83Eagle

Yep, the porcupines will have a 4-person group limit next season, or so I was told by the ranger.

geezzzz guys.....Have him teach a younger crew member one of the skills. end of the story

Troop, yes. Pack, no. Why would a Cub leader need Wood Badge?

Cancelled memberships are being reinstated. like this one.

If you think no one has openly advocated that scouting would be better off without Cub Scouts, you have obviously never read any of kudu's comments. I don't have time to search them all but "fine by me" is the one that sticks in my mind.

Hence, it is good to hear a counterpoint. But, my explanations are falling on deaf ears, thanks are rebuffed, and wagons are circled. Lesson learned!

Basement, it was a genuine compliment about your program and you can accept it as that. Clearly you have a Pack with a program that leads to successful crossover.

To your other point, it's not a "chip on my shoulder." We have a good program IMO but there are always things we can do better, which is why I'm here.

But you don't have to look to far in these forums to see experienced and respected scouters advocating that Scouting would be better off without cub scouts, using the pejorative and made-up term "Webelos III" to describe troops that don't measure up to their standards, and so on. That mirrors what happens in the real world and, yes, it's kind of tiring to hear from people who are supposed to be on the same team. We as an organization have enough problems being attacked from outside.

So yes, it is very good to hear someone who has experienced success in both programs, like yourself apparently, say that "The key to a strong troop is a strong feeder pack......"

Which is why I thankedyou for sharing that experience-based opinion. The usual response to thanks is "you're welcome," or perhaps even to offer more experience along the lines of creating a strong feeder pack, but to each his own.

The key to a strong troop is a strong feeder pack......

It's good to hear that you don't have to throw Cub Scouting out the window to have a successful Boy Scout program. Thanks for sharing that success.

And there it is! I knew it would only be a matter of time. That whooshing sound you hear is the point going right over your head...

Same problem after suggesting the site to someone...no registration ID sent and no replies to the mailbox.

I noticed the "newest members" box on the right hasn't changed for several days.

Running on autopilot or life support?

I have found in many areas of life that people will often live up, or down, to your expectations.

I do find tons of valuable ideas and info here.

I guess my point is that it's easy to get into reading the Nth page of a discussion and get the impression that not only is scouting going to hell in a hand basket, but today's scouts don't even have the skills to make the basket. (yes, I did earn the "basketry" badge back in the day, don't ask me why.) Sometimes it's good to close the laptop and go toss the ball around for a while.

Not complaining, just observing. Never realized things were so bad out there until I started coming here.

I usually feel pretty good after Pack or Den meetings or after visiting with our sister troop. Yeah, nobodys perfect but the boys seem to be having fun and everybody is doing the best they can.

Then I come here and see that Im wrong and things are pretty messed up. Maybe not so much with Cub Scouts, because on that side people seem pretty happy with the program. But on the Boy Scout side, things are so fundamentally wrong, according to people who have years of experience in the program, or at least years worth of experience making forum posts.

Where do we start? National, of course, doesnt have a clue. Theyve completely wrecked Woodbadge, EDGE is a joke, they turned the Eagle badge into a shell of its former self, and they killed the Patrol method.

So many problems catalogedWebelos IIIs. Cupcakes and Girl boy scouts. Paper Eagles. Merit badge clinics. Summer school summer camps.

I know it's human nature to focus on the negative, and talking about what works well doesn't make for an interesting forum post. Nevertheless, the sheer volume of problems is depressing. What if the troop my son wants to join is a firm believer in first year, first class? What if its patrols dont camp 300 feet apart? Just not sure what to do anymore!

Two sellers just over $1k, two other sellers over $600. It was our first year of popcorn and we feel we did very well.

The huge dollar sellers are impressive, but I have to wonder at what point it becomes less about funding what the unit and scouts need and more about something else. We're supposed to be a youth activities group not a business.

As I think I mentioned in the other thread, we don't give boys patches as he learns different plays in football, different pieces of music for the band, or his part in the school play.

If eliminating advancement would kill the program as mentioned here, I'm not sure if that says more about the program or the participants.

Advancement was the only reason I stayed in scouts as a boy, because the program was incredibly boring but I had come too far to give up. It is only upon my later reintroduction that I've realized what the program is supposed to be.(This message has been edited by 83eagle)

Webelos. The activities are more fun and you have more flexibility in requirements.

Bear was second best.

Tigers was ok and I'd have more fun with it the second time around if I ever did it again. First time through I didn't know what the heck I was doing.

Wolf was the worst because you had to do the whole book. And who wants to do the food pyramid two years in a row.

I wonder if the boys themselves ever think about any of these issues at all.

Preloaded Visa cards tend to come with a monthly fee.

Debit cards would let someone drain the account--same as a check.

A credit card is not "tied" to the unit account. While the unit agrees to pay, if purchases are unauthorized you'd be dealing with fraud, correct? Same as with fraudulent use of a debit card or check, the difference is the unit is not out any money when the fraud happens.

If your unit has a credit card(s), how did you set that up, who has card(s), etc.

Does anybody use a CREDIT card? An advancement coordinator from a different unit was in front of me at the scout shop today and had a pack credit card. The store manager also recommended it.

The advantage I see is that it's not tied into the unit checking account like a debit card, or even a check would be. And if it was misused the money would not come right out of the bank, and it would be a fraud issue potentially to turn over to the credit card company,

Thoughts?

Yes, but the FCFY program is actually an increase over the 3-month requirement of the 1960s, isn't it? Scouting history is not my strong suit so I'm sure if I'm wrong I'll hear about it.....

Edit: there is a difference between a requirement and an emphasis, which is the point of 'dad I believe.(This message has been edited by 83eagle)

When I went through the program the view of scouting was a way to earn badges, period. I would not say it was an "Eagle Mill" because we didn't have many make Eagle. It was simply a small troop, we did hardly any outdoor activities, and eventualy you either "Eagled-out" or dropped out.

I really didn't know any better at the time. But I still see that perception of scouting among boys, that advancement is THE purpose of scouting. I recently talked to a boy who had dropped from our sister troop a few years ago and I asked him why. He said "They don't work on any badges, they just play games and go camping. I can do that on my own." So that was interesting.

Yes Scouting promotes its community service and character development aspects, but a key visual image of scouting to the public is a boy in full class A uniform with a sash full of badges and an Eagle medal.

So if we truly did "drop the Advancement Method," would scouting turn into something better or fade away?

I'm just citing scouting.org verbiage regarding Venturing. I don't have any statistics.

So is that why Venturing is the "fastest growing program of the BSA?"

Beavah writes:

Better just to drop da Advancement Method from your program and use the other seven well.

Hmmm...

I was going down this exact same line of thought. There are many other programs that youth enjoy where they don't get patches to sew to their uniforms to signify "advancement." Instead they earn a reward of position based on their skill and achievement. They become the starting quarterback, they're made first chair in the orchestra, they land the lead role in the school play.

Advancement is only one of the eight methods of scouting, but if it were dropped as one of the methods, how long do you think scouting would last?