CherokeeScouter

What a great problem. And what an easy solution. Get the Scouts together, pull out of a the map of the U.S. and pick a place to go camping. My suggestions would be Philmont, Sea Base in the keys or the Grand Canyon. Then book some flights, go there and camp. What about the World Jamboree next year? We found ourselves in a similar situation with several thousand in the bank. Soooo, we decided to give every kid in the troop a scholarship to one summer expedition. We had groups going to Summer Camp and Northern Tier. We usually also do a group to Philmont and/or Sea Base, but not this past s

I'm a lifelong liberal and Democrat, yet I totally agree with statement "Generally speaking, I find that liberals are opposed to diversity if it differs in some way from their own bright ideas and social theories." The hard Left is just as bad as the hard Right. Both seem intolerant to me. Just like the people always quoting Scripture are often the least Christ-like of anyone you'll meet - at least in my experience. Here's the thing: I disagree totally with the church that kicked my troop out last year. They were wrong and it was very un-Christ-like, IMHO. HOWEVER, they were t

If it's any consolation, all troops hit rough patches. You will get through this. Just scale back to the absolute minimum - just enough to keep the troop viable and the boys interested. Good luck and thanks for your service.

The boys walk their neighborhoods and sell to neighbors, family and friends. We don't have a stand or anything like that.

I think you guys are talking about Lanoche. We do the Winter Camp there. Excellent place. Would even suggest it for northern troops for a post-Christmas excursion. Beautiful camping in Florida in winter. Combine it with a trip to the Cape Canaveral or the Everglades or the Keys. Do some Scuba or fishing. I gotta say, camping in Florida in mid-summer is nothing short of brutal. We don't really offer it after mid-May because no one would go. Our troop activities in the summer are focused on Summer Camp (usually in NC or GA mountains) and the annual treks to Philmont, Summit, Northern Tier a

Love this thread. Good post. First campout ever - and it was the coldest since - it got down to 5 below and we were in a freakin' creek bed. The wind was whistling through the pass, so no telling what the wind chill was. Very first campout. I was 11. Kids came through MUCH better than adults. Definitely wool caps and complete change of clothes at lights out - including underwear. We had prepped at meeting before, so we all made it through. Cotton is OK I guess, but wool is king. Insulates even when wet. But this was so long ago that even down bags were new. Now they have so many different prod

We have sold them for the past three years and have been very successful. We have a nursery that sells them to us for next to nothing and we sell them at bargain rates. We are making triple what we made selling other stuff. Everyone buys them. Maybe there is a nursery in your area that's a friend of Scouting.

What a good teachable moment for both you and your son. And the SM and the offending party. I took the road less traveled - I worked my butt off for both my Eagle and my college degree - and I think it has made a difference. I'm sure I've met cheaters who took the easy way to both Eagle and a degree, but that's their burden. I also don't cheat others in business as an adult and I sleep well at nite. As far as how to handle the cheating Scout, I think you - not your son - should approach the SM and say something along the lines of "Jimmy has been bragging to others about how he took

No back story. I think the dad was a little apprehensive about approaching the old SM, but I encouraged the dad to be up front. His son wanted to join our troop because that's where all his buddies were. Everyone understands that. Old SM could not have been nicer, btw. I was really asking about the form, which I had not seen used in a very long while. We called council and they said just to do the application and to not worry about the transfer form. The two troops are interesting because they are literally side-by-side in our part of town and they are huge and very old troops. Ours dates back

If a boy is transferring in from another troop, is it absolutely essential that they fill out the transfer form, which is signed by the SM of the troop you are leaving? Could they not just let their registration expire and join another troop? They could bring their IHR or book, which we might accept.

Hey folks, our Troop is looking to buy the traditional red and white Boy Scout troop flag. However, we would like one that has grommets on all four corners, so we could use it as a banner. We would also like one out of cloth instead of nylon. Most of the ones I see online and for sale are the nylon flag variety with only grommets down the left. Am I looking in the wrong place and can one of you maybe suggest a site or a store? Tx.

Wow, where to begin. Lot of negative ju-ju going around. We have a large troop - 80-plus. Rightly or wrongly everything is elected, right down to the Librarian. That list posted above is pretty accurate. We probably have that many positions. If a Scout needs something for rank and isn't holding a position, he asks the SM for a special project. And yes, we generally have a few left over and the SM sends out an email saying these positions are vacant. Who knows why they didn't run originally. Maybe they were at practice, maybe they're shy - whatever. When was a ASM and did conferences, I as

We are in Tampa and we just started TroopKit. It's a little clunky as far as software, but it's a pretty sweet communication tool and the signup stuff seems to be going OK. We have had a few glitches with the transition from post-a-list-on-a-bulletin board sign-up process to TroopKit, but I would say they were self-inflicted. In addition to deploying the new software, we also changed some processes and I think that is what has caused heartburn. If you are downtown, I can walk you through it at my downtown office. The whole key is getting people to use it and sticking to it. IM me if you want d

What counts as an activity for fulfilling the Second and First Class activity requirements? If the troop offers a MB class to the troop on a Saturday, does that count as an activity? How about when a couple of patrols meet to work on advancement stuff? We are using a combination of TroopKit and TroopMaster and I think all we are tracking are service projects, Eagle projects and campouts. I've got a couple of Second and First Class candidates who have 10 activities, but only six or seven are showing on their official record.

I understand fully the Cooking MB situation with Eagle candidates. My question is whether Cooking MB can be used as one of Eagle-required MB before January 2014 for Star or Life. Say we have a Star candidate up for a BOR in November or December who has three Eagle-required MB, plus Cooking, which would be the fourth. Is that four Eagle MBs? Doesn't seem covered in any of the BSA literature I went over. BTW, I posted earlier about some problems with the advancement chair and you guys were a big help. She resigned over the summer, partly over the turmoil, and she has been replaced, but they

I'm the OP. On my honor, it's a fairly accurate portrayal. In fact, I'm a little worried that the problems are so specific, someone from the troop may be able to identify it. But maybe that's not a bad thing. One thing I was wrong on, however. She is ATTEMPTING to disallow the Swimming MB. It's actually going on this month and she and instructor are feuding. At this point in time, nothing has been taken away from the kids. She simply threatened to do this, which I don't think she can do if the SM signed the blue cards before they started. The counselor has been approved by Council.

We have a pretty strict advancement chair and I don't have a problem with that. It's a good thing. But I'm a little unsure of where she is getting her info when she starts quoting stuff. I go by the Boy Scout Handbook. But am I missing a document here? Is there some sort of document or BSA web link that further defines or specifies the requirements and how they are to be administered? I'm not talking about the documents or links that suggest certain ways to go about things. I'm talking about the official requirements. Recent issues: * Disqualified about 10 kids from getting Swim

I don't worry about the merit badges as much as I do the core skills in those first four ranks. Merit Badges are what they are. So, I go over those core skills repeatedly. My Scouts will know all the knots, compass, map reading, outdoor skills, first-aid, safety, etc. when they are adults.

Former Eagle who reconnected with Scouting this year with my youngest son who joined a few months back. The troop eventually found out about my nefarious past, which included OA, Philmont, the AT, etc. I'm feel old for this game but am getting used to sleeping on the ground again.