Jameson76

I think Boys Life is optional. When you recharter, you have to check (or not check) that box. In our unit we used to roll that into annual dues. When the last big increase came along, we kept the dues the same, and then if Scouts wanted BL they could pay extra...very few in fact did.

Saw it on a site

the OFFICIAL word from the BSA's National Communications Team: "For more than 100 years, Scouting has helped build future leaders by combining educational activities and lifelong values with fun and adventure in the outdoors. At Boy Scouts of America, we are dedicated to developing leaders of character by preparing young men and women for life by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Scout Law. The timeless ideals of the Scout Law, such as being trustworthy, helpful, kind and brave, make up the foundation young people need to address and overcome challenges in their lives and the issues facing their generation. Now as we continue the Scouting mission, it is important that we keep pace with an ever-changing world. While costs to the organization have increased every year, the Boy Scouts of America has worked to keep the annual membership fee as low as possible by subsidizing core costs, including liability insurance we must carry to cover all official Scouting activities. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to subsidize at the level we have in the past, especially as the cost of insurance has increased dramatically. We kept the cost low to make Scouting available to as many young people as possible but keeping the cost artificially low for many years now magnifies the impact of changes. To ensure we have the resources to fulfill the promise of Scouting despite increasing operating costs, the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America has made the difficult but necessary decision to increase the annual membership fee effective January 1, 2020 to: - $60 for youth members in Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Venturing and Sea Scouts, - $36 for youth members in Exploring, and - $36 for adult members Every dollar of the national membership fee will go toward the cost of essential services, including liability insurance for those participating in approved Scouting activities, program resources, safety standards, youth protection and personal safety training, and services to councils nationwide to sustain Scouting. The National organization will also continue to develop and improve resources that support our volunteers and youth members such as online registration, Member Care and Scoutbook, which now includes the Den Leader experience to ensure the safe and consistent delivery of Cub Scouting; as well as improvements aimed at simplifying the annual renewal process. Across the country and in our own community, we know that Scouting remains one of the most valuable investments we can make to support young men and women today so they can become the leaders we will turn to tomorrow. From once-in-a-lifetime adventures to merit badges that spark interests and future careers; from campouts under the stars to service projects that leave a lasting impact on our communities; Scouting’s year-round program expands horizons and provides young people with a safe and welcoming place to learn, grow, and thrive. That is why we are committed to ensuring that all youth can experience the character-building benefits of Scouting regardless of their financial situation. In addition to our existing council and unit membership assistance, we have established a national Growing Future Leaders Fund, which is funded entirely through donations, to provide additional financial support to those who need it." (BSA Statement, 12:30pm Oct 23, 2019)

Roughly another $1,700 for our unit. We have a corporate sponsor lined up, so life moves on I trust you are using the GTSSI (Guide to Safely Sacrificing Interns) - make sure you have the 2018 update

In theory it does not, but in practice it is a facility that is not fully utilized, and takes resources from other areas. In general it puts the organization at financial risk. For a local unit, not so much impact until they see the update registration fee and may not realize that some portion of that is in fact a Summit Tax. Similar to a unit that goes all out for popcorn sales working to exceed last year, not necessarily a bad thing in general, but units, like organizations, only have so much bandwidth and human capital. They all work on the sales and then other parts of the program suffer. There must be a balance. When National has to move things, make events, and work to make Summit relevant, it's an issue. Over time it will impact the outdoor program as there are only so many resource to go around

Actually they are voting today I believe, announcement tomorrow. We are a large well funded troop, but there is a huge difference between a $10 rate increase or a $70 rate increase. We charter about 100 Scouts and leaders, looking at what could be a $7,000 shortfall, so options are limited

Maybe trying to figure out how to extricate yourself from the financial disaster that is Summit Bechtel, that is $500 MM - $750 MM that will never be used to support local Scouting programs. Needed money that was poured (shoveled??) into a vanity project by the Chief Scout Executive and the National Board who are so far removed from actual Scouting it's like a they are in another organization.

Getting the push to be 100% trained in the district, which is an admirable goal, so took the Merit Badge Counselor on-line training. more just fluff, very little nuts and bolts. That's the same comment most of our leaders made with the "NEW" YPT, it was more theory and convincing us that endangering children was bad and less about how to be compliant and "DO" YPT. The old training was really applicable, DO this DON'T do this etc etc. When we do training for the Troop Leaders our emphasis is on them having the Scouts DO stuff. When doing fire building we do not need Scouts to understand combustion, ignition points of materials, etc. Maybe later, but let them strike some matches and see that logs do not in fact make kindling. Focus on DOING, Focus on getting out in the woods and letting the Scouts be Scouts.

After some local meetings and conversations with local professionals, I am curious what are the actual BSA priorities now? It seems that apparently our main focus and purpose is YPT, it currently defines the movement; then maybe training, it is most important; then making the Bechtel Summit property an essential asset (hey let's move everything there) so it can be protected in a bankruptcy; then remember it's all about being an Eagle Scout, or maybe the new background checks, if you don't toe the line, see ya; and just shut up and pay the new fee as Scouting is a great value; then let's make sure we add girls (which is fine); and remember No Bullying; don't forget that Family camping is the best thing ever; we need to add kindergartners; and there is STEM; and etc etc etc Seems that National and Local Councils have moved away from focusing on Outdoor Programs and letting youth learn and grow. You remember, patrols and youth led activities. Successful Units continue that focus and honestly much of this does not impact us directly, but long-term it will be harder to bring in new youth. Families will look at all of the red tape, and after sitting through the 2 hour YPT training and go...yeah...maybe not.

Weird part was the camporee wasn't at the restaurant, it was at a church nearby the Restaurant. We got up there and found all the garbage in there and the troops decided that it'd be a good service project for us to take the garbage down to the city dump. So we took the half-a-ton of garbage, put it in the back of an SUV, took shovels and rakes and implements of destruction, and headed on toward the city dump. Well, we got there and there was a big sign and a chain across the dump sayin', "this dump is closed on account of the camporee" and we'd never heard of a dump closed for a camporee, and with tears in our eyes, we drove off into the sunset lookin' for another place to put the garbage. We didn't find one till we came to a side road, and off the side of the side road was another fifteen-foot cliff, and at the bottom of the cliff was another pile of garbage. We decided that one big pile was a lower impact on the environment than two little piles, and rather than bring that one up, what with it being more than 4 feet and us not having climbing gear, we decided to throw ours down. That's what we did We all drove back to the church, had a Camporee Dutch Oven dinner that couldn't be beat, had a campfire with skits and whatnot, went to sleep, and didn't get up until the next morning, when we got a phone call from Officer Obie....and you can sort of guess that is spiraled out of control from there.

Not too many years ago at summer camp we had something like that happen. We had a new Dad who was keeping up with the first year scouts. They have a 2 hour program in the morning, request is to at least have 1 leader there if there are any behavior or attention concerns, staff brings them to the center of the area, they go back to the patrol they are working with. Basically the leaders sort of hang out, chat, do e-mails, some do some work, etc. He came back to the site and told us how one person who was WB staffer, on their Council training staff, etc etc and felt as there were adult leaders there, training must be done. She was very insistent and persistent. Their version of discussions and making sure all were graced by their knowledge. The area director was not really sure what to do about this. After comments to the camp, on the second day the program director stepped in, if they wanted to do training, that was fine but they needed to do it in another area and the PD would be glad to make the announcement at the morning leader meeting. Just needed to know the subject so interested folks could attend. Nobody was interested.

Did the event book include twenty-seven 8 x 10 colored Glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of Each one explainin' what each one was?

District has a winter event, we have stopped attending. Basically run by the adults in the OA, complete with (I kid you not) 20 page handbook. Troops and patrols are told what they should bring, how they should dress, are evaluated as such. I asked one time why not send out a list of events, patrols bring what they think they need? Blank stares. My final straw was when the SPL and I went to the Friday meetings and there was a 20 minute diatribe on Safety. Yes be safe, but Good Lord. Then another 15 minutes health lodge processes. MY SPL leaned over and asked if we couldn't just handle stuff at the campsite if needed, I said you bet. In the 45 minute meeting maybe 5 minutes about the program. Don't get me started on the convoluted formulas, secret calculations, and mystery awarded points to determine the "winner" of the camporee. Funniest thing was at all the assemblies, etc the only ones talking were the OA adults, they had actual Scouts standing there but none of them we (I guess??) deemed worthy to be in charge. Guess with all their WB and OA training they missed the whole youth led stuff

I came to one council one to do an event only, was surprised that in an 1,800 acre reservation they had the troops all corralled in the big field when there were acres (literally) and acres of land they could have used. There was another whole camp they didn't use. Looked like some sort of really bad festival. Each troop have like 100 SF and the next troop guidelines were right there. Not sure what the thinking is for these

We have started wearing red epaulettes, Eagle mentor pins, and multiple temporary patches just to tweak the UP...sorry ID. Granted they will need to come find us in the woods, but our spirit is there

Easy solution - keep activities at the unit level, avoid the WB snobs AND the uniform police

A lot lot lot of focus on Cubs. Looking on my council website; picture of a Cub, Lots of Cub Training, Lot of Spook-o-ree stuff. When they put in Tiger Cubs in 82, a good number of us thought that was a bit much. As many have noted, Cubs is less a fun program and more of a slog. We have had many boys over the years that bailed on Cubs / Webelos but came into Scouts. They were just tired of the same thing over and over. Input also is that 5th graders are not really into the family camping, they want to build fires and tell crude jokes The BSA's strength and distinction in the market place is the Outdoor Focus. If a unit does this, they will recruit and retain Scouts. The STEM stuff, Schools do it better. Duty to God, the Church youth groups likely has the better program. Leadership and independent thinking, learning life skills outdoors, yeah, THAT is what we do and what we SHOULD be focusing on. National is doing it's level best to limit the risk and activities, but many units plunge ahead. They have also WAAAAY over sold the Eagle rank. Yes it is good and yes it is a long term project, but that is not WHY we are running units, that is not the reason. Ranks advancement is a by product of good program, not the reason for it.

Not to be all technical, pretty sure some of the basics were not covered. Maybe the middle on, they all looked over 21, not sure that have an understanding of the rank. - if conducted at the unit level, at least one district or council representative, who is not affiliated with the unit, must serve as a member. If the unit requests it, more than one may do so. - There shall be no fewer than three and no more than six members, all at least 21 years old. They need not be on an advancement committee or registered with the Boy Scouts of America, but they must have an understanding of the rank and the purpose and importance of the review. This holds true for Eagle boards of review held in any unit, whether troop, crew, or ship. - A board of review shall not occur until after the local council has verified the application. In the case of a board of review under disputed circumstances, the council must verify all the information that is not in dispute before the board of review is scheduled

Travelers listed the extension of the statute of limitations in New York as an exposure on their 10Q (that is a quarterly report mandated by the United States federal Securities and Exchange Commission, to be filed by publicly traded corporations recently, not sure if that is specifically related to coverage they carry on BSA or possibly other youth / religious groups

Now there's some cash outlay....golfing. $500 for clubs (yeah I know cheap set), $50 for green fees, $20 for a dozen balls...not to mention fees at the 19th hole

Personally...will hike off into the sunset remembering the good times, content I provided the best program I was able to for the youth in the local unit.

Good luck with that

Just curious how this was marketed? I literally get every e-mail possible it seems from the District, Council, etc. Nothing from Council on this and nothing it seems on the Council Website or Social Media Is Anti-Bullying one the 8 sorry...now apparently myriad aims of Scouting?

Well let's do the math 2,500,000 (Youth / Leaders / All in / Rounded up for ease of math) @ $33 = $82,500,000 less 525,000 LDS folks departing (yes yes I know, they may not have paid the full fees, lot of neat deals made, but let's press on) 1,975,000 (remaining) @ $33 = $65,175,000 Basic projected shortfall of $17,325,000 OR $8.77 per remaining participant to cover. That does not factor in the insurance increase, Summit Bechtel Reserve Tax, Scouting Professional Pension shortfalls, liability to abuse cases holdback, and a myriad of other financial woes hanging around out there. $49 may be the number That would be close to $97MM in revenue

The question will be, or National will try to push, is what is that breaking point? Is it $50, is it $60?? When will the frogs in the water in the slowly warming pot say "Wow, it's getting HOT" and jump out of the pot?