scotteg83

On 6/10/2019 at 12:27 PM, reeddma said:

Our number is 1983, the year the Troop was chartered.

Makes it so much easily to know how old the troop is, My daughters troop is 2019 for the same reason

On 6/10/2019 at 1:41 PM, The Latin Scot said:

Well well! Your troop and I were born in the same year. 

me too!

5 minutes ago, ianwilkins said:

Ok, seriously, in the interests of international knowledge exchange, what are you doing to your flags? On what basis are flags retired? If they touch the ground? The slightest speck of dirt? Are they use once only? 300 at a time? I'm taken aback.

Ian

 

We can get that many after the removed the flags from veteran graves on holidays, they pass the damaged ones that cannot be reused to us to take care of.

On 5/21/2019 at 3:30 PM, Double Eagle said:

As I was browsing the scout shop on line today looking to uniform my new Tiger granddaughter, it came to me what goofed up Cub Scout uniforms we have.  Each Cub rank specific hat is $15, rank specific belt buckles are $7, specific slides are $6, and socks are $6.  Why the heck are Cubs getting a new batch of uniform items each year?  How about just changing the neckerchief and letting it go with that.  That item is only $10. 

For our pack, and my kids when they were in it,

We recommend the blue shirt, but if they want a belt, we tell them to get the cub scout belt bucket (not the rank ones).  And i have yet to have a scout in the last 8 years buy the socks.

Alot of our dens make custom slides instead using the metal ones. As a pack, in the "bridging up" ceremony, our pack provided them with the next seasons necker and slide.

Personally, I like the different colors each year, helps separate the different dens on group outings and pack meetings, but unless you have 50+ kids, its probably not needed. 

On 5/1/2019 at 8:52 PM, SSScout said:

I might suggest investing in a SHED rather than a trailer.  I read and agree, the trailer size seems to drive the gear collection.  This is known as a corollary to the Peter Principle, viz, "The stuff collected will increase to fill the space available."

With a shed, properly shelved, your gear can be easily organized, cleaned, inventoried and collected AS NEEDED (!) for a trip/hike/expedition.  Cars/vans/SUVs/station wagons(remember those?) can be loaded as required and unloaded when returned.  The QM need not worry about who has what, because he/she sees it being reshelved.    Sheds are harder (if not impossible) to steal. They can be heavily locked. Made weatherproof. No large insurance.  No need for title or tags.  Bought once, set up and admired.  No worry about whose driveway can we use.  Of course, you do need a spot , hopefully the CO can afford to let the Pack/Troop set it up on the back of the parking lot, out of the way.... 

 

My Boy Troop has a shed at the Church.  Been with the same church for 20 years.  Best thing the troop ever did.  Specially because we can back the trailer right up to it, and swap out gear for certain campouts. 

Only down side, a couple years back they allowed the pack to put stuff in it, which as their leadership keeps changing, its hard to have them keep their side neat and organized, and that pinewood derby track is taking a lot of room.

Funny you mentioned FingerPrinting MB.  My Son earned it at summer camp in under an hour as well.

MB colleges are different everywhere.  Alot is on the what badge it is.  But if its a badge that can be taking at Summercamp, then its not much different then a MB college IMO

15 minutes ago, mashmaster said:

And, you might want to mention that the skit isn't very original and funny......   Move on to the invisible bench.....

Might not be an original, but its an old classic. 

this is the brand and color I have used on multiple shirts, very good color match

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NMUZWP8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Dust Tan by Velcro

1 hour ago, mrkstvns said:

A naive question:  Do sea scout ships actually have boats and really go sailing?

I ask because many of the questions I see coming up about sea scouting seem to have nothing nautical about them.

And now a mention of a ship in Boerne, which by my map is located in central Texas in the heart of "Hill Country".  I would make snide comments about that area having no maritime tradition, but somehow, some way, one of America's great naval commanders, Admiral Chester Nimitz, did in fact, grow up in the rocky, dusty, beautiful hills of central Texas.... I guess there are lakes to sail on there, but it's hard to imagine an adventurous maritime program thriving amid hills full of rattlesnakes and cacti...

Soooo, I wonder, Do sea scout ships actually have boats and really go sailing?

Sea Scouts do not have to have sailing ships.

We have 4 in our state that I am familar with.

1 has a sailing ship

1 does canoes/kayaks

1 has a powered motorboat (smaller size) (6ish people sized)

1 has a larger motorboat, medium yacht size (15-20 sized?)

1 hour ago, perdidochas said:

At least in my Council, merit badge Councilor and Assistant Scout Master require separate applications. Not sure why you would need a separate adult membership, if you're an MBC and an ASM.  

MBC is a district position, while ASM is a unit position. Approved by different people

14 hours ago, ValleyBoy said:

I like that setup.  I will have to show that to my SPL

7 hours ago, Meb said:

 If a person pays their full dues they should not be excluded from any scouting events based on gender. It is discrimination. 

dug deep pulling up a 9 year old post

and no one said anything about excluding a due paying Scout or Scouter from events.  The original post asked about an unregistered Mom and underage sibling

23 minutes ago, Liz said:

Would that be through scoutstuff.org? 

yes

it used to be that if you contacted national supply, they would mail you a strip to sew over

6 hours ago, Abatronthegreat said:

Hi, either is fine. Just need the kids to have contact with scouts from another country.  

Sent you a mailing address via private message

On 03/06/2019 at 2:20 AM, Abatronthegreat said:

Were from the UK. Any group would be awesome. 

Are you looking to Pen pal? or do you need to video conference?

I have a Webelos den that could help, ages 9-10

1 minute ago, DuctTape said:

I view this differently. I do not see it as the SM stopped them from being on the ballot, I see it as the SM recommended others to be on the ballot. In other words, being first class and having minimum other requirements met does not automatically get you on the ballot. Instead, the SM recommends certain scouts to be on it. Viewing it from this perspective, no scout should assume they will be recommended by the SM and thus there is no obligation from the SM to tell all the scouts ahead of time who isn't recommended. 

I'm surprised the Scouts even cared/knew enough to think they were on the ballet,  every year with my scouts, its been a surprise that they are on the ballet.

On 03/04/2019 at 9:58 AM, FGarvin said:

Our Troop recently held our OA elections, and unbeknownst to any of the parents of 1st-yr Scouts, the SM had decided not to allow any of the qualified 1st-yr's to be placed on the ballot.  I understand that SM approval is required, but I also know that part of the requirements can be interpreted several ways.  I guess the issue is that it was a blanket decision, not one based on the individual Scout.

Can the SM prevent a qualified Scout from being placed on the OA ballot simply because they're in their first year of Scouting?

On 03/04/2019 at 10:34 AM, FGarvin said:

Not all the parents had an issue with the decision.  It's just that the boys weren't told of the policy.  (it was pretty much a surprise to everyone other than the SM and Committee Chair) 

There were five boys expecting to see their names on the ballots and when they didn't see them, there was a good bit of disappointment and confusion. 

A blanket policy like this really needs to be common knowledge and probably in the by-laws.

maybe I missed it in all the responses.  Do you have confirmation that the SM prevented those Scouts because they were first year scouts?  And awesome job have 5 scouts with first class in a year, my troop has had 2 in the last couple years. 

And do you have a copy of the units by-laws?  I know my troop has by-laws, but they are usually a thing of forgotten past, and no one remembers to pass them out to new parents.

If the scouts were expecting them to see their names on the ballet, it is up to them to talk to the SM about it.  Having another parent push on their behalf isn't going to solve anything.  Either way, its not going to change the results for this year.

Just now, mrkstvns said:

I still don't understand....is that a BSA thing?  Some other country's scouting program, perhaps?

I've never heard of such a badge for Cub Scouts or Boy Scouts here in the U.S.

activity badges are usually a UK thing, similar to earning merit badges

1 hour ago, Abatronthegreat said:

We are trying to complete the international badge, however, being such a small group we are struggling to complete the final section: contact with a scout group in another country. 

Does anyone have any ideas we can use? 

what country are you from?  Are you looking for a group in the US?

59 minutes ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

In the pack I came out of, We got an AOL patch, mom's pin, and the OA chief congratulated us and shook our hands. First time I encountered the OA and boy did it make an impression.

My sons' pack gave the patch, mom's pin, and plaques.It seems as if each year the leaders are trying to outdo the previous years. My youngest has a huge plaque! Hate to see how much it was.

 

Sadly that happened with my old troop, except it was custom neckers. Gave out nine of them one year. Some never made it to the first meeting, and others quit within months. The troop decided to go old school and invest them with the neckerchief and slide when they earned Scout rank. It has saved some $. One year 2/3 never showed up to the first meeting. This past year, out of 4 that were suppose to be crossing over, only 1 came to the first meeting afterwards. 2 decided to join other troops, and 1 is MIA.

My 2 troops do custom neckers at crossover.  Same issue.  But my boy troop has them in super bulk so its a loss, but not a huge one.  My girl troop took the time to custom make theirs, so yeah, that could suck, but its our first year and we don't have the funds to buy them yet, so homemade is the way to go.

my den with my son, no outgoing gifts

The pack that feeds into my troop (different then my son's), does handbooks.  But this year they learned to give them to the scouts at the first troop meeting.  Some never made it to the first meeting and what a waste of a book.

14 hours ago, walk in the woods said:

So which one stands in court, the G2SS or the FAQ?

If they are both published by BSA, they would both stand.

I know the merit badge slash has optional pin to hold to the Shoulder of the uniform, but is there anything for the den chief cord? 

Maybe its me, but it bugs me every time I see my son's turned around and the metal piece showing. 

12 minutes ago, Jameson76 said:

First thought is this is one of the pitfalls / minefields that will be an obstruction to delivering program, but the lawyers will love to have the discussion

Second thought is that as the requirement is at least one female on the event, then as long as no one on one contact, and there is a registered female on the event, you would be in compliance.  Currently we have 1 leader and multiple Boy Scouts in cars / vehicles all the time.  There is more than one leader on the outing (two deep) and there is no one on one contact with the youth as there is more than one Boy Scout in the car.

The old boy standard was 1 leader in a car was fine, because it still met the no one on one contact.

But now that there's girls, it changes the mind set.  But it would still meet the no one on one contact.  Female leadership would be at the event, just not in each car transporting all the scouts.

15 hours ago, John-in-KC said:

Have you asked Your District Commissioner?

(to use the adult version of “have you asked your patrol leader?”)

Nope, Haven't seen him since I thought of the question