DeanRx

This is why I'm SOOOOOO glad our council has a championship PWD at the Scout Fair following the regular spring PWD season. They have been running it for a very long time and have a set standard of rules. We cut and paste it for our pack PWD. Bottom line, if you win the unit PWD, then you get to race at the council event. If you are out of specs at council they will DQ your car, so we want to send forward a valid entry, thus we use their rules. I had to explain this to more than one new Tiger parent this year b/c they didn't understnad. Once informed, they were fine with it.

I think you use the old BSA adage... "We are to run the program to national standards." The BSA standard for severe weather preparedness is: 1) Adult vols have the online training 2) We have an action plan 3) The scouts are informed of the action plan 4) Once during council outings - the plan is practiced If BSA doesn't say to do one (or multiple drills) at a unit level campout, then the old "we cannot add or detract from the requirements" should suffice. If not - then politely ask this Dad if your unit and scouting in general are the right fit for his son. Only

We have a team of 3 inspectors. One does the initial car checks and if there is any questions, doubts, it is put to ALL 3 judges. A simple majority rules. This is all done BEFORE a car is allowed into the pits and no changes (to include additional lubing of wheels) can be made once cars are in the pit area. If this car was no in spec, it should have been caught and DQ'd BEFORE it was allowed to race - PERIOD. If your track team failed to catch the issue, and it passed inspection, then it should allowed to run. It was a breakdown in the check-in system that you need to loo

Holy crap ! - Look what I started. I just wanted to know WHO to tell and HOW to tell them if someone came on the site and satrted flaming every post with profane language and offensive ideas. Now it is indeed the inmates running the asylum !! I'm running away and locking the door behind me !!!!

bsrsakima39- " It can definitely burn-out volunteers, and I hate to see good men leave because it is so much work, but I would also hate to see a lawsuit brought up against the BSA that forces it to limit the program even more. So, if the pain-in-the-butt protocol allows us to continue the program, I am wiling to deal with it." Without trying to be offensive, do you honestly KNOW how scary that type of mindset is? What you just stated is that the risk of a potential lawsuit is of greater importance to the organization than the risk of burning out the volunteers who run the program.

Bsrsakima- No offense taken and I appreciate your comments. I understand what you mean by doing the program for the kids of today, not the dads who want to relive their youth. Might I suggest, howver, that there are dads out there that want their sons to have similar expiriences in their youth to what we had? That's my point. The bottom line is - due to no fault of my own, I now fill out more paperwork / forms, submit to background checks (presumably now multiple times as BSA see fit), and have more requirements for adult/boy ratios for a weekend pack campout than MY father's gene

Robotics would be cool, but I would think it would overlap with electronics MB and computers MB. Then again this field grows so fast, its hard to pigeon-hole it. GPS - this needs to be wrapped into map/compass/orienteering etc... I would vote for a LAND NAVIGATION MB that should cover map skills, terrain association, orienteering by compass, stars, sextant (or other non-electronic means) and finally GPS. Such a badge could cover Geocaching as well. Even though I love doing it, I don't see how geocaching should be its own MB. SCUBA - is it its own MB? What about snorkelling? Wha

As I posted in the orignal thread, I think communication and education is the key. First - you teach the scouts to recognize a potentially dangerous situation. Second - you teach them to react to it properly. Third - you provide safety protocols and adult supervision that serves to minimize the risk in any activity. I like the idea of not only formal safety training for a given risky activity, but a continuous classroom. Example - We (son and I) went camping two weekends ago with 3 other dads and scouts from our pack. Not a pack thing - just friends getting together t

This is truely a tragic event and underscores the reason training and adult oversight are paramount to scouting activities. I hope all involved can find some peace in time from this event. Not sure what prosecuting the young man will accomplish. Then again, I'm not the grieving family, so who's to judge. As for the hand sanitizer debate. While I agree that soap and water will do the job and should be encouraged, lets not lay the blame on the 'fuel' used in this incident. If this tragedy had occured because the young leader flipped his car on the way to camp with scouts riding wit

Sorry this is a little long winded, but thought I'd share a piece I was inspired to write after a campout a couple weekends ago. Not really a SM minute, but I don't know where else this would fit on the boards - hope you get something out of it. ************************************************************************ From campout 3/14/09 Dinty Moore Stew As we pulled into camp at 3100 ft ascending from our afternoon hike on the valley floor, the temperature had dropped over 20 digits to 56 degrees. The onshore flow was picking up as dusk was rapidly approaching. Paul, Jim

Marlin (Nemo's Dad), "You think you can do these things, but you can't. You're just not strong enough..." Marlin, "I just don't want anything to happen to him." Dory, "That's a strange wish... its not much of a life if NOTHING ever happens to him..." Not to hijack the thread - but guess I was left with a slightly different impression by the movie. Dean

If they have a 3rd grade little brother - then the 3rd grader can join a PACK and the family can participate in family campouts with the Cub Scout pack. I would use this as an angle to encourage this Dad to go that route. The Boy Scout can camp w/ the Pack and meet some advancement achievements by performing as a Den Chief. The converse is not a good idea, and detracts from the purpose of the Troop. If it absolutely had to be done, then this father (or any others) needs to be informed up front that the younger sibling will NOT be inserted into a patrol (other than the adult patrol)

See Disney / Pixar movie "Finding Nemo".... enough said.

Thanks for the info... I knew there were mods, but had no idea how to identify them. Looks like that poster last night must have been a juvinile messing around - judging from the content, the verbage, and the spelling errors. Either that or they were just as dumb and ingnorant as their posts. Dean

Looks like we have a newbiw that has decided to infest these good boards with inappropriate content today. I looked and tried, but couldn't find a "report to moderator" function on this site. 1) Is there one? If so, where and HOW does one use it? 2) If there is NOT one - I would strongly suggest that one be put into place so that the community as a whole can detect and refer to the mods anything that could be offensive so that they can review and remove (if need be) in a timely manner. Thanks in advance- Dean

Scouter760- I agree. However, I have been corrected more than once by present day OA members (mostly the adult Boy Scout type - same ones that will nit pick you about badge placement on uniforms / etc...) that "tap-out" is no longer an accepted term b/c of the negative connotations associates with any hazing or rough play that might have been tolerated (dare I say encouraged) in the "old" OA. Somewhere between the mid 80's and today - its been PC'd up and now must be called being "Called out". Just one of the many over-corrections I see in BSA from the time I was involved as a

ScoutNut- Thats my point exactly. The funds belong to the CO and by default the unit. I agree that a scout that drops shouldn't get a "refund" check cut to him or his parents. However, I do see it as a double standard if the same scout gets his personal account $ transfered to a troop from his old pack when they crossover from Webelos. My point is - that is NOT the scout's money to take with him to a troop. If it is earmarked for individual scout accounts, then the scout either needs to use it while still in the unit in which the funds were raised, OR they forfeit the money t

"Hey Dad!, look at me !" anytime I've had my back turned for more than 3 minutes or am trying to get the campstove lit... This weekend - "There was a rockalanche..." while four 8 and 9 y/olds were bouldering near our campsite. "I got to go #2..." usually uttered right after you've left the filling station packing lot, or out on the water, or at the furtherest out point on the day hike. "Why do you have your pocketknife open in the car?" followed closely by, "Ooooopppps !!"

There's a REASON proper elections use secret ballots. Unfortunately, your CM just proved WHY its needed. Declare a miscount and have a revote using a ballot system. All scouts in the Den will vote at the same time. Do not announce it until it is happening. List the 4 finalist names that they can choose from. This gives those scouts that MIGHT have been influenced by the CM an opportunity to change their mind w/out the CM being able to call them out on it. Then tally the votes - simple majority wins. If at all possible, do this all in one meeting - no one gets to "absentee b

Yeah, but John.... was your mommy and daddy allowed to come along with you on the trip? The fact that you were led off either with your eyes shut (or blindfolded as I remember I was) would constitute hazing. I had a similar expirience, but 1/2 way through being led to the campsite, we were told to "stay put - another Arrowman will come and take you on the rest of the journey" - then they made you stand still by yourself, blindfolded in the woods for a minute or two before the other OA member let you knwo they were there and going to lead you to your asigned sleeping place. We were a

I still don't understand how some of the packs out there only send monies to a troop if a scout crosses-over. Those that don't and drop, the pack keeps the funds? I'm glad its worked out thus far for those units. However, I am VERY surprised you haven't had a scout's parents hit you up for "their share" of the scout's account when the scout doesn't track into a Troop. Maybe its because most of those that cross-over are the activies with larger amounts in individual accounts? Those that are on the fringe and drop-out likely haven't been very active in fundraising, I would assume, s

"Let yourself be an 8 or 9 year old boy sometimes" Crap... you've discovered the VERY reason I do this scout stuff !! My cover is blown !! Everyone has made good suggestions. Let the boy's response be your guide. Plan the meeting, but don't make it tight or too ridged that you can't shift gears if need be. Scout Mom SD has good insight. Her Den was one of two Tigers when I was the other Tiger DL. I honestly thought our pack was going to loose that Den of boys about a 1/3 of the way into the Tiger Year. The parents in teh Den came together and since then have really "team t

I would advise a couple of things.... 1) Absorb them into the Wolf Den for the time being. 2) Begin recruiting NOW for a new Den Leader. Flat out ask each parent of the 3 remaining boys. Remind them that THEIR son's enjoyment of scouting is directly linked to the amount of parental involvement. The only reason I caution you about taking on the extra Den on a permanent basis is, once you do it there is not longer any incentive for any other parent to step up and LEAD. What happens if the Tiger DL does the same thing (hopefully not - but it could happen). Are you going to fold

I was "tapped out" (opps not the PC term anynmore) in the mid 80's. Granted, I haven't been active as an adult and my old lodge has been folded into another lodge back in Nebraska. BUT - from an outsider looking in, OA has seemed to morph into a continuation of rank. Its like the Eagle of camping or something. You camp enough and have the skills, you get in. While I completely understand BSA'a reasoning for taking the "cloak of secrecy" off the ceremonies and putting the lid on any hazing, I do think its harmed the "fraternal" concept of OA. To me the tap-out, Ordeal, and

Welcome Rene, Glad to have some active youth on the boards. Just understand that some of the topics discussed are more about running the "program" side. Some things that normally wouldn't be discussed in front of the youth in BSA (for good reason). However, as a seasoned scout and well on your way to Eagle, there's not much here that would surprise you too much. Dean