Flyingfish

I was shocked to get a flyer in my email from my Council about an upcoming sales tax referendum. When asked, the Council responded that the school system had requested Council to send it out. The flyer was produced at taxpayer expense and had clear advocacy messaging in it, which is in it self illegal for the school district to do under state law. I wonder if there has been some sort of quid pro quo deal with the school system to send this out. "you guys are our partners, righhhttt? Partners help each other. Will you help us so you can keep recruiting at our schools?" Is this something we really need to be doing? I appreciate you comments.

OMG. It sounds like you and I were in the same two troops( #1)!

Depending on your CO's denomination, a lay person may provide that role. In an ideal situation, the lead pastor would have a role in your Troop/Pack/Crew. Unfortunately, in all my years of Scouting (30 Years this fall) I have only met a handful of clergy that were BSA Chaplains and only one of those was outside of a Jamboree setting. (He was an Eagle Scout who became a pastor and wanted to be involved with his son's unit.) God Doesnt Call the QualifiedGod Qualifies the Called! I wasn't looking to be named District Chaplain but we had a need and I was asked. So I try & learn. Last summer I was invited to lead vespers at camp and had a great experience. Maybe the courses at Philmont are in my future. Another layman I talked to said the first question he was asked was "What is your training?" Capitol Area Council in Texas had a great training course online for Chaplains and I get the idea that they operate a kind of Chaplains Corps.

Scouting is pretty fun until the adults mess it up.

I had always been something of a stoic when it came to death around me until I learned that a scout from my boyhood troop was killed by a drunk driver at age 29 when he stopped to help a vehicle broke down in the road. I remember trying to call our retired SM and just breaking down as I told him of the passing. It has happened a couple of times since then and I have trouble connecting my emotional value to Scouting but I know it looms large in my life. Pray for all of our boys and leaders.

I tend to give about 20 speeches a year in the course of my job and I figured I would be able to hit the same groups again but this time benefiting Scouting. Than know must have ticked somebody off.

I just saw the announcement that the Speakers Bureau program has been scrapped. I finally got signed up and was looking forward to spreading the word. Anyone have any insights into why this needed to be done?

We have a new school in our troops' area and I wanted to try recruiting there. But, I would like a little intel before I approach them. Does anyone know or have experience with the Montesorri method of learning and are there any conflicts with the scouting program?

How do you keep the unit from being harmed when the leader is going through an increasingly ugly divorce? Both parties appear to have a scorched earth policy and many fear the damage that can be done to the unit. Personally, I think its time for them both to step away from scouting until they can resolve their personal business. Your thoughts?

There are typically 1 or 2 very well run troops in each town that have tons of boys and are run entirely by adults. They're real parent catchers for helicopter webelo parents that view boy run troops as chaos. I don't know the details here, but it sounds like this is a reaction to these types of units.

I saw this while trolling Craigslist for equipment and thought it was too interesting not to share. Names have been changed to protect the innocent. I would be interested in the collective diagnosis of the group's observations. PS, I do not have a dog in this fight and know none of the parties (that I know of). "Attenion All Families in the North XXXXXX Area: We are starting a new Boy Scout Troop for families that live on the North side of XXXX. We wanted to offer an alternative to the readily available Troop on our side of town. Our objective is to get away from the boring meetings, admin heavy details/committees, and unnecessary meetings to have more meetings! Our focus will be boy driven, which means the boys will have more opportunities to do what they want to! We plan on monthly camp outs, activities such as fishing, canoeing, rifle range, shotgun range, cook outs, merit badges and leadership training. We will make every attempt to make use of our local nature trails, state parks, walking trails and splendid back country of North Carolina! Our Troop will be small (12-20 boys max), and focused on the outdoors and the true meaning of Scouting! We are fortunate that a retired soldier is leading the new troop who has decades of leadership, training and mentoring experience, not to mention is already Scout certified to be the Scout leader! If you have left Scouting due to the politics, long meetings and your son being bored to death, then maybe you should give us a try. So if you have ever thought about having your son join the Scouts, your son is between 12 (or sixth grade) and 17, then drop us an email and we can send you directions to the meeting."

The way you guys were carrying on about this I expected to find zombie scouts of dead animals or something visceral. When I finally got the thing to load, I had to laugh. Great idea. It could really attract attention.

The more I learn about the LDS scouting program, I realize that the Stake President sets the tone and tenor of scouting activities in his area.

Thanks, I hadn't seen these. That web site is a little like mining for gold, you might find something valuable.

Does anyone out there have a recruiting flyer you'd be willing to share that isn't the same old names and numbers info sheet of the past? I'm not a graphic artist, but it seems that if we come up with a lot of images of daring do and dangerous looking stuff, at least in the eyes of a 6-12 year old, we can sell the program to the kid enough to make him ask mom dad about it.

Put a cork bulletin board on the inside of the door and use it to record equipment discrepancies, rosters, instructions or whatever.

To answer a question, the scout was on the phone when she was caught. The phone violation wasn't as bad as the downhill spiral that followed with mom's help. There is no hypocrisy. Adults have cell phones. It is for safety and communications. If we were at a camporee without cell service, we would have walkie-talkies. Leaders are adults, scouts are kids. This is where I see a problem in society. Too many parents accept their children as their equal. When the mother learned we had the phone and there was a problem with shoes, she threw out excuses that I would have expected from a drop-off parent. If you choose to purchase your child $80 tennis shoes, that is great. I also expect you would be smart enough to purchase a cheap pair for camping as well. NEVER argue with a leader in front of scout about why your child is not in proper footwear, or not following the rules. I am very proud of the leader that addressed the shoes and the phone for enforcing the rules and standing her ground in front of the mother. The girls learned a lot about each leader. This is why I am wondering how to handle the mother/leader. She is not the example I want my daughter learning from.

We have a large troop with 9 leaders. Two of them were the event directors. Since the mother was on staff, she was excluded from being a camporee leader with our troop. She was not involved in the planning and was not camping with us. She had agreed that we would be the ones in charge. She knew the rules. Can't hold two jobs at an event with that many kids. The bullying has not been happening at scout events. We all know about the behavior. Two leaders' girls have been victims. They are currently Juniors. Post filtering put stars in the quote. It was the "B" word. Most of the other leaders agreed. If this had been our daughter, she would have apologized, gotten a spanking, sat down beside the area director and waited for someone to come get her. The ant hill would not have grown to this.

This is Mrs. Flying Fish. Even though this is for Girl Scouts, I'd love any input. At a camporee, the troop rule was NO CELL PHONES. A mother (also a leader) told her 11 year old daughter it was okay. When another leader discovered the phone, she took it. The scout called her a " **** " as the leader left the cabin. There were 5 other scouts in the cabin to confirm the story. The next morning, the scout came out without the proper shoes. The same leader addressed the issue. The scout continues showing disrepect and didn't want to change shoes. The mother, who was not camping with us because she was one of the event directors, came into our camp and confronted the leader. She did this in front of all the scouts. She did not confront her daughter. I later learned of the insult from Friday night. I strongly recommended the scout be sent home because the mother was not supportive of the other leaders. However, she was allowed to stay and then caused more problems later that day. This scout is also a physical and verbal bully. This is an ongoing battle. We have girls that have said they don't want to move up to cadets because she is there. 1. Does anyone have a "punishment" for inappropriate language in scouts? 2. Has anyone expelled a scout at the risk of losing a leader? 3. How have you dealt with a co-leader that overrules the stated rules and policies? BTW - we have no committee. The area director is aware of what is going on. She just wants smooth waters. Thanks,

Can any of our LDS Scouters give us some insight how FOS presentations are held in LDS units?

VERY POWERFUL. I could barely watch it. You really have to ask what have you done to help a child in this situation. My Scoutmaster has a younger son with similar disabilities. I wonder sometimes how we will deal with them when he reaches the Troop.

John-in-KC, The master carpenter situation is what the grown ups call an analogy. I never said the scenario had one person that was the only qualified counselor for any badge. Try not engage in sweeping generalities. I happen to be in a somewhat specialized field that most people rarely run across. I am qualified to counsel several required badges that I worry about what my son will take away from another counselor.

This may not help much but I have run across a guy at local gun shows that buys these things in bulk from the Army. The OD version is still used by drill instructors in basic training for the Army and Marines. The Coast Guard and Air Force use Blue ones, I think. These were surplus and used but they were the heavy duty kind and only cost $5.

While this case certainly calls for intervention, I have seen the no parent rule enforced to the extreme. If the father was a master carpenter, why wouldn't we want him to teach woodworking that his son might take? Back to the original premise: Does the father also serve as a counselor for other boys?

The most comfortable pants I ever wore in Scouting were the old OD Air Force pants from the 70-80's before they went camo. The had a much lower crotch and were indestructible. I paid $5 a pair for them and they were worth every dime. I am pretty open to alternatives to scout pants. As long as they are dark green, I'm OK with it. I have saved my son and his peers hundreds of dollars by using off the shelf, cheap green pants.