DLChris71

Thanks for the info. Found the following links. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/training/pdf/The_Training_Times_Fall_2011.pdf "Awards and Knots The national councils awards committee recently conducted a review of the hundreds of awards presented to Scouts and adults in the BSA. Many recommendations were made to simplify and update procedures, and the awards themselves. Among the recommendations was the update of some awards and/or the knots that represent them on the uniform. These include the training awards and the Cub Scouting awards. For example, to give the award the s

So the only thing they had planned for lunch was hot dogs and buns? No chips, fruit, vegetables? And the SM didn't let the scouts have fries because he didn't want to get more potatoes. Well that sounds like mashed turnips all around.

I guess I might make someone upset, but I've had pretty good luck with the Ozark Trail tents sold at Wal-Mart. I admit the one that I got was not without flaws ($29.97 4-man tent 9x7 footprint with rain fly) but it has held up fairly well. At least enough that I'd consider checking out some of their 2-man tents.

I've heard several references to the change away from the three den leader knots to one, but does anyone have a good url for that change and when it will be coming? I do like the idea of the device on the knot award instead of the three separate knots.

Well Happy St. Georges Day... But I think BP would have been better having Saint Christopher as the patron saint of scouting...seeing as he forded a river and performed one of the worlds oldest water rescues

I don't know exactly how the site registers a hit but I use beascout to keep tabs on what's going on with the troops and packs in our area. Especially if one of them goes through the trouble of setting up a new website. I've used it to check which nights they meet, though I often have to do a separate search for their CO to find out when they are on the facility schedule. If individual units are able to update their own info on the site I think they would be better served by making that info as complete as possible. I've also used the site to check back into my old areas that I live

Our CO has some pretty nice class rooms with carpet on them. I'm very much against snacks and we didn't even mention it until the day light savings started again and we were going to be mostly outside. We had one scout bring in a yoo hoo. Half of it he drank and the other half went on the floor. As a courtesy to the CO then I'm against it.

You know...to tell the truth this is why I quit scouting as a kid. Everyone cheating. Now I was encouraged to pursue the Den Leader Knot, and I am. My CC and CM both said I should be awarded the knot in September, even though I didn't start until November. So I have no intention of turning in my paperwork on it until December 2012, and only if the requirements are met. The purpose of the Den Leader Awards is to encourage den leaders to meet a minimum standard of training and performance, not to impress other scouters, but to encourage them to do the right thing. If the system of a Pa

Once I stepped out of the car and personally talked to the MBC it became my business. At the very least I would talk to my son about the situation and ask him if he really felt it would be honorable to accept this award without the conditions being met. Then I personally would contact the council, DE, CC, and Scoutmaster about the situation. Ignorance would have been bliss, and I bet that other parents might be completely oblivious to this. But as are an Eagle Scout the ethical dilemma is very apparent and it is important to scouting everywhere to take a stand. We're not talking abou

Our Guide to Safe Scouting, a book of "thou shall nots" dictates that every tiger or cub scout (ages 6-9) shall be accompanied by a parent or guardian on outings. I believe that's it. Den Meetings 6 year olds must be accompanied by a parent. Cub Scouts don't necessarily have to have a parent present. The reason could be legal liability, enough supervision, etc. Even at our seasonal council camps we are required to maintain a 2 scout to 1 adult ratio, while also maintaining two deep leadership. When I was a kid growing up us 6-9 year olds spent most of our time trying to get away fro

I had a son in one of those no score no keeper leagues...the kids even at 3 or 4, are not clueless. They know when they are winning or losing. At least when you keep score you can gauge improvement. Somehow in most youth leagues, and in some real sports league there is always one team that is endowed with a few talented kids that do throttle everyone else 20-1. The question is can you improve as a team to keep it down to 8-1 in the next meeting. Winning takes effort, the absence of winning is impossible.

The reasons why you shop around vs. sticking to a linear progression are part of our culture and economics. My wife goes to work at a location over 10 miles from home, I go to school over 10 miles from home, my sons currently go to school 2 miles from our home but by the time they are in scouts they will be again going to school 10 miles from our home. And none of those locations is in the same direction and are at least 10 miles apart. So if we had to go to each of those locations twice per day (pick and drop) you're talking 80 miles of driving. In most other places in the world that simply d

I was able to buy a pretty nice banner that we could use at a popcorn table (or scout show, recruiting night) from an online banner maker for about $30. Do most of you who do store front sales find that you have to make reservations about 2 months prior to the sale? That seems to be the cushion that we need to make in our area.

SP- I really like your idea of a different "badge of office". The Denner Cords never seem to fit the boys right and a lot of times they fall apart during games. I've taken to carrying spare pins in my den box. I think something more mobile and smaller is called for and I wish that they still had the old denner patches and pins. Fortunately the old symbol is not hard to copy. You could get a button maker to make it or possibly paint it on a plastic top and make your own pin. In my time with using a Denner and Assistant Denner the boys like the denner position, or should I say that they li

Let's be honest. The official uniform is mainly worn at official functions and appears to have a certain utility to it. Now would I necessarily wear the official scout uniform in a high adventure situation, or is it? I don't really see it that much anymore. Do a google image search of scouts camping or scouts at philmont. Now if you discount the old photos and the staged photos and only look at those pictures involved in outings you won't see much in the way of the official uniform. So the official uniform has a faux utility to it. In reality, in an actual scouting situation, not a troop

Yes...I think perhaps it's written more BALOO trainer manual than elementary school guide. I cut it down, and focused it on Bears...so version 2: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_6b9Q585jKHM4pZeAWvQBcvSvbnukv4oDlAHLZ0Mbfo/edit Let me know if the length is better. The reading level also drops from about 8.0 to 5.0, at least according to my spell checker.

Denner not a patrol leader- yes I think I spent some time going over that fact. 3 hours- It doesn't have to be 3 hours, it could certainly be less. It doesn't have to be 3 consecutive hours, could as easily be 3 den meetings. In my experience just telling a boy that he's a denner and stand here with the flag and lead the pledge, etc. is about useless and does a disservice to the boy. It throws them on the spot without understanding what the purpose is, sink or swim. I think we owe it to someone stepping into a leadership position an investment in time. If you compare it to other ext

With one son headed into Webelos and both sons being picky eaters I felt it was time for them to get skin in the game. So the whole family is on a schedule for cooking meals (with dad as advisor). So Sunday my oldest made pancakes and bacon for breakfast, cold cuts for lunch, etc. Last night my youngest wanted to make steaks, mac and cheese, and salad. So I'm letting them hit the stove now. Anyway its a process and it'll take a while to get them to be attentive to things and realize the steps but they should be able to make anything. The most important thing is that we are really paying a

So this year, starting in December I started rotating the boys in my den through the Denner and Assistant Denner. Mainly their roles were to hold the flags during our opening ceremony and to come up with a den yell. For a few weeks now, while I had time I started putting together a Denner Manual and it's in the early stages of development. I wanted to get some feed back on it. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TamnASiLyFloBxgBRBFwBM6UXZ9TVSHbSoaZWkn0StU/edit

If you have a skillet you can easily do chicken fajitas...you can get fajita flavoring in foil packs, start off with some oil, slice onions, chicken, and green peppers. Scoop into a flour tortilla. You can also marinate the ingredients in italian dressing and go without the fajita flavoring.

blw2- I just got finished doing the Emergency Preparedness Award with my den. The award can be completed at Den Level. You would only fill in the first section. Depending on your council either your CC or other awards person can fill in electronic records or you can take the forms down to the council office and they can enter them. But definitely let your Pack know who earned the award. Since the Tiger Den usually has completed 2/3rds of the requirements to earn this award it would be silly to not allow the boys to work on the rest of the award, given that going over all the requirem

I would recommend Washington, DC and a visit to the National Gallery of Art and the Memorials. If you are looking more at beaches then perhaps Savannah or Charleston. Edit- Saw that you were into biking. DC has some nice features in this regard. There is the C&O Canal and Rock Creek Park are both very nice for biking. Depending on if you are athletic cyclist there is also Skyline Drive in Virginia. DC is also nice in that you can visit the islands in the Chesapeake Bay, Annapolis. If you're casual cyclist then the National Mall is good and I believe the Metro (public transit) bu

When I was a boy scout I never knew what OA was about and to a certain extent I still don't. Now that I'm an old guy and have been able to read up on it a little I wish I had been given at least a sit down about OA and what it was about. Given the expertise on this forum is there an acurate synopsis of what OA is and does, and on the flip side someone to explain why a troop would not want to be involved with OA and why? Not really sure but is it a case that there is a need for some other organization that is OA like with a different theme or is it something else about OA that some p

Re OP: At this point in the year as an ADL you're not in much of a position to do anything regarding this year. So now is the time to start getting ready for next year. The actual game in Wolf is probably easier to work with than Tiger but I'm biased. If you think things could be better for your own son then it is in your interest to be willing to step up. Let the CM know you're interested in becoming more active and helping give a good Wolf program. If you haven't done so start attending round tables, pack committee meetings, and pack leader meetings. Also check your council website for

Our Council's camp is going to be happening over the next 3 weekends and we have boys going to at least 2 of the 3 sessions, and a "record" for the number attending in one session. In May we were able to get the John Thompson property for a weekend and we are planning on putting a big family camp out with games and exhibitions. My den is planning on doing a LNT presentation at that one and I hope each of the boys is able to draw a poster and come to that event to earn the LNT. We're in the process of ramping up summer programs but I was just very surprised by the drop off.