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I've a question. I'm a UC for a troop with a charter date of May 1983. But tenure is only 329. That is a 27 month difference. Any ideas why this would be? The Registrar has no idea.

Our PLC has their planning weekend coming up in 2 weeks. Here's how that weekend works for us. The 2 Troop Meetings prior to the weekend, the patrols make wish lists for activities, changes, etc. that their PL will bring to the weekend. The adults do the cooking so the PLC can focus on planning. Friday night: Upon arrival we get a few things set up, but within 30 minutes the PLC starts planning The first thing they do is determine what our High Adventure trip will be, when it will be held, training and advancement requirements. While they do this, at least one adult is online researching the location and we start to determine what we as leaders will need to do and recommendations to the committee. We also provide guidance and suggestions. The Scouts usually have a short list of what they want to do, so this simplifies things, but it usually takes a while to come to a consensus. This usually goes for a few hours and is all they get done Friday night, however this trip sets the tone for our yearly program, so it's vital that it be the first thing planned out. Saturday: First thing after breakfast is to plan out campouts & other activities. This usually does not take too long as they have favorites and some things like camporees, summer camp, etc are already scheduled. Take a short break After the break, we go into the first part of training that we conduct. Seeing as many of the youth are in new positions (we run our year Aug 1 to Jul 31 with elections in June)we use this time to conduct leadership training. Lunch After lunch they go into the Troop meetings. This takes a while as they plan each meeting as far as topic, service Patrol, skill Patrol & game Patrol. Usually the meetings leading up to a campout relate to what we will be doing, so agian it's important for the campouts to be planned before the Troop meetings We break this up, as it usually takes several hours, with a training session in between Dinner After dinner we do one more training session Once they are done, we break out the popcorn and put on a movie Sunday After breakfast they review the program plan to make sure nothing was missed Pack up and head home The Adult Leaders in attendance are at no time directing what is to be scheduled, but we do stay involved to offer advice, ensure they think through everything and that what they plan to do is safe, feasable and affordable. The Committee's responsibility is to review and approve or disapprove the plan, but they should not be the ones making the plan. If they do not approve it, they need to explain why it's not approved and it goes back to the PLC ot make adjustments. I find having the SPL present the program to the Committee is a great way for them to learn how to make presentations, talk to adults and the Committee is less likely to argue items with a Scout present, thus a meaningful conversation can usually be had. lastly, the PLC meets monthly and part of these meetings is to review the program and adjust it if new opportunities arise or cituations change. The yearly program is not somethign set in stone and can be changed, but this change should come form the Scouts.

Now and then we serve things like crayfish, rattle snake, octopus, silk worm pupae (very nasty indeed), grass jelly. Once a boy eats a grasshopper they get over being picky. Regarding real restrictions. Each patrol works it out. If one scout can't have something the patrol either does something else or the scout provides an alternative for that meal. We've one scout that carries an epi-pen, but has never had to use it.

Scout run. But there is nothing wrong with adult labor. The challenge is preventing the adults from taking over.

They also appeared to not have a map. That might have solved everything.

Some people are jerks and no rules will ever change that. Seems like they already made a decision to ignore Helpful, Friendly, Courteous and Kind. They would also ignore your three rules. As for your rules. Ten is generally a good maximum size, it may even be on the large size. There have been times that we will exceed that, especially on a day hike. I would be reluctant to tell scout number 11 that he could not go unless there was a hard limit on a permit. Even then we tend to break up into smaller groups. Unless there is a way to reserve a site or shelter then a person should realize that they cannot count on it being available for exclusive use and an alternative plan is a good idea. But why should a scout group not use it at all? That is, why should a scout group be penalized? How is that an ethical choice? It seems that it is perfectly ethical to use a shelter that is available. You had no issue with making use of the table. How does this change for a group of scouts? No, a group should not be so large that they overwhelm the resources.

"Each of your troops have potentially dozens of parents who are relegated to the sidelines for every outing, summer camp and activity that your troop does" I must admit that I have no idea what this means.

Make sure you register your unit with Google Places http://www.google.com/places/ Get your contact information current on BeAScout.org Registration is free and puts you on Google Maps. That will often put you near the top of searches in your area. If you want even better placements then be willing to pay for adds. Bidding for placement is not that expensive on a low volume search term like "boy scouts City, ST" I suspect that a couple of bucks a month would give you all the traffic you want. We use Scoutlander. Overall it works but it is slow.

In the past there was no requirement that the scout involve any other scouts or scouters. If they wanted to just recruit help from the benefiting organization they could, including adults. If they wanted to use no adults at all, that was acceptable as long as the safety requirements where met. This is no longer the case. Now at least two adults will be required and at least one must be registered. Now in 99.9% of the projects out there this is moot. But there are exceptions and it is a shame that they are no longer possible.

Thanks for the work. I do have a few issues to grumble about. I can see that this provides the scout a great deal more structure that then old, I assume to prevent the excessive planning that can be required to just get the approval. But I don't see how this is less project planning that the old version. If anything it makes much of the planning more formalized and places far too much emphasis on fundraising. Now, I will grant that fundraising can be am major part of a project and certain aspects needed to be clarified, but did we need to add 2.5 pages on the subject including the fundraising application, something that likely few scouts ever had to do before. I not happy about this part at all (Page 22): Risk Management and Eagle Scout Service Projects All Eagle Scout service projects constitute official Scouting activity and thus are subject to Boy Scouts of America policies and procedures. Projects are considered part of a units program and are treated as such with regard to policies, procedures, and requirements regarding Youth Protection, two-deep leadership, etc. The health and safety of those working on Eagle projects must be integrated with project execution. As with any Scouting activity, the Guide to Safe Scouting applies. The Sweet 16 of BSA Safety must also be consulted as an appropriate planning tool. It can be found online at Scouting Safely, www.scouting. org/scoutsource/healthandsafety/sweet16.aspx. At the time of publication of this workbook, changes were being made to the Guide to Safe Scouting that will affect how service projects are conducted. The changes limit the use of hazardous power tools, machinery, and equipment, and also such activities as working at heights or on ladders, and driving motor vehicles. Can RISK MANAGEMENT not leave anything well enough alone? And why make the scout file a tour plan (page 9 & 13)? I have a hard enough time figuring out when we need to file one, why make a scout do this? The scout will not have most the the information required and it seems to me to be just added busy work to make him get it but teaches nothing other than the BSA is now run by a bunch of nannies.

All I get are solar power and vacation ads. You guys have all the fun.

It was interesting. Although, I could not keep from think if Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks sketch.

Reminds me of the time Sam Walton wore a grass skirt and did the hula on Wall Street in 1984. And yes, it did motivate us to make 8% pre-tax profit. I did something similar a few years ago. I agreed to dye my hair pink for a week for every $1000 in popcorn sales the troop had.

For our troop it would be a Magic: The Gathering MB. If they have 20 free minutes the decks are out and they are playing. Chess is a good choice, although maybe a more generalized table game merit badge that included chess, Go, checkers, oware or other mancala variant. They should be two player games in public domain that require strategic planning.

We have a "troop hoodie" that I put mine on. It includes patches from my youth and today. I do have to be a bit selective as there is not enough room for all the patches I've gathered in 20 years.