jpc763

Early this summer, a new scout in my troop and his younger brother tragically drowned. They were at their fathers house near a river and they somehow got washed away. The younger brother was a Cub and the older brother had just become a Boy Scout in my troop. I had only met him a couple of times. This happened in May. I wanted to do something for the boys parents and a member of my committee suggested a tree. I worked with our local parks department and got a lovely tree planted and plaque erected in the boys honor. The boys were members of 2 packs so I have been working with both Cu

That is about the attrition rate that I had when I offered the Cycling MB to my troop. I think I had 25 attend the maintenance workshop and 2 ride the 50 mile ride.

This scout has been with the troop since before my son joined. I have been SM for 2 years and he "came back" to troop meetings maybe a year ago. All other ranks were covered by the previous 2 SMs. This is almost exactly the case. The Eagle Coordinator and Advancement Chair set up the BOR and invite members of the committee. The District Eagle Rep runs the BOR. The difference is that the scout requests one community member for the board. I sit in and am quiet. The parents are outside. We have ASMs as part of the EBOR but never SMs

I assume that this means that the SM and ASMs are supposed to precluded from the EBOR. That would be a change in 100% of the EBOR that I have been in. How about Committee Members? Also, who is supposed to make sure that this is adhered to? The District Eagle Representative (who sets up the board)? We have 2 of them and they both apparently do not follow this rule.

I agree for the most part with Backpacking, but if you do Philmont or similar, it is not that difficult to get. Cycling is a difficult badge to earn as well. Not many scouts can do a 50 mile ride even after doing the 2x 10 mile, 2x 15 mile and 2x 25 mile rides. J

All, I want to thank you for your thoughts and comments. I really appreciate it. Your answers reinforce the training I received and the way our troop operates. I have a member of a recent board who has asked some questions which I tried to answer and he had more questions so I thought I would ask the collective wisdom here. The scout earned the badge. I believe him to be an Eagle Scout and therefore have no issue with it. I know this young man and although he does not talk about God, he does have a higher power. He just is a 17 year old kid who has a hard time explaining

I am not sure what this is supposed to mean. I understand that the higher power question is not for the EBOR. Exactly where is that supposed to be covered and by whom? For the committee, there are no members left from that time. This gets more complicated when you understand who the boys parents are. They are both very active at the council level. So if the EBOR is not supposed to ask about God and not supposed to follow up on blue cards, what is their purpose and once again, can they deny the rank?

Hello, I am a troop SM and recently had a scout go through his EBOR. As SM, I sit in support of the young man and do not ask questions. Some things came up that troubled me. First, this scout had several blue cards without SM signatures (from before my term). These MB's were earned at district level MB Universities. This causes some consternation on the board but ultimately they determined that if the district validated his application than they did not have the authority to deny him based on this. Second, this scout had a very difficult time explaining his concept of God. He does

Is your CO the parish or the Knights? So far, I have not heard any rumblings. 2 years ago, we were told we would most likely be sent packing. I joined the Knights so I could participate in the Vote to keep or drop the troop. Since then, the Knights and the Troop have built a much better relationship so I am hoping that the Local rule will be enough.

If you don't mine, who is your CO? I am SM of a troop here in CO that is chartered by the Knights of Columbus (Catholic). We are also waiting to see what the Knights will do. I just hope that we do not lose our charter before my youngest son has a chance to make Eagle. He is Life and a year or so away.

I am a SM of my troop and have recently had an issue with a parent of a scout who is not registered. The parent was a respected member of the community and had a great relationship with the Scout. The parent was charged with abandonment and the story gets really strange. Personally I believe the parent but the point is, it does not matter what I believe. I called our Council immediately and was told that the parent could have no part in our meetings, outings, etc. This was not to protect the specific scout, but to protect all of the boys in the troop. I informed the parent of the cou

I will discuss this with committee chair. Forgive my ignorance, but what is GTA? This is a great program. It is great of you to put this on for the boys! November 2013, we made our campout a "Cooking MB" campout. I was the counselor for that badge and we went through all of the book requirements except careers (old book so I am not sure what number it is). I had a ASM helping and we broke the boys into groups of 3. Each one had to plan a menu for the campout (5 meals and a dessert) and then cook them on the campout. The adults were assigned to one of the patrols so each patrol

His class had 8-10 boys in it from two different troops. I know of 3 that attended the final test day. I am not sure of the others. They received blue cards and most likely got a new MBC with their own troop. The boys in my troop are just sitting on them (as is often the case!). Mrs. X is back and I have been in contact with her. She has not read the email (I forwarded it to her) and we will talk tonight or tomorrow once she digs out. I have lots of items to discuss (she was gone for 3 weeks and a LOT happens in 3 weeks!) so I know I will talk to her in the next day or two. Thank

I have one example that I have first hand knowledge of and have heard of other similar but all of that is second hand. The first one was when he was on a BoR and he began re-testing the boy. The Advancement Chair pulled him aside and said that it was not appropriate for him to do that. His answer was that he had to do it when he was a scout. The Advancement Chair and I clearly set the expectation that he would not sit on another BoR if that was the attitude. The second hand accounts are similar behaviors in MB situations and other advancement situations. When he firsr rejoined the tro

I am a SM at a Troop here in CO. My older son is a Life Scout and only has the cooking MB left to complete. He started the MB at summer camp last year in South Dakota. At camp, they finished all of the book requirements and a few of the actual cooking requirements so my son was left with the campout meal planning and cooking and the backpacking meal planning and cooking. My troop just came back from summer camp here in Colorado (I was at High Adventure) and had 6 boys take cooking. I was amazed to see that all 6 completed 100% of the cooking MB at camp. That means that each boy had to