Stosh

My motto is : "If it moves and shouldn't, use duct tape, if it doesn't and should, use WD-40."

Two months ago the statistic would have been the same for the statistics of scout leaders selling meth at the Scout meeting place across the street from the elementary school. Only takes 1 to make National rethink it's policy, but then it's too late. Makes National look like it's time to change the Scout Motto.

That's what duct tape is for.... duh!

@@blw2, Not a big deal, I like the AOL patch better on the Boy Scout uniform anyway. The AOL knot he wears on his adult uniform hasn't been received yet, but it is waiting for him when he turns 18. It'll look good next to his Eagle knot when he shows up at a troop meeting ready to pass on his experience to the next generation. Maybe you'll be able to watch your grandson sew his AOL patch on a Cub Scout uniform...... I'm with @@qwazse on having the boys all learn to sew.

My apologies for misunderstanding your comments, but somehow I got the impression he was Eagle. As your last line attests, maybe that's where I assumed incorrectly.

I don't use stakes (or poles) in the winter. I take the tent and just wrap it around me.

What's the motivation for this whole process? Make adult control of the situation easier? Cover up the use of troop method by creating patrols to improve the troop image? NSP too much work for the adults? Busy body work for busy body adults? Put the boys in a room tell them they can have 6-8 boys to a patrol and when everybody is happy with the new patrols they can come out of the room and let the adults know what they decided. That's always worked for me. Boys never complain because they decided, not the adults. I have 2 active scouts presently one Scout, one Tenderfoot. We are a new troop, The boys have a potential of 34 new Webelos coming on board in the next 4 months. Oh to have the problem of sitting around all day long trying to decide on what boy belongs in what patrol and who gets to wear what patches. Must be nice to have that much free time as an adult leader. Maybe the Committee should be the ones voting on this......

I personally would never recommend this fundraiser unless all the money collected by the scouts went into the general fund of the troop instead of an ISAs. This is basically a clearing house for scout employment with no taxes withheld, reported or 1099 issued for tax purposes. As far as the popcorn sales goes, I know of a scout that in one season using the questionable practice of ISA's "earned" enough money to pay his entire cost of the trip to Philmont. This practice has always left a rather uncomfortable feeling for me when compared to the Scout Law.

I never thought scouts in the program would be abused by adults. I never thought scouts in the program would be exposed to drug dealers. I never thought scouts in the program would be ... feel free to fill in the blank,

I think my local camp is down to 3 sessions for summer camp, can't get enough units to fill the sites. They are now renting out to other organizations for summer camp, i.e. churches, to help pay the bills.

Leading a program is different than running a program. Adult led and boy led cannot coexist. Dual leadership has it's major problems and one or the other will eventually overrule the other given time. So if the adults lead, the boys either follow or run what the adult leaders direct. If the boys lead, the adults don't need to run the program, the boys can do that by following or running what the youth leaders direct. Adult led, boy run seems to be the most popular option today, with adult led, adult run coming in second. Ever wonder who really leads a program, see who's the last/ultimate go-to person on the list. A clue: if any adult has to say, "go ask your PL" or go ask your SPL", in fact the person making the query is in fact looking to the person they know is really running the show. Ultimately BSA knows that the SM's really run the show and that a varying degree of delegation of limited leadership is ever passed on to any of the boys. Way too risky to have the boys really running the show.

Both my Kelty tents have rain flies that go all the way to the ground all the way around and have vestibules. Wind does not get under them as much and the rain doesn't pound on the tent directly. Two weather issues important to me. Old floor-less canvas tents - get a cot, let the water run through and you'll stay dry very nicely. I have a low clot that goes well in a 2 man military (WWII) surplus tent. I've had water run through pretty heavily at times, but always stayed dry. Same for my Civil War A-Frame tent with full sized cot inside.

I believe the new Webelos/AOL book suggests this process in one of the requirements/electives.

It is interesting to ponder, but we'll never know for sure, but I wonder if, in the French theater where people were able to confront the shooters and beg for the lives of their loved one and were summarily killed along with such love ones, had the instead of beging, returned fire, would have reduced the death toll. We can play "What If" all day long. What if the populace was forced to be unarmed. That really reduces the scope of the "What If" game considerably down to a pretty poor forgone conclusion in which self dense is no longer an option. I guess I'd rather die shooting instead of begging.

I have often found it difficult to wrap my head about how the structure functions. If the SM and ASMs are running the troop, what's the purpose or need of an SPL or PL? If the SPL is running the troop what's the purpose or need of a PL? That's where I find it difficult to work with the "top down" structure tradition of scouting. However, that's not the only structure BSA promotes in it's programs. Take for instance the Cub program. Den Leaders (adults) run the dens but couldn't a Patrol Leader (youth_ also run a patrol? We're trying for boy led on the Boy Scout level? Yes/No? A CubMaster (adult) runs the pack (with very little interaction with the dens, but couldn't a Senior Patrol Leader (youth) do the same for the troop? So in reality what is being done structurally by adults in Cubbing could easily be translated into Boy Scout using youth leadership instead. So no CubMaster dictates down to the DL's and expects them to be successful for very long. Or if the CubMaster is doing all the dictating, what's the use of the DL's other than puppet followers dependent on understanding the orders from above. That analogy of using the military is kinda bogus because except for those at the top, all the officers below are merely following orders, not leading. They are nothing but echoes of leadership. If the general wants this company to move over there on the battlefield, the Captain "leads" them there, by following orders. The privates aren't really being lead, they are just following orders to keep from being punished for insubordination. We call that leadership, but it's really just following in reality. In the patrol method as well as individual dens in Cubbing, the true leader initiates the plan of action and follows through on the plan with the group of boys doing what THEY agreed was important to be doing. Not many Cubs are going to hang around if the DL isn't doing something they think is fun, same for the PL and the patrol. DL's look to their boys for direction, not the CM, the PL's should be looking to their boys for direction, not the SPL or SM. If the Cub finds the dictations from the CM not fun, they vote with their feet, and if the SM/SPL is dictating from the top what the patrol members are to be doing, they too will vote with their feet. See it happening all over the place all the time. Those that can endure the dictates long enough we honor them with Eagle. But in reality they haven't lead much if anything, but have learned to follow orders very, very well. I tend to like the Cub Scout model, there are a lot more boys getting AOL than Boy Scouts getting Eagle.

I'm thinking that with all the overly sensitivity to the litigation issues and the PC stance of only shooting round paper targets, that one has totally erased the basic premise of the original founders of the scouting movement in America. The motto chosen was Be Prepared. That means prepared for all situations where one's obligation to the Scout Law might mean one has to stand and defend those around you. A Boy Scout pocket knife is even outlawed in areas these boys spend the majority of their daylight hours. That pretty much neutralizes the whole concept of Be Prepared and a good portion of the Scout Law.

II think this dovetails into the discussion we just had with UC that are Eagles and coming on board. Being a scout and running a scout program don't seem to translate all that well.

I didn't either I had to google it, then cut and paste. It was just too funny to let pass.

You are a member of a Venture Crew out deer hunting.

Really? I wudda thunk them there Brits would know how to £ on their keyboards. If they were Yanks they could always # on the keyboard if they wanted to make themselves understood. They haven't been doing well with English either, can't make out half the words when they talk funny like that. By the way: "Pound symbol £ is a currency sign used in UK. It derives from a capital "L", representing libra, the basic unit of weight in the Roman Empire." so you can see why a fella would be misled.

Sounds like they want scouters to feed them buzz words to teach sporting goods store sales personnel how to sell more product. It is also marketing research to find out what stuff scouters buy so they can stock more of it. I'm going to go out on a limb here and I'm thinking that BSA isn't making scout registration information available for free either. "You've been chosen to participate in an exclusive scout survey on various sporting goods equipment." Oh, golly, gee, how lucky can I get?

Same reason one might want one at a school, or a movie theater, or shopping mall, or in a church. Guns aren't just for back alleys anymore. They are now fashion accessories for some of the nicest places one could imagine or couldn't image. Who da thunk a scout leader would be selling meth out of a scout facility? The world has changed.

It'll keep the gold old boy network out of the hair of those doing the real work.