Eagle94-A1

WWWWWEEEEELLLLLL... ...my troop is telling the new Crossovers next week to wait until January to get the new handbooks and use the new requirements. We only have a Christmas Party between when they join on the 18th, and the first real meeting for them on Jan. 4th.

I can sympathize. I've done FOS presentations and I try to keep them short, sweet, and to the point. I admit I do take up about 10 minutes total. I give a brief talk on where FOS goes and I have Scouts handing out the brochures to the parents. Scouts are usually still handing out brochures ort picking up completed one after I'm finished talking. Thats about 7-9 minutes. Just before everything is over, I ask for another minute or 2 to say how much was raised, and more importantly THANK EVERYONE. IF the FOS patches are available, I'll stayy afterwards and hand those out to those who qualify. We give out special FOS CSPs for those who give a specified amount. Basically what it costs the council per scout to operate.

1) When is Cross Over? If it's later this month, I'd wait. If it's next year, I'd start attending troop meetings now. The troop I am with has had the pack's 5th grade Webelos attending our troop meetings for about a month now. Some of it was to finish up requirements, i.e. attend a Boy Scout troop meeting, but for the most part they are done and were waiting for the 6 months since finishing 4th grade. 2) What set of requirements will you be using the 2015 ones or 2016 ones?

"Train 'em. Trust 'em. LET THEM LEAD!" William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt Last night's meeting was a very good one. OK, the meeting was more patrol oriented than formal skills instruction then patrol meetings, but considering some of the challenges the troop has faced, I'm very happy. As most of you know, the troop was restarted and has had little adult mentoring of the youth. Long story short, only 1 consistant leader in poor health until a few months ago. Since switching to an ASM role in June, I've been trying to work with the SPL and PLC and get them more involved in planning, operations, etc. Frustrating and challenging with previous SPL. BUT some of the youth noticed what was trying to be done and are taking heart. We had our annual planning conference last week. I know, usually it's done in Aug/Sept, but this troop does it based on the charter year. SPL took the bull by the horns and ran it. Yes we has some adults interfere, and I was one of them, but for the most part, our intereference was " you do realize that you have 2 campouts 2 weeks apart" and ideas on where to camp since we do not have a Where to Go Camping book. Overall we got ourselves a good year ahead. May not be camping 12 months, we got the traditional lock in for next month, and we may have another next November aboard a ship. But we are doing something every month. BUT what has made me happy was the meeting last night. I've been working with the SPL to give him ideas on what to do and how things should be done. I gave him a sample meeting plan to follow, and he came up with on on his own HOWEVER, found out at the last minute the meeting plan was not feasible du to an adult not being able to get the equipment tothe meeting. SO the SPL adapted and overcame. As mentioned above, the troop meeting turned into a more patrol oriented one rather than a skills one. And it turned out to be a good thing as the patrols worked on some much needed items. Next two meeting are pretty much set in stone and require little planning. We have a Crossover to attend next week, and Christmas party the follwoing week. BUT HE HAS ALREADY STARTED WORKING ON THE JANUARY 4TH MEETING. May not seem like a big deal to some, but for this troop it's a first. He's also gotten buy in from the older Scouts to do skills instruction. In fact, once they finished everything they needed to do, they were practicing their pioneering skills so they can teach the rest of the troop in January. I am hoping this continues with the Scouts. Next step is to get the adults out of the way. Yes we had two adults get a little to involved in the new scout patrol. Ok 3 adults, as I stepped in twice to remind them they need to listen to their troop guide, and a second time to tell them they need to focus on s specific item. But the other two adults, both former Cub Scout leaders, got a little too involved into their meeting. I'm thinking the Troop Guide's idea of kicking out all the adults except one is a good one. Problem is, he doesn't know which adult to keep since we are all troublemakers to a degree.

Oh the Scout had a MAJOR role to play. Not the best image, but the Sea Scout Cenntennial Patch show 2 Sea Scouts in the Gulf of Mexico searching for German u-boats. Yep Scouts played a role in civil defense. Scouts helped salvage scrapmetal to use in industry. Scouts encouraged gardening to assist with rationing. https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0LEVvCdx2ZWyCgAsRknnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjB0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=2012+Sea+Scout+Aniversary+Patch&back=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3D2012%2BSea%2BScout%2BAniversary%2BPatch%26hsimp%3Dyhs-003%26hspart%3Dmozilla%26ei%3DUTF-8&no=1&fr=%26fr%3Dyhs-mozilla-003&h=98&w=163&imgurl=www.sgtradingpost.com%2Fimages%2F2012-02-08_16-56-11_sea-scout-100th-anniversary.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sgtradingpost.com%2Fproduct.php%3Fproduct_id%3D570%26subcat_id%3D&size=14KB&name=product+categories+sea+scout+100th+patch+sea+scout+100th+patch&tt=product+categories+sea+scout+100th+patch+sea+scout+100th+patch&sigr=122cpvu1h&sigi=12ghf1gn0&sigb=13bfvumno&sign=11u451lmn&sigt=11u451lmn&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-003 Over in Europe, they played an even larger role. They were part of the various resitance operations. Jan van Hoof is probably the best known https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_van_Hoof

Maybe I can help. I've been in the OA a while in 5 different councils, and I can tell you that every OA lodge (council level) is different, and every chapter(district level) is different. Heck the same lodge can change over time based upon the leadership of the OA Lodge Adviser. First and formost the OA is suppose to recognize those honor campers who exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in action. Second the OA is suppose to be a service organization to help take care of the camps and units in their area of operations. Now I've been in chapters that did absolutely nothing. No communication, no work. nothing. But I've also been in chapters that did a lot. I've seen chapter's do there own workdays at camp, take on specific building projects, and raise money for maintence and equipment at camp. This is a big deal with my current chapter as historically, the camp in our district has really been neglected. The council has focused on the main camps, and neglected the 3 smaller camps. The OA chapters have been keeping things up to specifications up until the last SE. He actually did something for the minor camps. Another thing I've seen lodges and chapter do is raise camperships for summer camp. That's also a big deal in my neck of the woods. Each of the 9 chapters is required to raise two 50% camperships minimum, plus the lodge does some fun fundraising stuff to add to the 18 camperships. OA is also suppose to be fun. In addition to lodge fellowships, section conclaves, and biannual NOACs, I've seen chapters do pool parties, take tours of military bases, and, when it was allowed, Lazer Tag Lockin.

But not Bill Hillcourt Sad thing is IMHO, Bill did more than all the other combined. Yes all had part to play. If it wasn't for Boyce, BSA would not be around. Seaton and Beard provided a lot of knowledge, skills, and information into the early editions of the BSHB, and well as influencing BP. West provided the organization, and Phillips provided Philmont. BUT, William "GREEN BAR BILL" Hillcourt took their beginnings and "kicked it up a notch" or four. He was the face of Scouting, providing inspiration and guidance to generations of Scouts and leaders. And when the disasterous "Improved Scouting Program" came about ( and IMHO coming about again ), It was Bill Hillcourt who came out of retirement to write a BSHB that went back to basics and saved the BSA. Any scout who wishes to write about Bill, I'm OK with.

Every situation is different. I admit I'm frustrated at my son's troop at the moment. SPL after my son did NO planning and prep, and was very hard to communicate with. Trying to talk and mentor him was a challenge as he didn't seem to comprehend that he was in charge, he needed to plan stuff, he needed to organize meetings, etc. And when the SPL FINALLY started planning stuff, it was the same thing over and over for 3 weeks. So the SM SM ended up doing a lot, which was frustrating for me, and "boring" for the Scouts. Hopefully new SPL will do a better job. Seems to have his act together so far and is taking the bull by the horns. A little behind schedule planning wise, but I blame that on the old SPL. We did the annual planning conference this week, and he had his act together, some input from the adults, usually recommending what places they know about that meet what they wanted to do.. I admit I'm doing more than I should. I gave the SPL a copy of the TROOP PROGRAM FEATURES and gave him a written model meeting with assignments and everything as an example. I also wrote out a week-by-week schedule based upon what they planned. For example 1-4-16 Pioneering week 2 meeting, 1-11-16 Pioneering Week 3 meeting, etc.Something that he and the PLC can use to plan and prep. And hopefully share with the next PLC so they can keep doing it so folks know well in advance what's going on.

Don't know. I definitely would steer clear of unit 1. I don't like "High Speed, Low Drag" and "One and Done" units. Troops 2 and 3 sound good. I would let the Scout decide.

Every council and district is different, so contact your district/council folks to find out what to do. Some ways I've seen records verified in order of importance: 1) Advancement Records in the Boy Scout Hand Book. Because dates need to be entered into it for advancement, and the BOR needs to sign off on it, MBs used for Star, & Life have already been verified. Its the MBs used for Eagle that may be a challenge since a BOR have not verified them. 1a) Also some units will allow the MBC to sign off that section of the advancement records in the BSHB. That has worked in instances I've been involved in or knew about. 1b) Some units have their leaders sign off on the MBs in the advancement records as soon as the MB is earned. That also has worked. 2) Unit Copy of the Advancement Report. Units have to submit copies of an Advancement Report for purchasing advancement. It is a one page form with 2 carbon copies underneath. The top and middle copies are turned it to buy the advancement, The troop keeps the third for their records. 3) Copy of the SM portion or MBC portion of the Blue Card. However some MBCs only keep them for a specified time. And some do not keep them. 4) Copy of unit's records. GOOD LUCK!

Not to be a pain, but my understanding was that shelters a scout build DID count, i.e. survival shelters?

Actually I don't beleive it would have been a fundraising item. The ones I saw, and ate , were from a national scout shop. I was helping move them to the new location, and the manager gave me a bunch of them as thanks. THEY WERE AWESOME! I asked why they didn't sell them, and they said the GSUSA threatened a lawsuit.

COME UP WITH A SCENARIO!!!!!! Takes prep time, but well worth it. My troop didn't have a scenario as the folks in charge didn't prepare for it properly. At the "Thorns and Roses" session, comment about scenarios and advance prep to make it more realistic and interested garnered a lot of positive feed back for next year.

While the two links may not be political, have you read the comments at them? Also there are other websites picking up the news and are making a big political statement out of it. a lot of folks do not like the BSA, and think the membership standards should change again to include girls, without making a similar demand of GSUSA. I'll be honest, I have mixed emotions on this. One one hand, I've seen sisters do the meetings and activities with their brothers as Cub Scouts is Family oriented. They just couldn't earn the awards. And I have been a Sea Explorer, and an Explorer and Venturing leader, so I know co-ed can work. Plus I saw it in action overseas. But I know from personal experience how stupid teenage and 20 something males can be when girls are around. I saw it with some of the youth leaders at summer camp. I saw it with my friends. And hey, I admit, I traded my belt with Skill Awards on it for British neckerchief because the female Scout was extremely cute Plus I saw it with a fellow service crew member, who was so stupid in regards to one female leader, that her troop got involved. yep they invited him to dinner one nite, tied him to the chair, put clown make up to emphasize he was acting like one, and shaved his legs in verticle and horizontal stripes just before the big rugby match. So I kinda like having an all male environment for my boys. As someone posted in another thread, I see this happening in the next few years. IMHO, I believe the Girl Scouts will be taking a very serious hit and will complain and protest. Just like they did in the 70s from the anecdotes I heard when BSA was thinking about becoming Scouting USA, and whenthe BSA wanted to come out with BSA Energy Bars. Yep the Girl Scouts threatened to sue the BSA if they came out with energy bars because it was too close to their cookies.

So when will the Girl Scouts accept cisgendered males into their organization? Seriously though, if the parents wanted the same activities for thei daughters', then why not voltunteer to be a leader and take them camping?

One more question, who buys the POR patches for your unit: each Scout or the unit? Growing up, the troop did a ceremony and issued the POR patches. If you already had the POR patch, you were expected to reuse it. Here, it seems the Scouts are expected to get their patches. It can be challenging for some since the nearest Scouting distributer is about 45 minutes in one direction.

Kinda. Girls can't officially be Cub Scouts, but they can camp and do the activities with their siblings. Cub Scouts is family camping, and there was a VERY big bruhaha when the planners for one major event didn't take into account of the family camping fact of Cub Scouts, and didn't anticipate the sisters who accompanied their brothers to the event.

I agree with you, decisions should be on the local level. However, I;m betting national is getting involved because of some of the things done at the local level. I've personally seen 1 district advancement chairman (DAC) try to refuse a Scout his Eagle because he didn't personally approve the service project. Project was approved by the DAC at the time and completed prior to the BOR DAC even became a leader. Only a threat of an appeal was able to get me Eagle. On the opposite extreme, I saw one man who was not granted his Eagle by the EBOR, and did appeal it to national. National granted the appeal saying they would not penalize the Scout for something his leaders did. And that resulted in the entire district advancement committee resigning in protest. Hate to say it, but after meeting the young man, I could see why the EBOR denied it, and why the committee resigned.

Mess is an understatement. I think one new leader said "fiasco." But the Scouts elected their SPL and PLs and have to live with it. Forgot to add, Only the Troop Guide position was appointed last nite. That's becasue the NSP needed MAJOR help preparing for the upcoming camp out.

Ok, just curious how does your unit conduct unit elections? Specifically do you allow folks to nominate themselves for the positions, or must they be nominated by someone else? I ask because I witnessed my son's troop elections for the first, and it was "interesting." Folks could not nominate themselves, they had to be nominated by someone else. In some cases those nominated didn't want the job, but felt pressure or obligated to run anyway. In other cases some who were nominated, felt obligated to nominate the person who nominated them. Long election. Then, when the SPL and PLs were elected, nominations for the various appointed positions occurred. repeat of the above except no voting, and final decision was not made that night, nor the following week. I am hoping the SPL and SM, as well as the PLs and SM, talk this week to get the appointments made. Apparently last time all the appointments were made by the SM, and that didn't work out. See I'm used to the following when doing unit elections. 1) If you wanted to change patrols, here's your chance. Exception: those who were voted into the Leadership Corps. The LC members voted on who joined them. And there were requirements, specificallly had to be a PL for a least a term, usually 2+ terms 2) Once patrols were reformed, PLs elected. PLs then appointed their APLs. Normally there wasn't a lot of moving about and PLs would usually be reelected. Occasionally a PL would not get reelected, but more often they moved up to the Leadership Corps after their second term. Exception to this was the LC again. Their PL was appointed. more below. 3) Once the patrols were formed, vote on SPL. Since we were an established troop with a cadre of older Scouts in the LC usually it was LC members running. However anyone who was First Class and was a PL for a term could run. First Class because they had mastered all the basic Scout Skills. Been a PL because they needed the leadership expereince as well as an idea on what the PLs were facing. My recollection is that only 1 former PL ran for SPL without being in the LC for 6 months. he just moved up to the LC, and was encouraged by his patrol to run for SPL. 4) SPL talked to the LC members about who wanted to do what, and got SM's approval for his appointments. I don't recall anyone ever being denied by the SM. Since the ASPL is responsible for the QM, Instructiors, etc, the ASPL was de facto PL of the Leadership Corps. SOOOOOO How does your troop do it.

PLs #1 and #3 were teaching knots, with a few others one nite, then another nite they had their Tenderfoot BORs. Unfortunately PL#2 is in a situation that if dad doesn't have him the nite of a meeting, mom won't bring him. So he only comes every other week. Not a good situation.

Update: still waiting to hear form the troop committee about my offer. No worries though. I'm there for the Scouts no matter what. HOWEVER I'd love to strangle the SPL at the moment I've been workign with him for a while now. I've given him some advice,gave an example of how a meeting should look like when he asked for help with backpacking, talked about planning and communication, etc. For the past month, the meetings were supposed to focused on T-2-1 Scoutcraft skills, and instead have focused solely on knot tying. It's driving some of the scouts nuts. I talked to him last week, suggested doing other things besides knots, and offered to bring some supplies I had to help him with the meeting. No response. I brought the stuff just in case. Glad I did because he he wanted to do knots again! Some of the Scouts saw what I bought and asked if they could work on that instead. When asked what the plans were for the upcoming trip, he said he hadn't made any since he wasn't going. Long story short, I had a discussion with him and the acting SPL this weekend, then sent them and the other adults an email with some suggestions and links to ideas on how to have fun, while working on advancement. Chatting with a friend who wasn't at the meeting that nite, he said the older Scouts are so use to the SM telling them what to do, that when they have the freedom, they don't know what to do. It's a slow frustrating change. Funny thing is, the adults, even the old SM is on board with them taking over. It's the Scouts who seem to not want to take over.

Yes, National asked ALPS Mountaineering to change the program's name. I'm registered for the program, and got an email about the name change when it occured. I love ALPS!