Eagledad

>>I a builder and buy 6 mil poly in 400sf rolls. It's cheap, light, tough and easy to fold or roll.

I don't know of any BSA offical doc. that restricts a hiking distance. However, a local camp or wilderness area or Park might. I once heard of a troop trying to do a 50 mile hike (without pack) in one day and a lot of people were looking for something offical to prevent it. They couldn't find anything. Barry

I believe, and I could be wrong, but any hike 500 miles or longer requires a National Tour Permit. Barry

>>Not sure I'd go with a safty belt. General rule is karts with out roll cages don't get seat belts.

It might work if you used square knots instead. I've watched a lot of adults do some amazing things for a square knot. Barry

>>The offending Scout is also a Patrol Leader. If all this has happened should his position be up for vote again (if he stays in the troop)?

>>The current SPL is a JLTC staff member and so far it has not interferred in his troop participation in the least>I said I would not direct a scout to Venturing unless he wasn't getting what he needed from the troop program.>Why is everyone so set on taking the older scouts away from troops that are meetingtheir high adventure needs? Now do you see why so many scout leaders see the Venturing program as "stealing" membership.

>>Venturing is a fine program but it needs to find its own membership. If it cannot survive without taking membership from troops then it is either being done incorrectly>JLTC is a one week training course whose purpose is develop the scout and send him back to the troop to lead. If that was the extend of the Venturing committment I would have no proble.>None of those other organizations you mention are duplicating the program of the Venture Patrol

>>How do Venture Patrols have a similar problem? They do not draw away from troop membership, They are a patrol.>every leader in scouting was NEW at some point. You cannot rely on the current crop of leaders to lead scouting forever. You must constantly be bringing in new adults at all levels. >He would tell you that an older scout program is about understand the maturity of young adults Any level of scouting depends on that.>So if a troop leader understands that and delivers the program accordingly there is no need for a Boy Scout to NEED Venturing until he turns 18, because his troop, in understanding his needs, would be delivering a program to meet them.

>>I like the Venturing Program, but local Venturing organizers are its worst enemy, they continue to try and rely on current leaders and current members rather than injecting new bodies and minds into the new program.

>>And while you think I am wrong neither the BSA or I do, so lets just say I see it differently than you.

>>When a new scout joins the troop I presume he is here until he turns 18. I fhe has to look elsewhere for adventure and personal growth then we are not doing our job. So far so good.

This is a strange conversation. I never would have thought that you would be offened by scouts particpating in multiple programs. It's not a matter of what, it's a matter of how much. For that matter, what does OA offer that a troop can't. Would it be OK if one of your scout wanted to be on the JLTC team? I was in a Scuba Post, I got to scuba every month of the year if I wanted. Sure, I guess a troop could do that, but is that realistic? A person can't box in the BSA Mission Statement to just one unit at a time. The goal of the program is much bigger than that. Scouts each have their own individual dreams and goals. If your troop is good, they've learn to think and act outside the norm. The BSA gives us the tools so scouts can seak their dreams and find their place in the world. It's not insult of your program if the scout wants to extend his experiance. It's complement that he wants to stay with yours. Hope this helps. Got to go. Hey all have a great weekend. Barry

>>But Barry a Venture patrol can do the very same thing.

Hi All >>I see no advantage to dual registering Boys Scouts into Venturing. Venturing is a separate program, separate unit.

Good Morning All >>Eagledad , Did you have any sort of a orientation at the get go? If so when?

We went from a 30% retention to 80% when I came to the realization that Tigers a parent program, not boys. If you keep the parents happy, they will stay. What our pack did to make it fun and easy for the parents is ask them to only do two activities a month. A Pack activity can count as one if they want, but the other has to be lead by a parent. We as one family to take charge for only one month. We didn't them to volunteer for anything during their first year because we wanted them to watch a fun program. What this did was allow the parents to pick and choose the place and times to meet. They didn't feel over committed because they see themselves responsible for onlt two activities. They got to know each other well because they had to call each other for information. It's a very simple program, but we shared a school with another pack, and when the parents compared programs, we had no trouble recuiting. And a year later, we had at least 80% come back. It was a simple plan and it worked. Barry

>>In the last three elections, the ASPL ran unopposed. We have been trying to get the guys to understand that that doesn't necesarily allow for the strongest SPL

>>What would happen if we asked the Scout if he thought that he had met the requirement and why he thought that he had?

>>Since then, he's had a couple of minor issues. I've pointed them out immediately, and explained that they were examples of his behavior problems.

I'm on staff for our Spring Course in April. Barry

Hi All I thought I'd check where I heard the Hunting MB rumor. It turns out they are testing it. Here is a bit of a quote to what it's all about. """There is no shooting of animals involved in earning this MB. Its primary purpose is history and background of hunting, and the benefits of hunting. The scout must earn the shooting MB and conservation MB. He must pass a hunter safety course. The MB teaches why there are hunting seasons, why some animals become extinct, and why others are exploding in population.""" Doesn't resolve the camo thing, but answers other questions. On OGE's responces, I thought Venture Scouts could still work on MBs. Maybe you meant they don't work MBs as a crew? Have a great Scouting day. Barry

Hi All While I have not seen it yet, I understand there is a new Hunting MB. I don't know if that is restricted to Venture. Barry

Hi All, Go Okla. State You didn't say why troop elections aren't working, but I found most troops that struggle with elections havn't matured to a boy run program yet. If the performance of the troop doesn't change much between a bad performing SPL or good SPL, then likely the scouts don't really think it matters. I've learned that rank or age isn't a great requirement for leadership requirments because they don't really insure a the scout is qualified. And if you have that mature scout who isn't into advancement (been there), you cheat him from an oppertuity of growth. Our troop doesn't have requirements, but we do like to see PL, Troop Quartermaster and ASPL experience. Mostly because in our troop each position teaches leadership skills unique to each position. But not all our SPLs had all those experiences. The average age of our SPL is 15 and a half. Barry

Great Oklahoma Day all. >>I would tell him den campouts are against BSA policy, but let's see what we can do to make the outing happen and stay within the policy.