FScouter

The Cub Scout Leader Book has guidance on fundraising and finances. Along the lines of what Eagle-Pete has written, you might take a minute to consider WHY the den felt the need to raise funds. What''s the use of a pack if the individual dens see themselves as separate entities? It hardly makes sense for a pack to have 4 dens, 4 treasurers, 4 bank accounts, and 4 uncoordinated fundraising efforts. The function of a den is to provide a program for the boys in the den. The pack should be planning fundraising to support the programs of the pack''s dens. When dens need funds, the pack should provide funds. If however the pack has no plan, it would not be surprising to see individual dens go off and do their own thing.

AND, of course, a new uniform will stop all the complaints about cut, fit, finish, quality, sizing, cost, suitibility for use, etc. At least for a few days.

Another source is the BSA website: http://www.scouting.org/cubscouts/awards/youth/advancement.html

WHAAA?! You mean the answer to this can actually be found in the boy''s Handbook ? Who would have thunk it.

By the time a boy has earned the first 3 ranks, he should have some good idea about what it means to be a participating member of his group. If he has not yet grown enough in wisdom to understand, will an adult-written rule help him learn?

"Where were all the people tonight?" On a Tuesday school night they were all likely at home doing home stuff or watching TV. Perhaps a Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon would have worked better.

I''m agin any document, required, that ends with "or else you''re outta here". What problem are you trying to solve with this, and more importantly, what other solutions have you tried?

There is a more to "active" than being registered. BSA does say a boy must be registered, but goes on to specify more. See http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/resources/mbc/rank.html Here''s an answer provided in a Q&A about advancement: Question: For the Star, Life, and Eagle Scout ranks, how is "Be active in your troop and patrol" defined? Answer: A Scout is considered to be active in his unit if: 1. He is registered in his unit (registration fees are current). 2. He has not been dismissed from his unit for disciplinary reasons. 3. He is engaged by his unit leadership on a regular basis (Scoutmaster conference, informs the Scout of upcoming unit activities, through personal contact, and so on). The unit leaders are responsible for maintaining contact with the Scout on a regular basis. The Scout is not required to attend any certain percentage of activities or outings. However, unit leaders must ensure that he is fulfilling the obligations of his assigned leadership position. If he is not, then they should remove the Scout from that position.

What requirement did the boy not complete? If the boy held a position and performed satisfactorily, any period of diminished activity subsequent to that does not affect whether he did or did not complete the POR requirment.

Boys learn to become men from their father and from other male role models. While a woman Scoutmaster may be a good thing and can teach boys a lot about a lot of things, a woman cannot even come close to teaching a boy about becoming a man the way a man can. If boys are to learn respect for women and how to interact with women, it takes a man to teach them, not a woman. Boys learn how to respect women not from a woman, but from watching how their father and other male role models demonstrate respect for women.

"It also means a lot more chi-ching for the supply division coffers." One could also say, with at least the same degree of accuracy, that U.S. suppliers raised their prices so many times that BSA decided a lower cost was better than passing along higher costs to already-complaining Scouting consumers. When was the last time anybody bought a pair of shoes made the U.S.? That almost all shoes are made overseas today is not because the shoe stores decided to get rich off the consuming public.

To be on the safe side, avoid eating Immediate Recognition Kits or Philmont patches.

"teach boys to be men" That would be part of personal growth. Boys grow into men. Girls grow into women. They are different beasts. God set this up in His plan. Dispense with political correctness; there''s no place for it in raising children. Men simply can do a better job teaching boys to become men. It''s the nature of our species.

With all due respect to the efforts put forth by unit webmasters and whoever designed a custom patch, a district executive does not have the authority to approve a uniform badge of this nature.

It''''s difficult or impossible for a boy to preside over a meeting with adults present that want to steer it to a predetermined outcome. Once adults get to talking boys are perfectly content to let them continue to talk. Even adults that sit at the table with their mouths shut can be intimidating. BSA recommendends for good reason that the other than the Scoutmaster, other adults serve no purpose at meetings of the PLC. One suggestion is to provide a copy of the SPL handbook to all adults that feel a need to be present at a PLC meeting and request they read it with an eye to finding their role in supporting the SPL. The SM might even want to make it clear to the other adults that the SPL is taught that the adult leaders will provide him coaching, support, will answer questions, listen to his ideas, be fair, and perhaps most importanly, back him up on his leadership decisions.

It''s a 30 page booklet "The District". It discusses the four functions (membership, finance, program, unit service), organization of the district, the operating committess, etc. It''s available at the Scout Shop, or they can order it for you. There are some other good district related publications as well including the Districe Nominating Committee Committee Worksheet # 33157, Guidelines for District Committee and Operating Committee Meetings, # 14-936, and the various "Highlights" booklets.

I''m reminded of some important rules of wriiting, to make sure we do it good. Rules for Writing Good 1. Each pronoun agrees with their antecedent 2. Verbs has to agree with their subjects. 3. Don''t use no double negatives. 4. A writer mustn''t shift your point of view. 5. Don''t use a run-on sentence you got to punctuate it. 6. Avoid redundancy. 7. Don''t repeatedly reiterate over and over. 8. About sentence fragments. 9. Don''t use commas, which aren''t necessary. 10. Don''t abbrev. 11. Avoid redundancy. 12. Check to see if you any words out. 13. Eschew esoteric verbiage. 14. Computer spell Czechs are imperfect. 15. Never use a preposition to end a sentence with. 16. Use apostrophe''s right. 17. When dangling, don''t use participles. 18. Never leave a transitive verb just lay there without an object. 19. a sentence should begin with a capital and end with a period 20. Watch out for irregular verbs which have creeped into our language. 21. Profanity sucks. 22. Be more or less specific in most cases. 23. Understatement may be better. 24. Exaggeration is a million times worse than under- statement. 25. Dont forget to avoid redundancy. 26. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake. 27. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms. 28. Even if a mixed metaphor sings like a canary, it should be thrown out with the bathwater. 29. Last but not least, lay off clichs.

Yeah, it seems the ones that don''t want to pay the two dollars for a uniform are the most belligerent about insisting that the rest of the group drop to their lack-of-uniform level. There''s no point in fighting them over it, and certainly no sense in dying on a hill. Go ahead and plan your uniform inspection, praise and reward the boys or patrols that excel in the uniform method. The blue-jeans crowd can look on while the uniformed boys earn their uniform inspection patch, pocket knife, or whatever public recognition is due. Move on without the others. Some will decide to run and catch up.

The Troop Committee Guidebook and Scoutmaster Handbook have good discussions about adult leader roles and responsibilities. If committee members are unsure what their role is and who is handling what functions, there''s a fair chance that somebody''s toes are going to get stepped on, and some functions will be left undone. The Guidebook is a good place to start figuring it all out. It provides a way for everyone to be on the same page. The Troop Committee Challenge training is a good resource too.

There''s a big discussion about that in the OA forum.

The Guide to Safe Scouting addresses unit activities, not district/council activities. A BSA lifeguard and NCS trained adult is not required for a unit activity. But if you are running a council rowboat event for Cubs, you need to refer to the rules for a council level water activity. That may well require a BSA lifeguard and NCS-trained staff.

There is no such thing in Scouting as a "de la renta shirt". What purpose is served by making a snide and sneering back-handed comment about the Boy Scout uniform? One may have an intense personal dislike for the uniform, and one may opt to not wear it at all, but a public airing one''s personal disdain serves no purpose other than some personal satisfaction. You can disparage my face, my country, or my mother, but lay off the uniform already.

Respectfully, it could possibly be that the problem you''re having with troop level meal planing is that there is no boy responsible for to make this happen. In a patrol, the PL works with his small group of 6-8 boys, not the entire troop. The task is smaller and agreement comes easier. The patrol method is a proven system and works if the adult leadership supports it. In the grand scheme of the Scouting program, the number of receipts the treasurer must reimburse seems trivial, but I could be wrong.

"For the same amount, they could do four council high adventure weeks " If you add air fare, sightseeing, white water rafting, and hotels, how do the other HA weeks compare cost-wise?

Part of the unit commissioner''s job is to help the unit with rechartering. I''d ask that person for assistance and an explanation.