Basementdweller

You guys are lucky if your scouts have gear that good...... Our boys still have sponge bob bags that are not fit if the weather gets below 50... heck I don't have a bag that is good to zero degrees let a lone sub zero.

We went from What scout wants to a do nothing camp out???? So what do they want????

Blowing a gasket???? Were you there????? NO I pulled him a side and told him to leave........He was out of line I never, ever make a scene or raise my voice in front of the scouts, leaders or families.......as a matter of fact I have never raised my voice to anyone in scouting.... So how do you have a uniform inspection when your boys don't have uniforms??????? That is a separate discussion about parental priorities, council paper work and the generosity of the pack leadership. What is a Charter Presentation????? I get my charter in a plain brown wrapper

It is a local thing..... No national standards. We are north and count spending 36 hours in weather below 32 without entering a heated structure. It is not an activity for cubs here is an example http://troop476arvada.com/resources/Polar%20Bear%20Guidelines.pdf http://troop82elmhurst.org/Content/forms/polar_bear_campout_award.pdf http://www.scoutingvermont.org/News/11-12PolarBearCamp http://www.tpcbsa.org/Download/Forms/PolarBearCampingAwardApplication.pdf(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

No need for an SPL in small troops.... It is just a tradition, most troops have an spl just because they are supposed to. Program patrol does the opening and closing and runs the meeting and we rotate monthly. The other reason for a SPL is it gives you another POR for advancement and it is valid for eagle....

So what other options are available??? Baden Powell scout Association.....Yep Not sure of any others..... So selling the parents on the change..... No Eagle.....tough sell No nationally recognize advancement program No support....No national training site....... Program totally on your own, of course this is the way it is now. Relatively unknown program to the outsiders.... No formal summer camp. If you start it you will be immediately kicked out of your local BSA council. Benefits It is a coed program Much less costly No Eagle mills No FOS No District or Council Politics. No big McAdventure trips to Philmont or that place in WVA...

Eagledad, maybe it is time for a change. Disagree with the term of volunteer service......My shortest term volunteer is 7 months.....tiger parent.....The longest in our organization is 50 years. In the Pack our volunteers average over 30 months for the most part. I am going to say that our average is 8 years if throw out the high and low outliers.

Had a long day of scouting yesterday and read this thread last night. Slept on it..... The National organization.....absolutely. The rest of the structure can be scraped....... Districts could be eliminated completely.......Zero benefit.............I understand there is a lot of district folks here.... My experience is not a rare as you people may think. Most are afraid to post negative experiences in a public forum.....I received a lot of PM's on this board and others I am member of regarding this subject. Rare is the District that functions as intended....our council there is only one district in 8 that actually functions as intended. They hold camporees, cub events, scheduled in person training, a commisioner corp that is functional and helpful.... They have a DE that is more than about the numbers, hey guess what he is an eagle scout and it is a district that holds most of the wealthy suburbs. I am aware that good districts are out there, an endangered species. Councils could be replaced with state wide organizations. So instead of say 10 or so SE's making $150k a year each we have one making say $250k.....sounds like a good trade to me....Not like I actually see the man and I scout 5 days a week........so I should see him a couple of times a year. Sell off most of the scout camps, yep the holy grail......Many are in horrible condition, a perpetual money pit, terrible summer camp programs, terrible food, We really only need three or four outstanding camps per state......My state has like 12....of which three have great programs, 6 mediocre program, the rest terrible merit badge university at best...... So do I think the BSA will make it another 100 years????? I doubt it, the current practices by the DE and their supervisors will assist in that death.....Real membership numbers are hidden from the membership and public, the use of Learning for life to artificially inflate the membership numbers. If Learning for Life is a separate organization then the finances and structure need to be separate.....This include the membership numbers...

More importantly, what did you learn from the experience?????? Last summer we did not just sign off on the first year trail.....we retested on the next campout.....None passed all, some passed none.......Participation does not equal sign off....but demonstration of skill does..... I am going to bet ASM dad signed off because he participated.....(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

Our council send three troops to the jambo every time they,the participants, buy new tents, picnic tables and dining flys...... Upon return the tents, tables and flys are divided up among the council camps.... I was at Adult leader training and assisted in the semitrailer unload upon return from the last jambo.... According to the camp ranger they had done this for years......We unloaded all of the before mentioned plus patrol boxes and stoves. I completely disagree with the jambo participants footing the bill for new tenting at council camps.... We could decrease the cost by $200 per scout easily.... I think that the cost should go down by the cost of the tenting and gear.....

emb....your wondering why they aren't lowering costs???????

I did not answer the question..... The scouts plan our program and we do our best to support their decisions and guide them when needed. The banning of cellphones, pads, ipod, we might not hearing them...... Inflexible camp out schedules failing to accommodate school schedules.... So how do you adjust your camp out schedule????? Most school calendars are not a year in advance.....many activities require reservations a year to 18 months out....... so Jr. High dance gets scheduled on the same night as the caving trip and you have $500 in reservations what do you do??????? We are a very young troop and this will become more and more of a problem.

eagle.....I guess I am now a 18 year veteran now....Didn't think about it that much till now.... Callooh! Callay! Trying to figure out where ya got that name from....the band the bar or the movie.....but I disgress.. It is not often a person admits being a helicopter parents......I was surprised we got to the second page before someone said it. What is to be gained or more to the point why even bother with scouting if your just going to do "it" for your son....... I don't think being a helicopter parent is anything to be proud of....Especially in scouting where we are trying to get the young men to be self sufficient and leaders......tough for them to do when their voices and actions are suffocated under the scout of blades and associated down draft. Give it a break...If new scout approaches SM and asks to work on a merit badge he will not be told no in most cases............If the BOY is motivated to work on merit badges on his own with out a busy body dad forcing merit badges then fine.......Most boys don't need to worry about them for the first year and that is fair advice....Most will go to summer camp and earn a couple. The OP says boy crossed over last night and wants to start working on them now........

The scouts do the program planning........So not sure we are not giving them what they want....Our troop is growing not shrinking. Like many here we do a lock in during the winter months......We hook multiple video game systems together and hold patrol vs patrol tournaments....Pizza soda and egg mcmuffins for breakfast... We are doing multiple events in March, april, june, September and November.......Caving, canoeing and backpacking being the extra event on top of car camping.....I forgot our single day hikes in Jan, Feb, March...........

Dan That is exactly what I did......Son crossed over two years ago and I stayed with the Pack as CM...... I was just replaced at our succession planning meeting. Scout son is working on first class.....Disappointed in his progress, but it is his progress, He has 10 merit badges all from summer camp. His biggest joy is hanging out with his patrol....... I am the second adult on most of the outings but I let him do his thing...

Standing in line, that is what I remember from my jamboree experience...... Every where we went we stood in line......It was darn hot too, I was at the first Jambo at AP Hill.... I remember snokeling in a tank on a trailer because there was an issue with the lake...

If activities definitions and counts are a problem.....Maybe you should step back and look at your program because it is weak. Last year we had 35 activities and so far this year we have had 12.......

Being a Scouter you become parents to all the boys and even their parents......Some of the Parents are young enough to be my son or daughter...... We all have our problem scouts, generally we know who they are and their personalities and triggers.... I have spoken to many a cub parent about little billy scouts behavior issues.... I get eye rolls, an occasional denial. I have been frustrated, exacerbated, furious, and disgusted with some of the nonsense that my boys get into.....but never to the point of raising my voice or of calling the law. I think if I am ever force to call the police on one of my scouts, I will view my Adult scouting career as a failure and I have failed those I serve. I will probably resign

wonder if Dan is gonna poke his head back in....... AND I am impressed nobody used the H word.....

since becoming active with the pack i speak of succession planning at every pack committee meeting.....There is always room for someone who would like to volunteer..... It isn't a matter of wearing anyone down or out.....It is a matter of making it fun even for the adults..... Recognize them frequently and don't call out the failures....Eventually success will come.

Dan take three or four huge steps backward, put the scout book down or more to the point hand it to your scout........ This is his journey, not yours.... I might suggest just dropping him off at the meeting location for 6 months or so.....that way he can get to know the boys without dad interfering. Merit badge councilor are the least of your problems right now.....give your son time and space.....

Lets see it took a new district chairman to show the good old boys club the door..... Don't know that there is an easy way to do it that will not result in hard feelings....... I stepped a side for a new basically new pack leadership thru out...... I was/am ready to step back for a while.... things are getting better.....At least our district is putting on its own day camp.(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

Don't know what to tell you????? Heck didn't even know about camp school when I was asked to do it which was I think either March or April had just a couple of months to make it happen. Did the job I was asked to do by the DE, we had 120 scouts and siblings..... Not bad for the first time in 9 years. I never saw the inspection sheet, saw the inspectors shook their hands. The DE presented the accredited camp flag to the camp at flag lowering that evening..... Such is the life in my district and council. Gee, had the closed the camp that day, guess who would have been the target for all that fury??????

I would think that all 5 of the knife throwers would have been ban..... Sounds like a reasonable conclusion.... thanks for sharing.

We got accredited.... The whole thing was pretty easy, just fill in the blanks on the forms..... the only thing that was said about neither of us attending NCS was we need to go before next year.