Basementdweller

They are scout pants, meant to have badges of honor.... I still have the first pair that I purchased as an adult.....the legs are a different shade of green, the cuffs are frayed out...knees are pilled an worn. In my opinion they look the way they should.

Q....the wife who is one of the crew advisors did a bunch of miles this weekend. we did 8 thanksgiving day and saturday did 10 more....I love hiking with the leaves off the trees. No problem with the female advisor......she kayaks, rapels, hike, backpacks, shoots and camps. No hiking or backpacking for the next week while the idiots are in the woods with their shotguns.

We don't use national parks, the only one close to us does not have camping facilities. Now we use the national and state forests for our outings.....they are free or cheap. The fees for the parks have increased as have the permitting systems restricting access. Bart....interested in what your are trying to connect??????? What is it?

With lower membership numbers we are putting out twice the number of Eagles. Conclusions?

Front or Back country it doesn't matter........... You hold a camporee and 10 troops participate and 90% are fantastic outdoor citizens. so what about the single troop that thru trash in the kybo, dug a new fire pit, dumped their gray water without filtering it in the bushes..... left trash every where they went. Who gets remembered???? this going on at a scout camp is one thing, but what if it is at a state or national park or forest. Leave no trace is not for the tree huggers and if WE are going to be continued to be welcome in these places we need to do a better job of being good neighbors while we are useing them.

Oh I can see the website hosting the evidence.....The BSA Backcountry bad boys......complete with the cops theme song. So would the additional training be needed to draw a tour plan for backcountry excursion???? Unless it is required at for something people will not get trained it is that simple.

Well we have an advisor and three associate advisors two male and two female all fully trained for their positions....... Just waiting on youth.

You know how I feel about professionals and I am sure they feel the same way about me. The crew started with some sisters of the boys in the troop, they wanted to backpack and camp too, well they talked some other girls from school into trying it out, they went to the movies and dinner, went and got ice cream together then nothing....... Not sure how to nudge it over that edge to get it rolling.

We have an ACM whose sole job is to oversee the tiger dens and make sure a leader steps forward and is trained and keeps the den on track.

Gee looky what I found an interesting read http://outdoorethics-bsa.org/landethic.htm sadly most of the pages are blank....(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

Our crews always seem to fizzle when it comes to choosing a focus or interest. I am not going to interject my desires or thoughts on what they should pick, but we got a list of possibilities from nationals site and offer that for suggestions. Maybe there are too many choices, I know a couple of times they went to the movies and dinner, Helped at the food pantry. I am going to bet another of our problems is our group is really young too.

Nice post Beavah. I will say that scout camps are in much better shape than when I was a youth. I remember my home camp all of the campsites were basically fire pits, completely covered in ash and when it rained it you were a black mess.

What is Venturing's place in scouting???? Right now it is a place for my daughter to enjoy Boy Scouting. If you have a solid troop program, plenty of outdoors and adventure. Other than letting girls join and shooting handguns and rifles other than 22 caliber what does it offer???? Troop backpacks, rappels, hikes camps, canoes, rafts, spelunks..... Just trying to understand where this piece fits in the puzzle. We have tried a couple of times to start a crew, they meet a couple of times then it fizzles. Now we are trying to run it completely separate from the troop, the successful crews in our area run it more like a venturing patrol with in the troop and my understanding is that isn't the proper way to run it.

A thank you would have been in order with the lack of this line "It's good to hear that you don't have to throw Cub Scouting out the window to have a successful Boy Scout program." Hense my comment about chip on your shoulder. Without strong troop leadership slowing down the Type A cub leaders scouting can become simply the scout den or tenderfoot den or the webelos 3 den. In my opinion I got very lucky in that regard, current SM has a strong personality and very simply put isn't going to permit a new crossover parent to monkey around.....Plus we start cutting the apron strings april of the Bear year, Webelos resident camp moms and dads are discouraged from attending and we have the chat with them about coming and getting homesick boys.

I don't see the big deal eagle......they are not supposed to cook solo......the requirement says with the help of an adult..... A common sense question here.....so you want your wolf or bear scout putting their foil dinner in the fire or removing it from the fire????????

ya know garrison.....I could have been that creepy guy, but I was in the shelter first and if that was the case they should have moved on.....Let me see I was 4 days out no shower or shavin......Ya I looked fairly rough. Far as creepy goes, drinking coffee and waiting for my bacon mashpotatos to rehydrate, not sure how creepy that is...... But the Appalachian Trail conservancy guidelines say very specifically that large groups should not use the shelter system. http://www.appalachiantrail.org/hiking/hiking-basics/families-groups

Beavah, I scanned the eagle workbook and looked at the G2SS could not find the ban....you post links to the specific passages you are citing

who cares who does the work as long as the Eagle candidate is doing the leading and project management.

Wow don't we all live inside the box........I don't see anything wrong with it and give him an A for effort. Who knows he might just spark the interest in a retiree who is looking for something to do. Get a few responses meet the candidate, have them fill out the app.......Either that or fold the troop.....heck it is worth a shot. Not all that happens on craigslist is negative. I have restocked our uniform back from craigslist......I have purchased troop gear from craigslist and sold a car there.

The key to a successful BSA organization at a CO is integration not separation. Den chiefs, inviting the troop to the Blue and Gold, ect. Our webelos den is nearly just another patrol in the troop, we open with the troop, close with the troop and do our own program between.

Eagle not sure why you have such a chip on your shoulder about the cub program. In our area it is rare a boy who joins boy scouting that was not a cub scout. I will refrain from soiling this discussion with my thoughts on Cub Scouting and Cross over retention.

Turtle...... You and I both understand that most parents just want the line signed off they don't care if junior actually made pancakes or tied the knot. They spent XXX dollars on summer camp and are looking for their return on investment. Gone are the days of just having fun at summer camp.

The Troop did not have an outdoor program. the entire troop have been members less than 2 years. We started a high adventure program....first backpacking trip camping under plastic sheeting....the last one we now own backpacking tents and received a number of backpacks thru fundraising and some donations from folks on this board. Thank you and you know who you are..... the troop camped twice a year prior to the new SM and I came on board and that included resident camp.....We now camp 11 months a year, of those we canoe, cave, hike, rapel and fish..... The cubs......I am blessed with 5 fantastic den leaders and their 8 assistants. The den leaders do not transition with their scouts, I have a two year experienced wolf den leader, three year bear leader, new tiger leader with a 4 year experienced den leader as mentor, This is my 4th year as a webelos den leader. The pack went from never camping to the tigers wolves and bear three times a year and the webelos 6 times a year. I am going to say experienced leadership is making the difference. Plus our activity level is super high.....one of our dens are active most every weekend......we are hiking this saturday as a Pack at one of our metro parks. Looks like 40 or so total with all the families. Webelos the following weekend are going with the troop to an orienteering competition....we will cut the troop loose and the sm and I will work with the webs. The key to a strong troop is a strong feeder pack......

Our community offers semi annual emergency preparedness drills for first responders.....I bet participating in that would qualify for it.

Troop has grown from 3 boys to 18 active in two and a half years Pack has grown from 9 boys to 82 active in two and a half years. Sounds like we are giving them what they want. Big change in the troop was an outdoor program. they camped twice a year prior to new SM. Pack success was actual recruiting and retention.