Cobra06

Well, I have to agree with SueM. I have recently (last month) taken over a Troop which is quite similar - the adults run the show and cater to the boys. Before I took over, I had the boys at the PLC come up with a Troop meeting plan and the result was similar to what you described. On top of that, the then-Scoutmaster gave me a load of grief because the meeting wasn't "orderly." I have read quite a few of these discussions and everyone seems to agree that turning around a Troop is a long term process. I have seen folks say it took them anywhere from 1 to 3 years! Since, I am

Hello. I am a new Scoutmaster in Berlin, Germany. I started out with a group of Wolves in Cubscouting and have advanced right along with them. All of my boys crossed over into our local Troop (1 year early thanks to the new guidelines on age in the Boy Scouts -i.e. they all are 10 and have earned their AOL). I am looking forward to corresponding with you all and learning what I can from you! YIS, Cobra06

If I only did this for one hour a week, I don't know what I would do with myself! Actually, (only because you brought it up, CA_Scouter), the prior SM was also the committee (yes, ALL of the committee)! We have since started a real committee, but up to this point, we do not have a fundraising chair, and the members we do have aren't quite sure what they are supposed to be doing. So, as you say, roll with it, encourage and compliment (although it seems I do more of that with the grown-ups than with the boys)!

OK - here is the situation - I am a new Scoutmaster coming into an established Troop. My biggest problem is that the previous SM pretty much ignored fundraising (meaning dues supported the Troop), so dues are rather high. On top of that, dues were collected directly from the parents rather than the boys. The first thing I did was to have each PL appoint a Patrol Scribe and instructed these guys to collect dues at the Patrol Meeting segment of the Troop meeting and then turn in the dues to the Troop Scribe. Needless to say, the first few weeks of this have been disasterous to say the