Basementdweller

Adventure and outdoors be damned. This is the clif notes to scouting for all Type A's out there who want that 11 year old eagle scout.

"Also I dont care if the workbook says it" ah youth, I am right irregardless of what the governing body says. This sediment is exactly why national had to spell it out. Guess what, he will appeal to national get his eagle and be on the evening news telling the reporter how YOU singled him out by adding requirements.

If I have ever learned anything about communication and scout parents.....just short of tattooing it on everyones fore arm some one will always say they didn't get the newsletter, event flyer, email, paper calendar, text, website or facebook page

I would not use a committee chairman course...... What I wish I knew about running a pack when I started Finances.....real life not crap from a book Treasurers job, solid financial practices, two sig checks, Pack budget, Expenses. Dues vs Pack program fees. Fundraising. Advancement.....real life not crap from a book Advancement chairs jobs. Time constraints, graduation to next rank, crossover. Tiger den and webelos den. Advancement packages Going Camping..... Paperwork and local proceedure to aquire a tour plan. Required adult training, baloo weather. Designated sites...brief appropriate activity Pinewood....blue and gold......Summer camp promotion. Why would I pay good money to see a rehashing of what I can get on line for free???? I would break it up into advancement, outdoors/activities, financial and Administrative. Give about 1 minute on each and let the group decide which they would like to explore further.

Hey may hear the noise...... But we the people don't have the stomach for change, what needs done is going to hurt a large number of people financially. The folks in power really could careless about us, The bankers care less about us even less than the elected officials. Nothing will change with out another revolution or violent civil disobedience. But the rich suburbs are busy cutting themselves off from the city....closing roads and blocking new ones. Increasing the police force and harassing those of us not from their town.

I got a spot, that has the perfect rock, overlooking the perfect valley and it has the most beautiful sunset. That is the only time in my life when I am in complete control....but even then the sunsets with out my permission.

No apologies, It seems scouting brings out the worst in some adults........If I have learned anything, that is it. It seems people who can't control anything else in their life relish the control they can exercise over kids. My boys weren't loud or rude....but they were very dirty from having fun in the woods. I let them explore, I gave them the map of the stations and offered suggested routes knowing kinda what I wanted them to see and do. Ya the trek we took station to station, led us past the pool, thru the dining hall where they got cookies from the IOLS course staff, thru the nature center, some log flippin salamader findin, skipping rocks on the lake, thru the creek, visited the troop using the rifle and shotgun range and watched the activity......told them when they crossover they get to experience that too. The crowning event was the trading post stop for slushies and airheads.....we walked into the last station of the day with them......The other den looked sad....

Great, I wish you the best and hope you can keep this troublesome fellow out of your scouting organization.

Well after the second station of this......I mentioned that I didn't need to do this with my boys and she really didn't need to keep yelling. Her response was the reason my scouts were well behaved was because of HER efforts and that we were an undisciplined mob. I think the boys paid attention at the activity pins because of the fun we had walking station to station.... I knew I would never change her mind......cause she was right. Hey if the shoe fits......I am not going to have my scouts walking two by two in a line behind their den flag. If we see something cool along the way they have my permission to explore it.....We discovered an entire log covered in puff balls and everyone had a turn popping them. great times, my boys were muddy from sliding down the hill on their bottoms, kool aid mustaches, and dirty knees from building the fire for breakfast. Yep we looked pretty rough. She was not happy with our boys playing ghost in the grave yard after the campfire.... we had samores and the boys played a game.....we were in our tents and quiet at the designated quiet hour. Her group marched in brushed teeth and into their tents right after campfire at 8:30. My interest will be looking at the crossover and retention rates. I bet I keep more of my boys......(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

So what is it with Screaming "SIGNS UP" at cub events????? At a Webelos event this weekend I was lucky enough to be paired with a Webelos Leader that spent 10 hours Saturday screaming "SIGNS UP" every two minutes. I never had to do this, is this a common practice. If I need their attention, I put my sign up and wait. Generally a minute or so the boys quiet down. So do you guys do this???? I will say, I couldn't have been prouder of my scouts, participated, enjoyed, scouted, sang, skitted, ate, and finally slept. Other than the screamer a very enjoyable weekend.

If you want one of those aluminum kits I could throw one of those in the box too. Previous CM had a box of them for some reason.

scoutfish....we chatted about this a year or two ago. Our Pack does not use paper or styrofoam and if a parent shows up with it they are on trash duty the entire weekend. My first camp out using paper we had 27 bags of garbage for 20 people. Last spring we had 6 for 85 and three were last bags of the day and not full, put them in the dumpster to keep the critters out of them. Plastic keeps the food warmer and the boys don't get their hands burnt when you put hot soup in a plastic bowl vs. metal. Lexan is great.......I ran into a deal bought 70 sets if you drop me a line I will send you two complete sets. All ya need to do is add your choice of flat ware. Walmart has a deal 6 forks for a buck so for three bucks I bought enough for sons scout career with any luck.

And???????? Great news, but what did the Pack say????? This isn't just going to end with him simply being reassigned as unit commisioner. He can still attend meetings with boy scouts in tow with out the position. Are there any other moves from the troop too keep the Webelos interested in the troop?????

Scoutfish....... Sounds like you fund raise year round. I know in my neck of the woods the parents wouldn't stand for it. While I believe that a scout should pay his own way.....I don't want fundraising to be the focus of our Pack. What do you do that the Pack needs that much money?????

texting merit badge...... it would similar to the signaling merit badge. learn a foreign language and speed requirements. Wingman Merit badge. How to help your bro with the ladies....... Easy way out Merit badge..... How to evaluate any rule, principle or ethic and figure out how to get around it.

the older I get the less I carry...... I enjoy the trip much more.....trying to instill it in my family. But I gotta have a warm dinner. Cheesy bacon grits or Cheesy chive bacon mash potatos with jerky or ramen noodle with foil pouch chicken.

So how much weigh do you permit your scouts to take backpacking??? I am speaking of base weight which is everything but consumables which for the purposes of this discussion are food water and stove fuel. So inexpensive light weight gear solutions, What do you do, made??? I like gatoraide bottles vs Nalgene light free solution. I like popcan stoves, but they are not currently permitted, because they are homemade and alcohol is not a preferred fuel. So do you ignore this and continue to use them???? Tarps or hammocks instead of tents??????

On thing of many things scouting gets a bad rap over is how heavy our boys pack. Sure their young and strong. But. GI gear is great but it is heavy. My son's golite pack weighs just a couple of pounds that alice pack probably weights 10 on its own. Every scout has a nalgene bottle.....that think is a pound on its own and cost 6-$10. Gatoraide bottle $1 or so with flavored contents, It weighs just a couple of ounces. best of all when he loses it no biggy. I would consider weight when buying gear.

Dump the debit card.....we did that to gain control of our finances again. The old CM was spending money with out approval. He would turn in receipts, but he did not have authorization to spend the money. He took his sons den to the zoo and the pack paid for it.....Yep bad deal.

So to enter kindergarten you need to be 5 or 6 before Sept 30th???? In our neck of the woods it is six. So my son missed it by 18 days....No biggy he is one of the oldest in his class

Scoutfish your not a lone here. I understand the theory to what and who they are supposed to be. They represent the District/council and make sure your program is working as it should. More often than not you will find them in the lobby at round table, huddled around the coffee pot chatting. they are easily identified by the woodbadge beads, 4 rows of knots on their pockets, woodbadge neckerchief, All of the doctorate and bachelors of commissioner service Patches. Yes my beloved roundtable peacocks. But don't you dare interrupt their conversation with a question. I have had one encounter with our unit commissioner, came in and tried to run a uniform inspection, many of my scouts don't own uniforms, he didn't understand why the boys weren't in uniform and embarrassed more than one, tears were shed. I asked him to leave and never ever come back. he did take instruction well. I don't need or want a unit commissioner. Scoutfish your lucky enough not to have one either. Or probably you do on paper and he is faking his visits.

Our council requires it. If you want your knot you had better be registered for the position.

well scout fish you could hang off the end of a log........hang onto a tree. there are a million ways depending on when the urge hits you. Trust me if your in the sticks and you need to do it, you will figure it out.

I see your train of thought here.......could we work it into Cub tossing as a fund raiser

no idea about them.....they sell a lot of noname stuff from the way it looks. I am going to guess you would be throwing your money away. According the links most of the gear is made by High Peak which is just a trading company in Washington. I am guessing any issues will be dealt with poorly. Personal experience with gear companies....you truly get what you pay for. Jet boil, excellent company support and product Big agnes, good quality, really expensive MSR excellent product never had to call company Osprey excellent product excellent customer service Marmot excellent Kelty very good, last sleeping bag was disappointing, temp rating was less than accurate Eureka, solid very scout friendly Alps, Excellent gear for a scout, but the quality of the Packs and tents are not quit as good as marmot, big agnes or osprey. but it also cost half the price. Scout sons gear list Golite Jam Mess kit whipped topping container and wendy's plastic wear Thermarest z pad lafuma 20 degree down bag steepandcheap black diamond headlight steepandcheap sierra design zolo 2 tent steepandcheap we use popcan stoves