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numbersnerd

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Everything posted by numbersnerd

  1. Some things we don't have to deal with currently are going to become an issue. The lack of gender sensitivities and politics are why I want my boys in the program. Let them be themselves and figure THAT out and deal with the advanced stuff later when they have a foundation to build on. Thanks to the BSA for creating a minefield out of a safety zone.
  2. You can always refer them to another unit that is willing to implement mixed sex scouts in their program.
  3. Same problem here. Can't even get help to run the existing program, much less additional ones. Any idea if the local option will be available for this change as it was for previous ones? Give them the option of units that want to retain the status quo. That's the only hope of retaining enough volunteers that don't want to get entangled in the the morass of mixed sex required leadership elements. Ugh.
  4. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/boy-scouts-will-admit-girls-allow-them-earn-eagle-scout-n809836
  5. This is a good point. How are people going to prepare for overnight camping to learn about overnight camping? All for the limited amount of Pack-level overnight camping allowed by National. The ROI just isn't there for most people, even without the chicken-or-the-egg ridiculousness.
  6. Heavy handed moderators back at it again.
  7. I snag the packets of crushed pepper from pizza deliveries and use it to kick up dishes on short notice. Works especially well with dehydrated meals.
  8. The one I went through was 7-8 hours with lunch done by participants (foil packets) and lots of interactive portions. It was fun, covered the basics and then some. Best of all was that it generated quite a bit of conversation among participants. Quite a few nuggets we still reference humorously today, one being, "Cub Scouts do family camping. However, this does not necessarily mean YOUR family's idea of camping" (as in, leave the booze, etc at home) From gear, to safety, to food, to program, to outdoor ethics. While nothing new to many, it was illuminating to others. And all in a day.
  9. When this was announced at our last roundtable, everyone in the room rolled their eyes. Then we realized that the last old-style BALOO course was in 3 days and the opportunity to offer an easy to schedule and digest course to newer leaders would be gone. Nobody there thought the prospect of an overnight obligation for this type of training was going to enjoy high participation. It's hard enough to get volunteers without these types of obligations and requirements. It's almost as if they are trying to eliminate the ability to have trained leaders on site, and thus lessen the opportunities fo
  10. If your decision really just boils down to CYA and liability, I guess you interpret those guidelines as hard and fast rules, don't ask any questions and just do what you can. But what about those situations that fall in between? Webelos backcountry backpacking - I get that, it's a no-no. And not something I would choose to do anyway. But it says nothing about backpacking in other situations. What if, instead of dropping gear at a campsite and taking the vehicle back to the park parking lot, you carry it in a mile or so? We encourage our Scouts to stretch their minds as well as their bod
  11. OK, you got me on that one! So, if the OP's intent is to have their Webelos pack their camping gear a mile or two to their campsite in a non-backcountry location, is it OK? Personally, I would have no problem with it. With my group. Other leaders with other groups? Who knows. Use common sense to assess whether they're ready for it. I'm fairly certain the OP is confident in their group being up to the task, they are only asking if it's taboo by the rules. If the goal of Webelos is to prepare boys for Scouts, is it unreasonable to assume that an activity such as this is allowable?
  12. Can we point to where the BSA has limited their definition of "guidelines" to "absolute rules"? Winter camping is also against these guidelines yet there are councils award badges for camping in winter conditions. To Cub Scouts. Are they in violation? So let's take the content of the original question into consideration. Can you seriously argue against Webelos doing some light backpacking in conjunction with an overnighter? What is the objection other than it's not allowed by these guidelines? Like I previously said, apply some common sense to the situation and don't take the doc
  13. Anyone take the survey? Some of the questions seemed very nonsensical to me. I can't recall them being this bad before. Are things really that bad at National, or is it another example of the un-involved running things?
  14. That pdf says 'guideline', not rules. Common sense should win over 'guidelines' drafted by some unknowm committee. My take: if you want to hike a mile or two to a campsite one day, camp overnight or two, then pack it back out, go for it. The excitement and bragging rights (or complaining about it!) will give them far more than the effort involved. This IS supposed to be fun, right? You're trying to make it just that, fun. Good on you.
  15. My my, so much touchiness here. Especially from some who get some pushback on their thoughts. And to what end? This thread typifies what turns so many off from Scouting once exposed to Scouters. To be honest, if I had to listen to some of this in person, my consideration of Scouting for my boys would drop. So I guess I should be thankful it's vented here instead of in a truly public forum.
  16. Anyone who has ever studied and worked with customer and client retention, product development, and marketing will understand and agree with this. Hoping/wishing/dreaming that that a nirvana of societal cooperation and coexistance will be the solution is ignoring reality and merely a path of appeasement that will only exacerbate an already concerning problem and trend. Which is why I doubt it was even 'businessmen' (or at the very least, savvy ones) that cooked up this plan. There are some dreamy-eyed idealists hoping that the PR goodwill and corporate fundng will pick up and carry the org thr
  17. Way back when, I joined as soon as I was eligible, 3rd grade. Did it all, Wolf, Bear, Webelos and AOL. Then we moved. Since I thought it was so cool I could wear AOL on my Scout uniform, I HAD to join a troop. So I joined a troop in the new town and went crazy with it, OA Ordeal, etc and finished Eagle while 14, ECOH just after my 15th birthday. Then we moved. As in the next week. I could have left Scouting behind, I had all the excuses I would have needed. But I had been having so much fun, doing so much, and learning a lot. Plus, to be honest, it didn't hurt having the cachet of Eagle to g
  18. A good place for resources: https://lnt.org/shop/educational-materials
  19. One key thing to do is to communicate early and fully with the school staff. We also help out through the school year. One of our service projects is to to a cleanup the day after the school carnival. We work on maintaining good relations, practicing LNT when using school facilities, helping out when appropriate and making a positive appearance and impact through the year. Getting on the good side of the staff and PTA never hurts! It's worked quite well once we followed up with those families interested enough to give us contact info. I'd say about 85% of those on the list from those night
  20. We serve three schools in our area now, so we get three cracks at it every fall. We perfected this over the last couple of years and it seems to be successful for us. But it's also time to create something new to keep things from getting stale. We have a presence at the "Meet the Teacher" night at each school with tri-fold boards full of photos, derby cars, trophies, Scoutcraft items and our life-size replica of Minecraft Steve in Cub Scout attire to be the initial draw to the table. We collect names of boys and parents, mobile numbers/email addresses. We buy a gross of Cub Scout pencils a
  21. Wow. Just wow. If you are sure that's not what he meant and you aren't going to comment on it further, why bother with the post? What I am pretty sure he meant was he was challenging the asserton that we should embrace all that God creates. Does that make sense? But maybe since you don't believe in the concept of God and Satan, it's beyond comprehension. Or maybe it's just pot stirring.
  22. Yet the stats I quoted point to a majority not supporting a change. So which way should things go? The point is the polling and summary produced contradictory results. IOW, it's inconclusive. I find it hard to believe either side of the debate using this data. Basing major decisons on those results is reprehensible.. This just points to a larger problem with National management making decisons based on such data. While National may be avoiding some uncomfortable pressure and publicity, it's the locals that feel the repercussions. National making decisions to the detriment of the locals
  23. pfffft...polls also said Hillary was going to win by a landslide. Statistics and polls can be bent and cherry-picked any way you want. From that same page: 50.5 percent of councils recommend no change. 38.5 percent of councils recommend a change. 11 percent take a neutral position. That looks like less than substantial support.
  24. You're pivoting away from the original issue I had, that being it was a bad idea as it affected membership rolls negatively. And you proved my point by saying even though you approve, it wasn't a compelling reason to leave even though they had not yet changed the policy to your preference. Yet now that it's happened, others are. Your assertion that it has significant support within the membership is unfounded and merely a reflection of your view.
  25. Oh, OK, so this and other similar decisions aren't contributing towards the decline in membership and particiation. Got it.
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