EagleInKY

Thought I'd open up a topic just for fun. Prior to this weekend the worst I had heard was (in the middle of the night), "Mr. J, I think I'm going to get sic....", followed by the sound of footsteps as he ran toward the latrine. This weekend I heard a new one. A scout came up to us and said "Don't ever eat raw chicken, especially with bar-b-que sauce". (Further investigation found that the chicken wasn't raw, but just took a long time to cook.) Have any gems to share?

I (SM) usually do. If I can't make it, I try to make sure an ASM attends. We've toyed with the idea of having an assigned committee person to always be there. That way I don't have to try and run someone down if I can't make it. That hasn't worked out as of yet. Our RTs are a sad state of affairs. Few attend. I enjoy going to network with others and find out what other troops are doing.

I don't have one of these. I have the lightweight "hammock bliss". Purchased it form Campmor. At Summer Camp this year I caught at least a 1/2 hour or more nap every afternoon in it. It tended to sag a little more than I'd like to admit. But I loved it.

I agree Veni. It sounds like you've got the makings of a nice SM Minute there, as well. Any time we can use the Scout Law as a measure of their actions, we're accomplishing two objectives at the same time. We're "disciplining them" using their own words (after all, they repeat the Scout Law at nearly every meeting), and we're reinforcing the good things that happen when we do live by the law.

Sure, there's lots of ways to recognize someone. It doesn't mean it has to come from national or council. I had a leader that participated in saving a guy's life. I don't know if he'll get any kind of national award or not. But you can bet that at the next court of honor I brought him up and recognized him in front of the entire troop. I gave him a small token, and a pat on the back. That was greatly appreciated by him.

Agreed. I ask them to tell me who they talked to, what they did, how was the response, etc. I try to use it as an opportunity to coach them on how to sell scouting. I don't think it's going to make a big impact either, but I guess it's worth a shot.

You know, I usually fall on the Uniform Police side of most arguments. But in this case, I'm not that bothered by this. I'm assuming these zip-off pants look very similar to the scout uniform (approx color, etc.). So, if it's a way of getting them more "uniform", then I'm all for it. If they're khaki colored or heaven-forbid camo-design, then I'd clearly be against it. A few years back Walmart had a pair of shorts that looked just like the official Boy Scout shorts. The only differences were that the pockets were a little bigger and they didn't have the official BSA snaps. I know a troop that bought a whole bunch of them to help outfit their boys. From 20 feet you couldn't tell they weren't wearing the official uniform. It used to be the BSA uniform quality was apparent, and they were always identical. I have two pairs of pants, two pairs of shorts, plus my son has a pair of pants and shorts. I don't think any two are the same color. Most of them vary by a shade, but a couple of them are obviously a different color, and have been from the time I purchased them. One word of caution, Merri. As quickly as these non-uniform pants show up, they may disappear off of campmor's site. So your uniform may only be uniform for a short period of time.

Hours spent fundraising for the troop should not be counted as service hours. While not in writing, it goes against the spirit of the requirement. However, I'll allow service hours given toward the BSA. For example, we do service hours at our council camp every year. I'm fine with using that. I've had scouts work in fundraisers for other organizations, and given them credit for service hours. For example, one scout worked a concession stand for the local soccer league. He's not part of the league, just volunteered to help. I count that as service.

Good luck Eagle! Leave some sun and fish for us, we're headed down next summer.

I purchased the Extreme 2 back in the spring. I chose it because it was a little more durable and the design gives you much more room that the traditional dome. It's a little more difficult to set up, but once it is, it's great inside. I wondered why it was a 3 season tent until I actually slept in it one night. Even with the tarp pulled down, there is a significant amount of heat loss on the ends. I don't think I'll use it this winter. I've purchased a few other items and one of our ASMs purchased a backpacking tent. They've been very friendly and I believe the quality/price ratio is unbeatable.

Our troop is only three years old. We're up to 27 scouts. Our recruiting classes have ranged from six to 10 in the spring each year. We usually have one or two trickle in during other parts of the year (move into town, new scouts, etc.). We typically lose about 2 each year. I believe we've lost six total, three of those have moved to other units. Because we're a young troop, most of our guys are still in Middle School (only 5 of 27 in HS). I know we're just getting to some of the most challenging ages, as guys get cars and girlfriends and discover lots of other things in high school. So, our numbers could change. However, based upon my gut, I think we'll retain most of the kids that have made it through their second year. Some will "Eagle out", which I frustrates me personally. If we do retain that many, we should have about half make it through their scouting career. I think that's pretty darn good.

You're in our thoughts and prayers. My mom went through this last year. I know it's tough, but I know you'll be there for her. All my best.

Our troop practices the "try before you buy" concept with recruits that come from outside of our pack. The reason is that you just don't know the boy, the parents, or anything about them. So, we tell them to try it out for a couple of months, go on a campout, and if it doesn't work out, there's no harm done. They'll get their money back (dues and joining fees) and we'll encourage them to try another troop. That hasn't happened, but we have had a couple that visited a couple of times and decided to go elsewhere. Veni - I do think that sports often allow a boy to develop many of the same values we promote in scouting (trust, loyalty, physical fitness, etc.). But it differs in that there is not a moral foundation and that it is tied to a specific skill. In other words, if you don't have the skills to play baseball, you can't do it. Scouting offers a plethora of activities, so we can accomodate boys with a variety of skills (or lack thereof). I had a parent last year who wanted his son to be Mr. Baseball. He missed scouts constantly because of practice, games, etc. He wouldn't sign up for summer camp because there was a chance he might make an all-star team (he didn't). When he found out he didn't make it, he suddenly wanted to go to camp at the last minute. We jumped through hoops and they paid the full price and got him in. I talked to the dad about how scouts was a team, just as his baseball team was. And we counted on him to participate and be committed, at least to some degree. The dad vehemently disagreed. Scouting, in his mind, was purely and individual activity. In other words, it was all about the individual pursuit of Eagle. He didn't see any need for loyalty to patrol or troop. They were just their to accomodate his personal, individual needs. As you can imagine, this boy didn't make it through the first year. Rumor is that he is slowly slipping down the depth chart in baseball and will not likely be in it for too many more years - certainly not likely to make the high school team. It's unfortunate that dad's big dreams have destroyed his son's opportunity to really do something fun.

I actually know of a scout troop that did this with boys crossing over. They decided one boy from a particular den didn't fit in and voted to not allow him in. The boy was heartbroken. He had some emotional issues already to deal with (he's a foster child), and then had this dumped on him. I felt very sorry for him. I also felt that the boys in that troop (and their leaders) acted in the most unscoutlike manner that you possibly could. Now, your idea was around keeping numbers small. Which isn't altogether a bad idea. But I'm afraid it could lead to situations like the one I just gave.

Welcome! It's great to have some youth to keep us old guys straight. We look forward to hearing your perspective.

Eagle Foot - I agree with your assessment of the materials. On the up-side, it gives us a lot of latitude in how to structure it. We can tailor the course to our particular unit's needs. For example, our PLC is really struggling in conducting meetings right now. I know that will be part of the next YLT. I borrow from a lot of sources - Materials from courses I've taken at work, books I've read, online resources, etc. Once I combined it in with some low-ropes stuff, for teambuilding purposes. My suggestion is to look at what your unit needs, structure some learning objectives around that, and then come up with some tools to help you accomplish your goals. Good luck!

Hops - Good to know there's still hope (and we haven't set any records).

firecrafter - Lisabob gave you an excellent response. Her questions are spot-on. You need more time. But you can do it, if everyone is on-board. First, make sure the boys are aligned with it. Second, make sure the parents are. If so, you need someone to head up the fundraising portion of the project. A couple of thoughts. You'll need to have a few options. There's not any one fundraiser that's going to generate that kind of money at one time. Second, you need to set some goals. How much do you need to raise? To do that, you need to figure out how much you can afford. Also, you'll need to make sure that the funds are allocated based upon effort. Otherwise, you're likely to have some kids slack off and take advantage of the others efforts. Finally, make sure it's something that the boys can get excited about and involved in. Get them excited, and let them run with it. Use that youthful energy to your advantage. Good luck!

I don't have any suggestion for you. I'd have a tough time with this kid going. But I would have addressed it at recharter, not now. We've got a boy who joined last year before Summer Camp. He's been in for 13 months and still hasn't made Tenderfoot! (I wonder what the record is). He comes about once every month or two. His isn't a matter of wanting to attend the fun things. His is a situation of only coming if his dad can be there with him (seems the umbilical cord may still be attached.) Good luck.

Welcome to our virtual roundtable! We look forward to getting to know you better.

Hey SA! Great thinking. I like that idea.

Greetings from a fellow Antelope. We're a rare breed, so it's great to see another one in here. You've gotten some great feedback here. Let me throw in my 2-cents. First, you need a fundraising chairperson on the Troop Committee. Ultimately, it's the committee's job to fund the troop. If they don't want to conduct fundraisers, then that's their decision. The boys are responsible for coming up with the program, the committee figures out how to fund it. If you don't have a fundraising chair, you may find yourself playing that role in the interim. We've had one, but he's been invisible as of late (job issues). So a couple of others have had to pick up the slack. Also, as has been mentioned, you must determine what your need is. When we started as a troop, we were all middle-class families, sending our guys out on fairly routine monthly campouts. We didn't have a lot of big expenses. But now we're a larger troop, going on various adventurous trips - white water rafting, Sea base, and other fun places. We also now have families of different financial situations. For some, these expenses are a much bigger challenge. I also believe it is important to find a fundraiser the boys want to do. It seems that boy scouts are generally burned out on popcorn after five years of cub scouts. So, we don't push popcorn really hard. Most, if not all profits from popcorn go to the boy's account. The committee makes the decision on how to allocate the profits each year. Now, for your guideline. I'm not sure what you have in mind regarding sponsors. Be careful that you don't break the BSA rules regarding soliciting businesses, et.al. I believe the most important thing you've left off is the objective. Why are you doing this fundraiser? Is it for a specific event (High adventure trip, summer camp, etc.)? The other thing you need to include is approvals. You need approval from your CO and from your council office.

This is one of those dilemmas that I struggle with. I like patrol cooking for all the reasons touted here. But I also like the camp-wide view of the dining hall experience. For example, this year we sat with a troop who had come from Illinois. We would likely have never have gotten to know their leaders if we weren't sitting by them all week in the mess hall. Also, the ability to get all of camp together for announcements and such is a plus. But the food pretty much stinks, so I know I'd eat better patrol-style. Interesting, this year one of our patrols wanted to cook a meal in the campsite. (Actually, they wanted to bring a few meals, but we only allowed them to do one). So, on one night they stayed back in the campsite and ate a much better meal than we did. I was bragging about the patrol spirit they showed to the camp commissioner and he had this agast look in his eyes. It seems it's against policy for scouts to stay in the campsite during prescribed meal hours. So, to that point about camp not doing anything to encourage the patrol method... there's another example.

We had an interesting development this year. We continue to not allow cell phones for scouts. Our camp has no coverage. You have to leave camp to get a signal. All of our adults have cell phones and we each make the 2-3 mile trip of the road each day to check messages. One scout - with his parent's endorsement - brought a cell phone to camp anyway. This is a scout that I continue to have issues with (him and his family). On Tuesday, he left his backpack somewhere, he thinks at the Rifle Range. He went back and looked several hours later and couldn't find it. He told me so I sent him to check the lost & found at the camp office and a few other places. He never told me that his cell phone and other valueable items were in it. (He knew he had broken the rules). Consequently, I was under the assumption that it just had some MB books, water bottle, rain gear, etc. I didn't raise a stink about it, because it was just your "average" lost item. Now, his dad is mad, and thinks we dropped the ball. He's also mad at the camp and is threatening them... Bottom line, if son hadn't of broken the troop & camp rule, it wouldn't have been an issue.

Thanks SA. Glad that there is a voice of reason out there.