flowerchild

One thing I forgot to mention - our Troop has just asked that all receipts be turned in for camping trips. That way we have a record of what was spent and show the boys how to prepare their camping budgets better. They can review the receipts to estimate what to charge for the next trip. These receipts are kept with the 'activity report' which includes comments on the trip and what worked and what didn't work.

Wow that's expensive. With our troop the adults pay the same as the boys for a weekend campout. Whoever pulls the trailer gets gas money. As far as yearly fees, we have a $60 activity fee for the boys which covers insurance, recharter, and MB's. Our charter oranization pays for the adults recharter fees. The troop picks up the bill for any adults that go to summer camp. The boys are responsible for their part but we have fundraisers to help them out. Each boy has an account and any money they earn from selling popcorn, car washes, etc goes into their account which they can use to help with camping expenses. Our summer camps is only $170.

On average we charge $7 per weekend. If varies from one patrol to the next (each patrol shops for themselves). I have found that the patrols who take the easy way out (donuts or poptarts, hotogs, etc) usually end up spending more money then the patrol that cooks a healthier meal. If there is any money left over, it is divided equally among the boys in the patrol and put in their accounts.

I know you are concerned about weight since you are backpacking but there are several pancake mixes on the market that only require water. This is what our boys use and they're not bad.

Our Troop uses scout accounts. We started it because the parents were complaining about weekly dues and also having to pay for trips. We now give the scouts all but a small percentage of the profits from their fundraising and have stopped collecting dues. We charge an yearly 'actvity fee' to cover insurance, badges, supplies, etc. The scouts can pay for their fee and any other expenses with their accounts. The best part is seeing the look on a scouts face when he hands me his 'account withdrawal slip' to pay for a camping trip. You can tell he feels good paying for it himself instead of having to ask Mom or Dad for the money.

I did, in December, but have not received it yet.

meamemg, My son just became ASPL and wants to plan a trip to Washington, DC. If you could PM me some details I am sure he would appreciate it. Thanks,

We recently had a camping trip and several webelos camped with the Boy Scouts as part of their Arrow of Light requirement. Any way, the older boys held classes for the webelos, showing them the tokin chip skills, fire chip skills, cooking, etc. My question is can the webelos be awarded a tokin chip or do they have to wait until they are Boy Scouts? They did participate in the classes and did demonstrate that they understand the use and care of the tools.

This is my third and last year as troop popcorn chairman. The first 2 years went OK, no really complaints. This year is a different story. Out of 29 boys, only 12 sold popcorn. They had been told the date that the order forms were due and a schedule was sent home. Several reminders were announced at each meeting and activity. The night came to collect orders and 2 boys didn't have their forms. One of them approached me and asked if he could bring it to my house in the morning. The other boy said nothing. After receiving the one form, I placed the troops order with the district popcorn chairman. TWO days later I get a very nasty phone call from mother of the boy who said nothing. She accused me of telling her boy he couldn't turn in his form. She also accused me of being mean to both her sons and that's why the don't come to the meetings. I explained that he never talked to me about his form and I wasn't aware that he had even sold any popcorn, I also told her I had never said anything mean, rude or whatever to her sons. I don't mean to ramble on here. Guess I needed to get it off my chest. I told my DE that if she spoke to me that way again, I quit. BTW, the DE took her order.

We just bought old goat patrol patches from the Boston BSA. The price is great, especially since we only needed 12. There are other places to find them but them usually have a minimum order of 50 pieces. http://www.bsaboston.org/product/19__old_goat_patrol_patch.cfm

Kristi, I have one for you. Should be able to mail it out by Thursday. Do you need shorts too? I have a pair of 44's also. June

I think part of the problem that the person/group that requires the RSVP does not stick to it's deadline date. I am a firm believe in, if you state 'final date for RSVP is X/XX' than that's when it is. We've have had the last date to attend pass by a month and had a boy show up the night before a trip and say he wanted to go and they let him go because they don't want him to leave the troop. My reply is 'what are we teaching them if we continue to give into their not obeying the rules'. Maybe I'm just to strict.

I have a question about patrol campouts without adult supervision: Do the patrols still need to file a tour permit? Also, is there a BSA form used as a checklist for planning a patrol campout? We have put together one for our patrols to use but since BSA has so many forms, I thought there might be one.