CNYScouter

At the last District meeting it was announced that our council is dropping its Learning for Life division and eliminating all the paid positions (I think we have 3) associated with it. We were told that the reasoning behind this is that most councils have the DE handle LFL units. I just think it has to do with the bottom line and getting rid of salaries. Not a lot of happy campers in the district as it now has to support a bunch of new units but they do not participate in FOS or popcorn or do much else with the traditional units. This has also greatly increased the work load of

There is a Supplemental Training module "Geocaching to Promote Scouting" you can find a link to it at: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/TrainingModules.aspx The module briefly describes some examples of geocaching games for Scout groups.

There are new requirements for Boy Scout ranks that take effect on Jan. 1, 2010. There has been some confusion is our District over when a Scout starts the new requirements In this months Scouting magazine it says: Note: If a Boy Scout is working out of the old edition of the handbook, he may continue using those requirements until he completes that rank. Then he must move to the new edition. I dont have a copy of the new BS handbook does it state this in there also? Is this statement anywhere on www.scouting.org ? Also is there anytime limit to how long a Scout can wor

Hmmm....has anyone in your pack completed BALOO training? didn't anyone know that cubs don't tent camp below 40 deg. F? I always thought that this was determined by each council and there is no set temperature

Check out "Eagle Court of Honor Book" by Mark Ray. This book has lots of ideas for Eagle ceremonies. You should be able to get this through your scout shop as it is available on www.Scoutstuff.org www.Amazon.com has it also

But I reckon from CNY's last post that what's really goin' on is that CNY isn't correctly understanding what his district/council is askin' for or how they really work. I think that one of the big problems I have run into in our council is that we have 7 Districts and our Eagle clerk all working off of there own set of rules. Each of them will tell you that their way is the correct way its done. How can one understand what is being asked for when you get a different answer depending who you ask? Awhile back during the Tweeking the program discussion someone posted (I cou

...and lets toss is the Veterans Day parard being promoted by our council and he Cathalic Scout Retreat (that got canceled) that was also on the Web site and the Wilderness First Aid course being held the same day You would think that some one would look at the council calendar before scheduling an event

I saw this type of event at a Sea Scout regatta - the mystery ingrediant was "SPAM" Most of the Sea Scouts had never heard of it before. Once they figured out what it was they came up with some pretty impressive dishes It's easy to store; comes in a can and is already cooked so under cooking it won't make some one sick

Heres an update- I suggested that my son contact the DAC about his concerns about the reference letters and the App signature. I also suggest he contact the SE asking the same questions. So far no response from either. When by 8:30pm he did not get a response he gave a call to the office manger of the summer camp where he worked. This person is the DAC for another District in our council and does the Life to Eagle seminar every week during summer camp. He told my son that the Eagle Clerk should have stamped the date on the application he turned it in and his letters of r

My sons crew quickly went from a having very experienced older members to having young and inexperienced campers. This weekend with the help of some of older scouts from a troop the Crew is doing a Scout basics weekend which is covering most of the T-2-1 outdoors skills. I have been asked to do a cooking demonstration and as part of this will be using a backpacking stove a Jet Boil I am looking for a recipe that uses ingredients that I can purchase and use right off the shelf. I want to do more than just ramen noodles. I also do not want to just buy a prepackaged backpackin

AMulls- The 12 steps from Life to Eagle are in the Eagle Project Workbook which is now required to be used for Eagle projects has the complete procedure we have been discussing and is the same as shown in the ACP&P. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/512-927.pdf I personally dont have a problem with having the Scout send out a form or letter requesting a reference letter. I do have issues with requiring the reference letters to be in before the council will sign that they received the Eagle App/Project Workbook and placing end-all-date for when the letters need to be in

Then in Number 7 it says the application, Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook, and references will be returned from the council service center to the chairman of the Eagle board of review so that a board of review may be scheduled In no where in Number 7 it says that it must be reference letters nor des it say all. If the CAC or DAC contacts a reference by phone there would be nothing to return. I think this is put in to make sure that reference letters stay confidential. My son turned in his Eagle Application yesterday again another concern came up. The Eagl

In response to BrentAllen: According to The 12 Steps from Life to Eagle in the Eagle Project Workbook (these are also in the ACP&P) it is not the councils (paid professionals) job to contact the references. It is already in the hand of volunteers, the council advancement committee, to make direct contact with the reference(s) listed on the Eagle Scout Rank Application on its own, by follow-up letter, phone contact, or other methods as it chooses. The candidate shall not be required to make a follow-up contact with the reference or submit other reference names. This wouldnt amo

In some areas this is far from being cleared up. At our Scouting University over the weekend I had the chance to sit in on a Life to Eagle program for adult leaders (no scouts were present). This was being run by the DAC from my district and a DAC from another District in our council. Both of these districts follow the same procedure for letters of recommendation 1) Scout supplies names and contact info on Eagle App. 2) Scout sends form letter to reference requesting letter. 3) The scout must periodically check with the Eagle Clerk at the council office to see if all the r

A Den Chief may also wear the trained patch if they have completed Den Chief Fast Start and Den Chief training

I didn't realize what things are costing in other parts of the country Yearly Dues: $40 ($20 in Sept. - $20 in Jan.) Registration - paid by CO (youth and adults) Monthly campouts - $10-$12 for food - unit pays any rental fees Summer Camp - went up to $300 for 2010 (Some leaders are free depending on amount of Scouts goings - others pay $100 for a week) Any other special trips are paid for by the individuals going. Part of all fundraisers go into a Scouts personal account to use towards aqny of the above And we hear complants all the time about how much things cost aro

Promotion for our scouting university this year (and last year) was very lacking. The course catalog, schedule and sign-up sheet can out about 3 weeks ago. I didn't see a single mailing or email about it until yesterday. A place to have it wasn't even secured until late September. I know the problem - but I am not in any type of position to do anything. A few years ago it was decided that the hosting any of our major training events, like Scouting University, would rotate between our Districts. Not all the districts bought into this. The last 2 years the District that was t

This may be a dumb question... but was sign-up mandatory? Or in the past, have people just kind of showed up and sat in? My guess would be that there's a crew out there with the adviser or CC forgetfully sitting on a handful of registration forms that they said they'd turn in. And how many crews are we talking about in your council/district? The last time I checked- back in May - we had around 30 Crews in our council. Since then I know of 6 or 7 new Crews that have been started. The Venturing classes are open and designed for Venturing youth and adults so there should be

Not zero Attendees but very little For our Scouting University this Saturday I organized the Venturing courses. I just received the sign-up list as of yesterday only 2 people signed up for any Venturing classes being taught and one of these is for Venturing Leader Specific (all day course). With 16 Venturing classes being offered most have no one signed up for them the ones that do only have one person. I am very surprised that only one person signed up for Venturing Leaders Specific. Our Council is in the pilot program for mandatory training and we have a lot of new crews that

If it's about taking the time to stop and look at how the unit is doing? Where it is going? And seeking ways that might help make improvements? Shouldn't a UC being doing this every month and not just at recharter time? I think that unit performance and rechartering are 2 different issues, even though there are items that cross between the two. Our DE took the time and met with every COR or IH for every unit in the district last year. Outside of money and numbers he doesn't have any idea to know how a unit is doing or any ways to make improvements - that's the job of a unit co

Our District recharters in March (charter runs from April to March) Our District does the same as jet526. Recharter packets are availalbe at R/T. At R/T there is a mail box, well a box with hanging folders in it, for each unit. The DE brings this to R/T. Flyers, info and recharter packets are placed into each mail box. Any Leader from a unit can pick up items from the mail box. Any units that did not pick up the items in their mail box the UC takes them to deliver to the Unit. Since R/T are not very well attended I would say less than 10% arepicked up at R/T

This is not an uncommon problem with Venturing Crews. Many Crews are started by a group of friends and do not want to add outsiders to the Crew. Once the initial group ages out or loses interest the Crew folds. Here are some other ideas: Call your council office and ask for the LFL (Learning for Life) director. LFL does an activities interest survey in the High Schools each year and you should be able to get names and addresses of anyone listing camping (or whatever topic(s) you pick. You call also your DE and ask for names of Scouts that dropped out of Scouting that ar

I ended up switching Packs and becoming my youngest's Wolf DL this year. All are new to Cubs except my son. For Den meetings take a look at the Fast Tracks on Scouting.org They are a good outline for Den meetings. You'll have to add a few things like games and crafts but they are a great start. Using these I think it takes 12 meetings to make the Wolf badge (without doing Bobcat) I wouldn't rush these cubs through just to get done by your Blue and Gold. My son's DL did this with the Tiger badge last year and he really did'n't get much from it. Make sure they are doi

I dont think there is much you can do. My son made life in July 2007 and hes had his MBs done for Eagle almost a year now I pretty much said nothing until his 17th Birthday last year. He has said that he wants to go to college through ROTC. All the recruiters have told being an Eagle Scout is a big plus to get a ROTC scholarship Hes had offer to help with his Eagle project from a couple of teachers, his Crew Advisor, SM, Committee Chairs from both Troop and Crew, the troop Advancement person and even some of the District Advancement Committee. He has spent the last

Our district has a Mentoring Life to Eagle guide. If any one is interested here is a link to a copy: http://www.cnyscouts.org/districts/oneida/Mentoring_Life_to_Eagle_2008-10-19_PUBLISHED.pdf There is also a shorter version that says the same thing: http://www.cnyscouts.org/districts/oneida/Life_To_Eagle_Quick_Start_Guide_2008-07-09_PUBLISHED.pdf Here is the section on Letters of Reference: Requirement #2 of the Eagle Scout Rank Application asks the Scout to identify certain individuals who know him personally and would be willing to provide a letter of recommendation o