DeanRx

If this is a Cub Family Campout (I assume if its not council sponsored)... About $15 per person over the age of 4 to cover the food for a Friday night, 3 squares Saturday, and continental B-fast on Sunday AM. Have volunteers bring the smore's fixin's... you'll always have more than you need. Get 2 to 3 people max to organize the food buy and be the main camp cooks, otherwise it'll be chaos (OK, more chaos than normal anyways...) Then set up a kitchen roster that the rest of the campers (adults and scouts) rotate through to help with meal prep and clean-up. The camp cooks coordinat

Maybe they can use the heli-parents as the targets (just kidding... well sort of....) I could see it being a fun activity if there were pop cans to knock off of fence posts, etc. Slingshot, now there's a fun "first weapon" right of passage that I'd LOVE to see offered in a controlled environment. I think someone in those councils are on to something. Don't ban the activity, instead TEACH the boys how to be safe and still have fun. Same could be said for paintballing, but national, the lawyers, and G2SS have already nailed the coffin shut on that one. We had slingshots in ou

Amy... After reading 3 pages of posts, I decided to add my 2-cents (OK well more like $2 worth). I have been a DL and I am currently a CM in a pack with 57 scouts. We have dens with as little as 4 scouts and one with as many as 14. I have asked (even suggested) that the den of 14 split, but they don't want to and they have at least 3 assist DL's and they make it work and provide good program. The short answer is - NO - the CM, the committee or even the Chartered Organization cannot "force" you to take on additional scouts. But - I would like to ask a few questions based o

The "misfits" are the reason for scouting, are they not? While I agree it would be much easiler for all involved (especially adult leaders) if everyone bonded quickly and all worked together really well. But, if that happened perfectly, then what does the boy NEED scouting for? All kids (given the chance) are lazy and will try to avoid work. Those that do welcome work have been TAUGHT that hard work is the path to long term rewards... teamwork is the path to successful groups, and that when everyone does their part, the benefit to the "whole" is that everyone feels needed, feels pr

A couple of points (some of which was already touched upon)... 1) Leadership needs to get their ducks in a row. Can't blame a bunch of scouts if they are told its "optional". Most 12-17 y/o I know (including scouts) will take the option to sleep in than get out of bed for anything on a holiday weekend given the choice. If these two events are requested by the CO, then the unit leaders need to do a much BETTER job of planning the events and making sure the date / time / place info is put out far enough in advance for scouts to make plans to participate (forget about the implications

Twocubdad... I'm right on with what you have stated. I strongly agree that boys in single parent homes, those of minority race and those of low income could probably gain more from scouting than anyone. However, I think national needs to re-think their marketing approach. Kids in the afore mentioned groups have parents (or other guardians that raise them) that have very little of two things scouting traditionally requires for success: 1) Time to give and 2) Money to give. Being that I live in a border town area, the issue and the charged debate is almost a daily occurance in

I'm a "Life" for Life, for what its worth. While I look back now and wish I had finished, I don't think it deters from my scouting skills that I learned. I most definately learned more than most scouts that drop after Tenderfoot, or don't bridge into Boy Scouts from Cubs at all. I think Eagle is a GREAT honor and I don't wish to belittle it. However, it does seem that the rank is put on a pedistal and the other ranks just fade into one group. That is, of course, until you go to a round-up night and the 1st thing they ask parents (i.e. prospective new Den Leaders) is, "Who was

#1 - Call the Damn Campout a "Fun w/ Son" and get over it. The cub can bring a parent or guardian... either sex and concentrate on the camping, not the semantics. #2 - WHY is it only when its a homosexual / lesbian couple or a non-1st degree relative wants to camp w/ a cub does this banter about the legal definition of "Guardian" come up? If the cub is sent with an adult over 18 to the campout, that adult is the cub's guardian for the weekend. No need to be checking who is tenting with whom, other than making sure no scouts sleep in a tent w/ an adult over 18 that is not their guardian

I'd say get someting that breathes / dries rather fast and is not too expensive. I went to N'Tier as a scout and while some portages can be muddy, most were not (guess it depends on the time of year you go). Most portages you will make are going to be 0.5 (min) to 1.5 miles (max), so you don't really have to worry about a heavy stability hiking boot as most of your miles will be logged sitting on your butt paddling a canoe, not hiking over land. Get something that you take off once in camp for the evening and have a reasonable expectation that they will be dried out by the morning.

Merlyn... BSA is biogoted... really? OK, I guess so. I do take issue with the idea that there are gays and atheists that truely want to JOIN scouting. If they did, why wouldn't they just keep their beliefs to themselves, join and abide by the policies set by the organization? Seems to me, the gay and atheist AGENDAS only seek to destroy an organization that they disagree with. See here's a couple "beliefs" I hold true. I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to enjoy a beer around the campfire. I'm of legal drinking age and so long as I don't harm myself and others, is BSA n

Sorry - think you got your facts a little wrong... BSA policy does not require one to believe in "their" God. BSA does require a belief in a "higher being" or the idea that in order to become the best person and reach your full potential, that one must have a faith in a "higher power" than oneself. In our pack alone, we have families that are many denominations of Christain, we have Jews, we have at least two families of Hindus. I'm pretty sure one of the other families are Muslim - I haven't asked, they haven't offered their religious affiliation. So, I'm sorry sir - you are

Its also good for anytime at camp that you have down time and need to keep the boys (especially cubbies) occuppied... Like when at day camp / resident camp and you show up with your group at the assigned time for the range and the rangemaster is running 30 minutes late with the group in front of you. Gotta kill some time without letting them run all over the range area... The cub deck comes in really handy.

Scratch and sniff for the scat bandana... NO Scratch and sniff for the Fluer-de-lis thongs... YES ** There Vicki - just driving the thread closer to the gutter for you... decorum be damned !!

That's what I mean... always someone looking for a reason to get their panties in a wad about something... SE states - "add that to the list of thins we can no longer do.... Hmmm, why can't we seem to recruit and retain more boys and volunteers ?!?!?" Maybe because alot of the "fun" is missing because too many people in places of authority had their sense of humor sucked out along the way (I think this happens the 2nd weekend of Wood Badge), and it gets replaced by hyper-vigilante policital correctness B.S. meters.

Amen Brother Calico.... "I swear to defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, to bear true faith and allegience to the same, and do so without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, SO HELP ME GOD." Nothing in my oath as an ROTC graduate about a flag. Servicemembers swear an oath to the Consitution, not to the flag, not to the congress, and thank God not to the President. That being said - I do understand why folks get so testy about flag protocol. The moving of the flag was probably meant in no mean manner, howev

Eagle 92 - " Some DEs got into some trouble with the Owa Tago Siam Skit. Is all I really remember. " Funny, son and I were at a council-wide Fun w/ Son this past weekend and the council staffer who was MC'ing the campfire program opened the night with that one.... things that make you go Hmmmmmm ? (This message has been edited by DeanRx)

NIke - For the ladies.... How about Fluer-de-lies thongs

To me (as I've never been a DE or "pro" scouter) - it seems there are two opposing forces in most districts / councils... 1) The Council and District leadership that focus on expansion and numbers... (i.e. how many new scouts, new units, etc...) are brought into the council each year. 2) The volunteers of the existing units that want resources and time spent on providing better program to the existing units. Seems to many of the volunteers, its a no-brainer that QUALITY over quantity should win out. However, the "pro's" base their evals, retainment and pay-increase (or moving u

Not that I know of. Most of the cubs in our unit that earn LNT, wear it on their red "brag" vest, or on a scouting jacket / windbreaker that they put all there other "temporary" patches on. (i.e. Fun w/ Son, popcorn, PWD participation patch, etc....) Just got back today from a spring Fun w/ Son - saw a few cubs with the LNT on a vest or jacket.... can't say I remember any of them with it sewn on the right pocket. Good luck with that one, sorry I haven't a better answer for you. Dean

Why make the training mandatory? Why have it expire (especially after just 2 years)... did YPG really change that much? The only thing I see training holding up is the tour permit. Am I expected to believe that a council office that can't keep its SCOUTNET records straight actaully researches to see if the unit member you put down as "BALOO" trained for the pack overnighter acutally has the training and its up to date BEFORE they rubber stamp the LTP? National better rethink this one... unless they are ready to do away with a majority of units come recharter. This will be a bi

From what I've read online about this your man... he's alive because he didn't follow up one fateful mistake (trying the 17 mile hike in one day without a buddy) by making another one once he knew he was in trouble. He got lucky with some favorable weather so he didn't freeze to death. He was smart enough to realize he was in trouble and formulate a plan. Finally, he was EXTRA smart enough to re-evaluate that plan once it was in motion. If he had attempted to cross one of the melt-off swollen creeks, he could have drowned. Had he panicked, he could have lost his bearings. Had he

I don't know about hype - but best to be concerned....not paniced, but concerned... lots of "what if's" being planned out right now. A friend of mine in the pack just e-mailed tonight. He won't be at the pack meeting tomorrow b/c he is due in to Atlanta at the CDC (he's a biochem guy that works of a biotech - did part of the human genome project here in San Diego). So, at least the right organizations are mobilizing the right people. My big quesiton is when is the POLITICS gonna get out of the way of the SCIENCE? The border between the US and Mexico should have been closed sin

Well the "preacher" must still think there's money to be tapped... The Pack meeting is tomorrow night and guess who called me today on my lunch hour? DE wanted to know if the pack meeting was still tomorrow... I told him yes. He asked about either him doing (or having me do) another FOS pitch. I told him as nicely as I could that I didn't think it was a good idea. We had an FOS pitch at the B&G, and while we netted less than last year, our unit still gave a good turn out. Additioanlly, I mentioned that 3 families that I know of in the unit had lost jobs in the past month (one

1) Something tanglible that you can see / touch / use.... (i.e. improvements at a council camp, added equipment, a new fire ring, something) that has a plague that states, your contributions to FOS made this possible for all scouts to use and enjoy. 2) Actual SERVICE from the council / district office. This year, there was a 4 month delay in recharter processing, my son just now got 3 months back-issues of BL and I got 2 editions of Scouting because they finally processed the unit. The money and records were sent to council in Januarary! In business, I bill the federal government

I still say go w/ the SE's and CO's recommendations.... However, if it were up to me... 1) Ask him to resign. If he refuses, then tell him he is being relieved of all leadership duties within the unit. If he is a man of honest means that had one terrible slip up... he'll take the former and it speaks well of his overall character save this one event. If he insists on staying in leadership w/ the unit, then you KNOW you are making the right choice by kicking him out. Either way - this should be handled as privately as possible. No public humiliation (as tempting as it seems,