ALongWalk

He turns 18 in a couple of months. I watched him go up and receive a couple of MB’s that he has earned. The SM asked him to talk about his Eagle Project that he is going to try to get completed over the next two months. He is such a confident and well spoken young man. Scouting had a big part to play in that...leadership roles in the troop (including SPL), weekends camping with his troop, weeks at summer camp, working a summer at summer camp, a trip to the National Jamboree, relationships with his adult leaders. I am positive that these things have been net positives for him in his growth to being a young man. I am so happy that he came home with the “flyer” in the 1st grade. It has been a wonderful journey....one that I was with him on through Cubs and one where I have been more behind him in Boy Scouts. He is not a gung-ho Scout...honestly, if I had said “Hey, you are busy....you don’t have to be a member if you don’t want to” he would have quit in a heartbeat. But he stuck it out and hopefully will make it to Eagle....but if he doesn’t that is ok too. I used to read you guys posting that statement and I would think no way but I get it now. It really is about the journey. But....I really do hope he makes it. 🙂 Thank you guys for providing this opportunity for the youth of your nation. It matters.

Sad day indeed. I participated in 4 BOR’s last night for 4 Scouts. The program and the scouts are what I am going to try to focus on during this time.

DE, or whatever the role is named going forward, should be 90% program focused. Their job should be to help facilitate the best program possible for units. That will help take care of membership issues. Let council development staff do the fundraising that is needed to support the council.

I sincerely wish Mr. Mosby the best. Our country and world need for Scouting to be strong and vibrant.

Just stumbled across this obit: https://amp.timesrecordnews.com/amp/383643002?__twitter_impression=true RIP and thank you for your service to scouting and for raising a fine son who also served Scouting and our country.

Great boy talks in the classrooms are crucial to having a successful sign up nights. Been doing it a while now...when the DE gets the boys excited they get their parents to bring them to sign up. Our district is having a great school recruiting season and it is mostly because the DE is on his game both in the "boy talk" and having the sign-up nights organized and staffed.

There is a statue of one of the Marriots in his Scout uniform with Eagle rank at the Summit. It is in the Action Point area.

My son had great things to say about the patch trading. He had never really gotten into the patch thing so this surprised me. I think he really enjoyed the "salesmanship" aspect to it. His phone never seemed to be charged so I am not sure he made it to the charging stations much. Now the food.....he was not a fan.

The band member didn't make "repeated" pro-gay and anti-Trump remarks. He briefly stated how proud he was of the BSA for making the LBGQT changes, he then went into a fairly long talk about how the kids should never be scared to be different...whatever that difference might be, then he told the scouts that he had heard the President was going to be there on Monday night and for them to let him know that it was ok for them to be different. I was worried that sown kids might take that too far but I was obviously wrong. My son was there and he is no fan of President Trump. What he is mad about is how the Scouts are being portrayed from both sides. All he really heard from Trump was his praise of Scouting.

I was at the Jamboree show last night. The band that played was X Ambassadors. The lead singer talked about how proud he was of the BSA for the recent membership decisions and then he went on to tell the kids that they didn't need to be scared to be different....listed a lot ways they might be different. Then he said that he understood the president would be here on Monday....and that the Scouts needed to let him hear that they were not scared to be different. I was disappointed in him doing that. I am not a fan of the president but the fact is he is my/our president. He was elected by our republic. I pray our scouts will not embarrass themselves or the organization on Monday.

He has not preordered anything but taking a look at the catalog to get an idea is a great idea........ thanks. We just don't have any idea what to expect as far as what they will have for sale and the set-up. He didn't earn much working at scout camp and some of those funds are earmarked for other things so he is going to need to choose wisely and carefully.

He will use money he earned working at Summer Csmp. Should have known better than to,ask here.

Any suggestions on how much cash a scout should take to the Jamboree? I am sure the son couldand would spend a ton if he were allowed but.... I want him to be able to purchase some keepsakes and such but nothing too extravagant. Thanks.

If I am not mistaken new exempt employee overtime federal regulations will take effect on 12/01/16. Basically, as I understand it, exempt salary employees who earn less than $47,500 will have to be paid overtime for hours worked past 40 per week. If true, this is going to have a big impact on council operations. I might be wrong but I think your average DE earns less than $47,500. I think councils are going to have to look seriously at their methods of operation. I also think that if the DE salary and benefits are more competitive maybe districts will get better quality DE's in the long run and maybe the good ones will be willing to stay longer.

I am on my district's committee and am included on many of the council's emails about results.....finance, membership, and recently.....unit camping trips....and not just Scout Camp. I was surprised to see the "camping" email because I have never seen that as a focus from the council but gosh I was happy to see it. That tells me that they realize that we have to get the boys out in the woods and in tents to make this program work. I hope that email is the beginning of asking us to work with the units who are not doing the program as they should. Something we and the commissioners should be doing anyway. I am not a big outdoors guy but I KNOW it is at the core of what makes the program great. My son is away with his troop this weekend.....rain and all. He will come back with a memory of this short trip that he will carry with him for life.