Jameson76

Pat??

So so true - Missed opportunity to brand the Girls program for 11 - 17 year olds as something new, same requirements, but they will be the program not called Girl Scouts. Then there is recognition of the differences, Boy Scouts stays the same...win win Same with youth oriented magazine. Though honestly with the membership price increase we may keep annual troop dues the same and have the upcharge for Boys Life (or whatever Life) The National Meeting is still going one...so who knows

Wonder if Pedro (a male given name from/in Spanish, equivalent to Peter) will be given a more gender neutral name or will there be a new addition in XXXXX Life with a feminine twist

Ahh.....This should be good (spotted at National Meeting)

God I hope I am on that list...wonder if there is a patch??? Seems to be a beer for the club

Agree Even though our CO has the largest unit(s) in the district (Cubs and Boy Scouts) and highest FOS and community service hours I can honestly say in the last 10 years we have only seen the DE or any professional outside of RT or when they wander by our winter COH (read money time) exactly zero times. Granted we do not do any camporees, district events, council camporamas, etc. As for the fabled white unicorn of Scouting (the unit commissioner) maybe twice in the same period. They may be scared of us and we hope to keep it that way

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it

Revamping and assuming all the current folks / participants would stay worked really well for ISP the "Improved Scouting Program" in 1973

Most Boy Scouts would be shocked to learn that their phone can actually be used for voice communications.

And the challenge is that sooo many Scouters take WB and assume they are now the end all be all when what needs to be conveyed is likely how to actually run a program, make sure they have a fun program, and know how to run a unit While leadership and management team development is important, not sure it is what the focus of the "premiere" BSA training course should be. Really needs to be focused on what the heck to do outdoors, how to have a successful unit program, how to implement Boy Led units.

When you find an award and give the award, make darn sure you announce the right name for the award

Had a conversation with a parent one time, said he was an atheist, was concerned about our "influencing" his son in Christian beliefs. First point I made was that we were in fact sponsored by a UMC, met at the UMC, held COH and other events in the sanctuary of the UMC, so by default there was going to be a slight Christian influence. Not in your face and lake baptisms, but we did do a prayer as we left on outings, Sunday Scout's own ecumenical (very short) service, and a closing prayer before we departed an outing. Usually just mention God and a request / thank you for safe travels and a safe weekend. We tend to pledge allegiance to the flag also. Then as we talked while he said he was atheist, as I peeled that onion back it wasn't that he was an so much an atheist, he just didn't like or believe in organized religion. He did sort of feel that there was likely a higher power of some sort that he could not fully define. I explained that was probably within the broad definition of religious principle

Nothing more and nothing less We use the Boy Scout Handbook. Pretty much has all the requirements list in a handy chart in the back. Once they are all signed off, SM conference and BOR The troop does recommend using the MB workbooks as that helps the Boy Scouts keep organized

Sad part is the whole thing is like 105 pages....not so much a Guide as a Tome

Possibly, but not really. I was a DE for a while. Key thing was membership numbers and money. Quality program never enters the conversation

My joke with many of the Wood badgers (cult of the pink hankie) is "hey, this is a Boy Scout (only works if one the youth is around), have you dealt with any of them recently???

Goals for my scouting "career" (career seriously??)? Have fun, help the Boy Scouts in the unit have fun, and not get killed in fiery backpacking stove explosion. Other than that, do not plan to give it much thought

Breaking point for most will be when substantial change that you are not in favor of or cannot support comes to roost in whatever part of Scouting where you personally find satisfaction and reward. For me that satisfaction and reward is working with the troop at the unit level. Changes in membership requirements a few years back, really did not effect the unit. Adding girls, we do not do any district or council camporees and also plan to be single gender (no linked either) so again does not really effect the unit. Name changes ( to loosely quote Starship - Someone always playing corporation games; Who cares they're always changing corporation names) really does not effect the unit. Summer camp may be a different thing in 2019, will have to see and we will adjust plans as needed. Are there things that would effect the unit? Absolutely. Requirements could change, less outdoor focus (we really need more), maybe Coed is not optional, substantial membership fee increases, and other myriad items. Then that could be a breaking point Real challenge is that with these changes how does this effect potential families and boys perception of the BSA? Obviously depends on what you are looking for in a group. Not sure if a 10 year old boy who maybe is one the fence will now rush to join since girls can join.

We played British Bulldogs the other day, it was glorious and the Boys Scouts thought it was geat

You definitely have to drive the adventure and fun, but you (WE) as leaders have got to set the direction and make the adventure happen. These are some of the things we have done last 12 months We do a Lock-in, which is basically 14 hours total, and in that is 3 to 4 hours of dodgeball and 2 hours of Nerf wars. Yeah yeah, no scouts as targets, we may have missed that paragraph in G2SS We do a Capture the Flag, where you tear a ribbon off the opposing players arm to capture them, during this we are literally one boulder crushing away from Lord of the Flies We do an aquatics outing where we rent canoes and they canoe to an island during the day, only rule is you gotta have on the life jacket, if you are not canoeing we are hauling you around on a tube behind a boat We go to a rail to trail bike path and they do 25 to 60 miles in the weekend Our winter trip is 3 day backpacking, or canoeing in the swamp One weekend outing we went down into a gorge (permit only) and I was pretty sure I was gonna die One weekend we go to a ropes course and camp in the park, they spent 3 hours up in trees At one summer camp we take the troop swimming at a water fall in a nearby state park, the locals hanging out there are always entertaining Also every year we go to either Seabase of Philmont The troop does 13 outdoor / events each year (not including HA and HA training stuff). If you went to all of them it would be 27 nights of camping and 39 days involved in scouts NOT inclusive of meeting, service projects, etc. Point is adventure is made, it takes work. But damn if it isn't worth it.

Absolutely agree. There were (and are) things in place to handle most if not all of the various membership issues as the local CO has the say as to who can and cannot be a member. National BSA sort of muddied the waters, kind of like they are doing now. With the addition of girls, and there will not be enough units or units will go COED or something in the middle. BSA National hopes to be all things to all people but also falls back when convenient on "local unit control". I have never seen a company, organization, or group that spends as much time and energy hoping to placate and appease those that are not even members, would likely not be members, and have no idea what the organization does. While at the same time discounting and kind of ignoring those that are in fact members and participating.

See..that's not accurate because if it was really the Methodists they would not actually have voted. The skorts issue would have been discussed, then talked about, then discussed again, then a sub-committee of Bishops would have looked at it, then it would have been brought up at the next annual conference, then there would have been a motion to table and vote at the next General Conference if so warranted by the sub committee

Now you're just being silly

Depends - Do the leaders stay in the background and let the Boy Scouts do their scout stuff unencumbered (except of health and safety concerns)? If they are helicopter parents who hover, then 1 leader can be too many. If they understand what their role is at camp and on outings, then it's relative. If they just try to be timekeepers, help the scouts stay on track, then the actual count does not matter. (though a 1 to 1 would be a pain) We take 50 and typically have equivalent of maybe 7 - 8 leaders in camp. Honestly as long as the boys are out of the campsite at activities, we are happy. If a Boy Scout asks for assistance with MB work, the leaders will gladly aide. We are not monitoring their progress or work accomplished. Also the condition of the inside of the tent is their personal choice. Usually one is the main leader, the go to leader in camp. 1 typically makes sure the recently crossed over scouts stay on track. We try to have one leader at the campsite in the afternoons to be visible around the area. There is mail to pickup, staff to harass, the wandering of the program areas, maybe SM conferences, boards of review, naps etc Also we encourage troop activities at the campsite; corn hole games, slack line, etc. Poker night is fun but you have to engage them early in the week or they have spent all their cash at the trading post.

Just curious (in general terms) what the project was and what the issue was. Not discounting anyone's input, but we had a Scout building a bridge, had the plans, then a structural engineer (also volunteer) at the beneficiary wanted to be involved and it went sideways from there. He basically wanted a footbridge that could hold a car, while it was in fact a short footbridge on a trail. It needed to be built to "his" standards. Point is there are typically minimum structural standards and then you may have someone who has their standard because, well they know best and we must acknowledge their knowledge Now if the Eagle candidate was supposed to meet this specific person, maybe tried to meet, and they were not available, not cooperative, wanted to have the scout do it "their" way and the Boy Scout after some interaction just said heck I'm trying to get this done and plunged ahead, then it is a life lesson. Hopefully he comes away with an understanding of how to call on people to assist, how to involve the Eagle coach, his SM, and get a meeting of the minds to move something forward. If he just never even contacted, reached out, or never tried to engage this person but said he had because he just did not want to, that is another issue