MikeS72

We did our first of 2 summer camps three weeks ago. Seven out of the twelve boys who attended are new to the troop since February, and participated in the camp's Trailblazer program. They spent a good portion of the 'instructional day' working on Second Class & First Class requirements. They also had time in the middle of the day for merit badges, most of them earned 2 for the week. I say most of them, as this camp is, thankfully, a stickler for completions being actually earned. A couple of the younger boys, along with some of the older ones, came back with incompletes that they

Goo Gone will do a pretty fair job, although you may need repeat applications and some scrubbing with a soft brush (toothbrush works well). You could also give Goof Off a try. It is a similar product, but worked pretty well for me, after finding that our Scout Shop used a spray on adhesive before sewing on the council patch, and the international patch. I had to move that dreaded little purple guy to sew on knots, and found the residue. Not a happy camper! I discourage parents from ever using Badge Magic, even to the point of offering to run the patches on my sewing machine.

I had the same situation when I got back involved in my great-nephew's pack. I had been inactive for a number of years, and was accepted into the lodge after providing the date I went through my ordeal, and of course, paying dues. In many instances, there has to some element of trust; particularly if you do not have old membership cards for verification. In my case, it was a little easier, as while I did not have the 50 year old membership card, I did have my Vigil Honor certificate to use as verification.

Should I mention how much I enjoy 'winter camping' here in Florida? Coldest I have run into here with Scouts was a 27 degree night on an OA weekend. (did see plenty of cold in Colorado, however)

I find that many Scouts also struggle just to get a properly built fire lit. We were at summer camp last week, and after multiple failed attempts, I showed them a correctly built fire, which lit on the first try. As I laid the first bit of kindling, one of them remarked 'Look, he's doing it the way they showed us in Vanguard (second class skills)'. He sounded surprised that what they had been taught earlier in the week actually worked. p.s., I agree with your assessment of state fire bans. Here in FL it is often hard to find a campsite that will allow open fires.

As do I. This Scout sounds to me to be very much a leader.

Try contacting your Council summer camp director to see if any of the young ladies on staff this summer are from your area. We just got back from camp last Saturday, and had several excellent female staff members that our boys were very impressed by.

As long as there are no critter hiding in said lion hat, I will gladly wear it!

I can tell you, having tried, that I will probably never find a Lion hat that I could possibly wear.

Our troop does not wear a neckerchief, and I cannot remember seeing any leaders in our pack wear one. I still have my original neckerchief from 1964, along with a collection of others, ranging from camp neckerchiefs to my Eagle one. The only one I currently wear, and then only at formal district or council events, is my 46 year old Woodbadge tartan.

My troop and I visited the museum when it was in North Brunswick. It was probably a 3 hour drive or so for us, but well worth the trip.

This is part of why our monthly Roundtable not only features CS & BS breakout sessions, but also a parent breakout. Hopefully we will be able to have some parents 'see the light'. We are also coming back this fall with a possible Webelos breakout, designed to help some of those new WDL's to learn the patrol method before they plunge head first into the icy cold waters of Boy Scouts.

Revocation of membership may only be a formality if that membership had already expired, the end result is not. Depending on what caused said revocation, it would really not make much difference whether the individual was registered or technically just a parent. If severe enough, it would, in my opinion, preclude him/her from any contact with the unit; regardless of registration status.

New uniforms as soon as they were available. Had to buy several pair of the new shorts, as I was on camp staff that year, and wore them daily.

Actually, the OA was founded in 1915, thus celebrating it's 100th anniversary 3 years ago. I have been a member for half of that time.

Not the way we do things in our district. This should be done face to face, particularly when looking at the reason some of the training numbers might seem a bit out of whack to someone who is not familiar with your unit. You should also be getting at least somewhat regular UC visits.

Yes, it is a Commissioner task, and is usually done in a meeting with the Key 3. I had the info when we met, and we reviewed to for accuracy. Several who showed as not trained were parents who registered but left the unit.

Yes. The leaders not trained list and YPT status list would then just be a print out showing those individuals.

I have spent the last 42 years in the public school system, so I am very familiar with special needs children. I work with a number of those children on a daily basis, and fully understand the amount of patience that can require. It is a little different in the troop than it is at work however. We do need to make reasonable accommodations in Scouting to give every child every opportunity to participate; in the situation you have described it sounds as if your unit has done a lot to help the boy. I also get the sense that part of the problem stems from the parent, who also sounds as if

Just did one of these a couple of weeks ago, as a UC. Section 2 information can be pulled up by your Key 3, or any Commissioner. You are looking for the number of leaders who are current with Youth Protection (right now we are also looking at who needs to take the new YPT before Oct. 1), are there any current leaders whose YPT has expired, do you have any leaders who have never taken YPT (that answer, hopefully, is no, especially since we now need to include a copy of the YPT certificate with the adult application). Training data as of would be the date the report was pulled. How many

Very brief time as a Cub in 1961 (we were a military family, and after a PCS found ourselves in a small town with no Pack). Got back in as an 11 year old Scout in 1964. Being military meant changing troops several times along the trail to Eagle. Elected to OA in 1969, Brotherhood in 1970 & Vigil Honor in 1972. Chapter Chief and Chapter Advisor, along with many years of ceremonial teams. Served on camp staff for 6 years in 2 councils. Attended Woodbadge in 1972, at the ripe old age of 18 (first year the age requirement dropped from 21 to 18), BEAVERS ARE BEST!! Woodbadge staff in

I think @ParkMan may have been referring to a video with the OA National Chief and Vice Chief, in which Bryan & Anthony appeared to be wearing a neckerchief/t-shirt combo, common in a lot of countries.

Our Troop allows phones prior to the meeting. Once the meeting is called to order, they must be put away. Scouts may bring them on outings, to be used in the car on the way to and from. Once we arrive at the event, they are to be put away. We do have the occasional request for a phone to be used for pictures, which is granted when appropriate. The Scouts may use them in their tent at night, until lights out, and with headphones only.

IF everything holds true, this is how things should work. A CO may choose to remain a boy only pack, with no changes. They may choose to sponsor both an all boys pack and an all girls pack, who operate independently of each other. They may choose to make the existing pack co-ed, with dens that are gender separate; girls in one den, boys in another. At this point there should not be any co-ed dens. If a pack chooses the co-ed model and does not have enough girls for separate age appropriate dens, they may have a mixed age den of girls. (kind of like back in the dim past, when dens wer

Those socks (with the garters/green tabs) were the bane of every camp staff member, when at the end of a long summer we had that tiny tan that went from the bottom of the shorts to the top of the socks.