jshupe391

Oops.... put this on the Cub Thread. Should be here: Yep.... just got the invite. QM of Meals for the upcoming Wood Badge Course. Problem is, although I have worked in many a kitchen helping prepare meals for large groups, this is my first "in-charge" attempt. In fact, I was on the kitchen crew at the last Wood Badge session here in our council. I am looking for a software program that will help me plan the menus, come up with the amounts of goods needed and a budget. I have been all over the internet looking for a free package, but none were found that would fit my needs. Probably a good one would be for a caterer. Any ideas on where to find one.

Thanks for listening..... First I understand the importance of keeping the family involved and they almost always are. This is an exception in that it is a chance for the young man to correct things in a mature method on his own and is treated as a learning/teaching experience. It is my hope that the young man will go to his parents, but again..... this is a way of giving the responsibilty of his actions back to him! As far as the "accidental email", it was from a source that thought I should be aware of the situation. I had heard rumors prior to this but that was all. The SMA went through the channels. I do not begrudge the fact that we now have a Venture Crew, I just did not like the way it was done. The "sexual" thing was a first! According to other witnesses (adult and kids alike), it was a careless grab in the wrong area. The warning was for the fact that he continued the wrestling even after been warned more than once. If I had even an inkling that it was a sexual overture, I would have been at the Scout office myself! As far as the Venturing and the Eagle Rank..... it's not a huge deal. Again, it is just another thing that has me aggravated about this particular person. And the personality issue is not just me..... and I definetly agree we have one.... but it is among others in the troop also. It will take care of itself in time. I just wanted info and feedback from others outside of our troop. As of September, I am turning in my resignation as SM..... the politics win again.

Oh, I guess I did not mention that he had 2 sons in my troop. And yes, he has a thing out for the family of the young man that was wrote up. Was it that obvious? He has not done anything against the rules, nothing that I can go to the Council office on.... he is an expert at trying to make impressions on the higher ups in our Council by taking on all the roles that he can. Venturing Advisor, Assistant Scoutmaster, Commissioner, Friends of Scouting Assistant, Cubmaster (just resigned that one), Wood Badge Staff Member (got caught drinking at that event and the Council let him off with a NO TRAINING of Adult Leaders for 5 years but no effect or restrictions on the troop level), and probably some titles that I do not know about.

In response to the written warning, our troop uses a 4 step process. The first offense (this is the one that is given after the incidents in reference have been done more that a couple of times) is a meeting between the SPL and the Scoutmaster and the young man. This is informal, asking for help in stopping the action, etc and when done, the Scout is warned that on the next offense he will be written up and a copy put on file. If the action occurs again, the Scout is given a written warning. This is given to the Scout and he is given the option of keeping it to himself or in sharing it with his parents. He is told that if the action persists, the next meeting will be between his parents, the Scout, the SPL and myself. If the action persist after that, the Scout may be removed from Scouting for either a couple of weeks or longer depending on the severity. This particular Scout had been warned more than once about wrestling with the guys (especially the younger ones) and had already gone through the first step. As far as the man-to-man talk, yes it has been done. The story I get is that he is sorry, he did not mean to over step his bounds and will mend his ways. I have talked to my CC and he is at a loss too.

I am a SM for a troop. I have a SMA who is literally driving me crazy. He has a heart of gold or just really puts on a good show, one or the other. He just does things that just don't make sense. For instance: I just went through the new 21st century Wood Badge (I had already gone through the original in 1998). One of my ticket items was to start a Venturing Crew. He knew this as we had discussed it before. I get an accidental email tnat the Venturing Crew was meeting for their start up. Checked it out, and this SMA has took it upon himself to start the Venturers himself. His rationale, I just seemed to have too many other things going on. Hey, my thoughts are, as long as we have one, Great! I'll overlook that. Next situation, we had some boys get a little out of hand wrestling and it was witnessed by a Webelo parent that some sexual inuendos was done. I had a talk with the particular Scout in question about the seriousness of what his actions showed and gave him a written warning that if it ever happened again, there would have to be serious consequences. This SMA knew what I had done, had verbally agreed with what was done and all seemed well. The next week I get a call from the Counsel office wanting the write up. He had gone to them concerned that it was not taken care of? I talked to Counsel and explained the situation, showed them the write up and was told that I had done the correct thing and it was no longer a concern to them unless it happened again. This time it envolves a Eagle project. His Son has been a member of out Troop since I became Scoutmaster. I have watched him and helped him climb the ranks to Life Scout and now he is working on his Eagle. I found out today that his Eagle Project had been approved. My signature nor the advancement Chairs signature was not anywhere on the paperwork. Instead, he had signed it along with his wife, who is the CC for the Venturing Crew. They decided it would be a good Father/Son deal to work it together. I try to not be someone who angers easy and when I approached him with this, I ended up just telling him that it did not matter I guess, just as long as the Scout Eagle'd out. This is just a few of the shenanigans he has done. I now have at least two different groups of parents that have dropped out of the Troop due to other actions that deal with him. One has told me that if he ever leaves the troop to let her know and her Son would be back. Just wanted thoughts from those who have the brains.

I did try the museum.... $400 per night up to 100 people! Not bad for a large troop but ours is a little small (less than 20). Might still be an option though. Contact: Elaine Bressman @ ebressma@netbsa.org if you want more info.

Hi. We want to treat our Scouts and our Adult Leaders to a special Holiday trip in the big city. We camp out every month and this December we would like to do something a little different. We want to go to the Boy Scout Museum in Irving, eat a pizza, maybe even stroll through the Galleria..... who knows? We are attempting to locate a place that we can just go into and just throw down our bed rolls and sleep overnight. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? This needs to be within a short distance to the Museum if possible. Thanks in Advance, JS

These are Venture Youth.... coed, less than 18 years of age.

Hi again, Just a question. I am the Adult Boy Scout Leader Training Leader for our District and have been for a few years. I have always wanted to be on Wood Badge Staff (got my beads in '98) but was never invited. Now they have asked me to become part of the future Wood Badge Staff, BUT, because I did my Wood Badge back in 1998, I have to take the new Wood Badge course. This is supposedly a National rule. I will probably do so, but does this not seem redundant (and expensive). I am a Good Ol' Owl, would never want to be anything else, I ran my Tickets and have been training new leaders before and since my Wood Badge experience. If I had not moved out of my old district, I would have been an old pro of Wood Badge staffing (as I had already been asked to staff there before I moved.) Would you take the new course just so you could be on future staff's? Would I be able to stay an Owl? Just curious

What are your thoughts of having Venture Scouters or Older Youth Scouts (18 years of age or younger) as adult trainers for Scoutmaster Essentials, Outdoor Leader Skills, etc?