dewASM

If you or the other parents have a few digital cameras, plan a photo scavenger hunt. Send groups out to find things and take photos next to them. Have them include themselves in the photos. Depending upon the ages of the boys, the clues may be very straight forward or they could be tricky or you can leave them open to their own interpretation. For example, you can be explicit and ask for two boys by a fire extinguisher or leave it open ended and ask for the a Scout next to the most exciting thing or the ugliest thing on the ship. It is always interesting to see their choices. With digital, y

I am in a pilot council and we have been told that all of people must have required training by the end of next year or our charter will be suspended. I have everything done but the Outdoor Program BUT that is only offered one weekend a year- in June. I find it difficult to understand the idea of a "training culture" if you don't offer training frequently and when it is convenient for the volunteers. I became a SM in June but couldn't make Outdoor Training because it was the same weekend as my son's induction into National Junior Honor Society. At the time I bemoaned the June weekend beca

I think I see this as 2 different issues 1. A picky eater. I have one of those. My son will not eat any food mixed together - never has. No soup or stew. It sorta freaks him out. Doesn't even like food to touch. It is a running joke in the troop about pea juice touching James' potatoes. At home, he sometimes uses 2 plates. however, he eats lots of other things - hot dogs, bologna sandwiches, grilled cheese, pasta etc, etc. I also have 2 brothers in the troop who don't do hot dogs at all. We always have some extra pbj or bologna and no one starves. The first campout James went on as a we

I agree that If I had a Hammer was thinking outside the box but as a middle school Catholic Faith Formation teacher we spend a lot of time on Catholic Social Teaching. This includes things like Charity, Solidarity, Social Justice, and the Dignity and Rights of Workers. Those things are a part of our faith and seen as one of our duties to God "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." Working with teens and pre-teens in both Scouts and Faith Formation, the "out of the box" ideas are sometimes the ones that resonant with them the most.

How about Battle Hymn of the Republic If I had a Hammer Let there be Peace on Earth

Thanks everyone for the interesting insights. Hey Twocubdad I had to chuckle that you admonished me to "And always praise in public, critique in private" I have! Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the ASM. In the bacon 'incident', we were at a parent's meeting discussing breakfast at camp. I offered to send pre-cooked bacon to augment the food provided by camp. Pre-cooked to ease the refrigeration issue at camp in July. The ASM made a scene about preserved foods. I explained my reasoning and he still objected. I then offered to let him do something else if he wanted but he didn't

I absolutely love your username!! It made me laugh thanks

Thanks everyone for some great insights. This ASM is trained and has completed YP. He just isn't 'getting' it on several levels. He doesn't get boy run or the occasional chaos that goes with it. Yet it often seems that he wants to join in the scouting rather providing the needed leadership. For example, at a council camporee, the ASM wanted to attend First Aid classes with the boy but wasn't supervising boys or making sure they completed their tasks. He was just hanging around "learning". At lunch break, instead of supervising clean up as requested he was playing soccer. At campout, I

I am the Scoutmaster of a very new (3 months), very young (11-13 yo) and pretty small (11 scouts) troop. I have one ASM with whom I have had some issues. He moved up last February with his webelos and has had trouble transitioning to the Boy Scout program. In addition, he has publicly challenged me on mostly really ridiculous issues things like causing a scene in front of parents over the type of bacon being taken on a campout. I am also frustrated in that some things I ask him to handle do not get done. I provide this background because I want to be sure this has not colored my reaction to s

I would be willing to do a little more searching but do you have any other information. Approximate dates of birth or family member names ie wife or son. Anything like that will serve to narrow the field. The more unique names are easier to track but for a common name, you need some piece of identifying information.

I believe your Roy Borrowman died in January 2004 in Stuart, FL. His obit said that he was originally from Fairport. His wife, Earla, died in 2008. If this sounds like your guy, his son James lives in Bradenton, Florida. His number is available on whitepages.com.

Actually I can source it all. Just have it in note form at the moment but could put it all together with sources. Would just need to know how they want it sourced source notations like a genealogist? BTW Forest got his Bachelor of Divinity from Univ. Chicago in 1920 and his PhD in 1927

Minor update: Forest Witcraft graduated from the Univeristy of Chicago in 1917 with a bachelor's degree. In 1920, the alumni magazine reported that: Ex Forest Emerson Witcraft, A.B. 17, is a student pastor at Lawrence, Kansas Forest published 3 theses while at Univ. Chicago: A contribution to the interpretation of mysticism‎1920 The elements of the mana-concept‎ 1920 A critical analysis of the theory that theism is essential to moral motivation 1927 I believe the last was his doctoral thesis. In a Feb 6, 1930 NYTimes article it is reported that Dr. Forest Witcraf

Here's what I have found: According to census records, Forest Emerson Witcraft was born Aug 23, 1894 in Wisconsin to Thomas and Rosa Devorse Witcraft. By 1900, the family is living in Haddon Indiana and includes Forest's younger sister Vivian and his Grandfather Daniel Devorse as well as his parents. His father is listed as a day laborer and his mother does not work. In 1905, the family is back in Wisconsin and his father's occupation is listed as barber. In 1920, (there is no available census for 1910), Forest and his sister are living with just their mother in Chicago, IL. His moth

Hey Packsaddle, Here's my funny moment explaining condoms to my son. My oldest son was about 10 or 11 when comes to me and asks what's a condom. Being a truthful and "current" kind of parent I explain. He looks at me blankly and says he thought people lived in them! Seems he was watching a game show and they talked about a condom in a wallet. He couldn't understand how someone got their apartment in their wallet. I learned to ask for context before answering any and all questions that came from left field! dew

The only portion of Scoutmaster required training that I have not completed is outdoor skills. My biggest issue with this training is that in our council it is only offered once a year in June. A weekend away in the beginning of June is difficult. Between the end of school year activities (last year is conflicted with my son's induction into National Junior Honor Society) and my busiest weeks of the year at work, I find it hard to manage. While searching for information on what is included in the course, I found several out of state councils that offer it as part of the spring camporee. S

In another thread, someone suggested to a writer that not all your fundraisers should involve selling things. I agree! As a new Scoutmaster, approaching my first year of fundraising, I wondered what was your most successful non-selling fundraiser? Any unique ideas? thanks dew

I am a new Scoutmaster for a new troop. Was an ASM for about 18 months before this Just want you all to know I'm relatively new. I just received this month's council newsletter and it lists a "Coordinated District Meeting" for both September and October. I have never seen that title used before. Is that the official title of what is called a Roundtable? No roundtables are listed for either month? Also, in the past Roundtables have always been held on Thursday nights which is when both the old and new troop meets. Tried to change but other Scout commitments preclude that. So I wond

Hey emb021 Didn't mean to upset you with incorrect terminology but I simply copied and pasted from material sent to me by our council. Their terminology and requirements not mine. I would be the first to tell you that I know very little about Venturing. dew

We have been notified that our Council has been selected as a 'pilot training council'. This is what we were told is the policy: "Beginning September 1, 2009 ALL Top Leaders (Cubmasters, Scoutmasters and Crew Advisors) will have 1 year to complete their required Trainings in their current registered position. Beginning September 1, 2010 ALL Den Leaders, Assistant Scoutmasters and Committee Members will have 1 year to complete training in their current registered position. Beginning January 1, 2012 for Units not having Trained Leadership the Unit Charter will be put on hold until Trainin

My understanding of the purpose of the merit badge system is that it allows Scouts to be exposed to different subject areas. It might even lead to a new hobby or profession. So the possibility exists that after getting some exposure to the topic the Scout simply decides he is not interested enough to put in the effort to complete the merit badge. I have one scout who took climbing at camp but did not complete the badge. He simply was afraid to climb. I don't think he will ever complete the badge. However, I don't see this as a wasted effort. He learned some skills and gained some knowledg

I have just started using TroopTrack. Web based partly because I use a Mac and not all programs are compatible. I like it a lot. Easy to use, very intuitive. Still under development but has everything I need. I had one small problem, sent an email and had a response within two hours. They needed additional information and asked if they could call me. They did within an hour and everything was quickly fixed. Can't ask for better service than that!

I can only speak to NY, but you should be able to find out if she is licensed as a physician in your state on the internet. Many states have online listings of professional licenses. At least you would know if her license is current and valid in your state. I must agree that if anything is illegible, you would be prudent to ask for clarification from this or any other child. Good Luck

For many reasons, including the fact the troop has not had an outdoor activity since camp last August, a group of parents decided to pull our boys from this troop. We are in a rural area with few troops so after discussion with our DE, we decided to form a new troop. I don't think anyone thought we could do it but we did. I found a charter organization whose director is an Eagle Scout. they are involved in forest protection so it is a great fit. Parents stepped up for committee and my son's former cubmaster has even agreed to join the committee. When I contacted council to ask when we would be

thanks for the input. I needed a reality check on this one. The situation existed in the troop my son is leaving along with nine other scouts (long, sad story). I had a rather heated conversation with a council executive who has suddenly noticed he has a problem. I listed many things that should have been a red flag and people who should have known concluding with this unit commissioner. The more I thought about it, the odder the situation seemed. Wanted to be sure I wasn't the only one who thought this was an ineffective scenario.