DeanRx

A UC helping the situation ?!?!? Ha! Double HA, HA! The only dysfunction I've seen in our unit WAS a UC who started showing up at our meetings and providing "feedback". He gave me crap about our Web II's going to a troop in an adjacent district, not our own (we are not a feeder pack...)- My reply, its the boys' choice and thats what they choose to do. He invited himself and spouse to multiple unit functions to include B&G, thus increasing our outlay of cost (for food), without really doing anything besides glad handing folks and pitching FOS for the DE. I finally disin

Ok trail... then who do we speak to at National about the membership policy? My point being, no one at the local level can even have a discussion regarding the ramifications of national's prejudiced membership stance. There are some in the "customer" base that have lobbied for local control of membership / program and get it (i.e. LDS... can't join and LDS unit unless you are a member of their church and they get to tweek the program to fit their agenda), but God forbid a unit wants to be mroe liberal in their approach - nope no can do... national says no,no... Its a double stan

The fix is SM and ASM and BOR personnel with the integrity and back-up of their unit committee to not just rubber stamp advancement! The SM conference and BOR should take care of this. The main issue I see is two-fold: 1) Scouts talk all the time about who is "easy" and who is "hard" with regards to the SM/ASM's on Sm confrences and especially about BoR members. I heard it at my son's last Patrol meeting and they just joined! Getting the lowdown from their PL and APL on who to ask for on their SM conference for TF because some ASMs are easier than others. Some hold a very hard st

I for one applaud RichardB for his candor and the fact that he even listens / responds to posts on this board... perhaps if he could twist the arm(s) of more at the national level to do so, it would be a good thing overall for BSA. That being said - G2SS needs a SERIOUS rework. Some things make sense (no homemade stoves) - OK I don't like this, but I get that we can't have scouts blowing themselves up. However, no "little red wagons"? How are the cubs supposed to deliver all that popcorn they sold? I'd rather they pull it down the sidewalk in their wagon, than the one scout I

Welcome and My didn't you bite off a big piece to chew on.... I'll make it a simple as I can: 1) CM and CC must work well together - they will make or break the unit. 2) CM = PROGRAM. If it has to do with the program, i.e. meetings, outings, camping, service projects... then it belongs on the Cubmaster's plate 3) CC = BUSINESS. recharter, running committee meetings, management of sub-committee leaders (i.e. popcorn sales, Blue n gold, etc...) - those are the Committee Chair's duties. If its about the boys, then its the CM. If its about the addults that support the

JM has some great ideas... I'd settle for just 4: 1) Rework of G2SS. We have become the organization of "don't" in fear of litigation, instead of providing training, reasonable risk and responsibilty. 2) Par down the pro-staff. De's making over 100K and SE's making over 200K in a non-profit organization is crazy!! You can raise funds but put the $$ into the program, not the staff! 3) Local Choice policy on membership for the CO's to include coed units. BSA already allows for the bending of program to bow before the mighty LDS units, so why can't other CO's have the same

I'd take two things away from this meeting... 1) You are in it for YOUR scouts in YOUR unit and you went to the meeting so that you can have good info and "be prepared" as best you can for taking YOUR unit to summer camp. You can't control how prepared or unprepared other leaders are, so let it go... not on your plate of responsibility. 2) Knowing the # of scouts attending and the # of leaders that showed up (or lack thereof), be ready for the potential chaos that is camp check in. Boils down to you can only control how well prepared you and your unit is... If possible hav

Not to poo-poo your plans before they get off the ground, however.... We built a space derby track and have attempted to have races twice with our pack in the last 5 years. The A-frames are pretty easily built, with a drop down starting gate. HOWEVER, the kits are very fragile at best, the rubber bands are only good for about 2-3 runs (even when lubricated) before they start to snap, this means most of your time is spend helping kids reload with new rubber bands, re-lube, and rewind to the specified number of turns. Also, this is the ONLY cub scout event I have EVER ran tha

I can honestly say I have two different viewpoints: As a YOUTH - it was about the destination... what did I accomplish as summer camp, at camp-o-ree, at High Adventure. Did I make Eagle? No, but I learned a lot along the way and checked a bunch of boxes off. As an ADULT - its about the journey... I have a greater appreciation now of what the journey is and the benefits the journey gives to the youth to develop into manhood. Extremely hard to see that part or appriciate it when you are the youth going through it, IMHO. I agree there are things in scouting that are fun and those

I've seen it both ways, a leader's kid who runs amok for various reasons, dad too busy with unit leadership to notice, kid has a condition (ADHD, Aspergers, etc..), or maybe that families idea of discipline is far more liberal on the bell curve than most other parents in the pack. I've also seen the leader's kid who involuntarily gets to show up early and stay late setting up and tearing down, cleaning equipment, has to be the example. My son would tell you he can't stand to hear "lead by example" from me as the CM's son when his buddies are goofing off and he wants to be doing the same.

I once had a DE state to me, "I just don't understand why there seems to be so much animosity between the paid and volunteer scouters sometimes!" Think I might print this thread out and mail it to him! If my council ever wants $$ for a signature on ANYTHING, it will be the last FOS, last popcorn, last ANY funding they see from me other than unit level support. Heck, I'd call the local news on something like this...

jblake has it right... YP, while about protecting the youth is ACTUALLY about protecting EVERYBODY... the youth, the adult (from false accusations), and BSA from lawsuits / liability. I do performance reviews for both male and female staff. If I am EVER in my office with the door closed - 1) I try to have 3rd party in the office too, 2) I leave the door open and 3) I ALWAYS sit in the far corner away from the door and have the employee sit in a chair nearest the OPEN door. WHY? So there can NEVER be a "he cornered me and said / did X,Y,Z and I was trapped and couldn't get away...

Oh and now I'm a member of the "Old Goats Patrol", our yell is stated on our flag.... "Go ask your PL..."

well, we attempted to have our patrol be the 'hairy beavers', until the adults caught on... had a BUNCH of good yells ready for that patrol.... So, we settled for the viking patrol and the yell of, "Thor's Hammer !!" followed by either stopping the ground or slapping your hands loudly. I've also seen the "pi" patrol, with the yell "3.14159"... And the Coyote partol with "Kill the Rabbit, Kill the Rabbit, Kill the Rabbit" al la Elmer Fudd sneeking up on Buggs Bunny...

Yeah, A national move to celebrate LDS 100 years, that would be the tail wagging the dog for sure... but since the tail wags the dog a LOT in this organization, I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen.

Oh yeah a P.S. on my post... I've never been a big fan of holding up the sign, its too passive to get their attention. I use the "Clap once if you can hear me, clap twice if you can hear me, clap three times if you can hear me...." By the time you get to the 3rd clap, most everyone will be eyes on you and not talking, why? The brain has to THINK to follow the action of clapping with the group. The scout has to engage in an activity. Its hard to think and talk at the same time. Its very easy to stick your hand in the air with two fingers up and keep gabbing to your freind nex

mrface- First welcome and hope you get some good info on here... most of us have been in your shoes a time or two. I too, went from Tiger Cub Den Leader to CM and then held that post for 3 and 1/2 years, so it is a baptism by fire for sure. A few pearls of wisdom I gathered... 1) For pack meetings, have the kids sit as dens, not with their parents. Your DEN LEADERS should sit with their den and THEY are in charge of controlling the scouts in THEIR den. Peer pressure actually works well this way. 2) I at times used prizes (i.e. silly bands, temporary tattoos, etc..) - I'd

OGE- Its not an axe to grind, its a legitimate 800 lbs gorrilla question that looms large over the organization, but few want to actually address. BSA has allowed for program modifications to suit the LDS, yet refuses to allow similar unit level program adjustments to accomodate folks whose beliefs and moral norms run counter to the LDS and Catholic church teachings. It has cost BSA land use, who knows how many $$ in legal fees, it is costing the San Diego council its office space in Balboa park (so now they're buying / building an office building - park campground traded for offic

OK - I'll put this out there and watch the fireworks... Anyone know Wayne's religious affiliation? Is he LDS? Catholic? or one of the the more (dare I say it) "moderate" protestant faiths? Its a fair question, as it would give some insight into how willing he would be to "shaking things up" with regards to some long held national policy positions... I wish the guy luck. I'd like to see more accessability at the regional and national levels, or at LEAST some explaination whenever a policy change is made. It helps to get buy-in from the field if we know the WHY something is b

Ok - yes, pranks and sex are in the same category... whatever! Can't reason with the unreasonable... Pranks I have seen, been victim of, or done to others (in Gasp! a Cub scout unit)... 1) Our Oct meeting, the boys wear their Halloween costumes instead of uniforms. I'm follically challenged (thats bald for the non-PC types out there). I was CM and my ACM showed up in uniform wearing a flesh colored skull cap and told the boys he was dressing as Mr. Dean the CM for Halloween! I'm sure I'm scarred for life now, as is all the boys in my unit! 2) After giving food safety briefin

And there you have it... The rules aren't really about keeping scouts safe, its about lawsuit $$ and who is and is NOT going to be on the hook for it. You can shoot bazookas on a unit level campout if you want (and you find a place that allows it - try BLM land... its pretty much anything goes out there). However, if littel Johnny manages to kill himself and a couple other scouts - BSA isn't going to bat for you when everyone lawyers up. Even if you DO follow all the rules to a 't' - you need to understand that BSA lawyers work to protect the organization, not YOU the leader.

As long as it causes no bodily harm and no property damage and is done in good fun, I see no problem with a prank. Can it skew a youth's view of "Trustworthy" - Hmmm maybe, but its a cold hard fact of life that people will try to trick you. Now, would you like to have that epiphany at scout camp by being the butt of a joke that turns you into "one of the guys" and really causes no harm, or have it be later in life in a business dealing in which you get swindled for a few thousand dollars because you we're too trusting? The point of scouting is to make boys into strong men. Part

I think the point Beav is trying to make is just because someone is acting outside the rules of G2SS and they may or may not be aware of it, you can still use good judgement, tact, and those two points of the scout law "friendly" and "curteous" when approaching them to correct their actions. You say "hey, this probably isn't a good idea given the amount of kids around, and its not really allowed at cub activities / check out the G2SS.... I know you probably do this as a family activity, but at schout functions, its a no,no... etc..." What you DO NOT do is, "This is the rule. I am th

1) headlamp 2) Spork-a-knife... my mess kit now consists of ONE untensil, an old Army canteen cup and 1/2 of an old BSA mess kit. I can eat for a week with those 3 things if need be. 3) Big Agnes zero degree rated mummy bag w/ trapizoid footbox! I can finally fit my shoulders comfortably into a mummy bag and my feet have room to move, but still stay warm. Big $$, but it'll last me forever as I assume I'm finished growing in size. 4) A gorrilla pod for my digital still camera and flip share video camera. One of those inventions you see, its so simple, yet so great. Why could

I've met one person at a district trainer event... we didn't realize that we were both on the boards until we were packing up after training and got to chatting with others about online resources for information. He's a nice guy. I'm pretty sure our views differ on the 3G issues, but thats a 3000 ft level. As for our views on how the program can best serve youth, we're pretty much together on it. Funny how that can happen in scouting...