ElyriaLeader

Hmmm....has anyone in your pack completed BALOO training? didn't anyone know that cubs don't tent camp below 40 deg. F? Anyone know how to watch the weather for the forecasted temperatures?

A technique I learned in the military for positioning insignia, use double sided tape placed in a couple of strategic locations to hold the patch in place while sewing, then just before closing out the edge, use tweezers, or needle nose pliers to remove the tape from under the patch. Finish sewing. Works great, no mess.

our UOS had some youth from a crew do a class on "venturing from the youth perspective" that was enlightening. another class that was offered was "Venturing awards & recognitions" unfortunately both classes were at the same time so I didn't go to that one, but a couple of the other venturing leaders that did said it was really good.

Did they attend the pack meetings or any outings, where they in contact with the den via phone / e-mail / in person, or did they cease to exist during those months? I had a similar problem with some webelos when I was in the pack, I felt that if they were doing their best, completing all the projects that all the others did and attending what meetings they could and staying in contact with me,then I had no problems and I had some hardcore sport players baseball,soccer,basketball,hockey,football, sports camps...you name it they were at it, but they made the effort to stay connected to the den, so in summary-if they're just disappearing completely those months and are not in contact at all then no AOL, but if they are turning in stuff and making an effort...then they earned it. I will now relenquish the soapbox to the next speaker.

Ignorance of the correct way to do things is still not the answer...it is our responsibility as leaders to know what we can, and cannot do with the scouts. As far as smaller groups leading to higher quality instruction, you are absolutely right that you should have smaller groups with shooting sports, our council camp limits the number of attendees to the camp each week, but runs more than one camp week. (oh, and day camp attendees have a parent/guardian with them, it's not a drop off/pick up thing) So the maximum a range officer and his/her helpers will face during a shooting session is 25-30 kids (with attendant parents), 4 sessions a day, and we shoot from under a fly so the kids aren't getting baked. At council events there are 1-2 range officers who arrange the cubs into groups, and do all the safety instruction before the boys get to the firing line (being run by the head range officer), again small groups getting quality instruction, after 1 or 2 events or camp sessions the cubs all know who the range officers are, and great them as such (hi archery Dave, BB Bob...). all of the things you said were good (and they are!) but still being done in the correct manner. If you have 300 kids being rushed through, then perhaps there is a problem with the way the program is being run. but I digress, my point was that ignorance of the rules (just like the law!) is not a valid excuse, nor is the good 'ole boy... wink,wink,nudge,nudge network where you have people in charge allowing activities to go on that are in contradiction to published guidelines.

Wow, Basement....so glad that the packs in your area are teaching the scouts to completely disregard the rules put in place for everyones safety right from the start! oh yeah...and with the knowledge of the DE...nothing like starting them out young....and then wondering why they won't listen to us later on.

MDSummers, how goes the situation (I wanted to say battle, but that just doesn't feel scoutlike to me, although in your case I imagine it feels just that way to you) Has your son heard anything, scheduled a council board?

Wow that sounds absolutley delicious!, I'll have to throw a couple on the fire at summer camp....make the campsite smell sweet!

We talk to the new parents, and have them repeat after us "Dad's / Mom's not here!" and then we tell them "the flip side of that is even if your scout is trying to cook the chicken in the oven he didn't turn on....you're not there!" it sometimes takes a couple of sessions before some of the hardcore heli-parents are grounded, but usually not more than 3.

I seem to remember a competition for patrol campsite entryways, all the patrols had identical wood beams issued to them, you were judged on 2 parameters, speed it was erected and the quality of the lashings.

My wife questioned me one time..." I thought it was supposed to be just one hour a week " she said, to which I replied deadpan "it is....one hour a week per registered youth in the unit....for each unit our kids are in....so that's what?...52 hours per week...no biggie right?" She left the room with "that look" on her face. (This message has been edited by ElyriaLeader)

Lisabob, You said you were told "point-blank that telling these adults they could not attend was out of the question"...by who? If it's the SM then what is his reasoning for this? if it's someone else...by what authority are they making this statement? have the VP boys brought up their concerns/wishes to the VP advisor as a group? this would seem to be a good starting point to try and sort this out.

Lisabob, maybe I'm running a little thick this morning but....why do all these parents want to go with the VP? If it's for supervision of the patrol then I would suggest the adults and the patrol arrange certain meeting places/times along the trek where the patrol can "check in" with the heliparents. If it's because the parents just want to go on the trek then fine.....they can go as an adult gaggle....and are not permitted to get within 100 yards of the VP at any time. I HOPE that the scoutmaster is not actually going to allow the adults to dictate any of this to your VP.

"the parents voted to keep all the boys together" WOW.... so much for the boys signing up with the troop of THEIR choice, did the parents ask the boys which troops they wanted to go to? Who knows...maybe you'll get a couple of them later on when the shine of the MEGA troop dulls a bit.

Tell them it is exclusively for their gps unit when doing geo-caching, see...technology hehe