mashmaster

Glad to hear you are doing well. Even with our bickering we are all in this together and will do anything to help one another. Best of luck friend.

Hear sports seem to be year round. What I have done to keep my boy interested. They are Webelos 2's so they are bored with following the program. It really gets boring for them by the time they are Webelos. So what I do is start encorporating Scouting activities into the patrols. For instance the boys love pioneering projects, camping with them planning everything, trail riding (not-mountain biking that isn't allowed ), and building things like hiking sticks. It is amazing what activity pins you can cover on a short hike. Even with all of that, it is a constant battle with sport

I know a fellow scouter that had to use his WFA training on a hike where a scout had fracture and had to be stabilized. He said the training really helped him handle the situation. We are really lucky in this area to have a Venture Crew that specializes in first aid and they do an incredible job. They are so good that local hospitals have them run the moulage situations for the hospital staff.

I have mixed feeling about this as well. I know that in our area there is a really great Crew that teaches the course regularly and I am happy that the boys take it because for any high adventure they are most likely have to save my life. Not uncommon for no cell coverage and hours until professional help can arrive. But in order to make it work they need to make it easier to take. I can see this being yet another hurdle that makes it difficult for troops to do things. It seems hard to believe that they would impose this other than for high adventure trips.

Technical Evangelist. Yes that is my actual title. I work for a semiconductor company.

Doh! I forgot to do that. LOL

Earlier this year I made a cross reference spreadsheet that mapped the old Webelos activity pin requirements to the new adventure pin requirements for an OWLS course I was directing. I was informed today that the spreadsheet has made it to leaders in Abu Dhabi and they said that "they could not be more thankful for such a great resource". Anyway, it brightened my day.

Best of luck to you in your future endeavors. I don't agree with your view on where scouting is going as the units I see are all boy led, but I can appreciate your concerns. Thank you for the service to the boys.

Glad you had fun. Wagons and huge bags..... sigh. I bet the parents packed for them too and the boys didn't carry their stuff. I have a rule for my boys in my patrol, you pack it, you are responsible for taking the stuff from the car to the site and back.

We typically call it an overnighter vs. camping as well. I am sure they would frown upon us having a campfire in the space center but in Texas, a majority of time we are in a fire ban so we have to think warm thoughts :-)

I think I convinced another parent to be a leader! woohoo.

We have both opportunities. Cubs going to NASA or sleeping on the USS LExington is a truly eye opening experience for the boys.

Breathe deeply and count to 10. I would have someone else with you when you meet with the parent, even just to listen.

You're welcome. We got some nice ones at Costco, but you never know what they will have and when.

We have done it twice. The boys really enjoy it. IMHO, the program is meh, but the boys enjoy it and you get to see the Saturn V which is ALWAYS worth it. Plan to stay the morning after to do the tour of the rockets and mission control. We ate as a group prior to check in. The floor is VERY hard, the coffee runs all night :-) no cots allowed, no air mattresses but the self inflating pads are ok. What specifically are you worried about bringing?

We just had our join scouting night and got 14 boys and 1 leader. Obviously we need at least one more but none of the parents will sign up. Other than begging for the sake of the boys, how else have you had success to get a leader? I have told them the positives of the role but they all want someone else to do it.....

Well I have an engineering degree and 10+ patents, I took art classes in college and being creative is a plus in my STEM career.

I totally agree with this. I also think they should take some scouts with them too. Make a scouting survival or educational tv show would be great unlike the are you tougher than a boy scout with sucked. I am sure people will hate on Obama for this and others will like it. It is all political, I get so tired of hearing the "Your guys sucks and is evil, our guy is great and is being picked on."

I know the classes in our local store filled up super fast.

Our council is: http://www.bsacac.org/ Our district is: http://www.nsdbsa.org/

Our unit has both. the facebook account is basically for advertising upcoming events. The website has details for activities and resources for people like camping lists, maps and such. I'm also our district communications chair and we have both as well. I figure anyway we can get info out to people the best. The current generation wants to be notified via instagram or phone texts. We haven't figured out how to do that yet.

Nice gesture to help raise his spirits. Prayers for him and his family in this difficult time.

We are doing it. We got samples and they look good.

great news, I'm happy and hopeful we can all work together for the sake of the boys.

RIP prayers for his family