Jameson76

Changed with the rollout of revised YPT I believe back last year (Spring 2018). Below is the official section. Note "registered", so a 21 + leader and parent over 21 would not cut it Two registered adult leaders 21 years of age or over are required at all Scouting activities, including meetings. There must be a registered female adult leader 21 years of age or over in every unit serving females. A registered female adult leader 21 years of age or over must be present for any activity involving female youth. Notwithstanding the minimum leader requirements, age- and program-appropriate supervision must always be provided.

I guess it's a way to promote and upsell. Would be disappointing to be on day 8 of your trek and have to work around the families from PTC on their day hike. Sort of diminishes the back country feel

So the news from Philmont is NOW... they are bringing back the Tooth of Time hike option for participants at Philmont Training Center (apparently was an option years back AND) adding this option for the Philmont Family Camp program. So now you may well encounter families etc in the back country on the Tooth of Time. Not sure how the stroller will do on the trail up, should be interesting. Not sure how I feel about that

Sadly in your case, that is correct. Votes would be symbolic at best. The committee does not "elect" the CC, that is an appointed (or in you specific case anointed) position. Unless the COR is good with the change, there is little the vote would do but further cause issues. I would say the meeting between the COR and CC as they discuss the vote could be entertaining. As others have said the best course of action may be to move on to another pack or form a new one. Unless the COR / CC / Chief cook and bottle washer wishes to voluntarily move aside, you are stuck. Even if you got a new CC the former CC (now only COR) could still exert undue influence because it seems that control is what they want

I also recall that bath / warm water thing was not the recommended treatment. Gradually warm up, the dry heat on the core, warm drinks, etc. We had some, while not hypothermic, but honestly just on the fringe one time. It was like 0 degrees, in the southeast US mountains, and we from the deep south are not geared for such foolishness, we idled the bus, got the heater going full bore, and made a warming room. The warm drinks did the best honestly. Also if you have a dead tauntaun nearby, and your lightsaber handy, you can cut it open and put the patient inside. Granted you would need to be on a frozen planet for that to really work well, but it is an option

Man...that is a special kind of hell in my opinion. On outings the adult tents (all singles) are spaced waaay apart. Even at Philmont all the leaders tote their own tents. The extra couple of pounds is well worth it. 5 leaders in one tent "shudder"

Agreed We always welcome LEADERS to be at camp and LEADERS who work within the troop matrix. Parents are needed to drive and pickup from camp and wave at the parking lot, not be at camp for the week. Some leader stories Had one leader that was in camp for the week. He came to me on Sunday and advised he felt it better to leave as his son kept coming to him for things and was not participating as he should, he came back later in the week and it worked out well Had one leader not in camp but was coming to get one of his sons at camp for an event, the other son was first year and we knew it would be a tough week, seeing dad in camp could be trouble. We worked out the pickup time so younger son was at activities and same with the return the next day. Was at summer camp and a scout had an issue in the middle of the night, the Scout came into the leader pod and found the leader at camp for the week and NOT his dad who was in the next tent We had a conversation with a leader in camp who was way too focused on his kid, was sort of treating summer camp as father / son time and the other 1,000 Scouts and leaders were just in the area. We assigned the leader some specific tasks that were not where his son was, ended up being a good week Had a somewhat serious issue with a Scout at camp, his dad was one of the leaders, the dad left the site as we worked it out. He stayed out of the site that afternoon and did not even speak with his son about the issue until he and I talked through it that evening and what the consequences of those actions would be.

Have you tried the single air mattress? That works way better than a double / queen sized. There are some smaller camp cots, not sure they are more comfortable. Also have you tried the ENO or Hammock for sleeping? Some find those better. As for going to bed early, I often (if not overly cold) just sit in front of my tent with a book and headlight and read. If cooler I sit by the fire and just bank it / put out some of the coals when I go to bed. Now I do sleep on a pad in a backpacking tent, so I enjoy the ground.

That is a tough road ahead Assuming the CC/COR also is embedded within your CO to some degree. While the correct course of action is to work with the IH, they may not actually have any real concern as to what is going on with the unit. Challenge is the IH appoints the COR, so you are into some circular logic with both COR and CC being the same person 1) The Chartered Organization Representative (COR) is the direct contact between the unit and the Chartered Organization. This individual is also the organization's contact with the District Committee and the Local Council. The chartered organization representative may become a member of the district committee and is a voting member of the council. If the chartered organization has more than one unit, one representative serves them all. The Chartered Organization Representative appoints the Unit Committee Chair. 2) The Troop Committee Chair is appointed by the chartered organization and registered as an adult leader of the BSA.

Remember that in many ways the EBOR is a way to thank the unit, the unit leaders, and others who have helped. Yes it is about the Scout, but also about those that helped

Our troop uses the basic 12 x 12 tarps available at Home Depot. For the uprights we use 8' 2x2's (also from Home Depot for about $1 each) with a nail driven in the top. Each patrol sets up a tarp, takes six stakes if setting up in a field. Also can easily be setup in trees. Each patrol has a table, and a patrol box with stoves. For fun we recreate Norman Rockwell paintings

Unscented soaps and shampoo, helps keep the bugs away Small shampoos (hotel type) and liquid soaps as you will leave them in the shower Snacks and good container to keep them in Good walking shoes, try to vary each day If you have one a fitbit or step tracker is kind of fun, you will be amazed at the number of steps each day As has been noted, good daypack to keep all your stuff in during the walking about camp Water bottle, but honestly after week 1 at camp the campers will leave plenty of them around and you will have your pick Good towel, but honestly after week 1 at camp the campers will leave plenty of them around and you will have your pick A second Class A shirt, they can get gamey as the week progresses Cheap sunglasses and a cord to keep them, you will be in the sun a great deal Hammock Good socks

No dog in this fight (BTW - do not support dog fighting but it's a great old expression) as our unit has eschewed any camporees, etc. The judging of "best" troop or "best" patrol at events when there are NOT objective measurements is suspect at best. Have a camporee competition where Scouts paddle a canoe out and back, lowest time wins, great. Tie 8 knots in a relay, lowest time wins, super. When you start adding mystery "Bonus" points for patrol spirit, team effort, appearance, etc etc, then the competition becomes no longer a competition, but an anointing by the camporee adults of who they think (or feel?) should win. The Scouts can see through this sham very quickly

Oscar D was about 1980 or so

Settle it by building a Thunderdome....Two leaders enter; one leader leaves!

My scouts prove on every outing that ramen does not in fact need to be cooked, it can be eaten as is and is a great crunchy snack. The flavor packets are poured over as a "flavoring"

That is true, but sometimes convenience trumps Paula Dean input (hey ya'll, we're gonna fry some butter in butter and it's gonna be delicious) Actually they do sell an instant grits that comes in a self serve cup (you can get oatmeal also), just add water. A little bulky on the outbound leg, but they compress down nicely for the trip back. We add beef jerky to the grits and that is mighty tasty.

We were coming back from an outing last week, stopped for lunch, saw the Girl Scouts were selling cookies nearby so we wandered over and bought some cookies, talked about our recent outing, heard about their projects, and we went on our way. The sky did not open, everyone was pleasant, and we ate several boxes of Samoas before we got back to the church

Policies made at the 50,000 foot level, far far away from actual persons (dare I say customers??) who are involved in your program, and made by peoples that are not involved in the day to day, actually in the trenches will more than often miss the mark. Typically as the Scouting volunteers move up the ladder of their respective council they move further away from the day to day actual "business" of Scouting. They will be able to speak volumes of how they are involved in the program; Woodbadge staff, working staff at Commissioner College, staffing an event at the council camporee, doing summer camp inspections, SM for NYLT, teaching at MB university, etc etc. Good things, but the nuts and bolts are sometime missed. What looks good in theory and well designed on paper, may not meet muster with an actual unit As Helmuth von Moltke the Elder noted (He was the Chief of Staff of the Prussian army before World War 1).....“No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy.” Same could be said of most of these policies to one degree or another

To say that if your son invites a friend to your house, to play video games, and he lives nearby and he happens to be in the scout troop, but your son is not quite home yet, and since you are there also (maybe working upstairs) is a violation of YPT as this is one on one contact in or out of Scouting is absurd. Doubling down on this, they are playing video games and move on to getting gear together and planning food for an upcoming outing, now that is a scout meeting and "horrors" there are not 2 YPT trained leaders around. Tripling down, your daughter (you are the dad, only parent home) has a friend come over, they are both in the new girls troop, to do some school work. Her dad is a troop leader with you. As they come in, the usual pleasantries, then a conversation about gear and planning food for an upcoming outing, now this has morphed into a scout meeting and "MORE horrors" while both you and her dad are YPT trained leaders there is NOT a female YPT trained leaders in the vicinity, clear clear violation. In all cases I would expect you would need to self report OR logically you realize the absurdity of many the revised YPT rules and nuances, and just keep on keeping on, working to deliver program and maybe generate some YPT absurdity skits.

That may in fact be the case, but they do list is separately in all the annual numbers reporting Exploring career-based programs is one group boys and girls in elementary through high school in Learning for Life character education programs is a second group

Agreed. The inference was "jump start" which would imply a move in a better direction. As noted, this was only a short time for the girls in Cubs for 2018, but it was a 1.1% drop. Maybe that is better than it would have been. For BSA as a whole the I believe the goal was a 2% increase, which would have been a net increase from 2017 of 53,188 youth. As for the expectation, if you review CSE Surbaugh's messages and the famous survey, (97% of families want to be involved in a program LIKE the BSA) then this is not great news

The numbers are in for 2018. Apparently the addition of Girls into Cub Scouts did not result in the overall jump start that was hoped for in the program https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/03/2018-Report-to-the-Nation.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3j99qbIlquBwh9QR2FCQwQQMLtzmhDOyTPsBndc4v8g1RgoC65hgYW7p0 As a comparison (Note that 2014 numbers were a little imprecise in the annual report)

They may not want to with the girls due to the somewhat onerous YPT requirements for girls. If I as a MB counselor wanted to work with the boys in my troop, we would get together prior to the meeting, there are leaders and other scouts, etc. arriving. I usually work with my unit only, but have had some from other units, again same times, so no YPT issues. Now, being very literal with YPT (any Scout meeting) if some girls wanted to meet I have to make sure there is a YPT trained female leader over 21 also around for the duration of the session. Many MB counselors may not want to try to overcome or arrange that hurdle. If it was just two YPT leaders, they could come by prior to our meetings, but that extra requirement National has put in may put a damper (fear??) on folks wanting to do it. Not saying it's right, but sometimes rules have end results not fully intended.

It is the unique nature of the outdoor program. Seeing Scouts grow and mature as they play and have fun in that environment. Then when they are 16 - 17 and realize the method to the madness, and that they have experienced what not many of their friends may have been involved in. I was raised in a basically suburban area, but we had acreage and with neighbors there was 60 - 90 acres i wandered with friends. Scouting was an extension of that and the fun of going off for the weekend and longer term camps. My goal is to get these guys out and about. Working with the unit seeing the Scouts go from unsure crossover Scouts to tentatively taking leadership roles, to taking full leadership roles is the why. Speaking with parents who can see the benefits and what their boys get from the program. While the advancement is part of it, it is the experiences and learning to work in a group of peers. My son relates that when he was a smart alecky 11 year old having an older scout tell him to stop being such a PITA was huge, as he was being one, it had an impact. Then when he became a leader of the new Scout program realizing that he was not the best participant when he was a new scout, and needed to apologize to his new scout PL The final reward can come when sitting on an EBOR or during an ECOH and hearing the Scouts talk about what was significant and how it affected and shaped them. The Scouting program is not a one and done "season". It is growth as the scouts move from elementary, to middle school, to high school. They learn to be self sufficient, to be responsible, and to own their actions. That's why I drive 4K plus miles annually and camp 30 plus nights each year. Plus 11 year old's setting up a patrol tarp and cooking is better than any Comedy Channel special.