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boomerscout

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Everything posted by boomerscout

  1. Everyone must pick their battles carefully as we have only so much strength and resources. Beavah seems to speak from experience. Every time your rep sends you an email containing a false allegation, reply soonest with "No, that didn't happen" Ignore the other pack's Facebook. As long as you don't reply with your own FB, he will come off as an angry wet chicken which people will eventually ignore. Put your time and energy into making your Pack even better. Living well is the best revenge.
  2. "A Scout is Loyal 1932" used as a calendar illustration for one of Brown and Bigelows Scouting calendars (the one for 1932). I tend to believe Norman Rockwell did all the illustrations for that year's calendar - illustrating a different Law each month Also, thru courtesy of Brown & Bigelow, served as cover for Boys Life magazine February 1932 Norman Rockwell also did a later "Scout is Loyal" in the 60s or 70s that is different.
  3. 30 minutes if you're very good, 90 minutes is typical, 2 1/2 hours if many wander around aimlessly or run off to play.
  4. Few units have an endless supply of cash -- no argument there. However, to the best of our knowledge, it was the parents that stole the money and not the kid. Yet, we are punishing the kid for the sins of the fathers. Whether Dad drives a brand new Escalade or a 25 year old Honda Civic is not important. Many just can't handle money, can't plan ahead, and spend impulsively. True, some seem to be genetically endowed mooches. All the more reason kid needs to be in our program for the character building. Experience is a hard taskmaster. The popcorn debt was allowed slide way too long.
  5. "I'm looking for Poop School patches if anyone knows of some pre-existing badges with a possible double meaning...." I did find the Toilet Clogging Merit Badge from the Boy Scout Store -- a memorabilia dealer
  6. Witholding a kid's name from the re-charter roster, or telling him he can't go camping just because his parents are a couple of screwups seems, to me, like punishing the child. Now, if the child refused to do his share of the unit's fundraising, then that is totally different. Otherwise, what kind of character are we showing? Vindictiveness? Self-righteousness? "If everyone refused to pay for services and goods that they have received, where would the money come from?" FUNDRAISING (hooray!)
  7. Yeah, punish the kid because the parents don't have any money. For the popcorn family, you'll both need to make a personal visit, work out a payment plan or something in lieu of cash. While there, tell the kid about the upcoming activity and that he should plan on making it, so everyone feels they are in good graces. Recharter everyone on time, but withold tee-shirts, the actual advancement badges, and so on until dues and fees are current. Summer camp needs to be promoted early on, and start the payment stream by asking for the down payment, the next payment,...,until all paid up. A
  8. "I forgot to mention, we're doing a perimeter trail of a scout camp. It's a basic trail and total of ten miles over two days with two really cool water crossings. " Could you do a figure-eight hike? Set up the base camp, hike out to the perimeter, hike half of it, return to base at night. Next day hike the other half. That way Scouts will only need to carry canten/water bottle, rain gear, personal first-aid kit, signal whistle, all-purpose paper, trowel, hand cleaner, a sack lunch and maybe a snack.
  9. Start with day hikes with a purpose: one hike could be edible wild plants, another could be to an active wildlife area, one to a historical area. Quickly ramp this up to a day hike with an overnight camp, followed by a hike back to start. Gear could be pre-positioned at the campsite if there is a nearby road Both Backpacker magazine, and sometimes Outside, frequently feature multi-day hiking trips in the SW
  10. "If one is never going to leave the house, office, school, or other buildings or even vehicles, then outdoor skills are not necessary." until the house, office, building decides to leave you. We've had some bad tornadoes lately
  11. Councils sometimes charge a penalty for unsold cards because they have to pay the card provider by a certain date. It would be better, with a little experience, for council executives to get their own cards printed up - that way costs may be lower, and both council and units would receive more money. Do councils generally have anyone with business and marketing experience?
  12. Most generations believe the younger generation has it too easy. Yet, sadly, I am reminded of the television program Big Bang Theory, the protagonists of which are into computer games. Want to go fishing? There's a computer game for that using your fishing rod shaped controller. Never have to get wet, and no touching yucky worms. Want to take up archery? Just get out your bow shaped controller. Need to duke it out with a rival? Both of you put on your electronic boxing gloves and have your electronic avatars do the actual fighting. While some of these games may be of great he
  13. This just in: all trees at all Scout camps to be cut down to ground level so Scouts younger than 18 can't fall out of them. All roofs to be removed from the cabins so no-one can be hurt by possibly falling off the roof. Everyone going to the latrine must take a latrine-buddy with them for the purposes of enhanced safety.
  14. businesses generally pay more than homes put a small ad in your church bulletin if your church paper accepts ads put up your flyer at all public bulletin boards (grocery, laundromat, hardware store, big box). Ditto for the business cards - many convenience stores have a spot near the register to leave a few cards have your business name & phone # attached to your truck or trailer, later in the white pages contact the county agriculture extension agent to get pesticide application certification so you can kill weeds leasve your flyer & busines cards with all the realtors in
  15. A merit badge was never meant to be a gimmee. If the candidates haven't read the booklet, then it's just one extra day they need to come back to see me before I sign off on it. The extra day is to show they've read it; we move on from that point. One of the hidden lessons of earning merit badges is learning how to do self-directed study (learning things on your own).
  16. "My biggest concern with the Unit Fundraising Application is that it asks for the amount in the Unit treasury. Why is this a concern for council? " I am not up on the latest legal wording, but if the purpose of your unit is deemed to be fundraising - as shown by the size of the troop treasury - you can get in all kinds of trouble with the IRS and lose your/CO non-profit status So, keep that money churning. It needs to leave as quickly as it comes in
  17. When is it time to move on? When the Scout's vision of what he wants from Scouting has little reality in his current troop. However, to avoid leaving the frying pan for the fire, he should make intense visits with other troops. Can he join some of their outings? As for the SM. If one shows up at the SM's house at supper time, would the blues then be available?
  18. It is the PLC's job to plan the campouts. It is the SPL's responsibility, in consultation with the PLC and his ASPLs, to plan the troop meeting. 1. Does the troop quartermaster receive a written job description with graphics, or is he just told to do a good job? 2. If the gear room was not up to standards, has everyone involved visited a different troop's gear room for comparison purposes? 3. Has the SPL apologized to the QM for failing him at training and followup? A redo? Certainly! But, probably not 5 months away.
  19. the money goes for wages, expense accounts, professional training workshops hundreds of miles away, and new furnishings for the office. Anything left over goes to camp. Why would you think these bureaucrats different from any other?
  20. Cubs to Weebs to Scouts to Sea Scouts to Scouters. Hmmm, if you're always with the same group, it soon takes on the appearance of a closed shop where newcomers have a bit of a go fitting in. Even chickens have their pecking order. Sounds more efficient on the surface -- probably because it has no need to embrace infinite diversity. Always with the same group, and these groups naturally get smaller & smaller as the boys get older. Wouldn't you soon be too small to do much of a group activity? Also, if your group wants to specialize/spend most of their time doing community ser
  21. How did your troop get so large? Is it because you offer a fantastic program, or is there a temporary population bulge in your area? If the latter, the problem has its own solution. If the former, great job guys -- keep it up. As to the pioneer camps, different groups going at different times may work
  22. Hiking and camping through the French Alps followed by a bicycle ride across Germany to Denmark. From Denmark boarding a freighter to work my way back home.
  23. maybe some kind of incentive system based on votes by the troops that stayed there. Needs to emphasize quality over quantity, otherwise "most merit badges earned" will make the process even sloppier than now. First place winner gtets the largest end of season bonus. Saturday nights are many times free (Troops leave Sat. morn, next batch not in until Sun. afternoon). That could be staff steak night, plus addressing the problems of previous week via workshops...
  24. Providing the most broad spectrum of options possible may require more moola than the camp has access to UNLESS this is done as a questionaire well before camp plans by the camp are finalized. Many bad KYBOes are due to improper design. Rather than a seat over a hole in the ground, I wish more would get with the "VIP latrine" design. Also, wood walls can be hard to clean. If they don't want to go with ceramic tiles (common in city latrines late 1800s), they could build the hut out of fiberglas or ABS plastic.
  25. "Have had grits served EVERY way known to man; can't stand em" Have you tried mixing them in with your okra?
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