Buffalo Skipper

Our troop recently took our scouts to our local campthe first time our troop had gone there in 8 years. We took 18 scouts (14 of which were first time summer campers) and we placed first in the water carnival and missed top troop by only 4 points. Not bad for a bunch of boys wet behind the ears! The bonding experience (which we had missed at 2009 summer camp) was marvelous, and our young troop is much more like a family than before. We had a great time, but we were greatly disappointed by the program offerings, both the new scout program and the way in which MBs were conducted. Of course t

Our troop has 6 month terms. And it was something that came up at last night's PLC meeting. Sure, it takes 6 months for some people to get really comfortable in a position and hit their "stride." The culture in our troop for years had been that someone only serves for 6 months and moves aside (with no formal term limit in place). This was when we had a small (12-15 member) troop with a reasonably balanced age range. That went out the window a few years ago when we had a recruiting "gap." Now, we are looking to a 13, 14 and 15 year old to lead the troop. We need to have a culture where w

Without getting wrapped around the axel for fundraising, we use our council sponsored fundraisers (popcorn in the fall and camp cards in the spring) for individual camperships (generally summer camp, but it could be used for any camping). It it our goal to hold other fundraisers to help defer the cost of outings and camping. This is new to our program this year. We have our scouts do all the shopping for camping (food). Generally this amounts to $10 or less per campout. This includes Saturday: breakfast, lunch and dinner; and Sunday: breakfast and lunch. This is an average of $2 per/

We do the swim with the manatees every other Februray. Pensacola to Crystal River is 7 hours, and we can typically do the weekend for about $80-$90. Pretty reasonable. This past year (2010) we swam with an estimated 250 in the morning. When we went back in the afternoon there were only 50-75 still hanging out in the spring. Previously about 100 was the most we had ever seen. It was amazing.

Our troop is at our council camp (Spanish Trail Scout Reservation, Camp Euchee) right now. The camp is notoriously hot and humid. Typical 90/90s (90+F/90%+ humidity). Campers develop what is affectionally called the "Euchee walk," where scouts walk with a bit of a bow legged stance to avoid chaffing a very raw area. I was up on Sunday night and left after dinner Monday (I'll return Thursday evening). After I left, the ASMs marched the scouts to the showers and they showered by patrol (which I heard worked very well). Any with Euchee walk were told to dry extra well and given Gold B

Thanks for the info. I will share that with my troop, Sea Scout ships and the camp's aquatic director. Good information.

LIBob, first let me say that it is tragic anytime someone drowns. As a Scouter, Boy Scouter and avid boater, I am especially mindful of situations involving current or former scouts and leaders. However, I am inclined to side with Beavah on this one. This was neither a scouting activity nor did it involve youth, so it is difficult to assess a comparison to SA. I agree that a second boat would have been fine, but outside of BSA, that concept is taught no where that I am aware. Not to refute the grieving father, but his statement is emotional and taken somewhat out of context.

Our troop has plenty of other books in our library, including cook books, outdoor books and much more, and in fact, we do have that 1990s edition of Woods Wisdom. ;-) It is not off in the dark rescesses of some hidden closet; it is right out in front for everyone to see. I do like the idea of getting surplus check out cards and book pockets (I will call the library this morning). Another thing I like is the idea of inserting a "sign-out" page in the front or back of the book. Here, any scout who checks out can sign and include the date he completed the MB. I also just remembered

Has anyone heard of the Bass Pro Shops promotion offering (nationwide) counseling for Rifle Shooting and Fishing MB classes? Our council sent out an email about it but was not very specific about the details needed to take a merit badge. There are two BPS within about 1.25 hours of us. One is in council, the other out of council. I have been unable to determine that either has a registered and trained MBC for this. I have a scout who wants to attend. In fact, he claims his whole patrol wants to attend, though none of them have asked me about it or gotten a blue card. I canno

Greetings fellow scouters (and scouts). Our troop has not utilized the "Librarian" position for many years, and I am considering discussing this with our SPL. We do have an extensive library, though much of it is quite out of date. I would very much like to see the really old books (some of ours date back to the 70s and even a few to the 60s) removed from circulation and the mostly current ones used more. We have no system for recording check outs on MB books. Can any of you offer some ideas on what your troop does and how your handle the troop library? FYI, the scout the SPL

"I stopped by the local REI...." :-( I'm jealous. The nearest REI to me is just over 350 miles away. I wish I could just "stop by" the local REI store....

As far as sheets go, either go with cheap Wal-Mart sheets or a liner. The silk is great, but I use a thin flannel mummy liner (REI). My son has a cotton mummy liner (Alps Mountaineering). Each of us are very happy with what we use. In the winter, of course, we can use these with our mummy bags to lower the rating. We usually bring a regular sleeping bag to sleep on top of, which to me is much more comfortable.

For a compact tent fan, look at this one. It is not cheap, but it is the smallest and most incredible fan I have ever seen. http://www.amplestuff.com/compactdeskfan.aspx We picked up a pair of these after Hurricane Ivan (2004) and with a set of Duracells in each, I am buying my third set of batteries this week. Yes, you can get well over 200 hrs of use out of one set of batteries. Really cool is the variable speed and the 4 hour auto shutoff. My son and I are taking these to camp next week where daytime temps are in the 90s and evening in the upper 70s or lower 80s.

Without our district or counil, we would be..merged into another council. Our council is roughly 100 x 150 miles, and our service center and national scout shop are right here in my hometown, 12 miles away. To have that more to a location 60-180 miles away if our council went under would be extremely difficult for our program. For participating in FOS, Popcorn, and the "Spring Fundraiser" (which was extremely successful this year!), we receive free use of camp and facilities for the year (not summer camp). This includes canoes. Last year we did 2 canoe trips totaling 7 nights. For t

I do see the value of a group project, as you all described. Yet it only reinforces that this should not be one. Let me offer this perspective (typical of what I often see in scouts these days): Adam, Bob and Chuck are working on a group project, together, say a coffee table. Adam is a little engineer with a strong personality and reasonable leadership potential. Bob is a real follower and a bit lazy. Chuck really doesn't want to take the MB, but mom and dad say that this is only offered until December and he needs to take it now. Adam designs the piece, and Bob contributes. Chuck

The comparison to VLSC is an interesting one, but its purpose is somewhat different from TLT. VLSC is a leadership program intended for the entire unit (crew). We have also put on council-level VLSC courses, but the main excuse for this is that crews are too small and inexperienced to execute their own course. We have been fortunate that for the most part we have had mostly complete crews in attendance, which help. Ironically, when our troop runs our TLT, we include our entire troop, which is not the real idea of the program. Our reason for this is that we do this after crossover, and

I am not really bent out of shape (yet), just opinionated. I also am 29 years out of date on NJ, and I really want to know that I am dotting my i's and crossing my t's. I have many fond memories of the 81 NJ, and as this is the 8th Jamboree at this site, I can only imagine how much more organized it has become. I will consider counseling my scouts on the meaningfullness of all the activities. Interestingly, both scouts are 13. One has 4 merit badges while the other has 28. I just took a moment to look at the bsajamboree.org and the midway site. However dishartened I was by the l

I have some questions about MBs offered at the Jamboree. I have heard that scouts will have the opportunity to take MBs at the NJ. As a SM, how do I prepare my scouts for this? Do I offer each scout a stack of blank signed Blue Cards? As we live 750 miles away, obvously none of these counselors are registered in our district or council. If it was at a summer camp, I would counsel the scout in advance. I have one scout attending who acts like "He who has the most badges wins." Please give me some ideas here. As a personal note (few of you know me should be surprised by thi

I am not trying to keep this off topic here. In fact I trying to specifically answere the question of whether or not this is double dipping. If as ManyHats suggests that this project is a means of demonstrating proper tool use as specified in reqs 2 and 3, then there is no "project" (for the sake of the MB). The project exists as a stand alone activity, during which scouts demonstrate their ability to use tools. There is no double-dipping here. But the scout cannot be "required" by the counselor to participate in/complete the project as a means of completing requirements 2 and 3; th

I strongly disagree. TLT should be handled on the troop level. It is the SPL, ASPL and instructors who should be delivering this training to the other scouts in your troop. There should be several youth trainers to handle the sessions. To deny your scouts the opprotunity to train other scouts by having a single SPL, for example, train ASPLs from 5 troops shorts the 4 ASPLs from other troops the needed interaction with their own SPL. Taking this already weak and vague program and diluting it by making it a district or council "class" is like trying to flavor a bathtub full of water wit

I believe that the call regarding service hours should be made by the SM (or whomever in your unit is responsible for this; is it the Advancement Coordinator?). However, I would have reservations regarding this project (handicap ramp) for the Carpentry MB. Requirement 6 states: "Make a simple article of furniture for practical use in the home or on the home grounds, finished in a workmanlike manner, all work to be done without assistance." I would consider neither a "ramp" nor a "tool box" as apiece of furniture. And the stipulation "...to be done without assistance" would not, in my

Wow! Great replies. I want to repond to each and every one, as every one has merits I want to learn more about; but that is not practical here. Instead, let me explain my place in all this, and a little more background. Years ago, there was a written troop bylaws, and before that, a troop policies sheet. These are so old that they predate electronic media and were typed and mimeographed. Of the active people in our troop, I hold the only known copies of these documents, and as no one really knows what actually is written there, these are not decreed to the troop as a method of rule.

I would be curious to know how many reported incidents (injuries, lost scouts, etc.) have occurred nationally while patrols were operating independantly with SM approval vs. while with a troop and 2 deep leadership.

Our troop is in the midst of some changes. This is a good thing. Our committee's spine is slowly evolving from all cartilage to something a little bonier. We are recruiting new, capeable adults (ASMs) who are going through training and open to new ideas. We are recruiting new scouts at an unexpected pace and we are training our scouts to lead the troop. In the midst of all this, we are seriously looking at everything we do with the troop, and I have spoken of many of these things from time to time here on the forum. A recent conversation with our committee chair led to a discussion a

We use...our Treasurer. He is tight with the troop purse strings and would never spend the money on a program to do what he already does. He is retired and has the time to put into it. He was, by the way a programmer, so for him to reject software should indicate how miserly he is. Don't take that the wrong way--he has been our treasurer for almost 8 years now and he should be committed--I mean is a committed--asset to the troop.