MrBob

Yeah, but action under 7.0.4.7 isn't something that should be done on a whim, or used to interject "additional requirements" into the badge. Its reserved for situations where a boy claims to have, for example, earned the Camping merit badge, when there's no possible way that boy had enough camping nights. Not because some adult leader thinks he "knows better" or feels the requirements as written are insufficient to warrant a badge. Plus, there's a documented appeal process that the Scout can use if he feels the Scoutmaster is being an unreasonable jerk.

I'd have charged them for the event anyways. A "no refunds" policy tends to get people to not pull that kind of stunt. YMMV, of course, but in my experience, even a tiny hit to the wallet tends to pull people up short and remind them that Scouting isn't something you do unless you can find something else to do.

Only applied to the iOS version, and only if you used GMail as the authentication point, and as of an hour ago is no longer an issue (its been fixed).

Its a proper adaptation of LNT guidelines to an urban environment - you want to blend-in with your surroundings so as not to disrupt the native's enjoyment of their habitat.

Nyantic is aware of the gross permissions issue with Google account bonding and is in the process of fixing it.

Just out of curiosity... did any of these drivers who cancelled happen to be the parents of Scouts who showed up to go on the trip?

Just put up some cardboard-cutout trees and camp in the hospital lobby, I guess. That'd be safest, right?

Seems like quite a few of them post here.

forget it.

Apparently does not apply to Adults.

Yes... my youngest put around 10 miles on the family dog this weekend, hunting down various 'n sundry critters.

Heresy! How could you possibly survive a night in the scary out-of-doors without at least a paper certificate from a technical college?

Its a merit badge, not a Master's degree. However, perhaps an added "paddle trip" requirement a'la the camping merit badge's "Take a nonmotorized trip on the water of at least four hours or 5 miles." could be suggested to the national advancement committee. The last requirement being a "using what you've learned so far, take an overnight canoe trip of at least X miles with your troop or patrol" sort of thing.

PD-109 applies to "service providers", not volunteer "helping hands". F.ex, the 3 college-age guys you rented the rock climbing wall from, who bring it on-site and manage moving the boys through it.

430-056.pdf - National Camp Accreditation Program, 2014 http://www.scouting.org/filestore/outdoor%20program/pdf/430-056.pdf SQ-401 - Staff Qualification and Training Standards Standard: A. All camp staff are registered members of the Boy Scouts of America. All other camp personnel either are registered members of the Boy Scouts of America or meet alternative criteria pursuant to Standard PD-109. Interpretation: • Camp staff includes all personnel, paid or volunteer, retained by the council or camp management, who interact with camp participants. Camp staff includes employees, CITs, and continuing volunteers (e.g., camp commissioners, volunteers asked by the camp management to assist program on an ongoing basis). • Camp personnel includes all other personnel, retained by the council or camp management or by contractors working at the camp, who do not typically interact with camp participants as part of their assigned duties. Examples might include kitchen staff, commissary or warehouse staff, or ranger staff without program responsibilities. • Camp staff and camp personnel do not include (1) third parties who come on-site to offer a program to camp participants, are accompanied by camp staff while present, and do not remain on-site overnight; and (2) parents and volunteers in day camps and family camps who assist in program while staff are present and provide supervision. In any camp, an unsupervised volunteer must meet the requirements for camp staff. Your council may apply stricter requirements, and your State's laws obviously come into play. However, National doesn't consider one-time 3rd parties to be "camp staff".

oooh.... still-warm pecan, plz.

Since when are "mom and dad volunteers" required to have YP, background checks, and join BSA in order to "help" ? That's never been required, so long as 2-deep/no 1-on-1 is observed. Are you telling me that when we had the local fire department come spend the entire day at Day Camp two years ago, we were supposed to run FBI background checks on all the firefighters first? Hogwash.

Yes, on both accounts. Sometimes there's press involved, depending on the magnitude of the project. If its three people fartin' around picking up trash in a park, they'll just be wearing company t-shirts. If its multiple weeks of planning for an event involving hundreds, or even thousands, of participants, you bet your sweet Aunt May there's gonna be a presser and local news involved, and custom-logo'd swag handed out. Corporations don't do anything purely out of altruistic intent. Volunteerism is good PR.

They were there as corporate volunteers. No different than when the company I work for does volunteer work.

"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the--if he--if 'is' means is and never has been, that is not--that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement..."

Worse, the Scout will have to perform an "Environmental Impact Assessment" and a "Sustainability Analysis" prior to getting the project approved.

I would not have held-up an SMC just because some paper-pusher didn't push a piece of paper. The merit badge is earned once the MBC signs it, not once the Council decides to do data entry.

I wonder if I could get the local Hells Angels chapter together to do an Automotive Maintenance merit badge clinic...

Under the new program requirements, he can (a) do them in order, (b) skip straight to AOL, or © work on them simultaneously, with the caveat that "properly" he should get the last requirement for Webelos signed off BEFORE the last requirement for AOL (since, by the book, he cannot earn Webelos *after* earning AOL). His choice on which of the three he wants to do. Regarding your 2nd question, the most straightforward way of doing this is to put him in the 2nd year webelos den and have him "officially" work on AOL with the den, and do the Webelos badge stuff on his own time.

The same could be said of just about EVERY corporate sponsor in the US. Do you want us to "ban" everyone except REI, Gander Mountain, and Cabelas from volunteering?