Eagle94-A1

Is it this bad everywhere? In my locale it is. When the 3 districts merged, only 1 chapter of the 3 was active. And by active i mean having meetings. at onetime, the chapter met where my troop meets. But when they picked up the gear to move it to the new chapter meeting place this summer, a lot of chapter stuff was left behind. Going through it, a lot of it was out of date and mildewed. But 4 sets of regalia, relatively new, intact, and historically accurate, was left behind. Supplies to make historically accurate regalia, some of which was still in boxes or bags untouched, was left beh

My friends' units, a pack and 2 troops, that are chartered by an UMC church started their own Optimist Club with the sole purpose of chartering units. They will have a FUA with the UMC church.

I would NOT trust the council. I was told that the OA chapter's account that was for the camp being sold now has a $0 balance, and the OA chapter adviser and assoc. adviser have no idea where the funds went. Found out when they went to move the funds from the camp account, to the campership account. Shenanigans like this have happened before, and it caused bills not to be paid.

Personally I wish it would go back to red for all programs, including Sea Scouts. Save folks some money when crossing over, and cut down on inventory/ supply costs. But i know they have a lot of inventory, especially Sea Scout. May not be in compliance, but a heckuvalot cheaper and easier than buying veteran bars every 5 years. As for using location instead of CO's name, way things are going it is a safer bet even if not compliant. I know of one unit that has had 3 COs in the past 18 months!

Well, they already documented a few cases of fraud. Plus there was numerous cases where there are serious questions. Sadly this hurts the real victims. Personally would like to see the fake claims get monetarily penalized with the monies going to victims.

Looking around, these look cool

Could be a lot worse. Over a 4 year period my wife submitted 5 applications for ADL or DL, including one that was hand delivered by me with all supporting documentation. She was never registered. We would find out when recharter came that she was not on the charter, and resubmitted everything again. We found out 3 months into the charter year,when she was a WDL, that she was not registered when we submitted her for the Lifesaving Award. She rescued someone who had a heart attack and collapsed in the lake and was floating away. Thsi was while she was leading her den on a trip at a local pa

When I was a DE, my SE wanted me to "fire" the entire district committee and get new members. Reason being the council could not move forward (read they would not kowtow to council) with the entrenched volunteers. I had been a DE less than 8 months and still learning the community and building relationships when they wanted me to do this. I told him "who would I replace them with since they run the district and our success is their success?" Sadly I have seen Scouter "fired." They questioned council so much, the SE placed them in the IVF as a result. Most of the time, the pros make

Wish professionals understood this. Sadly I have seen too many pros treat Scouters as employees, and rather poorly at that, and they walk away.

Gott love Mud Scouts.

National has some pay scales for the various types of councils that local council executive boards approve.

Understood. Apparently my council is willing to let units shut down as they provide no help when asked.

Reproduction uniforms are expensive. May I suggest a customized unit number from https://www.sageventure.com/ ? Here are some examples

And sometimes it is not. Three of my Scouts came from the largest, healthiest troop. They are more adult led, and one person described them as "junior military." What they got going for them is the relationship with the pack. It is very strong. I lost one Scout this summer, and that was choice #1 because they are large and healthy. But it was not the right fit. They moved to another troop that is in a similar situation as us now. Prior to 2022, they had a feeder pack. Now they do not. But My Scout had a better fit there, and I hope they last. I think that is what has kept our tr

Sorry for the delay in response, Just got back. Yes , patches were budgeted and considered part of the fee. However Council has a habit of not ordering things, or ignoring quantities requested. And we do tend to order extra event patches because we A) use them as thank you gifts for sponsors and non-Scouting event staff, B) just in case we have more folks attend than planned, and C) the local OA chapter buys the excess at cost, and sells them to raise funds for camp and camperships. Best example is when I ordered a ton of supplies via my DE, when I had one. Long story short, only th

I really think my council is in serious financial trouble. Why you ask? Because after this weekend, no events will have patches. As for the event this weekend, they are only handing out 1/3 of the patch. Long story short, The patch for the last week and this week's events had 2 segments that were identical, with the 2 additional segments for last week's event and this week's event. Council did not order enough of the 2 primary segments, and may not have enough of the segment for this weekend. And this is not the first time the council has done this. One year they had so many attend, and want

Sadly this is 110% correct. And I would go on to add some ADULT SCOUTERS (emphasis) believe MBs should be handed out like Halloween candy at summer camp. I remember fielding a lot of complaints one year when NO ONE passed my Lifesaving MB class because A) the class was to large (25+ Scouts), B) The disruptive Scouts I had could not be kicked out of the class per the Program Director, and C) because of said size and disruptions, not all of the skills were taught and reviewed. I think many a SM just handed that MB to their scouts, despite them not earning it. page 52 of the Guid

When I was a DE, we had to go to every district event for that very reason. Heck I remember flying in from Dallas after two weeks of training, washing clothes while packing a backpack, and going to camp to help teach the district ITOLS class the very day I got home. Another DE, on medically endorsed light duties after a surgery, had to commute back and forth from his house to a camporee, about 1:15 drive one way. That IS the way it is. It is always the volunteers fault, XYZ happened. Everyone has examples of that one. AND in the rare cases that volunteers are not involved,

We were told effective 2023 that will be the new norm.

@jcousino, Lots of forms has the SE's signature on it. BSA Lifeguard is one example of a form that they sign off on.

NCAC approval was done by volunteer who is certified. Never seen pros certify events except summer camp when regional inspectors are invovled and no local ones.

From the Guide to Advancement page 52: 8.0.0.1 Purpose and Timeliness of Boards of Review After a Scout has completed the requirements for any rank (except Scout rank), he or she appears before a board of review. A board of review must be a personal and individual experience. Its purpose is to determine the quality of the Scout’s experience and decide whether the requirements for the rank have been fulfilled. (emphasis added) If so, the board not only approves the Scout’s advancement but also provides encouragement to continue the quest for the next rank. Because the board of review date

Well my council is at it again. I really wish professional training had courses on gaining trust, working with ticked off volunteers, etc. We had a district event this weekend. No DEs were there as they were sent to another district's event instead. Not a good move to build bridges, especially since they are selling the local camp, which has ticked off folks. And to make matter worse, found out supplies that were requested were never ordered. So the event chair was running around Thursday and Friday, paying out of pocket for items. Happened to me once back in the day. And the p

Update Talked on the phone with CC and had a discussion with the previous SM who is on the committee. Developed a plan and we began implementation at meeting. Had a Thorns and Roses session about the troop. Everyone loves the activities we do: Whitewater rafting, backpacking, biking, etc. The meetings are what everyone is frustrated with as they are unorganized, or planned poorly. Poor communication within the ranks, and lots of arguing because no one pays attentions and or agrees. Part of that is we are the size a normal patrol, but folks want to have two 3 man patrols, ASPL and SPL

I apologize in advance for the length of this post. As some may recall, I switched troops 4 years ago from a toxic troop to one that was not toxic, but slowly dying. Eventually the toxic issues with the old troop were resolved, and the troop is thriving. My current troop has been active, but on life support, and now we are dying. While we scaled back on activities during COVID, we did remain active doing outdoor meetings, day trips, and even our own summer camp. The problem is we do not have a Cub Scout pack to recruit from. Nearly everyone in the troop transferred from another troop into