Jackdaws

Has anyone heard of Scout reach? We have a couple units here in my council. One has their meetings in one of the roughest housing developments in our city. Not really sure how successful it is though... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoutreach Its hard for some to see the value of Scouting or how it can form their future for the better. Some people seek out sports for their child to be the next (insert top NBA & NFL players names here) and think that is their ticket to becoming successful. That is something that the BSA can't compete with, we are not flashy. That's

I thought about doing axe throwing once at a birthday party held at an entertainment center. We decided to race the go carts instead. Right after that I saw a video of where the axe bounced back and about hit a lady in the head. Luckily she ducked in time. Yeah no thanks. I will pass on that activity.

For BALOO I would say you really should hold it in person as most of those who are attending are really green and probably have zero scouting experience. They go to the sign up night and an initial camp out and get sucked into helping. Learning how to plan a campout is vital to ensure success in future camp outs and keeping people engaged. For IOLS, it seemed rare that those where there were new to scouting or leadership in scouting. When I was the district training chair, I actually ran both courses together but in different modules. I know I will get flamed for it, but to me the

LOL. It was just a card no envelope.

Am I the only one who immediately thought that this info was taken to aid lawsuits? They can now broadcast the net on members and fish for information. I am seeing BSA abuse infomercial on tv and its playing each day a couple times a day. I think I even got a mailer one day about it and I immediately tossed it in the garbage.

Not sure how someone could find fault in WWII? We only entered war after we were attacked and then also went to Europe to help end the Holocaust and stomp out the Nazi's. I guess there is so people who will argue America's use of internment camps and dropping the bombs. But I guess I stand with the "Don't poke the bear and they wont attack you" lot. War is h#ll no matter which way you look at it. I am in Florida had have attended some reenactments a long time ago. I think if we erase history, people are doomed to repeat it. Why can't people look at it like 1/2 the nation was will

For the love of all things holy. Get rid of badge magic. I have seen multiple uniforms get tossed from the troop closet due to the badge magic all over the shirt. They had been stuffed in there with the patches removed and over time they stuck to themselves and was impossible to work with. Its not that hard to sew something on. And its not expensive. You can get a sewing kit at the Dollar Tree....

Thus why we cancelled out trip. We were supposed to be week 4 which its looking like their 1st week open. No thanks, I don't want to be the Guinea pig.

This really could be the kiss of death for a lot of people. Scouting is supposed to be that low cost year round family activity. Our camp card sales really took a hit this year due to the virus and our council came out with some virtual Entertainment book thing. Its $20 not too sure how many people will pony up that money. 1/4 of the sales go to the scout as opposed to 1/2 that we get on camp cards. I was unable to fulfill my 2019 FOS commitment due to my husband having open heart surgery. Loss of income and medical bills took away that money. I didn't like that I failed to hono

If they do an increase again this year. I will be done with the BSA once my son earns Eagle. I love the program but I am not going to be raked over the coals to pay for previous issues many of which happened before I was even born or allowed to join the BSA.

If anything and council camps don't happen, I think the camps should try to schedule scouts to come in small groups and do work days. Like they do on OA service days. Lots of scouts hurting for service and conservation projects right now. Money is probably the one hold up from massive undertakings happening.

Not familiar of what the YMCA is doing but I think there could be some hiccups with this. Are you saying open a council property to non scout families? Then you have the argument of who exactly is deemed essential. I work for a trucking company and am having to work from home to ensure freight keeps moving. Everyone who has a job is technically essential as their family probably depends on that job income. If its a BSA camp are we still going to follow YPT rules? Will adults be required to attend with camper? That defeats the purpose of it being a day care. Parents already

Yes I spoke to the camping coordinator and filled out the form they had sent out in an email. Stinks we had to cancel. Was pretty excited about a new camp but it is what it is.

Our troop has made the decision to cancel for week 4 at Bert Adams. We have a couple high risk scouts and couple adult's with travel bans. Really hope they give us a full refund.

Atlanta area council sent out a survey earlier. Its where we are supposed to go. Not a good sign.

In troops with a varied age range and rank range this maybe a challenge. Not all first year scouts have the swimming badge thus they can't do the water sports and Star and Life scouts aren't going to sit around and do those what many consider first year badges like First Aid. So keeping them together may not be the best. Several of our older scouts usually opt for the extreme challenges at camp as they have already been there and got the badge for it on the other classes.

If National makes an official cancelation for this summer, that's 2 of out the last 3 years of nothing at Philmont. That could pretty bad debt accumulation for them. I am really on the fence on whether our troop should go to summer camp in Georgia if its open. We have a couple scouts with health issues already. My son has a heart defect and couple boys with asthma. We are exploring the option of trying to book a week somewhere to camp on our own and try to do some activities. We know it will be a massive undertaking and its hot as all get out here in Florida (one of the main reason

How come they suggest you do the online portion of BALOO prior to doing the practical portion? Outdoor Skills Training Courses These courses are designed to help Scouters with skills related to the BSA’s outdoor program. Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation (BALOO) This one-and-a-half day course is designed as an introduction to the Cub Scout outdoor program for leaders interested in adding a camping component to their Pack activities. BALOO training consists of an online pre-requisite component in addition to an overnight hands on practical. BSA’s Cub Scout lev

LOL I love patches!

I do believe this is going to be the death knell to a lot of scouts/units. Hardest hit group: AOL kids that were supposed to crossover & potentially those 16 1/2-17 year old Life Scouts that were starting to work on their Eagle Projects. Very good chance those 2 age groups could just fade away. We are going to try and get the applications filled out for those who were supposed to crossover this weekend and work on getting them engaged and start to work on some rank advancements and earning those stay at home badges. Summer camp is currently a big ? in our group right now.

All activities here are suspended till at least April 1. The summer camp we are supposed to go to this year was to have week 4 class registration this coming Tuesday 3/24. We got an email a couple days ago saying registration for weeks 1 & 2 have now been pushed to April. Scouters and Parents, With the current situation across our country and the world we have decided to push back merit badge registration three weeks. We hope this will allow you time to work with your Scouts virtually, with their parents, in order to get class schedules from them. Weeks 1-2 will o

Wait a second, don't they contradict themselves on the last point? And pretty much every other point in this memo... It says this is from an email from the GSA Orange County. The talking points below come via an email from the Girl Scouts of Orange County, California. Marketplace positioning talking points following BSA’s filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy: First and foremost, Girl Scouts is and always has been a completely separate and independent nonprofit organization from any other youth-serving or scouting organization and is not now and has never been affiliated with, p

Girl Scouts may not want to chuck too many stones at us. A quick Google search brings up several stories involving abuse in the GSA. Here are 2 examples. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1997-04-23-9704220891-story.html http://www.news12.com/story/40808134/former-girl-scout-troop-leader-sentenced-for-sexual-abuse I quit the Girl Scouts in the 5th grade after moving back to Florida. We went to sign up night at the school and got a real weird vibe from the MALE Girl Scout leader. I told my mom I think I am done with scouts. She agreed it was weird and so we left.

Do we know if insurance covers the past victims? From Wikipedia: The annual report states that the BSA may have "to pay damages out of its own funds to the extent the claims are not covered by insurance or if the insurance carriers are unable or unwilling to honor the claims. Accordingly, the BSA hired a law firm in December 2018 to investigate filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Such a bankruptcy could stop litigation of at least 140 lawsuits and prevent further lawsuits. In October 2019, a substantial membership rate increase was announced related to increased operational expe

I have also been curious to the profit margin on KK. In our district there are 2 standing KK stores that do pretty good business so customers have the availability for fresh doughnuts if they get the vouchers. Funny story on the cops/doughnuts line. My brother is an Eagle Scout and now a cop. He and my husband were out one day and decided to get some doughnuts. My husband said I bet you like them because you get them for free (my brother is very thrifty!). My brother said "Contrary to what you believe, we do not get free doughnuts." They pull around to the p/u window and he