Basementdweller

My son is in that state as well....He does not want to return to the same camp for the third year in a row....... He loves his patrol mates and enjoys all of the fun stuff scouting has to offer.... I have offered to send him and his buddy to another camp with a provisional troop.....He is thinking about it. I wouldn't pressure him.....Let him enjoy his scouting......If he advances fine if not that is ok too.

So Callooh How would you like a boy who skipped breakfast and got sick just before the troop started some big expensive event????? So because of this young mans poor choice the entire group suffers. Some of this stuff can be pretty expensive. As a parent I am mad because I see my money being tossed in the trash. I am going to be you never have dealt with young men sugar crashing on a backpacking trip or day hike????? Helicopter basher yes I am...... So Callooh, where do you draw the line????? As SM you have a scout show up for the klondike with no heavy outer wear, what is your responsibility???? As SM you have a 100 pound scout show up for the Backpacking trip with a 50 pound pack??? Or the scout who shows up to a summer hike with no water bottle. It is my opinion that a leader who does not intervene is negligent. We have sent scouts home for not showing up with appropriate foot wear or outer wear. So is it ok to let a boy dehydrate, blister his feet or get hypothermia just to teach him a lesson. Nope.

site is running fine. I use Avast free virus software. look up combofix......it is a free malware antivirus scanner.......The offer has a link to donate if you use it and it works, I encourage you to do so. the official site for combofix it is free http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix I use it and recommend it. It is not as flashy as nortons, or the others but it does the job. Far as hotshot IT guys, the truly gifted are few and far between. they all know their jobs or little tiny slice of the pie but get them out of that forget about it. (This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

oh no the dreaded dashboards.....it is a current IT hot or buzz word...... We have the same old software so no change here.

K You probably have it right. We don't need another adult driven political nightmare. Just teach responsible utilization. The summer camp we attend has a zero cellphone policy for youth. Get caught with one you get sent home, zero exceptions. So guess we will speak with the PLC about coming up with some training for the Troop.

Gouges on a track??????? What in the world are you talking about??? ours are cinder you could bring a shovel or rake and fix it???? If the track has some sort of special surface than go to a local park and map a route... I suggested the track just because the 1/4 mile loops were easy to judge distance with...... I bet most 12 year olds would give up after the first lap.

To heck with them..... You guys keep telling me my experience is not the norm......I say BS I keep reading these stories month after month......They may vary just a little bit but not by much......Money and numbers. I say BS. The simple fix is for folks to simply stop volunteering at the district or council level...... Our district has been running this scam for years now.........District awards dinner was last week they wanted $5 a head to get in the place.....For what???? the hall was donated, The awards were donated, the food was donated and you brought your own place setting. Our Forced FOS presentation netted the council zero dollars. No one in the Pack donated a penny. The DE called and told me I need to call every family and ask them to donate.......I told him no he could do it himself. Trainerlady far as your kids and you going to the jambo....The dollar amount is significant....I know that I could not afford to go do anything high adventure in scouting with my son........Philmont, Northern Tier, Sea Base, MOAB, and Pamelico Sea Base are all out of my financial reach for the two of us to attend. The BSA has lost it's way.........watch the numbers continue to shrink....other than Eagle, the BPSA is looking better and better. It is hard to give money to council when you know the scout executive is making $200,000 per year.....my old SE left for a new council and on the tax form is making more than $300,000 per year.....It is BS......I don't begrudge him making a decent living, but more along the lines of $100,000 not multiples of hundreds of thousands...... What is the average FOS donation per unit???? $1,000??????? that means the FOS donations for 200 units goes to pay our SE's salary......Absurd. Our DE Drives a brand new Suburu and lives in a new trendy neighborhood and his house is listed on the County Auditors website as being worth $350,000....Consider this the mean home value in our county is $65,000........ He pays more in taxes per month than I did in total house payment. So what does he make a month??????? I bet more than most of my families gross income for the year.

I don't like the fact there is no contact information on their main website. It took some digging to find out their location.....again no contact phone number, or email address. I am not sure that Muskrat software is even a company anymore... I would never do business with a company like that.....

I would like to explore your thoughts on the E-chit or electronics chit discussed in the other thread Devices it should include. Rules. Fire and toten Manners. Post them up.....I am going to institute this in our troop when I become SM. I believe this is something the Scouts want...

I like the canoe and pack idea......that will help them make up their own mind. Have a semi private time setup......set up a mile course, it could be 4 laps around the track at the local high school.....have a canoe and a 70lb pack available. have the boy start carrying it. I bet that would end most 12 year old aspirations......Make sure dad is not cheering him on. They will not be cheering him on if he cannot manage his share of the work haul gear. No always works.....If you in charge of crew going you are within your rights to say no.

Both Parties are running their primaries right now.....There is no democratic party presidental candidate running against President Obama. 2. Yes, but there has been occasion when a candidate won the majority/popular vote but still did not win the state...I was about voting districts. 3. Yes members of the electoral college can change votes, but egos would never let that happen....the few I have met are too self important. If they switched their vote, their party would remove them from the post. 4. No national convention....but their is always local elections, mayors, council members, judges, trustees, towns, cities, counties, tax levies, new laws... our happen in March and November. 5. Yes 6. I is possible to run against a sitting president......No law against it....

I used to be in the complete ban camp.......I have changed over the last year or so.... Smart phones are tools, many have gps, I use My tracks when I hike to record my path route, distance and speed, I use the camera to document the events and I even post event pics to the troops facebook page. On occasion it has even been used as a flashlight and alarm clock. So it is more than just communication. I think if you ban them completely then you are missing the boat, we need to teach responsible usage. Now using it during scouts own, I would have collected it for the rest of the weekend as well and handed it to mom or dad on return. Now the real simple fix is to make sure your campouts or events are remote enough that there isn't coverage......Even for a city guy it is pretty easy to do that....... But banning them........No........I remember someone had an electronic chit idea, which might be worth exploring.

I guess there are two points of contention..... 1. reduce the menu size and food cost.... 2. waste the patrol will make pancakes the cook is eating bbq potato chips while flipping pancakes and then not eat breakfast or only eat the sausage or bacon. or eating candy bars while turning burgers....... then they throw it all away if it isn't eaten....I generally get milk and oj for the following week following a camp out......

They are renton washington...... If you really need to get a hold of them they are on facebook.....I would message them there. If you having a problem with their software or website I would post it on their wall....that will get an immediate response.

wingnut you have never been a victim of roundtable or camp adult snobbery. oh you don't have your beads, oh your only a two beader, oh you were only a life scout , on and on and on. We had a fellow on this board who wanted to finish his eagle project as an adult because as a teen he was too busy chasing girls or it became uncool. see this thread http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=322817 I bet this fellow went to the scout shop and bought the knot and got the patch on ebay...Just as that adult scouter regaled the cub scout boys with tails of his phimont lies. Interestingly that fellow also tried to order woodbadge beads from gilwell.....Makes ya wonder (This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

so you can be 12 and attend if you must be 13 by December 31st of the year you are attending. My sons birth day is October....say he is currently 12 he definitely will be 13 by december 31. But he will be 12 the summer of his trek...

So how does an adult scouter get a philmont arrowhead patch, well ebay of course....Carrying 100 pound packs and the trails that go straight up the mountain, when asked if they came back to base camp over the tooth, no clue what I was talking about. Northern tier, Jamboree patchs, woodbadge beads, heck you can be a 4 beader for $29.99 with free shipping. There is a lot of Fake eagle scouts, Philmont crew members, woodbadgers and Jamboree participants...... Heck you can be a West knot wearer for $5.99. Many scouters judge you by what is on your shirt and around your neck.....It creates a black market in false reputation in the form of colored strips of cloth.

too funny...... I wish the BSA's politics were more like the GSA's...My experience is there are a lot of decent gay folks around as there are atheist. The GSA's business model has much to be desired. The GSA does not serve all girls, when unit leaders have the right to turn away girls for things like their age, school they attend, home address, color or religious beliefs...My daughter has experienced all of them and has given up on Girl Scouts.

Record keeper and promoter of training I am not saying that they cannot train, but it takes more than a title. here is the job description from nationals site. http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/AboutCubScouts/ThePack/ptrnr.aspx Responsibilities: The pack trainer is responsible for Conducting orientation of new families and pack leaders Encouraging pack leaders to attend Cub Scout Leader Basic Training, which includes New Leader Essentials and Cub Scout Leader Specific Training Helping with Unit Leadership Enhancements during pack leaders' meetings Conducting other training as designated by the district and/or council Encouraging pack leaders to attend ongoing training such as Youth Protection training, roundtable, pow wow, BALOO, Outdoor Leader Skills for Webelos Leaders, and Wood Badge Remaining current with training material and program updates Keeping track of pack training records Encouraging den chiefs to attend Den Chief Training As I suspected nothing says anything about actually holding the training. The only actual training they hold is the new family orientation. I will say that my pack trainer is a district, not our district, Baloo, WOW,and IOLS trainer, so chances are if they attend training they will probably get him as a trainer, but it is at the district level not Pack or council level. I would not want a cub scout leader doing den chief training.......Most of the folks at that level have little clue as to how or what a den chief is supposed to do.......Den Chiefs are not go-fers(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

I understand add and adhd meds......no problem with that. the gentlemen involved did not line up at the medicine lockbox at breakfast or dinner. Spoke with the SPL tonight about it.....suggested he do a pack shake down before we leave for next camp out.....his eyes got big.....heheheeh, he is the worst offender...... We will see what happens.

NORTHERN TIER PARTICIPANT AGE REQUIREMENTS: A participant on a wilderness canoe trek or a Lone Voyaguer program must be a registered Boy Scout, Varsity Scout, or Venturer. Youth participants must have attained the age of 13 by the year that they attend. THESE ARE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS! Please remember that high adventure programs are designed for older youth members as an incentive to keep them in Scouting. Northern Tier programs are challenging and rigorous. Use good judgement in choosing your crew members. Seems to me that it means as of January 1 2013 then need to be at least 13 years old....... On a couple of troop sites I found when I googled the question they say 13 by departure for the trip. But in my opinion if that is what they wanted then the wording would have been. "Youth participants must have attained the age of 13 prior to their expedition." But that isn't how it is worded. I like where they call it high adventure for older scout which a 12 year old is either a single summer or second summer scout.

The food issue is never a problem when we backpack..... This is when we drop or car camp...... boys load up just before meal time.....then proceed to not eat dinner resulting in a sugar crash later.

Solutions??? Problem, parents send scout to camp with 2 large bags of doritos, 2 liter bottles of MT. Dew, bags of candy bars and beef jerky. Result, Meals prepared do not get eaten and sick lethargic scouts. Looking for your experiences dealing with this..... I would love to have every scout dump his pack and send the food home with mom and dad. We have sent home letters, notes, emails, phone calls, begging and pleading with parents not to send extra food with the boys. Solutions?? Thoughts???

There is no possible way to prevent it..... There will always be that one guy in po dunk indiana, oregon, New mexico or kentucky. he will gain the trust of the family and boy then, bad stuff. Of course it isn't a country thing....I think big city folks are aware of what the human animal can do and are not as trusting....

It is called a scout masters conference Not a Scout master test Scout master quiz Scout master skill challenge As stated before it is not a Pass or fail deal......He speaks to the scout master and then moves on to the board of review.