CA_Scouter

That's a bad call. Throw the flag. Ask for instant reply. That woulda passed with flying colors in our Council.

They are probably citing 'routine maintenance', but this is reconstruction, not repair.

IMHO.

1. Pecan

2. Apple

3-5. anything else except pumpkin pie

What is 'Sho Fly' pie? Is that an East Coast thing? How many of those little buggers do you need to catch to make a whole pie?

HOW did the BSA hide its beliefs? I clearly remember reading the DRP when I joined as an adult 7+ years ago.

Codger, you put so much effort and its very frustrating to get the event canceled, but E92 makes a good point. If the scouts don't 'own' it, it will likely not happen.

This happened to us last year, an ASM did a bunch of work setting up a high adventure backpack trip in the Eastern Sierras, but he did not include the scouts. When it came time to sign up, only 2 or 3 did.

Some years back, I tried to get the scouts to get a fund raising drive going for that big tsunami. No luck. It wasn't their idea, so it didn't fly.

I think our guys woulda jumped on that outing. I'd probably get trampled on the way out the door.. ;-)

Sounds like you've got a boy-led troop there though. That's a good thing funny as it might sound right now...

hmmm... delete the email?

There must be some consequences for the scouts behavior. Medicine wearing off might be a parial explanation but its not an excuse for violent behavior. At a minimum, the scout should apologize before being permitted to attend another campout. A Scoutmaster conference with the scout and parent should be held as well.

If you don't come down hard on this, you'll be dealing with it every campout, and other scouts will start to misbehave if this one continues to get away with it...

C'mon M... you are trying to push this onto the BSA?

I noticed you did not condemn it... does that mean you support it?

Of course not, and neither does the BSA or any other reasonable person.

Geez.

Cool. Thanks for the info... Folsom is about 20 min from me...

I uploaded the photos to the jamboree site: http://www.ur-sprung.at/

I looked briefly at yours but the limitations of my understanding of the German language prevent me from fully appreciating your site.. ;-)

I like Beavah's punchlist... I know we have a ways to go but we are progressiong... here are my answers... IN CAPS ( NO, NOT SHOUTING, JUST SO THE ANSWERS STAND OUT... )

1) Do the youth leaders sign off on advancement requirements?

YES THEY DO

2) Does the PLC set the calendar?

PLC PICKS ACTIVITIES, COMMITTEE SETS THE DATES SO THEY CAN COORDINATE WITH THE SCHOOL CALENDAR

3) Does the PLC set the budget for the troop, and determine how program money is spent?

NO. COMMITTEE DOES ALL THAT, BUT CONSIDERS INPUT FROM PLC OCCASIONALLY.

4) Can the Quartermaster dispose of or purchase gear on his own?

I THINK THE QUESTION HERE IS NOT 'CAN' BUT 'WILL'. GOT A NEW QM THIS YEAR SO HOPING THINGS WILL BE BETTER...

5) Do the youth leaders have keys to the building/trailer/locker?

YES

6) Can the PLC add, subtract, or rewrite troop "policy" for youth members?

YES

7) Do the adults ever touch a stove/pot/shopping cart, or are the youth responsible for their own meals?

ONLY WHEN WE COOK OUR OWN FOOD. WE HAVEN'T TOUCHED FOOD MONEY FOR PATROLS IN YEARS. ITS ENTIRELY UP TO THE PATROLS.

8) Does da SPL present the program to the Committee or does the SM?

SM - PLC PARTICIPATES IN DECIDING SKILLBASES THOUGH.

9) How many times in the last year have yeh knowingly hiked or driven miles out of your way because the lads took a wrong turn and you let 'em?

AT LEAST ONCE LAST YEAR. WRONG TURN ADDED ABOUT A MILE TO OUR HIKE, IT WAS EASY FOR ME TO KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT BUT I PRACTICALLY HAD TO GAG AN ASM. ;-)

10) If a boy suffers a minor injury, who does the first aid?

SCOUTS

11) When an event is canceled, who makes the decision?

BEEN SO LONG... BUT THE LAST TIME WE CANCELED AN EVENT WE SAW ANIMALS WALKING TWO BY TWO... AND PARENTS DECIDED...

Dis kinda fun!

Ausgeizeichnet! Nice web site. Just for fun, I uploaded a couple of photos of our troop so you can see some activities in which our Scouts participate.

Yea, its been discussed, but the opinion is that your opinion doesn't matter (sorry). Its the rule that BSA is using for High Adventure and they won't budge. I'm at the upper end of the scale also... I run 2-3 miles several times a week, play basketball, hike, etc... but if I gain another 5 pounds I'm out, so I gotta put down the fork.

Our unit is sponsered by the 'Volunteer Firefighters Association', which is not the govt entity but the social organization of the local volunteer firefighters. My guess is that BSA would lump us into the 'Units sponsored by Fire Dept' category, eh?

The thread on Mixing It Up discussed campouts so I didn't want to hijack that one, so I spun this...

What 'non-BSA' style Skillbases have you or your scouts put on for your troop?

OK, I'll start!

We had the entire troop over to my house ( we have about 15 in the troop ) where we put on a formal meal, complete with china, silver, white tablecloth, etc... All the scouts came dressed in coat and tie, many mom's showed up as 'dates'.

Scoutmasters dressed in suit and tie and acted as waiters for the whole evening.

Mrs. CA_Scouter and helpers discussed dining etiquette, introductions, dinner conversation, seating ladies, entering/exiting vehicles, etc... all manner of chivalry and proper gentlemanly behavior.

Scouts had a blast. Two of them put on british 'nobility' accents and stayed in character the whole night. They even left me a tip afterward - hilarious!

This skillbase was talked about for months. It was really a lot of fun.

Whose next?

Worth a three hour drive? I'd say no. It was only and hour for me and it was combined with the Sportsmen's Expo, so we gotta lotta bank for our bucks. My older scouts walked thru once and took off, only the young'uns hung around.

Went to the International Sportsmans Expo in Sacramento with the troop this weekend. The BSA Adventurebase 100 exhibit was there. They had a rope course set up, a dome tent showing a BSA movie, a photo booth where they superimposed the photo with 'adventuresome' backgrounds and a scout store where I purchased a new coffee mug for the office. The big trailer exhibit was all opened up and you walk thru and it shows a comprehensive history of scouting, from 1910 on... very informative and an extremely nice display, including interactive stations, memorabilia, lots of photos and more.

The whole exhibit was very nice, but geared mostly to people who would have little knowledge of scouting and towards Cubs who are just learning.

The area was jam packed, lots of scouts there but also a good mix of young'uns and parents getting info, and old guys walking thru reminiscing about their cub/scout days. They had an on-line registration booth right there so they hooked and landed 'em right away ( good thinking there! ).

Overall a very nice experience.

Another plug for Alps Mountaineering. Good stuff, well priced.

REI has good deals in their closeout web pages. They also offer 10% to scouts if you register via their 800/888 phone number. I've also been able to sweet talk the store manager once or twice to get the discount.

Also you might ask about used equipment from within the troop. Our troop has some extra backpacks, boots, etc that we give out when needed.

Ditto Eagle92. The more he takes ownership of this 'task' the more he will learn, be innovative, and show responsibility for himself.

Woah. There's a difference? or a 'preference' perhaps?

Interesting thought. Never considered it before...gee - the things you get exposed to on this forum!

I live by this code: 'calories consumed outdoors do not count'.

Need I say anything more?

;-)

There are 'Teaching Leave No Trace' materials all over the internet, and I think scouting.org likely has some reference material available as well.

We contacted the local chapter of the national LNT organization and they were more than happy to come on-site and give us a detailed hands-on demo of their recommended techniques and practices. It was very interesting and the scouts were fully engaged in the presentation. They do a great job of tuning the presentation to the age of the audience.

You should also adjust your expectations to the skill and/or attention level of your audience. Most of my scouts were introduced to LNT when they were a bit more 'seasoned', sounds like your charges may be young-uns. Adjust your program to incorporate portions of LNT into every campout. Do small parts or only one of the seven points at a time, don't try to do it all at once.

For example 'Plan ahead and prepare' - how involved are your scouts in planning the outings or preparing their equipment for the outing? Is this handled by adults or by your scouts ( SPL/ QM ) ? If you start to engage your scouts in the process, they will be more likely to take ownership and make it work.

We also made it a point to have older scouts participate in skillbase presentations of LNT, because they were working on the BSA LNT patch/award.

This process takes a long time. You're altering a mindset so it takes time to make it happen. The scouts who received the LNT award took close to a year and a half to make it all happen.

Our troop emphasizes backpacking skills, meaning that we bring a minimum of equipment on our outings, regardless if its a true backpacking trip or a car camping trip. It would be challenging to set the example of Leave No Trace if your troop brings a large trailer or several pickup trucks full of equipment on every campout ( as our troop used to do ).

I'm wondering if we've got it wrong all these years...

Perhaps the phrase is 'avowed dentists' ...??!?!??

Yikes! ;-)

When I first read the subject I thought it said:

Gay Global Warming Dentists

hmmm.... gotta slow down methinks....

Thumbs up.

I comment only occasionally but read a lot. The 'Gay Question' thread was way out of line and should have been shut down a few pages back. 'Creepy' summed it up adequately....

Not qualified to comment on the 'Global Warming' ( and many other things, yes I know ;-) ) but I saw that getting out of hand as well.

OGE gets a double gold star for the day!

WOW!

Note to self: don't disagree with GA ever again

GA,

I have never said that lying and misrepresenting another's statements meets with my approval, or anything that is equivalent to that. I defy you to produce a quote to that effect.

;-)

Well said, HiLo.