Armymutt

Well, ours is this weekend. High supposed to be 53 and 60% chance of rain. Cubmaster had a hard landing on Friday during a parachute jump and may be in the hospital. So now, I'm in charge. Awesome. Any ideas for games to keep 8 Cub Scouts entertained in a picnic shelter?

I was a Cub Scout in Rantoul, IL in the early 80s. I can't find my uniform, but would like to find the CSP from that time. I know it is currently the Prairielands Council, but I have no idea if that's what it was back then. Anyone help me out?

It looks nice, but it's also $395. We need a heavy coat here for about 2 to 3 weeks a year. I bought one of the red ones from our Scout shop locally. It will do for my purposes.

That's true. This one looks a bit heavier. https://tradingpost.classb.com/scouts-bsa-red-sport-tek-jacket-with-bsa-universal-logo/

I'm looking for a jacket to put all my patches on. I have a bunch of TAC patches as well as a couple of CSPs from a now-defunct council in IL. Thought this might be nicer than the wool one because it has a hood. https://tradingpost.classb.com/scouts-bsa-red-hooded-jacket-with-bsa-corporate-logo/?sku=B63006

We're talking kids to adults. Adult to adult, it's first name anyway.

I'm generally laid back, since I rarely hear my first name at work - I'm in the Army. I'm a veterinarian, but don't really care if people call me Mr. or Dr. My wife is a pharmacist and really hates being called Mrs. or Ms. She's about to become the Committee Chair for our pack. It brought up the idea of using titles in Scouting. My personal point of view is first names are better. I have/had a closer bond with my Scoutmasters that I called by their first names, than with those I interacted with in a more formal manner. What's the crowd say?

We're planning on having a cook out at a local state park. Probably won't be in Feb, which is our coldest month in NC.

Cub Scouting in the time of COVID has become very challenging. My son's den consist of two Tigers, and a Lion. We are meeting outdoors as of now, but might be moving to someone's house as the weather gets colder here in NC. Our Wolf den has one kid. Bears have two, one of which will be moving this summer. I've lost track of our Weblos - I think 2, both are moving this summer, along with their den leader and the Cubmaster. I'll assume that role. We're trying to figure out recruiting, both for new scouts and for participation from the parents we have. One told me flat out, "not this year". I told another tonight that we won't be able to survive with the 4 parents we have involved - two couples. We had a very active presence at our church's Trunk or Treat, handing out information sheets on how to join to every kid that was eligible. Nothing came of it. Apparently, we aren't the worst in our district either. The lack of schools being in session makes it difficult to get the kids talking to their classmates about coming. How are other packs recruiting?

This worked for me. Married a girl who became a pharmacist.

I have major issues with BSA actively entering the political arena. By mentioning B. Taylor, they have gone way beyond selling war bonds and into anti-police propaganda. That is something that they can't take back. I don't think that scouts should actively engage in any social issues. That's not our role. We should be role models for society through our actions, not our words. I don't like forced anything - it reeks of insincerity. If your troop/pack is open to anyone who wants to join up and participate in this organization, then that's all that should be required. We are probably one of the most open organizations on the planet. We have published a book for 110 years that explains who we are and what we believe. While society may have interpreted it in various ways for us through time, the core has not faltered. Some of this stuff sounds awfully close to bussing. I think that kids in Scouting will get enough diversity training in their lives. Adding in a merit badge does sound a lot like school. The equity thing is a very loaded term. While its focus on equal outcome is debated, it's focus on unequal assistance is not debatable. It goes beyond accommodation for physical handicaps and into social condition. Scouting is all about improving one's lot in life through your own efforts. What does this equity look like in the MB? Lowering a standard because of where a Scout lives? Would anyone accept requiring fewer hikes from Scouts in NYC vs one from rural NC? One big issue is the "lens" one is required, or tends, to adopt with DEI and CRT. It's like having just a hammer in your tool box. I'm currently in a masters program that is heavy in "anti-racism" (as if there is a significant "pro-racism" sector of society). One lecture literally told the students that the hog farms in eastern NC were established out of racism. They showed a slide of the slave population locations in 1860 and one of the hog farm sites from 2019. They did not mention the tobacco buyout in the 1990s. They didn't mention that these farms were converted from tobacco to hogs because the terrain was perfectly suited for them, nor that these farms had been in these families for generations. The story sold to these kids is that these farms were sited in these locations because black people lived there. That is a shameful tactic in my book.

If they want to have numbers like they did in the 60s and 70s, they need to act like they did in those decades. Scouts join Scouting because it's fun. To most boys, an element of danger is fun. When you take that away, it's no longer fun. Limiting the height of pioneer structures to 6ft is crazy. There's no sense of danger there. Taking away the games we used to play in the 80s, like Stargazers, no activities that remotely resemble shooting at people, and the general babying of the program isn't going to bring kids in. T-ball has more danger in it. We used to jump off 20ft high cliffs. Now you can't exceed your height? While catering to certain people, and covering one's rear, they don't invite adventure, but seem more of a canned experience.

We're trying to do that with our Tiger den this week. Taking a one mile "hike" with their 6 essentials. Not sure what we are going to see since it will be dark, but we'll give it a shot.

I'm not clear on why this is a merit badge. Surely the basic tenets of Scouting already incorporate these ideas. I suppose if one wants to explore them, fine, but I don't think it needs to be required for Eagle. American Cultures isn't required, but it is essentially a diversity merit badge.

Welcome to scouting in the military. Like it or not, BSA extends some unofficial leeway to the Scouting programs chartered to military organizations. One could say that it was open to any Pack, as long as they could attend. It looks like it was held on Ft. Leavenworth. Not sure of their present requirements, but Fort Bragg was not allowing anyone on-post who didn't have a mission essential need to be there. If the post only has one Pack, then that's the only one that will be attending.

I've read a few threads about "SM retirement date". My experience has been with four troops. The first SM was removed for being a pedophile. My second troop had the same SM from 1946 until his death in 2011. My third troop dissolved because of the military drawdown in England. My fourth troop went through several SMs in the 3 years I was in it, due to military moves. My natural line of thought is that an SM stays in their position for a long time in the civilian world. Is that not usually the case? Does it tend to be like Cub Scouts where the SM moves on when the kid/kids move on? Maybe it was the years of experience, but my SM and ASM in the now 88 year old troop never seemed stressed out. Even when the troop consisted of 3 6th graders, they still were super chill. What causes most SMs to quit?

My son's first ever camping trip is on Halloween. We are in NC, for weather reference. We'll be staying in my 33 year old LL Bean tent. I haven't been camping outside of the Army since 1994. Still have my Thermarest 3/4 length self-inflating pad from my Philmont trip. I was thinking of putting him in a square sleeping bag on top of the Thermarest. Since I'm old and beat up from being an Infantryman and a Paratrooper, I'm trying to decide between a twin-size air mattress or picking up a Big Agnes sleeping bag and pad combo. Kind of depends on availability right now. I'm planning on taking these on motorcycle trips, so it's already a planned purchase. Will I have to turn in my Camping Merit Badge if I decide to take the big mattress? The 18 year old in me says "weenie"!

The experience with the SM brings up the question of who can dismiss the SM from their position? If the SM isn't fulfilling their role as a guide in a youth-led program, then they need to go.

In the requirements for Tiger, one of them is Cyber Chip. It says it can be waived if you don't have access to the internet. It's the "you" that is the sticky part. My kids don't have access to the internet beyond stuff on the TV. None of the things mentioned are something they can relate to. To me, it's something I should waiver until they are old enough to use the internet. Their only access to cmputers are at home and school. Both places are severely restricted and supervised.

In the troops I was in in the 80s-90s, we just split the weekly meeting. We opened and closed as a troop. Maybe had a few announcements. Did training by rank, and games as a troop. Patrol meetings mostly concerned themselves with planning campouts to nest with the troop campouts.

What are the youth getting for all these fees? They have to pay for their books, uniforms, patches, camping gear, camp fees, etc. The unit adults are volunteers. I assume the summer camps fees pay for the staff, food, and facility upkeep. Is the program too bloated with paid employees? I can see having to pay insurance, but how much of the rest of the program is subsidized from higher up? I'd really hate for a kid to miss out simply because their parents can't afford the program.

That's terrible. I don't think I could find it in myself to forgive him.

Yeah, I know. The packet they handed the parents had the old CM's named marked out and the current CM is listed as the ACM. Such is life in a pack that is heavily tied to the military community.

My son enjoyed his first meeting in his new pack tonight. I told the CC that if they needed me for any positions, I'm open to it. He said they need a new ACM. Wasn't expecting that, but ok! I guess it's time to get more training done.

Anyone know if there is an archive of Green Bar Bill columns from Boys Life? I remember it being my favorite thing to read as a kid.