fotoscout

This is very sad commentary on Scouting today. Look at Lauries words, I do think that locally this may be a problem, how very sad. Ill bet that the same people who object to female leaders still refer to their neighboring units as the Black unit, or the Catholic unit, or the Baptist unit, or Latino Unit or Jewish unit or the LDS unit. Ill also bet that those who object to female leaders are in what Ive previously call polarized units that have virtually no diversity within the unit. Its time to close your eyes, and take stock of yourself. And while Im on a harangue, I dont think that the term mentoring was intended in the context that was cited. I think they ignorantly used the wrong word. First, mentoring is commonly done on a one on one basis, second, mentoring is typically related to a relatively narrow focus area. Scouting really doesnt lend itself to either. Mentors develop a very close relationship with their charge(s) in part because of the intense one on one time that they spend together. For the most part we dont do that. Yes, of course we develop relationships with the boys, but not at the level that a mentor would. We are facilitators and role models, sometimes instructors and teachers, but we do not come to Scouting with a practiced, recognized, and applauded set of skills that would qualify us a mentors. I believe that the very first requirement for a mentor, is to be recognized as a knowledgeable and successful person in the discipline that he is mentoring in. None of us qualify as such in all the areas of Scouting. (This message has been edited by fotoscout)

Try the National Safety Coucil or NOLS.

I have immediate respect for him in terms of being someone who is involved with the youth of his community. I would not automatically transfer the ideals of Scouting to the man in the uniform. If his uniform was a wrinkled, soiled, dirty mess, without all the parts, I would have an all together different impression. Since you brought up the subject of being out in public while wearing the uniform I have a quick story. Last week while in uniform, I stopped at a Hess Mart for gas and cup of coffee. The attendant wouldn't let me pay for the coffee. I tried a dozen different way to pay for it but he just wouldn't take the money. He said nothing, made no comments just wouldn't take the money for the cup of coffee. I'm not sure if it was a friendly gesture toward a Scout Leader, or if he thought I was in the Army. foto

I would ask if you are planning Pack or Den activities. Too much of either will conflict with the other and ultimately force people into choosing which activity to join in. One of the Packs in my area has a VERY ambitious activity schedule. Its a big Pack with a very strong Committee. Great, you might say! But that would be wrong. The Den Leaders object because 1) good outing dates are taken by the Pack schedule, and 2) because the parents and kids are forced to choose between Pack activities and den outings. Its all about time and scheduling. Aside from that, with such an ambitious Pack activity schedule its very hard to have all those activities appeal to the majority of boys. Im sure you realize that Tigers have different interests than Webelos II do. As for the people who feel left out.they are just giving you lip service. Don't plan for them! My suggestion would be to limit the amount of Pack activities, and encourage the Dens to do more on their own. My personal thoughts on this are that I like to see, in addition to monthly Pack meeting, one Pack Event each season, (summer, fall, winter, & spring) at the most, parades don't count. You dont want to burn yourself out, burn out your leaders, scouts or parents.

Although its changing, the expectation (from CS parents & the general public), is that a woman will be the den leader at least until the boys become Webelos. This is the impression I get all the time. The public thinks that women do Cub Scouts and men do Boy Scouts. I have no problem with that perception. Historically, the stay home moms did CSs after school while the dads were still at work. The program thrived, and I am not aware of any misgivings because of it. However, I do think that todays kids need a different kind of CS program than the kids of 20 years ago. With women getting out of the house more today, and being more active than the women of 20 years ago, I think they still have the ability to run a great CS program consistent with the needs of todays kids. You shouldnt be concerned with the perception of women leading the Pack. I happen to like strong women in the program, it keeps the testosterone at bay and forces some the out of control men to behavior in a more Scoutlike manner when you just know they want to pop someone.

With two exceptions, canoe & kayak activities, the activities will be available to the Webelos. In competitions, the Webelos will compete in the same events but only against other Webelos, and with different judging criteria (everyone wins). The G2SS is saying that if you do not plan for your Webelos to be a part of the Camporee, then they should not stay. In our case, and with many other Councils, we have planned to have the Webelos be a part of the event. All of which makes them eligible to stay the night. The one thing we have done is to limit the Webelos to Saturday night only. BS will arrive on Friday; Webelos will arrive on Saturday morning.

Eamonn, We need no special software. It is done online. All we have to do is log into the site, then provide an access code and unit information. I suspect that you are using Troopmaster/Packmaster to do your rechartering. We are interfacing directly with ScoutNet.

Woooo, hold on here a second. A triple birth with a set of identical twins AND another faternal sibling. The odds of that have to be astronomical! I'm a twin, with a faternal brother, but we look identical. I have great ahhhhh...empathy for both you and your wife. My Mom always said that two was OK because she had two arms........

acco40 - you are of course correct. My PC does not have the infinity symbol. The signatures are handled like this.... you fill out the forms online. Once they are completed you hit the send button AND print a copy. The digital copy is transmitted to Council but not processed. The top sheet of the copy is identical to the paper charters that we are all used to. The signature sheet must be signed by all the same people. Once signed, it must be delived to Council with payment. Only then will Council process the digtal charter. Clear as mud.

A DE openly communicating with the volunteer leaders on a spontaneous basis. WOW, I wish we had that going on here! I think its terrific that the DE is talking to the leaders, although she should NOT be attempting to assign tasks within a unit to anyone. In fact I think that the DEs conversation should be limited to District and Council subjects, and should not involve unit issues unless the conversation is taking place with the unit leader or CC. Discussions about unit positions and issues belong within the unit committee & leaders. Your DE may be new and is still trying to learn how the system works, dont discourage her from talking to the adult leaders, but you should offer a kind reminder that the assignment of jobs and responsibilities within the unit are none of her business. If it doesn't stop, you can always go to her boss.

Webelos will once again be invited to our Fall Camporee ! Following the rules, we will set up a separate area, away from the Boy Scouts, for the Webelos (and parent) to pitch their tents. Since part of this excercise is intended to be an oppurtunity for the Webelos to "join" the troop I was wondering if anyone has come up with an acceptable way for the Webelos to camp "with" the troop at the Camporee. When I say "with" the troop I mean in an area that is in some way adjacent to the area that the troop is in.

Our Council is going full out this year with Internet Rechartering. They would like to see 100% of the units rechartered via the internet during the upcoming year. This would be an increase of 100% since we haven't done this before. I've seen the tutorial and sat thought a class last Tuesday night. It appears to be pretty simple. Does anyone have expierance with this and are there any hidden problems that we should know about? foto

As everyone else said, Parents are mandatory!!!!!!! Actually, an adult partner is mandatory, it doesn't have to be the parent, but it must be someone 21 or older. As for the size of your den, if would be nice if you can keep it to 5-8 boys. But don't discount the fact that there simply may not be anyone else that steps up as the Den Leader. You may get the whole kit and kabuddle.

It should bother you, unless Mr. LearJet does his part by being a GREAT benifactor to the little league that his son plays in.

So off I go to our August RT. Unknown to me there is a WB ceremony planned for the evening. Probably more by coincidence than planning, there must be 35-40 or more WBers there. And Im the only Buffalo

We have no risk with "Show and Sell" popcorn events. Council defines a time period (some number of weeks)during which "Show and Sell" can go on. All the popcorn we take for this is on consigement. If we don't sell it, all but any open 10 pack boxes of microwave popcorn can be returned. Better yet, if we have product left over, it is applied toward our "Take Order" sales. The only stipulation is that the "Show and Sell" events be conducted during the time frame chosen by Coucil.

Permethrin update. Its the best week of the summer in this part of the country and Im stuck in the office ! To put this great weather to good use I decided to continue with my Permethrin exercise. So Saturday afternoon I put my tent up in the backyard to dry, and dry it did! Sunday, I sprayed both the front and backdoors of the tent. I also sprayed the underside of the rain fly all around the doors. This tent is a TL-6 Outfitter. Many of you probably know that the bugs like to assemble in the area around the junction tubes, so I also sprayed those areas. I raised the zipper flaps and also sprayed the zippers and flaps. Last night I went out to look at the tent and WOW did this stuff do the job. There were no live bugs anywhere around the areas that I sprayed, and there were dead bugs lying on the ground at the bottom of the doors. My main concern has always been mosquitoes. Our camp has some of the largest mosquitoes I have ever seen. They like to perch on the tents and scoot inside as soon as you open the door. Then when its time to go to sleep they go into a feeding frenzy. When it comes to bugs, my backyard is certainly no comparison to our camp, but Im sure that this will help considerably the next time Im at camp.

I just finished another great 4 days at Cub/Webelos Resident Camp with my cubbies. My hats off to the staff, both young and old, for doing a superb job with limited resources. The kids had a great time, and we were fortunate to have a very good group of kids in our den. Most were there alone, without a parent or leader from their pack, but some (my kids), had a parent there either all the time, or at the very least, for the overnight period. A great change from last year. The program ran well, but did have some snags. All of which were related to staffing issues. The Camp Director had an ongoing lament about how difficult it was for him to hire younger staff this year (14-16 year olds). He suspects that his problem reflects the current demographics of both Scouting and the general population in our area this year. Did anyone else have a similar problem with camp staff this year? foto

Hi Folks, Sorry, no report on the effectiveness of Permethrin this time. True to form, if I pitch a tent it gets wet!!!!!! Instructions for the Permethrin state that it should be applied to a dry surface and then allowed to dry for two hours. If it wasnt raining last week, it was too humid for anything to dry. So Ive put my little test on hold until the next time I pitch a tent.

How about all those new Webelos parents that just spent around $100 because BSA decieded to change the Webelos uniform!!!!!!!!! Way to go BSA.....stong words to follow &^%$#@!!@#%^&*

Does he count toward two-deep with respect to YP?

Can some one point me to the description of the position that this young man would fill. Would he be a JASM or ASM, and what restrictions or limitations would be imposed? Thanks foto

SM walked into the Camp Directors office and asked, "Is the Crow done yet?" Camp Director, "No, but sit down and eat some anyway!" True story.

I still go back to the thought that I want the kids to EAT! There are some great suggestions here, but my Webelos wouldn't eat most of it. They are kids, they have a limited palette. Stick to simple foods that kids like....hamburgers, hotdogs, pizza, mac & cheese, but find a fun way a preparing the food..... How about Dutch Oven Pizza?

Firearms are not the answer here. This is a task for your local Animal Control / Wildlife Officers / Fish and Game Warden. If there is a real threat to the staff and campers, then some action must be taken immediately. Your Council has not provided a safe environment if these wild animals present a real hazard to the staff and campers. We have time tested precautions for camping in Bear country, and other prudent measures when camping with raccoons or skunks or any of the other critters that are normally encountered. I would think that there are similar prudent measures to employ when camping with feral dogs in the area. If not, you should get on the phone ASAP and have something done about it. Of course if you really insist on using a firearm, pause for a minute and think about this.. The dogs will attack as a pack. Theyll jump you before you can get off maybe one or two shots. Then as the dogs are tearing away at you, your hand will begin to experience involuntary spasms causing you to unload more rounds. Those rounds may hit a dog, but most likely they will hit a fellow Scout or Scouter. At least youll have company in the hospital emergency room.