Buffalo Skipper

Thank you Jeffrey H for sharing what your troop does. I do like that. And thank you everyone else for agreeing with Jeffrey. Once in a while, consensus is nice.

How do your troops handle a scout who missed his presentations at the Court of Honor? We do all badge presentations right away, but reserve the CoH for the cards (Rank and MB) and recognition in front of family. If you have a scout who missed the CoH, should we hold off on presenting cards until the next CoH; or should we present cards at the next troop meeting and recognize the scout at the next CoH, or just present the cards at the next troop meeting and drop the CoH recognition? Or prehaps something else? Just wanted to hear your thougths.

CA_Scouter: I have a scout in my unit who is a direct descendant of Davy Crockett... Yes, but does he receive royalties from the Camp (Davy Crocket) or do they at least offer him a discount when attending camp there? Edited: I hope he is working on or has earned his Geneology MB...(This message has been edited by Buffalo Skipper)

I had 2 scouts go to the NJ: both 13, one First Class (having previously completed 4 MBs) and the other Life (having nearly 40 MBs). I advised both before they left: Keep in mind the cost of the Jamboree...do you want to spend that money earning a few MBs (which you may be able to earn at home) or would you prefer to do activities which were specifically related to the NJ and could not be done at home. I also advised them that there would be some uniquely qualified counselors there and that they should not pass by a MB opportunity which may prove to be a unique experience. They camp b

While at summer camp, 2009 there was on a large camp staff 2 excellent buglers. They each took separate parts in flags, sometimes playing off each other, other times playing in harmony. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard at camp. We may now have a second bugler in the troop. I have a second scout who came across the sheet music for the different calls and decided to practice. While he plays the trumpet, he practices with only his mouthpiece. Interestingly, he and the actual troop bugler sat next to each other in band last year, and the only other trumpet in the

Our Council/district has worked to improve the accuracy of the "district MBC list" with some success. The recent push to require MBCs to have completed YPT to register has created some chaos. Coincidentally, June is when our council requires that all MBCs resubmit applications (annually), and they will not accept a MBC application without an accompanying hard copy of the up-to-date YPT training card. MBCs are turned away without this card in had, and applications are not accepted, period. The district list is thin, at best. We only have counselors who teach 88 MBs (this includes none o

Our scouts are excited after a very good summer of camping, and are already looking toward next year. One of our leaders recalls going to Camp Davy Crocket in the Sequoyah Council (NE of Knoxville). Though I have found a few references to this camp, the website is "gone" and I cannot even find the council page. Has his camp gone away and/or has the council folded into another? Any info would be welcome.

The only thing which could possibly be tested are reqs 4, 5, 6 & 8. So what, if they fail to addequately describe the scout badge, they have to start over beginning with finding a troop and a filling out a new application? Seahorse puckey! AoL requirement 6 states: After you have completed all five of the above requirements, and after a talk with your Webelos den leader, arrange to visit, with your parent or guardian, a meeting of a Boy Scout troop you think you might like to join. Have a conference with the Scoutmaster. The last statement, "Have a conference with the

But pastas and grains are "shelf-stable," especially if they are infested with certain bugs.... Remember, weevils wobble but they don't fall down.

Our troop sent two 13 year olds to the Jamboree; one First Class, one Life, each in a different Contingent troop. They were among the youngest in our 3 contingent troops (though I know of at least one who was 12). I am very intersted to hear how each preformed, from the contingent SM and ASMs, with whom I am acquainted. I attended the '81 NJ and I appreciate the necessity for skills and patrol unity, as I was a PL. I am fairly confident in our Life, but have reservations about our FC. If his experience was not good, I would not be surprised if he droped out of the troop, which would be

That is really strange. Just earlier today I was talking to a scout who wanted to earn the badge before it vanished. That meant a change of Bugler for him to earn it. The current bugler has not earned the badge either, but has held the position for 3 months and thus has met that requirement. Just today. Spooky.

Our troop has a debit card, which is handled by our treasurer, who has held that position for 10 years. Our troop has a unique situation in that our treasurer is retired and attends every meeting and probably 10 campouts a year, even though his son eagled/aged out 3 years ago. If someone else needs to "order" something or book a reservation online, we are good about using the troop card for that purpose. Having the debit card and good leadership certainly makes things easier for us.

I guess I have to disagree with many of you. To me, as successful troop is one in which there is a great balance and respect for the 8 Methods of Scouting. If you have a program in which all 8 methods are used, then you have a successful troop. Any "adult led" troop is failing Adult Association, Leadership Development, and may well be missing the important points of Personal Growth and Patrols. Any troop which doesn't camp at least 10 or so times a year or more is failing at Outdoors. Uniforming to me is a "yes" or "no" issue; either you follow the uniforming standard or you don't.

Jethro, Our troop is in the process of working out exactly those things you brought up. I really like the "Reports" options in TM, and as SM, I use it regularly to view things like "Target First Class" and "Individual Progress." When a new scouts joins, we encourage them through the process of the Tenderfoot rank, but give only a few occasional reminders beyond that. By First Class, we expect a scout to be self motivated to pursue his own rank advancement. I work throught the PLC and PLs to encourage rank advancement. For us, it is (at least in part) the PLs responsiblity to promote

Well, so far, it has been a successful summer of camps (and camping). June 27-July 3 we went to our local camp with 18 scouts (14 first-time summer campers). I only attended the beginning and end of the week, but we had great leadership in place. The troop came out smelling like a...well, they really didn't smell that good, but they did bond in a tremendous way. They took 1st place in the Water Carnival, and missed the Top Troop by 4 pts. It was a terriffic experience for all who attended! Then on July 23, a contingent of 8 scouts headed up to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park w

I agree with perdidochas that you should have your replacement in your back pocket by now. Whether you do or not, this is a great time (9 months out) to begin preparing your committee for the change. As for your scouts, I would keep that under wraps for the moment. They will either become nervous about your change or they will be anxiously awaiting it. Either way even if you don't intend it to, the anticipation of the change may have a negative affect on your scouts. But then again, you know your scouts best.

ctbailey, on the ships-store.com site, select the "Patches and Recognition" link. Go just almost to the bottom (just above the name tags) and you will see "Collar Marks (pins) - for wear on adult khaki uniform." These are the Sea Scout adult position pins. One star represents a unit level scouter (Skipper also has a bar, Mates only a star), two stars is for Council level, and three for regional. I do not like the Dickies. I started with a pair of them a few years ago, but the color has a hint of green, which really turns me off. I went with the official USN CBDs (polyester) which

While many troops are inactive, during the NJ, tomorrow Troop 3 heads out with a small contingent (8 scouts aged 10-15) to Camp Daniel Boone. Due to NJ activities, the camp is only a little over half full, the lowest booking week I have observed in a couple of years. We are making a brief stop in the Smoky Mountains National Park (Cosby). Saturday the scouts have planned (via 2 groups) a trip across Mt Cammerer (11.0 miles, 2600' up, 2900' down) or collections of smaller dayhikes in Cataloochee. Both groups with meet in Cataloochee Valley before sunset, hoping to spy some elk and other

I had at one time hear that same rumor about the smaller device replaceing the larger. That was 3 years ago and both are still available through BSA supply. I later heard (from a council Venture leader who attended PH course #2 and staffed PH #3) that generally the smaller device came out for women. Her remarks were that with the smaller pocket on the women's blouse the smaller device was better proportioned. Also the larger device does not wear well in this position with a woman's figure. I was given the smaller device 3 years ago when I went through my course and was told that the la

Be well and play hard! I will miss your perspective and your positive attitude. Good luck on your future endeavors. Who knows, maybe there is a scout group where you are going.... Tatanka!

Barry, thank you for the kind words. I am honored and touched that you would want to call me a "dreamer." It is a title which is some people view as less than complimentary. I have been extremely fortunate in my life to have experienced some unusual and memorable adventures. I would like to see that some of the scouts in our troop have similar opportunities, that they may one day be able to pass on to their children and others, perhaps even future scouts. But I am neither trying to relive my own childhood nor impose my youthful experiences upon the members of my troop. My real goal i

Barry asked about my motivation, as did my closest scouting friend and mentor (who happens to work down the hall from me), so I feel it is important to answer. There are several reasons I am supporting this, some of which are more important and others are really quite trivial. For me, the idea of doing a troop doing its own adventure camp program (somewhere in the mountains) entered my mind when my family first camped at this location 3 summers ago, and I saw the group area. It was just so immediately obvious how perfect a location this was to pull this off. I kept the idea to myself

Beavah, I did have that thought, and thanks for noticing and bringing it up. To me, advancement (including MBs) is an individual activity, not one to be pursued on a unit level (either troop or patrol). If each patrol were to choose one "activity group" and follow through with it, that might really be cool. I just don' think that is a very practical approach. As an example, in our efforts to develop patrol centric activites, each of our three PLs (on their own without any prompting or suggesting on my part) have wanted to do a MB as a patrol. Though I am certainly for this, it has not h

Thanks for the quick replies. Let me provide a little more background to this. First of all, as I have said many times, we have a young trooptoo young to organize a trek to a high adventure camp. So this is meant to be a low cost alternative with plenty of bang for the buck, as Stosh suggested. I have run this by (hypothetically) a couple of adults and selected scouts, all of whom seem to really like the concept. Before I talk about some of the ideas, let me insist that this is meant as a hypothetical setup, and that much would be done through the PLC and the scouts to actually determ

Guy, Wow! Sounds like you really had a great camp experience. As we have discussed before, that is where I really want to see our troop as well. We are still green enough that the week ling patrol cooking expereince may be beyond them, but then again young is when you want to start them that way so that they don't develop any bad habits. Too bad we are so far south or I would have suggested that we go to that camp next year. Instead we are talking about setting up our own camp with patrol cooking and patrol and scout decided activities. See the thread-- http://www.scouter.com/Forums