Eagledad

HI All Do a search on night camporees. We've done a couple of these and even planned and ran a couple enviting other troops. Very different and a lot of fun. Barry

Hi All I have thought about this idea for a couple years. I like the idea of fundraising and bringing more awareness of scouting to the community. Was it hard to set up? Barry

>>For me, the patrol method seemed to be heavily emphasized in WB. Everything we did was as a patrol and we did create a pretty tight bond from the start.

Hello All Interesting. If you were to ask my friends about me, touchy feely and new age would not come up in the conversation. Maybe traditional, annal and opininated, but touch feely. I understand those are just words but it seemed fitting to stand up at this point. FOG, your not the first person to complain about the new WB Patrol Method, in fact lots of folks agree with you. What is it you really want from the course? If it is a time to just be in a patrol and act like a boy scout for a few days, then create a course that does just that. Our council has one of the finest out door training progras I've ever seen and you get your fill of Patrol Method from that. But I've not heard anyone who has taken the new WB course feel they missed out of Patrol Method in the course. I joined Scouting as an adult with the expectation to help boys grow into a better man than they would have without scouting. Most all scouters say that, but the majority follow the program presented them. I choose to insure the program does what has been advertised for the 90 years or so. If my comments offend your style of scouting, all I can say is I attempt to write with the intention of adding one more perspective to the conversation. I have never tried to make anyone feel bad for their contributions to this forum. That would not be scout like. New age? That hurt. Hey, all have a great scouting day, even you FOG. I love this scouting Stuff. Barry

>>johnsned, read Eagle Dad's original comments.

Hi all >> Where the heck are leaders supposed to learn how the patrol method works?>I still find it ironic that in my troop that the two graduates of MS Woodbadge 2001 are the ones that act like Den Leaders for Webelos III.

Hi All Just got back from my first week as a staffer on WB. Hey Beav, we have something in common. Anyway, I like the new course. I think it is much more appropriate for adult leader training than the old course. Many of the staffers still like the old course better, but they admit that the lesson content is better in the new course. I think they miss the way the old course applied the Patrol Method. I always had trouble recomending the old WB course as a training course because I didn't feel it perpared adults for a boy run program, but this one does a good job of preparing adults to lead in any part of the BSA program. Hey, you want to go get some valuable training and have some fun at the same time? Go to Wood Badge. I love this scouting stuff. Barry

>>I want to really emphasise to the new parents - BOY LEAD. We want to welcome the adults/ parents & encourage them to participate - but>they jabber all the time, can't stay on track on a task (like planning the meals) and they are just so squirreley! (I guess I've gotten used to the older boys - what a difference a few years make! LOL!) part of this we plan to handle by 'divide and conquer'

>>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