BrentAllen

I was going to add Roseanne Barr to the list, but calling her an entertainer? A Scout tells the truth...

Our method is pretty simple. This past Tuesday, we handed out a sheet to all Scouts that listed both the types of trips we have done in the past (canoeing, rock climbinb, caving, backpacking, etc...) and the locations (AT, Cumberland Island, Tumbling Rock, etc...). Below each of those two lists are blank lines for write-ins. The Scouts fill them and turn them in to the PLs. Scouts are encouraged to come up with new ideas and list all of them. The PLs look over their patrol responses and present that information at the PLC Annual Planning Conference this comnig Sunday afternoon. The SPL a

When we were backpacking on Cumberland Island a year or so ago, I started hearing the boys say "36 HUCK" and later "24 HUCK"... After hearing it enough times and not being able to figure it out, I asked, what in the heck is 24 HUCK? One of the Scouts replied - 24 HUC is "24 Hours Until Chick-Fil-A! Our trip was over a holiday weekend, meaning we were driving back on a Monday, which meant Chick-Fil-A would be open! CFA is the unanimous choice of our Scouts, when they are open. Our SPL is currently working at one of the local CFA's. If anyone here still thinks there isn't a God, watch

Lisa, but do they smoke? eolesen - I heard George Michaels say he was content as a hetero, until he tried the other team. Is he an anomoly? Could he have stayed happy as a hetero if he hadn't experimented with same-sex? Me, I'm ready to get rid of all the ugly Scouters. I'm tired of hanging out with a bunch a ugly mugs that only a mother could love. Yeah, that goes for the women, too.

Lisa, The announcement was sort of in response to the petition that was delivered asking the BSA to change positions on homosexuals. Since the BSA accepted the petition, some took it as a sign that BSA was about to change. The BSA then made the announcement that they were not, in fact, changing. It was more of a clarification than anything.

"In my world, people whose personalitys allow them to think discrimination against other people is ok and/or that "tea party" politics is goos are unacceptable BSA leaders." So Calico, when are you resigning from the BSA? That is, unless you are willing to let the local illegal drug dealers, prostitutes, gang members, mentally ill, pedophiles, alcoholics and porn stars be leaders in your Troop. You don't discriminate, right? Right... Of course, in your own sentence, you indicated that you discriminate against Tea Party members. You might try a little more bleach on your white robe.

Well, if that is your real goal, I suggest you become a Mormon and direct your efforts toward changing their view on homosexuality.

shortridge, the real question is why do you belong to a group that you feel is so immoral? Since BSA policies are so strongly against both your moral and religious values, how can you stand to be a member? Maybe your moral and religious values aren't that important to you? Maybe that is why you can't understand why our's are so important to us?

"Yet your morality and religious doctrine outweighs my morality and religious doctrine. How is that right?" Easy, First Amendment, the right to associate. BSA sets the standards. The standards are set, but some of you don't want to accept them.

shortride, one problem - your "mainline protestant" numbers include the huge decline in the Episcopal Church and Presbyterian USA church. Take those numbers out, and the amount of deline decreases significantly. Conservative churchs aren't losing members nearly as bad as liberal churches.

shortridge, I'm amazed at how you continue to fool yourself. None of what you wrote matters. What matters is which organizations are chartering the most units, and those organizations are conservative Christian. They hold sway at BSA national. It's like presidential candidates in the election - they are interested in winning the big electoral vote states. The big chartering organizations aren't changing anytime soon, and neither is the bible. When the huge majority of institutional heads and CORs are members of religious organizations, I don't see how you can just push aside the religiou

If 30 states is cherry picking, then so be it. Believe what you want, but the BSA is watching other groups that have gone left, and all they see is failure. Look at the Episcopal Church and others that have followed their lead. Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved? http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/opinion/sunday/douthat-can-liberal-christianity-be-saved.html "Yet instead of attracting a younger, more open-minded demographic with these changes, the Episcopal Churchs dying has proceeded apace. Last week, while the churchs House of Bishops was approving a rite to bless same-sex unions

It's not going to happen anytime soon - as in 30 years. The folks in Irving are looking at national trends. North Carolina recently became the 30th state to pass an amendment to their state constitution banning same-sex marriage. It passed by a huge margin, and the other side actually thought they were going to win. Liberal Christian churches are losing members in droves. Where is the successful business plan that would encourage the BSA to make this change? Go back in this forum and you will find posts where people predicted the change in 5 years made 8 - 10 years ago.

Most of the guys in our Crew run cross-country, swim, play soccer, run track, mountain bike - they are very active. And tall. Check out our picture, in the local paper. I'm 6' tall - remember that when looking at the height of the rest of crew compared to me. http://www.thecrier.net/news/image_f4095b18-d017-11e1-a6fc-0019bb2963f4.html

We like to say "Boy run does not mean boy-run-off-the-tracks!" :-) I'll counter Josh's statement about adults not liking NSPs with: Troops that use NSPs generally do so because they don't have strong, developed Patrols who can handle brand new Scouts; the Patrols don't have the skills nor the leadership development to teach T-2-1 to the new Scouts. (I have no idea if that is true - I just threw that out as the other side of the coin) We don't use NSPs because we believe Scouting is all about older boys teaching the younger boys. We like teacher to student ratios of 6 to 2, instead of 2 t

We got back from Woodruff today (Week #7, Campsite #2). We had a great week! It only rained at night, starting after 10:00 PM and ending before 6:00 AM, which was nice. We took 46 Scouts to camp - 6 Patrols, plus the adult Old Fogey Patrol. Cooked in camp, the boys are really starting to expand their menues. Thorns & Roses on Tuesday night revealed very little home sickness, good meals, and good staff. Two of our new Scouts were brutally honest that they spend all their time indoors, and they were having a little difficulty adjusting to the outdoors, but were loving camp. This was th

OGE, there were scales at the med-check, in the front room. I used them myself to see how much weight I might lose on the trip (10 lbs for those keeping score). None of our Crew were weighed, but none of us were even outside of the "Recommended Weight" category. I was probably the heaviest, at 188 lbs at 72". They did check blood pressure for all adults, and wanted to see any prescribed medication. I only saw one hiker there who I would call obese - and he was up there age-wise, as well. He stood out like a sore thumb, but he had just come over Hart Peak, a nice little 1,000' climb in th

TCD, Once a Scout becomes inactive (missed 4 consecutive meetings/outings with no notification), he is no longer assigned to a Patrol. To regain Active status, he has to meet with me (SM) to discuss why he became inactive, and what he is going to do to prevent that from happening in the future. He can't just show up and be active again. He will have to be assigned to a Patrol again (SPL & SM make that decision) - he could go back in his old Patrol, or they may now be full. Hopefully the Scouts like their Patrol and want to stay in it - more incentive to stay active. Once he is a

Peter, Our's is a prepaid use-it or lose-it regardless of whether notification is given. We have a few more Scouts who haven't been on a lot of trips this past year. I imagine there will be some soul searching from those parents as we approach August 1, 2012 as to whether they want to continue or not. We may well lose them, and while I regret that, I keep in mind that our program is focused on quality, not quantity. Having the Troop at this size is much harder work than when we were at 40 Scouts. I mean harder work on everyone - SPL, PLs, me, ASMs, pretty much everyone. So I have t

fred, Thanks for playing devil's advocate - that helps to clarify policy. And to clarify... The reason we ask the Scout to notify if they are going to miss an event is because a Scout is Courteous. He needs to treat Scout events just like any other obligation he has committed to. If you can't make it, let them know. We use an online system, on our Troop web page, to register for outings and activities. Scouts can simply go on the web page to rsvp for those. Our Scribe takes attendance from each Patrol during our opening. The PL lets the Scribe know who is there, who notified

Wow. Talk about getting wrapped around the axel! I've read and heard about enough of these situations that we took action with our Troop to hopefully never end up in this boat. Beavah quoted our standard, taken from GBB: The real price of membership in this Troop will be unfailing regular attendance at its meetings and outings, and steady progress in all the things that make a Scout "Prepared." If we put our own time into the activities of this Troop, we shall certainly expect you to do your part with equal faithfulness. At Troop 494, Scouting is a way of life, not just an activity.

This is what most of the members of our Troop use. They work great and are very light. They sell them at REI. Figuring out the size you need will be the hard part. Nothing worse than a wet sleeping bag. http://www.seatosummit.com/products/display/1

We are on Trek 28, which is kind of 26 in the opposite direction, with different camps. 83 miles, starting at Zastrow and ending at Six Mile Gate. South to north. Crew 612. Camps: Rimrock Park Urraca Miners Park (side hike Tooth of Time) Clarks Fork Devils Wash Basin Santa Claus Ewells Park (layover, hike Baldy) Flume Canyon Indian Writings We are heading out a few days early, to do some of the typical site seeing - Air Force Academy, Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, Sky Sox baseball game. We were also lucky enough to time the trip to see a concert at Red Rocks - Bi

We use a trailer, for several reasons. #1. We don't have anywhere else to store gear. #2. The church lets us use the 2 14-passenger vans they have, which keeps the number of vehicles we need on trips down to a minimum. I usually haul it with my Sequoia, which also hauls 8 passengers. On a typical trip, we will take both church vans, my Sequoia and another mini van. The trailer hauls all the backpacks. Works for us. And we believe in going light. #3. We do our own cooking in camp at Summer Camp, so we usually take two trailers - one hauling Patrol equipment and food, and the other takin

Wow, Basement - our "rich" Troop program costs the same as yours. We have $80 dues, $175 camping fee that covers trips except for Summer Camp, and Summer Camp fee of $275. That totals $530. High Adventure is extra, if the Scout attends. We raise funds. Some goes towards equipment, some goes to scholarships. We have some needy Scouts in the Troop, single-parent families with employment problems. We offer scholarships based on income and family size. We use the HUD low-and-moderate income numbers to offer assistance at either the 40%, 60% or 80% level (moderate, low, and very low inc