mashmaster

Yeah, we don't formally recruit (no blanket mail to the packs, or specific invitational campout). We are just well known in the area and people show up. We will just have to welcome them and do our best.

What do y'all do about controlling the growth of your troop? Ours is at 85 and seems to grow and grow by 20 each year? At some point it seems that the troop will get too big to run well.

Welcome

WOW! That sounds so aweful. There have been a lot of tears shed already in my house over the process.

For those of you out there that went through the Gold Award process, How many times and how long was the approval process for you? My daughter has been going back and for with the committee since April. I have never dealt with such a horrible process before.

Switched to plan B on a lake vs. river based on eyes on the river yesterday. If we had one more day the choice might have been different. It will be fun watching the boys using canoes for moving water on flat water though. Our 6 mile paddle will probably be 9 based on the amount of weaving I expect to see.

OK, makes sense. This data was based on people knowledgeable of our local waterways and conditions.

OK, I have gathered a ton of data. We are here in Austin and I have talked to a local venture advisor who is a major canoer (sp?). He recommends 2500 cfm as the upper limit for inexperienced youth in canoes. We have a plan B which in not to do the Plan A river paddle and to do a lake paddle which will not encounter the flow rates and debris that the river would. Thank fully we have a lot of realtime USGS flow meters in our local rivers so we can monitor the flow rates. I talked to a Hydrologist (a did in the troop who works for USGS) and he pointed me to the most accurate data and fo

Our troop has a canoe trip this weekend and we have been getting lots of rain. What amount of river flow would you consider safe for a paddling for scouts?

Our troop picks up the registration cost but everything else is out of our pocket including cost for food for campouts and summer camp.

I would find someone else to charter the unit. Have a new unit number and move it. Maybe find a group like the vfw or similiar organization that would be willing to charter the unit so you don't have to deal with the politics. Besides, the older veterans love to support scouting .

As a Jew, I don't understand your arguments.... Y'all believe in Jesus as God that makes you Christians IMHO. I hope everyone can take a deep breath and accept everyone else.

After being in a troop for 6 months, I would say that EVERY troop will say they are boy led. Hints to point to one that isn't: We have a dedicated advancement plan for the first year boys to make sure they get to first class in the first year. They really want you to reach out to them prior to visiting a meeting with them so they are prepared. They require at least some amount of first year parents to be ASMs They have a lot of specific campouts that are only for the first years rather than integrate all campouts with the entire troop.

It might be that they don't want to be thought of as being singled out? That is probably the reason. Sometimes it is easier to just go along.

At summer camp this year the camp chaplain said the word Jesus 77 times in 15 minutes. At the end of the service he mentioned that Jews and Muslims should pray too. Even the most religious in our troop where pretty offended by his daily service. That was from our Southern Baptist parents, I'm Jewish and more sensitive to it. We attended every day as a manner of respect but even Adults need to learn to understand what interfaith service actually means.

I did the mile swim this year at camp with a couple of our youth. It shocked me to see the sad state of swimming abilities in the youth that were attempting it. I give them credit for attempting it and completing it for the ones that finished it. But it made me sad to see so many youth that need swimming lessons. One boy was freaking out so I swam with him a while and tried helping him calm down. He ended up doing elementary backstroke and I left him in the hands of one of the camp staff to watch him.

My condolences, that is heartbreaking.

One key difference I see from the Girl Scout Gold Award project vs Eagle Project is the requirement for a long term sustainability plan that doesn't depend on scouts to support it.

I like the new syllabus. THe old one gave people confidence in first aid thinking they knew first aid for example. Just removed that and get people to take the Red Cross First Aid class which is much better, and then onto wilderness first aid. Other than that I didn't notice too many other changes.

I see no issues with it. They were decently dressed and appropriate. This is a non-issue.

We had a lot of this but then we started camping with the boy scouts. That helped a lot. I suggest you connect with local troops to have your patrol do some things with them.

I wouldn't say elite, I am just a dedicated volunteer like everyone else here. I happen to do a lot at the district level so that is why they asked I am sure.

That is correct because it is public but private messages are a huge no no. SInce it is so easy, I still advise against it.

The leaders should not friend the boys on facebook. Sadly, I read just this morning that a high percentage of sex offenders use social media as a starting point. I'm not saying your leaders are just that it is a no win situation. I agree with what Stosh says and talk to the parents. Their boys behavior maybe endangering them unintentionally.

In my experience as a Jew, organization of Judeo-Christian values really mean Evangelical Christians values. I could be wrong about your organization but that is my experience. I personally, have no problem with Muslim scouts for example and would not want to be in an organization that was prejudiced against them.