Hedgehog

Print this out and bring this to the next Troop Committee meeting to foster discussion and reflection: http://scoutmastercg.com/ladder-of-youth-leadership-infographic/ Our Troop was a 4, we're now a 3 and we're moving to a 2. Sounds like your Troop is a 6 moving toward a 7. I think that your Scoutmaster means well. He probably is very good at managing adults. He also sees the Troop's sucess as being a well-oiled machine and feels that he will be judged upon the Troop's success. The Troop's vision needs to change. The vision needs to define success as TEACHING THE BOYS TO LEAD.

SPL son made decision that the SPL and ASPLs would wear the same bandanas -- the patrols are around 8 guys and the bandanas come in packs of 12, so there was no need to spend more money on something different for them. Also, his idea of servant leadership led him to decide that being SPL or ASPL shouldn't entitle them to something better. For me however, he has strongly recommended: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019I3II8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1K41AF3BILUFC

Wow, quite the controversy. Even before reading all of this, my son (without any input from me) decided that the each partrol would choose a different colored bandana and use them for the Patrol Games and not the flag ceremonies.

I suspect the idea was to get the sideways looks. I also suspect there will be some orchestrated aaarrghs. I like the neckerchief slide idea -- a nice keepsake. Will mention to my son. My sense was I didn't want them to go down this path only to be shot down when they got to camp. That is exactly why I"m behind it. I'll gladly wear one -- it will help keep the bald head from getting sunburned. Ultimately, that is the answer -- I have to e-mail the director on some other issues and can get his sense of if this is permissible. Also, a good idea for a

Agree on Venturing for Uniform. I think what I had looked at was the Uniform Inspection Sheet which says "All troop members must wear the headgear chosen by vote of the troop/team." http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34283.pdf Maybe headbands would work, especially if the camp has a Richard Simmons retro exercise theme.

So the camp theme this year is pirates. My son, as camp SPL, wants to know if the troop can vote to have the official headgear be a pirate bandana. I remember reading somewhere that the troop designates headwear - allowing troop hats and even berets. The idea would be to designate this as official troop gear so the boys can wear it to the camp flag ceremonies. Is anyone aware of where I can find the rule on this?

I let my son take his cell phone (with a 20,000 mah battery) to NYLT. He used it to track the weather, take pictures, send texts (during permitted times), in a geocatching competition and call home a couple of times. I suspect he also used it to play games during downtime. Did it detract from the experience? I don't think so. Did it enhance the experience -- I do think so. Most of the phone conversations were recounting his day. One of the phone conversations was after he had a very frustrating day with his patrol. According to him, they had done an activity and everyone was telli

Awesome. My son is at NYLT this week. I'll have to mention NAYLE to him.

Yes. The PL / APL / TG and Instructors are the "older scouts" I'm talking about. And yes too. But with younger scouts, they sometimes need encouragement and guidance from older scouts to be resonsible for themselves in advancement and other areas. But

My best cup of coffee at summer camp is before most of the scouts wake up. There are a couple of early risers among the scouts who sometimes join me occasionally having a cup of hot chocolate. I find every possible opportunity to check in with individual scouts. Walking to and from meals and events. At meals. In the morning. Around the campfire. I'm teaching the boy leaders to do the same.

Our guys get 80% of the Tenderfoot through First Class requirements done at summer camp. The rest of the requirements come naturally as part of the program - camping, cooking, hiking, orienteering, etc. The guys develop our "Indoor Program" by selecting monthly themes and then developing programs that allow them to teach, learn and practice skills like knot tying, lashings, first aid, etc. It is haphazzard, but in most cases it works. Boy-led activities and boy-led sign off. Where I'd like to see improvement is having the older boys do a better job of guiding the younger boys through

As a general rule, we require people to shower once a week at camp. As of last night, my son has taken the lead over me in nights camping in Boy Scouts at 65 nights. I suspect that his lead will become insurmountable. By the end of the summer, he will be at 79 nights. I also think this addiction thing might be heriditary.

It is interesting that this thread popped up today. Over the weekend, I had a conversation with my son, one of his girl friends (notice the space between the words) and her mom about Venturing. The consensus was it would be VERY COOL. Add my son's best friend and the girl's best friend and we've got 4. I mentioned it in an e-mail on another topic to one of my fellow Assistant Scoutmasters and his daughter would be on board with one of her friends. So, I'm up to 6 potential crew members. My sense is 10 to 12 is the right number and that won't be difficult to get to. What have I gott

I'm new to Camping Addicts Anonomous. My name is Hedgehog and it's been 5 weeks since I've been camping. I tried to convince my son to take me with him to NYLT this week, but he refused. We're doing a 20 mile backpacking trek into summer camp in two weeks and I'm spending Sunday through Wednesday at Camp. My job is to run interference with the other adults to give the boys an opportunity to lead. Well, that and encourage them to make some dump cakes and campfire pies. Then at the end of the following week, I'm off for a 5 day, 30 mile backpacking trek. Unfortunately, we're not doin

The badge with the segment for camping or hiking is easy. The other segments are more difficult. However, the Medal is a lot more difficult requiring 125 nights of camping, additional merit badges and additional training.

Ours are $16 to $20 depending on youth vs. adult and long vs. short. The shirts are synthetic (cotton is rotten) and most boys and adults purchased a short sleeve shirt and a long sleeve shirt.

First question - Wouldn't the Confirmation service hours count for advancement other than the Eagle project? They just have to be approved by the Scoutmaster. Second question - Why can't Eagle projects count toward Confirmaiton service hours? We have one Scout that is building pantry cabinets on wheels for the local faith-based soup kitchen. I know not all of them would count, but I've seen a lot in our Troop that have a faith based component and many benefit our local churches. What better way to show service to faith than by organizing a project rather than merely attending an adult

As for summer camp, I think a lot of adults make it too complicated. Our camp has an early registration discount. Parents need to get the permission slip and the check in to get the discount. Anyone else can register up to the time of our camp preparation meeting which is two to three weeks before camp. Our camp needs final rosters a week before we arrive. We get 95% of the folks registered early if you exclude Webelos. This year we had two scouts out of 25 register after the early deadline -- one who decided to go late and one who was a Webelos crossover. The medical forms are due a

Generally, the merit badge requirements will specify if something done for rank advancement can count for the badge. For example, the 5 mile hike for advancement specifically counts toward the Hiking merit badge. The nights camping for advancement specifically count for the Camping merit badge. The meals cooked for advancement specifically DON"T count for the Cooking merit badge. If I correctly recall the First Aid merit badge says you have to complete the Tenderfoot through First Class First aid requirements, so it counts twice. I don't remember anything saying that the Tenderfoot throug

1. Hiking sandals (such as Tevas) provide excellent ventilation keeping feet from sweating and forming blisters. 2. Hiking sandals are very useful on long treks to change the contact points if you have blisters. 3. Flip flops and other sandals are very comfortable to walk around camp with and better than barefoot or in socks (seen both) 4. Flip flops and Crocks are great if you are going to get wet due to swimming, bathing or being hosed down. Also, having a boy stick a foot that is wet from the lake and dirty from the mud / grass they just walked into in a sock is asking for feet that

I'll echo everyone else. Go to the council's website, call council and ask to talk to the Scout Executive. Do not settle for talking to anyone else. If you have to leave a message, make it simple, "my son and I have been kicked out of a unit because my ex-husband was charged with violating a restraining order put into place to prevent spousal and child abuse." The Scout Executive will act and act quickly -- it is his job to do the right thing because if he doesn't and something like this gets into the press, he will be looking or another job.

Shouldn't the value of something be considered based on what you get in exchange? If your unit never participated in OA, you have no idea of what you get in exchange. So, for our Ordeal it is $60, less the $10 discount is $50. Included in that is the first year's dues of $15. So that is $35. For that we got two HUGE meals, two small meals, two nights camping and a sash, pocket patch and book. My son went to Conlclave for $38. That included food on Friday, three meals on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday with two nights of camping. He also received a goodie bag, pocket patch, hangi

Costco? We've got boxes to sell --- Light, Kettle, Extra Butter?

The George Washington Council merged to form Central Jersey Council which disbanded spinning off districts to neighboring councils. We went to Bucks County which changed its name to the Washington's Crossing Council. Central New Jersey had two camps - Kittatinny Mountain Scout Reservation and Yards Creek. Neither were maintained sufficiently to operate a summer camp. My experience with Washington's Crossing has been positive. The only downside is that it is a longer trip to the Scout Shop. The councils that remain in New Jersey seem pretty strong. Northern New Jersey, Patriot's Path and

The very first post in the thread lays out what happened. The boy actively participated in the Troop and actively served in a position of responsibility for 6 months as required for Eagle. After he met those requirements, the SM and CC added a requirement for "scout spirit" which required additional nights of camping. The first post is reproduced below with the most important sections highlighted. The first problem is that you cannot add camping requirements for Scout Spirit under the BSA Guide to Advancement 4.2.3.2: Evaluating Scout spirit will always be a judgment call