mrjohns2

That used to be part of swimming MB. 

19 hours ago, Tron said:

A locally produced knot is not authorized from what I can tell; councils can make local awards, but it has to be documented and vetted, I understand it to be a process. 

Short of the local SE directly approving the knot as a local variance, I think allow the gold award (which is a smallish pin) in the spot that allows awards from other scouting orgs seems to meet the letter of the law. 

1 hour ago, Tron said:

The first mission of the BSA is to train scouts in scoutcraft, maybe we're getting back to that.

This badge is the closest to a Scoutcraft badge of anything else out there, even Eagle. 

1 hour ago, Tron said:

 

Some councils are really going big with their fees which I think is the bigger problem;

 

Agreed. In our troop, and with existing cubs, this is not a big problem. They likely have fundraising to help and understand the value equation. 
 

The hard part, that is very clear on the front lines of cub recruiting, are families who aren’t sure of the value. The big upfront dues and fees, before unit dues, is pretty killer to recruiting. 

52 minutes ago, Tron said:

Sounds like you should volunteer on the district committee.

This is always a great way of getting to know who’s who. Then other opportunities will open up as people know you, your skills, and interests. 

1 hour ago, scoutldr said:

98% of taxpayers no longer itemize. 

On a federal level. Our stupid state has not harmonized and thus we still need receipts for state deductions. 
 

Obvious to note for other posters - if mileage has been reimbursed, it isn’t deductible. 

25 minutes ago, curious_scouter said:

 

$140 per youth / $100 per adult in our council this year.  Not a rumor.

 

I assume that is total?

I also assume the $140 is for returning youth and not new? New would be $165?

Looking me up in the eagle database was the only way I could find mine. 

5 hours ago, Owls_are_cool said:

Hypothetical...If I am selling Scouts BSA to a prospective scout, would bringing up this merit badge increase or decrease the chances of them joining the program?

If it is a past camp staffer from the 1980’s and 1990’s who fell away from the program due to very conservative policies? Yes. For everyone else? Nah. I agree with the other poster that said camping and self / team reliance. 

40 minutes ago, DannyG said:

Is it worth adding my youth member ID to my profile?

Do you have it? Did you earn eagle at the time it would have been in use?

On 7/3/2023 at 10:28 AM, OaklandAndy said:

Either way, it's a great incentive for summer camps! 

It really is. Our scouts have been so proud of their medals and have worked hard to get to the next level. 

5 hours ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

everything would transfer as you move from council to council

For Scouts, that works decently well with Scoutbook. For adults, training will "sync" between ID's. You may have to wait with an old id as primary for 24 hours, then switch and wait another 24. It is getting better. The issue is that the number changes between councils and it is so so easy to have more than one. 

5 hours ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

If there is a way to merge numbers, can someone please share the directions? I have at least 5, possibly 6 if national issues their employees ID numbers,  and I would love to merge them all..

Not merge, but manage. They used to allow merge. I assume merge lead to complicated auditing situations that they didn't set the software up for. 

Go to my.scouting and choose manage member ID. Look up the other "yous" and add them. Set your current id as primary. 

The numbers suck and need to be fixed. If I was a BSA IT manager, I’d see it as key. 
 

They don’t carry over between councils. That sucks. I was able to look myself up under Eagle Scouts and found my old number from my old council. It hadn’t been used since about 1996. It has both my eagle and my more recent life time NESA tied to it. 

Our commissioner just posted that "Membership renewals will be completed either by credit card with a 12-month renewal payment from the individual, by a Scout unit that has elected “Unit will pay all our members renewals” option, or by a manual payment at a Council Service Center." So, a tiny bit more info on the options. Nothing new other than this line. 

3 hours ago, Mrjeff said:

this is a common reaction to the current state of the BSA

Hummmm…. all scouting is local. Not all all around here. Our troops and cub units are growing.

Mike Walton covers this on his page. It can be worn due to the permission granted not being revoked. Also, it is a program of many councils. http://www.scoutinsignia.com/medals.htm

Not giving an excuse, but it seemed like on the district level they seemed cautious, even for a guy with 3 kids, to make sure you weren’t a flash in the pan. I think sometimes they have people come in guns a blazin and then they take on stuff and fall through. 

3 hours ago, Armymutt said:

Like I said, it wasn't until someone decided that their personal identity was more important than Scouting that we had issues.

Tell that to the people who were kicked out for being “outed” outside of scouting. 

12 minutes ago, Armymutt said:

I don't recall race or sexual orientation ever being a part of any Scouting discussion 30 years ago. 

Unless you were a gay leader. Then you were considered not morally straight and kicked out. Or if you were a gay parent, then you were very much made to not feel welcomed to volunteer.

The good old days? I think not. 

3 hours ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

Sadly the BSA has pushed and pushed Eagle.

It is so sad. They renamed the big zip to something like “<someone’s name> Eagle Taking Flight” or something like that. Ugh. 

Scouts notice the over focus too. 

36 minutes ago, Mrjeff said:

These rules appear to be another attempt to insulate the BSA from future problems.

Actually as @MikeS72 said, this is due to past problems. I too have read many of the case files that were released a few years back by a law firm. Many involved the abused Scout going over to an adults house outside of a Scout activity. 

20 hours ago, dk516 said:

To be fully transparent, the Background Check for adults is a separate fee ($30) paid directly to the background check service provider when renewing. 

Our council must have enough cookie revenue as our troops don’t have to even pay that. 
 

I was a troop leader for about a year. I got to do their “recharter” which took <5 mins online. 
 

Also! Our council camps use campdoc and allow fully electronic med forms. 

My wife just re-uped my middle daughter’s troop.
 

Scout: $25/scout national dues, $5 local. 
Adult: $25 only 

6 hours ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said:

How much current is too much?

Anything above 0?