MikeS72

@MattR bottom of the opening slide showed it as copyright BSA 1978. I have seen many real life versions of that SM over the years, all of whom were sure that they were doing things the right way. It takes a lot of effort to step back and let Scouts make mistakes. I have told them more than a few times when they forget to pack something or don't set up the way I would, if it is not life threatening, I not going to step in and fix it for you; hopefully you will remember next time. I did have a little bit of a flashback when hearing that first little beep, and remembering how often I would have to remind my middle school students to pay attention to the beeps, as that was their signal to advance to the next frame when we showed a filmstrip in class.

@LeCastor I spent a week at one of the Atlanta Area Council camps, Woodruff Scout Reservation and compared to Florida in July, it was downright cold, at 42 degrees the first night we were there. Also spent about a week and a half on staff of a Woodbadge course hosted by New Orleans Area Council in '74.

9.0.2.4 “Give Leadership to Others …” “Others” means at least two people besides the Scout. Helpers may be involved in Scouting or not, and of any age appropriate for the work. In cases where just three people are not able to conduct a project to the satisfaction of a beneficiary, then more would be advisable. It may be, however, that a well-chosen project conducted by only three provides an impact not achievable with those involving more. One of the purposes for the project is to demonstrate leadership, but this could be considered a more important element, perhaps, for a Scout who has not yet established himself as a leader. It is for reasons like these that every project must be evaluated, case-by-case, on its merits, and on lessons that will advance the candidate’s growth. Councils, districts, and units shall not establish requirements for the number of people led, or their makeup, or for time worked on a project. Nor shall they expect Scouts from different backgrounds, with different experiences and different needs, all to work toward a particular standard. The Eagle Scout service project is an individualized experience. I have added the bold, underlining. The only person required to be registered members of BSA is the Life Scout whose project it is. I have seen projects where pretty much everyone in a troop helps, and I have seen projects where none of the additional people are Scouts, but rather friends or team mates. While I would prefer that those involved are all Scouts, I would never tell someone that they must only use registered persons.

Also in the south, however our council camp is about 90 miles north of us. In the winter, that equates to about a 10 degree drop in temperatures at night. Many of our Florida born and bred Scouts do not handle anything below 75 very well, and do not own 'winter' clothing. At our chapter Ordeal weekend last January, we had several show up in shorts on Friday night, on a weekend when it dipped to 27 degrees that first night. We camp, hike, and backpack year round here. Much more comfortable being on the trail for three days in November or January's temps than July's upper 90's. By the way, I did plenty of real 'winter camping', with plenty of snow, ice, and zero degree temperatures before relocating to Florida many years ago.

Very true. I know that the Coleman tent will only last if I am careful with it, it is not really made for heavy duty use. The Big Agnes may have cost 10x more than the Coleman, but I know it will, taken care of, last many, many years. Doesn't hurt that Big Agnes has excellent customer service and backs their products to the fullest. I do see that with some of the cheaper tents that parents buy for Scouts, particularly in tearing them when being a bit enthusiastic about pulling on the tent corner rather than the stakes during take down.

When buying a tent I tend to look more at what type of camping it will be used for, rather than what type of weather. As weather here in Florida can be rather unpredictable at times, we should Be Prepared for anything it may throw at us. I also have no problem with Coleman, if it I am using it when we are basically 'car camping'. In those instances, comfort, particularly being able to stand up when dressing, is a big consideration. I have multiple Coleman tents that are used in those situations. I also have 2 one person Eureka tents, along with a 2 person (really more comfortable with 1) Big Agnes Tiger Wall 2 ultra light backpacking tent. I pretty much only use the Big Agnes when backpacking, due to weight considerations.

Was any of that time spent at Boxwell Scout Reservation? If so, when were you there? My first 4 summer camps were at Boxwell, followed by staffing in 72, 73, & 74.

Here is a link that may help. You may want to look into the Lone Scout Program https://www.scouting.org/commissioners/lone-scout/

My troop chose the beret because of the Army. I was with a troop on base at Fort Campbell, from 1965 - 1974. Back then, the only one's who wore berets were Special Forces. When we saw that we could wear that red beret, we were all over it.

Hey now! I wore that beret proudly in the early 70's, and am planning on wearing it (along with my '72 retro uniform) to Roundtable tomorrow night. I also have, and wear with it, one of the 60's garrison hats. Only time I wore the campaign hat was on Woodbadge staff in '74.

If we are thinking of the same infographic, as I recall, it was sent to Councils and shared on Commissioner pages as early as last April.

Has anyone registered a parent under the Unit Scouter Reserve (91u) designation? We have a parent with our Pack who shows on our roster in my.scouting.org as Unit Scouter Reserve. No one in the Pack has any idea why, and my thought is someone at the Council applied that position code, probably due to the application not being checked before submission. I know that the Unit Scouter Reserve is supposed to be for those who want to register, but are not registered for a specific position, and they are required the same background check and YPT requirement as anyone else. I have not been able to find anything yet on the BSA website to say what the registration fee is, or if indeed there is a fee. Thanks in advance to anyone who has dealt with this in their unit.

It was made abundantly clear at the school nights I attended as a Unit Commissioner that they were signing up to be Cub Scouts, and a part of BSA. We had one school night where we were in the school cafeteria and the GSUSA folks were in the Media Center at the same time. We were instructed to make sure that we asked every parent coming in with a girl if they were there to join Cub Scouts or Girl Scouts. If they replied Girl Scouts, they were sent across the hall to the Media Center. No poaching, no confused parents.

Probably the majority of packs use a school year calendar. Our pack does, as do all the surrounding packs. They have 3 or 4 pack wide activities during the summer, in addition to CSDC, (bowling, movie night, etc.) but no den meetings or pack meeting. I am not aware of any troop in my area that does not use the calendar year. While we do have Scouts who miss things during the summer due to family vacations, we have a full slate all summer long, including week long summer camps both in and out of state.

I concur. On a side note, perhaps I will break out the old 70's 'Scout BSA' uniform for Roundtable this month; and yes, it will include my much maligned red beret!

With the pack, show and sell proceeds are divided by the number of Scouts in attendance and credited toward individual prizes. We also waive dues if they reach a preset sales figure, usually $600. Those sales also go toward what it takes to be able to pie a leader. With the troop, the Scout has 35% of their individual sales credited to their Scout account, which can go a long way toward paying for summer camp. Troop show and sell proceeds go into the troop treasury, and helps with paying for awards during the year.

Boxwell Reservation - Middle Tennessee Council, both as a camper and staff Salmen Scout Reservation for Wood Badge staff Broad Creek - Baltimore Area Council Camp La-No-Che - Central Florida Council Woodruff Scout Reservation - Atlanta Area Council

During our annual Commissioner Conference in Central Florida Council it was mentioned that we had the highest both the highest overall recruiting numbers, and the most girls joining in the country. I can't say how school visits went in other areas, but in our district, there was a particular emphasis put on this being the first time that girls have the opportunity to join Cub Scouts. Most of our school night sign ups had pretty close to half of the sign ups be girls. We picked up 11 in my pack, and we were not even close to the top pack.

You may have read that on one of the Scoutbook forums, but that, like these forums, often represent the poster's opinions or belief system, not official policy. It may not be a good idea for a spouse to be part of 2 deep, just as it may not be good idea to have spouse in key 3 positions, but I have never seen anything in writing from BSA forbidding it.

One came with the new red JacShirt I bought last winter.

Regardless of age, no one should do Wood Badge because someone else thinks they should. I took the course at 18, although it was a much different animal (pun intended) 46 years ago. As for SM specific and IOLS, if you want to be officially position trained, those are required. If JTE is important to your troop, having leaders position trained is important as well. As @Sentinel947 said, you may find yourself helping others who do not have your experience during IOLS. I came back into the program after a hiatus when my nephew was in Cubs, and moved into the troop with him. IOLS was not around during my last stint, and as an ASM I took the course last spring. While there was nothing presented that I was not already very familiar with, there were a lot of new leaders in the course, so I spent a fair amount of time helping them with knots, lashings, map & compass, etc.

As @HashTagScouts posted, WRFA is only required at one of the national high adventure bases, where you must have at least one certified person (2 for Philmont treks). As a WRFA instructor, I can attest to how in depth the training can be. I recommend that every unit that does any kind of multi-day backpacking, canoeing, kayaking, etc. have someone who has taken the course.

In Central Florida we do not have tiered pricing so to speak, but there are a few things that can lower the cost, although not by a whole lot. If you have a sibling attending camp, you get a $20 discount, if you attend more than one week of summer camp you get a $20 discount (this second week discount applies even if the second week is at a different camp). There are also Council scholarships, which can cover up to 50% of the $320 weekly fee.

https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2016/04/29/can-volunteer-serve-multiple-volunteer-roles/ Looks like I was a little slow in posting this link, but it doesn't hurt to be repeated. We both do not want to over burden anyone, and also want to see as many parents step up as needed.

My biggest concern with sharing a website between 2 units is the confusion that may occur when parents do not take the time to differentiate between the boy troop and girl troop information. I can also be confusing to people who are just looking for information before choosing a troop who do not realize that they are showing up with their son on the girl troop meeting night. Free web services abound; I would opt for keeping them separate.