Mafaking

Usually we take the better part of an afternoon to do this requirement. Learning compass reading, topo maps, orienting a map and compass is also explained in the field. We also set up a 100' pace count line. We have in the past set up letters and a grid but standard orienteering compasses are only good for a bout 10 degrees or so. so the scouts were way off and didn't hit their marks and letters. Scouts with a sighting compass did better. Anyway for the requirement; On a little over a mile trail we set up six stations. At each a station is a post. The two man scout team is given a bearing and a distance at which to find a second post. Usually 100-200' out. At the second post is popsicle stick with a number. The two man scout team collects the sticks from each station. At one of the stations they have to measure the distance across a creek or a large tree. The SM has the correct answer for these. This takes a little while to set up but in the end my scouts know compass bearings.

Sounds like a realy nice troop. I concur on the one patrol. However you should eat seperetly with the other adults. Seperate meal plan and all. You are doing all the things a large troop would do, outings, summer camp leadership.

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That's really insightful Lisabob.

I try and get the PLC to develop the agenda for the meetings but what they come up with, is just unimaginative. We sort of follow the program aid but I don't have the books handy at all PLC's. How do you keep you troop meetings productive? How do you get the youth leaders to set lively and productive meetings?

She is a pervert who disguised as youth leader used used her involvement in scouts to fulfil her perverse desires. Perverts often use the Internet as a venue to capture the unsuspecting. I provided the mug shot only to see if matched up with her Facebook account. This would be more or less is her public image. It is what she may or may not reveal in her Facebook account that is of interest. One would suspect that she sought out this relationship. That she likely approached other boys too. I doubt that if a gay man had been the perpetrator that he would be shown much mercy on these boards either.

What a disaster for her son, the boy, the troop, the charter and for her. Mug shot Photo: http://www.bnd.com/breaking_news/story/1042233.html A Wendy Rodgers has a facebook account. I can't access Facebook from work. I wonder if its the same Wendy Rodgers and if she post anything about scouting on her Facebook account.

facebook shamshbook. My son gets his homework assignment through emails. The business world runs on emails and will for the next 5 - 10 years. The email is the old type written MEMO that anyone over 40 should remember. Written and documented communications are part of life. The scouts should get used to these forms of communication. Getting, forcing or cajoling a scout to use proper written communication should be part of the handbook. Actually it is for the scribe. Dropping down to text, tweet or anything else to "better reach" the scout is out of line with the other things we are trying to accomplish.

I email scouts directly. Have to. All too often the parents don't pass along the information to their son. You will find that the family email you are sending to is actually Dad's work email and he forgets to pass along the information. Or the parents don't understand and there fore ignore the information to bring X to the next meeting. email isn't too much different than calling the scout on the phone. The parents don't listen in then.

Wow! The programs are all over the map. The forty dollar per outing looks high but then again the uniformed leaders aren't paying. Right/wrong, no such thing here. Its whatever works and get the troop out camping. I can tell you that $20/ weekend campout for food is higher. We usually figure $2.5 per meal/scout.

Instead of taking away POR's I would like to re-write and add POR's The scribe has too much work with attendance, meeting notes, advancement tracking even money and dues. I would break out this POR into several. A scout treasurer would be first on my list, collect dues and fees and run a balance sheet. An advancement coordinator would be second, track an report on the over-all advancements in the troop. a troop publisher (agendas, outing plans, newsletters, pamphlets... A recruiter, for new scouts, attending pack meetings.. PL would be more focused on planning outings and leave some of the other details to the instructor. SPL unchanged ASPL, hmmmm? Scribe, modified Historian, focus on capturing event Photos and stories QM, unchanged maybe even an Assistance QM PL, Primarily unchanged TG, Ok if you run NSP, we don't Instructor, unchanged Den chief, unchanged Web Master, unchanged OA, unchanged Bugler, Ok ADD--------------------------- Treasurer Advancement coordinator Recruiter Publisher Games / Campfire coordinator Librarian, is a weak position in our troop, most scouts would rather read online. (BSA should consider a troop service fee for on line books. I know the books are a source of revenue for BSA but my middle schooler and high schooler have courses with only on-line books.) Kids read from the screen a lot.

I would pick an easy to carve wood over matching what was used 500 years ago. From a wood working perspective pine wouldn't be my first or second choice. Oak would be too hard. I wood ppick a soft wood. I like cypress and use it for a lot of wood working but have not carved it. I would start with Ceder. Get a rough cut 2x4 from Lowe's or HD and see how it carves. Don't have a 12" dia. cedar pole just glue several pieces together. I would plane or sand the edges to be glued. White glue usually dries clearer than yellow glues. If you think one day it might be moved outside use an outdoor glue like Ttebond II. Sounds like a really cool project.

I went back and read 2 pages of EL posts. He doesn't represent himself as a rules deity. Most of his comments are in line with what other's post quite often, "follow the rules, our unit does it this way and when I was in..." A call out thread for an innocuous comment about Cub Scout winter camping is a little over the top from what I typically read on these forums.

OldGreyEagle "As big woman's guy as I am...." Hey a like a little meat on the bones too but let's not get carried away. OK, OGE didn't really say that but that what I read at fisrt.

SR540Beaver, You of course may be right. But when a sister council sold a large chunk of land to a State land aquistion agency, it is my understanding that the sale proceeds were divided up between the council and National. Maybe this particular council owed money to National. If so could it be that National will call in its money owed to purchase this new property?

Our Scout Executive came out at the last roundtable and said the Council is in the red $750,000 this year. Last year it was $250,000 and the year before $50,000 in the red. One million needs to be made up just at out council. Where in the world is National going to get $300 million for this place? Could all our old scout reservations be sold to pay for this one? So few scouts in our area will ever use this place; its a 1,000 miles or more from us.

Horizon, Thanks for your comments. I think what resonated with me most is that all nine of his Webelos and their families want to reach Eagle by fourteen. No variance for the individual scout. The implication within our conversation also hinted that the early age was targeted so the scout could be done with scouting by then. I then stated that this is the time when the scouts is most volnerable to bad choices. And that in the early teenage years it is percisley the time when a scouting program can serve the scout the most. These comments were lost in translastion into cub a scouter's ear. (This message has been edited by Mafaking)

Webelos dad visits and asks about our advancement program. Yada-yada: - summer camp with new scout program - Lots of camping oportunities to complete FCFY - Lots of MB Counselors on our committee, and SM's - POR's Dad says "Yes but I want him to get his eagle before he enters high school. All the scouts and families in my den feel the same way." What would you have replied?

"Didn't we go to the moon using equipment that barely met the minimum?" You are thinking of the Titanic.

If you really like that other troop better then just go. Toes or no toes just go. I will say that the CO's SM may have taken you for granted. But chances are he is so busy running his troop that recruitment to his feeder pack is down on his list. Too bad but this is a fact of a busy volunteer. Doesn't mean his program is not as good as the other, in fact it may be better as he is focused in his scouts, but he just isn't recruiting. The other troop seems to be selling more than recruiting. The awarding a DL a ASM position is somewhat of a ploy. I bet this other troop looks very cub scout friendly. Or pleasing to a Webelos parent. Lots of advancement talk. (sigh!)

'So do they approach him with their objections?' Absolutely! But this must be done logically by appealing to his sense of leadership within the scouts. Support us! Should be their mantra. A well laid out plan for the meal and making it a success, with the duties the scouts will do and the the roles the adults will fill must must be presented. 'Is the choice really the boys? ' No, Its the adults. But there seems to have been an assumption that the scouts had the freedom to choose between the two. Some one somewhere approved these two concepts for the scouts to review. 'Mr. SM if you gave use the option to choose, provide us with the clear understanding of what the requirement are, then once we decided you should have been prepared to follow through.' After all we are supposed to be a Boy led troop.? Boy led means different things to different people.

I just completed a job interview Five separate interviews totaling 15 hours and eight people. I had to supply copies of my work, School records and of course three reference contacts. All three refernces were contacted and asked to submit comments. The evidence here is that references matter.

I pretty much know my parents. I will steer conversations away from those getting too political. I will provide cover for the ones who certainly feel outnumbered or out gunned by loud mouths. I will even ask a person if they are ok talking about a subject. Attempting to give a clue to one who has none that they may be offending others around the fire. I will attempt to diffuse the ones starting to launch into a diatribe about whats' wrong with America. But these are adults and they have a right to express their opinions. They are doing it correctly, away from the scouts and only among other adults capable of assessing the facts and coming to their own conclusion. I wish more liberals were involved in scouting. Its a great organization in my opinion it is basically party neutral.

Money, demographics, location all play a part in the campout location. We don't use the council camps a lot. They are far away and many other campsites of better quality can be found in between. The scouts pick their campouts, so a plain old council campsite has little chance of getting selected over one where we rent boats and go fishing. We use fundraisers to off set camping costs but no scout accounts. The funds are pooled and then distributed over common cost for the outing. Usually gas or rental equipment. As was mentioned in one post, if mom and dad invested time or money in an event then there is as better chance the scout will make room on his schedule to attend that outing. From a BSA program object scouting could do a better job of designing the fee structure to improve participation. The example of a fixed $500 fee to cover all campouts is a great impetuous to get the scouts to attend outings. The challenge is for the scouts to arrange/select their campouts to stay within this budget. The crux is that we might be a $500 troop another may be a $1,000 troop and a third a $200 troop. Wording could look like this: "With the help of the Troop Treasurer and the SM, the SPL along with the PLC will establish a annual campout budget for the troop. The Budget will include all camping expenses including meals, camp fee and event costs. The SPL and PLC will then select the campout program that's meets this budget." As leaders this is actually what we are doing anyway. Our programs are designed around the financial capacity of the troop's families. I just think there are ways to better use this inherent system to increase participation.

Our Troop's scoring: No Troop has earned Quality Unit Award Yes Scoutmaster has completed basic training. Yes Troop follows traditional troop-meeting pattern, standard troop-meeting plan with two or more skills training groups) Yes Troop has a high ratio of active adults to youth. Yes Leaders regularly attend roundtable. Yes Troop meetings are planned at Patrol Leaders' Council meetings. No (But we do an annual Calendar plan) Woods Wisdom is used in planning Troop program. No (traditional Mixed age patrols) A patrol for new Scouts exists, with a Troop Guide and Assistant Scoutmaster. No (more like 6-8) Troop adds at least ten Scouts each year. Yes Troop has annual minimum of twenty-five days and nights of camping. Yes (but out of council) Troop attends a council long-term camp. Yes Leaders are proficient in outdoor skills. Yes Troop has at least twenty-one Scouts. No Troop has a program for older Scouts.