow them to stagnate under one person. Second, I really want to focus on a high adventure program. We've got a very stable unit with a nice pipeline of incoming scouts. I want to focus on adult training and doing more for the older scouts. Mine is about to age out so the time is right to pass the baton.

My district gave these out at RT. The boys prefer a white board and electronic tools. They use OneNote and other online tools. The Scouters like these paper copies but you then need to re-input that data all over again. Wish BSA would use electronic tools. Would save the extra work.

Make sure they keep paper back ups of all their data. None of those have real-time, redundant back-ups.

I'd quote back the GTA, write the letter as I see it, try to be kind and constructive and send the letter. If council is "mandating" I write something else, they need to show me where I am required to write the letter they are requesting. If they can't, they need to proceed as they see fit. They can't put a gun to your head, @@Stosh.

One thing I have noticed in my area is that since these kids are involved in SOOOO many other activities, making time for patrol-based activities that are separate from the troop activities are few and far between. It is simply a matter of bandwidth. The patrols get time on camp outs, service projects and troop meetings to do "their thing". But rarely do you see them doing something on their own outside of the troop events. It's just a consequence of suburban Scouting in the 21st Century. Between school, scouts, sports, religious activities, extra curricular clubs, simply hanging out with frie

I agree. I would love for the boys to hear what adults think of them. I mean, who asks someone to provide a reference where they don't already know the person will give a glowing reference. I can only imagine that, as times change, maybe those recommendations are not as glowing as one would expect. I was in that situation a few years back. One of my candidates asked me for a letter of reference. I tried to get out of it by suggesting he get a teacher or family friend to write one. It became clear that there were few people on whom he could rely. He wasn't a bad kid; quite the opposite, but

I hear you. I was in the same boat when I started. I met with the SM and asked him what his objective was for the unit. He was a helluva guy but was never a Scout, so there were aspects of "traditional" scouting he never employed (e.g., JASM, troop level training, etc.). We would chat time and again, and I'd ask him if I could offer suggestions and help in various areas (training of the instructors, service projects, etc.). Eventually he asked me to take over. ROFL, I talked myself in to that one. He was looking to step down anyway and he said all my ideas solidified it in his mind th

@@Stosh, you know how big my troop is. We have six patrols, 75+ guys. We have a high degree of participation across the board for which I am thankful. When you plan our Scout year (Sept-Aug, planned in June-July) we start with a program planning introduction. We talk to ALL the Scouts about what takes place during program planning. We show them what we need from them (ideas for camping, projects, events, fund raising, etc.). When then give a few weeks for the Scouts to research what they want to do, then get together as patrols to combined and submit their ideas. Monthly themes are also pa

I introduce my current wife (also my first) as "my first wife". Been married long enough that she laughs at that...then goes shopping to get back at me.

Just thought I would send a reminder, REI has their big sale this weekend. Go spend that paycheck without the other half finding out.

For purposes of discussion I will post what the GTA says about reference letters and the process: 9.0.1.6 Council Verifies Application and Board of Review Scheduled Everything is checked against council records. If information in the BSA system or council files is incomplete, the Scout or the unit will be asked to provide certificates, blue cards, or other suitable proof that merit badges and ranks were earned and that dates are accurate. The regular use the of BSA Internet portal for reporting advancement as described in section 6 will help expedite this process. If everything is correc

If done properly, this is how ALL adult roles should be in Scouting. I cannot tell if you are upset about this or happy about this development, but if I were you I'd be tickled that the boys are running the show and your role got pulled off without knowing you were even involved. If you are one of the Key 3 and you can do that it is even more of an impressive feat. I will respectfully disagree with you. I think most, if not all, adult roles can have a huge impact on the boys and the program. We have one ASM who does not do much, ever. BUT, his one thing is water safety. Due to his

I have to laugh because I work for a Fortune 50 company. Our clients, like everyone else, are stampeding to the "cloud" thinking it is something different than the old-fashioned brick and mortar data centers with the old DL 380s and DL 580s sitting on the floor. I build these places for a living and just laugh that if they only knew that the data centers look nearly identical to what they did in the "old days"....just newer and cooler gear.