Jameson76

When my son was in HS he and some friends were watching Blazing Saddles one night, we had a long discussion on timeframe it was made, (1974) and what is was actually trying to convey. To your point is what highlighting the absurdity of many racial stereotypes and at it's core it is a satire. Also pokes a great deal of fun at Hollywood. Great movie.

That will be entertaining...trying to find the tribal descendants. That is assuming a lodge is in fact using regalia and symbolism from the local tribe from the area your lodge may be in. For example if one is in Western NC and the lodge is using Cheyenne type regalia but that area was originally Cherokee, who (whom??) from which NA group would be able to approve usage. Is there a form, would it be an e-mail, do you go to their local gatherings? Also what era as the regalia changed over the years as the NA groups came in contact with Europeans.

As one who has worked camps and currently working with a large troop, your expectations to involve the staff in the visitation issues may be a challenge. If there is a court ordered restraining order, then entirely different set of circumstances. I have had families with those, it was not pretty. In the first week you advised you did not want the mother at camp. No mention of court orders, visitation documents, or custody paperwork being presented to the camp. Just that you did not want her at camp. On the second week, you did present some documentation, but expecting all of the camp staff to be fully aware of this may be an over reach. Your issue is with your son's mother. If she is in violation of custody agreements and court orders, then refer that through the legal system. Not excusing the staff and likely they could have done more. At the end of the day the issue is with the mom, not the camp. Hold her responsible for her actions.

Way more than you may want to know https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ga-ga https://www.gagacenter.com/nyc/about/what-is-gaga/

The gaga ball pit (sort of like Thunderdome...many enter but only one is left) is a great time. Lot's of need for scouts to work things out. One of the camps we attend asks that a leader be nearby and is responsible to check the ball in/out. Also haul away the injured. I was sitting there at a table maybe 50 ft away enjoying the afternoon and a tasty treat and was asked to mediate some point of the game, my response was "work it out". The group asked a couple of times, I responded the same each time the same and they stopped asking and (shocked face) they worked it out I did dutifully turn the ball in and luckily mended no scouts. The afternoon progressed nicely

Interested bystanders??

I would agree and disagree that we are customers. Challenge is we (collective we the volunteers / youth / etc) likely do not view ourselves as customers, anymore than members of a political party may view themselves as customers. Many of us see ourselves as part of Scouting and thus not so much customer but owners/shareholders of the legacy and history of scouting. National team and many BSA professionals sometimes make the error on customers vs owners (shareholders) and a good many of them are not 100% sure if we are raising money for Scouting OR if Scouting is there to raise money.

Many of the families have done the ordering of the flag flown over the US capitol. The request can be done via representative website. Here is a handy sheet on the process - http://americanflagfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/How-to-Order-Flag-over-Capitol-Rev..pdf

I would go so far as rather than a wait to see what will happen next it's more of an arrogance that we will tell you what we feel you need to know when we determine. Challenge is that we volunteers are the ones delivering the program to actual scouts. The pyramid should be inverted with the Scouts (youth??) on top, not National

The selection of the talent is interesting. Not to bash the current DE selections, understand our new DE (we get a new one each and every year) has no familiarity with the program, was not a member in any way, and is just out of college. All well and good, not 100% sure what value will be brought to an existing district by this hire. Degree seems to be in some liberal arts field, not sales / management / marketing which those skills could used. They were at the council camp to get oriented (I guess??) to BSA, spent a lot of time getting patches because everyone seemed to have patches so they needed some. Maybe we will meet them at some point, suspect not. Wish them well

They could redirect some of the many minions from the marketing groups and the foundation writers for that task.

There are a lot of challenges here. Basically this family may not be a great match for this program. 1) The current program of the BSA (corporate name) is not a family program. It is at it's core a patrol method program. The aims are of this are character development, citizenship training, and personal fitness. There are 8 key methods to deliver the program; Patrols, Ideals, Outdoor Programs, Advancement, Associations With Adults (more on this), Personal Growth, Leadership Development, and Uniform 2) The parent (referred to going forward as Sikorsky) seems to feel the Scout aged program is really just more Cubs and not a different level and personal growth of the youth 3) Family friendly means many things to many people, that may mean accommodating later arrivals and early departures, whole families at an outing because...well because it likely not what that means 4) Leaving camp without checking out, without informing in camp leaders is wrong on many many levels. That in and of itself is major cause for concern and warrants further action. The SCOUT is part of the unit. The leader in camp has responsibility in case of camp emergencies to be able to effectively account for all the members of the unit. Leaving without notice is at the kindest level, inconsiderate. For reference this this is the synopsis of Associations With Adults. Youth learn a great deal by watching how adults conduct themselves. Scout leaders can be positive role models for the members of the troop. In many cases a Scoutmaster who is willing to listen to youth, encourage them, and take a sincere interest in them can make a profound difference in their lives. That is not intended to infer tenting with parents or leaving camp with parents Also great story about the scout with medical concerns showing growth and independence. We had a scout that has a genetic heart issue, took medication daily and also had to limit some activity as final diagnosis and treatment was finalized. He was active in the troop, as leaders we were aware but did not make a big deal. Went on most outings, high adventure, and really excelled and did not let the condition limit his experience.

Absolutely. In corporate world it is a big thing as new organizations are laid out, downsizing, acquisitions, etc are rolled out.

Change is inevitable and to say that BSA National has not handled the recent changes and no doubt upcoming changes in a professional and seamless manner, well, that would be kind. I saw an article that called out 4 common change management mistakes leaders make. Seems like BSA managed to hit all the key ones. Hopefully over the next 18 - 24 months and as they move to the girls joining in 2019 the messaging and details will maybe get better 1. They underestimate resistance 2. They neglect to define the ‘why’ 3. They underperform at change sponsorship 4. They believe and behave like the project ends at go-live

Maybe they did not read all the labels....Just remember, if there is a label, someone did it

As information - this is from Clingmans Dome in the Great Smokies this morning - It is beautiful but can be a tad steamy Clingmans Dome Friday 8:00 AM Mostly Cloudy 55 °F | °C Precipitation: 15% Humidity: 100% Wind: 2 mph

Disney Scouts......

The best was this nugget in the announcement While High Adventure opportunities are at capacity at Northern Tier and the Florida Sea Base, there are opportunities at The Summit and they would be happy to accommodate your crew. They keep pushing the Summit...they keep pushing it

You have to have the solar one, works great (or so I have been told)

Don't be hating on scavenger hunts. We do one for our Webelos visitation. Give the Patrols a listing of 80 items and give them 40 minutes to find. These range fro nature items to items Boy Scouts should have at a campout. Then we do a quick show me the item and see which group has the most items. Afterwards we do a review and talk about how do you accomplish a task such as this, how do the patrol leaders allocate their available manpower to accomplish. What were some of the obstacles? Snacks to the winners

We did a sham battle several years back (bringing back the oldies). Used sandwich bags, flour, and cornmeal. Made a projectile about the size of a closed fist, taped it up and let them have at it. The scouts had a lot of fun. The labor to make the shams and the time to clean up was not as much fun. We still enjoy a big annual capture the flag game and also manhunt games on campouts...in the dark...in the woods...organized by the scouts...with actual winners and losers...(we live on the edge)

To be clear, the GTSS (bow your heads) merely states Wheel cart (1-, 2-, or 4-wheeled) to be used by Youth 14 years and Older. Using my on-line law degree I note that cart, wagon, non powered conveyance is not specifically mentioned as forbidden. That which is not included is assumed to be excluded. If the wise ones from on high that handed down the tome that is the sacred GTSS had intended for wagons to be part of the decree, they would have stated thus. For examples the age group 14 and older are the ones that can use a pickaxe and a mattock, which seem to be the same (see below) but are in fact listed seperately PICKAXE MATTOCK

Got a nice note after camp a couple of weeks ago for our camp SPL thanking me for helping him with leadership lessons at camp. Also his mom wrote a note and thanked me for still being involved and being a leader even though my son aged out a few years ago We get the handshakes and thank yous in the parking lot, but the actual note or e-mail means a great deal

It is interesting to observe how mom and dads interact differently, and by extension how female leaders and male leaders interact differently. Full disclosure we do not have any program facing female leaders with our unit. Many support with committee roles, but we have not had a female camp with us for over 10 years. Note that we are a troop of about 100 scouts. When we get back from outings the moms almost instinctively pick up the scouts gear at unload while they are running around being boys. Many time we remind them that the scout needs to do that, they always seem to respond..oh right, sorry. Same for advancement and other inquiries, we gently remind them that the boy scout needs to drive their advancement. It does take both a mom and a dad (and sometime a village) to raise kids, and a mom is always a mom. God Bless them

Agree - there are maybe better venues for some of the non-outdoor merit badges.