Eagle94-A1

Possibly. They may need your help. When I returned to the Light, I stayed on as a UC, because we needed UCs.. When a DE was finally hired, within a month if his hiring, he called me for meeting. We had a very "interesting: chat for about 1-1.5 hours.

Welcome back to the light.

I agree wholeheartedly with @InquisitiveScouter's SLICC assessment. While I used Native American ceremonies and dance to help restart several chapters, it was not the primary focus. the chapter did community service. The chapter did fun activities. We worked hard, and played harder. But @Eagledadis also right. The pre-1990s election process with ratio charts showing how many eligible to how many on the ballot, did weed out a lot of Scouts who only thought of themselves. OA was truly the "special forces of Scouting." Somewhere along the way, it turned into numbers game. When the adults on the National OA Committee changed the election process, a lot of good Arrowmen were upset, because we recognized that it slowly destroy the OA because e folks no longer had to think about who was worthy. I didn't get in until my 3rd time eligible. Today it is unheard of someone not getting elected in my neck of the woods. Heck even folks who have said "I am not interested, take my name off the ballot, " have been elected. And look at the change in Brotherhood requirements. It use to be 10 months, which meant for most folks a year. Now they can get Brotherhood in 6 months. There are other changes in the OA I can rant on, but that needs to be a threading the members only area.

And at is what many COs, and probably a few councils too, believed when they paid the charter fee. That is what I was told as a DE, and what I told prospective COs. In fact it was a "selling" point. Heck I was told that as early as 1993.

And for me that is a VERY big OH MY! When I was a DE one of the selling points to COs was that the charter fee to the BSA covered insurance that would protect the CO from things like this. If memory serves, language in the Charter Agreement covered this. If National, and the LCs to a lesser extent, will not honor their word and their contract, maybe BSA needs to die. I was taught "A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal... Brave...."

I think there are a bunch of factors as to why many Scouters do not care about the new district in my neck of the woods. 1. We have had lousy to non-existent customer service from the council. We have not had our own DE in about 8 years now. And the last one we had was useless. He would not do anything to help get us back in the schools for recruiting, nor did he go after volunteers to serve on the district level. Worse still he and a few other pros actually ran off volunteers. And if help was needed, nowhere to be found. 2. Pros at the council have interfered with events, and ran off volunteers. We have had folks spend months planning events, and no sight of a professional at the planning meetings. Then with no advance notice, and ignoring what the volunteers who have planned and organized the event want, they add additional events and activities causing problems. I've mentioned my camporee that had a Cub Scout event added to it with a weeks notice over training chairwoman and my objections. We had folks plan a workday to prep a camp for camporee, and told in no uncertain terms that there will be no workday. We had events planned out, organized, and ready to go, only to have it announced at a meeting the event was cancelled, WITHOUT EVER NOTIFYING THE VOLUNTEER IN CHARGE OF THE EVENT PRIOR TO THE ANNOUCEMENT (emphasis). 3. Pro have ignored the input of Scouters, have been rude to the Scouters, and have yelled, screamed, & cursed out Scouters. So with all the garbage that has happened, why do I want to save the new district? A. We are dying. When I was a DE in 20+ years ago we had 10 active Packs, 10 active Troops, and 2 active Explorer Posts/Venturing Crews in what is the old district. Today we have 3 Packs, and 7 Troops in the old district's territory. By working together, we may be able to turn things around. B. There are opportunities for the youth that we need numbers for. By working together, we can provide them, C. IF things turn around at the council level, and I have a feeling we will be merging with other councils in the future, working together may show that the new district can support itself. I admit i am an optimist.

Just watched the new YPT3.0 training one of our soon to be new committee members did tonite. In the training it states #1 job is to remove the Scout from the situation and make sure they are safe #2 is call 911 or local law enforcement.

THIS is why hate having advancement as the focus of the program instead of FUN AND ADVENTURE!. And after my two older sons' experiences with First Year camper programs, I will not force a Scout to do it. Oldest was helping Scouts in his "patrol" out at FYC. Camp middle son went to divided their program into a Tenderfoot & Second Class session and a First Class session. He and his buddies were bored with the First Class session, but the new guys from the other pack were overwhelmed. Summer Camp, as it is currently done, needs to be individualized to the wants and needs of the Scout.

I am with @qwazse on this, they are just like any other new Scout, although they SHOULD (emphasis) be able to do it quickly as @BAJ has stated. However I know the Pandaemic has really screwed things up. We got two new Scouts from my old pack, and both had my middle son's WDL as their WDL. NEITHER ONE OF THEM WAS FULLY PREPARED DUE TO COVID! (again emphasis). The WDL even apologized to me about not having his guys fully prepared this time around, and said they did their best to meet the requirements for AOL and cross over on schedule. This is not a problem for my troop as we do not believe in the FIRST CLASS FIRST YEAR horsehockey, but instead focus on being a hiking, camping. and now biking troop. We also beleive advancement is fully on the Scout and they should advance at their own pace. But it has been interesting with these 2. The Webelos Program is a big help for transitioning, and you really need the full 18-24 months to prepare them, and more importantly the parents/grandparents. In pre-Covid times I've heard of some units conducting a SM Conference just prior to or after the Cross Over so they can get their rank at the next meeting. Other units has them work on the Scout Rank at the first meeting. Again my troop is somewhat old school, when the Scouts wants to advance, he talks to the SPL or an adult to sign off. We are slowly, working on letting PLs being able to sign off on advancement (that's my goal.) So if takes them 6+ months, it takes them 6+ months.

Sadly NCAP doesn't allow that.

With all due respect, don't believe the work. 1) Greg Hallett really does not have any research credentials. 2. There are no references, citations or works cited in the chapter you cite. Where is he getting this information? IF as his bio states, he got these from interviews with KGB operatives, there would still be citations for these interviews, and even copies of the KGB records. After the fall of the Soviet Union, I have been told by well respected historians and researchers that for the right amount of cash you could get any KGB record you wanted. 3) FNZ Publishing appears to be a defunct, New Zealand self publishing company. Anyone willing to pay for the production costs can get their book printed. In fact one discredited historian self published his book that was proven to be a complete work of fiction with made up data. As a historian and librarian, I have serious questions about the work in question.

3 months later and wanted to give an update. I do not know how the council reorg is going in other areas, but in mine not so well. We have folks refusing to recognize the new district and want to keep doing things as if the old, local district was around. My old district had the best run district wide Cub Scout Pinewood Derby in the council, and we had support from a local community organization. Person running the event, who is both a Scouter and a member of the organization, said the PWD is only for the Cubs in this county. If Cubs from other counties want one, they can create their own. Another long time Scouter asked me about a letter he received about a meeting in a neighboring city is about. When I told him one of the council executive board members has stepped in to help organize the new district, he was adamant that the old district will continue officially or unofficially. As for district volunteer leadership, we only have 2 active now: the commissioner and me. Our district program guy quit in frustration. And I am concerned about the commissioner burning out. He is currently doing everything, and I do mean everything, to keep the new district going. As for me, I am focusing on one event, the district camporee. Between family, work, and unit responsibilities, I am slowly burning out myself. And within the next 6-18 months, I will become the SM of my sons' troop. I will not have the time to help on the district level. As for the DE, we have none. In fact, we have only 1 professional, a DE, in the entire council now. the other 2 DEs left in April, and our SE left May 31st. No idea when a SE will get hired, and of course no new DE's until after an SE is hired. We had a Zoom Round Table and attendance was poor. Topics were Cub Scout Day Camp and camporee. 2 packs were represented and 5 troops were represented. 2 of those troop had Scouts present, and only because I personally invited them. As for the lawsuit situation, we are hearing nothing. I do know that according to court documents, all 4 the camps have restrictions on them. I know one of them is in a trust, so the council doesn't truly own it. Heck they do not make any improvements top the camp. If a troop or volunteers want stuff, i.e. pavilion, water lines, etc, they have to pay for and/or do the improvements themselves. As for the local camp in the district, I know the council owns it from property records, but it is listed as restricted in the bankruptcy document. I hope and pray the trust included some legal right of return if the council no longer wants the property in the deed of sale. So now you all know why I say I am depressed with everything going on locally and nationally. On a positive note, Middle child is still slowly getting requirements for Eagle done, and youngest is slowly getting stuff signed off on First Class. The troop will shortly have a new committee members, and we had 2 Scouts from another unit visit us about a month ago. They are not happy with their current troop, and are looking around to transfer. I think we made a positive impression, but won't know for sure until after their current unit comes back from summer camp.

Please keep the ideas coming! @MattRHaving adults from different counties of the new district is the game plan. Planning on having a cracker barrel for the adults, and I hope this helps. @Eagledad, That was once a tradition in the old district, and had to be abandoned because of the new NCAP accreditation standards. Even though we have been a unified district since January of 2020, at the council camporee this year we stayed in our old areas. The area my old district was at had a potluck where every unit from the old district brought food. It was believed that would be OK per NCAP. When I suggested that for the district camporee, I was told, "NO!" Apparently the guy who organized the potluck, who is also helping to organize the district camporee, got in a bit of trouble over the potluck. As it is, the cooking contest raised concerns. Apparently one of the former districts used the cooking contest as their district wide dinner. And they got into trouble over that. We had to make sure we have adult judges sampling the food, and not Scouts. In the past the OA members in the camporee trading post would serve as judges as a way of saying thank you for working the weekend. Again please keep ideas coming for I want to unify this district. And I will post more details about council/district faldercarb in the appropriate thread.

Need some brainstorming ideas that were not covered last night due to lack of time. What are some ways to encourage district unity among the Scouts, and more importantly, among the adults? Long backstory short, the new district is comprised of three old districts. 2 of those districts have some deep-seated rivalry/hatred from before I got here. that I cannot understand. At one point neither district wanted to work with the other, and when we had to share a DE, it was from another district that is actually further away. The third district does their own thing and could care less about the council. They are the furthest away from the council office, in one of the poorest and most rural areas in the nation, and have always been treated as a redheaded stepchild. When they got DEs, they didn't last long and were always looking to leave. So they have received very poor service from the council. This district camporee will be the first full district event since the merger on January 1, 2020. Because of COVID, we have no true district committee, just the previous three district committee carrying on until the new district gets organized. And with no DE and Chairman to help organize the new district, it has been a challenge. So I need to come up with ways to promote unity. We are off to a shaky start. Last nite's meeting only had Scouts from 1 old district represented. Adults from 2 of the old districts were there. Due to logistics, we will have multiple troops in campsites. I already know that troops from the different old districts will be sharing campsites. Another long story short, for a long time the council did not take care of this camp and individual troops had to make repairs, pay for improvements (i.e. waterlines and spigots, pavilions, fire rings, etc). So each troop is protective of "their campsite." But what are some other ways to promote unity?

With the lawsuit news and everything going on with my council and district, I am depressed. When the opportunity arose to work on district camporee, I jumped at it with the hopes It would cheer me up. Me and the other two folks working on the camporee agreed to invite the SPLs and any PLC members to attend the Roundtable to get input from them on camporee. 3 Scouts from 2 units showed up. I admit, I was hoping for more to attend, especially since one of the Scouts was my son, and I have been bouncing ideas off of him from the get go. But I think it went well, and the Scouts will be pleased.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Yes. I know a council who had a volunteer who worked on creating business webpages create theirs and the OA lodge's webpages. They were outstanding, easy to navigate, fantastic resources. When National mandated everyone using a standard format, he was told to buzz off when he offered to help with some of the work. I deal with search engines all day. Andy by far BSA's search engine is horrible. It is easier, faster, and more accurate to use Google than BSA's search engine. Thankfully my troop has not made the migration from Troopmaster to Scoutbook. It works. I have heard of so many issues with Scoutbook, I am afraid to use it. Plus BSA owns it now. I am still waiting for BSA National to keep their SCOUTNET 2000 promises they made in 1998.

Yes you can make a donation in his name. We had one gentleman who did not want to be recognized for his very generous donation. Instead, every single Eagle Scout the year he donated the money, plus the non-professional office staff ( registrar, bookkeeper, scout shop clerk, and office manager) became West Fellows. That is a good question. My understanding is that the endowments are restricted funds, and cannot be touched. Only the interest earned can be touched. But I also remember BSA stating they would protect Charter Organizations in lawsuits too, and we see how that is going with the Toggle Plan proposal.

Regarding unit commissioners, I have encountered a few, and was one. It is a thankless job. The troop I was assigned to went through 3 commissioners before me. 2 of them were ASMs with the troop prior to the SM at the time taking over, when the troop was extremely successful. Long story short, SM knew better and they left. I took over as UC trying to help save the troop. When a troop goes from 3 patrols that are youth lead, to a one patrol troop with the SM appointed leaders to focus on advancement, you got problems. No amount of trying to coaching helped. I was told, I don't know what I am talking about, Scouting needs to change with the times, and appointing leaders gives everyone a chance because the same clique keeps getting elected. So it is a two way streak with commissioners. Yes we need commissioners, but we also need to follow their advice when we are having issues. Best commissioner I ever had was a a 50+year Scouting veteran. If he didn't know the answers (which was rare), he knew where to get them. Active with the three units he was assigned to, and I miss that guy to this day.

I need to revisit this because this has me irked so much. When I was a DE, we had one pack that had a history of losing new members before recharter, The pack was almost dead, with 5 Cubs, and I got 40+ new Cubs for them during the round up. When recharter came, they only had 8-10 rechartering. I attempted to talk to the parents of every Cub who dropped out. A lot did not return my calls or want to talk to me. Of the ones I did talk to, some were willing to try another pack. The issue was the CM, her DL husband. They were rude, obnoxious, and were running everyone away with their behavior. And there was not a thing the council could do about it. My boss and I met with the IH/COR about the problem. We told them the issue, what was happening, and how we could not do anything about it because it was his unit. He did not want to get involved. So how can teh council come in and dismiss Scouters from their roles?

THIS. IS. HORRIBLE! Regarding ""65% of Scouts BSA members will advance one rank during the Scouting year," you want to lose Scouts, turn it into school. The troop I am in is focused on FUN, not advancement. We have an 18y.o. Eagle ASM and 17y.o. Eagle still active because they have fun. We recruit via word of mouth because we focus on FUN. Best compliment came from Scouts from another troop. They said we are the "sweatiest," current slang for best I am told, in the district. But here is the deal, WE. FOCUS. ON. FUN! As Baden-Powell said, " Advancement should come as naturally as a suntan, it just happens in the outdoors." You focus on FUN the rest will fall into play. Regarding, "Participate in Friends of Scouting through the Governor’s Luncheon or a family presentation," What benefit is the unit getting? I will tell you why FOS is nearly non-existent in my new district, WE GET NO SUPPORT FROM THE COUNCIL! Pre-merging 3 districts, we had not had a DE for at least 8 years. We had to share one. And the last one was so rude and obnoxious, he caused a lot longtime volunteers to back out either from their district roles, or Scouting all together. As on now we have 1 DE covering all 3 districts, which covers a territory of 20 counties. Regarding "Use the Ideal Year of Scouting (IYOS) program plan and submit Troop calendar to the District by June 30" why is the district getting involved in a unit's calendar? Is council/national going to get the info we need, fee increases comes immediately to mind, in may so units have enough time to plan the IYOS? Will district/council's calendars be available in May so that units can plan? And what is next, mandatory attendance at events? Finally regarding this "If improvement is not made, the commissioner team, in partnership with their District Executive, will work with the chartering organization to identify the barriers to success, which may include the selection of new unit Key 3 leadership that are committed to addressing the metrics to ensure the Promise to Parents is delivered to families, What gave the Council the right to interfere with a Charter Organization's appointments? If the council wants to change leadership, I hope they plan on losing not only experienced Scouters who know the metrics are a bunch of hogwash, but also units that will not deal with the hogwash.

The pack my family was with went year round, but we did only 2 meetings/month plus Cub Scout Day Camp. Pack I grew up in was only during the school year. Now every troop I have been involved with has met year round. Summer usually had some extra time since we had light longer and we didn't have school. When I moved to NC, I met my first troop that only met during the school year, except for summer camp, and it blew my mind. From reading posts here and elsewhere, there are a lot of troop that do not meet during the summer.

WOW! How can anyone learn about what is going on if they are editing and censuring it? Agree, we got some good mods. they allow dissent, and only shut down things when things need to either cool down, or a new thread is needed.

Isn't his commentary contempt of court?

I am assuming it's possible because BSA and councils can make several payments into the CSA fund over several years.