Armymutt

So the solution is to further isolate the workforce along personal identity lines, rather than figure out the problem and eliminate it at the source?

I see that BSA is deciding to toss out the notion that all Scouts are just Scouts without regard for social class - "for members of the affinity and their allies". The non-Newspeak version of this is "we created group to separate people by identity other than 'Scout' with the intention of try to make people feel special, rather than foster brotherhood and understanding that everyone is different." This is usually followed by special "spaces" and meeting that are only for members of these special groups. It's basically emotional reparations writ large. Seems to me that a more effectiv

You bring up a good point. We don't ask anyone. Frankly, we wouldn't know the details in this case if they weren't friends of our family. This is a case of ignorance is bliss and knowledge totally throws a wrench into things.

That's the problem - she's not attending. He's completed YPT and she considers him a guardian. She's trying to get with the legal office on post, but of course, they aren't picking up the phone.

We're going to go the power of attorney route. That seems to be sufficient for guardianship in NC.

Yes.

We have a campout coming up for our pack. Two of the Scouts - one Tiger, one Wolf - lost their dad a couple of years ago. They are a Gold Star family, meaning that if mom remarries before she reaches a certain age, she loses all benefits, including the survivor retirement pay, health care, etc. She has a boy friend who is essentially her husband and the stepfather of the Scouts in all but legal status. She can't make it on the camping trip, so he's planning to bring them. We really didn't think anything of it until I started digging into the G2SS and it dawned on me that he is neither th

Since Cub Scouting can be completed without camping 1 night, we always require every Cub Scout to have a parent or guardian present. Consequently, we have a Scout to adult ratio around 1:1 to 1.5:1. I know the rules say Cub Scouts should have a parent and Tigers must, but no one wants to babysit someone else's kid.

Tell me about it. I got the 2017 Normandy version from a guy. He wanted $50 on eBay. Met him at our camp and got several more patches, including the Normandy one, for the same price. My new lodge, on the other hand, creates a special patch for everything. Their NOAC 2022 patch set is awesome.

EBay is probably your best/easiest bet, however, if your lodge is having a tradeoree, you might find someone there with a much better deal than on eBay. My original lodge was Black Eagle and they have put out a lot of neat patches this century - had the same patch for 50 years before that. I got about $100 in patches (eBay prices) for $50 at our tradeoree. Guys travel from long distances to trade. As mentioned above, wearing it on your uniform is ok if you are a dues paying member of that lodge. If not, then you need to ask yourself why you want to wear it.

With the various mergers. the chapter numbers and district numbers don't necessarily align. Our district has 3 chapters, which coincide with the three legacy districts. The OA was allowed to decide whether or not to merge.

Maybe it's normal now, but I don't remember any sex talk going on in my troop from 90-94. There literally was no discussion of girls when Scouting was going on. Seems really strange to me that this occurs now. Even when we met international units that had girls, we just did our own thing. Scouting was an escape from girls. Our parents didn't "open the hanger doors" at dining outs, and we didn't talk about girls. This might also be a new thing. Maybe it was because our troop was so small - about 20 Scouts. I shared my tent with anyone who asked. Mostly because mine was the only

Two totally different situations.

I got the polio sugar cube in a British high school around 1992. I don't think any sort of record made it into my medical records. It's on my Army vax record, so they probably transcribed it from the form I filled out before entry. If it's good enough for Uncle Sam, it's good enough for BSA, from my perspective.

That's the part that I will emphasize to them. They need to make sure they can build a unit - even if it's just 5 boys. The program has to be fantastic AND visible in the community so that it motivates others to join.

I haven't had an opportunity to gather intel on the location, beyond a map recon. There are no troops in that area, but there are a few neighborhoods and a couple of schools. I have no idea what level they want to start at. From my experience, a Pack is far more labor intensive than a troop. At this point, I'm on a fact finding/fact giving mission. It will be up to them to determine the ability of their organization and the will of the community. I think our council and district have a funding stream for this sort of thing. They set up a troop in a smaller city that failed. I'm trying

Received an interesting call today. A guy met one of our den leaders on Saturday selling popcorn. He must have been directed to our site and got my number. He is concerned about the growing violence in the city near us and wants us to come talk to his church's men's group about the benefits of Scouting and how to start a unit. This is like two classes of my MPH rolled into a single Saturday. I have been building a list of resources for the past month, detailing various social determinants of health and the affect Scouting can have in early intervention. I think I have the benefits parts

For me, Cub Scouts is exhausting. A big portion of this is that our pack is so small, I've had to do multiple jobs to keep us afloat. We doubled our size in the past month, so we're offloading jobs. Got a new ACM, Pack Secretary, and Pack Treasurer to take to load off. I'm still CM and Lion DL because our Lion den has 2 kids, one is mine, the other our new Treasurer's. Still really intensive, especially since my kids are the ones causing the most disturbances in a pack meeting. Had a camp out with the OA a couple weeks ago. Very refreshing to be on a camp out and not have to yell at som

That's exactly the problem. The skill awards introduced the concepts for a large number of required merit badges. The repetitive nature helps kids to learn.

I pulled out my 9th edition of the handbook today to look up the skill award requirements. I noticed that part of the camping one was to carry your gear 2km in and 2km out. In the most up-to-date one I have, the 13th edition, there is no requirement to carry your gear for any of the first three ranks. This surprises me, given the advancements in weight saving gear over the past 35 years. Any ideas why Scouts aren't required to carry their gear?

I think you get out of the OA what you put into it, like most things in life. If you view it as a chance to get a new patch for your uniform, then that's what it will be - a harder version of eBay. If you view it as a vehicle for networking with Scouts from other troops, you're likely to get more. If you take the time to sit down with the ceremonial texts, read them, and think about them, you'll understand that the organization is about servant leadership. As a youth, my chapter was small in number and large in geography. It wasn't super active simply because most of us didn't have transp

This is our setup in a nutshell - no to all three. Luckily, we now have a guy in charge of the youth ministry who recognizes that we are part of his program and wants to represent us to the parish council. The very minimum goal is covering adult registration fees. The funny thing is that we have to have the Safe Environment Training, which is YPT on steroids, yet we're treated more like facility users with a blurb on the webpage. We're working on becoming more visible, but it's difficult with only 1 family that is a member of the church.

Tonight was an example of our precarious situation. An hour before the meeting, the other family texted that they had a COVID symptoms case and weren't coming until the kid got tested. They tried to cancel everyone else, but I fixed that as quick as possible for most of them. Our guy who is becoming the Webelos DL also bailed for an unknown reason. We decided to put the kids in the ga ga ball pit and made it a parents meeting. We brought a laptop and set it up with a mobile hotspot. The parents who hadn't finished youth applications submitted them. The Tiger DL designee filed his applic

You're assuming there are other willing and qualified volunteers. The church barely realizes that we are part of their ministry. The diocese is slightly better. Church - can't sell popcorn at the bazar. Can't sell outside after Mass. Got the last one rectified with the new CC. No one in the parish is tripping over themselves to spend time with the scouts. Even the KofC is hurting.

It's a CO thing. Some don't allow for OA. Ours doesn't allow for unrelated adults.