Buffalo Skipper

Well, our scout shop finally got in the new Pack Trainer knot. They ordered the right number every week and it kept rejecting for a whole month; eventually the order took. And, no surprise, it is mostly unlike any of the 4 variations I have seen on the internet thus far. It closely resembles this one in it's style: http://knots.boy-scouts.net/packtrainer.jpg However, it has different shades of blue and yellow than pictured. This example refelects the colors very well (but not the style): http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/3/3c/PackTrainerAwardKnot.gif The result is a brig

Being 10 years old does not qualify him for boy scouts. In fact, the youngest he can join is 10 1/2 because before the age of 11, he must earn the Arrow of Light (or complete the 5th grade) and 10 1/2 is the youngest the AoL can be earned. It is possible for him to finish his Arrow of Light, but his schedule will be different from the other boys in his den, and it will take the cooperation of multiple den leaders. First, he will need to earn his Bobcat, and that can be done with the help of the boys who have already done that. If he is diligent, he can earn his Webelos by mid-January (

NJCubScouter, With the communications flow you offered, can you give me a sense of your troop dynamic, like size, number of patrols and general age breakdown? BW, Our BoR runs smoothly and quite by the book. And, though years ago we used to have BoRs once a month, our troop has "shrunk" since then, and BoRs are now generally conducted as needed. We are expecting to have a big growth spurt this year, and I am working to ensure that troop and administrative processes are running smoothly now, in preperation. And as a Sea Scout trainer, I am very familiar with the differences with Ven

Now, the Scout Shop is restricting the rank patches, so without an advancement form, you can't get rank patches. Ours is doing the same thing. We have always kept a supply on hand for immediate recognition, reserving the card for the COH. Recently the troop"ran out" of rank badges, and we could not get any new ones without an advancement form. We had a new advancement chair, and an unexpected lost scout book delayed our getting in the advancement form. Now when we are low on a rank patch, we buytwo for each advancing scout (keeping one on hand for local stocks). This allows us to keep on han

I wrote this recently for use at our upcoming first new PLC meeting. I got the idea from the History Channel show "TR: An American Lion," and I backed up the facts with on line sources. What do you think? Any improvement ideas? In 1898 Theodore Roosevelt was the Assistant Secretary to the Navy. He had worked hard to build a strong navy for the country and he has succeeded. When the Spanish American War broke out that year, he resigned his comfortable office job to lead a volunteer force of cavalry. These men, who were an unlikely mix of Western cowboys, frontiersmen, Eastern

When a scout has completed all his requirements for a rank (excluding Eagle, for this discussion) and has finished his Scoutmaster Conference, what do you do next? I know all troops are different, but does the SM inform the Advancement chair? Who tells who what? Additionally, and especially for those with Troopmaster, at what point and by what process does this get recorded?

Evmori, So what you are saying is that if the scout had not completed half his requirements in a year (as an example), and a SM calls a conference to review his progress (this is a SM conference, as described on page 124 of the SMH), he must sign off the conference, even though the scout is not ready to advance? I realize that this is one example, and applies to maybe 1 in 4 or 5 SM conferences. A SM conference should take place only after all other items have been signed off. Let's assume, instead, that the SM evaluates "scout spirit" at the conference, which I believe is a fairly co

Thank you all for your input. I believe you have left no doubt whatsoever about where and how the denner cord is is to be worn. Prehaps more amazingly, no one got their knickers in a twist over it either. Someone should record this it may be a first.

"...is a Denner like a patrol leader for a Webelos Den?" A denner is member of aden who is the chosen "helper" for the den (any den, not just Webelos--my original question revolved around the tan shirt with the epaulets, hence the webelos references). The time period is what the den leader specifies, but usually 1-3 months. The boys in my den are a real mixed bag, and mostly do not know each other from classes. I asked them to choose a denner last week, for 2 months. Each boy wanted to vote for himself, so I asked the boys to work it out, and I stepped away and let them work it out for the

I searched the forum and the internet to no avail, so it is time I asked the most opinionated experts I know--you. There are several webelos dens in our pack which are utilizing Denners for the first time. The question is, how are the tabs pinned on the shoulder (in relation to the epilettes)? Is is over, through, outside of, or under the tab.

"...does the MBC have to turn in to the District an adult app every year?" That's a good question, OneHour, and I will share what I know. I just looked up Merit Badges in the Advancment and Committee Policies and Procedures guidebook. It states that the district or council advancement committee should send out a letter annually to invite MBCs to contintue their registration. That opens up other doors, through which I do not really want to walk. One person at our council office (not our registrar), said she would re-register them each year (which I believe she can and will). That kind of blan

"...we don't want the council to come back later and 'take the AOL back' saying that they were not qualified for it." I can't imagine a council which has so much free time and energy on its hands that it would go around a pack to "take away" an AoL from a Cub Scout. Aside from that, the requirements are the requirements. What some boy scout committee member thinks of cub scout requirements is pretty irrivelent in the greater scheme of things. On the other hand, if they were to "refuse" admission to the troop because they didn't feel the AoL was earned by their interpretation of the reqirem

Lisabob, Is that form distributed by the scout office? Is is generated from Scoutnet? If it is, then there must be a way to record that in Scoutnet (which I have been told there is not). On the other hand, if the list is maintained as a separate document, that is another issue entirely. I don't think we could make that work here in our council, knowing our office dynamic.

Beavah, I like your approach. And I do like the idea of having the ASPL move up to SPL, using the ASPL as a training. I am not 100% for this, but I cannot knock the merits. I think it has significant drawbacks, but rather than being negative about it, let me relate what we have tried work into our program. Our troop dynamic would not allow for this long terms, largely because of the role HS sports plays with our older members. One is in baseball, another in swimming, two in soccer, and three on the track team (a couple are on more than one team). These largely run different seasons, an

" 'If the system has no way to differentiate this information, why include it on the form?'Which "system" are you refering to?" I am talking about the Scoutnet (or what ever it is called) database used by the council. Again,I was told that if someone turns in a registration as a MBC (along with form #34405) with the portion at the bottom indicating they only want to work with Troop XX, that is "ignored," as there is no way to indicate that as the registration is entered into the computer. MBC is entered with a position code 42, which is a district level position, so they cannot be solel

I agree with what is being said. We have a number of 5th grade Webelos who will be crossing over in the middle of October. They will not have been out of the 4th grade but for 5 months, but they have met the 10 1/2 rule and have completed the AOL requirements. Not to battle semantics, but why does what the "troop" advancement chair says matter? The AOL is a cub scout award, not boy scouts.

Thanks for the info. What I am trying to rectify (in my head) is on BSA form #34405 just above the bottom where it gives the options: "...to work only with insert unit number." or "...to work with all units." If the system has no way to differentiate this information, why include it on the form?

This question if for anyone with a better understanding than I on the Scoutnet database system. Our registrar told me last week that the system only allows her to register MBCs as a 42, which is a district (not unit level) position. Therefore, all MBCs must be available to all scouts. I am not knocking our registrar (she is a friend), but is this really right, or is something being overlooked?

Thanks every one of you for your advice, especially those of you critical or questioning of my/our actions. Whether I agree or disagree with your advice is not really the point. It is these opposing viewpoints which most make me consider and evaluate my own direction. Our goal is to bring our troop into a position in which they act as patrols, and with your suggestions, I believe that we will be there soon. Tonight is the first PLC with our new SPL, after which I will have more on which to base our "current" and "upcoming" status.

**** we interrupt this thread for a brief hijack **** At our CoH on Monday, we had one young brother (2nd grade) who was quietly playing a video game in the back, and he had 7 (...count them s-e-v-e-n....) other games spread out on the table in front of him in case he was bored with the one he was playing. Talk about having the attention span of a gnat.... **** we now return you to your regular discussion ****

Information on the upcoming Seabadge Conference has been posted on the Southern Region Sea Scout page. http://sregion.seascout.org/forms/SBCFTSHSR33.pdf Also online is the application. http://sregion.seascout.org/forms/SBCAPPLSR33.pdf

Please, help me evaluate our weekend outing, and the CoH which followed. For the campout, 6 boys showed up, all 6-7th graders. Two who had confirmed the week before called as we were packing, and did not show. This was to be the outgoing SPLs last outing of his tenure, but he had a swim meet and did not come, but this was known in advance. The remainder of the older boys who had pushed for this campout also were unable to make it. Two PLs did make it, leaving us with patrols of 2 and 4. Our SM has had some health issues and ended up leaving late on Friday evening. We camped in a

Kahuna wrote:"Not all crews or ships are coed. What about an all male Sea Scout crew?" Then there is no need for co-ed leadership, but all other guidelines of supervisionapply. As an example, do you really want your ship of 14-20 year olds taking out your 40' cabin cruiser or 35' sailboat for a day trip or weekendanchor-outwithout adult supervision? Or what about a work project on your almost done electrical system?

BW, I stand corrected, and you are right. The TLT (same as Chapter 7 SMH) has a chart listing the "Youth Leader Training / Conducted By" with the Patrol leader training to be done by the Scoutmaster and SPL. In my own defense, eventually I would like to see the SPL conduct this training. As for our troop dynamic, that is a different story, and I guess relevant to this discussion, at this time. Hang on, this will be a wild ride.... Our troop is a 75+ year organization. For several decades during the 70s 80s and early 90s, it was the largest, most recognized and respected tr

Thank you Kudu, That was the kind of clear-cut response I was looking for! I really think you put it into perspective when you talked about ADVENTURE and scouts being HAPPY. I get the impression that you may have mistaken a few things I said, but it could have just been that I was being too wordy and not clear. No point rehashing that, I want to focus on your ideas here. Most of the boys are energized about the surfing campout (this weekend). I don't think FUN will be left out of this one. It has been 4 years (almost to the day) since our troop's last surf outing. It was on