DuctTape

A webelos, or ten webelos visiting a troop is not a cub event, it is a troop event. This is no different than if the boys were not cubs and are just boys from off the street looking to potentially join the troop. Sometimes we can get to caught up in the minutiae of the "regs" and not see the forest for the trees.

I dont see a problem withva patrol of 2. Even though there is more work for each, the goal of scouts and the patrol method is to learn unselfishness. If each scout has the best interest of his buddy in mind, and they work together for the betterment of each other and the community as a whole then all is well. I might suggest they share all their fun and adventures with other boys and this may lead to their buddies joining them. IMO, this is how bsa recruitment should be done anyway. Low key, and on an individual basis.

With the addition of one other person with a similar vision for change, the likelihood of succcess increases dramatically. If I am the only person who "sees the need", I will make an attempt to find/convince the other person but if it doesnt happen ... tilting at windmills is futile.

Plan trips close to the full moon. Around midnight the forest is bright, almost like day with moon light reflecting off snow. Ask boys how they could plan activities/meals/sleep around this phenomenon.

I had a dream they decided to reprint the HandBook and Fieldbook from the 1950s. It was just a dream.

The type of human waste disposal system emplyed at a location is less about convenience for the visitors (and their desires) and almost entirely based upon volume of use. No facilities are appropriate in locations which get so few visitors. Front country locations might have pit toilets or outhouses. Areas with many visitors require more extensive systems to handle the volume.

Agreed. That is the main reason I dont care about market share, or the number of scouts nationally. I do care about shifts in the program away from the outdoors which makes scouts unique. What is called Scoutcraft; boys learning to do things for themselves. That WAS the mission.

One of my other volunteer jobs is helping maintain/repair/build lean-tos and outhouses/thunderboxes. The nastiest had to be after we dug a new hole for the outhouse. Usually we just tip the old one over and carry it to the new location. This nasty one required us to lift it about a foot first to avoid the seat decapitating the "cone of death".

Contrary to your belief that you are able to see things from the other side, clearly you either cannot or do not. That is too bad. I guess I will go back to being relatively silent and just wait out your remaining years.

I find your second paragraph interesting as it has felt for a very long time that much of the conservative agenda appears to be shoved down the throats of others. The idea that my council, district, troop, etc... could not have specific leaders they desired due to the jamming of others ideals down our throats. Why won't you et al allow us to live and let live and allow us to make our own choices as to who we allow as leaders? (Asked rhetorically). The slippery slope you fear has been our reality for the last few decades, at least now we can return to officially having the leaders we desired. W

Fyi, Devils Path is in the Catskills.

I have not done WB, but I have been a participant in many bsa trainings. Based on my experience, and what I have gleaned from this forum (and this specific thread) is the bsa ( national, council and district) have difficulty in designing and implementing the standards and curriculum. Perhaps it is my background as a professional educator that I am able to see not just the problem but the solution as well.

If memory serves me, First Class was supposed to be the highest rank; the complete outdoorsman. Everything beyond that was just to fulfill the boys desire to learn more about specific areas.

Unfortunately I think you would be correct in what would happen after some SMs get done interpreting. Too bad.

I agree in principle. The adventure need not be a one size fits all either. Imagine if thus quest was designed, planned and rhen executed by the Scout. It could be a backpacking adventure along a trail like the AT, or a canoe trip along a route in the BWCA or an off trail canping trip into the Adirondacks. While the "alone" aspect is a great idea, I think a significant adventure with two boys together would be fantastic. Perhaps one of the "requirements" would involve some aspect of soloing. Jyst thinking aloud here. While the Eagle award has a project, perhaps the FC rank could have the quest

I dont think the majority of the "hot button issues" would exist. I would guess it wouldbe a smaller organization, with a more limited focus on the Scoutcraft. It would fill the small niche left vacant and not try to be everything to everybody. I suppose I see it as beginning the same way it did at the beginning if the last century.

If by the time a boy makes it to life he hasnt internalized a meaning or drive ir what have you for Eagle, then the entire process from the beginning was lost on him. Many laugh at me when I bring up the 1911 handbook and say it is outdated, times have changed etc... I disagree, I believe the values espoused, specifically the "boys learning to do things for themselves" as the primary (sole) purpose of Scouting as the hb describes, it is those things which allow a scout to live up to his duty. Too much time and energy is focused on the abstract "values" and ethical decisions and not on the prac

I still do not like the"work on any requirements for any rank at any time" business. This perpetuates the "one and done" problem as well as the "doing the bare minimum". Eliminating it would force real growth of the scout with those skills as they move along the continuum.

Yep, and SM Jones is a man and CM Smith is a woman. They are living together unmarried.

I agree with Stosh that other "experts" can and should be used as resources. I will add that scouting adventures at their core are led by the boy leader. Built into the boy led and patrol method is (or should be) a continuum of adventure led by the boys as their experience and knowledge grows. A patrol might want to go on some extreme type of adventure, but to get there they will need to plan a series of smaller adventures to build the knowledge and experience of the patrol and the boy leaders. The SM role is not to be a "wilderness guide", that is the job of the boy leader. The SM is there as

I would recommend Chapter 1, Specifically the Aim of the Scout Movement. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29558/29558-h/29558-h.htm

It is expected the boys are able to explain, demonstrate etc... for their requirements. For adults they need to show up to be "trained". Many of the adult trainings I went to while they may have had good stuff in the curriculum, there was zero assessment let alone any follow-up to ensure understanding or putting theory into practice. Thus I would add some level of testing and/or accountability to the adult training.

The earlier and earlier they keep pushing the web-bs crossover I think is misguided. I know requirements have changed, but as we often bemoan here, not all are for the better. I also understand the rationale of the troop wanting more time with the new scouts before camp. I remember when the new scouts didnt really start with the troop until the fall. They were a bit older, having completed the 5th grade and this gave them and the troop a full year of integration, campouts etc... before summer camp.

No, my conclusion that your simplistic use of statistical modeling (ie linear model), assumptions, cherry picking of data intervals makes your conclusion nebulous at best. In the field this is calling into question the methodology. It is a common practice. If one were interested in actually determining something, they would accept critique if their methodology, improve on it, etc... instead of holding fast to their desired outcome.

Yes you said you concluded. I apologize for stating it as proof. However, the rest of what I said stands, replace proof with conclude.