Sidney Porter

I lived in FL for 10 years. We did not camp much from Mothers day through labor day. It really isn't comfortable when the other 9 months are. A lot of units went out of council to the mid atlantic mountains or mid west for summer camp since it doesn't get as hot or as humid.

Absolutely. But in this context it stands for Breast Self Awareness. Although I am sure you can get a flask with the motorcylce on it.

Was it a BSA breast cancer flask? Because that would make this thread go full circle. http://www.cafepress.com/+bsa_initia...ask,1112068984

With a large pack software is really helpful. We were in a pack with 150 scouts (20 dens). The CM could run reports to see which dens were falling behind and may need help. The advancement chair could print a report and get the awards at one time rather than 20 den leaders driving across town purchasing them and then filling out expense reports. It also means that a den leader doesn't need to maintain separate records to keep track of who is failing behind. Even in the current pack of 50 (5 dens) it makes life easier.

I have a battery and a solar/crank lantern. They are small and light compared to the propane / white gas. I hardly ever use them because they are still large compared to a LED fashlight / headlamp. I would like to get a white gas one just to have but I don't really have a need. With the headlamp and flashlight please get ones that have a red light. It will allow everyone to keep their night vision.

Has the BSA come out against vaping yet? It is not smoking, it is not tobacco, but it is nicotine. I assume they do not have a policy aginst nicotine gum and patches.

I assume that you have read the webelos activities. Puppets is a big part of showman. I would incorporate the Webelos so that they can work on showman. Personally I think showman is the hardest of the activities because it requires either learning an instrument or putting on a play or a puppets. I would assume that the den leader would like the help.

What are you trying to teach? Being rewarded for good actions? Buy low sell high? Budgeting? I like the uniform idea. But do it aspart of the uniform inspection so they get $ for each part they do right. At my sons school they are rewarded with "credit" for good behavior, etc. But it is an all year process where they can earn and lose. But by extending the duration of the process.

It is actually hard to compare dues w/o knowing what the pack covers. The only certain is the $24 to nationals. So out of that $50 we are left with $26 for the pack. I am going to assume a lot of that goes to awards. Does the pack supply the pinewood derby / raingutter boats etc of is that an additional cost. Our pack dues are $75 but there is very little additional cost (other than camping) I assume that the den leader gave the parents that attended the meeting some type of idea of what is included with the $40 and what they will be doing during the year. Yo mentioned the requirements but there are also the arrow point electives. If a lot of electives are planned I could see the cost adding up rather quickly, there are a lot of electives to build stuff. Swimming is one of the electives the cost to get into a pool could be $3-$8. Attend a sporting event is a requirement even a High school football / basketball game is $5-$8. Once again I am assuming that these are some of the cost. But it actually sounds like you have other issues with the DL. Another option to going to another pack would be to split the den. The BSA defines the den as 6-8 scouts. If the den has 12 one could argue that it needs to be split. You could then become the den leader of one of the dens. So looking at my situation $75 in dues. We went swimming as a pack which was another $3, we also went swimming as a pack which was $4. That gets me up to $82. I assume there will be a few more den expenses that the pack doesn't pay. So in the ballpack of $90.

Pot meet kettle

The maturity and responsibility of a 6 year old tiger vs an 11 year old webelos is a difference. It is harder for a tiger to get to a meeting w/o a parent where a Webelos can ride their bike. A Webelos have been in the program long enough that they understand how it works so they should know any any given time what they have outstanding. They also know the consequences of missing a meeting. I think back to when we went to the newpaper tour as tigers. My stress was to the parents that they need to make sure that they get their scouts there because it was only being arranged 1x. The tigers did not maintain their own schedules. That differed with the webelos when we met with the civil engineer, in that instance the conversation was with the scout stressing that if they wanted to complete their engineering activity they needed to attend. In both instances the scout needed to attend and complete the work.

One thing that I find helpful is to provide blank charts for the stuff like tracking meals, chores, exercise etc. I like to make 2 blank copies one which I give the adult and one that I give the scout, that way the ownership is on the scout but if they lose it they have a backup. Thinking about the title of the thread it is a little interesting. It is putting the ownership on the parent rather than the scout. Maybe that makes sense at the tiger and wolf level but for bears and webelos they should know what they need.

My son swims year round. His swim club offers multiple practices per week where they do not need to attend all of them. For example one level has 4 pactices a week with an expectation that they will be at 3 practices. Another level has 5 practices with the expectation he will be at 4. So we can pick which practices to attend based upon the the cub schedule. If there are actual conflicts he would need to pick which one he can go to. He did skip a camping trip because it conflicted with the first practice of the season, he also showed up late for a camping trip because he had a race that morning.

van Gogh only sold 1 painting during his lifetime. Due to his mental illnesses most were not seen until after his death. El Greco had a really hard time being allowed to show his work because of disagreements with Michelangelo. Manet wasn't allowed to display his work because of nudity. Sisley a Brit doing French impressionism limited his ability display his work. I guess these artist have no value in the the art world.

As far as troop tents. See what they have it may or may not be the right tent for the job. For cubs you are more than likely looking at car family camping where a 4 - 8 person tent is the right tent for the job. If the troop is more of a back packing troop they probably have backpacking tents. I can tell you that my wife has no interest in staying in our back packing tent 2 people fit but that is it, you can sit up in it but to change your clothes you are sort of laying down. On the other hand we have a 6 person tent that you can stand up in and has plenty of room for a family of 4. (the back packing tent is less than 5lbs while the 6 person is 12ish so 2 different tools for 2 different purposes) As far as the rain question. What you want to plan against is an all day rain where everyone is stuck in their own tents. Get a camp site that has a picnic shelter so that if it is raining you can gather there and play games. The games can be board games, red light green light it doesn't really matter.

Scouts do not need to make rank nor do they need to make rank at the same time. If they don't put forth the effort / attendance they are not going to make rank. They can still have a rewrding experience in scouts. It is the same as the kid that only attends 1/2 of his sports team practice he is not going to start but will still get to play some.

Repeating requirements are always an issue when dealing with no shows. With a den of 14 I think it will be next to impossible to repeat items, if you have a couple missing each meeting. I have several Webelos that have partial requirements. It makes it real hard when they miss the meetings where you bring in a guest speaker (scientist, artist, engineer etc). That took effort to arrange and I don't really have much interest to go though that process again. But with Webelos there are enough activities that I can continue w/o needing to repeat. So that those scouts get their electives w/o making the other scouts repeat a lot of items. Although it has dictated which items we would focus on (metal skills and technology) since they can count as either electives or as one of the required groups. But it is critical that they need to attend the meetings. The other side of repeating items is that it takes away a new experience for those that attended the original meetings. I get that some of this is beneficial to learning 2x but it is still a trade off.

Have a camping 101 with what is actually needed. There is different types of camping and if they do an internet search it could get confusing. The equipment I use for car camping is not the same as backpacking. Really you are limited to car camping with cubs (some webelos could probably backpack). It could be overwhelming to a parent who think they need to go out and buy everything. Explain what the pack will provide or only one or 2 people need (usually cooking gear). If they do a search at REI they could get really scared of the cost, explain the tradeoffs of REI stuff vs Wal Mart stuff. For most car camping less than 10 nights a year in the summer the wal mart stuff does fine. Also explain what they can use that they already have. What you don't necessarily want to do is make it a show and tell of things they will not needed because they will see it as needed. Really for car camping with a group the only real camping equipment they would need is a tent and a sleeping mat everything else the probably have. I think age appropriate guidelines require potable water and bathrooms. Although the bathroom could be a pit toilet. I would look for sites that have flush toilets rather than pit toilets. A pit can turn the scouts and parents off of camping. If the trip is more than 1 night I would also want to get one that has showers. I would have the pack supply the meals. That eliminates the needs for everyone to have their own stove. But publish the menu a head of time. That way the picky eaters can plan accordingly. For a small to medium size unit a pack really only needs 2 or 3 burners or 1 or 2 dutch ovens. foil pack cooking is easy and fun except when you have a large down pour and the fire is a struggle to keep lit. But keep the meals simple at the cub level where aduts are going to be doing most of the cooking you don't want to make it a long process with lots of clean up. As the unit gains experience you can introduce the concept of the dens cooking for themselves or even individual cooking for themselves. It is common for friday dinner to be on your own and the pack provides breakfast, lunch and dinner on sat and sunday breakfast. Most people pick up prepared foot friday but I use it as an opportunity for my son to cook for himself and me. We started that as a Bear. Have the parents set realistic expectation of what the kids can and can't do. When the scouts get to the camp site they are going to want to play. Even when camp needs setup. My expectation of my son setting up the tent as a tiger and a wolf were much lower than as a bear and a webelos. I have seen parent get frustrated with the scout becausr they want the scout to help with the work but at the same time the scout is in the way and is distracted by what is going on. Planning activities is interesting. kids will spend hours running and making up their own games when there is a group of boys and they are given the opportunity. Kids don't get much unstructured free play in this day and age so I would dedicate so time to that. But I would also plan some structured activity to keep with the purpose aspect. If you can get a site with a picnic shelter that gives you some rain options. I would plan back up rain games.

As far as the original post, I don't that most schools pay that close of attention to the actual program enough to see the increased emphasis on faith. I think that the homosexual member position will continue to be a driving factor in BSA access to schools and to corporate donations. I think that the increased focus on religion could impact retention. I don't think most units recruit based upon the faith aspect. I have been involved with 2 units and neither of them had faith as a topic of the tiger recruiting, it was about activities, character development and a little citizenship. So I think that if they continue to recruit w/o discussing the faith piece but then add it once the scout are in the program you will get some parents that will think it was a bait and switch. But to be honest I don't think most units will actively add a lot of the religion, I think (at the cub level) it will still end up a lot with the parents.

Don't we have requirements where they need to track their spending and finances? We are talking about cubs so most of their income is going to be limited to their allowance and birthday gift money.

I would keep him with his grade going with the assumption that his maturity and intelegence are at that level.

I am also surprised tha his sports teams go by grade not age. That is not what I have experienced with my kids. What I have experienced is age cutoffs at the beginning of the season so if you are 10 at the start of the season you stay in that age group for the entire season even if you have a birthday.

Sit across from them when demonstrating so it can be like a mirror?

So it is a trademark issue. I don't think it matters at this point who used the phrase first. Highlights registerd the phrase and BSA did not challenge it during the opposistion proceedings. It looks like highlights magazine started in 1946 but I have no idea when they started to ue the phrase or requested the trademark. A few years ago the "Johnny Football" trademark was an interesting one. It obviously represented Johnny Manziel, but he did not give himself the nickname. So he was not the first to use it. I think mutiple people organization tried to get th copyright (individuals who wanted to market it, Texas A&M as well as the Manziel family (NCAA rules prohibited Manizel himself from getting it)). With the multi filings there were multi opposistions, I hink the Manizel LLC ended up with the rights.