walk in the woods

"If national made a policy change across the board to accept gays, would the LDS and Catholic CO's (maybe some others) drop their charters? Maybe, maybe not... I'm guessing on principle, most would want to, but I'm not sure how they face the youth they serve once they no longer have access to the program and the council camps . etc." I don't know that the large church COs would lose anything. Some churches already have scout organizations outside the BSA (Royal Rangers, Royal Ambassadors, Pathfinders, etc.). Some churches already have outdoor camp properties (I found cysc.com, here's a

Because female leaders aren't in the shower house or the latrine or the tents with the boys?

From the FAQ on the JTE website 45. Do YMCA lock-ins to work on swimming requirements, lock-ins at indoor climbing facilities, etc. count as short-term camping for JTE purposes? Yes, these activities do count as long as they’re troop outings. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/mission/JTE_FAQs-Unit.pdf FWIW. I'd interpret that to say if your cabin camp was a troop outing then count it.

I have to agree with oldsm, the one with the kid laying down the law to his mom's boyfriend was funny. Though the Betty White ad and the green police get honorable mention.

"It's cool" works for me! What skill or activity does a Pinewood Derby teach? Make something from wood for handyman or craftsman, don't remember which, sure. But, why do we run pinewood derbys? They are cool! Cool is good.

Yeah, if you're car camping use the front-country guidelines. They are basically the same principles but easier to grasp for younger scouts. Just as you might use car camping to teach camping skills, use front-country guidelines to teach LNT skills. When you're ready for more primative camping then you can introduce the more rigorous skill sets.

From Lisabob: "Interesting idea. Who should pay this bounty? I think Illinois should pay for it." A reasonable statement except we in Illinois are stuck with these things because fish farms and water treatment districts in the south imported them, then lost control of them during flooding in the 90s (http://dnr.wi.gov/news/mediakits/mk_carpcontrol.asp#a2). Maybe instead of a bounty we need to create a market, cat food anybody?

Maybe ask the "natural leader" if he'd be interested in acting as a troop guide for a few months for the flamingo's to help out his buddy?

Friend: Somebody I trust with almost anything (very, very few people) Acquiantance: Somebody I know, am friendly with, might even socialize with on occassion (e.g. a work-related social gathering).

Yeah, been there and still doing it. Small troops are great fun. I agree with everybody, 1 patrol is fine. I'd skip the SPL and go with PL, APL, QM. If you've got somebody interested in other spots (scribe, historian, webmaster, etc.) that's fine too, just make sure they have work to do. Secondarily, get your committee organized, even if you have to train them too. I suppose it's a double-edged sword sometimes but having that help is worthwhile.

I ran a geocaching camporee last fall. Yes, we set out a bunch of caches in the facility where we were camping. However, you can make it as fun or boring as you choose to. In our case we did a little training in the morning on GPS usage, map and compass usage, nature identification and Scout Knowledge. In the afternoon the patrols were sent out to search for 30 caches. In each cache there was a question involving one of the topics from the morning. The map/compass caches required the patrols to find the cache, then do some skill with map/compass to find the answer. Nature caches i

@Mr. Boyce: "I think recent politics tend to demonize men unduly. " Agreed. We need programs for boys that are boy focused, exclusively. Why? Here's an article from USA Today talking about the fact that 57% of college students are women (http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-10-19-male-college-cover_x.htm). Now I'm all for women going to college, but, if you read the article you'll find that women in the 18 - 25 age demographic actually make up less than 1/2 of that total population. How do we get boys back into the mind set of going to college and improving themsel

From Pack212Scouter: 'I would be against it. Why does everything have to be co-Ed? Males and females are different. Neither is better, just different. Most everything else is co-ed these days. Boys need a place to hang with "the guys" and girls need the same. My daughter loves doing outdoors stuff too, but my son loves the times when it's "just the men"' Amen brother. We as a society will regret the day the last institution that values men is destroyed under the boot of political correctness. Watch TV tonight and count the positive male role models you see. Lone-wolf hero cops don't co

Great question and thanks for asking. In our Troop expenses are: $40 annual dues (covers registration, boy's life, insurance and most patches, awards, etc.) $250 or so, summer camp All other outing expenses are covered by the Troop. Our Committee has decided not to do individual scout accounts or charge by the outing. Although, we do and will make exceptions to the latter on occassion. That said, our PLCs annual planning session this year developed a program that would have cost around $750 per scout (excluding summer camp and dues), we didn't get nearly that much from fundrais

Our charter runs 2/1 - 1/31. We'll start the process this week at R/T when we get the packets. We normally have the cards and certificates in time for our spring CoH (late March/early April). I suspect the reason for handing out at R/T is convenience, assuming unit leaders take them back to their CCs, or, do it themselves.

SMT224, Thank you for your response regarding aspy scouts. The fact that you're using "aspy" tells me you've spent some time getting to understand this boy and he's likely better off because you have. My aspy scout carries his own food, sleeps in his own tent, and participates in all the events. He is on the patrol duty roster and understands that if he's the cook, he cooks for everybody else then makes his own sandwiches or whatever he's having for his meal. He carries his weight in the patrol and his own accomodations to boot. It's a minor issue and the other scouts don't giv

We've only recently started using the brag vests again. I killed them 5 years ago because all the boys had a back full of segments but none of them could repeat the promise or law. We do give out patches for events (cub camp, district/council events, family camps, derbys etc.) which isn't too unlike Boy Scouts (patches here for summer camp and district/council events). We're bringing the brag vests back this year but still will not be doing the segments. So, for us, segments=too much, event patches=ok, brag vests=we'll see.

When I was a youth there was a level of respect for the guys with the beads. It implied somebody who had been there, done that, had the hat. All the leadership training in the world can't make up for experience and experience comes with bumps, bruises and scrapes. It feels like we're falling victim to the instant gratification lifestyle. Want WB Beads, no problem, step right up. Hey, you aren't actually working so you can spend all summer getting trained! Then what.

I'm not a big fan of breaking down by age. It feels like a bit of a cop out to me. We bring a boy in at 11, train him for three years on the doing and how to be a teacher and how to lead. Then, just as they are about ready to step up and give back we dangle something else in front of them? Frankly, I'm not a big fan of venturing or going co-ed, but that's me. Sure, some boys leave as soon as they get their license or first sniff of perfume or dreams of an NFL contract or music scholarship. That's ok. It's a decision they make. Instead of lamenting the loss we should be concentratin

This is my first day back at work in the last 7. Probably should have stayed home two days before I did. I'll take a quart of John's soup and a gallon of Eamonn's cure.

Yeah, I'm with scoutldr on this one, not my business.

"I meant they would not need to fill out the insecure adult application " There's the rub isn't it. SSN, DoB, Address, phone number, etc. in triplicate. As important as scouting is to those of us in the program, others don't see the risk/benefit proposition the same way.

I guess the short answer, from my perspective, is yes. I'm not sure it has to be an either/or proposition. Use the resources you have today in the most efficient manner possible and recuit for more. I personally don't have a huge issue with example you gave regarding MBs. If there is a really good museum or facility in which to explore a merit badge then it's good. It's really on the counselor to review the requirements, figure out which ones need to be considered pre-requisites, and publish the requirements for the experience. Many of the museums around here offer merit badge opport

Eamonn, You and I could be neighbors. I'm still the newcomer after 5 years in my little community. After 5 years leading scouts a few folks know me but not my name. I could leave at any moment so no need to invest in learning names yet! Speaking of investing, popcorn and FOS are both looked on with suspicion from the parents of my pack and troop. After paying dues, purchasing a uniform, and paying for summer camp, most aren't interested in being pitched for another contribution. They tolerate popcorn because they understand we use the proceeds for program. They are especially s

Yeah, doesn't seem any different to me than a scout missing part of a weekend for a football game, grandma's birthday, or anything else. Have your ASM ensure his firearms are secured prior to heading into camp and if they do harvest a deer make them bring you back some venison summer sausage from the locker for crackerbarrel! (Personally, I like the kind with the pepper-jack cheese inside!) Hunting is a great father/son bonding experience. Whatever you do, don't make this man choose between hunting with his son or scouting with his son. Scouting will lose.