MikeS72

Based on what we were told a week and a half ago, Philmont is only part of the guarantee for a $75 million dollar recurring line of credit, which includes ALL BSA national assets, including national headquarters

While I certainly cannot say what other councils may or may not do, I can speak to what we are doing in my own. We spent quite a while at our recent leadership summit discussing what at the time was the upcoming chapter 11 filing, along with an explanation from our CE concerning the application of a council program fee for the 2021 re-charter year. We have written lists of what that fee will do for us and our families. Just as few of those benefits families will see include: No cost to scouts and families to attend district Cub family camp; no cost for scouts and leaders to attend district camporees; no cost for leaders to attend BALOO or IOLS training; no cost to attend University of Scouting; other possibilities are being looked at as to how we can better serve the scouts in our council. I mentioned a few days ago that I am fortunate to be in the council I am a part of, and the more I read some of the comments here, the more true that statement becomes.

Councils may choose (and most probably will) to set a council program/activity fee. That fee may not exceed the $60 national registration fee. We have been told that as part of the recent increase, there would be no more last minute changes to the fee structure. Any changes must be announced early, nothing to come after May.

Any off us who get that are showing our age. We were the first in my circle of family and friends to get a color tv in 1964, and the first thing my uncle wanted to know was what color car did Agent 86 drive.

I'll do it for 2 boxes of Caramel Delights! 😉

Every time I read about this kind of thing happening to districts and councils I am thankful that I am in what I consider to be the best district in one of the best councils in the country. While every council has issues from time to time, we have a strong, vibrant program; and are experiencing steady growth in both the Cub and Scouts BSA programs.

We are one of 2 districts in our council that still has a Scoutreach program. We currently have 15 Scoutreach units, most of which are in schools with a high 'at risk' population.

While I want to be careful not to misquote anything, we had a long discussion last Saturday with a member of the Executive Committee of the National Board. The gist of what we were told was to expect us (BSA) to be in the news, possibly by the end of the month, concerning Chapter 11 reorganization. Most of us have been expecting this, as the number of states doing away with statutes of limitations on abuse cases that are in some cases half a century or more old, has put the financial future of the BSA in a precarious position. While we all know of some of the high profile cases and settlements from 5 - 10 years ago, I was shocked to hear how much has been paid out in the last few years.

I have heard that not all councils use the same prefix. Here in Central Florida Council, our Pack would be 3xxx; Troop 0xxx; and Crew 2xxx.

The only use I have found for those prefix numbers is that it makes it easier to filter units when I am using parts of the Commissioner Tools in my.scouting. If I am looking for a pack whose CO also sponsors a troop and a crew, putting the 3 in there only shows me the pack to select, rather than all 3. I could just put the number to scout wear, and select based on the logo that shows next to the number, but the prefix ensures that my ancient eyes do not cause me to open the wrong type of unit.

My first uniform came from JC Penny, back in 1964. I recently bought another of the 60's web belts on ebay, as it was listed as 'never worn'. When it arrived it was still in the plastic wrap, with a bright, shiny brass buckle and a JC Penny price tag of 45 cents!

My guess would be that while many units are not aware of it, your council is probably just the same as mine, in that all of those girl troops have a numerical prefix that identifies them as a female unit. Here in Central Florida Council a CO that sponsors both a boy troop and girl troop can request they use the same base number, but the girl unit number begins with 4. My CO has chosen not to sponsor a girl troop right now, but be do have several in our district. As Roundtable Commissioner I see those girls units numbered 4XXX to distinguish them from the corresponding boy troop.

I do believe I may have read one of said Luddite's comments this very morn'!! 😁

Kind of what I say every time I am asked by an over enthusiastic Wood Badge staff member "Don't you want to go to Wood Badge?", without bothering to look closely enough to see the 3 beads I am wearing.

I had to google 'yurt'. In 55 years of scouting I have never been anywhere that had them. My first thought when I saw the pictures was 'Oh, Genghis Khan!' As a few others have said, I would look at those the same as I would a cabin, or the Adirondacks that our council camp offers in a number of campsites.

I guess we are not a 'select market'. I had to live with my usual 2 boxes each of Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Peanut Butter Patties, Caramel Delights, and S'Mores. 😁

True. I have not seen an update to our district list since 11/18.

If the person who signed the card is not registered with BSA in any way, and is thus not a registered MBC, you are not retesting, you are saving this scout a lot of potential heartache down the road if anyone questions the validity of these merit badges. They are not legitimately earned if the signature is not that of a registered counselor.

In some cases, it would not only be dishonest, it would be illegal as well. The school district I am employed by makes use of a number of state and federal grants. Most of those grants have very specific conditions as to what funds can be used for, and we have to submit follow up reports documenting that we used those funds properly. Some grants have unannounced monitoring, to ensure that everything is being done above board. I any case, a grant is usually given for a specific purpose, and cannot be used by anyone else, for any other purpose.

First question would be, is the person who signed all 9 cards a registered MBC for each of the MBs? It is amazing at times how many registered adults do not understand that just because they are an ASM or a SM, they are not automatically authorized to sign off on what ever MB they choose.

In one of my several uniforms, I am a Cub Scout Day Camp Director. Our camp, like many others, is held at a county park. While we pay a very high fee to use the park for the week, there are portions of the park that are still open to the public. We do not tell the general public what they may do in the open areas of the park, but we do not allow them to mingle with the cubs. What I think the gist of this thread is about, is not a scout event in an area open to the public, but parents/family friends who are attending an event that is only scouts, such as cub family camp, day camp, or some troop outing. In that specific instance, registered or not, YPT rules such as no one on one apply to every adult present and participating in that event. We frequently have parents volunteer for the week at day camp who are not registered leaders. They are all required (National Camp Standards) to take an in person YPT class, and must abide by those rules or make the choice not to participate.

Should not make any difference, although it does come with poles. The 2lb weight is if you use the included poles. Using trek poles instead knocks the weight down to 1lb 15 oz.

I have never seen anything prohibiting a scoutmaster from also being a merit badge counselor. Pretty much every SM I know has at least a couple that they are counselors for.

More common in Britain than US military. Basically a return to quarters, get quiet, 15 minutes until lights out call. I am more partial to Taps, myself.