Jameson76

I think you are correct for right now globally. Yet at the same time I think fundamentally the program has changed because Girls are joining and the program name has changed. Yes as we all have noted Youth are in charge, we teach leadership, they become self reliant. While that is the case the addition of the young ladies will change things, not sure if that will be positive, negative, or imperceivable, there will be changes. If you study organizational dynamics the addition of new elements into an organization will cause change. Actually I am more concerned with the "Family" emphasis being put in the forefront and what that expectation will lead to for the Boy Scout aged program.

We also do the recognition at the time of passing the BOR. Same for giving them a pin and card at the COH. Sidenote is we meet outside and make sure we pick up patches after the meeting. Someone may have to front the troop for some rank patches. You can probably do some quick math and figure out what is needed. Ex if you have 10 new Scouts, you will need 10 Scout / Tenderfoot / Second Class / First Class. Rank patches (from BSA supply site) seem to be about $2. This would be $80 as seed money. Maybe in the first year that can be recouped with dues etc.

Trying to ignore the whole "Scout Me In; Family Scouting is the BEST; the attitude that the last 109 years was subpar or somehow as the Boy Scouts did not allow girls; and the fact that as long as we're at it let's toss out the name Boy Scouts and become Scouts BSA. The name change of the program for the youth ages 11 -17; hey Girls let's join the Boy Scouts...BSA, wait we're gonna change the name now... I trust the Girl troops work out well. Just want to continue to run the troop, go camping, build self reliant Boy Scouts. While it's neat that Girls are joining, let's not forget the vast number of Boys that are already members.

Troop always brings a sturdy cornhole game, the boys organize tournaments. Decks of cards are good also. The one we bring is one a leader made, 2 x 4 frame and at least 1/2" plywood deck. It can in fact support a Boy Scout standing on it (though we do discourage that). Hard part was finding bags that would stand up. Found some on-line made of sail cloth that seem to stand up

Your post was that you must notify the District or Council of any disciplinary action That's where I got it. If you are now indicating there are qualifiers that make make more sense

That just seems to be an incredibly broad and overreaching statement If two Boy Scouts have a disagreement over some aspect of an outing and we counsel them, send them to their hammocks for 30 minutes to cool off, the unit has to notify District and Council? If you have a Boy Scout that will not cooperate with the youth leadership, after a conference with the SM, decision is made to call parents to come get him, the unit has to notify District and Council? If you have a Scout being careless with knife on an outing so an ASM takes the knife, the unit has to notify District and Council? The requirement (note this one is not in GTSS) that you must notify District and Council of any disciplinary actions taken by the troop to a scout in writing from the council and is somehow agreed to by the units and enforced by the council? Are there disciplinary action notification commissioners roving about everywhere?

My hiking boots with the fish in the heels are BACK!!!

Key is to keep them engaged while also letting them have some space. Our troop runs multi age patrols. They cook / work within the patrol on activities but the troop sort of self segregates for camping / hammocking / tenting. Also if you are on a campout as an SPL / JASM / Eagle Scout you can come eat with the adult group For activities this past weekend we had the winter trip, several hours riding to the coast. The older group rode in one car, led the setup for the troop, were in charge of the activities. When we were coming back from some activities the older group stopped at one place and did some things not the whole troop did. As they were older, seemed appropriate and they enjoyed the trust and freedom. As leaders we direct the younger scouts to them, also in our unit adults do not sign off on any TF / 2nd / 1st class requirements. The scouts have to sit down with a Life or Eagle and have a conversation or demonstrate their accomplishments. There are 1 or 2 that specifically call out "present yourself to your leader"...we do those Let them have FUN, let them be older, let them be responsible; they will continue to come to meetings and events as long as they events are engaging.

Do you have any rails to trails in your area? Those can facilitate longer "road" rides without worrying too much about traffic. We do a weekend campout at one near us (start is less than 1 hour away). Over the years we have ridden in sections, The scouts ride lengths of 25 to 50 miles in a day. An out and back can work really well, save the time and trouble of shuttles. Once they did 70 miles for the weekend. We have looked at Mt Biking, there is a state park about 45 minutes from us that has a 9 - 10 mile loop, still developing that one. Scouts need helmets. Some additional gear for Mt Biking. Have a some chase bikes with first aid and repair tools.

That is really the key, Boy Scouts having fun, enjoying the experience, and the youth looking forward to the next thing. You want to have a successful troop, make sure the CUSTOMERS (your Boy Scouts) are the main focus of what the unit does. If you can meet their needs, make sure the Boy Scouts have time to be (sometimes) stupid younger people, and be in charge of their own experience, then you will be successful The main aims of scouting are character development, citizenship training, and personal fitness; these matter very little if you do not have actual scouts in attendance to grow towards those aims

Yes - That is how the DE and FD and SE are in fact judged, number increases. Your son in this example is the easiest way to pump up the numbers..."dual" enrollment. That's two members for the price of one. Yes there are shenanigans with the membership numbers. Sadly rather than focus on building good units with a fun and quality program, which will generate growth and membership in the long term, they want the numbers NOW, so sign them up NOW.

They literally do not have a vote. What they want is irrelevant. What the CO / COR / CC want is relevant

Would need to know what if anything the Council Training committee actually accomplished OR was it just a check the box committee (yep we met). What is the charter of the group? What are their goals? What have they implemented or improved last 3 / 5 /7 years. What do they actually do that helps the scouting program at the unit level?

All these years of training classes gives these folks who want to be commissioners something to do...instead of you know....commissioner stuff The commissioner program is great in the abstract. The actual process of a commissioner doing some action to support youth programming at the unit level is often not there. I have worked with 6 different units in 2 different councils. In my 30 plus years on adult leadership I think I have seen a commissioner twice actually in the wild (you know at a unit). I have seen many of them at council events, camps, etc hanging out...commissioning (I guess that is a verb) Sort of like with fundraising...Do we have commissioners so we have good Scout Troops OR do we have Scout troops so we have commissioners

Interesting comment. It is an Eagle Board of Review, not an Eagle Board of Inquisition. The EBOR should be an opportunity to have an Eagle Scout to talk about himself, talk about how Scouting has been a benefit to him, talk about what merit badges he liked, how Scouting will help him in life and yes a review of the project. Not what screws were used or some other inane detail. A discussion on what went right, what was a challenge, what you learned (good and bad), general impression of the project, who helped and advised, etc etc Also as a leader in the troop great opportunity for feedback on why they joined Boy Scouts, why they stayed in Boy Scouts, what the troop may be doing right, and what the troop could be doing better. If an Eagle board is 30 - 45 minute discussion on the project, which is actually a small part of the overall journey, they are doing it wrong.

Can we at least all agree that the skill awards for the belts (not the skills but the metal award) were ridiculous. Though young I was able to get in under the wire in December of 73 with my Eagle completed. Talk about an incentive. There was a definite caste system for many years; were you an "old" Eagle requirements Eagle (outdoorsman to the core, no fear. out wrestling bears) or a "new" Eagle requirements Eagle (never camped, asked cops for directions on your hike if you get lost, full urban kid scared of the evil woods). Ah the good old days.

And that is in fact the real issue isn't it? The quoted statement starts with the statement the improvement and ends with in whatever form it works best. Many view the changes as an improvement and hope to see these changes as a better (re:improved) offering of Scouting. Other view the changes as not in fact an improvement and further movement away from Scouting roots and sadly see these changes as lesser offering of Scouting. Unfortunately all we have is anecdotal evidence, supposition, and guesses for either case to be made. Real challenge is that National BSA has been less than forthcoming on the real reason. Faulty surveys, public opinion, townhall meetings, and "unanimous" votes do not a groundswell of support make. Now we are getting into the real rubber meets the road and working to spool up numerous units. That in and of itself will be a pretty good challenge. If you work with a unit keeping one that has several years of history and a good track record is a challenge already. Building all of that from scratch is daunting. Sad truth is that @Eagledad correctly noted earlier today that this was a survival mode change, simple math. As noted in the 1978 classic Animal House "we need the dues" Now a year and some months following the announcement of Girls being able to join Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts sorry Scouts BSA there have been many other challenges. Linked troops solution and vague answers about are we really going coed? YPT that is clearly not balance as one declared gender is required to have a leader of similar gender present, no such requirement for the other gender 20% of the registered membership and CO's leaving by the end of 2019 A name change for the flagship branch of the organization Extension for requirements so current joiners in 2019 get 2 years to earn the vaunted Eagle Scout award A lawsuit by another organization over use of the names Girls and Scouts Possibly going into bankruptcy to stave off lawsuit payments Summit payments timeline keeps coming down the tracks Clearly no one knows if the changes will be an improvement, clearly no one knows if the new scouting "look" will work best. Will this result in a net increase in youth being served? No one can tell, we are sort of moving along on a wing and a prayer. However, this is where we are now, moving ahead and no way to go back. One cautionary note. In the 1970's the decision was to reinvent the Boy Scouts program and roll out the Improved Scouting Program (ISP). At the end of 1970 BSA membership was 6,287,284. At the end of 1980 BSA membership was 4,326,082. That is a reduction of over 30%. Whatever may happen, BSA will not be able to weather another improvement to the program along those lines.

That can vary from district to district. The district does have to approve the Eagle Scout candidates project and sign off on the proposal. There is mention of meeting, but that is not specifically required. Only that it be approved prior to any work. The proposal could be submitted and returned with comments on approval or areas to be answered prior to approval. For the unit approval it is denoted that the unit can designate one individual to meet and approved Eagle projects, the full committee meeting to review is not required, though the unit could do that.

On the guardian question, I am not a lawyer (though I did watch 12 Angry Men the other night) the only definition seems to imply someone who is legally responsible for someone who is unable to mange their affairs. Agree that if the wizards in Dallas had put the word "legal" in front of guardian, would be much clearer. I know for webelos visitation we have had older brothers, grandparents, etc accompany visiting Web II scouts. If another parent brings 2 Web's for a visit (their son and another Web) we typically will request that the young ones have their own tent. To get back on topic, he is not the CM if the CO/COR/CC do not approve and endorse. End of story.

Agree it is sort of vague as to whether this would / should be counted in the 15 nights. As with many things in Boy Scouts, you as the SM will need to use your best judgement to ensure the requirements are met and you are not adding or subtracting to/from them. Yes you have some latitude. Approved - that would seem to imply that the camping event and/or outing would need to be reviewed prior to the event with the Troop leadership. Typically the monthly troop outings would be assume to be approved, can be a grey area for a cub outing with siblings under the auspices = with the help and support of (someone or something) standards of the Boy Scouts of America = well, that is subjective as no leadership from the troop was likely in charge and that is a broad statement

Be reminded if you do call and your are a leader, to make sure it is a conference call with another registered and YPT trained leader so as to be compliant with current GTSS. Also subnote A, if the middle range kid is in fact a youth who is currently identifying as female gender and you as a leader do not currently identify as female gender you will need to include a registered and YPT trained leader who does currently identify as female gender Gotta be safe......

The camp is East of Atlanta (proper) about 40 miles. Bert Adams has been Atlanta Area Council property since around 1960 (+/-). There was a storm front moving through, not all that surprising for mid-summer in Georgia. My recollection is there was not a long term warning about severe weather threats, just thunderstorms. There were some microbursts that hit the area. Those are very random and literally will knock a couple of trees down and 20' away not damage. Woodruff (the AAC mountain camp) was hit by a severe line on a Saturday afternoon in late June, so no campers on property, and maybe 30 tents and platforms were damaged. Honestly not sure what can be done other than the obvious. Remove any dead trees, that is normal. The tree(s) in question were alive. Remove any visibly damaged / aged / insect infested trees. Short of having all campsites and program areas in a big field (which opens up other potential issues) or removing all the trees, there is a limited action. I guess don't go outside and hang out in an office park would be a solution. They certainly have a right to sue. It has been 6 months so my assumption is there was behind the scenes work to have a settlement. The family may be interested in a consent decree to implement different actions than BSA currently has in place. Interestingly they appear to be suing the Atlanta Area Council directly. The suit was filed in Cobb County, where the council office is physically located. They may also be suing National BSA, but that was not mentioned in the WSB or Atlanta Journal articles

Also this is the really really important quote from the article: BSA’s debt load has ballooned in recent years to help fund the Summit’s development. In 2012, the organization issued $175 million in bonds due 2022, and increased its revolving line of credit by $25 million. Yes the insurance issues and settlements can be tough, but the ego project of Summit is the real issue

Shocked face

We had two Scouts who did their projects on the same day at a community organization. The org was having a work day and wanted to get everything done on the same day. It was logistically easier for them. As was previously noted each Scout owned their project, they were separate and coordinated their own efforts. One thing was one project was ahead of schedule and had extra labor so they wandered over and helped with moving some items for project 2. Basic labor sharing SM should not be inserting himself into the process