ctbailey

He said they "ended up paying..." That could mean the insurance policy was paid-for using monies from the troop account. (Which, of course - the currency is an asset of the CO.) I suppose an insurance company would rather take a policy premium $ up front, and then during a claim the underwriting department would eventually find out who REALLY owns the trailer.

Yup. Like Stosh said - they (the BSA medalions available at the Scout Shop) are really soft aluminum. They are pre-rolled, but the diameter is not exactly for "their" (the BSA Staff available at the Scout Shop) staffs. You'll have to definetly "work" it to exactly conform to the staff shape. Liquid nails is a good option, but you'll want to figure out a good way to wrap the entire assembly to dry, to ensure the medallion holds the shape. I do both - nails and adhesive, and I've used the staffs and also "walking sticks" that were natural tree branches with good success. I will use

Bob, you've said "the CO does not have any property..." You do understand that the trailer, tents, stoves, etc are the CO's property? Unfortunately, no matter the source of funding, if gear is bought "for the unit," it is owned by the CO. When a unit leaves a CO, a bill of sale needs to be written FROM the old CO to the NEW CO that indicates a transfer of assets. It's true that CO's typically do not like talking about this, or more correctly... the unit leadership does not like talking about this subject to their CO. This kind of discussion is sort of "icky" to most folks, a

Huh. I'm surprised at how quickly so many people immediately got on the "That was a terrible idea!" bandwagon. It's true, that the CURRENT G2SS clearly lists liquid firestarters as prohibited items, SSScout didn't say when this cooking demo occured. It might have occurred in the 70's. But, to build an open cooking source big enough for 25 people, that will eventually smolder quite nicely and safely I thought was pretty good. And then to be able to simply wrap up the ashes and toss into the trash after out cold... how much more LNT can you get? The tin foil cooking demo is

I'm surprised it took them thirty years to realize a $900 per month rental income wasn't worth the potential liability of a hands-off rental property. Think of the worst case scenarios... As a hands off landlord, they would never know if any unscrupulous activities were occurring "on scouting property."

Thanks everyone for the clarification.

I recall vaguely that the Venturing and Cub Programs were supposed to change the hand salutes, was that to happen on January 1st 2014? I understand there are some big changes just released regarding advancement, but I'm a bit embarrassed to admit I'm hazy on whether the hand salute has changed. I'm not crazy, right?

So, Kathy, How did this all shake out? Did your guys take the training? Did they staff it? Seeing as though its been almost a year since the initial post, are they fully functional & trained ASM's now?

I was there in June 2010, and let me tell ya: Bring plenty of allergy meds! The cottonwoods are in full "drop" in June, and my allergies, combined with the Altitude adjustment, combined with the extreme dry weather made for some serious headaches. Also, my down sleeping bag was WAY too hot. I ended up driving to Raton to buy some sheets, the nights only got down to the fifties, so a sheet was really all I needed. The Wi-Fi made communicating back home nice. The only thing I think I would do different would be to make the weight limits, because they prohibit you from hiking

Moose - that's good to know that BSA has allowed volunteers to make copies of the material. This might be different for some parts of the WB curruculum? Have I heard that the WB stuff is "licensed" by a 3rd party? ctb

Hey Moose: I'm currently in the process of doing something similar for work. I've been using "Camtasia Studio" to create movies of the computer screen for training purposes. Then - in order to present the material I'm developing a PowerPoint slide deck. One thing I've learned during this process - I've used every version of PowerPoint throughout my career, and only NOW in PowerPoint 2010 does it provide good results. Another thing I've learned is movie clips are humungous file sizes. You need to LINK to the video clips in PowerPoint - Do not embed them, or else the PowerPoint

Where did they go?

Abel, If you are "addressing" your council issues, how can we help you if you won't help us - help you? The people who can actually begin the help would be the Area and Regional Commissioners. These individuals have a direct line to the Area and Regional Director - who is a professional scouter you can trust.(This message has been edited by ctbailey)

Abel - what Council are you in? to answer your question - "Can a unit earn the CQU award without..." Apparently the answer is yes, in your council at least. So, answer my question - what council are you in? When we know that answer, we can direct you to the people who can actually help.

HI i8... Unfortunately, my crystal ball tells me this scenario will not be a huge success. There needs to be clear seperation from the unit if a UC is to be successful. Apparently your District Commissioner does not fully understand this, or else the immediate former SM would not be providing commissioner service for his own unit. I understand we all wear different "hats" in Scouting. There just is never enough people to go around. But in this case - a former SM who may actually have worked with the problem ASM - will not have the clarity enough to provide a truley objective

Unfortunately, I hear similar reports as BadenP has indicated. The Commissioner Corps, however, I truly believe - is beginning a rennasance period. It will not be an overnight fix, but as the Corps gets "younger," through a constant influx of new people, and we continue to get the word out as to what GOOD commissioner service looks like, I think we can turn around the trend. When I see an unfortunate case such as this ASM is causing in this thread, I try to take a minute and demonstrate and/or explain how a good commissioner would react/act. Hopefully, as these forums also continu

Well, someone mentioned that the UC wasn't "needed" earlier in this thread. I have to respectfully disagree. The Unit Commissioner is a volunteer who is not registered to the unit, but instead is registered with the District. This is helpful in cases like this, because a good UC can see the "forest through the trees." By not being part of the problem, the UC can help the unit solve their own challenges. A good UC is a diplomat. A good UC has taken the time to build a good relationship with the unit on both the "committee side" as well as the "program side." This way when these i

Well, that Scouting Article pretty much clears that up! Thanks!

Simple question - Should a district volunteer, such as a Unit Commissioner, who is only registered with the district, but serves Venture Crews with unit service, choose to wear the Spruce green uniform?

Eamon: Your district actually had an operating budget? Technically, as "arms" of the local council, a district uses the operating budget of the council. Was your previous SE actually billing the volunteers?

Well, now that we've really stirred the pot... Folks, we all need to remember this is Scouts. Take it easy. Our Council is in the same situation as many are - and ALL the councils next year - in that we will need to ensure all D.C. leaders are trained prior to recharter. Just like every other council in the country, there is a shortage of volunteers. The old adage 10% of the people do 90% of the work is still true today. It is widely understood and accepted that IOLS can be a great experience, or it can be considered a complete waste of time by the participants, all de

Moose, You've got a huge task ahead of you. IMHO, you should approach this less like a district event, but more like a mini-UOS. Sure, there are alot of people on WB staff - about 30, maybe 40? There are thousands of registered people in the Council who are not on WB staff - and there are a huge amount of folks who are not allowed to be on WB staff, because they have not been through WB21. Don't let anyone poo-poo a huge undertaking, just simply because "it has never been done before" or - "we don't do it like that." You've go my email. Let me know how I can help.

I know we in Arrowhead have been discussing this for months - the fact that we are going to have a rush of people to get trained this fall. The Commissioner service is readying ourselves to be prepared to assist the district training committee if and when asked. I would aim high, and not look to cap the attendance. Since the weekend is between WB1 and WB2, it only makes sense to utilize Hidden Valley if the OA hasn't all ready booked that weekend. I know the valley is very popular, so try and secure it as soon as possible. The canvas will still be up, and the kitchen can be fired

Moose - has the Council Training Chair been asked for resources? She may be able to round up several other District training committees to come and help... and maybe even bring "their" students? All the districts are in the same boat - train train train!