Eagle92

All very good advice. My $.04 worth ( inflation you know ) 1)Train, mentor, advise, WHATEVER YOU CAN DO, to get the older scouts to train, mentor, and advise the younger scouts. I've seen units that fall apart when the SM leaves and no knows what to do. And I've seen units that had dynamic leaders leave and carry on b/c teh YOUTH were the ones running things, and priovided the continuity. 2) Establish traditions. This is minor compared to some things, but in the long term it somehting that sets a standard that no one wants to break and gives a sense of pride, belonging, and "something bigger than yourself. In my troop some simple ones were SPL has shotgun in SMs car, the nitetime activity at camp, etc, and how all BORs ended, ( "We must inform you... that we want to see you in X amount of months 3) Establish ceremonies. Again minor but leads to better morale. We had and used an Investiture Ceremony, PL and SPL ceremonies.

As mentioned Liability is the major factor in certain restrictions. beleive it or not, if undertand what NCS taught me,any type of district or council CS level daytime activity falls under CSDC national standards, and any type district or council CS overnite activity falls under CS Resident camp national standards. And those standards are designed for liability protection. Also as I have discovered differnt parts of the country do things differently. In my neck of the woods, it's not uncommon for CS age kids to have .22s and go hunting with mom and dad. Some kids even have archery and rifle ranges on their properties where the entire family practices their skills. But in other areas of the country, that would be anathema.

Grace, No offense, but this is something your SON should be asking, not you. I say this b/c from other posts of yours, it seems as if you are pushing your son, trying to get info that HE needs to get. part of the process with Boy Scouts is allowing them to grow up, have new experience, and even fail if need be so that they learn form that bad experience and grow form it. Not trying to rant, but I see so many parents doing what their children should be doing, and it is hurting the kids in the long term. Yes the kid will get XYZ accomplished in the short term, but long term they learn nothing. That said, some great sources for your son to talk about include his PL and other youth leaders in the troop,. other friends in Scouting, members of his OA chapter and lodge as well as his SM and possibly the DAC. I know some districts will have a Life to Eagle session for all Life Scouts in the district to explain the process.

Dave, A Brother Knight . Most relationships with parochial schools and KC council are more than amicable, and I wouldn't use that as an example. In my experience, and I have a bunch, it is usually a combination of the unit leaders and/or DEs searching for a new CO when a CO wants to give up a unit. In my experience all the original CO has done is sign paperwork stating that the unit number and all unit equipment and accounts can be transferred to the new CO.

I've known a scout or two to find out something was missing at the BOR last minute. My Eagle buddy above is my most memorable, But i also know a guy who was a little early for a BOR for rank, by a few days. Long story short BOR was still held for the rank, the youth was informed that while he is doing a great job, he needed X number of days to finish off, and that the BOR would reconvene only to sign the AR on that date.

I want a copy!!!!! yeas I was first told MAY, now hearing June or July. Would really like ot have it before Fall when the new leaders come aboard. Also I do hope the new format takes into account that soem roundups don't start until Oct./Nov. I know I was following the PH and i wound up doing a GO SEE IT inthe middle of RU and it caused some challenges. The secret will be to adapt what is suggested with what is currently occuring in your area. To be honest for hte first 2-3 months I followed PH to the letter, but learned that I can play with the meetings to adapt to local events AND my boys needs.

Actually it should be very easy to obtain a copy if the original document, if not the original, via either city or state archives. It is a public record.

E, Sometimes something isn't caught until the BOR. Best example I can give is that 1 Life Scout I knew found out on the nite of his scheduleed EBOR that he missed the deadline for council approval of his EBOR by a few days and he had to appeal to national for his EBOR (FYI no EBOR could be scheduled before he left for Boot Camp and I believe specialty school)

When KINGSDOWN INTERNATIONAL Scout Campsite in Kent was still owned by the SA, they would buy tents for 1 season, and sell them. Most of the tents were in great shape, and troop got them at a deal of a price. I know Kingsdown is no longer owned by the SA, but the old warden remained with the new owners, and I bet they still sell 4-6 month old tents at great prices.

David, The original CO no longer wanted to be the CO. The boys needed to find another unit to join. Just so happens that another CO was found. I don't know how often this happens,, but it does. My troop prior to me leaving went through 3 COs inthe 12 years I was there as a youth and adult. First CO's demographics changed and the IH didn't see Scouting as useful to his parish. While we had great relationships in the past with previous IHs and CORs (one IH/COR actually went camping with the troop on occasion) , the new IH didn't see us as an asset and it was a mutual agreement to leave for another CO that wanted a unit badly. Second CO had a IH change, and the new IH was vehemently against scouts. Don't know the history behind that, but even the COR was taken aback by the new IH's attitude, and again the move was mutual. Third CO had a pack and wanted a troop. My troop had a 24 year history, established reputation as a outdoor troop, active youth leaders, and tradition. In fact when they tried to start their own troop, the leadership came to our troop for guidance and help. We made their troop their own patrol and took them in with the intention of them leaving and moving. Just so happened that after this agreement, the new IH at the 2nd CO wanted us gone, so the 3rd Co's IH welcomed us with open arms.

OGE, Emo chicks won't but sorority girls will try to buy the shorts, and discuss how they are going to modify them for their Halloween party. Luckily when I ran into them at the party, they were wearing US Army uniforms, or parts anyway, that wear heavily modified

Sorry never heard of them, but if you charged it to your credit card, maybe you can have it expunged. one little known secret about Supply, they do custom patches, and will beat competitor's prices if you give them the quotes you received.

J, I hear ya! I lucked out with my current council. Since a good bit of training was done as a pro with my current council, and one of the FDs is still around, he verified to the registrar that "yes he did all the training he said he did."

This happend to me as a DE, and is how my pack and troop were created. Most DEs and district membership chairs will have a list of potential COs. The hardest part for a CO that wants a unit is getting the leadership. In the cases I've been involved in as a youth, and Scouter, the potential COs JUMPED ( caps for emphasis) at the opportunity to get a unit with leadership, and traditions already in place.

J, When I was at PDL-1 and SCOUTNET was being introduced to us, it was being beta tested if memory serves, SCOUTNET was being advertised to us new DEs as THE new way of record keeping. It was advertised as allowing all advancement, recognition, and training to be stored in one national database AND allowing records to be portable, so that if one moved from council to council, your records, keyed to your ID number, would be accessible to your new council. Unfortunately that either didn't happen. That or records are not being put into the system. All I know is that I was in 5 councils in 5 years and had to redo all of my records every time.

Using Scoutnet may be a good idea. I know that is a possibility with local council distributorships. But when I worked for national, national scout shops were not hooked up to SCOUTNET, having their own system SD system. Another problem with SCOUTNET would be in realtionship to the accuracy of records. I know that My records were incorrect for the longest time, and even after submitting information to correct them, things were missing, i.e. Scouter's Training Award, and some items got added on by mistake. Also in reference to rank, us old pre-SCOUTNET folks won't have our advancement records in the system. That was one thing I had to add, my Eagle, AOL, and OA info. Edited for spelling and additiona info below. National supply when I worked for them decided to go with a different, more reputable vendor for their computer system, one that specilized in retail businesses and had a good history with Supply. A lot of folks were VERY happy to have used this company, rather than the one National Council decided to use for SCOUTNET. One reason why supply didn't have major computer problems while the rest of the BSA did.(This message has been edited by eagle92)

Don;t know about other national stores, but mine was in a Metro council and it was REQUIRED on all restricted items. Now proof of earning an award a large margin; handbooks, COH photos newspaper clippings for ECOHs, the actual award itself, and one time a verification from a pro (camp staff member needed a Heroism Award knot). Also we would use NESA for eagle scout verification, but it did take soem time. part of the reason for this is that you do have "characters' trying to abuse the BSA image.

Back in the day I had the choice of A) eating with the Leadership Corps, which could equate to today's venture patrol, or B) eat with the patrol that has invited me. Usually I ate with my buddies in the LC, but occasionally I wold eat with one of the patrols when invited, esp if they had a better meal planned Also it depended upon how many LC members were going too.

I actually prefer Oscar

2Cub, It aint just Nawlins for Halloween and Mardi Gras. Anytime there is some type of costumed or masked event there are folks trying to get BSA stuff for their costumes. Also most shops keep an adequate supply of the forms and have no problem giving ya one to sign.

having both a 3.5 and a 1.5 y.o. go camping with the pack can be a challenge been there done that. It's possible, but challenging. Funny thing was this, the 3.5 and 6 yos wer the ones that tunred in early. !.5 year old was up and at them. Guess the stoller ride all day didn't tucker himout like the otehr two walking.

You would think the pocket certificate would be enough to get the badge, BUT the problem is, and IMHO it is a problem, the cards are NOT restricted. If you talk to most leaders, they are willing to fill out the REPLACEMENT reports for you and get them, as long as you pay for it I know my SM replaced all my Skill Awards for me when I traded them for neckers, at least the ones he could find as national had just discontinued the. Also bought me duplicate ranks for Jambo uniforms, and my eagle table totem used at COHs 9 table totem is a unit expense though, stillpaid for dup ranks)

Beav, I cut and pasted the Part B info. Bold is to highlight. In rereading it, I think it is poorly written. In the FAQ, which I posted below the med from quote, it sound as if the body fat % is an alternative, but still lists the max weight as 295. Part B PHYSICAL EXAMINATION Height_____________ Weight_____________ % body fat____________ Meets height/weight limits Yes No Blood pressure____________ Pulse_____________ Individuals desiring to participate in any high-adventure activity or event in which emergency evacuation would take longer than 30 minutes by ground transportation will not be permitted to do so if they exceed the height/weight limits as documented in the table at the bottom of this page or if during a physical exam their health care provider determines that body fat percentage is outside the range of 10 to 31 percent for a woman or 2 to 25 percent for a man. Enforcing this limit is strongly encouraged for all other events, but it is not mandatory. (For healthy height/weight guidelines, visit www.cdc.gov.) From FAQs found here: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HealthandSafety/Resources/MedicalFormFAQs.aspx Q. I believe my body fat percentage will prove that I am fit and able to participate in the events described in the Annual Health and Medical Record requiring the use of the height/weight chart. Can I obtain a body fat test from my physician and use those results? A. Yes, body fat percentage may be used if your weight is 295 pounds or less. (Acceptable body fat percentage for women is 10 to 31 percent. Acceptable body fat percentage for men is 2 to 25 percent. Verification by a physician is required.)

Depends on what your unit, district, and council are doing. I know that my council sometimes over schedules activities, i.e. putting a CS family campout on the same weekend as a OA Fellowship, and placing events back to back, i.e. Conclave one week and a camporee and family campout the next. Then if you got an active troop that camps 11 out of 12 months a year (December was the down month for us b/c of exams and holidays), it can be intersting.

I've seen this policy from both ends. From a Scout Shop perspective, the advancement #1 does need to be recorded and #2 you don't want just anyone buying BS ranks.#2 was especially a problem during Halloween and Mardi Gras with folks trying to "buy their costumes." I had to pull the old "May I see your membership card" line a few times. What is it about sorority girls and Boy Scout 'costumes?" And from the volunteer side, I know how frustrating it is when the local scout shop or council distributor is out of needed items, especially now with the mess on CS ranks going on. This is a pet peeve of mine: not giving a CS his rank at teh pack meeting when he should be receiving it. I remember not getting my Wolf badge when I was suppose to b/c the council distributor did not have enough in stock. DO NOT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN TO ANY CS ( caps for emphasis) I just hope that I can get my den's TC ranks for monday as I've been scrounging for them.