HashTagScouts

Said it on other threads- let BSA make rank/advancement patches, but have uniform items be available from a third party source, similar to Sea Scouts. Get out of the overhead inventory cost, etc. Not sure you all got the same email I did this morning, but BSA has released the new uniform shirt into distribution, while still having the old one available. Yup, in the middle of a bankruptcy, they spent likely several million dollars fulfilling purchase orders on these things to sit in the warehouse...

Rarity you'd have one in a true wilderness setting, especially a setting where you wouldn't have adults with you to use it. That said, I would not actually let the scout set it off to show they know how to use it. They could easily show how they would determine the direction to set it off, what overhead obstacles to avoid, etc. with a flare, without having them truly set it off in a mock wilderness setting during the summer when wildfire risk is high. Just not a good idea. Having them set it off in a wide open parking lot, doesn't really get to the learning objective of the MB requirement

Additionally, a leadership project shall not be used in lieu of the listed PoRs for Eagle (it is only valid for Star and Life).

I would rather it was incorporated in a fashion such as Cyber Chip, not as a MB. Primarily, I say that because if the message intended to be delivered is that on point, how does it make sense that a now 11 year old waits to work on that MB 2 days before their 18th birthday so they can get their Eagle application signed? I'll wait until I see the content of what is going to be included to pass judgement if it is duplicative or comprehensive, etc. I would not be against anything that helps to crystallize any point of the Scout Law into our youth, especially Friendly, Kind, and Reverent.

Not that your overall point isn't valid, but to be clear this quote has often been attributed to Abraham Lincoln but it was never actually said by him. Robert Ingersoll said it about Lincoln.

Take a freaking chill. I guess the 6 different versions of the handbook that span a few decades I have that don't mention this must all be wrong then? It was your SM that had the requirement, as SM has the final approval of who goes on the ballot. Accept that and move on. I see no reason to mandate what should already be an SM function- heard directly by a member of the National Board who is a former Associate Lodge Adviser from my Lodge that this question has been posed to them before, and was raised last year again when the discussion to allow Venturers and Sea Scouts in (as those p

Your unit placed that. It was never a National requirement. Councils/Lodges cannot place anything on what National does, so it was your SM that used that rule as to who he would give SM approval to for the ballot. The troop you were in as kid is certainly welcome to resurrect their history and do that if they want, but it will never get imposed as a policy.

Correct. I have never seen any older version of the handbook that states there was an age requirement. It was always on merit of rank and camping nights that one could become eligible and voted in by the troop youth. Women were allowed to become members- as adults anyway- beginning in 1988. If we are concerned about the quality of the youth that are getting elected, and I too share those concerns in my role with my Lodge, we ned to look at the programs that are putting these youth forward. A 12 year old Star Scout that can't tie a bowline is a product of the unit they belong to. "Do

To even use the word unjust is inappropriate- unless they are in only for the Eagle. I also see flawed logic in the postings regarding camping nights. When someone starts a post saying their unit is enthusiastic, and camps monthly, you have to do the math. Assume they started right out the gate 2/1/19. Say monthly camping March, April, May, summer camp in June or July, and a weekend trip the other month, then weekend trip in September, October, possibly November. In any event, that means likely 5 weekend trips minimum, plus summer camp = 16 camping nights? Getting 4 more by the end of 202

We did one virtual campout- SM gave in because two kids on the PLC asked as they needed to complete First Class cooking requirements. Both also needed a couple other requirements (the 3 R's, fitness requirements). Only two other kids in the troop wanted to participate, but we relented and let them do it. Halfway through Saturday they ghosted, but those two did film with a cellphone as they were cooking, so SM gave the OK. One of the others, we have no idea what they did. The last one, the parent checked off like 5 requirements in SB looking for SM to sign-off, including the compass and GP

I accessed the forums on Scoutbook this morning, looking for any tip on editing a feature. First time in probably two years since I had accessed those forums, and the first before they made the forum more than just about SB itself... OH. MY. LORD. The threads going on and on about how unfair it is that camping in the backyard doesn't count for Camping MB. How unjust it is that some of these kids will miss out on "getting Eagle" (one of the absolute worst phrases that makes me want to slap someone when I hear it- Eagle is not supposed to be 'got', it is supposed to be earned).

You gave me a good laugh. Being from MA, though living here in the 'burbs, I'm experienced enough with our mass transit system. Within the city of Boston, it is very much the norm that elementary aged kids use mass transit- subways or buses- to get to their school. Many kids from the burbs attend private middle schools/high schools in the city, and they take mass transit to get to school. Parents drive them to the nearest commuter rail station, and off they go. To think we need a "program", such as BSA to teach navigating mass transit is ludicrous.

I don't at all disagree with you that many other programs are out there that do STEM better than BSA. What BSA offers in this regard that is attractive to some parents: BSA does it cheaper. Cheaper doesn't translate to equal quality for sure. If BSA is going to keep doing STEM, invest to make it better/comparable to those other things out there, and charge accordingly. I've seen robotics workshops in my area that are weekend events (9-5 each day, with lunch only provided at an additional cost) for youth age 15-18 that costs like $350. These workshops have students from MIT, employees of i

I would say an option that we, the unit, make the decision on who we feel should be the adult leaders. I don't need paid pros making that decision. In any business you like to have succession plans, so I as current CC would be looking to groom my replacement. I would make the call on who that is, who I feel is the best fit. Same for the SM and his/her replacement. Let the paid pros be concerned about the big picture, like YPT issues. As @dkurtenbach says, we should ahve the commissioner corp be interested in who I am designating as my replacement so that they can be there to support them

I would agree with this statement for sure. My son does like camping, but at age 17 he likes camping that involves allowing him to be in fairly in control of what he does while camping. He appreciates his first few years in his former troop that it helped him get to where he is advancement-wise and with some of the skills he has, but that troop is about advancement 90% of the time on their camping trips. Most of it is car camping only, the SM dictates that he wants a schedule from the SPL on what time breakfast is, what advancement activities are being offered from 8:30-noon, what is being

It is great when you have a CO that is interested and engages in some manner to their unit(s). There is a lot that the COR is theoretically supposed to be involved in- they are supposed to be actively participating in the district/council level as well. They are supposed to be the most informed of the unit key 3, in theory. And i don't doubt that there are a good number who are. I just haven't seen that in practice around my area. I think as others have said, for a new unit there may be engagement, but ongoing engagement is probably where more can/should be done. For American Legion uni

I think if we went back to the 40's and 50's, we probably had a lot of COs that were heavily involved, and a great number of members of those COs were probably directly in leadership positions within the troops. Over the span of the last 70 years, a lot of those former CO "groupings", like the YMCA, pulled away. I would say over the past three decades, if not longer, it's been the scramble if you want to start a unit to find anyone with blood in their veins and willing to sign a document that becomes the CO. I also think that the national/council leadership, and unfortunately many of the un

You presume that the COs are actually engaged and it is operating that way. I will say for my unit, but also my district, it is not. There has been only 2 COs from my district that have attended a district or council wide meeting in the past three years (as admitted by our now past-District Chair). Our CO has never met with nor spoken to anyone from council/District in the past 5 years. The model is not working.

AMEN! We have to also do the BSA background check form, and then a MA specific CORI form, and for some roles Council requires us to do YPT every year for some ungodly reason.

I'm agreeing with you. My opening statement on hearing what they want is for the Council to do, not us as unit adults. Ours has flat out told us to forge their signature, it is up to us to run the thing.

Get rid of popcorn! Sacred Cow that I'd love to be part of the slaughter. We're still in suspension of all in person activities here in MA until June 15, but, yup, today we got the email from Council about the start of the Trail's End selling season...

I wouldn't be so sure about that. I think they want to stop our org continuing to call itself B as well, if that is now not what any level of our org is.

When it comes to OA, yes, the membership change has been compounding the woes of the order overall. It indeed, by and large in every Lodge, became the council camp workforce- doing work at Ordeal is what is embedded to the "trials" on sealing membership (not sure everyone here is a member, so I'll leave it there). However, as it became providing Beaver Days, and as councils here in the Northeast began to merge, and there were now often more than one camp in a council, it became even more used as a workforce, we moved beyond service as anything other than camp workers. To me, we got there be

Ultimately, I think where we are going with Venturing/Sea Scouts is to have them as Senior Scout programs, much as Leadership Corps and Explorer BSA was in the 70's.

Get actual engagement to CO's and ask them what they think their role should be. So many just see it as they have a meeting space to provide, and if the unit(s) give back a little service- whether that is some landscape cleanup once a year, or flag placement for Memorial Day, or being active participants at Veteran's Day events. That is all that the majority want. They don't want to be involved in the day-to-day running of the unit, or the "politics" of the unit. I know of 4 units that have a "friends of", and two of them are completely fictitious orgs, another is actually incorporated