Liz

Well, I made it, and they didn't make any noise about turning me away! LOL! They actually had a fair amount of combined training. We spent the morning and through lunch with the people there for IOLS and then broke out into separate groups for the afternoon. My understanding is the SMS training (which I've already had) began the evening before. It was held at the hosting district's Camporee. I can't say I learned a lot I didn't already know, but what do you do? I do understand why it's important to ensure someone on every campout knows how to put together a first aid kit at least.

Looks like I can get a membership card using the iPhone myScouting app too.

Yes, I do have two. One for this Council and one for CPC since that's where we used to live when my older kids were in Scouts. I'll bring a copy of both.

Ok. Our Cubmaster is technologically challenged and our CC may not be available on this short of notice but I'll see. Thanks!!!

Well, the website let me register so hopefully that means it isn't full. And I have Celiac so I have to pack my own food anyway as I can't eat their food. I wonder whether I have a membership card. Is there a place that can be downloaded from my.scouting or anything like that? My YPT certificate at least has my member number on it.

Well, I haven't heard back from the organizer of the CPC training that takes place tomorrow. Probably because it's being done during a Campboree which starts tonight and they're likely busy. The registration form didn't give me an option to select "out of council" so I just picked the district I used to be involved in and registered anyway. I have also completed the online portion of the training. What would you do? I don't want to leave the house at 6:30 AM and drive 2.5 hours to be turned away because I'm out of council. Should I just take a print-out showing my completion of YPT and the online Baloo prerequisite and go? Has anybody ever had an issue taking this training in a different Council?

This one might work!!! Thanks for your help!

Any ideas for getting Baloo training done? We have some outdoor activities coming up with our Pack that might involve schedule conflict with the two leaders we have trained on Baloo. I think we can get one more leader trained at an upcoming Council event, but I have a schedule conflict with that training and I'd really like to get this done. I'm in Oregon Trail Council. I'd be willing to travel in the Pacific Northwest to get Baloo training if anybody knows of a Council that will be hosting one soon and that I don't have a conflict with. Am I correct in understanding that we need to have a Baloo trained leader in order to take the kids on any outdoor swimming event or is the Safety Afloat training good for that (I don't have that either).

Thank you for that clarification. This is how I understood it and I was starting to get confused... it was on my to-do list to go research and see what I was missing! LOL! We have a small pack, 9 registered Scouts at this time, and I was looking forward to combining what's now our Bear den with our one Webelos Scout and putting it all together to function like a single den. I understand using AOL Scout as a clarification for kids who have already earned their Webelos badges and are now working on AOL requirements, but I've never thought of it as a separate rank. AOL is an award, not a rank.

Wow. That's frustrating. I remember one boy in my oldest child's den did not earn his AOL. He skipped the entire AOL/Crossover ceremony because he (or more likely his parents) didn't want to have to watch all the other kids get their AOLs. He did join the Troop with the other kids, although he didn't last long in Scouting (neither did a few of the boys in the den who had earned their AOLs). But all the kids who crossed over at least started on the path with the Troop. I would not have stood for it if someone wanted to participate in Crossover and be given whatever items (neckerchiefs or whatever) came with that if they had not at least intended to follow through with joining the Troop. Surely all the kids can be made to feel a part of the ceremony without actually inducting them into an organization they do not wish to join.

I know different packs do this differently, and I'm curious about what's more common. Do your Webelos earn AOL first and cross over into Scouts later? Or do they cross over as soon as they earn their AOL? My older kids' pack did both at the same time, but I am leaning towards doing them as separate events with our Webelos den. I just wonder what other people are doing and why.

You never know what you can do until you try. Have you talked to the D. E. about it? Maybe they have some other folks wishing for a girls' troop in your area too.

So, Mrkstvns... I take it with your comparison to the child on the sports team that didn't want to be there, you're implying you believe the campfire smoke allergy is a fake excuse the boy is giving because he doesn't want to be in Scouting, or maybe just doesn't want to camp? While I suppose that's possible, I think it's best to take the original post at face value and come up with solutions assuming there really is an allergy going on here. Nobody is suggesting that the entire troop do away with camp fires all together for every camping outing forevermore. But would it kill them (or their program) to give it up for a couple of week-long campouts so that one of their members can fulfill his required 11 nights?

Am I the only one that wants to "endure that" whomever was in charge of proofreading this publication repent of his or her evil ways and correct the published copy?

"A Scout is Trustworthy." I've had this quoted at me several times when I've run into a roadblock "proving" this or that. There are some things that are non-negotiable; I don't think it would fly well with the legal department if you didn't have documentation of completing YPT. But I'd be really surprised if you were questioned about buying a religious award knot for your uniform.

http://usscouts.org/advancementTOC.asp#cub

My oldest Scout did the same. Wore a swim shirt at all swimming events including indoor pools where sunburn was not an issue. Said it was a modesty issue. I never understood... until she came out as a trans woman around age 21. Turns out she was uncomfortable showing her chest because inside she identified as and felt like a girl and it didn't feel right. I'm of course not suggesting that this is the reason for any other person, just an example that people may have a variety of "concealed" reasons for doing what they do. My 2nd Scout always wore a swim shirt outdoors for sun protection. Maybe this kid is like mine and hates the feeling of sunscreen, but doesn't want to admit it for some reason. 🤷‍♀️

I've seen this skit with the scout named "Penny" or "Pennies" or "JC Penny" come out wearing a large box in lieu of clothes (I presume with shorts underneath). An empty barrel might be funnier but harder to construct out of things you might have around camp. Would that be an appropriate compromise do you think?

"or require unique circumstances to assist them." I don't think this is what you mean to say. Due to unique circumstances, they may require unique skills, unique strategies, etc.. I'd probably change this to "... or require unique strategies to assist them." ; but there are several possible words you can choose here that would work better than "circumstances." Working with youth with differences and helping them can feel like a major challenge for the youth in Scouting as well as adult leaders This looks like it probably started out saying something else, and then got edited and something got lost in the editing (or at least that's what I do a lot that results in sentences like this one). I *think* what you're trying to say here is that it can feel like a major challenge for the youth who are not used to working with Scouts with disabilities, but it's not quite clear. Maybe, if I'm understanding what you're trying to say here, something like "Accommodating Scouts with disabilities and other differences may feel like a major challenge to the Troop's youth leadership as well as the adult leaders." On the "Please Do" list, please keep in mind that not all persons who have disabilities prefer "person first" language. Many people, especially those who are a part of a community such as the deaf or autism community, prefer "identity first" language (i.e. a deaf person, an autistic person). It's important to identify how the Scout (or Scouter for that matter) wants to be identified and respect that. I have an appointment so I had to speed-read through the rest of it; but overall those are the only things that jumped out at me as needing editing. Good work!

I found a decent price with reasonable shipping costs for the Velcro brand patch kit here: https://www.industrialwebbing.com/velcro-brand-patch-kit/ For now, that's on its way. I would like to find a bulk supplier for a lower per-patch price eventually, but this will serve my immediate need for not too much money. I may try the Blue Dot Trading hook and loop later when I feel like gambling to see what I get.

Any opinions on whether this might be a good color match? Shipping is outrageous, but in sufficient quantities I suppose I could cut it into smaller lengths and resell it on eBay to get my money back. LOL. http://www.bluedottrading.com/hook-loop-lgt-grey-4in-x15ft.html

That's green, about the same color as what I got. It might be OK on a Venturing Uniform, but not so much on a Scouts BSA uniform.

I actually have a pending backorder of this exact product. Who knows when or whether it will actually arrive.

Any current sources? I just wasted about $12 on Amazon without realizing "Coyote Tan" is NOT tan. What came wasn't anywhere near the color that it looked like on my monitor. It's closer to the color of a merit badge sash than a tan uniform. Goose's Cache sells pre-cut ones on Etsy but charges a huge premium for them being cut out. I own scissors; I don't need someone else to cut it out for me. Any other color and I could get sheets nice and cheap. But light tan? Nope. Can't seem to find it at a reasonable price anywhere. I found some at Blue Dot Trading but shipping costs more than the velcro strips and I don't want to keep spending $12-$16 a shot to get more velcro I can't use because there's no way to color match it before actually buying it. I am hoping maybe someone here knows of a brand/color that actually works (so I don't have to keep trying hit-and-miss) for uniforms and doesn't cost a bunch. For the cost I might as well just buy more uniform shirts... I only really need velcro for a position patch and numeral patch, I think.

That might have been it! Very cool!