Crew21_Adv

Brew, Greetings! There are a few BSA (and GUSUSA) programs abroad, through Direct Service and overseas BSA councils. The G2SS rules are the same, there is no more boldface in the G2SS and they are guidelines, but should be read and complied with wisely. In many other national Scouting organizations, often parents are titled Commissioners and the Scoutmasters are what the BSA would consider BSA College Reserve or Eagle Alumni. When camping with other Scouting organizations, it is sometimes wise to discuss the American traditions so that other leaders become aware of our sepa

Fellow Scouters, A late reply, but if I can offer my comments about Why Wood Badge. I attended WB for Boy Scout Leaders 25 years ago as a young ASM and have served five staff experiences with WBforBSL and WB21C, one staff for JLTC and two staff experience for NYLT. I'll reserve my opinions about the changes between the old and new courses for another post. What I have seen. Some elitism and some forget the bottom line, with too many games and clubs recently. Some serve their Pack, Troop, Team, Crew or District, bringing new programs that may have been completed skipped by un

Eaglemom2b, Greetings! You didn't ask a question, except behavior - how common? There is various behavior, I hope bad behavior is not very common, and more the rarity. I hope good behavior is the normal status, with few errs in judgement bahavior. At least that is my view. I discuss similar topics with fellow Scouting adults every so often. Not to discourage any past or potential Eagles. I state Eagle Scout and Venturing Silver demonstrate what a youth can do in their own future. At least once they've stayed on a very narrow trail demonstrating independent skills, l

Fellow Scouter, Greetings! I've hit an issue, and now asking the forum for some comments. Probably more related to Scoutnet. I am recently assisting a unit that went thru significant change. At recharter time there are current only four Scouting families which are all recently new to this specific community. All of the other families have departed the community. We are attempting to get the minimum adults &youth to fit in one multi-age Den/Pack. The adult application has a paragraph on minimum adults as well as the unit recharter application instructions. I've viewed a

Great link Schiff. It's great to see small communities of Americans sponsoring Boy Scouts of America (as well as GS and other youth organizations) in some far corners of the globe and equally good to see deployed US troops hosting a visit. I try to check out the Direct Service webpage on occasion. Reading their newsletter just a week ago, I saw that there is a BSA troop actually in Iraq. For a few recent years, there have been US Servicemembers-BSA members whom have volunteered some off-duty time with Non Government Organizations encouraging local national Scouting to be revived in

Fellow Scouters, Only a few years back, I enjoyed reading and participating with other online Scouters, flipping thru the Scouting catalog. Sometimes the staged photos would have uniforming or G2SS errors, and other times the photos were just humorous. This is just for the irony and humor of it, but I was flipping thru the online pages of New Items, from Scout Stuff. Most things were nice, some things I thought "Really?!". But....... I don't know who would spend $1799.99 to bring a solar generator out camping. I know Scouts/Scouters are more connected than before, but se

Graham, Greetings! Chapter chiefs are also members of the district committee. From the 2010 OA Guide for Officers and Advisers. "The lodge adviser and lodge chief serve as members of the council camping or Boy Scout committee, while the chapter adviser and chapter chief serve on the district camping or Boy Scout committee." Scouting Forever & Venture On! Crew21 Adv

Fellow Scouters, Years ago, I would have been against this concept. Today, I support it. I understand there may be seamless "One unit" family of units chartered under an institution, (Church, Community center, etc). And other times, there are multiple stand-alone packs, troops and crews, without associated units. In my opinion/view, the current system does work. It is not broken. As Packs, Troops and Crews, sometimes chartered by the same organization and sometimes an independent unit. But when evaluating a One-Unit approach. Are there benefits? Will "One Unit" wo

Fellow Leaders, Greetings! Good letter examples, but I like what Brewmeister said. You don't need to be cruel, don't need to be nice either, but you should be honest. Some families do join Cub Scouting, and may not be able to afford dues/events, others are just irresponsible, but there is another category that enjoy the euphoria at the beginning of the school year, but soon become disenchanted (without stating so). My Scouting units have invested money in a few Scouts that never returned. I've invested my own money for a few Scouts that never return. But I've slowly

WestCoastScouter, Greetings! You've gotten the answer from the forum already. My district doesn't like to advertise it, but we will be honest when asked/challenged what the minimum is. While some units attempt to earn a quality recognition each year, it seems some units actually aim for the minimum rather than allowing it to be the rare exception. We state what is JTE Quality, which is different than mandatory leader training, and is different than the checklist on the tour plan. At least one person needs BALOO (outdoor training) to lead a Cub Scout family camping,

Backroads and Fellow Scouters, There was a recent Youtube video on the Scouting Channel from the National BSA Conference in May. The topic was advancement. Without replaying the entire video, they seemed to talk this very subject 20 minutes into the session, and seemed to relate that Scout leaders and merit badge counselors should be realistic in the depth of their knowledge and what they do know as a profession, avocation or hobby. Also that part of the MB program is for Scouts to meet and dialogue with a variety of people in various hobbies and professions, beyond return

Oak Tree and Fellow Scouters, I still believe Roundtable is fairly valuable. Let me reflect on my experiences with Roundtable "training". I do profess to be very experienced, but not an expert. I often speak in front of R/T, and tell my colleagues, "Check my facts!". At least I know when they are checking, they are reading the literature themselves. I don't have a problem if fellow Scouters go directly to the book after my statements. I joke with my Roundtable Commissioners. Administrative remarks and general training needs to be kept short, fellow Scouters attend Roundtable

Fellow Scouters, While I do like the idea of a District and Council Religious Emblems Coordinator, and encouraging youth to participate in learning more about their family's choice of religion. BSA has had a Chaplain's position for years. Wouldn't a Unit Religious Emblems Coordinator be a Chaplain? And couldn't the Troop or Pack Chaplain refer the youth and family to the District Coordinator? Scouting Forever and Venture On! Crew21 Adv

Tim, Greetings! Unfortunately, the boys probably love the uniform, but don't have an idea about patch placement. I'll guarantee you, no cub scout is sewing on their own patches, it is the parent that is stapling or baby-pining the patch onto the shirt (and incorrectly too). I would wager a unit created uniform guide/sheet would be found on the floor or in the garbage at the end of a meeting. Personally, I would waste time creating a single sheet pamphlet that already exist. There are other methods that may slowly improve "irregularities". Sometimes families cannot afford a co

Fellow Scouters, Greetings! I gotta defend the notebook idea. But it is only one tool. My goodness, the amount of times, I have seen boys write down a campout menu or a duty roster, on their hand or what ever scratch paper they could find the trash. Only for a parent to call the Scoutmaster and ASMs to inquire what the parent needs to purchase for grub (sorry ask your son to recreate the entire menu at 3:30 Friday, one hour before departure.) Also for Scouts to argue and fight over who has the wash duty, since the scrap paper of duty roster didn't make it from the Scout mee

Fellow Scouters, Sorry to highjack the thread. But JMHawkins made my day. I nearly spit my coffee on the computer screen while laughing at his reply. As far as Skeptic's original post. I am not sure about the webpage or asking an adult. But if it is true, I am glad that Scouting is attempting to ask Scouts(and parents) about potential occupation/hobby merit badges, before investing money into them. Scouting Forever and Venture On! Crew21 Adv

Basement and Fellow Advisors, Greetings! The Crew I serve has had g/f and b/f relationships over the years. They (our youth) have also adopted a small set of bylaws. In total we have eight rules, only one line about PDA. All of our bylaws will fit half a page. (If I wrote it, the bylaws may have been a dozen pages long.) Subsequent years, I send out the Crew bylaws adopted in 2005, and ask the crew and officers "Do you like it? or Do you want to change anything?" The usual reply is "no, it is short & sweet and adequate". My Crew and Crew Officers don't want any m

Fellow Scouters, Greetings! Travelled about 5000 miles, and had a BBQ with old friend/Scouters from the Pack and Troop I served 15 years ago. Alot of laughs and many old stories. Scouting Forever and Venture On! Crew21 Adv

jc2008, Greetings! Congrats to your husband! You've already received some great answers about UCs. If I may offer a few random personal opinion. Historically, UC's had previously brought news, flyers and information. In this era, with the internet being in practically everyone's home and even on their phones now; it is hard to bring new information to a unit leader/committee that has already received the flyer, filled it out and returned it to district/council. It becomes a challenge to be the knowledgeable expert with Scouting colleagues that are just as up to date on the

ScouterCa, Greeting! Is this normal? This past weekend, I have just sat in a meeting of a different nationally recognized organization, where bylaws had an addendum posted. Between a conference of distinguished people, the bottom line was a few hours of arguing just to add two sentences. In my opinion, All to prevent one stupid person from doing one stupid thing. I considered taking the floor and asking "really?, are we really going to vote over this?" Two hours wasted, just to make a few people happy with blockading another person. From reading another event at differ

imlazar, Greetings! Some American Legion present this 3 inch patch to the pack and troops (and crew), the round patch is usually worn on the pocket (temporary patch placement). The Shoulder patch is intented for a Legion Scouting (Director) to wear on their blue blazer. Scouting Forever and Venture On! Crew21 Adv

Fellow Scouters, Greetings! I was hoping for some good news and beneficial programs coming out of the National Meeting. Currently it sounds like some difficult rumors are spreading. I am glad that BSA is looking at safely allowing Waterbikes, Jet Skis and ATVs. Beyond that, I haven't heard of any new programs that will attract boys and families into Cubbing and Scouting, and not much that will attract teenagers into Venturing. I have seen a flyer for "New Venturing" Vision for the Seabase Conference in January, but only wish they would publish emerging ideas much faster.

Chairman1, Greetings! Some can be mounted, and some can be just be a token gift. I've receive some gag awards over time, and I've handed out a few. The Spark Plug Award (putting the spark into Scouting). Some councils host a Wood Badge Reunion, For that I recall the Baby Beads for being the youngest Wood Badger (two pacifiers on a leather cord, mounted on a plaque). I've seen an annual Wood Badge Ticket, the best would receive "The Silver Spade". The Lamp Lighter Award (a coleman lantern keyring) for burning the midnight oil as camporee director many times. The Golden Ru

Fellow Scouters, Didn't the 2009 National OA Chief prank his own NOAC contingent, by filling the entire bus with ping pong balls? Scouting Forever and Venture On! Crew21_Adv

Sailingpj, The frequent and least harmful is sending the new Scouts or Venturers over to the neighboring campsite to request something. The left-handed smoke shifter or the recently developed de-hydrated water solution. Scouting Forever and Venture On! Crew21 Adv