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If the lodges you are associated with have "too much" adult involvement - why not do something about it? In our lodge, the boys said it was the adults job to determine if they wanted fries or onions rings with their meals. Every other decision was up to the youth.

I way expecting Fat Albert but I guess your were one "hey" short. Yes, welcome. One of my fondest memories as an adult with boys in Cub Scouts was the second year they worked on the Pinewood Derby. The first year brought back some memories to me but somethings didn't seem quite right. The next year, one of the fathers brought a mid-1960's vintage Pinewood Derby car and that brought back the memories more clearly. P.S. My Cub Scout uniform was much, much better than they are today. I'd kill to get one of those hats today.

Cub Scouts is grade based, not age based. Therefore, calendar dates are meaningless. The real question becomes what grade is a boy in the summer? For example, does the next grade take effect after the last day of school or the first day of school? It really doesn't matter because to earn Bear, one does not have to have earned Wolf. When I was a den leader, I tried to make sure they completed their rank requirements before the end of the school year. However, I had one rare case where a boy did not and I told him I would let him complete the rank requirements that summer. As a den,

BadenP - Boy Scout Troops are to be no more adult led than OA lodges so I don't get your reasoning. What is the reason for nominating an adult to the OA? It is only when the adult's job in the troop will make Order of the Arrow membership more meaningful in the lives of the youth membership. It must not be for the purpose of adult recognition. So if your local OA lodge is being hindered by the adults in the lodge, they must be selecting the wrong folks. When I was selected to join the Order of the Arrow, it was because I met the minimal requirements and as Scoutmaster, I promoted t

Okay folks, consider this analogy. I think Wood Badge is a great training experience and has many other benefits as well. I feel I should promote it and therefore wear my "critter" regalia, neckerchief, beads, etc. to every Scouting event I attend. What is the reaction I get? Well, some folks are curious and ask about it. Some, usually fellow Wood Badgers may ask if I attended "real" or 21st Century Wood Badge. A large percentage don't say anything to me but respond to their peers or think to themselves - what a showoff, does he think he is better than us? To me the OA is a service

Early on in my Scoutmaster "career" I took the family to Philmont as I took the Strictly for Scoutmasters course at the Philmont Training Center. One of the things that surprised me was that out of a class of 52 Scoutmasters from across the country, only about 15% felt it was the Scoutmasters responsibility to go on every outing, attend every troop meeting, etc. I'm not say they had to go but that in about 85% of the troops, the outing "Scoutmaster" was rotated around the various Assistant Scoutmasters and the Scoutmaster himself. Personally, I think it is important that a singular adul

I'd suggest you read The Scoutmaster Handbook and concentrate on annual planning. Then, talk with the Scoutmaster, outside of a troop meeting, and volunteer to become an SA (Assistant Scoutmaster) and suggest you could aid in the annual planning process.

BadenP - my answer was simplistic because the answer is simple. I'm troubled by the all too familiar Scouter.com post that goes something like this: The BSA states that A but I've witnessed B. Does your council/district/troop do B? Who cares? Why don't folks just follow the rules - they are quite simple. People rob banks, spit on the sidewalk, wear OA pocket flaps without keeping up with their OA dues and all sorts of other activities that are wrong - some small and some big. Regardless, that doesn't make it right. Order of the Arrow sashes are to be worn properly or

I'm in the same camp as Fred. The only time I've refused to allow the Scout to take a merit badge, by not giving him MBC contact information, is if for example he wanted to take Lifesaving but had not earned the swimming merit badge. I've suggested to a handful of scouts (for example a newly crossed over 10 year old who wanted to take the Engineering Merit Badge) that possibly it was not the correct time. But hey, if he was adamant with pursuing it, I'd support that decision.

Outings are more fun when attendance is high. Attendance is high when outings are fun. So, you need to work hard to reach critical mass. Get the Scouts involved into choosing what they would like to do. Get the parents involved in supporting what the boys want. It does take effort.

Order of the Arrow sashes are to be worn at OA events only. Merit Badge and Order of the Arrow sashes are not to be worn on the belt, as a head band, as suspenders, etc. Do some condone bad behavior? Yes. Does that make it right? No.

1) The merit badge counselors cited have done nothing incorrect. 2) "People are upset with the MBCs" - who cares? The Scoutmaster should be the only screening process for the troop wrt MBCs. 3) Yes, when a merit badge requirement states "tell", "demonstrate", "write", etc. the Scout should do exactly that - tell, demonstrate and write. Now, as a MBC I'd get gut feels for when a Scout met the requirement and when I thought possibly it was his mother that met the requirement! So, sometimes he'd show up with merit badge worksheets all filled out - typed - and I'd take them from him a

One of the most memorable moments that I had in Scouting was when I was at Double H ranch in New Mexico and four of us went for a hike up a mountain. About half way up, I parked myself down in the foothills, took off my hiking boots and relaxed to a fantastic vista as the other three continued their climb. In about ten minutes I thought something very strange was happening and then it hit me - no bugs, no birds, no cars, no humans, no wind through the trees, no running river, no aircraft, no electronic audio - pure silence! I have to say, it was the only time in my life that I had that expe

Attend a minimum of two overnight campouts without a helicopter parent present.

When my oldest son was in Cub Scouts (I was not the den leader) one of his fellow den mates had divorced parents who had restraining orders against each other. They also had some sort of joint custody or visitation decree. The leaders were held responsible, by the parents, to make sure only the proper parent picked up the boy - something that I think was grossly unfair to the den leader. Again, not a youth protection issue in the literal sense.

Our council "fronts" popcorn to units. I think a unit should "front" the corn to families that show an interest in fundraising. Some level of trust is not a bad thing.

Troop trailers are nice to haul patrol boxes, patrol coolers, propane & lamps, etc. Our troop has one. We also have a large dining fly that we set up as sort of a communal/troop meeting place for certain outings. It takes at least 10-12 boys to set up and take down so I always let the SPL decide if they want to deploy it or not. It is nice to have when it rains. Having a trailer alleviates patrols (i.e. someones car) to having to carry these items but it places a big burden on the trailer hauler (who we offer to reimburse for gas). Having a trailer also makes the patrols so

Use common sense. At our annual Eagle Recognition dinner - held at a banquet facility - they do not have separate rest rooms for adults or youth. When I took the ferry to North Manitou Island, none of the boys were wearing PFDs. I'm not going to grill the professionals working on the ferry to check their qualifications. I am going to counsel the boys on proper behavior and monitor their actions while on-board the ship.

Unfortunately, organizations have to create "rules" when the members of their organization can't seem to follow common sense. Turning a Scout upside down when they earn their Bobcat is okay if the Scout is comparatively small (1st or 2nd grader) and the parent has enough upper body strength (most fathers, some mothers) and if the Scout is comfortable with it. Now a single mother may have her 5th grader join Cub Scouts and it would be very difficult for most moms to invert their son for this ceremony - physically. So an organization, to prevent lawsuits (i.e. loss of revenue) protec

Bobcat, Wolf, Bear & Lion.

First off, my background. I grew up dirt poor - parents didn't have any money but I did live in suburbia so I was a rare case. Now, I'm flush so no monetary issues. Second, folks don't pay for a multitude of reasons - not being able to afford is only one of those reasons. If your unit sells popcorn - the way it should be handled is that it is an opportunity for the boy and his family to raise funds for the Scout to afford Scouting. If the primary purpose is to raise pack funds, give families who may be cash rich and time poor the opportunity to just write a check. Give families t

Basementdweller - we would do something similar. When "regular" camping, we would cook by patrol most of the time. On backpacking trips, we'd usually carry our own food and sometimes water and team up with a buddy for cooking. Some meals were one person meals but we tended to go with Jet Boil and a good rule of thumb is a one Jet Boil for every two Scouts/Scouters. Now, when we went to Philmont and Double H, the food was in one big bag so essentially, we cooked in as a patrol depending on the size/portion of the food. When we did Gettysburg - a Scouter would go get fast food d

Folks - "blue" cards are not official anything. Yes, they are an "item" that may be purchased by from the BSA (Merit Badge Application #34124) however, councils are not required to recognize, nor use them. Therefore, all this talk about who should keep what is more of a common sense debate, not "rules" debate. As a Scoutmaster, I told the boys to always keep a copy because if bumbling adults - MBC, Unit, or Council screwed up, they were out of luck. In our troop, the Scout kept a copy, the MBC was encouraged to keep a copy and the troop advancement chair was encouragee to keep a co

Whoa Nelly! Eagle92 and Twocubdad - riddle me this. How on Earth could you not approve these Scouts who met the first class rank? To earn first class doesn't the scout have to demonstrate scout spirit? Doesn't he need to perform service for 2nd Class? So are you going to arbitrarily say you don't care about rank reqs but you do for OA? Or, you have a higher bar for OA? This is a pet peeve of mind. I've seen so many Scouters lower the bar and then when an OA election or Eagle comes around all of a sudden they start taking the requirements seriously or start re-evaluating

Our youth leaders remind us that our primary function is to stay out of the way. My primary purpose, while I was a Scoutmaster, was to publicize the OA, approve scouts for elections and hold said elections. Oh yeah, since OA meetings were the same time and place as roundtable, I was a taxi service as well occasionally.