Buffalo Skipper

Several things. First Perdidochas, you really hit the nail on the head with the first word you wrote: "Obviously." You rattled me with that, but I needed that perspective. Thank you. Stosh, I want to create what you have said, a clear expectation. And Beavah, you describe exactly what I am trying to change, and I know it is an uphill battle. For several years, our meetings were from 7-8pm with the expectation that nothing really got started until 7:15 or so. Meetings were disorganized at best. This was addressed at the PLC last March, with the notion that meetings should last 90 minutes. It

Over the past few years, 2 local troops that I know of have had their trailers (and equipment) stolen. Since then, it has been the unofficial advice of our local scouters to not store troop equipment in their trailer. It is inconvenient and timely to fully load everything before every outing, but that is what we have done. We are working on a means by which we can better secure our trailer behind a gate. Our trailer is almost invisible from anywhere, so it has not yet become a target; in spite of this, we take precautions.

We have a real problem in our troop with being on-time. We have, usually, 2 or 3 scouts who show up on-time (early) and everyone else shows up anywhere from 5-30 minutes late, including the SPL. Last night, our SPL called me 30 minutes before the meeting to say he would not be there. I asked if he had also called his ASPL; he said he would try, and called back 20 minutes later to say he could not get ahold of him. One of the TGs was supposed to do a backpack packing demonstration, and he walked through the door 30 minutes late. I sent him home, as our "senior" scout had already worked

Kahuna, I know we traded PMs earlier, but I wanted to show the forum this (if they are interested). It is a localnewspaper article from Thanksgiving Day on Vick Vickery. I don't know how long this link will stay active in the paper's archive. http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008811270352 Enjoy!

My father served as a Scoutmaster and Cubmaster long before I was ever born; when I was a teenager, he was the Skipper of my Sea Explorer Ship. He passed away earlier this year at the age of 91. I am thankful that I he lived as long as he did and that I had the opportunity to seek his counsel and know him, and that he pass on to me so much of what he knew and believed in. The father of two of our pack's cub scouts was killed 2 nights ago in a head on crash involving a drunk driver. As we all remember the many, many things for which we are all thankful this season, please take a mom

Adding to the request, I would be interested in seeing stats on Venturing Silver awards, Ranger, and especially Quartermasters. Great info. Thanks ASM 411. Eagle Class of 1980

Sounds interesting. I am not sure that I like that, as a first impression, but it does make sense, as a UC should not wear unit numbers. On the same lines, neither should a unit scouter wear the arrowhead in on anything but a commissioner's shirt. Actually, I have one multi-use shirt with hook-and-loop numbers, POR and arrowhead. I recently removed the arrowhead loop, but on the odd occasion that I would wear this shirt as a commissioner, I guess I can put the arrowhead in that spot. Maybe there is a little method behind the madness. Nah.

We took some time at a recent meeting to lay the foundation for our "Webelos Fun Day." I had a good ideas of what I thought we should do, but I put it out to the troop for event suggestions. After some discussion, they narrowed it down to these 10: Obstacle courseFireman's CarryFlag FoldingRope TossTent PitchingScout Law RaceKnot Tying RelayHammer ~n~ NailSkin the Snake andLift that Weight as well as:Spirit, and Den Flag Awards Some of these are timed, others are based on accuracy. I suggested 2 events (based on equipment I have access to that the scouts were unaware of)

Not to battle semantics, but YPT is to be completed before a leader is allowed to interact with youth. I would hardly consider an ASM, a youth interactive leader, "trained" if he was not allowed to work with youth.

On of my wife's favorites is (sorry I don't have the tune): Happy Thanksgiving! Hur-ray! Hur-ray! Hur-ray! Aren't you glad you're not a turkey, On this Thanksgiving Day. Hey!(This message has been edited by Buffalo Skipper)

I would consider an ASM to be "trained" (e.g. wear the trained strip) when they have completed Boy Scout Faststart, Youth Protection (YPT), New Leader Essentials, Scoutmaster and ASM Leader Training, and Outdoor Leader Skills. Additionally, before they participate in any outing, I would strongly encourage them to complete the Weather Hazards course, and before a swim/boating outing complete the Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat. These courses (as well as Faststart and YPT) are available online, though some councils/districts still may deliver this material in a classroom setting (excep

When I slipped into the cubmaster role several years ago, our B&Gs were long winded and boring. I worked to streamline the process and ended up with an event which was talked about as the best B&G in the district, and we kept it to 75-90 minutes, including dinner (2 years ago, we sat 250 for the meal)! We open with a greeting, a welcoming of guests, and follow up with the FOS presentation. The pack usually donates $500, and with 50-60 boys, we often top the $4000 mark. We do a raffle, as scouts bring up pledge cards, and it is a fun time for all. Then is dinner, which we u

Thank you all for the input and suggestions. I read and kept up with you posts, and used your ideas (in part) to layout a plan to address the parents (this has been an ongoing plan, and we were just trying to smooth the edges). We recruited several parents to the committee. Though we wanted one or two ASMs also, we had over the past two months reviewed our parents and had no foresaw no viable candidates, so we were not unexpectedlydisappointed. Fortunately we have seen several prospective parents in the Webelos crops we are recruiting from our shared charter packs. Once crossover takes pla

In our WB courses, troop guide presentations are made in a true outdoor setting (weather permitting), and no ppts are used. Most TGs use ppt type printouts and flip with a standup notebook. (on the back side are notes, so they don't have to read the slide. It works well.

Stosh, I am not the SM, yet (another month). Our CC is a great guy and an experienced scouter, but a weak recruiter (he also works offshore, 2 weeks in town, two weeks on the rigs). I am currently a committee member, and we have only had 2 other active committee members for several years; there was also only the SM and no active ASMs. It was nice (in a way): no conflicts, easy to make decisions, and few complications. There were obvious drawbacks, most notably, it was difficult to pull off larger activites, and BoRs were infrequent, at best. With a small troop, this was tolerable.

In our district (and council), all rank advancement occurs on the troop level, Eagles being without exception. As such, all EBoRs are arranged by the troop, so they take place at troop designated locations. In our troop this is done by the Life to Eagle coach. The only obvious differences between a regular BoR and an EBoR is that it is usually scheduled separately from other BoR and troop or committee memeting times, and it is attended by one or two district EBoR "team members." Other attendees are arranged by the troop L2EC, who is an ASM, not a committee member (so he never sits on an EB

Nothing like a little last minute planning. We have a relatively small troop (15 active--2 will age out by February), a small committee and 2 inactave ASMs. In February/March, we are expecting a Webelos crop which will double (or more) our active troop size this year andare planning on 15-20 more nexg year as well. Rather than get behind the 8-ball, we are trying to proactively strengthen our committee and troop leadership before our new Webelos cross over. There are several parentsin the crossover group who will make good leaders, but it is failure to wait. Saturday evening we are ha

Very moving. Yes, thank you.

My ideas about scout camp may or may not be the same as yours. With a large troop, consider going to 2 camps. Certain logistics need to fall into place for this to work, but hear me out. Assuming you have the leadership to support it, try to arrange an early summer trip to your local camp, then 3 or 4 weeks later go to a second camp, outside your council. Look for a camp which has a good high adventure program for the older boys, which may be a new experience for them. Encourage the younger boys to attend the first year program at your local camp, then, if any go to both camps (maybe

Not sure if I was effectively making the point on parents signing off on items, or if I muddied the waters by mistake. As some WAB requirements option earning the Belt Loop, I was suggesting that BLs be done at home, and not to spend meeting time completing the requirements for these (and try not to make it "homework"). As such, it is the parents who would acknowledge the BL requirements, rather than the Den Leader. Obviously Webelos requirements, including WAB and AOL are to be signed off by the leader, not parents. Clear as seawater?

First of all, and not to hijack your thread, but I am not an advocate of W2s meeting regularly with Boy Scout troops. Boy Scouts are of a different maturity level than Webs. Throwing elementary school aged boys into the mix of middle and high school boys can be very problematic. However, that's not what you are inquiring about. Webelos meetings should be first and foremost, fun. Many activity badges give the option of earning (as a Webelos) belt loops to fulfill requirements. These should be done a home and signed off by parents. I am against the notion of making meetings Activity B

Wow! That's really neat. I have been planning to do a 3-5 minute segment on scouting history, leading up to the Centennial celebration. This is something I can include at some point. Thanks.

We are ordering a number of Cascade 4200s for our younger scouts. With the small belt,they work out to about $80 before shipping. We are also ordering some of the Cascade 5200s for our teenagers. Others are enamored with pockets; I am less concerned about that. but it looks like we will have about 6 rust colored packs on our hike in December. We ordered one as a sample, (and loaner) and on close inspection, we are very pleased with the pack. It has all the features a younger scout needs in a pack.

Scottawildcat, If you are interested in a "brag vest," it is my experience that a cub scout/webelos can have pretty much anything on there that he wants. It is really what he wants to show off from his cub scouting experience. My son on his wore all of his family camp patches (9), webelos weekend patches (2), Scout show, Good Turn for America, non-scouting patches which were earned as den/pack activities (hiking trails, zoos, and such), and whatever he has. This is not an "official" uniform item, so pretty much anything goes. On the flip side, we do family activities (camping, h

Our CO "provides" our Trooop with a scout hut. It is on church property, and is a 40x60' building. The building was built (as a scout hut) by volunteers in the 70s. Some of those volunteers still work with the troop. At the time it was built, the troop was 70+ strong. We are now an active troop of 15 boys, but we are beginning to share the building with 2 cub scout packs. Though it is on church property, connected to church power, we (the troop) is entirely responsible for it's upkeep and maintenance, including all costs. Following Hurricane Ivan, we paid to have the roof reshingled