mrjohns2

19 hours ago, MattR said:

The common thread in all of this is a lack of parents that want to put time into helping out. I

This has been our Pack's issue. Many adults want to help the day of the event, but no planning or strategy discussions before the event. 

33 minutes ago, Tron said:

the #1 thing that a professional scouter can do to help the council/district/units is to constantly recruit new volunteers and encourage every unit to participate at the district level either through the COR or a COR delegate volunteering on a district committee. 

This is true. As a roundtable commissioner, I can do so much better of a job with a few other roundtable Commissioners. I love how our DE brainstorms with the district commissioner and chair for new resources. 

6 minutes ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

1. They listen to volunteers. 

2. They are more focused on The Movement in general, than FOS. 

3. They appreciate the volunteers.

4. They are courteous towards the volunteers. 

 

I like these. One thing I then do “back for the pros” is my list here. I’ve had pretty good DEs, so YMMV. For me, by doing these things, when I need their help/resources they have been there.

1. Listen to the DEs. 

2. Fully support FOS so the DEs don’t have to push a rope on something that is important to them, but we don’t want theM to focus on it. 
3. Really work your own issues at the unit level and only involve DEs when needed. Leverage the resources by not burdening them with items that don’t need to be handled by them. 
4. Support your council camps, camporees, and other council/district activities to be “part of the team”. This makes things easier for the DEs. 

5. Support their recruiting goals / recruiting activity as it helps their professional goals. 

2 hours ago, Ojoman said:

. A few years ago the entry level pay was still under $40k and I doubt that it is much above that today.

New Mexico: All councils are equal opportunity employers. In addition to offering a competitive salary of $35,600 – $44,000.

Mississippi: In addition to offering a competitive salary of $40,000 

Indiana: In addition to offering a competitive salary range of $38,000 – $40,000 based on experience

5 hours ago, EagleScout95 said:

neckerchiefs should be mandatory.  It is ok to enforce scouts wear proper uniforms. Every other youth organization and youth sports requires it without question.

I would be very sad if our unit didn’t wear one, but actually it is up to the PLC. 

10 hours ago, Tron said:

As for the troops recruiting issue: the answer seems to be, that AOL is no longer meant to be a prep year to join a troop. 

The presentation said that ONLY the AOL is intended to be prep for Scouts (6 months for AOL) vs. previously all of Webelos (18 months Webelos and AOL) being prep. 

Pretty poor for us. Our troop is down from 20 to 13. Our Pack peaked at ~73 last year and will peak only at 63 this year. The higher fees PLUS needing to pay for 1 year really put a damper on recruiting for us. A school that netted about 20+ in one night, yielded 0 in the one night. We had maybe 5 over about a week as people thought it over. 

Alps tents through hikerdirect. Many many troops in our use the Taurus Outfitter models. Our troop uses 4 person ones. Full tarp to the ground, vestibules on both sides, not a ton of mesh (hotter in the summer, but true 4 season), ticker floor, tougher zippers, and very inexpensive. They have held up for 5 years for us and are like new camping each month. The boy troop have used them for 10+ and they are holding up well. Much better headspace than the A frame Timberlines we used as a kid. No "magic flute" to lose either. For adults, we use the 5 person. On the big side, but totally can stand up. The boy troop backpacks with the 4 person ones. They are heavy, but they already have them. I wasn't sure when I was first told about hiker direct, I was like "yeah, other websites have discounted tents". Hiker direct really is a charity type of move for Scouts. 

12 hours ago, scoutldr said:

Many parents can't do that.

True, but an adult would address the issue instead of banning everyone. 

26 minutes ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

Youngest was charged a pack fee, but that was the cost of their AOL plaques in February.

That is how we did it. Also, our dues mainly go to things like adult fees, so those don’t scale by the month. 

3 hours ago, PACAN said:

The scout badge became the scout rank in 2016.

Opps! Thanks for the correct. 

3 hours ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

Eight adventures pushes crossover from December-March time frame to February- May time frame. Research shows that the earlier the Cross Over, the better prepared the Scouts are for Summer Camp, which is crucial for retention.

We will have to see the requirements. Maybe, maybe, maybe they have 8, but the AOL ones are shorter? 

8 hours ago, Armymutt said:

I earned it in '86 and it was essentially the Boy Scout version of the Bobcat.  

No, you didn’t. In ‘86 it was the Scout badge. In ‘95 it became the Scout Rank. One was a joining badge and the other involves a lot more and is a rank. So, yes the badge was eliminated and replaced with a rank. In this case a joining badge of bobcat becomes an adventure. Times change. 

9 hours ago, BetterWithCheddar said:

They might not have official stats, but will probably be able to provide their own word-of-mouth account of what happened to a troop in their district.

This is a great idea. 

3 hours ago, Armymutt said:

We don't need the Scout badge anymore.

We didn’t / we don’t. It became the Scout rank in 2015. Things change.

1 hour ago, Timbuktu said:

Or do you have to put in the elbow grease at the relevant council office?

They might not have much info either. 

1 hour ago, Armymutt said:

These excuses for its elimination are so vague.  

It isn't eliminated. It is making it age appropriate. 

1 hour ago, Tron said:

That is interesting, do you have an example (I would like to check out a council website of such a small council to see what a council that small is up to). 

There was a spreadsheet a few years back that showed sizes and the ranges (ABCD?). 

16 hours ago, Eagle1993 said:

I was told There was a former scout, from Texas, that offered the council the same amount that was offered by the third party.  The former scout only request was to keep it as a scout camp.  The council decided it wasn't in their best interest as it was far from their home location and it was a lot of work and expense to maintain. 

That rumor wasn’t in the staff circles I love in. I’m with the older crowd that would like have money. It was “only $1M” if I recall, so not too surprising that someone could have at least come up with a mortgage. The council never much invested in the camp compared to my current council. Very different approach. 

3 hours ago, Tron said:

After reading the information at the 2 links I wonder if the cash contribution only issue is because the camp was sold a few years ago and not more recently?

I’m not following your point. It was my old camp, so I’m decently familiar with what happened. 

9 hours ago, BetterWithCheddar said:

Is this still a thing?

Not as much as all staff have to register as “camp staff employee” or something. This stops the “camp staff unit” concept from being necessary. Our council’s camp staff crew added away pretty quickly. 

11 hours ago, BetterWithCheddar said:

In the OP's case, I wonder if stationing a pair of supervisors just outside the meeting area would help curtail rowdy behavior?

This is a troop, not a pack. More should be expected from the Scouts to not require a hall monitor. 

On 10/22/2023 at 12:40 PM, RickW said:

I know some of you on this thread are collectors, do you happen to know what this might be worth, or is anyone interested? 

Condition is everything, as they say. Also, while all S outs things are collectible, I assume the individual kits are more collectible. Additionally, patches are core with everything off of that a bit less universally collectible. 

20 hours ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said:

I'm very sorry, but I honestly thought that JOTA is as well-known an acronym or abbreviation as "jambo" for "jamboree". It's literally the largest scouting event in the world every year, and has been since the 1950s.

It is in our area. But maybe we have more hams? 

On 10/20/2023 at 7:41 AM, curious_scouter said:

update:  Our council is now charging $25 for MBC registration. 

In addition to the $25 that national is charging?