Eagle94-A1

Would you please post where you got those results? I have been looking everywhere, and cannot find the results of the membership poll BSA took after teh town halls in 2017. All the stats I have seen comes from non-member surveys. I know in my neck of the woods, it is no where close to 75% for the membership change. Maybe 35-40 overall, and youth is more like 5% for.

The Spirit of Scouting candle is the one candle that lights all the rest. In the cermeony above, that candle is held by the PL to lead the new Scout into the room. Handed off to the SPL who then lights the 15 candles onthe logs.

Scout Investiture- PL, SPL, and SM Lights go out and the room is illuminated by a single candle, the Spirit of Scouting, on a table at the front of the room. Also on the table are two log candelabras, one holding three candles, and the other twelve. The Senior Patrol Leader and Scoutmaster are behind the table. The candidate(s) for membership wait in the back along with their Patrol Leader(s). When all is ready, the patrol leader(s) lead the candidate(s) down the aisle to the table where the candle is burning.) Halfway to the front, the SPL stops the New Scout and PL. SPL: HALT. Who are you bringing into our troop PL: I bring (SCOUT'S NAME(S) 0 who wants to join Troop xx and has earned his Scout Rank SPL: Bring him forward. PL brings the new Scout forward and stands beside them. SPL picks up the lighted candle: SPL: “This candle represents the spirit of Scouting. As we welcome you into the fellowship of Troop XX we want you to stop and think about what it means to be a Scout. Besides going on outings and camping trips, it’s doing you best to live up to the Scout Oath and Law. Please make the Scout Sign and repeat after your Patrol Leader the Scout Oath and Law.” PL will say the Scout Oath in sections. The SPL will light the three candles of the Scout Oath candelabra when the new Scout(s) say “To God and My Country” “To Help Other People” and “To Keep Myself….” PL: “On my Honor… …I will do my best… …to do my duty… …TO GOD AND MY COUNTRY… …to obey the Scout Law… …TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE AT ALL TIMES… …TO KEEP MYSELF… …physically strong… …mentally awake… …and morally straight.” PL will now slowly say the Scout Law. The SPL will light each candle when the new Scout repeat each point. PL: “A Scout is TRUSTWORTHY... … LOYAL… …HELPFUL… …FRIENDLY… …COURTEOUS… …KIND… …OBEDIENT… …CHEERFUL… …THRIFTY… …BRAVE… …CLEAN… … and REVERENT.” SPL now places the Spirit of Scouting candle on the table. SM: “When you entered the room, the only light was a single candle representing the Spirit of Scouting, the fun and adventure of your program. It didn’t provide a lot of light, and you could see very little. Then your Patrol Leader led you into the room, The Senior Patrol Leader, the chief scout of Troop XX stopped you and asked if you were ready to join the troop. When your patrol Leader answered for you, and brought you to the front. Your Patrol Leader then had you repeat the Scout Oath and Law, making you a Boy Scout. As you said the Oath, the Senior Patrol Leader lit a candle representing the three points of the Scout Oath: Duty to God and Country, Duty to Others, and Duty to Self. Then the Senior Patrol Leader lit the 12 candles representing the 12 points of the Scout Law. With the 15 candles lit, the room became brighter, a beacon for all to see. By living the Scout Oath and Law in your lives, you will become a beacon for others. Now that you are Boy Scout, you will receive three items tonight.” SPL: “The first item you will receive tonight is your troop neckerchief. It is one of the original Scout uniform items still in use, and that is because it is the most useful. On it you will see our troop number, XX and our hometown so all will know who you are. It is worn under an open collar. I give you this charge, DO NOT BE THE FIRST TO DISGRACE IT.” PL raises the collar and SPL places the neckerchief on the Scout. SPL: The second item you will receive is your troop woggle. A Scout Woggle is made of cord and it has three braided strands. The three strands stand for the three principals of the Scout Oath: Duty to God and Country, Duty to Self, Duty to Others. The woggle is tied in a circular manner to resemble a neverending knot to symbolize the unity of Scouting. The color red was chosen because it represents our charter organization, XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Methodist Church. SPL hands woggle(s) to PL(s) and the PL places the woggle on the neckerchief SM: The last item you will receive tonight is you Scout Rank. The shape of the Scout Rank is the arrowhead or Fleur-de Lis used as the North Point on mariners’ compasses. It represents that Scouting points you the right way in your life just like a compass in the field. It is the basic shape that all Scout badges build upon, and it is the international symbol of Scouting worldwide. Let’s welcome our newest Scout with a round of applause. Pause SPL TO PL AND NEW SCOUT. You two may now be seated pAUSE. SPL: I now declare this Court of Honor open for business.

Agree completely. Heck I even told the then national Venturing director in May 1998 that having a new program with a similar name to an existing one AND using the same unit designation for the new program that is in use for the existing program is a major mistake.

Actually the older kids are VENTURERS, not Venture Scouts. Venture Scouts was the term used for members of the older Scout patrol, called a venture crew from August 1, 1989 to July 31, 1998, and venture patrol from August 1, 1998 until some time in the mid to late 2000s. Designations for youth are the following: CUB SCOUTS and their subsets LIONS, TIGERS, WOLVES, BEARS, WEBELOS and some say ARROW OF LIGHTS SCOUTS both males and females SEA SCOUTS VENTURERS and if Exploring is now under traditional Scouting, then EXPLORERS. Do STEM Scouts still exist?

No, not unique to GSUSA, just supplanted by the Cross Over Ceremony.

If I can find the one I use, I'll post. My understanding is that when Cross Over became den based vs age based int he 1970s or 80s, I crossed over as a den in 1985, Investiture Ceremonies started dying out. Some old troops like the one I grew up in, kept the Investiture Ceremony. We did it as soon as they earned their Scout Badge, now Scout Rank, and it was a candlelight ceremony with SM, SPL and PL(s). That is when they received their badge, neckerchief, woggle, and a troop totem. The troop I just left now does an Investiture Ceremony based upon my old troop's ceremony. It is done at the opening of Court of Honors if there is anyone getting Scout Rank. Not only is it traditional, there are ceremonies going back to BP, but also financially practical. The Cub Scout pack that feeds the troop does not do a very good job preparing Webelos to become Cub Scouts, and we have a 50% attrition rate in 6 months. The neckers and woggles are custom made, and about $20/set. One year we gave out 9 of them at the Cross Over, and 5 of those Scouts either didn't show up after Cross Over, or quit within 6 months not even earning Scout Rank. They had 4 Scouts "join" the troop last month. I know for a fact 2 didn't show up to their first meeting because they were visiting other troops that night and the next. I am really worried about them.

Any idea when the 14th ed for for boys will be available?

Forget the mess kit. Get a Dutch Oven. 😁

I admit it's been 8 years since I last taught a Cub Scout Training course. Closest I've been to CS training is doing the February through June 2015 Roundtables which went over the 2015 Cub Scout program changes. With online training. and lack of a training chairman, we have not had CS leader training in some time. So I have no idea on the new training. So this is for the folks who have done it recently: How Long did it take and did it actually help? For those who have taken older courses and the new ones: is there anything missing from the new courses? I ask because on one of the FB groups I'm in, I see all kinds of basic questions that should have been answered in training and just reading the leader books.

Back in 2010, there was a test out. Wish there was one again. Instead I have used folks who need the couirse to staff and teach those sections they are experts in. it works.

@fred8033 I guess it all relates to relationships to local nations. Growing up, once the chapter and lodge decided to "go local" we got a lot of support from the local nation. We had Native Americans in the lodge, one being a chapter adviser, that helped.We had elders and council members coming out to help us get it right. Found out we were restablishing the relationship with them. When the lodge's AIA group was really active years earlier, they contributed to research and awareness of them to get state recognition, and was helping them in their appeal for federal recognition. In my current lodge, we have an extremely good relationship with several local nations. Heck a bunch of Native American Arrowmen, got together at OA events and formed a drum that is popular on the east coast powwow circuit.

Did it several times. First time was in the 1993-1998 time frame, as a youth and adult Arrowman. It was not intentional, but something sparked AIA, and it grew in the chapter and lodge. In 2001-2004 did it deliberately to start a chapter that died. Started with the drum and singers, moved out to dancing, then ceremony teams. Last time was the 2007-2010 time frame. Reignited my chapter using AIA, and it spread to the lodge. While my chapter has slowly died when my replacement chapter chief stepped down and no one was willing to step up. That was about 2014 or thereabouts

Spot on. My chapter was dying out because all the chapter did was "work work work." No ceremony teams (an aside, one of the reasons the teams died out was because they went to black robes after doing Philmont's OA Trail Crew. Many in my council considered them "Satanic" and threatened to quit OA and Scouting.), no fun days, didn't even go to conclave or lodge fellowship events because they always corresponded to Cub Scout events the OA ran a fundraiser at. OA was known as "slave labor." It took two years, but we had a 180 degree turn around. While getting the Cub folks to change event dates helped a lot, and we planned fun events, the #1 reason for the improvement was American Indian Affairs (AIA) consisting of ceremonies, singers, and dancers. People started seeing us outside of working all the time. We inspired Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts with our ceremonies (another aside, current lodge chief got his motivation to join the OA from his Cross Over Ceremony we did ), and it reinvigorated the chapter.

As Thunderbird points out, people do not care about history. Just as people today do not remember that the OA was founded before Native Americans were citizens, who could not speak their languages or perform their religious and social ceremonies in the open, and thus the OA worked with Native American nations to preserve their heritage, no one will remember the original meaning of the fasces. They will only remember Mussolini and his use of the fasces and his work with Hitler.

I thought one of the reasons why registration increased 275% in an 8 year period was to cover background checks.

More than you know. I know one unit that had a "DL" with a 20 year old possession with the intent to distribute conviction. Paperwork was sent to council. Never heard back from then. Found out at recharter he was not listed. Council said they notified the CO, but the pack's leadership was never informed. Also my wife submitted 3 applications to be an ADL. One of those hand delivered to the DE. Didn't find out she was not registered until the pack went to submit a Heroism Award app for her. Pack was ticked, and wife, who has been registered previously in 3 councils, including the current one we are in.

A wise man once said that "OUTING is three-fourths of ScOUTING." Sadly the folks at national cannot do math, nor can they remember history. Anyone remember the recent BSHB that said outing is 2/3s of Scouting? And I agree, lose the outdoor emphasis, you lose Scouting. Anyone remember the 1970s Improved Scouting Program fiasco that took the "Outing out of Scouting?" Anyone remember when camping was not required to earn Eagle? Anyone remember the drastic membership decline that forced a CSE to retire early, and bring back William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt out of retirement? I am so glad I was a Scout in the 1980s and used his last BSHB. While my original copy with all my advancement signatures is long gone, My most prized treasure is the copy of that edition one of my Eagles tracked down and got me, long before Ebay and Amazon were popular.

You have not met some of the folks working for our National HQ. If they can screw up something, they will. I should know. I use to work for National. Some folks have no clue what goes on in Scouting outside of their offices. Sadly you are correct.

Sounds like a case of "White Coat Syndrome." I too have "high" blood pressure when I got to the doc's office. Had me monitor the pressure twice a week at work for a while and it was normal. But when I came to him, it was high. heck one time I has it checked 30 minutes before my appointment and it was borderline low. But once I got to the doc's office, yep it was high again. Put me on blood pressure meds. I took them and was not my normal self. I ended up stop taking them because I almost passed out as my pressure dropped drastically. Thankfully I was atr work. As others have stated, get it checked out, talk to your doc. From what I have heard, most strenuous activity is walking from the campsite to the dining hall.

They are. And council's have to buy those registration cards.

If memory serves, councils have to buy those cards. national would want them issued,.

While I know what the DE will say, I was a DE once and had a unit in a similar situation, I have told them they need to have a meeting with the district commissioner and DE. Currently we have no district chair. Hopefully hearing how they can dismiss a adults from the troop from them will cause them to act. The situation is indeed toxic, the troop has already lost scouts and potential Scouts, and may have more leaving in the future unless the situation is corrected ASAP.

FYI, not trying to be negative, but I'm in a sour mood because of a conversation I had with an ASM today. More on that later. It is a great idea for a normal troop. The problem making families would skip the camp out. Seriously we had the patrols do a 5 mile hike at a well established state park, and they were freaking out because adults were not going with the Scouts. While the other Scouts would have fun and benefit, the problem makers would not. Along those lines, one of the things that helped renew interest in the program and help with some of the challenges with the youth and Scouters was our AT trips. Basically the youth raced ahead and had camp set up and chilling while the adults took their time getting to the campsite for the nite. While it was not the entire troop, it really got the older Scouts pumped, and it infected the younger guys. Even one of the ASMs who really didn't believe in Patrol Method and Boy Led concepts, the one who once said he "hopes the Scouts fail so they realize they need us" had an epiphany and saw Boy Led in action on that trip. And of course once he converted to the Dark Side, he moves ouot of state :). Anyway, back to the conversation I had with an ASM today. Spent an hour talking. He is concerned about the trouble makers suing the Scouters and CO over the matter. Both families have "influence and affluence," coming from old money families locally. Both are used to getting their ways as a result. And I was reminded of the implied threat one of the fathers made at a parents' meeting. He asked if we could give him 100% guarantee nothing would happen to his son if he was with the troop. I am not joking. And from some of the comments the dad has made, and hearing stories about the family from others who have dealt with them, I see them suing.

"WWWHHH000000 BBBUUUDDDDDDDDDDYYYYY!" as Shug would say.