Jameson76

Most of our Scouts hammock, so it's not an issue.  We have mixed age patrols.  That being said when we have 6 patrols on an outing, they function for cooking, setup, etc as a patrol; but still hang out with friends for camping.  

As a side note, my observation over the years has been that Scouts that are inseparable in 5th grade may have drifted apart by 8th grade.  Have Scouts function as patrols, but also let them associate as they like.  

Oh boy - the uniform police are coming, always good times.

Let's also get riled up about red epaulettes vs dark green ones, rows of knots, placement of temporary patches, and headgear.  

I try to evenly distribute the weight in my pack to some degree, makes the trail miles much easier.  Though you likely want slightly more weight in the top.  Keep water low and not too much stuff randomly strapped on bouncing about.

I may have missed the intent of this discussion.....

I was on the Council Advancement call, apparently the council has a stated goal for number of Eagle Scouts for the year.  I assume this is not new, but it is a little disheartening.  The goal of the BSA have never been to generate Eagle Scouts.  That is really a byproduct of a superior and engaged program.

Not sure if I really like that.  Do wonder if all the councils are pushing this "goal"?  As a side-note we seem to be about 31% of goal right now.  Guess districts are going to need to run second shifts on the EBOR's to meet goal.

If we exceed the number in December does the council plan to hold off on EBOR's to sandbag some for 2020?

Only one I recall suspending was a First Class one, we casually asked about his camping events, Scout sort of fumbled so we dissected that item, realized he had not in fact met that requirement, so we encouraged him to go on the outing coming up, get that wrapped up, and we would see him later.

For an EBOR the applicant has had a SM conference, the application has been approved by the unit, the application has been approved by the council, all the boxes have been checked.  Unless the applicant is way out of line, would not see suspending an EBOR.   If the board maybe spotted some signature not in place on the Eagle project packet or application, maybe, but that would likely be an oversight and not a planned attempt to deceive.

Odd that a program that was built on the outdoors, with that outside emphasis being a differentiator in the crowded marketplace that serves youth, is ever so slowly (actually not so slowly) being pushed to the back of the offerings.  Not saying you have to camp every week but if you purport to be a trained leader in Scouts BSA you should embrace the concept of the outdoor adventure and you maybe should have actually camped at some point so you have that experience and understand how that works.

We go outside, we go do STUFF, we go have FUN.  

42 minutes ago, mrkstvns said:

I notice that the article cites a girl troop with 8 members.

I do hope they add members.  For small group or patrol activities, 8 to 10 is a good number.  For a full troop that may be a tough road to get critical mass to do activities and have a good number of outings and events

We had a Scout join later than most, he was 15 and maybe 9 months.  We had a conversation about his goals, he indicated an interest in earning the Eagle rank.  At our first summer camp (we attend 2) had discussions and I told him if he was committed then the second camp would be a good thing to earn some additional MB.  He did attend and we worked with the camp to get into MB sessions that could be completed and could assist with rank advancement (also some for fun).  Then last summer he went  to high adventure and attended the second summer camp.  He did wrap up his Eagle in June. 

Not a bad plan.  The Scout summer camps can assist with the rank advancement.  Hope she enjoys the journey.

We had National Camp inspections back in the 70's.  I recall being a provisional camper, helping tidy the waterfront up.  The guys from "National" came though.  That's what I was told.

As a Program Director and Camp Director we had specific inspection standards and review in early 80's.  Again, the mysterious guys from "National" came though

5 hours ago, Cburkhardt said:

Numbers released today show Scouts BSA still expanding.  Youth membership up net 1.4% and units up net 5.6%.

Where did you get those numbers?

2017 Annual report numbers all youth = 2,659,439

2018 Annual report numbers all youth = 2,499,349

That seems to be down about 160,090 youth and a decline of 6%

15 minutes ago, mrkstvns said:

Yes it is.

A 57-mile trips is a very significant undertaking. Lots of planning. Good equipment choices, etc.

The scoutmaster's shortcomings aren't in letting the boys make boats, or even boating when the water level is a "little high"....it's in doing these things as a 57-mile trip.  THAT combination is silly.

Agree.  Seems like if you did in fact want to undertake a homemade canoe trip 57 miles, which is a cool idea, there would need to be significant shakedown and testing.  Maybe load them up and let them float in a lake (pool??) for several days.  Have the Scouts paddle around a lake that provides a simple and easy bailout area.  If you do undertake this journey, have some regular canoes, chase boats, to sweep behind. 

Maybe they did the testing phase and process, but seeing as how several barely made it off the ramp, would appear they may not have.

We kayak with an outfitter every couple of years.  Everybody wears PFD, stay with your buddy, we stop and group up a few times, one specific lead boat, and most of the leaders perform the sweep at the end to make sure no hangups

We make boats on an outing.  They try to paddle around a buoy.  This is on a lake, within 100' of the shore, with normal kayaks around to provide support.  No way we would try to head 57 miles down a river

That's just silly.

Eagle Scout Ross Perot, businessman, and two time presidential candidate has passed away.  He was 89  

https://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/billionaire-ross-perot-dead-at-89

Perot joined the Boy Scouts of America and made Eagle Scout in 1942, after 13 months in the program. He was a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award

Not getting into the smoking pot at a meeting and on the property of the CO, which unless your CO is a dispensary, I am gong to assume they would not be in favor, let's deal with summer camp.

The mom does not really get to "insist" he gets a second chance.  You, from what was stated, were well beyond that.  Mom comes and get him, end of story.  There were certainly some issues that need to be resolved.

In maybe 20 years we have sent two scouts home from camp, we go to two camps each summer, maybe 50 at one and 25 at the other, so a large group.  In both cases what the Scout did was not the main issue, the main issue was disregard for the Youth leaders and in some cases the adults.  The most recent one we called mom and she wanted to know if he said he was really sorry, could he stay.  We advised the troop was well beyond that.  It was 9:00 am, she or dad needed to be there by noon.  

We are a Scout troop and we want to work and build youth, challenge is sometimes we are not the correct vehicle to do that work.  

We had a Scout who had while not an anaphylactic reaction did get some hives while playing a wide game, got into some vines or other underbrush.  We gave him some Benadryl.  One leader wanted to know what happens if they have an allergic reaction to benadryl. 

I told them we would give them more benadryl

RSO seems like the RSO you would get from central casting, my way or the highway.  Yes safety is a concern, yes you need to follow all the correct guidelines.  

The parent was there, was going to directly supervise.  A minute or two of quick instruction to the father could have alleviated all of this.  But it was "His" range...so here we are.

Have fun and go do stuff.  Oh, you have never fired a rifle, hey take that.  

I always encourage typing as it can be updated.  Sometimes the assumption that all youth fully understand all aspects of all platforms like fillable PDF documents because they have a phone glued to their hand is incorrect.

Was working with one scout, he knew Excel and Powerpoint, but was confused by the PDF.  Showed him how to cut and paste, which he commented with amazement was the same as Excel and Powerpoint keyboard shortcuts.  This was a HS Junior.  Sometimes the transference of knowledge and tasks is not intuitively obvious

Rank advancement is up to the Scout. His pace.  His advancement.  Some I have seen complete First Class really fast, then they wrap up Eagle a day prior to their 18th birthday.  Others have been more journeyman and have a different journey.

Your Scout needs to first and foremost have FUN and enjoy the Scouting journey.  Anything else is just a bonus

We used a label maker and made a really nice looking label that fit onto the plaque.  Ones we got were ceramic, not sure about engraving those.

Interesting that the question is what do we give versus what information is available.  For our troop on the troop website there are links to all the needed detail.  If a Scout needs or wants some detail, it is there.

At camp we have an information board with camp map, the schedule the scout signed up for, troop activities, the overall camp schedule etc etc etc.  If a Scout has a question, we say "check the board"

One question will be is how to make this financially viable.  The first thought by many local execs, oh well the ranger can take care of that.  Being a ranger and being a campground host are entirely different.  Also RV's and folks need power, water, sewage, etc.  Not saying it is a bad idea, but it needs to be well thought out.

What impact will this have on Scouts that are camping there or nearby?  Lot to think about

If a Scout claims to be agnostic - and I have had that conversation, the basic definition I fall back on is a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God

My view was the Scout was in fact developing his beliefs.  He was trying to define.  He did not claim there was no God, just he was not really sure.  We spoke on beliefs and that true, you likely could not prove the existence of God.  This particular Scouts issue was more with organized religion.  He did not really feel  that Church was beneficial.  

We had a good conversation and my advise to him was to let your faith and beliefs develop, be open.  Defining God is tough, sometimes organized religion is not your path. 

2 hours ago, mrkstvns said:

These are definitely used, but not always the same way by everyone.  I looked up "SWAG" in the urban dictionary only to be confused by several definitions.

Knowing what a cultured gentleman you are, I'm sure the definition you intended was:

"A slang word originating from Shakespeare's use of the word "swaggering" in "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

"What hempen home-spuns have we swaggering here, / So near the cradle of the fairy queen?"

We use it more from an engineering perspective and it concerns a wild guess

Though we do hand out swag (stuff) on many occasions