drmbear

Boring, too business-like, not willing to do entirely embarassing things, not willing to put him or her self on the level of a nine-year-old boy, lack of imagination

Making sure the troop knows what is expected of the SPL and the skills necessary to do a great job, as well as the affect on them if they ignore those skills and abilities in their selection process, is the start of making sure you don't have a weak SPL. The best proving ground is in the work put in to develop the entire PLC, and helping the ASPL actually take control of the leadership corps or pool of more senior scouts. Like everyone has been saying, the development of leaders is a process. Make sure opportunities for leadership are handed out to promising individuals throughout the year,

Why is anyone that is not gay even concerned about whether they want to marry or not. Because a homosexual couple wants to get married and have those rights takes absolutely nothing away from any heterosexual couple. So unless you are gay, shut up and stay out of the argument. This is supposed to be a free country, with laws that protect those freedoms, and I really see no reason why two people that love each other and want to be married should have any impact on anyone else. And remember this is also a country of religious freedom, and just because your religion says something is immoral

As an adult in the Boy Scout program, part of the process is letting the young men discover what works and doesn't work. If they make obvious (to us) stupid choices, and they get stupid results, then they start making smarter choices going forward. The Scoutmaster and other leaders do their best to teach and advise, because event that "popular" Scout can learn to lead, and isn't that one of the points of the program.

What I've noticed about the Cub Scout program in general is that the cycle of things that a CS pack does through the course of each year just doesn't change that much. There are community events we participate in each year, particular parades and activities. The Webelos, after doing that for each of the first three years just need to be exposed to some different things. Boy Scout troops aren't locked into a particular annual program, and have the flexibility over five years(for example) to vary the program extensively based on whatever the boys want to do. I just finished the first year of

I remember all three ceremonies, even Brotherhood. After spending a great deal of time that day carving on that stick, I remember marching all around the place carrying that stick...

Here in Virginia the legislature is spending time determining medical examinations a woman needs to go through before she terminates a pregnancy, something the legislature is not at all qualified to do and something that should be left up to the woman and her physician. In the middle of a crisis with the economy and jobs it seems they really should have better things to do.

Last June I went backpacking in Shenandoah National Park, and I was concerned about the high humidity. We planned a trek where we could chill out in the running water. I actually chose to wear some of the Scout shorts (wet/dry), skipping the underwear altogether since they have the net liner. On the 2 for 1 deal at about $15, they really can't be beat, and I'm completely sold on them now. I even wear them when I'm not Scouting - I haven't found anything that comes even close to quality or value for less than $40 or more. I just wish they had a button instead of the snap (stupid for active

It's why I've been reading the "Darwin Awards" books with my boy. These kinds of phrases typically proceed acts that have won awards (and removed them from the gene pool).

I've been a Cubmaster for a while now, and I'll say the very first thing you need to do as Cubmaster is to get yourself on their level - be a nine-year-old boy. If they are acting up during parts of your meetings, it is because it is BORING... When I took over, we stopped having "pack meetings," and we started having "PACK EVENTS!" For that one hour(no more), everything is happening so fast that the boys just pay attention so they don't miss anything. They participate, and they are having fun. I know as a Boy Scout and in Order of the Arrow ceremonies I participated in there was a lot of

We did this as a recruiting event, but we did a "Recycled Regatta," using plastic soda or water bottles, straws, plastic grocery bags, duct tape and other tape, foam egg cartons, and other assorted stuff. A little gravel or sand in the bottom side of the bottle keeps it from tipping. In a half hour or so the boys had boats made, and then they raced them at will. They'd challenge others in their den, others. They even enjoyed beating me, the Cubmaster, particularly when I'd start blowing on the back sides of their sails to slow them down, etc. It was fun. The new blow up tracks from the S

I'll start by saying that I am a Cubmaster, and I've been serving as one of the Webelos Den Leaders (along with a couple others) for my son's den - they are finishing up 4th grade. I was never a Cub Scout, but I stayed very active in Boy Scouts, am an Eagle Scout, and patrol method and "boy run" are deeply part of my understanding of Scouting, particularly as I spent several years running our council's Troop Leadership Development/Training programs. As I took on the job as CM, I knew my place, because I was essentially taking my all time favorite job in Scouting, I was getting to be the Seni

The charts irritate me to no end. When I was 14, just back from Philmont, 6'6" tall, skinny, without anything that could be considered fat, I fell into the obese category on the charts. That was 1976, so you can imagine where I fall on the charts now, thirty-some years later. Something doesn't compute correctly when they get to tall people.

There's a new Whisperlite now that I just picked up (I've been needing a better stove), and it's called the Universal. On the whole, I really don't like a canister stove for backpacking, but particularly with the occasional restrictions on liquid fuels associated with Scouts, it is nice having the option. It features all the best of the International in that it can burn about anything, and now can even convert to canister fuels. I've tried burning it both ways, and I like it.

I love this thread. The very best stories from all our adventures come from the disasters - of course! As a Scout in the '70's I remember a great trip where the Navy took us on those beach-landing craft across the Chesapeake Bay to a beach at Kiptopeke on the Eastern Shore. It just so happened that a hurricane was on its way, and where we were was not really the best place to be in those conditions. All the tents, both adults and youth, except one, had been flattened by the winds, and I think there was at least a patrol of us all in that one 2-person pup tent. There were boys sitting

The thing I hate about trying to sleep in a hammock is that I barely sleep and I feel in the morning like I've been folded into a pretzel. I need to be able to straighten myself out, and I'm not able to get comfortable folded into a hammock.

I know that at the National Capital Area council Scout Camp Goshen they do not have a pool, but they have multiple camps and swim areas on the lake all the way around it. When I was a kid doing the mile swim, the first half mile was swimming up river on the James River, and that was a killer. Doing Lifesaving and Scout Lifeguard on that river was crazy with the current. Going down to lift something heavy and then getting it back to the starting point I still remember as an incredibly difficult thing. I was one of those kids that if I was completely motionless, I sank like a rock.

The answer to my wife is always: "You look beautiful." True, regardless of what she's wearing.

We were moving and in transaction, so we didn't get started with our Pack until the end of January, and by then there was only one other Tiger and the den leader. Even though I am an Eagle, I knew nothing about Cub Scouts, so I didn't even try to get involved as a leader. I ended up the Wolf DL the next year, and by late spring I was the CM as well. My first year as CM, I put the Tiger parents that decided to be DL's through the same kind of things you are experiencing now. No one liked it, and it wasn't right My second year I did something very different. Although I work with my son

As ASPL, you are essentially the patrol leader of the Leadership Corps, correct? Thats the TGs and other staff positions. Instead of YOU spending a great deal of time coming up with stuff, spend more time working with your "patrol" to develop what you want to do. That's where your ideas will be. I haven't staffed WB (yet), but long ago I was a regular staff member for our council's Troop Leadership Development course (later TLT, then Brownsea II, then TLTC), and served as ASPL, and a couple years as SPL. What I always wanted from the Leadership Corps was that they were to be the ult

Tiger, Wolves, and Bears have den names. The Webelos don't, because the way I see it they can choose their own den name, much like a Boy Scout patrol chooses a name. So, after they had earned their Bear badge, toward the end of the school year, I had them work together to come up with a den name they liked. They became the Thunder Snakes, and when they bridged from Bear to Webelos they also got a den emblem that we ordered for them. The AOL guys have bridged, and the Thunder Snakes are the oldest boys left. For one thing, they will be helping out at the bridging ceremony (beginning of

Lisabob, I am very glad that during my time in Scouting, during the late '70's, that it was men who were the leaders in Boy Scout troops. I don't think a kid can have too many loving and caring adults to look out for him or her, so I am appreciative of all the men and women that decide to be leaders in Scouting. At the same time, I think there are great advantages during the Boy Scouting years for these boys to step into a community of men. Cross-culturally, all through history, there were rites of passage for boys to step away from "mother," away from some of the shelter of their fami

I don't care how you measure, I don't believe it is possible in any way for a group of Web I boys, currently in 4th grade, to meet the first requirement for earning their Arrow of Light by June (unless all of their 10th birthdays were last fall): 1. Be active in your Webelos den for at least six months since completing the fourth grade (or for at least six months since becoming 10 years old), and earn the Webelos badge. I'm also a Cubmaster, as well as being a den leader for our Web I boys (including my son). I don't see Scouting as a race. Is it an advantage to put boys that hav

Make sure they have campouts planned every month. Have them plan what they want to do during the campouts - hanging out is okay. Don't YOU be setting up hikes or anything else. If you are camping someplace that has hikes (State Park, etc.), make sure your boy leaders know about it, but don't push anything.

What we need is more Scouts becoming the next Bechtels, then we could see purchased other great locations for Scouting adventure, right? My guess if we take a look at the population "center" of the country, the location in WV is not too far off. They did put the center of our nation's government right here where you'd fly into for coming to the Summit, so what's the deal with the location - it is not like it's a place you'd be coming every year. In a Scouting career, age 14 to 18 (when eligible for the Jamboree), there is only one chance to attend the Jamboree as a youth since the event onl