Thunderbird

I think the BSA is trying to discourage teaching them together, because the overall course goals are different. At any rate, there seems to be a lot more knot tying in the current Cub Scout program than I remember there being in the old program.

Are you teaching IOLS and BALOO together?

Boys' Life online: https://boyslife.org/

Merit Badge Counselors, Nova Counselors, and Supernova Mentors are all no fee positions. Unit Scouter Reserve and Unit College Scouter Reserve adults do have to pay a fee at the unit level. Executive Officer is a no fee position at the unit level.

Summer camp where I am at is around $400 per Scout. The cost for adults varies, but can be around $275 per adult.

Scouting Wire: BSA Membership Fee Increase Details and FAQ https://scoutingwire.org/bsa-membership-fee-increase-details-and-faq/ The unit recharter fee is kind of hidden in the FAQ section: Q: Does this apply to youth members and volunteers? A: Yes, the new fees apply for youth and adult members. Effective January 1, 2020, the new fees are: $60 for youth members in Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Venturing and Sea Scouts, $36 for youth members in Exploring, and $36 for adult members (includes cost of background check and Scouting Magazine) $60 for unit charter fees

Yes, I just looked up our recharter documents from last year, and there was a $40 Unit Liability Insurance Fee.

So is there also a recharter fee of $60 per unit? Is this new / different? I did not see this mentioned in the communication from my council.

And every rank and merit badge also has a pocket certificate. Plus, there are blue cards, etc.

OK, I see that my council has posted the info. to the council website.

@Jameson76 Did they post it on a BSA website? Or send it out via e-mail? I have not received anything yet.

Has the national BSA (not Circle 10) posted the new fees yet?

LOL! Circle 10 does have some Sea Scout ships, though. Here is an article about one: https://seascout.org/news/2015-national-flagship-named/

OK. I use both Troopmaster and Scoutbook without any problems. It does make for double-entry, though. We are not a large troop, so it's usually not a problem (except after summer camp LOL). If you are able to access things in Internet Advancement (when it works), then you should also be able to access your troop in Scoutbook as a Troop Admin.

They probably forgot that Sea Scouting is a separate program from Venturing.

Are you able to put the items in using Scoutbook? Scoutbook seems more reliable (overall) than Internet Advancement.

If it jumps from $33 to $100, I see a lot of folks dropping. Lots of families (and units) simply cannot handle that much of an increase.

Battery operated "candles" might be an option, although they would pretty much need to be turned on at the beginning of the ceremony (the Scouts wouldn't have the fun part of lighting the candles). Another version I have seen is where each Scout has his or her own candle (like a votive candle). And as the Scout earns a new rank, the Scout moves his / her candle up a ladder (each ladder rung represents a rank). A very simple candle candelabra could be made out of a small log kind of like this:

I think they no longer sell the Troop Resources Book (or maybe they sell it under a different name) at Scout shops. It looks like they put at least some of it online at: BSA Troop Program Resources https://troopresources.scouting.org Troop Courts of Honor https://troopresources.scouting.org/troop-courts-of-honor/ There are a bunch of scripts online. One word of caution: a lot of scripts have old / outdated information in them (for example: some scripts still have the "First Class-First Year" concept in them, but FCFY no longer matches up with the current Scout Handbook. JMO, I think it would be better to just say that Scouts advance at their own pace and not include a timeframe.) I agree with @Eagle94-A1 , have the SPL assign a Scout to do research and maybe also be the Scout in charge of the court of honor. This Scout could use this as an opportunity to complete Communication MB requirement #8. You could assign an adults to serve as coach (Advancement Chair, Communication MBC, ASM, or whoever you think is appropriate). Some things the Scout / PLC might want to consider: Do they want refreshments? If so, what kind? Before / after the COH? Do they want a slide show? If so, what kind? (pictures of what the troop has done since the last COH or over the past year. Or slideshows of what the badges / ranks look like.) Do they want a ceremony involving candles? (I have seen a few different ceremonies with candles. Sometimes a candle represents each rank, or each point of the Scout Law, or one candle for each Scout as the Scout moves up in ranks. Lots of variations here if this is something they want to do.) How long do they want the COH to last?

How does this work? Does the tick suffocate or something?

I am sure that the rule is all about insurance and risk mitigation. If someone is helping a Scout on an Eagle service project and gets hurt, then they could sue the BSA. It doesn't matter if the person who gets hurt is a member of the BSA or not.

The Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook (screenshot below) and the Guide to Advancement both say that Eagle Scout projects are Scouting activities and all Guide to Safe Scouting rules apply (including YPT, two-deep leadership, etc.).

This is really good, but I would say that 1. and 2. really need to go together. Maybe you want to start a boy / girl / co-ed unit (pick one) and you find a chartering organization. But then you find out that they want to sponsor a boy / girl / co-ed unit (something different than what you were hoping to form), then there could be some issues that might need to be worked out. Ultimately, the chartering organization "owns" the unit, so they get to choose. But if you want something in particular, it's best to be up front about it and hopefully the chartering organization wants the same thing (or else you need to keep looking).

Most of the time, just setting them out to air dry for a couple days is good enough. For tech fabrics, I wash in the washing machine using a detergent called HEX Performance. Then I put in the dryer using the no heat / air dry setting with a tennis ball or two to fluff it up again. Afterwards, can hang it up for a couple days to make sure it is completely dry before putting it away.

@RichardB Are pack overnighters limited to one night at a time (example: Saturday-Sunday)? Or can they be two nights (Friday-Sunday)? This is where people are confused.