Armymutt

The only money we send to a troop is residual from the Scout that joins them. We operate under a program where the Scout receives 100% credit for the money raised through fundraising. This is because we are small and have about a 30% participation in fundraising. If a Scout earns AOL and moves on to a troop, the credit they earned can be transferred to the troop they join. So far, this has been $20.

Volunteer to be a unit commissioner. With your experience, you will probably do a great job. Gives you the chance to have an impact across several units.

Sadly, there is a quality difference between now and the old days. Frankly, having barriers to entry resulted in Scouts who actually wanted to be there, in my experience. I've had the opportunity to observe two chapters in different lodges and am seeing different behaviors. I also see differences in how those councils and districts work. Part of it could be the demographics. Both are near Army bases, but one district has far more military people involved than the other and this is evident in how business is conducted. The chapters reflect this, even though many of the Scouts in leadership roles don't come from military families. Maybe it's time for OA to be more regional than central, as it was in the beginning. I know that will screw up the national conference and possibly section conclaves. The upside just may be a higher quality program.

I had a conversation about the OA on Thursday at Round Table. One of the adults there mentioned that the chapter just had 4 new Vigil Honors. I asked him where these Scouts were because they sure weren't at the Chapter meetings. I never got an answer. I asked about ceremonies teams for the Lodge. He said that he used to have several teams, but once the Lodge did away with regalia, the kids lost interest. Just wearing a tan shirt wasn't really inspiring. The chapter was meeting down the hall. It was worse than a Tiger den meeting. The Scouts were flicking plastic forks around the room and generally doing nothing constructive. We have inductions coming up. I asked the chapter chief if we had a team. She's learning one principle's lines. I asked her if she was helping prepare the Ordeal members for Brotherhood. Nope. I asked if anyone in the room know the OA song or the Obligation - nope. I tried to nudge her to open the Arrowman Jumpstart. Nada. I can't imagine what will happen if I recommend watching Polestar. When I see a Brotherhood SPL Star Scout acting like an 8 y/o, we have a problem.

I found this movie on Youtube today. It's from the 60s, but still has the relevant themes.

We encourage all of our parents to take YPT. We're not registering them all, but having them understand the YP requirements of the BSA is extremely helpful in having them understand how the unit operates and why somethings may or may not happen. For example, when we have to cancel an outing due to lack of registered leaders.

I don't think you can say that modifying an organization's policies to be incompatible with those of another is not exclusionary any more than you can say that policies that are incompatible with an individual's identity is exclusionary. The evidence is quite clear that modifying the policies did not have the desired effect, assuming that effect was to increase membership.

I'm thinking that's a bit of circular logic. Modifications were made that resulted in the exclusion of a large group which was not replaced by members of the targeted group. I'm not sure that further modifications are guaranteed to bring in more members than to result in less members.

We didn't have patrol yells in my favorite troop as a kid - too small. We had a troop yell. Couldn't tell you the origin, but it was used as a means of communication - finding all the scouts and calling them together. Or, in those days, for the Scouts to find the adults and get back together. The phonetic of it is "Waa-poo". Carries well through the woods and is unmistakable.

That was literally my first campout. Swollen Current River, Big Spring, innertubes, lots of walking to get there. We did that otherstuff on meeting nights. Was an old school troop. Still played Star Gazers, even in 1990.

It depends on your goals for the trip. I'm thinking energy dense breakfasts for long days of activities. A light lunch gets you to the evening and is quick so that the kids can get back to doing the outing. I'm pretty sure you'd have to eat a whole lot of oatmeal to get you through a 10 miles hike, upstream swims in 50F spring water, repeated rock climbs after quarry swims, etc. Are kids just not as active in camp these days?

I didn't see if anyone posted a link to the survey. Here it is: https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fscouting.co1.qualtrics.com%2Fjfe%2Fform%2FSV_bwRYOkYtVhKuhD0%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR023Zyg17gdApjE2j3_U5DHb6Nf2L3DqzO-psskHKUmSN1h2OCgAMzJrlU&h=AT2HR5V67UvWPBRa97b7P7qsVHaI3OL9YOBrRFduGIA-dEiJNkJ3xoejPuCV5zgEjfnC4fRyUBDgLg2881iKNEXYpOqLSV7h35nTohFqu2m9S-5iLC26KIm5S--LCd3AmQ&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT1ksbr1YQp-wVczI4xzZS7m9o0902qtI2rMWKWHUEZ-OTurDvj6z7YyC9YItVBo8jcMHjiNtrez_Ov2IqMDJ1TPEI1QLTmtmROv6oyMl7qrx4KV1lhngmn4qZliOK1lIJKTNBfK_lC9SGyRkJ3Vi0riDBXq0uZCBwrjtj-kT_cqc4HlfhWoHngTJC9xg-Eq9yffDIKBfbq7TokHu8b-V2kcvsQ6

My troop as a kid had a standard breakfast and lunch in camp. Cast iron skillet on the stove with lard. First in were eggs. Crack them on the pan and drop straight into the hot oil. After they were done, they got pulled out and put on papertowel-topped paper plates. Next up was bacon. This was friend and put on papertowel/plates. Last was sliced potatoes. These were prepped by being washed and slice at about 1/8-1/4". Fried up, removed to drain, salted. That was breakfast. Pans were allowed to cool and then stuck next to a tree for the rest of the day. Next morning, pick out any debris that fell into them and back on the stove. Lunch was a loaf of white bread, a package of bologna, and Open Pit BBQ sauce. This was normally away from camp - water front, hike, etc. Occasionally, we'd build a small fire - like 8" diameter - and roast hot dogs. Dinner varied. Foil meals were popular and easy. Dinner is normally a good time to get fancy. I like to make pizza with my Cubs, but that requires some additional cast iron. A good dutch oven can be used to make biscuits, pie, cobbler, etc. Same with soups. Use a couple to make chili and corn bread. There are a number of websites with dinner ideas, not to mention older editions of the Boy Scout Handbook. I haven't bought one since the early 90s, so I don't know about the modern one. The last one to have drawings instead of photos was a good source of ideas for camp cooking.

One other possibility to look at is being a Commissioner for the troop and a couple other units. You are not part of the troop, but you can still go camping with them. You also get to see how various units do things. You can provide this information across the units to help spread what makes troops strong. The added bonus is that you'll be in a fee-paying registered position, which means you can go camping with a Scouts BSA troop. The new YP standards require all adults who go camping be in a fee-paying registered position. There are only so many adult positions in a troop. The district is always looking for commissioners. I was a Cubmaster for 2 years and now serve as the Pack Committee Chair for the same unit due to the Army moving me. While I'm away from my family, I'm serving a different council as a Commissioner. It's great! I have two troops, two packs, and a crew. I get to see how each one struggles and triumphs in their given environments and with the types of members. - one 90% active duty military with a military organization as a CO, the other mostly Hispanic with a church as a CO. If I have time, I can go camping with any of them and see how they do things in the field. Don't limit yourself to just the troop your kid is in.

They paid council registration for 2022, but did not pay dues for 22-23. The dues for 21-22 covered B&G 22, not B&G 23. As of 1 JAN 23, they were not a part of the Boy Scouts of America. Since the former Scout is a 5th grader and was 11, they had no intention of rejoining the pack.

A few more details. The Pack has paid for the adult in this situation to be a registered Assistant Den Leader. The last time he showed up was at a district campout where he came late and didn't help out with the Pack at all. He didn't bring the stove that the AOLs needed to do their cooking requirement, so the DL had to scramble. The former Scout in question told one of our committee members that she really didn't have time for Cub Scouts because she was too busy with Girl Scouts. Even at the Christmas parade, she showed up in a GSUSA uniform instead of a Cub Scout uniform. I don't think she cared one way or another. The CO had the event down for not open to the public, so I kept to those wishes. The COR comments came after the interaction. There's a serious lack of communication, despite my best efforts to seek input into both events. This is the frustrating part of all of it.

The problem is, that one isn't a Scout if one isn't registered, correct? We don't charge admission to the B&G. The costs are in the dues that everyone is supposed to pay. This family didn't pay dues at all this academic year, even when they were registered. I don't think they are going to pay the $90 in dues and $156 in registration fees at the B&G. We have been trying to get in contact with them for four months with no response. They obviously had no intention of joining the Pack when they showed up on the last day for the AOL den to meet. The event was not open to the general public, and I'd argue that someone not registered in the BSA qualifies as the general public. At this point, they are the problem of whatever troop they go to. Let them deal with the dishonesty. Between the free ride they were getting before I turned the Pack around and got it out of bankruptcy and the claim of earning the AOL despite not attending a den meeting since Oct, I've had it with them. They have been a massive drain on morale for much of the Pack, to the point that parents have complained to me about it.

Well, that was fun. Yesterday was out B&G Banquet. We had a family show up that, until last Tuesday, hadn't made contact with the pack since October. They did not recharter this year, never paid dues this academic year, nothing. I reminded them that they were not members of the Pack and that the banquet was only for Pack members and, apparently, the troop leadership invited by our COR for our AOLs. We hadn't planned on them either, but they were integral to the crossover that was supposed to take place after the B&G, rather than as the addendum that it turned out to be. The AOL den leader denies inviting them, as does all the other leadership. She did however ask if they would be attending, which sounds a lot like an invitation to me, but whatever. At no point did she remind them that they were not members of BSA, despite them wearing uniforms at the meeting. I ended up having to be the bad guy because I enforced the policy of pay to play by reminding them that they weren't members of the Pack and had paid no dues toward the execution of the B&G. Bringing a dish really doesn't matter to me because all of the other families there brought a dish and paid $4/Scout to attend. Now I'm being told that "a Scout is Friendly" and that we shouldn't have turned them away by the COR. The family in question also happens to be THE range guy for the District. I'm willing to bet my paycheck that if some other former member of the Pack showed up and was reminded that the event was not open to the public, no one would have batted an eye.

I'm betting it's up to the local GM. The ones where we sold a couple of years ago is an Eagle Scout. He's since moved on, and we got rejected, or at least, ignored.

Doesn't seem to be a consistent thing. The Lowe's closest to our Pack pretty much ghosted us when we asked for permission. Meanwhile, the 4 other Lowe's in the council, including one in our district, were cool with it and were listed on the TE shift manager. We had to drive 30 minutes to get there, but it was like a tobacco auction until the good popcorn ran out.

We tell our Cubs to sell, sell, sell because I'd rather spread the cost of Scouting across the community than pull it from the parents' bank account. Realistically, even with the 30% commission going to the Scout, it only takes about 4 to 6 hours at Lowes to make the Scout $1000 in commission. That covers their dues, national and council fees, camping, uniforms, and a bit left over for some high quality camping gear. My kids both have Big Agnes sleeping bags and air mattresses with $0 coming from our family's accounts.

Here's Middle Tennessee Council: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/620477729 Quite a jump between the SE and the deputy. For comparison, Occoneechee Council in NC: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/560529984 I think Occoneechee has a far superior camp and overall facilities.

I like the idea of the board. I actually got excited about the Change the board! part. The quoted portion is where I about choked. At $35, it was worth giving as a give for 5 years. I can't believe the silver border square knot is now $500! It can't cost that much to operate NESA. Maybe they should shrink down the scholarships. You already have to be a NESA member to apply. If you can afford to spend $100 on a 50-year membership, you probably aren't hurting for money.

I talked to the dad today. We discussed both sides of the issue and I think he's in agreement that it's better to start with the troop on March 1st rather than holding his son back. It would be different if we had a Webelos Den behind him, but we don't. Better that he start progressing toward Eagle with kids his own age than hang out with 9 year olds.

That leads me to believe that the admissions committees don't have a clue about the AOL. Let's be real, it's nowhere near the level of an accomplishment of a First Class Scout, let alone Eagle.