CA_Scouter

"Enjoy the peace and quiet for the remainder of this week. " Well that says a lot! I value the input of such dedicated scouters ( I've received very good advice from both ) but we must insist on proper decorum and manners in these forums. Scout Law. No exceptions.

Is it any wonder the Pinewood Derby is scheduled around Halloween? Be afraid, be very afraid. My suggestion: RUN, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!!! :-)

I'm with Student. The couple of times I've gone skiing/packing, I've used an internal frame and its suited me well, but my personal preference is for external frames. My experience has been that they are more stable, have better compartmentalization ( whoo long word! ) and better tie down capability. I've had my 1980 model Jansport for all this time, and save for one hungry squirrel who chewed a hole in one of my pockets, its in great shape and serves me well!

Apologies, Trev.. .guess my political cynicism is showing, eh? Some ideas: Bill Gates Tiger Woods

Trev, I don't know your politics but what is your objection to soldiers? Sounds like you are implying that there is something wrong with being one...

This is certainly a group of out of control adults. Training is needed, definitely. I've had problems with some of the adults in my troop and how I handled it was to communicate my vision to the troop and adults clearly, concisely, and politely. I really put the onus on the adults, for example, I outlined my expectations that the scouts conduct themselves as gentlemen at all times, and that they could use their parents as role models. ( hint, hint ). Then for those parents that were most difficult, I asked them to work on special projects, run a skillbase, or something like that, so that they would have to contribute and get out of their ego trips. I also had plenty of reference material from BSA on how meetings should be run, what skillbases to do, etc.. any objections, I just 'showed 'em the stuff' and they quieted down. In a very nice way, I communicated to them to 'put up or shut up'. That if they weren't willing to put in the time, their opinions would carry no weight. Finally, just because someone has an opinion, doesn't mean you, as a leader, have to listen to it ( or entertain it ). Opinions are like belly buttons. Everyone has one, but they do nothing and serve no purpose. If you have the training and the vision for a properly run troop, then you have the correct platform to stand on, so stand your ground and make it right!

18G's in the bank, eh? Our troop balance has soared to about $380 this month. We not sure just how to spread the wealth! The committee chair wanted to give everyone a brand new #2 pencil, but she was voted down as being too extravagant. OK, all kidding aside, I WISH we had this problem!

I see both sides of the situation here.. one, you don't want somebody dictating what you must do, and two, the troop needs funds to run the program. But Scouting costs money. Plain and simple. And all participants should contribute equally, or as close to equal as they can. We used to get 'hit up' by the school district with all their fundraisers, constantly having the kids beg their uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc for money, finally one day, my wife and I simply wrote the school a check for $100 and thereafter declined to participate in the fundraising. ( We repeated that every year while the munchkins were in grade school ). There's another approach for you to consider.

Forgive my ignorance, but the CO gets the equipment? Our CO gives us nada... except the use of their facility ( the garage bay ). We pay the chartering fee, we pay for the membership of the CO rep, we hold the fundraisers to buy the equipment, we solicit the equipment donations, etc... It would be a cold day in, uh, Ecuador, before I would give the CO our equipment. I would make sure it would get to another scouting unit!

But, but... the note said: "He is having a lot more school work and is already having a tough time keeping up with it." You have to take these things at face value - you cannot try to read something into it... son 2 is still in the pack, right? You got a note... I've had scouts drop without a word, now THAT you might want to read something into, but if they go to the trouble of sending you a note, then accept the reason and keep the door open, but move on...

Lots of great suggestions, I have only to add that on our polar bear campouts, we tell the scouts to bring TWO sleeping bags, and use them one inside the other. Socks and hat are also essential. Have Fun!

If the issue is the scout shop, our scout shop takes phone orders and ships them out the same day. Maybe yours does too?

I stumbled across a web site. WWW.Scoutdirect.com - they are an outdoors company with a strong tie to Scouting, and they offer significant discounts on tents. If you sign up as an adult leader, you get something like a 40% discount... pretty good, eh? Now, I have not ordered anything from them yet... I have all my own equipment and am not currently in need of anything they offer, but it looks like decent stuff. Just an FYI - I would think that if they are courting Scouters, they wouldn't sell you bad stuff...( I'm a glass half-full kinda guy ). Good Luck.

Semper, What a GREAT idea! No wonder you get the big bucks!

I don't know if BSA has a policy on this or not, but you are certain to receive some lively debate on the subject this forum! ( some people are absolutely mollified by using the term 'class B' ) :-) For our troop, we use a local t-shirt shop.. we are sponsered by a volunteer firefighter organization, and someone found a graphic of an old horse drawn fire truck, and we just added our troop number to that and that's our graphic. Yellow on a green background, very nice... Basically, there are plenty of ready-made graphics out there that any t-shirt shop should have access to, just use your imagination and find one that fits the style of your troop... I'm sure there are many variations of fleur-de-lys out there.. I would suggestion that after you have the master graphic made up, keep it in your possession in case you have to switch vendors or want to look for better prices.

You must first be sure all the facts are correct and accurate. Remember, there are two sides to every story, and you are only hearing one side at this time. Should you verify the account of the event, then all the offenders should be reported to the school authorities, the scout included ( Eagle in KY is right on! ) , and they should be reported by the girl's parents, not neccessarily you. ( Why have they not done so already? ) The girl is the one who looks like she is getting harrassed, not your son ( though I could be wrong ). Because you have a personal relationship with the SM, I would mention the incident to him, but only give him the facts, not your opinion. He will have to decide for himeself how to handle it from there. From my point of view, you are an interested THIRD party, not a direct participant, so you have to tread carefully. However, I feel you are probably obligated to report the incident(s) to the school authorities. Good Luck.

Wow, some of you guys just buy into this stuff! Maybe I'm a cynic, but I've said this before and I'll repeat it again: ALL MEDIA IS ENTERTAINMENT. These kind of articles are there precisely to provoke a reaction, a discussion, an argument, a fight - take your choice. The more extreme the better! Somewhere this guy is sitting back in his chair with his feet on his desk laughing his head off. btw - I find the reference to napalm quite distasteful. The post should be removed as it is not up to the standards of good taste for these forums.

...and here we go again... ( Hi Merlyn ) I see the makings of a 'flame' war... Perhaps you would consider a forum outside of this site for nonBSA related discussions????

185, you are making a lot of assumptions! I wouldn't bring an unqualified adult on a backpacking trip. The same rules that apply to the scouts would also apply to the adult ( out of shape, lacking skills, etc ). An adult backpacking for the 1st time would fall under the 'lacking skills' category. ( but I probably wouldn't ask the adult to bring their parent! :-) ) I also wouldn't likely bring someone who didn't want to be there. That would probably be worse than someone lacking skills. The point I'm trying to make is that not every activity is suitable for every scout. Newbies could have a lot of problems on a week-long trip, so the point of all this is to limit the participation to qualified scouts. btw - we also do short backpack trips, 1 or 2 nights, 3-5 miles, for the newbies, so we can teach them the skills and ramp them up for a future week long trip.

I echo SWScouters comments. Do a simulated backpack trip on a car campout, do some smaller backpack trips to weed out the non-performers. My addition to this discussion is to indicate to the scouts that those who cannot perform or are underqualifed ( out of shape, new scouts, lacking skills, etc. ), will be required to bring a parent on the trip. That way, you don't have to turn the whole group around should there be a problem with a single scout.

Its unclear if this parent acted in anger, or was roughhousing and being a jerk about it. I had a scout who did some roughhousing where he grabbed another scout by the throat, and I suspended him from troop activites for a month ( along with the requisite SM conference both before the suspension and upon his return ). Looks like this parent is at least eligible for that, if not much, much more. I worry that your committee wants to silently let this go by. Bad example to set for your scouts - even if the guy was just roughhousing, he should be called to the carpet for it and made to promise it wouldn't happen again. However, if the parent is pressing charges, then it doesn't really look like roughhousing. The safety of your scouts should be your primary concern, and to heck with whose feelings get hurt on the committee. Something must be done, and it must be done promptly, courteusly and decisively ( it should also be well documented ). Good Luck!

ONE poster WHO has THE need TO capitalize EVERY other WORD for EMPHASIS!

Handled perfectly, in my opinion. The requirements were not met, they don't get the award. I echo Semper's comments on integrity, if you set the standard now, you will avoid problems down the road. Great job!

You say: 'Other than trying to help more to share the load, talk to the Committee Chair, or confronting the SM'... does this mean you have already done that, or you don't want to do that? You must involve the Committee and the Chartering Organization if the situation is as dire as you say. You need to remember ( and it needs to be pointed out to the SM ) that the program is to benefit the boys, not the SM, the committee or anyone else. It may be uncomfortable to do so, but he must be spoken to and/or removed from the position. Remember, a Scout is Brave...

What would you call this, ahem, a Class 'K' ? :-)