Eagle92

Well I was goign to comment, but Lisa stole my thunder I concure 110% with Lisa's assessment form the troop perspective. Been there and seen it happen.

Here are my thoughts. While I say if you are in multiple positions in multiple units, i.e. dist and pacl, troop and crew, etc. you SHOULD be able to have 2 different time clocks per position, somewhere in the national literature there is a policy stating that it's a no no. Again it si somwher in the national literature, and unfortunatley I don't chapter and verse on it. We ahd that come up a few years back.

Chief, Good luck. I found it is a minimum of 3 years to successfully rebuild a chapter: 1 year to figure outwhat you want to do recruit youth AND adult leaders (yes the OA is a youth organization, but the adult advisers do play a very big part, usually in providing transportation and talkign to other leaders who may not know as much about the OA) and begin implementing a game plan, 1 year to follow the game plan, tweak it as needed, and get more members, and one year to firmly establish your program. Some links to previous threads http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=235930 http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=222723 http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=205718&p=1 ( this is a long thread, but has soem great info thjat worked well when I was CA, plus other ideas.)

Wellif anyone is still reading tyhis threas.... I SURVIVED CS NATIONAL CAMPING SCHOOL! ( YEP SHOUTING IS INTENTIONAL WOW that was an intense 3 days. learned a lot and now realize I have "a long way to go and a short time to get there." I was "All Tuckered Out" Afterwards.

Concur with the Scout sewing on patches. It's a life skill, i.e. what would happen if he was backpacking, and the pack started ripping, how is he going to fix the hole in the field? By Sewing of course. Velcro is an alternative, but as otehrs said not as nice as sewing it on. Also be prepared for the " You don deserve this...ripp" jokes. And temp insignia location IS a no no. However i do admit to seeing it done with repro OA LC and OA CC patches. i don't have a problem b/c 1) National only produced them for a few months and they were not approved for uniform wear (although I see them in the POR postion per the uniform regs that Supply put out with them) and #2 the repros have a button loop on them.

Base, a 10y.o.can also join IF they completed 5th grade even without the AOL. Boy Scout Joining Requirements 1. Meet the age requirements. Be a boy who is 11 years old, or one who has completed the fifth grade or earned the Arrow of Light Award and is at least 10 years old, but is not yet 18 years old. http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/joining.aspx As far as AOL goes 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. So if someone has a late birthday, say Sept. and they finish 4th at 9y.o. They can move up to BS December 1 at 10 years, 3 months. OR as I see in a situation with one set of twinsin my TC den in a few years 10 years, 1 month, a dew days (their birthday is late OCT. and they JUST made it into school unde the old admission dates).

[sarcasm on] But doesn't BSA mean BABY SITTERS of AMERICA? [sarcasm off]

I need to edit that last post, but with 3 kids couldn't do it in time. The lack of visibility, combined with all the crap that is out there that is false about the OA, had caused serious problems in my neck of the woods, esp with one troop. This was despite the fact that the the Sm was a past LC ad section officer.

MN, MY BAD! ( caps for emphasis, not shoutinG) At one time the rule WAS 10.5, COMPLETED 5THGRADE and have AOL.... Then it dropped to 10.5 and the AOL, or completed 5th grade or 11. But you are right the new requirements don';t have the 10.5 anymore.

Not as simple as that Emb. One of the problems we had as a chapter was lack of visibility. Yep we did ALOT of service, but it was the type of service that made OA sashes inadvisable, except the crossovers, camppromos/electios, and call outs. The rest of the year, we were there working our butts off, but without the sash no one knew. One of the things we did as a chapter was the CC proclaimed all district functions: banquet, camporees, etc as OA functions. It was so bad that I had a monther go on a 1.5 hour tirade against the OA, learning considering whether to allow her son to go or not. HEck she didn't knwo that not only was her son's SM an Arrowman, but a past LC and Section officer! about the OA. This one thing has increased the OA's visibility in the district and has made a dramatic improvement. This past weekend, we had 2 youth at the district banquet with OA sashes on, those in Venturing uniforms as there is no MB sash, and a bunch of adults. It really made aan impression with the OA display, local award presentations, and the DAM presentation.

Every pack is different. My pack's program have the Webelos graduate as soon as they turn 11 or have completed AOL, usually in Nov/December range. While Our Web IIs who have been in a long time crossed over in November, officially joining the troop in December. Those who joined this year will haev a cross over soon. AND some Webelos Is who meet the age requirements and/or earned AOL will also be crossing over soon. Ourt key is to let them work hard, play hard, and get them to the troop where the REAL Fun begins for them .

CD, Welcome to the forums! In referecne to the Webelos crossing over without AOL, Here are my thoughts. #1 AOL is not required to join Boy Scouts UNLESS the boy is not 11 OR 10.5 and completed 5th grade. #2 Since He has not completed 5th grade, earned AOL, or is 11, he is STILL a Webelos #3 Webelos do need to visit certain scouting functions, so he can visit and participate to a limited degree until 11, then fill out the application and HAVE FUN #4 Since his b-day is so soon it may have been best to "crossover" with his buddies. Sometimes the symbolic Crossover is needed. We do that with our Web. IIs at Webeloree.

Thanks for the help. After 3 calls to regional/national ( regional moved ya know) I got someone in TX to send me an email with the info. I sure hope that isn't the only way of communicating now as my CD does not have email.

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS AND SCOUTING! (yes I am shouting at you, but in a good way ) My advice for new leaders is the following #1 Get a good mentor while you are doing training and learning the ropes #2 GET TRAINING (caps for emphasis this go around) Fast Start, Youth Protection, are available online. SM Specific is not, but may be shortly. The take Intro to Outdoor Leaders Skills. The IOLS is very importnant in understanding the outdoor portion of the BSA #3 Get yourself a nice camp chair and coffee mug. #4 Get yourself a library card to check out books to read while you sit in the chair and let the boys do all the work #5 HAVE FUN! (YEP I'm shouting at you again, but it's in a good way.) Again welcome and... HAVE FUN!

A few thoughts. #1 take a look at a video call Scoutmaster Fast Start, it show's that a typical troop is "organized chaos" becuase it allows the Scouts the freedom to learn things, try new things, and fail id need be. Sometimes life's best lessons are the result of failure. And having a scout fail in an controlled and safe environment is a good thing. #2 While the visible signs of what scouting teaches: camping, cooking, axmanship, etc may not be relevent to today's society, the internal or non-visible signs: self reliance, leadership, service, independance, self confidence, etc ARE needed now more than ever, and ARE relevent. #3 You are viewing the adults as leaders, and that should not be the case. THE YOUTH are the leaders, should be runnign things, etc. Adults shuld eb their to advise and mentor, and if you got a good troop going, the older scouts are performignthat role for the younger ones. One of my personal heros who I look up to to this day was the first SPL of the second troop I joined. #4 The scout should be responsible for his own gear,a nd that includes not only buying it himself, but taking care of it. How that goes about does vary from family to family. Good luck.

Info, TRUE ENOUGH! But despite how vital the DE andsupport staff are, for whatever reason some folks don't like paid staff, saving youth in college or at summer camp. I emphasize the maintence and expansion of our local camp as that is somethign EVERYONE in the district is behind. Complain an event fee at the camp is too high, remind or inform them that the council is inthe process of making improvements, and all concerns about "profits," "surpluses," or "the event as a moneymaker" arguments go by the wasyside with "OH,OK" "YES!" or "ABOUT TIME"

Fox, See my reply to the identical post here: http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=205733&p=2

Thanks a bunch folks. I called regional and left a message with Larry M. who accroding to the info INFOSCOUT provided is responsible for CS NCS. Just waiting to hear back from them. As for the supplies, GOT IT and THANK YOU!.

BP, Let's not forget that not only can a Venturing Crew be all male, but it can also be all female! yep i've seen one all female venturing crew, and they really kicked butt and took names at competition, including s few patrols that were older and had been to Philmont! To add insult to injury, they were a new crew, being formed a few months prior to the competition. Come to think of it, i just realized that since they won, Crews are no longer invited to compete.(This message has been edited by eagle92)

Where to start. Venturing is suppose to be a stand-alone program. However I do know of one instance where a troop's VENTURE CREW (this was when the Venture Patrols were called crews pre-1998), when they found out that no the VENTURING recognitions do NOT apply to them despite the similarity of name and unit designations, turned their Venture Crew into a VENTURING CREW, and began working on Venturing recognitions. The Crew's by-laws, written by the members and prior to approaching the adult leadership for creation of the unit, specified that #1 it will be all male ,#2 all members would have to be duel registered in the troop as either youth or adults, #3 crew's primary resposnibility would be to support the troop as was done in the VENTURE CREW using the Leadership Corps model, #4 would plan 4 activities to be done on their own and #5 would coordinate with the PLC and SM the possibility of doign Crew activities during troop outings as long as it did not interfere with, or cause complications with troop operations. In a nutshell what these guys did was turn the Venture Crew, which was run like the old Leadership Corps program anyway, into a Venturing Crew so that they can continue workign on recognition after earning Eagle. What really made it intersting was the SM of the troop became the COR/CC of the crew, and the COR/CC of the troop became the adviser of the crew (don't ask me how the church got multiple CORs, different story for a different day). I know it was working out succesfully until Hurricane Katrina and the troop suffered severe losses with members moving out of state, and the crew folded. Unfortunatley from what I hear the troop is still suffereing a little.

BS, ANYTHING WRITTEN BY GREEN BAR BILL IS WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!! (yep I'm shouting as GBB is "DA MAN WHO SAVED THE BSA.") The works he wrote, both inside and outside of scouting are EXCELLENT ( caps for emphasis this time) and I strongly recommend. Ok I may be a little prejuidiced as I think GBB was awesome and concur in the saving the BSA setentiments.

J, Actually you can't order the bylaws via Supply. It's a bin item,a nd if you look on the first page states that you have to order it through the SE, and that they print a limited number of them. Sorry I can't quote it, but my company blocked the website. Also I need to retract the "redaction" comment above. The document HIGHLIGHTS ) caps for emphasis) the key words searched. blinded out the words on my comp at work, but OK at home.

Also concur with the 3rd ed. SMHB, vols 1 and 2, being a GREAT resource. I'm a long time scouter, and I picked up some great info and ideas from it.

'Fish, My one experience in the similar situation you described, dropping off a young man at his home in a housing development with another staff member, was OK. My staff buddy, who lived near by, basically said to keep the hands visible and away from my belt, and we would be cool. Only challenge we had was an angry dad who wanted to punich his son for causing problems at camp,a dn when his group was sent home not comign home with them. Had to explain that some of the youth staff "hid" the kid at the waterfront and tried to make him, a staffer for the rest of the week. Good kid, just in a bad group.

Since it will be NOV and you will be a WDL, go aheead and get the WDL specific out of the way.