King Ding Dong

Never heard of tough muddier before. It actual sounds like a good fit with scouting. Anything beats chronic cardio. I am so out of tune with pop culture. A couple of weeks ago we took the boys to Six Flags for Fright Fest and I asked my wife, "What is with all these kids here from Hollister ? I always thought that was a tiny little town, there must be 200 of them here". She just laughed and laughed (Hollister, MO is like a suburb of Branson). I haven't been to a mall in 15 years.

My point is it is cruel to tell a youth a poor way do to something. Tell him a correct way. It is up to him to follow your advise or not and learn his lesson. Do you want your son to trust the advise you give him or not ?

How does that saying go. "Those that can't do teach". If that is your criteria, good luck especially at the cub level. I have talked to a PhD Scouter who helped design the program at Philmont and you are taking this a little to seriously. These are not AP classes, their goal is to foster an interest in STEM, not impart an advanced degree. If a computer scientist has an interest in robotics or bacterial growth or circuitry he can serve as a great mentor for adolescent exploration of STEM. The enthusiasm is what is important here.

Suggesting to a youth that he use a poor method of keeping track of his stuff so he can learn a lesson is cruel.

You really don't need Council support. Anyone with a degree in a related field is qualified for Supernova. All you need is advancement chair process the paperwork.

Live dangerously my friend.

So does a dog attract or repel bears ?

Scooter Libby anyone ?

I am obviously am not familiar with your Council and how they operate and clearly they have some problems. How much does it cost to maintain that little park ? How big is your council ? Does it include a major city ? We have summer cub day camps at parks all around the city and no one forces cubs to camp on BSA property. There are a lot of MB days around here but are not really council or district events. They are put on by corporations and community groups such as radio stations, trucking companies, anglers clubs, humane society, Greek orgs at the university, hospitals, garden centers, climbing gyms. No Council funds that I have heard of.

I can't remember

It is pretty clear the IRS was not being used by anyone. That said I have no problem with the IRS going after tax cheats.

To answer your question more directly, you will probably not find a "rule" on this. Few people are fluent in more than 2 languages. The issue has probably never come up before.

From what has been written here we don't know what the intentions are for the parents. They very well may plan on staying for the evening activities and head back to the cabins to sleep. Maybe they are planning their own campfire and bottles of wine, who knows. I have a hard time seeing parents wanting to spend all the time in a cabin without bottles of wine. . Make sure they understand BSA policies. With my wife's work schedule she has a hard time staying up past 9. If it bothers you that much pull out the GTSS and show them the Webelos are to be responsible to one adult. And that is not going to be you. I agree the best time to visit a troop is on a normal program activity. Last year my troop trotted out some older boys for the camporee that I have not seen since. However there are those pesky BSA guidelines limiting hat Webelos can and can't do.

How many merit badges are you allowed to put on a sash ?

I am getting a little jaded. My other DL is a step dad and his son is a Smart Alec and he waits way to long before addressing the behavior. My cub is no peach but if he talked back to me like that he wouldn't see a video screen for a week. The boy does not pull that crap when he is over at my house.

You need to see a shrink.

There are many reasons one cannot or is not comfortable tent camping. I must have my CPAP also, but don't use the humidifier so I can get by plop camping. I would have talked to the event coordinator about the situation, they did not. So talk to them about it as an adult and don't get upset until you know the circumstances and their reasons. A couple of months ago I took climbing and rappelling training and the group was expected to backpack to the cliffs about 3/4 of a mile. I talked to the chairman ahead of time and was given permission to plop back at the parking lot. I don't have a pack mule to carry a big deep cycle battery. Meant I had to hike a lot more than everyone else but was not a big deal.

Realize your son has very little say in the matter. You need to work on the DIL. May I suggest working on a slide show of the best baby pic of Eamonn jr. Spring it on them after a great family dinner with a fire. Show her what a cute little Eamonn she could make. Give it time.

1. Show that you know first aid for injuries or illnesses that could occur while asking a girl out including dry mouth, stuttering, cold sweats, heart attack, stroke, stopped breathing and incontenance. 2. Do the following: (a) Identify the conditions that must exist before asking a girl out. Explain how such conditions are recognized. (b) Demonstrate the proper technique for kissing using a training device approved by your counselor. 3. Do two of the following A). Ask a girl out using semaphore B). Ask a girl out using the line "I know how to light your fire..." C). Using your stave club her over the head and drag her back to your tarp tent.

I still don't get it. "Best case scenario would be allowing the boy to be punished because he got caught, not because what he did had any moral implications." Why is that the best case scenario ?

In my area there is are very limited public campgrounds that can accommodate groups of 30 or more. I don't know about your council, but at ours Boy Scouts camp for free in the camporee fields and on the trails. Ours have tons of trails. The small one close to the city 2,200 acres has climbing tower, COPE, Cubworld, shooting ranges, horses, cabins, camporee fields that could hold a thousand or more. I think one advantage you missed was the safety and control BSA facilities provide for us. No motorcycle clubs camping a few sites down, loud partying college kids. I have a much more enjoyable time at a BSA facility than a State park, unless it is a designated youth group area of the park. Lots of yahoos out there camping. I think when you start experiencing Boy Scouts you may appreciate some of the advantages of BSA properties. That of course is dependent on the quality of the properties in your area. Granted if you have a small Pack a state park might be a better fit, our pack used one a couple of weeks ago and it was only $2 a head. Our Cubworld is hard to get on a "good" weekend also. I can also say it is a lot easier to get cub families to come camp if the site is 1/2 hour away vs. 1 1/2.

Jblake, could you expound on that a bit more, not sure I get where you are going.

I saw a show a year or so ago about the exploding population of jellyfish. Could be a big problem.

I was adamant about not having children. Give 99% effective enough years and kids happen. Turned out I liked it and wanted another one. You can make a big difference out there, parents are overworked and find it hard to put on a decent program. I think the best DL, CM, SM is I one without a scout in the program. It's only an hour a week.

Anyone can be a Nova councilor, you must have qualifications to be a SuperNova Mentor. At least around here there are lots of people willing to be mentors. Our council has a couple of people on the program advisory committee so there has been a big push here. A STEM U is held at the end of the year for cubs and BS, spring and fall there are Stem days at a business for cubs to earn belt loops (Monsanto) then a STEM Camp in August for BS. They usually hold and hour training session for adults interested in the program and training to be a councilor/mentor. Microsoft store holds lots of sessions for cubs. FYI the cub Novas started with just 4 that are in the book, but I am told it has increased to about 14 subject areas, published online only. I went to the Cub Stem U last year and it was fun they kept them busy but it was a tad long for a Wolf. a couple of the boys from my troop went to STEM camp and it was better than regular MB camp in that one MB was covered per day, but still it seems requirements were skimped a bit. As with any big group session it starts being like school. The stem U at end of December is a good time as they boys are out of school. Here are a few links to our council activities. http://www.stlbsa.org/programs/stem/Pages/STEM.aspx http://www.stlbsa.org/camping/AllAboutSummerCamp/boy%20scout%20summer%20camp/Pages/STEM-Camp.aspx