King Ding Dong

I am sure you have see this paragraph from the GTSS posted before "A Webelos Scout may participate in overnight den camping when supervised by an adult. In most cases, the Webelos Scout will be under the supervision of his parent or guardian. It is essential that each Webelos Scout be under the supervision of a parent-approved adult. Joint Webelos den/troop campouts including the parents of the Webelos Scouts are encouraged to strengthen ties between the pack and troop. Den leaders, pack leaders, and parents are expected to accompany the boys on approved trips." But as others have said, orienteering is fun, I wouldn't miss it. I thought you were looking forward to Boy Scouts.

The Nova awards are fun and have recently expanded. Get outside, go on hikes, bike rides, go camping as much as you can. Try a cooler weather campout, close enough you can bug out if it gets to uncomfortable. This is controversial, but spend time deciding what kind of troop you want and research them thoroughly. The Biggest mistake I made was going with the troop at the school. It may be good for kids active in lots of sports but is not the program I want for my son. No summer program outside camp, no patrol activities, no winter camping, no canoeing on a river, once a year minimal backpacking, no active scouts over 14. I don't want to troop hop, so now I need to take the 6-9 months to select some possible candidates.

I agree with everything jblake said and want to add one important point. The idea of having one "Super Training" class with BALOO/owl/IOLS all rolled up into to one ignores that fact that you are not going to get the new Tiger DL to invest two weekends in this course. He doesn't need the IOLS stuff for 5 more years and will have forgotten most if it by then. He also doesn't need the OWL stuff right now either. I see a method to the madness in the current program. For most of the volunteer leaders "Once and Done" isn't going to cut it, just like it doesn't cut it for the Scouts. If you are confident you know it all, then call your District Training Chairperson and volunteer to help staff the course. I doubt they will refuse your help. Teaching others is one method we use with the Scouts to improve their skills. I asked an 25 year Scouter friend about advanced IOLS and his response was the best way to get that knowledge was to join the District Training Staff. A bit self serving I agree, but there is a lot of truth in that approach.

If he was not fit to be an Eagle those issues should have been addressed long before now. So this Scoutmaster has allowed 3 PORs and is just now having second thoughts. If he was elected to his PORs and fulfilled his duties to the satisfaction of his peers then what's the problem? We have a rocket scout in our troop, in 7th grade and is about to get his Life BOR. He is a good scout, very mature and very smart. I never seen one problem with him. My issue is the SM has not held him to a high standard for his current POR.

The scout shop has cards for like .11 for the activity badges that have the CM and DL signatures on them. Sort of act like a blue card as proof the cub earned it. I suspect they have them for belt loops and pins also although I have never purchased one.

Have you ever seen the movie Office Space ? Aniston was a waitress who was chastised by her boss for not wearing enough "flair". You remind me of him. You could make up buttons with sayings like "I tied the knot" , "Twisted", "Grapevine Me", "I Bight", "Get Hitched"

So a 12 year child thinks he is gay and you look the other way, but he says the word "atheist" and you toss him out on his smart ass ? He is freaking 12! tomorrow he will probably think he is a Vulcan.

The Airing of Greivances is my favorite part. The most holy day of the year is next week for my friends. International Talk Like a Pirate Day on the 19th.

Lord, O'Lord, Amen

No. You don't have to be Fundi for the "word" to drive you to do hateful things to children.

You have absolutely no sense of humor do you ?

With an adult on board, show that you know how to handle a rowboat. Hey BD, Notice is doesn't say anything about the rowboat actually being on water. Have a nice weekend.

I am good friends with an LDS family and my boys have even attended LDS functions such as a church Christmas party with them. They had fun. However the whole age based yo-yo, in and out of dens with your friends, cub program is not what many non LDS parents want for their sons. Do your elementary schools operate the same way ? Your superiors should be doing the recruiting for you if they think it is such a good idea to get non LDS families into your pack. In the end PackAlex has the best suggestion. Do your best and focus on your boys.

I get confused reading your post because you are talking about Webelos and you keep using the word Troop. Webelos are not in a troop they are in a Pack. Secondly, all of your scouts may not be able to earn the Religous Emblem because their religion may not have one recognized by the BSA. Be very careful bringing up the word atheist in the BSA, some councils are very understanding and will work with a family to find some common ground, others will not. If questioned on the subject, and the response is not satisfactory membership in the BSA can be denied in some circumstances. Pastafarianism is a fun option for many, although there is no recognized Emblem. I am not an official member of The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster but have friends that are. It seems to satisfy both the BSA and many atheists and non-atheists.

May his noodly appendages touch you. RAmen

No generator rule at my council camps. Except they use one for the bottle rocket launcher. Fishing for eels ? Lol.

Where is it stated the 91U position is $10 ? Furthermore what is the advantage of this position ? Why would anyone want or need to do this ?

Clearly the next GTSS must contain a new section detailing the specs for a rowboat and a canoe. Length, width, length to width ratio and so forth. Illustrations included. The boats used in Crew or whatever its called are more like a canoe than a typical pond rowboat. While they are amending the Webelos Handbook they can add a 21st Activity Badge called "GTSS Law" and make it required for AOL. Once Webelos understand how concerned the adults are for their safety all the crossover problems will be solved.

Wow. A large segment of the flock is not going to like that. I just read the synopsis, but it seems he is saying as long as in your conscious something is not a sin, God is cool with that. That is sure going to make the Cafeteria Catholics happy.

Been pulling my hair out trying to get the Pack organized and matching the recharter application from last year with the old myscouting.org and the new myscouting.org and the roster document that the service center finally emailed me. Of course nothing matches, but finally unraveling it and getting things fixed. In all of this I found out I am registered as the ScoutParent Unit Coordinator. Surprise, thanks for letting me know. The service center also mentioned something about all the ScoutParents needing to register as adults next recharter. So I start looking into exactly what a ScoutParent is, I thought every parent was a ScoutParent and you had to check that box on the Youth Application, I always did. Apparently not. I came across this little bit of news : "As part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen the protection of youth in our programs, the select designation of parents of youth members in traditional programs as “ScoutParents†will end effective July 1, 2013. BSA literature, forms, and processes are being revised to match this change in program. Councils should encourage current “ScoutParents†to now officially register as paid adult volunteers or leaders if they are not already so registered. To help facilitate this, the Unit Scouter Reserve position (91U) has been created for supportive adults who have no immediate, specific leadership role. Like all registered BSA adult positions, this new role will require a criminal background check and the completion of Youth Protection training. The position of unit ScoutParent Coordinator (PC) will remain a registered position with the name changed to Parent Coordinator. " http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Commissioners/newsletter/bsa_news/04_2013_scoutparents.aspx What do you think the chances are that there will be a major push next month when rechartering season starts to get all the parents to become paid registered adults ?

It is "prissy".

I couldn't find my CC listed in there but when I called the service center he was in their system. IOLS included YPT last may, but is not listed as updated in the old system. I have not filed my updated paperwork yet even so I am officially just a MC in the troop and an ADL in the pack but I must have key 3 status because I could change the profile of a DL. The % of leaders trained thing is a joke.

Maybe BP used wagons to build citizens of character and leaders of integrity but I doubt he used laser tag.

Not sure if mine are exofficio, but +1 on performance boxer briefs. Wish I could afford a drawer full.

We had our School Night to Join Scouting last night. It was a week latter than the other schools in the district due to a scheduling conflict. Last year we had 17 Tigers, this year 4 and 1 new Bear show up. The membership fee was certainly not a factor because increase was not well known. We sent two sets of flyers home, had yard signs and the DE did a lunch time rally same as last year. I have heard membership is down in my district but up in an adjoining one. How has everyone else faired ?