MattR

I would have thought half of them would be in by now. Any idea if this really is all or does it not include the master/spreadsheet/ whatever it's called votes?

Welcome to the forum, @mzzgwenf. I removed the image you posted as it wasn't an image and wouldn't display. If you would like to upload an image then copy it to your computer first and then upload it. I'm sorry, but I really don't know what you're trying to say. It seems that you were dealing with a parent that you felt was threatening you. If so, call the police. If it really was just verbal attacks then talk to some other adults and see what they think. If this other person is making it impossible for you to volunteer then bring it up with the pack committee. They do have the authority to remove parents that cause problems. But, it sounds like you already stepped down?

These are the silos. Aren't they missing the "program committee" or the "fun with a purpose committee?" Shouldn't that be half of those slots? I was always under the impression that a board was people from the outside with the ability to make changes and see the big picture of how the organization fit in to the world. And yet this board sounds like it reflects the silos in the BSA. Everyone wants to feel important so it seems these silos are set in stone.

"Clause 5. Membership. The Executive Committee shall be comprised of 12 members including: National Chair, National Chair- elect, National Commissioner, Immediate Past National Chair, Standing Committee Chairs, Chief Executive Officer, and two members-at-large recommended to the Nominating Committee by the National Chair or National Chair-elect. A board member serving on the Executive Committee for three consecutive four-year terms may be nominated to an additional four-year term on the Board if nominated to serve as the National Chair or National Chair-Elect or if serving as Immediate Past National Chair. (This provision still under review)" I'm not really sure what that means other than the executive committee includes the CEO (Mosby?) and is made up mostly of people with big titles that have likely been around a very long time. So, don't expect any change.

Why is that? I would think if they don't come through then TCC gets to drive towards another plan/vote.

I look back at all the things I learned in scouts and one of the most important, because it might have saved someone's life when I said "how do you know there's no bullet in the chamber?", was gun safety. Tool safety would be close. I just don't understand why the same idea behind teaching gun safety isn't used to teach other types of safety that could enhance the program.

Until the BSA develops training for scouters on teaching and supervising scouts using power tools i doubt anything will change. I got my father in law's radial arm saw and as soon as I found out I could get $150 if I proved I destroyed it, I took them up on the offer. Does fine as a miter saw. Most dangerous thing I've seen for ripping boards. These are a clear no for me. Table saws and lathes in the hands of adults with little training or experience is just asking for trouble. I can see the BSA saying no or really limited use on those tools. Most other power tools I think could be made safe with a well written training program. The BSA has figured out how to safely put scouts in the water, on rocks and shooting. They can make most tools safe as well.

Have you ever seen the human towers in Catalonia? About 30 feet high and then they walk or something. It's not good if a tower collapses. The top is usually a small teenager (?) that can climb 6 layers or so of adults like a monkey up a tree.

Harry Potter was popular when I was a den leader so I made up a game called Quiditch (or however it's spelled) that involved a couple of different types of balls, basketball hoops in the gym and just enough different things going on that made it really fun. But we stopped it after five minutes when we realized the scouts would focus on just one ball and if two scouts didn't focus on the same ball, well, they could easily crash.

I hope everyone gobbled till they wobbled. I have to wait until Saturday when my daughter isn't working

@InquisitiveScouter Councils that don't follow rules is another thread. Case in point, camp MB counselors that aren't certified counselors. Ever notice that the best MBs are usually the ones that require certified counselors? Shooting, water, climbing - they're all inherently dangerous and therefore exciting. Further, with well trained leaders they are great ways to fulfill scouting. That sounds like a better approach to safety that also accounts for the needs of scouts.

We're nowhere close to you so I have no ideas for you but the roll your own HA trips are great. Not only less money but easier to add side trips and better food.

My troop played laser tag at the Airforce Academy and they had a lot of fun. But, it seems, the reasoning behind that ban has nothing to do with safety. I also don't think a "slight concussion" is anything to brag about nor sue anyone over. My guess is that one reason for the draconian rules is the fact that unit leaders have zero consequences for going rogue. Everyone knows of troops that don't participate in any district or council activities, thumb their noses at all the rules and will just do as they please. And probably most do fine but some get into a lot of trouble. Adults driving scouts drunk, taking canoes on rapids way beyond their abilities, or just camping in situations beyond their abilities. Or leaders skimming bank accounts. And that trouble spills over to the rest of us trying to do the right thing. In our council, there was a subset of LDS units that kept the pros quite busy from the in-oove-tthei-heads type of problem. If you're an okay troop that wants to improve then the DE has no time for you because all they do is go around fixing problems. Given this environment, the draconian rules are not really a surprise. Unit quality is the issue. I like @sierracharliescouter's approach of better training but without better consistency of unit leaders being more humble, or whatever it takes to appreciate their limits, we are where we are.

That is what the charter agreement says. Look at it from their perspective, if your troop makes a mistake the church is legally liable to clean it up. I understand that you're frustrated with the changes and all. But I've seen this happen before. Another aspect of the charter relationship is, well, keeping that relationship healthy. It's working with the head of the church so you have someone on the inside defending the troop. Its doing service projects so members of the church know who you are, appreciate what you do and see that it complements the church. Every non-profit I've ever worked with has people that want to express power for no other reason than they can. They can make your life miserable. Learning to deal with them does take time and patience. Anyway, it seems you have a few choices. Push for a facility use agreement, get in the good graces of someone with real power in the church or find another CO.

Sounds about right. Read the app to see who should sign it? The important part is you pick someone both the unit and CO likes that is a good communicator and understands both viewpoints of the relationship.

Our camps use the local ag school forestry dept to use the camps as a lab to teach students how to thin the forest. Granted, there's no walnut trees but for those trees they could still teach students and scouts how to properly take care of a forest. It's an opportunity.

Our cub camp doesn't have showers. It is a 10 min drive to the showers at scout camp but all the water is turned off for all but summer so everyone brings their own water when they camp. Maybe the real rules, the ones in the inspection, are different.

I'd respect the need for CO approval for inter unit campouts but not allowing it at all sounds like a rule that should be dropped with BSA 2.0. Any chance this was just a way to prevent LDS units from having their own camporees?

It's closer to 600. We cut it off and start a clean thread once in a while. This is the 6th thread and will most likely be cut off after the vote is completed.

I hid the argument about our VP as it really, honestly, completely has absolutely nothing to do with this case. Everyone, the announcement was just an attempt at light humor. Let's get back to why Stang stepped down. As for all the announcements about upcoming announcements, they're nothing but bait to keep everyone glued to each side's message stream.

For us it wasn't the freeze, it was the hawk. There's also an owl. Nice pictures, @InquisitiveScouter , did you take those? I'm thinking that was a long lens. I have a fish pond in my yard i keep open with an air stone. It keeps the fish alive and the birds happy. Which in turn keeps me happy.

Building on @qwazseand @Eagledad 's comments, what if, rather than bringing in an oracle scout, consider taking the new troop - which is likely the size of a patrol - and putting it in the troop where the split would have come from for a year? Then split off a new troop with that one patrol. The new parents would also have someone to learn from as well. The comment from @T2Eagle is also good. How many units start off bad because they forget about fun? Rather than make a big plan for advancement I'd much rather ask the scouts what they want to learn. If the answer is how to make great pancakes (because they just torched the last ones) then there's a plan the scouts will get behind. @Armymutt , this is a hypothetical district. It has very few volunteers, no OA, and the DE is busy doing something else. Maybe the OA, as originally intended to bring ideas back to units, is an idea worth pursuing. I don't think districts currently help improve units as much as they think. The people best able to do that seem to be the ones in the thick of it. So I'd rather see units helping each other be the focus. To be honest, a troop needs 7 years of great ideas and then it can start recycling them. I'd think sharing ideas would really help units come up with more enjoyable calendars but every time I saw a roundtable ask units to share it's rather superficial. If you saw the SNL skit called Man Park last week, that's what roundtables remind me of other than announcements. And the announcements don't really help either.

Not at all. If there actually is some news tomorrow then that's great. Right now the only news is the mediator left, and nobody knows anything beyond that.

I just removed some posts referencing kosnoff's tweets. As they just seem to be more anger than information, I see no point.

Maybe I was misunderstood. The idea is to start with a group of scouts and adults with very little experience and show them how to have fun while learning the skills they need to be great volunteers to take over. So, smart with simple stuff and stay focused on fun to encourage everyone to come back for more. I think a pancake cooking competition would be worth a lot more than an hour of training - which nobody is around to do anyway.