CalicoPenn

I suspect the term bully is being used because of the perceived superiority of a former area-level (read national) professional scouter and the assumption that it's not just a simple complaint but a bit of tossing his weight around as well. However, it's a valid point that the term is misplaced - we don't know the circumstances of how the complaint was actually delivered or whether the Cubmaster just assumed there was an implied threat because of the complainers former position. That being said, unless the Cubmaster is getting multiple complaints from multiple parents, or if it's a breaki

If I were Cubmaster, my first reaction would be to back up the guy that's actually volunteering while acknowledging the concern and assuring them that the sword is a replica and not sharpened. If it's some former professional complaining, I'm telling him/her to show me the actual rule in an official BSA publication. If I'm the sword bearer, I'm explaining that it is a replica sword that is not sharpened, that no one else is complaining, and asking the CM to show me the actual rule in an official BSA publication. If the answer comes back as an "I'm the CM and my decision is final" kind of

Welcome to the forum. If you're wondering if you should take extra special care of your neckerchief by leaving it its packaging and never wearing it then I would suggest that the point is being missed. Those special limited edition neckerchiefs should be worn and worn with pride - 100 years as a continuous unit is a heck of an accomplishment. Thinking of buying extras to put away? If you're thinking of having a few on hand to give as gifts in 10 or 20 years to some deserving Scouts in the Troop who were not around for #100, that's a great idea. If you're looking for it as an investment, y

Can a pack drop their CO and move to another one? Sure - you can all up and go to another CO - but there are consequences. All the funds in your account and all the equipment? Stays with the CO where they can hold on to it until they form another Pack. They'll also likely keep the Pack Number as well. The only time something like this works out is when the current CO agrees that they no longer want to have a Pack. Can something be done about a CO that refuses to assist the pack with a place to meet and causes more issues than being helpful? Not really - you can either accept the rel

Question - how would you make the determination that a Scout knows his stuff? And what "stuff" are you expecting him to know? Remember, the BOR is not a re-test. The best way to know if a Scout knows his stuff is to see him in action over time, putting to use what he has learned and practiced? One of the BOR's responsibilities is to make sure that the Scout has met all the requirements. I think too many folks think that means they need to re-test the Scout on the requirements when that is not what this responsibility means. Unfortunately, the BSA sometimes can't get out of its own

So do we know exaclty what this is?

There is a name written in pencil above the photo which would indicate to me that this is indeed the cover to some sort of booklet or notebook. The name starts with an E, perhaps Eric, and the last name looks like it is Trout. I believe he would have been the owner of this booklet/notepad. Powers Engraving is likely to be also known as Powers Photo Engraving of New York - the Power's brothers held a number of patents for the photo-engraving process. I believe the title of the artwork is Message to the Chief, and though it could be interpreted as the Scout delivering a message to his

We do use permission slips and require them for every non-meeting activity. Weekend camping trip? Permission slip. Day Hike? Permission slip. Night of bowling? Permission slip. We used to just do an annual one but now we do one for every activity. We know full well that they provide very little legal protection. The reason we use them is two-fold. The first is that a long while back, a Scout that was grounded and was told by his parents that he couldn't come on a camping trip showed up anyway - we had the annual permission slip and brought him along not knowing any thing was amiss

Have you noticed who the GOP front runner is?

Oh - no doubt that they do have other political positions - but that's really beyond the point. How many people knew the Boy Scouts had a policy prohibiting gay scouts and leaders until it became an issue in the media? Heck - we had a lot of Scouters and people with boys in the BSA that had no idea. Now think about all of those people who then learned that the BSA had a policy against gays from the media - how many of them knew anything else about the Boy Scouts? Maybe they had a stereotypical view of a Scout helping a little old lady to cross the street (but more likely these days, help a

Darn - who's peeling the onions in my living room

Good question - but in what context? Are you talking about advising/helping Scouts on the requirements? Other than any Troop-related requirements (within the GTA) I think your safe since every Troop should be using the same set of requirements as any other - where there might be difference, like who signs off, etc., then that's for someone from the Troop to deal with. Are you talking about as a "guest" in a BOR? You can certainly sit in as an observer for a Scout - but observers do just that - they observe - and should only step in if someone on the BOR is being abusive, and should o

Matt, Amnesty International may well have some kind of position on contraception and abortion but if you ask people what Amnesty International is all about, the first thing that pops in to people's heads is not contraception and abortion - it's imprisonment and the killing of political dissidents, of opposition leaders, or free speech advocates, and opposition to the death penalty. If you ask most people what Amnesty International's position is on abortion, most people couldn't tell you they even have one, let alone what it is (for the record, they don't advocate access to abortions for a

It depends on what your Council requirements are. The BSA has a "pilot" program where Councils can require certain positions to show that they have been trained in a minimum number of courses in order to be re-registered at the next charter renewal. National apparently hasn't yet rolled it out to all even though it's been in the pilot phase since 2010. Every leader MUST take youth protection training, regardless of whether the Council is participating in the pilot or not. If you're in a Council that requires that leaders have position specific training (and it's really not that onerous - f

Stosh, I like your ideas though I'm not sure about making any activity mandatory for him - we don't make them mandatory for any other Scout or Leader - but I like the idea of the Troop doing activities where he has the ability to hang around and interact with the Scouts. I'm also not sure about a new SM getting the stamp of approval first before something can be done - may as well keep him as SM then. Any new SM should have the ability to put their own ideas to work - but he should certainly be a resource to the SM - and I can definitely see the CC using him as a sounding board to ma

Ok, I'll admit to being a bit old fashioned in my thinking about merit badges - that they are done by individual Scouts (or with a buddy or two) with solid contact between the counselor and Scout. I do see a lot of merit in your approach as well - indeed, I've seen it work - our District used to run a winter time swimming and lifesaving merit badge "class" at a nearby indoor swimming pool to give Scouts the opportunity to earn these badges outside of the normal summer camp routine (heck, I worked these for a number of years). Earning these badges required a commitment of at least 4 Sunday

So in his letter, the Archbishop mentions that one of his problems with the Girl Scouts is their relationship with Amnesty International because, according to the Archbishop, the work of Amnesty International is in conflict with the teachings of the Catholic Church. Until now, I never thought of the Catholic Church being opposed to organizations that oppose dictatorial regimes beheading political opponents and other dissidents. Does the Pope know that his Archbishop supports beheading political enemies? Just curious.

Wendi, Welcome to the forum. Everything you mentioned in your first paragraph is EXACTLY how the Cub Scout Program Leaders (CM, DLs)/Committee responsibilities work. Your Pack has been doing it right for at least 2 Cubmasters. The Cubmaster and the Den Leaders should be meeting monthly to plan the program and to make sure the program plans are being followed - the BSA actually makes it pretty easy to do this by annually publishing a program plan for units to plug in and play that will lay out a theme for the year and a month by month guide of suggestions on how to do it. At least on

If he wants to stay on, he may be worried that the unit will decline again - or it may be that this is what gives him the motivation to keep on trucking if he's got serious health problems - gives him something to do and fight for. If he's comfortable with the ASM that's ready to step up, then having a friendly discussion about how the Troop is doing and suggesting a Scoutmaster Emeritus role would be a good start. Does anyone have a friendly relationship with his wife? She could be your biggest ally into talking him in to an active Scoutmaster Emeritus role. Don't overlook the poss

Ok, yes - instant re-commissioning of an old Battleship is a major gap in realty but we are talking about a movie titles Battleship in an era where we have no modern battleships so I let that one pass (and the scene where all the old salts are standing on various high points of the ship always causes the dust in the room to get in my eyes). But, I must overrule some objections. It's entirely possible that an alien civilization may have large ships that are incapable of landing and operating on land - though they did have smaller craft that could - these aliens had special helmets to cut

Ok - I can see some kind of "MB Fair" along these lines being awesome - provided that a Scout can't earn a merit badge at the fair. If it's set-up more like a Merit Badge Showcase where it's held all day at a school or banquet hall or a park or somewhere with enough room that maybe multiple merit badge counselors for a badge could set up a "booth" (like an old-fashioned Scout-O-Rama booth - or a Fishing, Camping, Hunting, Outdoor Loving, RV, etc. type of show for the public) where Scouts can visit all the booths and see if something catches their fancy and they decide to try for the badge by

There is no such thing as an awesome merit badge fair - and the reason they won't go away is that there are always some merit badge counselors who say yes when they should say not just no but H*** No.

My Side of the Mountain; Battleship; Godzilla (2014 AND 1954)

There are some that say there are more books about chess than about any other game or spor (though I have to think that fishing has to be a viable contender, as would hunting). I don't know of any good books on chess history for youth - though your local library might have something. My suggestion would be the Chess Merit Badge Book - chances are pretty good that it will discuss everything needed to meet the requirements.

We give them an annual inventory and an annual "audited" financial statement. We also give them a monthly treasurer's report. They may not read it, but it helps show our trustworthyness.